e.hillman (also known as Eric Hillman) is a composer/producer and songwriter based Wisconsin. Born into a strong classically-trained musical family, Eric began singing and playing piano at the age of 5. He began composing at the age of 12 and by 16 knew that he wanted to score for picture. After graduating from the Berklee College of Music with a degree in Film Scoring, he moved to Chicago, where he, alongside his life-long music partner Brian Holl, laid the ground work for the acclaimed recording project Foreign Fields. E. Hillman returned to his home studio in Nashville to begin work on the score for ASHEN, an open-world action adventure game developed by the New Zealand based studio, A44.
Released in December 2018, ASHEN is a 3rd-person, skill-based, action RPG about guiding your wanderer in search of a place to call home. There is no sun and the natural light that exists comes from eruptions that cover the land in ash. In the game, you fight alongside others, forge friendships and defeat the creatures of shadow determined to cast the world back into darkness. You explore mysterious dungeons, fight epic bosses and explore diverse regions filled with gorgeous vistas and mythical creatures. In this new era of light, you must protect the Ashen and destroy the hungering shadows once and for all.
In this episode e.hillman, shares his first-time-experience in working in the video games industry. He reveals the context and evolution of his music for Ashen and his unique approach in representing the post-apocalyptic-world of the game. Hillman shares why he chose to remove nearly all melody from the score and elaborates on how his instrumentation also reflects the players progress in the game.
ANNOTATED TRACKS / SEGMENTS
02:43 - Ashen
07:19 - Vagrant's Rest (A Place to Call Home)
OTHER TRACKS
00:00 - Sissna, Spinner of Shadows
12:17 - The Whispers
SOUNDTRACK
The original soundtrack for Ashen was released on January 18, 2019 by Annapurna Interactive. You can purchase the soundtrack on Amazon.com and on iTunes or stream it on Spotify or Apple Music.
MORE ABOUT THE COMPOSER
You can find out more about and hear more music by E. Hillman at his official site https://edothillman.com/ or follow her on twitter @edothillman
ABOUT THE ANNOTATOR
Produced by Christopher Coleman (@ccoleman) and you can Find more episodes at THEANNOTATOR.NET or you can subscribe via iTunes, Stitcher Radio or wherever you find quality podcasts.
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