Issue #11 / August 2025
When I Grow Up, I Want to be a Video Game Composer… Hello my friends! How have you been? I’m doing great myself. Summer has been very busy, productive and satisfying. I haven’t published a lot of new music on my YouTube channel lately because my classical guitar studies took over. I reached important milestones, and fill you in a bit, but first let’s talk about video game music!
What’s Been Going On?
Even if guitar stole the spotlight, I have been keeping up with several compositional projects and aspirations. This past spring, I started working on electronic music and sound design inspired by the elements (fire, water, air, earth, etc.) and trying to address one of my main weaknesses in composition: sparsity. I’m still meeting Joel Corelitz every month for helpful coaching sessions, and I had the chance to chat with Disasterpeace once more. Both are extremely gifted in writing sparse music that is as intriguing as gorgeous. They’ve actually collaborated together in the past to write the soundtrack to Solar Ash, so be sure to listen to this gem and see what I mean by “sparsity”. Meanwhile, I’ve written more tracks for Shadow Maiden. A demo could be around the corner! And more recently, I met another game developer from the UK who would like me to write sci-fi chiptunes for his upcoming title. I hope to tell you more about this project in the next while. Finally, to my great delight, my music was featured in a music video and a visual audiobook!
Stellar Saga
Aside from learning, practicing and working on commissions, I have been collaborating once more with HydroGene on a new album project. “Stellar Saga” is the soundtrack to an imaginary sci–fi/fantasy JRPG for the Sega Genesis, in the likes of Phantasy Star. I’ve barely played Sega Genesis games in my youth, so the first step in developing this project was to get acquainted with prominent Sega Genesis soundtracks like Golden Axe, Streets of Rage II, Sonic the Hedgehog III and a dozen more. After that, I had to get familiar with the sounds of the chipset in the console, the Yamaha YM2612. I was recommended a great VST that emulates it very well: Plogue’s chipsynth MD. HydroGene and I were also very happy to hire an amazing artist and video game developer, Jeremy Smith, to design our album cover. Be sure to listen to the tracks that we have already published, and stay tuned for more details about the full album release.
Classical Guitar News
This has surely been the busiest classical guitar season since the beginning of my studies of the instrument! At the end of May, I gave my first formal solo recital by renting a beautiful room in a community center. In June, I passed my level 9 examination with the Royal Conservatory of Music. In August, I spent a week at Camp musical Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean, during which I took private lessons, had a masterclass with renowned Canadian guitarist Steve Cowan and performed as a soloist, as part of a trio and with an orchestra for various concerts. My most cherished memory of guitar camp, and also my greatest learning experience, was to conduct arrangements of two of my original video game compositions with the guitar orchestra. You can see both performances on my classical guitar YouTube channel. Merci à tous les guitaristes qui ont participé à ce beau souvenir! And one tiny last bit of guitar news: I’m finally growing my nails on my right hand so that I can increase my dynamic range!
Featured Music
I’d like to share my favorite publications from the last few months. Click on the images below. Firstly, “Stellar Saga” is such an enjoyable project and collaborating with HydroGene is as amazing, fun and easy as ever. Our combat track is a great example of our work together - it’s fast-paced and exciting and has sci-fi elements that represent the kind of game we have in mind. I’m also proud to showcase the battle music from Shadow Maiden which was performed by the fantastic guitarists of the Camp musical Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean. Finally, I’d like to share “Verdant Glade”, my most recent assignment from my composition coach in electronic music and sparsity. This track was a rescore of the forest level from the video game “Tumbleseed” (originally scored by Joel Corelitz). Enjoy!
Exclusive Content For Subscribers
Here’s something extra special for you. During the winter, I practiced writing electronic music by creating space-themed and cyberpunk tracks. I shared all of my cyberpunk music with the indie game development community through itch.io by providing a free asset pack. To accompany the pack, I created a video featuring all 13 tracks, uninterrupted, for an enjoyable experience. I’m giving you access to that music right here!
What’s Next?
We still have a few more tracks to write to complete the “Stellar Saga” project. Development of “Shadow Maiden” has resumed and this means that a few more commissions will keep me busy for a while. And lastly, I’ve stepped into the world of… finger drumming!!!! I purchased an Akai MPD218 so that I could further develop my creativity when writing rhythms and parts for percussion and drums. It’s proving to be a lot of fun! I’m using Atlas 2 and Battery 4 as well as a huge quantity of samples. I might end up publishing some beats in the near future! Anyways, Game Over... Until the Next Score!
