Greetings, ladies and gents.
Harkening back to the author's note I gave in the last chapter, I did mention that I would be doing something to augment Soldier: Legacy in a relatively unique way and I thus needed time to see if such a thing was feasible. Well, after spending hours upon hours tearing my hair out trying to make everything work the way it should, I have finally been able to offer a sample of what is yet to come over the coming months.
To give a bit of background, I always like to give each one of the projects I tackle as much of a cinematic quality as I can muster with my limited talent. I envision sweeping landscapes, complex characters, and expressive scores that transport viewers to other worlds. Writing, as fun as it is, cannot evoke the similar sort of emotions that music is able to, and thus I have been limited to using other composers' pieces to fill in the dramatic gaps in my head. But I suppose I am not so easily contended. So, I made it a personal goal to at least make an attempt to fill that gap with my own hands.
Yep, Soldier: Legacy will be getting its very own soundtrack! The reason it took me so long to provide an update on this was that I had to procure all the necessary tools to make such a thing happen as well as managing a move cross-country (which is not as fun as it sounds). Writing stories is definitely an easier affair than writing music as all you need is a computer and a word processor whereas with the latter you need a keyboard, expensive software, myriad cables, and a bit of your blood and tears. It's definitely not for the faint-hearted, but I've persevered and am now able to provide you all with the first track of the soundtrack that I have envisioned for this story. I aim to compose a musical track for each chapter, thus creating a coherent musical soundscape that can augment the entire reading experience. The idea was brought to me from the Shadows of the Empire score by noted composer Joel McNeely which was designed to accompany a Star Wars novel, an oddity at the time. I liked the concept and it definitely inspired me to go beyond the written word in this case.
The first track, "Main Title," is up on YouTube right now (I'll work on providing a link on my home page later) but you can simply search for "Soldier: Legacy" and scroll a bit down. It'll be the only video with Samus on the thumbnail and it's under my name. It's a remix, of sorts, of the Super Metroid theme that incorporates themes from the Metroid games into the title itself. There's also a new theme in there that I have intended to represent Samus herself. I would say that the majority of this soundtrack will be new and original content and that throwbacks to previous Metroid compositions will be scattered here and there, but I would like to make it sound as orchestral and "movie ready" as possible. A few admissions, though: it's my first time writing music in such a manner and most of us know how well first efforts usually go in terms of trying new things (which is why I never read my earliest stories anymore…blech!) Also, I'm not using the most in-depth software for the job so some parts of the compositions are going to sound relatively cheap, there's no avoiding that bit. It isn't going to be John Williams, but I'm determined to keep at it and gradually get better. After all, practice makes perfect, which is one of the reasons why we're here, right?
I honestly have no freaking clue at how often I will be able to make all of this music as simply creating one track took me an entire day. Also, it's not like I'm going to be focusing all my efforts on this endeavor 24/7 as there are frankly more important things going on in my life, but this is a pet project that I would dearly like to see completed, so I'm hoping it will be finished one day. Take a listen and leave a comment here, or on YT, I don't care where. I'll see if there is some interest in such an undertaking and will adjust my schedule depending on audience demand.
Plus, it gives me an excuse to linger in the Metroid universe a little while longer. I'm intrigued at the possibilities this may have.
…Or I could just be wasting my time. One never knows.
-Rob Sears
P.S. I'm very happy at the wonderful reception that this story has received, though, soundtrack or no soundtrack. All of you are awesome for supporting this all the way through, just thought you should know that as your feedback makes this author extremely happy.