A short sketch, trying my hand at blending classical and electronic elements into something interesting. Picking up composition again after being dormant for a few years.
EWQL Symphonic Orchestra
FM8
Samples
EWQL Symphonic Orchestra
FM8
Samples
Created nearly entirely with FM8: lots of FM layers, rhythms and funk-inspired chords. It starts slow but once it gets going the layers pile up. I had planned a live version with a SEGA Genesis playing some of the FM parts, but never had the hardware.
FM8
Samples
metropeak era2010–2021
Metropeak Studios, Surrey BC, then qjimbo.com: a Novation Ultranova, Reaper, FM8, and chip experiments on a Game Boy and a Genesis.
Made using voice patches from Emerald Hill Zone in Sonic 2. Left as a work in progress.
The first big piece of music I completed using my Novation Ultranova synth. A funky electronic-house kind of beat, heavily inspired by Naofumi Hataya's soundtrack for Sonic CD (EU/JP). There's a live playthrough on YouTube. Watch it ▸
Novation Ultranova
Kontakt
Samples
One of those tracks that basically wrote itself once I started. A variety of techniques to get chippy sounds: some from my Ultranova, others from the NES VST, combined with some bitcrushing.
Novation Ultranova
Work in progress track from a work in progress album. Downtempo electronic chill-out goodness.
An unfinished run at dubstep from the Metropeak sessions.
A 44-second sketch from the Metropeak sessions.
Melodic electronic dance/house with an experimental ambient solo. A sample went up on metropeak.com in February 2012; this is the finished May mix.
A pop-rocky chippy track, put together over the course of several months. This is the finished January 2012 mix; qjimbo.com only ever carried the earlier work-in-progress cut.
FM8
Xpand2
Samples
A spooky sax lead takes us on a short musical journey.
FM8
EWQL Symphonic Orchestra
Samples
Fast-paced hooky electro action. An oldie, reuploaded to SoundCloud in 2015.
Dramatic track mixing electronic and orchestral instruments: synth sounds combined with strings and deep filtered bass.
FM8
EWQL Symphonic Orchestra
Xpand2
Samples
Ambience inspired by the music in Knytt. A short piece with acoustic guitar that serves to set a tone.
Xpand2
Samples
music.jameshansen.com era2004–2009
Cakewalk Home Studio and EWQL Symphonic Orchestra Silver, from the first site at 17 through the Kingston years.
Part of my final composition assignment for the BMus at Kingston University.
Another Battle of the Bits compo entry.
Entered in a Battle of the Bits chiptune compo.
A wintry take on Sonic's Green Hill Zone, written for the proposed Christmas Chaos fan album.
This track has been described as sounding like a cop show theme, but in reality it was inspired by the music from Spyro 3.
Bernard Herrmann style modernist orchestral composition. One of the highest graded pieces of music I wrote during my degree.
EWQL Symphonic Orchestra
Autumn Into Winter Suite, part 3
Part three of the Autumn Into Winter Suite, and definitely my favourite of the three. If you only download one, make sure it's this one.
EWQL Symphonic Orchestra
Autumn Into Winter Suite, part 2
Part two of the Autumn Into Winter Suite, the bridge that mixes the themes of Autumn and Winter Blast.
EWQL Symphonic Orchestra
Autumn Into Winter Suite, part 1
Part one of the Autumn Into Winter Suite, my mini experiment with themes: parts one and three fit together because of part two, The Transition, which mixes themes from both. Cover art by an old friend, Rosi.
EWQL Symphonic Orchestra
Originally composed for a contest to write music for a remake of Sonic Xtreme.
FM8
Samples
Evil Josh and Billy is a great cartoon to write music for! For the opening and closing titles, the creator wanted a 1960s Mission Impossible jazz sound, much like the music in The Incredibles. After some deconstructing I built a base for that style, and went on to write the entire soundtrack for each episode from Episode 7 onwards.
EWQL Symphonic Orchestra
Samples
One of a set of original orchestral compositions, quite bombastic. A friend of mine called Zeck described it as sounding like Beethoven, not sure why.
EWQL Symphonic Orchestra
A piccolo lead, a mysterious melody, simple orchestral layering.
EWQL Symphonic Orchestra
The result of listening to the music in NFS: High Stakes and writing something in a similar style. The style in the game is electro but this track is more techno.
FM8
A piratey swashbuckling track with some interesting broken chords. First posted on music.jameshansen.com as Captain Sam.
EWQL Symphonic Orchestra
A remake of a classic tune I made for Theaspor, an RPG a friend was building back in 2003. Not a major rework, just tidied up a bit.
EWQL Symphonic Orchestra