Uploaded April 2023 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
One of the most famous games of the 2000s, and still likely the most famous social simulation game (alongside Animal Crossing), The Sims released to critical acclaim in the year 2000, and was referred to as "almost the only game of its kind" by many game journalists. It is one of the best-selling PC games of all time with 11.5 million copies sold.
The soundtrack for The Sims was a collaborative effort of composers Jerry Martin, Marc Russo, and John R. Burr. When the "Live" mode is activated (where the actual simulation runs and plays), the player may enter "Build" mode or "Buy" mode to pause time and renovate their house or lot, and some of the most well-known tracks from the soundtrack are played here. The "Build" mode music is all solo piano (performed by co-composer John R. Burr), some tracks being pre-composed by Martin/Russo/Burr, and some being purely improvisation. I’ll link an article about it below if you want to learn more.
Eventually I came across "PseudoMusic" online, and their wonderful sheet music transcriptions of all 6 Build Mode Themes. I thought it would be nice to string them all together here, almost like a 6-movement piano suite. I’ll also link below PseudoMusic’s website, where you can download all these transcriptions for free. Pseudo states on the website about this project:
"Jerry Martin wrote six 'new age' style piano pieces for The Sims, but no sheet music was ever released. On this page are transcriptions I've made over the last few years. Note: Some of these pieces (especially 2 and 5) were improvised more than others, so the rhythmic notation is a bit 'approximate' in places!"
COMPOSERS: Jerry Martin, Marc Russo, and John R. Burr
PIANO: John R. Burr
TRANSCRIBER: PseudoMusic (sites.google.com/site/pseudomusicsite)
TRACKLIST:
0:00 - Introduction
0:10 - Build Theme No. 1: "Under Construction (New Beginnings)"
4:59 - Build Theme No. 2: "Buying Lumber (Bittersweet)"
10:07 - Build Theme No. 3: "Since We Met"
15:52 - Build Theme No. 4: "If You Really See Eurydice"
19:34 - Build Theme No. 5: "Now What?"
26:11 - Build Theme No. 6: "The Simple Life"
Here is the article I mentioned: vice.com/en/article/qveqew/the-untold-story-of-the-sims-your-first-favourite-jazz-record
Please be aware that all of the music (and images) featured in this video belong to their respective owners, and I or this channel does not claim any right over them. I upload these solely for archiving purposes, and for the sharing and enjoyment of great music. Monetization is not enabled. If you are the rightful owner of copyrighted material used and would like the video removed from YouTube, please, instead of reporting/striking my channel, leave a comment below with your statement and I will take the video down effective immediately.
#scorefollower #thesims #gamemusic
One of the most famous games of the 2000s, and still likely the most famous social simulation game (alongside Animal Crossing), The Sims released to critical acclaim in the year 2000, and was referred to as "almost the only game of its kind" by many game journalists. It is one of the best-selling PC games of all time with 11.5 million copies sold.
The soundtrack for The Sims was a collaborative effort of composers Jerry Martin, Marc Russo, and John R. Burr. When the "Live" mode is activated (where the actual simulation runs and plays), the player may enter "Build" mode or "Buy" mode to pause time and renovate their house or lot, and some of the most well-known tracks from the soundtrack are played here. The "Build" mode music is all solo piano (performed by co-composer John R. Burr), some tracks being pre-composed by Martin/Russo/Burr, and some being purely improvisation. I’ll link an article about it below if you want to learn more.
Eventually I came across "PseudoMusic" online, and their wonderful sheet music transcriptions of all 6 Build Mode Themes. I thought it would be nice to string them all together here, almost like a 6-movement piano suite. I’ll also link below PseudoMusic’s website, where you can download all these transcriptions for free. Pseudo states on the website about this project:
"Jerry Martin wrote six 'new age' style piano pieces for The Sims, but no sheet music was ever released. On this page are transcriptions I've made over the last few years. Note: Some of these pieces (especially 2 and 5) were improvised more than others, so the rhythmic notation is a bit 'approximate' in places!"
COMPOSERS: Jerry Martin, Marc Russo, and John R. Burr
PIANO: John R. Burr
TRANSCRIBER: PseudoMusic (sites.google.com/site/pseudomusicsite)
TRACKLIST:
0:00 - Introduction
0:10 - Build Theme No. 1: "Under Construction (New Beginnings)"
4:59 - Build Theme No. 2: "Buying Lumber (Bittersweet)"
10:07 - Build Theme No. 3: "Since We Met"
15:52 - Build Theme No. 4: "If You Really See Eurydice"
19:34 - Build Theme No. 5: "Now What?"
26:11 - Build Theme No. 6: "The Simple Life"
Here is the article I mentioned: vice.com/en/article/qveqew/the-untold-story-of-the-sims-your-first-favourite-jazz-record
Please be aware that all of the music (and images) featured in this video belong to their respective owners, and I or this channel does not claim any right over them. I upload these solely for archiving purposes, and for the sharing and enjoyment of great music. Monetization is not enabled. If you are the rightful owner of copyrighted material used and would like the video removed from YouTube, please, instead of reporting/striking my channel, leave a comment below with your statement and I will take the video down effective immediately.
