Xenoblade Chronicles and its sequel, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (imagine that), are another two of my favorite games with excellent music to accompany them. Their soundtrack consists of a unique blend of traditional orchestral scoring and an intense metal band complete with shredding guitar and crazy drums (like this).

Gaur Plains, while lacking the metal component, still blends strings, harp, and woodwinds with electric bass and drum set to create a very upbeat and exciting feel of adventure - precisely what the game wants at this moment as you first begin to explore the sprawling Gaur Plains (listen to the original here).

Taking on this project was actually my first real composition project. During my first private composition lessons in Fall 2019, my first project was simply to choose a piece I liked and arrange it for a small ensemble. Being a brass player I chose a Brass Quintet and being a fan of the games, I chose Gaur Plains. I learned a lot during the whole process while I transcribed part of the piece and figured out how to work it into a Brass Quintet setting. I think for my first time it came out quite good!

Later, in Spring 2021, the CUI Brass Quintet that I play in had the opportunity to record some pieces in our new state-of-the-art recording studio. We had already read this piece a while back but they were willing to pull it out again so we could record it! I am very thankful to them and Mario Gonzalez who was our recording engineer for the session. The results of that session can be heard in the video below and the score is provided as well should you wish to read along.