Early in 2023 I started taking on composition commissions for music to support and enhance people’s games of Dungeons and Dragons, and other such games.
This music is meant to underscore and uplift a scene as it plays out, or sometimes shorter pieces are played as a “theme tune”to accompany an important character, item or location.
I compose using Logic Pro X, which gives me access to lots of great sounding synths but also allows me to bring in even better ones sourced separately. I am also proficient in score writing software such as Musescore, so if a client wishes for a score to accompany their sound file, they can order that too.
Due to the nature of Dungeons and Dragons games and their slightly improvised nature, sometimes a scene can go on for longer than expected. Thus, I give buyers the option to make the music loop-able, meaning that it can replay seamlessly, much like retro video game music.
A popular service recently has been the request of the sheet-music add-on, which means the dnd music can be played by musicians at the game table. It also means the sheet music itself can be used as an immersive in-game item that the Dungeon Master can hand out to players. The score and music example are musical heirlooms for a goblin bard.
This was a theme tune composed for a tragic hero, Erebus, to be used in a scene with him, as though he is the one playing the Lute. The buyer requested that any accompanying instruments be kept in the background, hence the subtle rising in the strings. The main theme of this piece is built on a perfect 5th interval, normally associated with heroic characters in media. With this one however, the fifth falls instead of rises, showing through the music that the hero has fallen.
Art by Rohan, supplied by buyer
This piece was written as part of a series of others to accompany a D&D livestream, which started on the 8th April, 2024. For these pieces I started by writing a theme tune, whereby I could sow some musical seeds and reference them in later pieces. This is the battle music to go with that campaign. I composed this in an irregular time signature to help make the combat feel more exciting and unpredictable. All the music that you’ll hear them play was composed by me, so please do take a look at some of their videos and livestreams – https://www.youtube.com/@JoinTheHub
Art by @angela.depaolis.art, supplied by buyer
For this piece, the artwork told me so much about the flair that this particular villain needed; sinister, aristocratic, and frighteningly magical! As this piece was for a returning customer, they requested that I find a way to sneak in a theme from an earlier order that I did for them. As this is “boss fight” music, I took the piece in a few different directions to represent the flow of a fight and to keep it feeling fresh after each loop.
Art by https://101kappas.newgrounds.com/, supplied by buyer
A slight detour from composing music for Tabletop Role-Playing Games, I composed the music featured in this trailer for the Taiko Drumming group: Kaminari Taiko. It was a great challenge to make my synthesised drums sound worthy of a drumming group’s promotional trailer. Another challenge with this piece was that the trailer music came first, so I needed to envision what I think the trailer would end up looking like.
Thank you for taking the time to listen to some of my work! If you would like to hear more, read some reviews from satisfied customers, or talk about potentially placing your own order, please visit my Fiverr page – https://www.fiverr.com/s/3mgKGm
Alternatively, you can place an order directly with me, so please get in touch – tombrethertoncomposer@gmail.com
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Tom Bretherton 