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We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Cambrian Explosion

by Tobias Cornwall

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1.
Blacksteed 02:13
2.
Ramble 0 01:18
3.
Ramble 1 01:50
4.
Ramble 2 02:06
5.
Ramble 3 01:58
6.
Tempestine 02:42
7.
8.
Ramble 5 02:38
9.
Temple of Re 03:00
10.
11.
12.
13.
Ramble 7 05:02
14.
Ramble 8 02:00
15.
Ramble 9 01:41
16.
Clouds 05:17
17.
18.
Ramble 10 02:14
19.
20.
Ramble 11 06:14
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
Shadow Dance 04:41
27.
Liquidity 03:02
28.
29.
30.
31.
Ramble 13 05:24
32.
Contrastia 03:39
33.
34.
In The Mines 01:43
35.
36.
37.
Epic Quest 18:30
38.
39.
Cosmos Waltz 03:52
40.
Ramble 14 04:21
41.
42.
Blacksteed 2 05:37
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
Ominous 01:54
48.

about

These were the first non-game pieces that I composed during my late teens. I had little idea what I was doing - I didn't know anything about music theory and I couldn't play any instruments when I started - but I was compelled by a rush of creativity to manifest music, and so I let my intuition guide me and came up with this. It was so exciting, feeling that wow, I can *make* this stuff!

I've named this after the period in the the Earth's history during which many bizarre kinds of life appeared suddenly; Nature's way of trying everything and keeping whatever stuck. In hindsight, this period of my creative output feels the same. Some things are similar to stuff I'm doing now, some aren't so much. Lots of experimentation!

It was all composed using the basic Microsoft MIDI soundset because I knew no better. This combined with the general theoretical ignorance means this isn't the most beautiful music ever to be produced by mankind, but I think it's interesting looking back on this pure, naive outpouring of creative energy and comparing it to what I'm capable of these days. Or to the more manufactured or highly competent stuff we're always exposed to! There's a certain charm in someone doing things their own way rather than the right way, I feel. (I *could* have remastered them using better soundfonts now that I know more, but I felt that preserving the original sound I wanted when I made them was important.)

They're in chronological order; I composed Blacksteed soon after turning 17 (April 2005), and Ominous when I was nearing 19 (November 2006). You can hear how I improved over time, maybe; some of the earliest pieces are quite harsh!

Many pieces are piano solos because I started learning the piano somewhere around this time, though they use too many notes to be playable. I was - and still am - intrigued by how many different colours and stories could be born through the arrangements of notes on a single instrument alone without being more superficial/obvious about it through varied timbre... or something.

Think of this as an archive of essentially all the music I composed during this period rather than a carefully-picked selection of favourites, as in a real album!

credits

released November 28, 2006

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Tobias Cornwall UK

I'm a self-taught composer who's been at this since I was 15 (DOB Feb 1988). I mostly make indie games and the soundtracks for them, though I've also composed a bunch of non-game music for the joy of it.

My music uses MIDI soundfonts, and I compose in Sibelius. I'd describe it as 'idiosyncratic'! I seem to naturally use non-Ionian modes, with a particular preference for Mixolydian.
... more

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