MUSIC ALBUM

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Taming Dreams OST

3 years ago2,454 words

It only took about seven months to get around to putting it on Bandcamp, but here's the Original SoundTrack to yet another game I didn't finish!



∞ Here's a link to the album! ∞

Taming Dreams, if you don't already know, was my first attempt at 'reimagining' MARDEK in the Alora Fane world, which I worked on around 2015. Presumably I started a bit earlier, but overall development seems to have been quick; according to the dates on the files, the earliest composition (the unused Enki's Theme) is from 12/1/2015 (that's January), and the most recent (another unused theme, Elwyen's) is from 24/9/2015. So they were all composed over around nine months, and I assume the game was mostly made over the course of those months too.

It was made for Android mobiles - hardly my best idea - and I managed to make three short episodes before life got in the way (I went to university). I'd like to (re-)release what I have in some form some day, if I can figure out how (it's tricky due to some strange technical decisions I made to get something made in Flash working on Android). The Android release is no longer working because I wasn't able to update it to keep up with OS updates, for various reasons (such as the death of Flash).

I'm still really proud of this music! It's leitmotif-heavy, and from a stage in my composing journey where I mostly understood at least the basics of music theory. So it's not ineptly dissonant, like some of my earlier stuff!! The game in general was inspired by a (sadly short-lived) ~spiritual awakening~ I was going through at the time, so this music has also forever been infused with pleasant memories of that time for me. Not something that can be shared, though, unfortunately!

If I were to choose favourites, I might say... "Mardek", "Still Ruins", "Tame Thyself", "Longing & Be Now", "Forest", and maybe "Elwyen"? But I like them all a lot!

Like with other OSTs I've added to Bandcamp, I've included all the music I composed with the intention of including, but either didn't finish or didn't use. There weren't many for this, though; most notable are two alternate attempts at Meraeadyth's theme, which I apparently struggled with.

The in-game Encyclopaedia included a section for the music, with flowery descriptions for each piece. I've dug up the original code files with that text in, so I'll paste it here:



01 - Theme
The primary leitmotif for the series, played rather hauntingly in its raw form on a music box, without the distraction of accompaniment.

The simple - but hopefully at least somewhat memorable! - dorian melody is based on Rohoph's motto.

An ∞ accidental ∞ dips the melody into mild uncertainty, or perhaps even dread, but then it rises to a glimmer of hope, before fading down into unease again.



02 - Intro
The main theme, which swells from calm to tense anticipation as depth becomes deeper...



03 - Dreams Drive us to Divine Discoveries (called 'The Dungeon' in game)
A clunky, minor-key variation of the leitmotif born from Enki's motto: 'Dreams Drive us to Divine Discoveries'.

It begins as a bright proclamation of the motto-melody, before descending into the dark dungeon's shadows.

Enki's the shakuhachi that floats resolutely above the choppy, wary, offbeat piano chords, leading the way, punctuated by tinkling interjections from his companion.

A patch of dark calm fills the middle of the piece with the theme of the dreamer, before the dream reasserts itself with more richness than before.

('I wish I were a warrior...')



04 - Dream Nexus
This isn't really a separate piece in itself. Rather, it's an isolated and diluted fragment of a melody of another composition that won't appear for several episodes. ∞ [It's track 26 of the Alora Fane: Creation OST!] ∞

Just a pale shadow of a richer thing that remains elusive, exactly like the Nexus visited by Hero Mardek and Enki.



05 - Tame Thyself
A timpani heartbeat thumps under much of this piece, reflecting the characters' beating excitement hearts.

It begins as a tense, accelerating crescendo, as the heart speeds up and agitation begins.

Next, a burst of tension and unusual time signatures leads into a slow, dark, strings-focused rendition of this piece's main melody, flowing between chords, before returning to the same tension it emerged from.

A sudden stop marks the arrival of light. The piece's main melody - now at twice the speed - emerges brightly in Phrygian dominant mode (probably) on the piano, flute and guitar; exotic, spiritual, uplifting... Beautiful, even. Agitation isn't a tense, violent, life-or-death struggle. It's a chance for positive personal growth.



06 - Sunset
A simple progression of soothing seventh chords, relaxing over the tranquilly monotonous chirping of crickets (or rather, a whistle gently blown to play the role).

