Guess I'll go first! Out of Sight / Market Melee, A Stealth/Action Adventure!

Think of it this way... You may not get an "extension" in the real world and I'm pretty sure Jerry Goldsmith wrote and recorded the entire China Town soundtrack in this same time frame.

And 12 days for Air Force One, so we get 2 extra!
But of course not everybody is Jerry, and the 6 day scandal that is the Tomb Raider soundtrack is the perfect example of that...

Nice theme Leo! Guess I better get to work...

Congrats Leo! Ready to go for no. 20 now!

Half-Minute Melee

This one gets my vote for a bonus. Tight stuff.

I actually found "The Mystery at Sundown" and "Through the Dust" to be incredibly boring in terms of melodic progression and percussion, but to each his own.

I know it's a forum where free speech is all good and well, but "incredibly boring" seems a bit harsh don't you think?

Anyway, congrats to the top three! Looking foward to seeing who comes out on top!

Hey, congratulations! I guess everything works out right in the end!

Here's my entry, One Hell of a Desert

This is cool.  May not be the most evocative interpretation of the theme, but I think it's great nonetheless!

I didn't have the time to enter in this challenge, but I'll try to contribute next time around.  Love the idea

Good work everyone!

Thanks superchop, I guess it's more of a luke warm than hot. . Started out as a God of War-eqsue thing, then devovled into a desert/action-esque thing.

Soundcloud's compression is really doing a number on it though.

Definitely email him and congratulate him. Although I don't know if asking for royalties for music that was technically royalty free is the best way to start a potential relationship with the guy.

Become friends with him, and link him to any reviews talking nice about the music.

Here's my entry, One Hell of a Desert

Damn it, Leo! I was gonna do spaghetti western style! And I certainly can't beat yours. Great stuff!
And pgil too. Seems like everybody's bringing their A game.

What to do, what to do.....got it.

Well I've been at the beach all week trying to escape the heat, but looks like now I'm going to have to turn off the air con and channel all that heat into my entry!

Great theme Moritz, looking forward to working on this one!

Let's wait until we have at least half of the tracks together... no need to rush things.
When we do, you're all invited to go nuts with the marketing.

Yeah, that's what I meant. I should have specified...

I've been browsing some charities that focus on giving instruments to kids, here are a few I found,
http://www.vh1savethemusic.com/
http://www.fendermusicfoundation.org/
Those are the most "national" charities I could find, most of the others are more region specific.

and of course something more on the games side.
http://www.childsplaycharity.org/

And a great, more general children's charity
http://www.unicef.org/

Unfortunately there aren't any that give kids synths...

Awesome news!

Sent you my files Moritz.

Do you reckon we could get this on some gaming blogs to spread the word a bit? If there's anything I can do to help, let me know.

Why thank you Maverick! 'twas a ton of fun!

[Moritz]

I thought writing these would be easy, but Maverick said it right in the last challenge (is it just me, or does it really seem sometimes that we’re grammatically ill-equipped when it comes to talking about music? ). So my apologies if I say the same thing twice.

Moritz - https://soundcloud.com/mpgk/traveling-the-misty-plains
This piece makes me feel like some lonely wanderer, "traveling the misty plains", with no company but my old horse, maybe poignantly staring at my reflection in a misty river…Deep stuff.
The instrumentation sets the mood beautifully. The hang drum was an awesome choice, brings a serene ambience with the other instruments.
My favourite part is around 1:17, when the high pizz. strings come in. The chord progression here is lovely, along with the rest of the piece. The whole thing is so natural and calming. Fantastic piece.

somnia - http://soundcloud.com/dogacyavuz/sidereal
Great synths! My only gripe is that it gets a bit tedious after a while. Gradually incorporating more instruments a little earlier would have been cool, cause when the perc does come in it has a really nice groove. The ominous bells were a great choice. Overall it does the space exploration atmosphere nicely!

Maverick Denizen - https://soundcloud.com/maverick-denizen/sakura-plateau
Dig that piano and the kinda Bastion-esque drums in the beginning. I can hear this fitting in a game overworld really well. The harp sits above everything with the floaty melody beautifully, and the voice-type sound in background is great too (The notes you chose feel sort of Thomas Newman-y, it's great stuff). The addition of the 8bit synths add an interesting flavor. All the elements of the piece fit together really well. Lovely flow, instrumentation, and melodies here!

eidobunny - https://soundcloud.com/eidobunny/impiety-befallen
Really interesting choice of instruments, the big heavy piano, the light woodwinds, the string pads. And that synth sets the atmosphere really well! Sounds like some dark doings went down in this overworld!

SimplyKept - https://soundcloud.com/simplykept/overworld-sci-fi
Calm and eerie ambience, the high pads and low filtering synths balance each other nicely,
I could imagine floating through space quite nicely with this playing. It'd fit the star-map type menu you described perfectly.

ifmcmaster - https://soundcloud.com/ianmcmaster/beyond-those-hills
I liked this one right off the bat! Cheery woodwinds with the bass drum and pizz strings, then bringing in rest of the orchestra! I can tell there's going to be some adventures ahead…The piece has a really nice flow and great dynamics.

mscottweber - https://soundcloud.com/mscottweber/city-of-circovia
That is one nice melody! I imagine the start being some bard playing cello in the overworld's streets, then the piece developing as we move through the city. Great stuff!

Evan Balster -


Damn, 19 takes. That's some dedication! Live instruments always sound awesome and this is no exception! The accordion is so unique, I'd be interested to know how you came about playing it!
Would have loved a light bit of reverb to open it up, but I like the kind of melancholy the piece has, works with the memories/nostalgia ideas really well. Really like the phrasing as well as the melody. The video and lyrics were cool touches too.
Thanks for whatever pain you went through to bring us this great piece! 

Hope you guys had a great Holiday and a Happy New Year! Thanks for all the awesome music!

The winner is……

MoritzPGKatz - Traveling the Misty Plains
This piece is just too gosh darn calming to say no to. The track feels like it'd fit in a game's overworld perfectly. It's not obtrusive or overbearing, but still apparent enough to evoke the right emotions. Congratulations on the great piece of music!

Again, thanks for the entries, I loved listening to them all! Looking forward to Moritz's theme!

Idea:
I totally think someone should compile all of this years winning entries, maybe with some bonus tracks as well.

I think this is really cool idea, Moritz's track would make the perfect ending!

Wow, truly awesome pieces guys! This is going to be a tough one....

Okay, extended to Tuesday January 1st 11:59.

Hopefully enough time!

Yessssss...YESSSS!!!!

How long do you (or anyone else) think you need?

Nice tracks guys!

Aw man! Lovely piece Moritz!
I love it when you bring in those mysterious pizzicatos.


And you guys can't keep teasing accordion music and not delivering....