For starters, let me clearly state that “Thugs” didn’t turn out at all how I intended.  I was working on a deathmetal battle theme and instead it turned out like this.

<sigh>

Rather than throw it out and start again, I decided to wrestle with the piece a bit longer and flesh it out as more than just an 8-bar theme.  Maybe someone out there can find a use for the cheesy rock style as the theme song for… something?

“Thugs” is awfully repetitive for my taste, but it did end up being fairly catchy.  Unfortunately.

(last updated 27 May 2010)

(VERY distantly!)

The pan flute lead is quick and clever, and the 6/4 time signature keeps the piece moving along.  FWIW, I think this is one of the few pieces that I enjoy better as a MIDI – the mp3/ogg versions sound too dense and mushy, and until I find a way to remedy that I recommend sticking with the MIDI.

(last updated 21 May 2010)

Anyone who’s worked with MIDI knows that brass instruments are notoriously to work with.  They inevitably sound very synthy, and the attack either sounds mushy and wet or painfully harsh.  I did what I could with the brass instruments in this piece – they’re not stellar, but they work.  I also used a French Horn (the best MIDI brass instrument by a long shot) for sections where a bit more melody was required.

The second half of this piece reminds me a lot of the Mortal Kombat theme.  (I think it’s the orchestra hits.) The guitar/synth instrument mix was pretty much all I used for the majority of my early compositions, so count yourself lucky that this piece also includes a semi-orchestral section!

(last updated 15 May 2010)

Honky-Tonk Villain has a bit of a history behind it. I was originally commissioned to write this piece for a flash animation parody of the silent-film era. (I’ve scoured the web for the original flash file but can’t find it anywhere, sadly.) After finishing that project, I didn’t do much with this song – after all, it’s not exactly fitting for video game composing, which is what I mostly focus on.

However, while working on the same game project associated with the aforementioned “Daybreak,” I needed to come up with a character theme for a particularly bad-ass villain character (appropriately titled “The Dragon”). This bad-ass villain was actually based off one of the writers on the project (and a good friend of mine), so the intent was for me to really put together something befitting an evil mastermind.

You can imagine the response when I submitted this piece for consideration. To quote the writer/inspiration:

“This is so typical of the relationship between Tanner and I. He threw this in there because he knew I’d roll out of my chair laughing, and sure enough, I was bowling over by the second bar! I can picture him giggling like a little schoolgirl as he’s composing this piece with me in mind, and I’m giggling like a little schoolgirl (a huge, demented little schoolgirl, with a menthol burning between his fingers :p ) writing this review. I think this could work as my theme with a little adjustment. ;) This one gets a 9/10 just because of his sense of humor. :D”

(For the record, I did giggle like a schoolgirl upon submitting the piece.)

Anyway, thanks for indulging my momentary nostalgia – and be sure to think of a moustached villain in a cape tying an innocent woman to a set of train tracks while this song plays. Fitting, no?

(last updated 9 May 2010)

That about sums it up.

Daybreak is the kind of song I’m glad I wrote, but I’ll never write another song like it. I’ve never been a big country music fan, so writing a fiddle jig was a bit outside my comfort zone.

I think a good summary of this song comes from one of the members of the original game project. After hearing this piece, he commented (slightly edited):

“Hoe down what? I’m not quite sure what square dances in america are like but this reminds me heavily of…well feck knows, but this is something real surprising from Tanner. Damn it’s catchy.

Also, that lead fiddle is real nasty sounding, DAMN. Any way of improving the sound of it would be greatly appreciated.”

Still makes me laugh. :)

On a final note, I got the original idea for this piece – strangely enough – from “Final Answer” by The Calling. I’m fairly certain no one on planet earth could have guessed that connection had I not mentioned it!

(last updated 3 May 2010)

When I finally stumbled across the piece while perusing old musical archives in search of music worth fixing up, I have to admit I was pretty excited to see “Syntheticity” again. The 80′s drum sound combined with a catchy electric piano line and a great slap bass were too vintage to pass up! I also decided against using any of the previous song titles, and instead settled on the excellent noun “syntheticity”. (It’s partially a real word.)