It's often in such simple things that peace and beauty can be found.



07 - Steele'd!
Na-na-NAAA!

A tense sting derived from Steele's theme. Very annoying if left playing for more than the few seconds it was meant to last for!



08 - Missing Enki
A short, minimalist piano variation of Enki's 'Dreams Drive us to Divine Discoveries' motif; the same one from 'The Dungeon'.

It's steeped in loss and longing, but there's much hope and joy in there, too. Memories may be out of reach, but their happiness lives on.



09 - Rohoph - Thou Who Art Not Good
'Thou who art not good art and bringest no good.
Thou who art not good should not be.'

"Regal but mysterious; the theme of a peaceful paladin, a wise mentor, a loving saviour... right?

The Main Theme and this are essentially one and the same.



10 - Gemsand
A warmly tropical take on the 'generic village theme' prevalent in RPGs (including my own).

The resonant twang of a Hawaiian guitar, the soft flow of strings, the lazy beat of bongos, the casual joy of the floating flute...

The Main Theme emerges in the second half, letting its notes linger, losing the strictness of the rhythm. 'This place is important', it says, 'but there's no need to take things too seriously'.



11 - Meraeadyth - Reason's Mental Metal
Rea-son's! Mental metal. M-m-makes minds immune to miasma and malice.

A quirky, mechanical tune for one whose mind and life aren't possessed of easy grace. It clunks sharply along with almost robotic rhythm and jittery, stammering staccato...

...that is, until the soul behind it all shines through, with a Lydian calm the metal mind tries to trap in a clockwork cage. 5/4 time lends an air of mechanical quirkiness even there.



12 - Well, We'll Be Well!
The Main Theme put through the filter of Mardek's pure heart comes out through the flute so playfully that it's almost unrecognisable.

The bouncy guitar calms as Deugan's theme, his dream - 'I wish I were a warrior, instead of a worrier' - plays briefly through a less chirpy ocarina.



13 - World Map
From the flat but rolling plains of anticipation arises the Main Theme made spacious, played pizzicato with the motion of travel.

The roving path delivers a breathtaking view of vastness; time's flow slows as the flute winds soar through a strings-textured valley.

But it's time to continue onwards.



14 - Forest
A sea of stillness surrounds spores suspended delicately in the mossy air. It smells of life, both fresh and ancient. A chorus of birds chatters amongst themselves, far out of sight.

The more you look around, the more you notice such simple beauty all around you... Your chest swells with awe as you take it all in.

Your mind seems to stop; its regular noise replaced by the pure vitality that flows with such ineffable grandeur through every leaf.

At least for a moment. Then some unseen creature rustles through the twigs at your feet...



15 - Miasmon!
Gasp! The first few moments following monsters' manifestation are a kind of chaos as everyone gets into the right state of mind.

Agitation begins in earnest before long, however, as characters steadily ready their hearts to reclaim their dark fragments which now loom before them. Adrenaline flows, confidence grows... Tension builds!

Then bam! A flowing moment of relative calm, the eye of the storm. Freedom from the present is no longer craved; peace is made with what's happening, and lucid clarity emerges from this.

From a clear mind comes the blessing of peace, the taming of beasts...

But wait! More remain! It isn't over yet!



16 - Steele - I Fight FOR My Nature
'I fight FOR my nature. Not AGAINST my nature.'

A harsh guitar - powered by electric destruction - lazily but firmly asserts Steele's motto above a casual bass. Calm, cool, dangerous.

The melody rises and swells with pride - the force, anger and hate beneath the surface - before falling back into menacing calm with a definitive glissando.



17 - Atonae
Twinkling stars descend through the glassy sound of space.

A spectral choir sings the Main Theme made distant, alien, aethereal, and mysterious via the whole tone scale.

The realm of gods is far removed from our own.



18 - Emeela - Longing for Belonging
A lone god's tear, I feel I long for deep blue depths where I'll belong...'

The sombre, flowing piano melody dips to depths with her motto, twiddling in a vaguely Celtic way to match the style of the Meek.

The motto-waves swell to sombre hope, for that ideal connection which may bring meaning...



19 - The Mermaid
A sombre song Elwyen plays on her lute as she reflects on neglect; or rather, the fantasy of freedom from such.

