Josh Barron - Composer, Arranger, Producer

Yes! You read that correctly! 

Fallen Aces Episode 1 is now available on Steam. Brought to you by the creative minds of Trey Powell and Jason Bond, published by New Blood Interactive, you now can start you journey as Switchblade City's hard-boiled detective Mike Thane as he tries to survive and crack some goon skulls in the process. 

I am just extremely proud of the entire team. After FIVE YEARS, we get to share our labor of love with the fans who have been waiting for this since our announcement. I am honored that I got to play a part in scoring the soundtrack that coincides with the masterfully written story, voice acting, imagery, and gameplay. 

The outpour of positivity from the fans of the game has been heartwarming and I am pretty happy that there are so many of you that are commenting on how you love the music in addition to the game. I'm afraid we couldn't get the soundtrack to be performed live as we originally intended for Early Access as budgets tend to change as we get closer and closer to post-production. However, I still will pour every ounce of energy to make sure the sound is as close to real as it can get. 

I want to let everyone know that a soundtrack release is in the works as I am beginning to go through all of the tracks and polish them for a standalone listening experience. I don't have a release date yet but I hope to get it out sometime in the fall of 2024. Thank you all for your support! To have my music catch your attention, is the highest praise I can ever have. You all are the best!

Lastly (and most importantly) I want to thank Trey Powell for believing in me to the musical voice of this score, honestly I owe you a lot. John Montoya, for introducing me to Trey in the first place… I would not be here if it weren't for him bringing me up to Trey. Jason Bond, seriously the other amazing dev on our team who always comments on tracks I share in the dev chat and offers feedback when I ask, thank you! Dave Oshry for his steadfast badassery and leadership, he really has his heart in it and I cannot think of a better place than New Blood for Aces. You all are so chill and easy to work with. And I definitely want to thank my wife, who has heard every track a MILLION times whether it was in my home studio, the car, or on my bluetooth speaker, she has been my best critic and supporter. Also want to thank all my family, friends, and colleagues who have been there for me through thick and thin (you know who you are). And last, but not least, I want to thank my music educators Craig Blume, Tim Miller, David Pallada, and Ellie Boyer. You all taught me music is humankind's greatest gift and accomplishment. You made me into the composer I am today. The work you do should never go unappreciated. 

Thank you again from the bottom of heart! Also… if you wish to hear a portion of the soundtrack while waiting for the release, you may find that here (among a few of my other works and WIPs) here.

Hey, everyone! It's been a while but rest assured I have been super busy finishing a new batch of music for Fallen Aces by New Blood Interactive. To showcase the game, a new trailer has been released as part of our reveal for Realms Deep 2023. You can check it out below!

Imagery contains age-restrictions due to the mature content of the game so simply click the link and it should take you to YT. 

Much thanks to Trey Powell, Jason Bond, and the team as well as New Blood for this amazing opportunity!
 

The long awaited sequel to The ETHEReal String Project is finally here! This entire album brings together not only my friends from The ETHEReal String Orchestra along, but my good friend Benyamin Nuss as well as Joe Zieja as special guests. 

Benyamin Nuss is a familiar name for those who have listened to both Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts music whose extensive career includes recording for Masashi Hamauzu, touring with both Distant Worlds and A New World concerts as well as the Kingdom Hearts Orchestra Tour. Not only is he one of the most prolific performers out there, he produces and records his own albums a few of which are dedicated to JRPG music. 

Joe Zieja is mostly known for his extensive career as a voice actor, lending his acting to various high profile projects such as Fire Emblem: The Three Houses, Star Fox Zero: The Battle Begins, Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin just to name a few. In addition to being an exceptional voice actor, Joe is also an amazing musician in which he performs an original song on Kaleidoscope titled "Home". 

The album as a whole focuses on two of my all-time favorite composers in the gaming industry: Hitoshi Sakimoto and Masashi Hamauzu. Many of these pieces have never been recorded by live musicians and so once again, I set out to not only preserve and honor these classics, but to arrange them so that new audiences can connect to these legendary game scores. Each composer gets a rather diverse selection that hopefully covers their career, albeit in broad strokes. 

You may find the album hub here which will include the various links for most platforms (Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, etc.). 
 

Lastly, I cannot thank you all enough for your support and encouragement over the years! I have more things in progress and will make it a priority to lessen the wait between now and the next release :) 



 

After a while of inactivity, the website is now back online! I had decided to deactivate for a while due to lack of funds to keep it up. Now that things have settled down, I have decided to re-launch the site. I have lots of projects going on so expect a lot of updates moving forward!

