As I type this, its snowing outside- a condition known here in the Rut Belt (typo intended) as: The Grey.

Its a long, dreary season from the end of October up until April – sometimes as late as May. And even then, it may not get ‘nice’ until the end of May.

Which, as you can imagine, puts me in a lovely mood.

I need the sun. I need fresh air and puttering in my garden. I need it about as much as I need to be creative and work on my games. Sadly, the weather often conspires against my mood; and my schedule conspires against my creative time.

Ironically, this gloomy atmosphere is perfect for working on my big emotional scene, hopefully evocative of Disney films when our hero is all alone and having moments of doubt and despair. For this I needed a piece of music that my niece and nephew could play. Luckily I was just wandering around the back alleys of the internet and discovered Airgigs and within seconds discovered a composer who sounded exactly like I wanted.

After a few back and forth emails discussing the mood and feeling I was looking for, the composer said she’d get back to me with a first run.

Now, the idea has always been that, since this is a family project, I’d involve my niece & nephew, who are both accomplished musicians and very talented. My sister in law sent me a YouTube link of them performing ‘Castle on a Cloud’ from Les Mis – and I was thunderstruck with how it really hit the feeling I wanted from my commissioned composition. The tone, timber and evocative mood all fell into place and i sent the video along to the composer.

What she sent back was amazing.

It was a early Monday morning and I sat down with my coffee as the kids were playing videogames and I opened the attachment and gave it a listen.

I honestly wasn’t expecting to tear up that early in the morning. It was spot on. And, further punctuated by my youngest asking if that was his cousin singing.

And I can’t wait to put it in the game!