World of WarCrafts: The Tale of Pally Pete
World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players, including fan art, cooking, comics, cosplay, music and fan fiction. Show us how you express yourself by contacting our tips line (attention: World of WarCrafts) - not-for-profit work only, please.
Sometimes a song can express more than a thousand words. In keeping with this spirit, we're once again calling all masters of sound to create some touching, comical, or just plain awesome songs grounded in the Warcraft, StarCraft, or Diablo universes. Fill our ears with powerfully emotional melodies in two minutes or less and you'll have a chance to reap some fantastic rewards. – BlizzCon 2009 Contests page
This week's World of WarCrafts features the third-place winner of this year's Original Song Contest at BlizzCon. Creator Jamie Brown composed, performed and recorded "The Tale of Pally Pete" completely solo - well, except for a little help on the lyrics from his kids. We chatted with Jamie a little to find out what goes into a BlizzCon winning original.
World of WarCrafts: Jamie, your song sounds so polished! What do you do professionally?
Jamie Brown: I work tech support for an e-commerce company full time, but I know I'm here on Earth to make music. So I have to do it part time for now. I lead worship at a church part time, and write on the side.
How long have you been a musician?
Pretty much all my life. My parents bought a piano when I was about 10, and I picked up the guitar at about 13.
What do you play?
Guitar, drums, keyboard, bass, saxophone.
Is your main character Pally Pete?
No. He's actually only level 14! I created the toon after I wrote the song. He's nowhere near a Tier 9 set, like the song proclaims. But hey, if Blizzard is feeling generous ...
We understand there's a Pally Pete machinima in the works.
I pictured the video in my head the whole time I was writing "Pally Pete," so I'm really excited about finishing it. It's my first attempt at machinima, so we'll see how it turns out. But this song just begs for a video.
What other music do you write?
The music I normally write is nothing like this, but I've been exposed to many other styles, so I like to dabble in other styles at times. This style just seemed to tell the story better. It sort of reminds me of a Marty Robbins song my Dad and I used to listen to all the time.
Thanks for sharing it with our readers, Jamie, and best of luck getting more of your work out there. We'll be listening for you!
World of WarCrafts is LFMusicians
Do you play World of Warcraft music or compose your own WoW-themed pieces? We'd love to hear from you! As "Pally Pete" composer Jamie Brown says, "I have been trying to find the second-place winner's song (Editor's Note: it's now posted at Blizzard's BlizzCon contest page), and I hope your post will bring them out into the open so they too can share their talent with the community. I know there are tons of musicians out there in the WoW community, so I am thrilled that you are showcasing them here."
