Amy Wallace Delves Into The World Of Gamer Music (WoW/The Witcher)

If you’re a gamer, chances are that you’ve heard some music from both World of Warcraft (WoW) and The Witcher (or you’ve seen the Warcraft movie/watched The Witcher TV show). Either way, you’ll be familiar with just how intense the music from games can be these days. That old school arcade stuff isn't gone (in fact there’s quite a resurgence of it) but having the addition of vocalists and proper orchestration makes a world of difference when it comes to the gaming experience.

Well, cue Amy Wallace. I’ve covered some of Amy’s work before and have performed live with her a number of times as well (way back in the day) and I’ll say that she is neither stranger to the wide world of music, nor the virtual universe of gaming. A consistent fan of the Dragon Age series (music from which she has previously covered), it’s no wonder that this classical singer has taken some time away from musical theatre and opera to characterize the haunting sounds of some of the world’s most popular games.

Along with her brother, composer and arranger, Christopher Wallace of Truly Productive Entertainment, Amy has landed into a niche that pulls from her experienced classical performances and adds a strong essence of geekdom that ultimately results in a powerful yet deliciously palatable sort of music.

Her last two pieces really show the breadth of her ability. ‘Nightsong’, from WoW, is very reminiscent of the Elvish music from The Lord of The Rings (composed by the great Howard Shore and performed by several artists, including the likes of Enya), although, and sorry to the handful of Enya fans who might read this, Amy blows Enya out of the water in this performance. Apart from learning the Darnassian required to represent the Night Elves in song, Wallace’s vocal range is breathtaking; so too are her harmonies. They hit together in such a sonorous way that I think most would be hard-pressed not to feel at least some little yank of the heart strings.

Does anyone know the feeling when a song hits you a certain way and you feel a shiver from the base of your skull disperse downwards around your neck as you experience an elation of sorts that transports you into another headspace, if not another world entirely? Not just me, right? Well, that’s what I get when I listen to Amy’s rendition of ‘Night Song’. And, I must say, while the music of video games is meant to be a component to enhance the interactive and very visual product that is a video game, you could easily close your eyes and travel elsewhere with this one…the music is enough.

And, for something completely different which barks right up the tree that is my oaken maypole, erected for so many things macabre and horrific, Amy Wallace has covered the ‘Lullaby of Woe’ from The Witcher. What a wonderfully haunting piece of music. Christopher’s rather simple composition opens up so much space for terror, and reality is tethered only by the childhood sounds of a creepy music box, while all else is lifted up into the ether. I feel I must always add, when referring to someone’s music as simple, that I don’t mean to say just anyone could produce this same piece as easily and with such great finesse. I mean to say that the simplicity of the composition is what leads to the effectiveness of the piece. The silence surrounding the instrumentation and the vocals is what drives the listener into the deep and dark recesses of their minds, conjuring up the nightmare fuel that is representative of The Witcher. The modulation of the final bell toll in the tune is reminiscent, to me, of A Nightmare On Elm Street and anyone who knows me knows that this is an incredible compliment!

Now to the amazingly creepy vocals in this piece. It’s clear that Amy has trained as both a singer and an actor. She also has a degree of innate talent as well. Having both worked alongside her in scenes and directed her in production, she is perhaps one of the most engaging and enthralling performers out there who is well worth going out to see…whenever that can happen again. The way that she animates each key word and characterizes just to whom she is singing in each key phrase is inspiring. It’s clear there is a love for things theatrical here and it’s just a shame that the character of Christine from Phantom of the Opera wasn’t creepier because Amy would not only play the traditional role well, she would knock the darkness out of the park also…maybe some sort of haunting musical should be written for her…Christopher…can we talk!?

I could ramble all day about the ins and outs of these covers and Amy’s performances therein but, just listen to the songs; like them and subscribe to her channel and keep up to date on new work coming out. I recently heard an interestingly complex tune from Frozen 2 that I think might be released soon, so you’ll really get that musical theatre essence for sure. What are you still doing here? Go and subscribe to Amy’s channel and head to her Instagram to see her life behind-the-scenes!