#scorefollower #thesims #gamemusic
![Nick Bentz — Glimpse (2019) [w/ score]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/cGnjp68t0lk/mqdefault.jpg "Nick Bentz — Glimpse (2019) [w/ score]
Nick Bentz wrote about his chamber piece, Glimpse:
Glimpse is a piece that I wrote as I found myself fascinated at the way and speed at which our brains catalog information. The human brain is a complex machine that often works in ways that we’re unable to readily perceive – one of these subliminal processes being facial recognition. The brain constantly perceives and creates patterns among the faces that we encounter, even in passing, using information from all around us to infer how we might interact with one another. It’s through the repeating of similar stimuli that we’re able to quickly read emotions and situations in order to best ascertain how to act, or to unlock our own empathy towards each other. However, these same processes can yield implicit biases, shortchanging the very people we see. Glimpse is structured and derived from a five-pitch set which is constantly run through various processes. As these processes repeat, the material begins to ‘learn’ from bar-to-bar and gesture-to-gesture, playing with and sometimes against the very rules that it finds itself entrapped within.
COMPOSER: Nick Bentz
ENSEMBLE:
Melissa Lander, clarinet
Lauren Rausch, violin
Ismar Gomes, cello
Wan-Chi Su, piano
Please be aware that all of the music (and images) featured in this video belong to their respective owners, and I or this channel does not claim any right over them. I upload these solely for archiving purposes, and for the sharing and enjoyment of great music. Monetization is not enabled. If you are the rightful owner of copyrighted material used and would like the video removed from YouTube, please, instead of reporting/striking my channel, leave a comment below with your statement and I will take the video down effective immediately.
#scorefollower #contemporaryclassical #classicalmusic")
![Andrew Rindfleisch — In the Zone (2009) [w/ score]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/cHgp_TPMzUk/mqdefault.jpg "Andrew Rindfleisch — In the Zone (2009) [w/ score]
Andrew Rindfleisch writes in the program notes for his wonderful brass quintet, In the Zone:
In the Zone is a reverent nod to the popular instrumental form of the late Renaissance and early Baroque, the canzone. Often associated with the early precursors of modern brass instruments, the instrumental canzone was a form often dominated by contrapuntal and imitative textures. In The Zone is a two-movement work exploring those aspects of counterpoint, imitation, and polyphony so often found in those late-Renaissance forms — here intensified, transformed, and woven into a virtuoso vehicle for brass quintet. In The Zone is dedicated to the Meridian Arts Ensemble.
COMPOSER: Andrew Rindfleisch
BRASS QUINTET: Meridian Arts Ensemble
TRACKLIST:
0:00 - Introduction
0:12 - I. Introitus
2:24 - II. Canons
Please be aware that all of the music (and images) featured in this video belong to their respective owners, and I or this channel does not claim any right over them. I upload these solely for archiving purposes, and for the sharing and enjoyment of great music. Monetization is not enabled. If you are the rightful owner of copyrighted material used and would like the video removed from YouTube, please, instead of reporting/striking my channel, leave a comment below with your statement and I will take the video down effective immediately.
#scorefollower #contemporaryclassical #classicalmusic")
![Caroline Shaw — Plan & Elevation (2015) [w/ score]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/eIEI80LfaMk/mqdefault.jpg "Caroline Shaw — Plan & Elevation (2015) [w/ score]
Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, violinist, and singer Caroline Shaws Plan & Elevation for string quartet. Shaw writes in the program notes:
I have always loved drawing the architecture around me when traveling, and some of my favorite lessons in musical composition have occurred by chance in my drawing practice over the years. While writing a string quartet to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Dumbarton Oaks, I returned to these essential ideas of space and proportion — to the challenges of trying to represent them on paper. The title, Plan & Elevation, refers to two standard ways of representing architecture — essentially an orthographic, or “bird’s eye,” perspective (“plan”), and a side view which features more ornamental detail (“elevation”). This binary is also a gentle metaphor for one’s path in any endeavor — often the actual journey and results are quite different (and perhaps more elevated) than the original plan.
COMPOSER: Caroline Shaw
STRING QUARTET: Attacca Quartet
TRACKLIST:
0:00 - Introduction
0:08 - I. The Ellipse
4:09 - II. The Cutting Garden
7:07 - III. The Herbaceous Border
10:44 - IV. The Orangery
12:28 - V. The Beech Tree
Please be aware that all of the music (and images) featured in this video belong to their respective owners, and I or this channel does not claim any right over them. I upload these solely for archiving purposes, and for the sharing and enjoyment of great music. Monetization is not enabled. If you are the rightful owner of copyrighted material used and would like the video removed from YouTube, please, instead of reporting/striking my channel, leave a comment below with your statement and I will take the video down effective immediately.
#scorefollower #contemporaryclassical #classicalmusic")
