Meet Starling

Starling Tan is a composer, arranger & remote session musician based in Australia. With a style described as warm, expressive and emotive, she has composed for indie games including Loch Mess, Wrong Number and is currently working on upcoming games Flower Knight Hú Dié and Signy and Mino (with Winged Souls).  Her compositional process involves drawing together different threads to tell a story through instrumentation, melodic motif and tone colour.

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As a recording artist, Starling combines technical skill with a passion for exploring the expressive and timbral potential of acoustic instruments. Supported by a masters degree in oboe performance from the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, she records on a range of woodwinds, including the cor anglais, Irish tin whistle, recorder, ocarina and more. A classically trained multi-instrumentalist, she also uses cello, piano and vocals to enhance her own compositions.

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Starling has released a multi-instrument cover album of video game music, Roseborne, featuring arrangements from Ori & the Blind Forest, Hades, Xenogears, Plants vs Zombies and more. She enjoys collaborating with other video game music cover artists, including TPR and Winged Souls. In the live music space, Starling works with Melbourne-based organisation Sinister Creative to create concerts such as the recent sold-out SOUND BYTE 2022: a celebration of Australian video game music, presented in collaboration with Freeplay Independent Games Festival.

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In 2021, Starling made her singer-songwriter debut with the Disney-inspired ‘Magical Girl’ and ‘Where The Ocean Runs Free’. The same year, Starling commenced performing original songs on Twitch as well as solo piano arrangements of video game music (and, frequently, the meme song ‘Coffin Dance’). When not working on music, Starling enjoys baking cakes and playing the critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy FFXIV.