When it comes to orchestral cues I’m more inclined to share live recordings than those made with digital instruments, since the former are evergreen and the latter tend to show their age as technology advances. However, I liked this map view music from Empire Earth 3 so much that I gave it a sonic makeover, including a touch of analog tube emulation for warmth.

Accompanying a screen showing the contested Earth from orbit, this cue’s focus is conveying both tension and the panoramic sweep of the view.

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This week’s cue is an ominously-building prelude combining orchestral colors with chorus, electronics, and many drums.

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This week’s selection comes from the feature documentary Touché: A Blind Fencer’s Story, whose subject matter is as inspiring as it is surprising. (If you’ve never heard of sight-impaired fencing, you’re not alone!) The film also documents the struggles of day-to-day living for those who have lost their sight in adulthood.

This cue for nylon string guitar develops the film’s fencing theme (presented earlier on cello), which here reflects the optimism and never-say-die attitude of the film’s primary subject, blind fencing champion Catherine Bolton. Guitar performance courtesy of Tom Strahle.

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This week’s music selection is an uptempo 40s-esque big band number, originally written for a poker video game. We recorded with a dynamite horn and rhythm section, including some longtime musical collaborators.

The march of music technology has frequently left the live studio drummer by the wayside. Recordings like these remind me that there is no substitute for the real thing!

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This week’s selection was written for the crime-thriller feature Maximum Justice, which in original release went by the perhaps more elegant name The Waterfront. Its story concerns an ex-Viet Nam vet who is betrayed by the mob and takes justice into his own hands, along with a variety of firearms.

I scored this film years ago, and have to admit that I have no memory of what was going on in this particular scene. Judging from the music, it was something foreboding.

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