We kick off the new year with one of my own personal favorites, the opening titles to the feature film Against Time. In the film, a teen whiz kid (Ean Mering) is accosted by a seemingly deranged old man (Robert Loggia) claiming to be his future self, here to stop a terrible mistake his past self is about to make. The clincher: time travel has supposedly disoriented him so much that he can’t remember what the mistake is.

Music written for opening titles tends to be an emotional synopsis of some element of the film. Here I was trying to capture a sense of passion and yearning, both of youth and old age, as well as a touch of the supernatural flavoring of time travel.

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	Against Time

Here’s a bit of noble militaristic heroism, also from the Empire Earth 2 score. Recording once again courtesy of the Budapest Film Orchestra.

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	The Troops Arrive

This choral and orchestral piece opens up Empire Earth 2 with a healthy serving of sturm und drang. Chorus and orchestra both recorded in the beautiful renovated Magyar Radio studios in Budapest.

One problem facing composers writing the archetypal “chanting chorus” piece is what to do about lyrics. One school of thought is to not bother – after all, you’re mostly going to hear the vowels. But not wanting to give the chorus a stream of nonsense syllables, I took it upon myself to cobble together a miniature Latin war poem. Finding words that both made sense and rhymed turned out to be quite an effort, even with the generous assistance of some Latin scholars I reached via the Internet. To those who’ve learned this intricate language: I salute you!

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	Morituri Te Salutant

This week’s selection is the opening theme to one of my first feature film scores, written for a political thriller called The F-Zone. The moody main theme for strings alternates with a more lyrical secondary melody for oboe, played here by Jon Clarke. Recorded at the (sadly now-defunct) O Henry recording studio.

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	The F-Zone (Main Titles)

This week’s selection is a bit of 1940s-esque big band swing, originally written for a poker video game. We recorded with a dynamite pickup ensemble, including some longstanding musical collaborators.

And, since I have your attention: come check out my Facebook artist page, which you can reach via this convenient link. I promise, I won’t invite you to join any agrarian, mafia, or vampire-related online games.

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	Poker Night

My music has been used in three separate and unrelated adaptations of the novel Anthem: an audio book, a stage play, and now Greg Bowyer’s in-progress feature film project. I wrote this cue to accompany the guy-meets-girl-in-post-apocalyptic-wrecked-society moment early in the film.

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	Meeting In The Fields

This is a very special Cue of the Week – and not just because it’s the first that’s been run in two weeks. Today’s selection is an excerpt from Identity – Zhongshan Zhuang, a concerto for orchestra and guzheng (Chinese zither). This playful passage is an excerpt from our promotional album, which features emulated orchestra but a live recording of guzheng virtuoso Chang Su.

Of course, there’s nothing like the real thing. Those in the Greater Los Angeles area are invited to come to the premiere of the piece tomorrow night, October 24th at 8pm at the San Gabriel Mission Playhouse. Tickets and information may be found at the Hanyii Productions website.

(Click on the play button to stream, or the cue title to download.)

	Identity – Excerpt From Movement 3 (The Grandchildren Play)