Alex Otterlei | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of Alex Otterlei in 2005 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | 17 September 1968 |
| Origin | Antwerp, Belgium |
| Genres | orchestral, video games, theatre and short film |
| Occupation(s) | Composer |
| Years active | 1990–present |
| Website | www.alexotterlei.com |
Alex Otterlei (born 17 September 1968) is a multiple award-winning[citation needed] composer who writes evocative and often very filmic music for orchestra, concert band and other ensembles. Alongside, Otterlei has created music and sound effects for theatre, short films, video games, roleplaying games and art installations. His music appears on various albums.
In the 1990s Otterlei pioneered[citation needed] the art of writing soundtracks for roleplaying games, resulting in popular rpg-soundtracks such as “Battlethemes”, “Arthur” and “Where Evil Lurks”. His Cthulhu-inspired orchestral soundtrack “Horror on the Orient Express” achieved international acclaim.[citation needed] Between 2003 and 2018 Alex Otterlei scored music and/or created sound effects for various videogames including the award-winning series Monkey Tales Archived 2012-01-01 at the Wayback Machine. Starting from 2009 Otterlei also began to write concert music for orchestra, concert band and other ensembles. Although considered mainly autodidact, Otterlei was later on mentored by Hans Lamal and prominent composer Luc van Hove.[citation needed]
Best described as neo-tonal, Otterlei does not shun recognizable melodies. He employs modern as well as traditional harmonies, integrating consonance and dissonance in a fluid and logical way. His rhythmic structures can be complex, but they also remain dependent of traditional metrical thinking.[citation needed]