Hello, everyone! I know it has been quite a while since there was an update to this site. I can assure you that I have been hard at work on the music for New Blood Interactive's game Fallen Aces. With the new gameplay trailer released and revealed, I can finally take a bit of a breather to share the trailer here. I cannot thank New Blood enough for this opportunity as well as the gamers who are really digging what they are seeing. I can't wait to be able to reveal more, but until then please enjoy the trailer! 

If you would like to learn more about the game or add the game to your Steam Wishlist, please visit: FallenAsses.com. Now where's the gabagool?!

FINAL FANTASY: a name that is well known with gamers for over two decades and more than two generations, has been critically acclaimed as one of the most popular RPG franchises of all time. Not only have the games achieved such legendary status for its storytelling, world building, and gameplay, but also its music. To this day, people instantly recognize the bombast of "One Winged Angel" more than they did in 1997. Now, more than ever, video game music continues to bridge the gap between popular and classical music bringing both young and older listeners together. Benyamin Nuss sought to do the same when he released Benyamin Nuss Plays Uematsu under the classical label Deutsche Grammophon, which is quite a big deal for the game music industry. Nuss went on to perform at game music concerts such as Symphonic Fantasies to becoming a frequent collaborator with Final Fantasy XIII composer Masashi Hamauzu. Through those collaborations, Benyamin strengthened his skills as both composer and arranger. The result of his experiences culminated a gorgeous album that can only be described as a labor of love to Final Fantasy. 

The album is both classy and edgy in that the music isn’t afraid to break from the original and present these works in a new light. I found myself reveling in nostalgia, but at the same time feeling like this is my first time hearing these pieces. Even the album concept is nicely realized into a suite form, with Benyamin composing vignettes in each style of the five featured composers. It is no small feat to compose in the style of five different composers and Benyamin does this quite well. My favorite vignette out of the whole bunch is “À Masashi Hamauzu” simply because Hamauzu’s style has heavily influenced Benyamin’s own writing. The album starts off with a surprising selection “Run!” from Final Fantasy IX. To this day, this is one of my favorite motifs from Uematsu’s music. While imagining the moment when Blank gets petrified by the forest, I hear Nuss match my emotions going from playful and chaotic, to bombast and deliberately tense. Theme of Love switches gears entirely by giving us the somber ballad “Theme of Love” from Final Fantasy IV. This is the finest piano arrangement of this to date, successfully utilizing jazzy chords to create this velvety lushness unlike any other version available. 

Following Uematsu, is none other than Hitoshi Sakimoto. While, I really wanted to hear a Final Fantasy Tactics selection, I am pleased to see both "Eruyt Village" and "Giza Plains". "Eruyt Village" plays it pretty safe as far as the arrangement, but still manages to amplify the mysticism and melancholy of the plight of the Viera. Nuss effortlessly skirts across the piano creating a beautiful and ethereal sound. To take a step back to the arrangement, the accidentals that sneak their way into the arpeggios are really a nice touch. I was very surprised by "Giza Plains" in that the rhythm changed quite a bit. I welcomed this moving, bouncy, and energetic take on the theme and for once I couldn’t anticipate where it would go next. Giza is a fun and expertly performed arrangement that is hands down the best on the whole album. 

Masayoshi Soken is a composer that I am not quite familiar with, but I have heard tidbits from Final Fantasy XIV A Realm Reborn. While this is my first time hearing "Kugane", which is the theme of the main city in Stormblood, I am captivated by the flowing arpeggios, usage of dissonance, and Japanese folk influences. Arranged by Nuss, the chords clearly show influences by Masashi Hamauzu which only added to the sophisticated form of the arrangement itself. 

Moving right along, we get another arrangement from our esteemed virtuoso: Yoko Shimomura’s beloved “Somnus” from Final Fantasy XV. Having been arranged for piano before, I hoped Nuss would deliver a more refined version and he certainly did not disappoint. The first part of it is a slow build, but one that really makes you beg for that climactic and epic section. Once it hit that point, my heart melted a thousand times over. So. Much. Emotion. What a divine take on an already beautiful piece! 

Next comes my absolute favorite composer: Masashi Hamauzu. Some might not have enjoyed FFXIII and its subsequent spinoffs, but I really love Hamauzu’s music for each. “Dust to Dust” shows just how much Nuss feels at home arranging and performing Hamauzu’s music. The endearing melodies, the tenderness are felt throughout the lush and flowing arrangement. If ever another piano album came out for FFXIII, I really hope Nuss and Hamauzu collaborate for it. “Knight of the Goddess”, Hamauzu’s single arrangement, came as quite a surprise. As beautiful as it sounds, I really hoped for a fast paced second half of the theme. While that did not happen, I found the arrangement better upon repeated listens as it does have charm. I love the Debussian sound that Hamauzu brings to this theme as it is definitely more subdued and contemplative. “Hauyns Theme” from World of Final Fantasy is a very nice, relaxing arrangement by Nuss. I love the different styles in this as we go from a very soft intro to a moving and bright middle, and then the finale of this is just sublime. Nuss adheres to the Fantasy form, which is quite an appropriate musical pun for this album. 

