ON THE SLY created the music direction and score for the Ras Al Khaimah New Year’s Eve 2025 celebration, working alongside SKYMAGIC and Fireworks by Grucci to deliver one of the world’s most ambitious New Year’s Eve spectacles.
The brief was to create a musical score for “Our Story In The Sky”, a three-act narrative combining drones, lasers and fireworks into a single evolving story told above the Ras Al Khaimah coastline.
The show opened with a pre-midnight drone sequence telling a visual story inspired by imagery from the region. A giant sand timer then transitioned the narrative into the midnight countdown, before the celebration expanded into a full aerial spectacle combining drones and pyrotechnics across a vast performance area.
The final act drew inspiration from Ras Al Khaimah’s connection to the sea, with evolving drone and laser formations building towards a large-scale fireworks finale. The spectacle also set two Guinness World Records, demanding a score capable of matching the scale and ambition of the visuals.
ON THE SLY approached the music with a filmic storytelling structure, shaping a score that evolved across the different acts of the show. Some sections leaned into electronic energy, others into orchestral scale, while some blended both approaches — bringing the different musical elements together into a single cohesive journey.
Working closely with the drone and pyrotechnic design teams from the earliest stages of production, the music was developed in parallel with the visual choreography. As the show evolved, the score was continually refined to support the pacing of each scene and maximise the flow of the overall narrative.
ON THE SLY returned the following year to create the score for the Ras Al Khaimah New Year’s Eve 2026 celebration, continuing the collaboration with the production team.
This project forms part of our work creating soundtracks for fireworks and drone shows around the world.
CREDITS
Client: Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority
Drone Show: SKYMAGIC
Fireworks: Fireworks by Grucci
Music Direction & Composition: ON THE SLY
BROADCAST
Ras Al Khaimah, UAE
