N.B. musician writes original score for new Fortnite world

Gabriel Plourde’s introduction to the music world came when he was nine, and a character in a Legend of Zelda game played a type of flute called an ocarina. 

His parents found him an ocarina of his own, and the rest is history.

Now, the Edmundston composer combines his love for music and video games for a living.

And most recently, he was asked to compose an original score for a new world in Fortnite, one of the most popular video games of all time. 

“It feels very rewarding, because … I do music all the time, and all I hear is the music and the final product on YouTube or in other people's projects,” Plourde said. 

“But to see it, like, in gameplay, with the sound effects going on and everything, it's really rewarding.”

Fortnite, an online video game, is often considered a cultural phenomenon and has amassed over 650 million registered users worldwide. 

Plourde, 29, records covers of video game music and composes his own scores for video games on his YouTube channel, Gabocarina96, where he has more than 37,000 subscribers. 

But when a friend from the industry saw a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, looking for someone to compose orchestral-rock music for a new Fortnite world, she tagged Plourde.

While many people are familiar with the popular Battle Royale mode in Fortnite, Plourde said there’s also a section where people can download other worlds. 

Plourde said the world builder who commissioned him is known as CooliSushi and is quite popular on the platform

“The guy I composed the music for … has, I believe, 25 million downloads on his maps,” Plourde said. “So it's a big deal for me [and] my name is credited right when you begin playing the game. 

“It's quite good exposure for me.”

Plourde is commissioned to create original music and he will usually talk to the client about what they envision.