News
Royal Academy of Music - 1 year on
So. One year on and I'm still standing. It's been an interesting year to say the least : Friendship, Talking (a lot!), Lies (A LOT!), Deceit (Even more!), Gossip (on a par with Eastenders), Rivalry (On a par with Alien vs Predator), Threats (On a par with the Godfather) Hilarity (when you're tricked into telling chinese girls that you're a pervert in mandarin by your evil genius of a flatmate you'll understand!) and of course music (meh..!! Just kidding) In short the Academy is possibly the most interesting and often insane place I have ever had the pleasure (and occassionally the misfortune!) to experience! Of course I came to the academy to study music, and without further ado I present to you my first year portfolio:
Monody for Flute Written in the first term and recorded in the second, monody for flute is an attempt to write a piece that primarily revolves around catchy, thematic melody. It was recently performed in America as part of a senior recital.
Trio for Piano, Violin and Flute Initially written for Sussex university professors, I revised the work and even wrote a second movement which I unfortunately have not yet had the time to record (although if God grants me good favour, I shall be recording the piece in its' entirety very soon!) The piece was performed at a composer's platform concert during the first term.
A Night in the City (For Chamber Orchestra) This was my 2nd term project and let me tell you, I put a lot of work into this. The piece depicts a young man walking through a city at night (if you hadn't already guessed). I tried to convey a sense of grandeur, of wonder of excitement and of course, the occassional alcohol fueled embarrassment - possibly involving urinating on a public war memorial and then subsequently appearing in national newspapers, manhood proudly on display! (If you listen carefully, you can hear the paparazzi taking pictures!) The piece was recorded in the 2nd term but unfortunately I have not yet managed to record it in its' entirety. This is just an excerpt from the end of the piece.
L'infinto (Song for voice and piano) There is a story behind this piece to be sure. However, it is simply too tragic to include on this website. I fear I may enduce your tears and - since I am here to entertain - I simply will not share the story but merely hint at the bigger picture. It was initially going to be a piece of music about love written with Korean lyrics, however at the last minute it had to change into a piece written in Italian about infinity or something or other ( I don't really know what the hell it's about to be honest with you!) It was recorded at the last minute by two brave academy musicians who did a fantastic job given the very limited time that we had to rehearse.
I hope this proved to be entertaining musically as well as anthropologically and perhaps even funny. I feel one day that I will document my entire time at the Academy as it truly is one of the most interesting (and ridiculous) places to study!
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It's time for an update?
So what - if anything - has Alex McGery been upto? This is a question you may well ask, as there has been little information to go on. To all my disappointed fans (hello mum and dad!) I can only offer my most sincere of apologies! Fear not however, for the tides are turning; the winds are changing; the seeds are germinating; the bees are starting to make honey once more; the farmer has seen a surplus for the first time in years and as an act of compassion has oiled my gears and plugged me back in! Yes ladies and gentleman! My power has been switched back and I have subsequently put finger to keyboard in order to bring you this fresh, warm, lovely, cuddly-wuddly little-icky-wicky update!
So what then - if anything but talking insane babble - has Alex McGery been upto!? Firstly and foremostly, I have been accepted into the Royal Academy of Music (that's the Royal Academy of Music - Royal as in Royal not National, not International, not Institutional, not Community college, but the Royal, Academy of music! Well that's about it really. I started off with such great news that anything else I tell you will by comparison only be a bitter disappointment! So instead of letting you down, I would like to take this opportunity to thank everybody who stuck with me during the dark years, and who insisted that I should stay at Sussex university and even those who told me I was crazy perhaps irrational to even think to leave Rose Bruford College! Here's (and cheers) to you!
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Rome Total War music
It's been 2 years since I wrote about 30 pieces of music for Rome Total Realism, and do you know what? I think I shall share some more of it with you!
Here's a lovingly hand-picked selection of some of 'the best bits' from yours truly. (Basically I've not included any embarrassingly bad pieces - and there were a few!)
Battle - Mayhem Where it all began! This piece includes one of the recurring themes used throughout the soundtrack.
Main Theme - Mobolize 4 The main theme itself. I came up with so many themes, but this acquired the honour of 'main' quite early on! A very noble and proud piece of wartime music!
Mobolize 3 [I](No idea why I used the American spelling) [/I] A very thematic piece, containing a melody that would incite bloodlust in all men! Even a pacifist like Ghandi would sign up to the local Ghurkas unit after hearing this piece! This is not the main theme for the game, although it could have been :).
