Post by Layla Littlenymph on Oct 7, 2015 19:29:58 GMT -5
The Ardent Weekly Ledger
Vol. 06
This weeks Ledger highlight gives me an opportunity to introduce to you an individual that I have only now become aware of myself, Kevin Macleod. Mr. Macleod is a composer, and while I am only just now learning of him, I have been listening to, and enjoying his music for many years now. If you have ever played a game and thought to yourself, "Hmmm... I think I recall hearing that piece in another game. Come to think of it, that sounds like a piece from a movie I watched not so long back." Chances are, you are listening to a Macleod score. In fact, if you play games, watch the occasional movie, or just browse random You Tube videos, you are more familiar with this mans work than you may have realized.
Having played Villagers and Heroes for the past year and a half, I have been listening to Macleod on a near daily basis, but I will allow the Ledger itself to tell you why that is, and how it came to be.
~LL
Did You Know?
The Music of Kevin Macleod.
An Ardent Weekly Ledger staff article.
Have you ever wondered about the music in Villagers & Heroes? Where do so many of those gentle acoustic melodies, or entrancing symphonic pieces come from that so uniquely match the personalities of the zones in our game?
His name is Kevin MacLeod, and for several years now V&H has been fortunate enough to be able to incorporate countless pieces of this incredibly talented musician’s work into the game. (Close to 100 tracks, in fact, within Villagers & Heroes, are all Kevin’s!)
How did Mad Otter come to be so lucky? Like so many others, we owe it all to this musician, who, because of his utter distaste for the current copyright system, decided to distribute all of his original music free of charge to any and all who might desire to use it on his website: incompetech.com.
He asks only for credit, nothing else. The result? Artists, filmmakers, game devs, web entrepreneurs, You Tube video makers, and the list goes on and on, are all able to create their own projects and see their visions fulfilled with genuinely beautiful music, and without having to go through a series of often insurmountable hurdles to do so.
Kevin is a hero in the world of independent arts, so much so, that a feature documentary film is currently being made about him, the funding for which came from Kickstarter — many of the donors themselves, having been those who had utilized Kevin’s music for their own projects in the past.
(Royalty free, The music of Kevin Macleod)
And it’s not just struggling indie artists who appreciate Kevin’s work. Acclaimed film director Martin Scorsese (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas, The Departed) was so impressed with Kevin’s music that he featured it in his 2011 film, Hugo.
Villagers & Heroes owes an enormous debt to this talented musician. Thank you, Kevin MacLeod!
You can also listen to Kevin’s music (for free) at:
soundcloud.com/kevin-9-1
Also In This Edition:
* Player Interview: Rhea.
* Coming Soon: Equinox (currently in game at time of posting).
* Behind The Scenes: V&H outfits, and how they come into being.
The Ardent Weekly Ledger is a weekly publication from Mad Otter. New editions available every Friday.
Each week, we will be posting key excerpts from the most recent editions.
Current and archived editions can be seen in full at The Ardent Weekly Ledger