Introducing: The Lorne Balfe Collection

As promised, here is a bonus July post introducing a new trailer music library created this very month: The Lorne Balfe Collection. It is available exclusively from Audio Network, a British production music company founded all the way back in 2001. As the name suggests, this library is a product of Audio Network's partnership with Lorne Balfe (and a team of his composers), the veteran Scottish composer who was once Hans Zimmer's protégé, and whom many of you will know from the scores for some of the earlier Assassin's Creed video games, as well as a couple of entries in the Call of Duty series, and then movies, such as 13 Hours (2016) and Ghost in the Shell (2017), or more recently, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023) and the upcoming Gran Turismo (2023).

Here is Audio Network's own introduction of their new library (or "collection", as they call it):

“Curated by blockbuster film, TV and video games composer Lorne Balfe, this is the real sound of Hollywood. Experience hybrid orchestral music on an epic scale, recorded at the world’s finest studios with industry-leading musicians, and created in collaboration with the collective behind scores for Top Gun: Maverick, Mission Impossible, Black Widow, Black Adam, His Dark Materials and more. Discover a selection of distinct albums, each united by a commitment to the art of storytelling. Whether you need a track for an epic trailer, a huge action set piece or to create a world of fantasy or adventure, you can now bring the big screen to your screen with The Lorne Balfe Collection - produced exclusively with Audio Network. Recorded in the iconic surrounds of AIR Studios, Abbey Road Studios and Synchron Stage in Vienna, [...]”

The Lorne Balfe Collection has 6 debut albums available on Audio Network's website, and you can listen to all of them also on the streaming service of your choice. And just like with one of Audio Network's older trailer music libraries, Maximum Impact, you can expect to see any future releases of The Lorne Balfe Collection also introduced in the monthly trailer music news post. Now, on to the individual albums!

Epic Themes

• Genre: epic adventure/drama
• Description: “Spanning moods from uplifting and valiant to dark and sinister, Lorne Balfe presents hybrid orchestral themes, as realised on an epic scale. The grand emotion of a cinematic orchestra combines with pulsing synths, industrial sound design and choirs.” (Audio Network)
• Composer(s): Alfie Godfrey, Filip Olejka, Jon Ong, Sven Faulconer, Lorne Balfe, Steve Slides
• Tracks: 8
• Favorite track(s): Soar to the Peaks
• Publicly available for streaming.
  

Otherworlds

• Genre: epic/inspiring drama
• Description: “Journey with Lorne Balfe from Viking terror to the wide-eyed wonder of the astral plane. Variously uplifting, tense, spiritual and brooding, this hybrid collection combines orchestras with piano, haunting electronics, detuned pads and tense percussion.” (Audio Network)
• Composer(s): Alfie Godfrey, Jon Ong, Stuart Michael Thomas, Michael Bitton, Ace Vaptsarov, Sven Faulconer, Lorne Balfe, Steve Slides
• Tracks: 8
• Favorite track(s): The Land of Dynasty
• Publicly available for streaming.
  

Cinematic Textures

• Genre: epic/suspense/tension/reflective/inspiring drama, docudrama
• Description: “Alluring and atmospheric, Lorne Balfe’s textured, hybrid pieces evoke epic, sci-fi vistas and dystopian worlds. Cinematic, orchestral arrangements are embellished with organ ostinatos, growling synths, solo saxophone and powerful percussion.” (Audio Network)
• Composer(s): Alfie Godfrey, Michael Bitton, Jon Ong, Taran Mitchell, Filip Olejka, Lorne Balfe, Steve Slides
• Tracks: 9
• Publicly available for streaming.
  

Synth Orchestral

• Genre: epic/inspiring/triumphant drama
• Description: “Discover the real sound of Hollywood with this bold, hybrid collection by Lorne Balfe and his team. Blending cinematic, orchestral arrangements with atmospheric synths and propulsive percussion, these tracks channel an epic, legendary and timeless feel.” (Audio Network)
• Composer(s): Rufio Sandilands, Alfie Godfrey, Filip Olejka, Lorne Balfe, Steve Slides
• Tracks: 8
• Publicly available for streaming.
  

Hybrid World

• Genre: epic/fantasy adventure, epic/inspiring drama
• Description: “Lorne Balfe shares wondrous, hybrid themes that centre a succession of eclectic instruments, from African percussion and the Turkish saz/bağlama to early electronic instrument the Ondes Martenot. Ideal for fantasy adventure content.” (Audio Network)
• Composer(s): Jon Ong, Sven Faulconer, Taran Mitchell, Kiley Norton, Rufio Sandilands, Lorne Balfe, Steve Slides
• Tracks: 9
• Publicly available for streaming.
  

Psychological Thriller

• Genre: epic/suspense/tension/reflective drama, dramatic thriller
• Description: “Hollywood composer Lorne Balfe and his team present deeply atmospheric pieces designed for psychological drama. By turns mysterious and foreboding, majestic and chaotic, labyrinthine string patterns meet disturbing electronics, guitars and bowed metals.” (Audio Network)
• Composer(s): Filip Olejka, Taran Mitchell, Jon Ong, Alfie Godfrey, Kiley Norton, Lorne Balfe, Steve Slides
• Tracks: 8
• Publicly available for streaming.
  

I hope you enjoyed the first special introduction post, and I'll see you again in a month or so, when the August trailer music news post is ready! Čau!

Jurik

Icons by Icons8 and from Wikimedia Commons.