Tension Egyptian A piece intended to play before a battle begins. Cautious, with a hint of famous Ancient Egyptian optimism and good humour. The aim was to create a piece with a very Ancient Egyptian feel that also made you want to batter your enemies' heads in! Contains several thematic ideas.
Mobilize Egyptian [I](Again with the American spelling. I guess I'm not proud of my Anglo roots.)[/I] Now the Egyptian army has begun its march towards its' enemies! Fear the mighty Pharoah's Army!
Battle Egyptian The Battle for Egyptian glory begins! Probably my favourite piece from the collection. A short but eventful piece.
Tension Barbarians This piece is written to depict the Barbarian hordes. They are vile, uncivilised, heathenistic men, with nothing to live for other than violence! Listen out for the thematic material that recurs throughout the Barbarian music.
Mobilize Barbarians To depict the mobile Barbarian hordes, I wrote this piece. Contains a horrific yet triumphant call to Battle.
Battle Barbarians Possibly my second favourite piece from the collection. Now the Barbarian Army begins its quest for violence, rape and pillaging!
Battle Imperial Conflict A gladiatorial-esque piece. Contains a short variation of the theme from 'Mobolize 3.mp3'. Also contains one of my favourite musical moments from the entire collection occuring half way through and towards the very end of the piece.
Romantic Battle Dominated by Williams-esque ostinati and an ascending triadic musical fanfare.
Tension Romans Before the Romans begin their march of war! Hints at many of the themes. At the end of the piece you can hear my 'but what if get stabbed?' theme, a very solemn melody that only occurs a few times in the entire soundtrack. That's all your getting today matey!
New Song - The Day That Never Comes
In the far recesses of his bedroom Alex McGery had a dream, a dream to write a song that returned to his rock roots yet stayed faithful to his new found musical pompousity. Subsequently the song became fusion of simple catchy riffs and melodies, with far more daring musical concepts such as 'pretty good voice leading', 'key changes that actually serve a purpose other than to make a boring, senile song sound slightly less boring and senile', 'Gflat(sharp11,flat5) chords, hitherto known as 'The Alex McGery chord' and '3 part harmony that doesn't contain any parallel fifths!'
The song could best be described as 'excellent'.
Showreel
Have put together a short showreel with 30 second excerpts of various tracks. The showreel focuses on electronic work although I couldn't resist adding a brief demo of my latest acoustic work 'Lament for Strings' at the end of the mp3.
Music for Trailer - The Sixth Girl
Directed by Liam Maccarthy, the Sixth Girl is a thrilling take on the tale of Jack the Ripper. Created for his graduation project at the University of Buckinghamshire.
Rome Total Realism Iberian Conflict , Released
Take on the fierce tribes of the Iberian Peninsula as you conquer this land for your people - and of course your own coffers! Defend your homeland from the Carthaginian invaders as the Celt-Iberian player.
The Rome Total Realism team, creators of the acclaimed Rome: Total War RTR 6.0 Gold mod, bring you "The Iberian Conflict". This is a fully playable, full conversion of Rome:Total War, Barbarian Invasion. It's the first of many fully-playable campaigns that will eventually make up the team's full release of RTR VII.
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Rome Total Realism, The Soundtrack
During last year, I was kept busy writing 30+ tracks for the highly anticipated game Rome Total Realism(RTR). RTR is a modification of Creative Assembly's ever popular Rome Total War. The main goal of RTR is to improve upon the realism of the Rome Total War series.
Two tracks from the soundtrack are soon to be featured on ign.com
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The Awakening Reviewed by PlanetHalf-life.com!
Click here to read the reviewExcerpt from the review: "Another major strength that is worth drawing particular attention to is the music. The Half-Life series has never been well known for its musical scores, often down-playing the need for a full orchestral accompaniment in favour of a more atmospheric tone. Whilst Awakening does produce this in spades, it also has the unique inclusion of a fully realized soundtrack that is both welcome and inspiring. There's no greater feeling than encountering the Combine whilst an action-track plays triumphantly in the background. It's the sort of thing that if it isn't done really well, it fails outright. In this case it succeeds, with a flair and bombast that adds another level of excellence to the mod. While the short running time means you won't be coming away humming the tunes to yourself, whilst playing the mod they work together with the whole experience so well it's hard to imagine it without them."