Andrew Conner

Hi Immortal: Gates of Pyre team! 

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My name is Andrew Conner -  I'm a music composer for video games based in Austin, TX. I came across Immortal recently through my brother, Tim Conner, who has started working part-time with SunSpear Games as a World Builder and Web Developer. I am a long time fan of the RTS genre (dating back to the first game I fell in love with, Age of Empires II, and later as a fan of the StarCraft II E-Sports scene) and am thrilled to see such a beautiful and promising new RTS in development!

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I absolutely love the visuals in the world of Immortal - both the environments and models that have already been created for the game, as well as the concept art for characters and factions that are still in development. While I'm intrigued by each of the factions created so far (and others even inspire some Warhammer Age of Sigmar vibes that resonate with me), I was particularly drawn to the concept art for the Jora faction and composed this musical theme inspired by the above Jora concept art that I wanted to share.

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In a world with godlike beings, angelic armies, and mystical monsters, I loved the idea of a faction that still chooses to develop technology and industry in the face of such cosmic forces. This suggests both an optimism and hubris that I wanted to capture in this theme.

 

With sprawling buildings, flying ships, and a factory front and center in the concept art, I incorporated a number of repeating driving elements to represent the bustle of industry, such as the repeating choppy string notes that the track starts with (and repeats throughout), as well as the subtle synth pulse that continues through the "second movement." I also kept on returning to the idea of a "rhythm/pulse" that some urban centers are described to have, and have a repeating "heartbeat" of the city in the concept art pumping in the background of the second movement. Another element nodding directly to the concept art are the metal "clinks and clanks" in the percussion section - sounds that would surely be in the type of factory/industrial environment featured in the art. 

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Overall, I wanted the main melody of the theme to not sound completely foreign to someone mostly familiar with Western music scales, but also wanted it to incorporate a sense of "otherness" since the Jora are still a faction in a fantastic and mythical universe. For any music nerds out there, some of the notes in the melody nod to the melodic and harmonic minor scales to give a hint of "exotic/otherness" to the theme. Also, the chanting choir in the second and third movements comes out of the Balkan musical tradition - a sound that is not quite Western, but steers clear of the sound of Eastern/Oriental traditional music, a direction I did not want to take this particular piece.

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I hope you enjoy this theme for the Jora - "The Iron Republic." If it sounds like something that could be useful to your team in any way I would love for you to use it, and if I can contribute any other musical assets to the project I would be thrilled to do so.

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Cheers and happy game making!

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Andrew Conner

andrew@andrewconnercomposer.com

512-968-3949
Austin, TX

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