Based on a comic series, the creator Daniel Crook and Andy Bashforth creating a YT series with an incredible deal in 3D animation and VFX.
Tim and Bash is series about a firefighter who adopts the world’s most adorableIs baby dragon and go along with adventures like, dragon hoarding, firing postcards and firefighting. For Markus it is a real pleasure to support the series with a light hearted orchestral score, pointing through comedic and epic moments.
Markus joined the team of Alderon games to create the music for the prehistoric world of Path of Titans. Play as a dinosaur, fight and hangout with your friends, before humans every have existed on the planet.
For the musical score, Markus used a lot of natural sounds, not often used percussion from Africa and Asia to let the player immerse into the archaic world of the prehistoric giants and reptiles.
Also with Player One Trailer, the Cinematic Universe of the game was created as the trailer made a huge impression on the whole franchise and players worldwide.
Markus composed the score for the drama „4 tage bis zur Ewgikeit“ produced by Star Mountain Pictures in Germany. With live recorded violin and cello, Markus developed a musical language that let the watcher feel the roughness of the castle where the main protagonist is trapped as well as let the emotional scenes be more impactful with lush strings and memorable melodies.
Based on the mysterious legend of Idilia Dubb. Germany, 19th century, in the Middle Rhine Valley. 17-year-old Idilia (Lea van Acken) wakes up badly injured in the middle of a gloomy castle ruin and can remember nothing. She is horrified to discover that there seems to be no escape for her.
Only her diary can help her decipher her past and reveals a secret romance with Caven (Eric Kabongo), an Abyssinian showman who has to work for Idilia’s fiancé Franz Hagerberg (André M. Hennicke) at his human zoo exhibition.
The young woman’s struggle for survival and her slowly returning memory blur reality and fantasy.
Live Score Berlin is a pioneering initiative for greater collaboration between the local gaming and music industries. Nine studios, including seven from Germany, participated in the first Live Score Berlin and collaborated with the renowned Babelsberg Film Orchestra. This initiative focused on working with indie and medium-sized studios to provide developers, players, and supporters with the opportunity to experience their soundtrack live with an orchestra.
Just as in recent years, the gaming industry plays a significant role in various industries, as Toa Dunn, Head of Riot Games Music, pointed out: “More young people listen to orchestral music through their game consoles today than have ever listened to orchestral music in the history of music. Live orchestral performances of video game music include GameOn, Game Concerts, Distant Worlds, and Video Games Live. Many large video game franchises invest in the craft of music for their IP. While at Riot, we had a high preference (when budgets permitted) to use live musicians for our recordings.”
Even the smallest live elements greatly enhance the quality of music in games, making closer collaboration at the local level a natural choice. The goal of Live Score Berlin is to reduce the apprehension of local music facilities, recording studios, and live musicians and make the auditory and emotional moments of a game more accessible. Participating studios had the opportunity to attend a recording session in the film studios, where they could explain the influences of the game and pass them on to the musicians, allowing them to immerse themselves in the world of the game universe. Each of the studios could take home photos, impressions, and, of course, the live-performed music. This music will then be encountered by their players in the game, further captivating them.
This collaboration opened up opportunities for different communities, joint marketing strategies, and various distribution channels (e.g., music releases), which are crucial for game developers to remain internationally competitive.
Participating studios included: Bitfall Studios (Toplitz Games), Appeal Studios (NACON), Twin Drums, Elysium Game Studios, ByteRockers’ Games, BAD Spiele Studio, Vision Keeper Studios, Grownarts, and Unnamable Arts.
The project was initiated and led by Markus Zierhofer, a game composer from Berlin, who was able to implement the concept with the support of his Game Audio company, AudioCreatures GmbH. Due to the consistently positive feedback, efforts are now underway to further develop it for next year, expanding the offering with the support of local associations and backers, making live recordings more accessible to the gaming market. Live Score Berlin represents a significant step toward a more harmonious connection between the gaming and music worlds.
Markus Zierhofer joined the team from composer Kevin Lax and Robert Lydecker and was supporting as a music editor. In the series of the very well known IP Kung Fu Panda starts of a few years after the events of Kung Fu Panda 3 where Po the must leave his home and embark on a globe-trotting quest across China for redemption and justice that finds him partnered up with a no-nonsense English knight named Luthera (a brown bear), also known as Wandering Blade. Among creator and voice actor Jack Black the Netflix series developed by Mitch Watson and Peter Hastings is the third TV series in the Kung Fu Panda franchise. Produced by DreamWorks the series premiered on Netflix on July 14, 2022.
In 2023 Markus had the honor to contribute to the fantastic team from Jessica de Rooij of Sisi -Season 3 for RTL+ as a music editor. The record breaking German production of portraying on of the most iconic Austrian figures, Kaiserin Sisi, was produced by Andreas Gutzeit and Andy Fetcher.
Supporting the whole music pipeline and help composers, editors and producers to get quick to an incredible music experience for the season was the goal!
6 Episodes were scored with existing and newly written music to follow the new struggles of Sisi, Franz, rebellious fighters and their children’s future. Definitely worth a watch!
The Wagadu Chronicles is a groundbreaking MMO project set in an afro-fantasy universe. Following the game’s successful Kickstarter in 2019, Markus accompanied studio Twin Drums on a trip to Ghana, where they recorded the country’s breathtaking landscapes and the talent of its local musicians. Live-recorded balophone, kora, and various traditional drums are combined with modern production and orchestrals, resulting in a unique yet authentic soundscape to fit an immersive alternate world.
The Wagadu Chronicles has been backed by Riot Games and is having its Early Access on Steam end of 2023. Over Live Score Berlin, this project also got recorded with a live orchestra. The blend between African inspired music and fantasy was not easy, but he succeeded in producing a very recognizable theme over the soundtrack, the bring the play into the world of Wagadu.
Markus also had a talk in Paris at the GameChanger Event from Afrogameuses in October 2023
Come along into the world of the world famous Robin Hood saga, in a tec-medival fantasy setting. Gangs of Sherwood is a 1 to 4-player co-op PVE game set in a reimagined steampunk universe!
To compose the soundtrack, Markus digitally distorted and combined live-recorded wood and string instruments such as the stroh violin, hurdy gurdy and cello with modern industrial and orchestral arrangements, evoking the familiar heroes of the Robin Hood saga in a high-tech yet medieval world. Rapid rhythms when fitting and medial folklore puppet show music will soak you in this unique setting!
The game was developed by Appeal Studios and is published by NACON.
Markus Zierhofer had the pleasure of scoring the Japanese-language trailer for the iconic open-world samurai game Ghost of Tsushima by Sucker Punch Productions! The game features authentic Japanese swordfighting and is set on the real island of Tsushima during its historic invasion by the Mongols in 1274.
The trailer has reached over five million views on the official PlayStation Japan YouTube channel, so join in and have a listen!
