metroid

If you ever looked for piano sheet music or piano covers, chances are you stumbled upon one of Torby Brand’s works. What you may not know, is that Torby was one of the men behind AM2R’s soundtrack, and we have the pleasure of asking him a few questions about it!

“My name is Torbjørn, but I’m better known as “Torby Brand”, and I am a 23 year-old computer engineer from Norway.

I’ve always been engaged by video games and soundtracks, which lead into the start of my YouTube channel in 2016. There I post piano covers from various video games, anime and other media. I’ve only played for 3-4 years, and I don’t consider myself to be particularly skilled on the piano. I instead focus on fun and nostalgic pieces that anyone can play, complete with self arranged, free sheet music.

AM2R was a huge deal for me. I had been following the project for years, and I knew DoctorM64 through the Metroid website that I work on, MetroidHQ. As he was developing some of the later areas in the game, I was lucky enough to be given the chance to contribute. I composed two pieces for the 5th area of the game, the Distribution Center. As this was the only main area in the game, that was completely original, it was fitting to have original music. Additionally, I arranged and performed the piano medley “SR388” that neatly merges my original pieces with melodies from the original Metroid II. I am very grateful to Doc for giving me the opportunity, as it allowed me to part of something so beautiful and grand, as well as jump-starting my YouTube carrier.

For “Ancient Power” I spent a lot of time listening to and contemplating the different underwater themes in the Metroid series. However, a lot of the temple ended up being above water and with fancy new Chozo technology. That’s why I ended up with a much more “lively” melody, more like the synths in the Prime Trilogy. I made my piano version, and worked closely with Doc to recreate the track with his instruments. Similarly, we used the same bassline and parts of the melody for “Flooded Complex”, the calm watery prelude track to Ancient Power.

Right now I’ve been releasing a lot of albums, including works on Minecraft, Deltarune, Steins;Gate and AM2R. These are available on platforms like Spotify and iTunes, and has really brought my piano game to a whole new level. So if you’re interested in any of those, please check it them out!

Not to mention that I just finished my second Pixel Mixers track, which will be on the brand new Donkey Kong album. The Pixel Mixers community has been immensely friendly and helpful, something I hope to repay by contributing on future albums as well!”