This week’s challenge was a little different. My friend Whitaker Trebella (formerly Blackall) asked me to do a cover of one of his video game compositions, from the game Cardinal Quest. He lives in Chicago though, so it was all up to me to figure out what to do. I decided to go in a completely non-synth direction.
Cardinal Quest Main Menu Theme
Composed by Whitaker Trebella, performed by Charlie McCarron.
Whit moved off to Indiana University to study music and then Chicago to make music, so I haven’t really seen him since high school. But I’ve been following his composing career, and it’s pretty cool what he’s been up to. He started writing music for video games by just connecting with a few game developers on forums. After scoring a few very successful mobile games, including Tilt to Live and Super Stickman Golf, developers have been knocking at his (virtual) door to tap into his brilliant musical brain. Turns out he never actually meets these people in real life. Oh, the wonders of the internet!
So anyways, I was honored when he asked me to do a cover of his composition for Cardinal Quest. You can hear the original music at http://www.cardinalquest.com/demo. I really liked the main menu theme. It seemed peaceful and foreboding at the same time, and I thought it would translate really well to violin. I originally thought I would use just violin tracks, but I felt like it needed something in the low register for the second time through the progression. This tune will be one of many on a Cardinal Quest covers album, coming out soon. I’m excited to see what other musicians do with Whit’s music.
If you’re looking for a fun composer to subscribe to on YouTube, Whit is the guy.
He posts a bunch of composition and production videos showing what goes on behind the scenes. I’ve been really fascinated by his 10-minute song production videos he does right in Logic Pro. It’s along the lines of some of the stuff I do, only 10 times faster.
You can check out Whit’s many creative projects at WhitakerBlackall.com or contact him @wblackall.