Corsairs, from player to game composer

Hello everyone, my name is Nazar. I am a game composer and founder of a sound production studio Music we Deserve. I want to tell the story of how I went a long way from a simple player of Corsairs to a student of Yuri Potenko (the composer of the original Corsairs) and eventually became a composer myself new Corsairs!

Introduction to the series

I am a big fan of Corsairs. I first got acquainted with this series of games with the addon: Return of the Legend. I remember how impressed I was by the degree of game freedom. You are free to be whoever you want and no one imposes a global plot. It seems to me that in terms of the depth of development of the pirate life simulator, Corsairs still has no equal. But one of the main reasons for my love for Corsairs is the charming music. I remember how I listened to these soundtracks. Yuri Potenko's compositions literally enveloped me, immersed me in the atmosphere of an unforgettable adventure! Then I could not even think that one day I would become a composer.

New Hope

In the spring of 2021, I started following the development of a game based on Corsairs. The game is called Corsairs Legacy. The project looked promising. I was attracted by the fact that the developers positioned their game as an ideological continuation of those very Corsairs. I thought how cool it would be if I wrote music for their game!

At that time, I was still a beginner composer. I had no experience, no musical education, and no clear prospects for development. Everything I knew about music I learned from private teachers and through self-education. I decided it was time to get down to business seriously. I started looking for suitable music courses and came across the Moscow Film School. There was a year-long course: Film composer. I studied the issue in more detail. The course curator was Yuri Anatolyevich Potenko! For those who are not in the know, I will explain. Yuri Anatolyevich is one of the most successful and sought-after film composers in the Russian Federation. Game lovers know him as the composer of the cult Corsairs. Who else can teach you how to compose music for Corsairs if not the Maestro himself!

How I Met the Developer of Corsairs Legacy

I enrolled in the course and went to conquer Moscow. At the same time, I continued to follow the development of Corsairs Legacy. In one of the videos, the developers mentioned that they wanted to interview the main composer of Corsairs – Yuri Potenko. However, they could not find his contacts. This was my finest hour! I found the contacts of the developer of Corsairs Legacy, told about myself and offered cooperation. My offer was treated skeptically. The developers did not need the services of a composer. Then I played my trump card! I said that I study at the Moscow Film School and Yuri Potenko is my mentor, so I can help organize an interview with him. In exchange, I asked to give me a chance to create a musical sketch for the game. The ice of indifference melted. We agreed. Due to my studies, I had the opportunity to directly communicate with Yuri Anatolyevich. I told Yuri Anatolyevich about my intention to interview him and asked for his number. He agreed. I passed the info to the developer and started sketching out the new Corsairs.

First attempts at music for Corsairs

Before I started composing, I wanted to decide on the general style of the music. I didn't want to imitate the original style of Corsairs, nor did I want to create something frivolous, like Sid Meier's pirates. I tried to go deeper into the theme. Pirates are, first of all, bandits and cutthroats. You wouldn't really want to meet them at sea. You should take such people seriously. So, I decided to go for a more brutal sound. I drew a lot of inspiration from the Black Sails series, Risen 2 and Assassin's creed Black flag. Their soundtracks are extremely brutal and have a lot of rock in them. As a former leader of a rock band, this approach is close to me!

I started making a sketch and everything was going well. However, I felt that I lacked experience in creating game soundtracks. In many ways, I had to go blind, abandoning bold ideas in favor of working ones. I put together a demo and showed it to the developer. He replied that the track was good, but stylistically it did not fit their project. He wanted something as close to the original OST as possible. This upset me, but I was not going to give up!

It turned out later that the developer couldn't get through to Yuri Anatolyevich. I couldn't help here. For a number of reasons, I had to leave the MShK early. I no longer had direct contact with Yuri Anatolyevich. That was all my authority to help organize interviews. I planned to spend the time freed up from studying on rethinking the soundtrack concept. Closer to what the developer wanted. The end of February crept up unnoticed.

How it all came crashing down

There is hardly any point in describing all the pain, horror and apathy that I experienced in the first months of the war. This is not the topic of this conversation. But it is worth noting that we all suddenly found ourselves in a different reality. The development of Corsairs Legacy, for obvious reasons, stopped. Most of the development team was from Ukraine. I can only imagine how bad it was for them. I tried to keep in touch with the developer. I wrote a huge canvas for him about how sorry I am and how I share his grief. He accepted my words, was not rude, for which I am very grateful. After that, I tried to keep in touch, but the feedback stopped. I tried to contact him on Discord, even sent my new sketches, but there was no answer. I hardly have the right to be offended by such ignoring. Perhaps, in his place, I would have done the same. And yet, it was a pity that I was never able to collaborate with Corsairs Legacy. I stopped trying to get through, deciding to leave everything as is. At the same time, I did not want my developments to end up in the drawer. I found a stock video, just in the pirate theme. To my surprise, the structure of my track coincided with the script of the video. All I had to do was bring the track to its logical conclusion. Which I did. The result is in front of you

Composer of The Corsair Chimera

I wasn't going to settle for stock video music. I continued to follow pirate games with great interest. My attention was drawn to a review of current developments in the Corsairs theme. Among them was a project with a mysterious name Corsair Chimera. I wanted to study the issue in more detail. As it turned out, one indie developer was working on the development. The result, especially for one person, seemed impressive to me! I found the contact of the developer of Corsair Chimera and offered cooperation. Fortunately, the developer was interested in original music for his game. He liked my portfolio and we agreed. I was happy with such luck and got to work! I had already accumulated several successful sketches and I decided to put them into action.

A new level soundtrack with old developments

This time we will talk about the theme of a sea battle during a storm. As I mentioned earlier, I realized the first concept of a sea battle in a stock video.

But I decided to reconsider the original concept, to make it more interesting. To do this, I abandoned the usual musical size of 4 \ t4 and switched to 5 \ t4. In addition, I finalized the musical theme and made it the basis of the track. But I also wanted to use successful ideas from the previous concept. For example, I really like the growling sound of the low notes of the piano. The timbre of the hurdy-gurdy gives the track a folk character with a historical context. I did not deny myself the pleasure of adding a few chords of electric guitar again, for power, volume and brutality! Well, and a pinch of accordion, for the right style. And of course, the bass guitar for a dense low end. From the new, I added a string section, namely: mandolin, banjo, cymbals and Irish bouzouki. These instruments play the main melody.

This way I was able to create a new level soundtrack and at the same time close the gestalt with the original track. This is what came out of it.

All ready-made soundtracks for Corsair Chimera can be listened to Here.

Conclusion

As a child, I listened to the music from Corsairs with great pleasure. Including separately from the game. Then I didn’t even suspect that in 15 years I would start creating music myself. Now it’s part of my reality. For the last six months, I’ve been working exclusively on pirate-themed projects. I absolutely love this setting! I don’t know if I’ll be able to write my name into the great history of Corsairs. But if I do, then my life hasn’t been wasted!)