This week’s selection is a dark and brooding cue for piano, cello, and strings, written for a thriller film a few years back. I’m indebted to studio veteran John Acosta for his fabulous cello performance.

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	The Final Painting

No, we can’t all get along! This week’s selection musically accompanies aggressive battle between ancient Korea and Japan, and thus features percussion indigenous to both cultures: the Japanese taikos and Korean hourglass drum (played here by ethno-percussive guru M.B. Gordy).

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	Attack of the Yen

This week’s musical selection has something of a storybook flavor to it – conveying drama, but in a lighthearted world. This is actually a montage of two cues, which starts with a dramatic orchestral introduction and then switches to a more driving action theme.

Buried in the ensemble is an instrument called a Wagner tuba – akin to a french horn, but with a bit more bite. It isn’t very prominent in this particular cue, but sharp-eared listeners might enjoy trying to pick it out.

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	The Tension Mounts

This pretty – if I don’t say so myself – piece for string orchestra and English horn has a kind of warm holiday fuzziness to it. I therefore thought it would make a nice cue for today, as we head into season of end-of-year celebrations. (Perhaps a touch ironically, this was originally written to accompany a pharmaceuticals ad.)

Happy holidays!

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	Unseen Landsacpes

Taiko drums have transcended their original ethnic connotations to become staples of contemporary action scoring. Though sometimes over-used, these instruments have a lot to offer: they pack a punch, but are more agile than the traditional orchestral bass drum. And as they come in different sizes, they offer a palette of different tones.

This percussion-based cue brings taikos back to the context of Japanese ceremonial and militaristic music, creating a musical portrait of growing conflict. I took some liberties with instrumentation, opting for some expressive sounds that probably weren’t regularly used in 13th century feudal Japan. (Please don’t tell the emperor!)

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

	Thunder Of War