Description
I chose to focus on the written “Inside my World” theme, and have submitted two soundtracks for this composing jam to illustrate this. One is the Main theme of a fabricated game named Aurora’s Embrace, and another is the exploration theme named Echoes of Ice and Sky that is designed to be looped. In total, the runtime of these tracks combined is 6 minutes and 53 seconds, running for 4 minutes and 22 seconds, and for 2 minutes and 31 seconds respectively.

Both tracks were created using Ableton Live. This presents a unique creative process when it comes to composing, where I, almost performatively, play small 8-32 bar long loops that I write for each instrument, and build upon them to create my leitmotifs and different sections of the arrangement. I tend to prefer beginning my writing with the more rhythmic and chordal instruments so I have time to experiment with lead lines afterwards. The key soundtracks that I took inspiration from were Journey’s The Threshold, and Monster Hunter World’s Succession of Light and Theme of Seliana.

Message from the artist
The first thing I did when I began working on this piece, was try to imagine the game I would be creating a soundtrack for. The reason I chose Journey as an inspiration is because I decided that a Journey style game based in a frozen tundra, not unlike the Iceborne DLC for Monster Hunter, could capitalize on themes of exploration, wonder and isolation. In line with its Journey inspiration, the game would have a focus on the wonder and beauty of exploration, and I knew I would need to exemplify this in the soundtrack. Given how brutal a frozen landscape would be, I also would want this fabricated game to dial in on the theme of isolation in its story. I had decided that my main theme would focus more on the concepts of wonder and isolation, while the second theme would be a more upbeat exploration theme.

Theme

How does it fit the theme?
When I think of “Inside my World,” I imagine an adventure of exploration and wonder through a unique environment, and this is the feeling I tried to capture in my work. The Main Theme makes use of a slow and consistent build in a major key over the course of the piece, ending with a triumphant horn and brass section to convey a sense of wonder. Concurrently, it also subtly hints at the isolation of being alone in such a diverse and inspiring world. I have parallelled this idea in the composition by creating space in the bass and percussion sections, leaving the high sections, such as the piano and strings, in isolation. Conversely, Echoes of Ice and Sky has more use of percussion, as well as the introduction of an acoustic guitar, to drive the piece and reinforce the explorative nature of the player as they travel. It also makes use of a faster version of one of the leitmotifs in the Main Theme to tie the two tracks together.

Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://soundcloud.com/jordandrewmusic-913117626/sets/auroras-embrace-ost?si=2b03b73282d2486b94db8ca67e8e04d7&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Number of tracks
2

Genre

Soundtrack use permission

Yes (CC BY)

Any project