It wouldn’t be a Final Fantasy album without Nobuo Uematsu closing it. “Chocobo Variations” is a nearly nine minute arrangement by Bill Dobbins. Naturally, there are jazz influences which pairs perfectly with the theme. Nuss’ performance here is lively and wouldn’t be out of place if it were on a Herbie Hancock record. The final piece of this amazing album is none other than “Eyes on Me” from Final Fantasy VIII. For the final time on this album, Nuss once again dazzles as pianist and arranger. The melodic structure of this version gingerly meanders its way as Rinoa did to Squall’s heart until it hits with a focused passion. I feel like the full spectrum of the piano is on display here and I find myself feeling sad as the album nears its end. 

I can’t express how well done his album is. For fans new and old, for classical enthusiasts, minimalists, and contemporaries, this collection of music is sure to please not only gamers but non-gamers as well. For diehard fans, some of the pieces might be a bit too experimental at first, but upon further listening they really start to grow on you. Benyamin Nuss continues to bring high quality music with each release and I believe he succeeded on all fronts. Nuss managed to show us that game music can have both class and maturity beyond the medium it had been designed. That is the true art and what will keep game music sprinting forward for generations to come. (5 out of 5 stars)

Fantasy Worlds is available on Bandcamp, iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, Tidal, and Qobuz. 

Hello, everyone! Today is a good day for Patreon subscribers! Members will get exclusive access to the studio recording of Windy Mountain, a four movement work that premiered in 2017 under the baton of Carey Bostian and the Iowa City Community String Orchestra. I teamed up with ETHEReal String Orchestra to make a definitive version of this composition. 

In addition, subscribers will also get access to an exclusive track from the next ETHEReal String Project album. The track is Warning Call from Mirror's Edge Catalyst and features a full string orchestra. 

To get access to this content, please become a Patron. 

*Please Note* Apprentice Tier subscribers will get the first movement ONLY as well as a music clip of Warning Call. Journeyman and Master Tier subscribers will be given the full tracks of both in addition to liner notes and more. 

Become a Patron!

In order to bring more high quality content directly to you, I have revamped the Patreon page to offer more consistent content monthly! You will find three tiers that you can subscribe to and since I love Elder Scrolls, I decided to name each tier in an Elder Scrolls way. In addition I have added a button in this article as well as to the left (under the Spotify button) for ease of access. Now what do you get for subscrbing? Here are a few perks to doing so:

-Access to patron only content (posted at least once a month) which includes previews and full tracks from upcoming albums, vlog entries, insights into my compositional process, and more! 
-Free download codes for previously released albums and original releases.
-Special original compositions written for upper tier patrons with their names in a special thanks section. Free downloads of those compositions will be included with subscription. 
-An EPs worth of music available monthly (Master tier only). 

I hope that you might subscribe and give this a whirl! Thank you for supporting my music! 

Become a Patron!

New Episode of Dark Dice is out! This one will have some good fights to it and tense moments. This episode, I got asked to write percussion and clarinet for the battle track Red Ice. 

To make the percussion, I simply looked to The Witcher and God of War for inspiration. Big drums (a combination of various toms and taiko drums) and anvils make up the bulk of the percussion. I added some winds, which really illustrate one of the characters trying to resist a hostile spell. The clarinets have this nagging, pulsing, ostinato as the magic tries to pry into her mind. 

I still have one more original yet to appear in this series. I can't wait to hear it used :). 

After six months of silence, I can finally reveal my involvement in a massive Xenogears project. For this, I did a much larger orchestration than I usually do. I have over 90 stems of performed music by an amazing team of musicians. I also did a full orchestral arrangement and I collaborated with Peter Jones, who came in a patched up my vocal parts as well as writing original lyrics, and Krasi Krastev, who took those lyrics and translated them into Bulgarian. That was very critical as Bulgarian is the language and style that influenced Mitsuda's score for the game. The album releases December 7th, but you may pre-order the album today. Fans of my music won't have to wait that long as my arrangement of One Who Bares Fangs at God is able to be streamed on the Bandcamp page and you can download it if you pre-order the album, along with five other amazing tracks. I hope you enjoy what you hear and there is more music from me to come! 

Cover Art by Jake Murray