It quotes both her leitmotif and that of the 'mermaid', though hers won't come into its own until later.

"The girl was just so a-MA-zing they would all stop and stare~
They all lo~oved her~
Her life was one long ad-VEN-ture so full of awesomeness~
Awesomeness~"



20 - Still Ruins
An irregular rhythm and tangled melodies create a feeling of elusiveness, evocative of the flora that has taken the temple, or the gods it was built for.

While possibly difficult to follow or understand initially, familiarity brings forth subtle beauty.

A deep, constant drone suggests stillness and a calm tension. Though humans are gone, their devoted chanting can still be faintly heard.



21 - Deugan & Emeela Being Awkward
Deugan and Emeela's leitmotifs interwoven inelegantly, with an undercurrent of uhs and erms from both, awkward silences, and comical quirkiness.

A beauty arises in the second half despite the graceless interruptions from the voice and pizzicato strings; could this be the start of something special?

Of course, a stumbling of male and female uhs brings us back to insincere posturing...



22 - Faith
From steadfast, steady calmness, twinklings of bright hope emerge through a harp.

Two different flutes play a pure, simple melody - they were as one, once - but its destination feels unresolved, and we're left with a feeling of wanting, of distance, perhaps even uncertainty...



23 - Mardek
'Well' made more mature, clad in new textures both laid-back and complex.

Rohoph brings serene peace as a patch of warm, floaty calm, but it soon leads to a tangled web of complexity, eager to move.

As the current of light that floweth underneath swells to a climax via the past, it sours, and you find yourself trapped in tense intensity...



24 - Longing & Be Now
"My heart longs for a fantasy
For a time I belong
Past or the future
I am happy then
But it's not that time now..."

A heart beats with anticipation under piano waves that flow darkly, uncertainly, to a destination unseen. Soon, sorrowful strings slide between lingering chords that feel like they should be something else...

Light begins to emerge - is it hope? - but then my heart longs for a fantasy, for a time I belong... The tension of it all grows, the past, the future, they entangle as a snarl of stress, which explodes into silence.

Ceasing to dwell on what could be reveals the peace of what is, the beauty in this moment... but it doesn't last long before the dark waves wash it away...



There weren't any descriptions for the unused tracks in the game, so here are my thoughts from here in the future:



25 - Trailer
I vaguely remember making a video trailer, which included this medley of various leitmotifs. I have five versions of it for some reason! I think this is the one I went with?



26 - Elwyen
Elwyen's theme, which I fully intended to use in maybe episode 4 or something. I consider it a huge shame that I never got to, because I like this piece of music a lot! I think the motto it was based on was "You can't not notice a flame so hot it burns blue".



27 - Enki's (Original) Theme
Seems to be the first piece I composed for the game; testing the waters, trying to find a style. It uses the shakuhachi, because Enki in MARDEK was meant to be based on Japanese samurai (or rather anime/JRPG characters inspired by them), though I went with an entirely different direction with the character in TD and the 'Dreams Drive us to Divine Discoveries' ended up being more appropriate instead.

I still like this a lot as a piece of music though! Some interesting rhythmic stuff.



28 - Reason's Mental Metal - 1st Draft
The A section of this is almost identical to the final version, but I must not have liked what I had for whatever reason, especially the later parts. Maybe I felt they were rambly and inappropriate?



29 - Reason's Mental Metal - 2nd Draft
I tried something that was supposed to be 'soft' and 'other/different-feeling', but it didn't fit the character. I did like this a whole lot though - it sounds so otherwordly to me, due to what I think is the Lydian mode or something? - and it stuck in my mind for years, so I ended up using it as inspiration for the B section of Ossoum's theme in Atonal Dreams (since he's the adaptation of Meraeadyth's mentor character... it's complicated).



30 - Dreams Drive us to Divine Discoveries - Version 1
Seems to be a fragment of a second attempt at a theme for Enki, probably intended to match the feel of MARDEK's "Mighty Heroes" since the starting dungeon is based on that bit, though I went in a different direction with the final piece.



Phew! Good! Yes! I'm glad to have this up at last! I still have a handful of other albums that I might put up in subsequent weeks. WE SHALL SEE.