NWN2: The Moonlight Path (Main Title Theme)

Hi guys,

As some of the older members will know, I've been involved with a mod of Neverwinter Nights 2 called "The Moonlight Path" for some years now. As a mod, progress is slow, and the music that I had originally written for it no longer stands up to my current standards and so I have been slowly re-working or, more accurately, re-writing all the pieces from scratch to bring them up to my new quality standards of writing and production.

Among them has been the main title theme, which is what I'm sharing today. This theme (in its original form) is one of the first real things I ever wrote for a game, which gives it a lot of nostalgic value for me. I had a lot of fun revisiting it after so much time and breathing some new life into it. This time around, I approached it a bit more tastefully than in the original (I feel) and it's resulted in a more well-rounded presentation of the material.

As a title theme, it doesn't do a whole lot in the way of actually developing the thematic material too far, but this is intentional

damn, what did you do this time marius??

p.s.

there is no question about your technique, i hope you're working full time. otherwise i'm quitting music and going to work in construction.

p.s.

you continue to dazzle me in production terms, although i have some refrains, the singer gave some wrong notes in 0:13-0:14 which is not too bad for a second.

the drama is there, entrance -yeah! i'd look for stronger melody after 1:00, i liked 2:10 and afterwards, they have some meaning..

I really enjoyed it ^_^ the production just blew me away... so clean, spacious, and full. The percussion side was really really well done!! Except the rain shaker thingy seemed a little out of place or something. Ohh and I loved it at 2:32 when it went all dischordant for a few seconds and then went back into the lady singing and the choir, really nicely done.

Jake

Nicely done... needs a bit more oomph in my opinion but don't take that to heart I'm a metalhead :D

Much enjoyed. Production is marvelous. I love where that staccato section kicks in...some great contrast. Percussion really is sweet, although i agree with dark dragon, the rain stick, or whatever that is, seems a little random some parts...not sure if that's because it's so dry(fx) compared to everything else or just the texture.

Top marks dude, great job imo.

Thanks so much for your responses, guys! :D

The J: I'm actually not working "full time", so to speak...I do try to have a contract on the go all the time. Work is frequently sparse in this business. I'm sure you've heard this before, but like 70% of the job is just finding the next gig...

As for the singer, the notes are intentionally not entirely in accordance with the key; it's for effect. I'm glad you enjoyed it though - I'll take a closer look at those parts you mentioned.

Jake: Happy to hear you comment favourably on the mixing, as I said it was a bit of a challenge so I'm glad my work paid off. As for that shaker, I agree that it's poking out of the mix a bit...I'll have to go back and shove it back in a little more solidly. Thank you for pointing it out! I was slightly uneasy about my choice to add that powerfully dissonant bit near the end, but I liked the effect and I'm glad it came off properly (in your opinion).

Phantom: If this weren't a bona fide fantasy game needing a traditional kind of score (instrumentally), I would definitely have added some more modern "oomph". As it is, I think it's appropriate for the needs of the project. Metalheads ftw! :D

Duncan: Yaaay you like my massive percussion section! I always go a bit nuts with it...generally speaking, half of the tracks in my mix are likely to be percussion. :P I'll definitely take that shaker thing into account when I go back and edit it a bit.

I really appreciate all your comments, folks! :happy:

Marius

This really sucks!!

The synth work lacks any originality....

The brass sections are a total let down...

There is a complete disregard to any resemblence of coherency...

Parts of this are just total ripoffs of failed 60's tunes...

My dead Great-Grandfather's decomposing body makes better music than this...

Wait a second...

I still had my headphones plugged into my latest creation. Sorry

Now to your piece

You have a great ear for composing in the style that seems to be what is wanted in today's game/film music. Yet you are able to inject some of your personality and inventiveness into it to make it fresh and worthwhile.

Very well done

Ron

I hardly ever get on here, maybe once every couple of months, but every time I do you have put up new music that keeps me motivated towards coming a better composer.

I think its obvious I liked this piece ? haha. Is this and East West/Quantum Leap sequence?

Sounds great, Marius! I'll agree a bit with Duncan about the rain stick feeling a little out of place in the mix, but other than that I think you've got yet another solid composition.

Ron: you actually made me laugh, I thought you were high or something...especially with the bit about synths. :P I'll have to see what piece you were actually talking about to see if it deserves such a harsh treatment. Thank you very much for your kind words in any event, I'm glad you were able to pick up on my own personality in the music.

Shred: That is probably one of the most pleasing comments a composer could hope to receive: that their work helps inspire another. I'm happy to keep providing music to help keep you motivated. To answer your question, it is largely EW sound libraries, yes.

Murr: Okay, so I know that stick is definitely an issue now if more people have picked up on it, I'll fix it as soon as I get the chance. Thanks for listening though, I'm happy you enjoyed it! I can't wait to get to some other tracks for this project where I can play around with the theme some more :D