I’ve adjusted all of the soundfonts to more closely match my original idea for the piece (a retro-heavy town theme), so don’t be alarmed if the MIDI sounds quite different from the mp3 and ogg.

(last updated 16 April 2010)

After a brief introduction, the first theme is introduced. Depending on your familiarity with Baroque music, you may notice a strange similarity to Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor.  (Please follow that link and listen to the original piece if you’re not familiar with it – it’s spectacular.)  I did indeed use Bach as inspiration for the first movement of this piece, though I imagine he’d heartily disagree with my use of a cheesy drumbeat alongside an otherwise nice melody.

Meh.  I always envisioned Bach as being kind of a prick, so I’m not too concerned with hurting his feelings.

After the Bach-ish theme, you’ll notice a pleasant middle bridge marked by an electric guitar (not sure why I picked that instrument, but I left it in the remaster since it’s been that way forever).  Once the second movement hits, you may notice its theme as “Remember,” another piece already available on this site.  “Remember” was originally written as the second half of “Cyaron’s Gate,” and it wasn’t until years later that I pulled that theme out and gave it its own piece.

I’ve tried to leave the instruments somewhat synthy so you can get a feel for how this piece sounded 10+ years ago when it was first written.

(last updated 20 April 2010)

After several weeks of work, I’ve completed full remastering of six – yes, SIX – pieces of music from the Tanner Helland musical vault. These six pieces have never been posted to this site before, so you’re in for a real treat. (If you ever visited the original Kroc Camen version of tannerhelland.com, you may have heard several of these pieces – but not all!)

The pieces range from a fiddle jig to an epic castle assault to a honky-tonk villain theme.

Yeah. They’re THAT sweet.

I’ve post-dated the songs to periodically post themselves over the next 6 weeks. Subscribe to music updates specifically via the following feed:

http://www.tannerhelland.com/category/music/feed/

In the meantime, enjoy the new dedicated page for “Deeper” – my latest techno dungeon theme.

As you’ve probably guessed, “Deeper” has been designed as background music (meant to have narration over the top of it), which explains the largely benign instrument choices. Also of note is that I’ve had no choice but to cut down the MIDI track because the mp3/ogg versions use some unorthodox instruments that don’t translate into MIDI. (Listen for the low gong in the first few seconds, as one example.)

Something else I’m excited about is that “Deeper” uses an all-new guitar soundfont, which I think works well in this context. It’s quite grungy, and I think it melds nicely with the heavy synth instrumentation.

To give you a feel for the thematic setting of this piece, think of a sci-fi hero quietly sneaking through an alien lair. When the music escalates, the hero makes a run for it after being detected by his otherwordly enemies…

(last updated 16 April 2010)

Alagaesia and Eragon (Piano Solo) – MIDI (15kb)

Alagaesia and Eragon (Piano Solo) – mp3 (8.1mb)

Alagaesia and Eragon (Piano Solo) – ogg (5.7mb)

A Memory Away – MIDI (10kb)

A Memory Away – mp3 (3.9mb)

A Memory Away – ogg (3.4mb)

Clowns – MIDI (15kb)

Clowns – mp3 (2.5mb)

Clowns – ogg (2.0mb)

And something quite rare – an entirely new, never-before-published track. Woohoo!

Deeper – MIDI (27kb)

Deeper – mp3 (7.7mb)

Deeper – ogg (6.7mb)

“Deeper” is an experimental track for an unannounced project. Sorry I can’t be more specific than that. :)

So what can I say about it?

Well, I can say that it has been designed as background music (meant to have narration over the top of it), which explains the largely benign instrument choices. Also of note is that I’ve had no choice but to cut down the MIDI track because the mp3/ogg versions use some unorthodox instruments that don’t translate into MIDI. Finally, “Deeper” also uses an all-new guitar soundfont, which I think works well in this context.

And yes – more new music and additional “remasters” are on the way!