Tuba! (and other game music)

The game I talked about earlier, where Deirdra Kiai was collecting graphics in different styles to put together, has been released. It’s called Des Rêves Élastiques Avec Mille Insectes Nommés George, and I recommend that you take a look at it. I was only slightly disappointed that there are no insects named George (I love the title!), but I enjoyed it. This is another dialogue thingy from Deirdra, and contains some things well said. I’ve only played it through once, but I intend to return to it.

My contribution is a badly animated tuba player (me) on a beach, and some tuba playing. (I’ll update the Other Games page eventually.)

Another released game that I’ve done a little work on is 8 Squares in the Garden. I’ve made the soundtrack for this game, based on Lewis Carrol’s Through the Looking Glass. The game doesn’t have a web page for me to link to, so I’ll point you to a forum thread at Adventure Developers instead. (The thread is labeled “open beta…”, but you’ll find the download for the finished game there too.) I’m generally happy about how the music turned out – I wrote it as a wind quartet – but there are some things I’d do differently if I get asked to write music for the sequel. (I hope the planned sequel will get made. “Ad7venture” is currently working on another project.)

5 thoughts on “Tuba! (and other game music)

  1. Thanks, Rikard! Glad you found the game interesting, and hopefully your depiction therein was at least somewhat accurate.

  2. It was great to see “you” in the DREAMS game. I think your character was very encouraging to Deirdra’s; I’m sure she’s glad she dreamed you. Loved the tuba, too.
    Naturally, after I read this post I had to download “8 squares”, too. I’m still in chapter one, there, and it’s pretty fun. I’ve always liked Alice. What I’ve heard of your soundtrack is intriguing. It’s encouraging for a forest adventure, but has an edge. You briefly visit some unusual harmonies, and then back off into major tonalities again. I like it. I’m no expert on wind quartets, but I don’t think I heard flute in there? Did you play all the parts and record it in tracks? Am I getting too nosy? 🙂 Anyway, I’m glad I know about the game.

  3. Too nosy? Not at all, and if you were I’d not take offence but simply not answer. The danger with asking questions is that you may get a lot more answer than you were interested in, though…

    The wind quartet used in the 8 Squares soundtrack is not a standard quartet, but instead a normal wind quintet minus the flute, so you’re right in not hearing a flute. That instrumentation leaves only instruments that I do play, but what you hear in the game is simply synth sounds. I did experiment with recording the first part of it the way you suggest, but it got a bit difficult and while the “live” recording I have is played more musically and with better sounding instruments it also contains some imperfections and off tune playing so the synth version ended up in the game.

    I plan on returning to this score and record a real version of it, but I need more practise with playing together with myself first. (And I need to practice the music, too. When writing it, I took no considerations for it to be easily played. Idiomatic for the instruments, yes, but not easy.)

    (The “other games” page contains a listing of what I call the parts in this little quartet. The initial Allegro was inspired by French wind music. The Blues is obvious. Tango Rhythms was an attempt to write a tango based on the “rhythm changes” used in several jazz tunes. The Passacaglia and the Rondo are two more pieces where I used traditional forms. I didn’t make much research though, so the music doesn’t follow the forms or genres that inspires it strictly.)

  4. “a lot more answer than you were interested in”
    If I did, I simply would not answer. 🙂
    Thank you much for giving this insight into your process; I enjoyed reading it. I’d thought the quartet in the game must be synthesized, but there was quite a bit of nuance even so. And a quintet minus the flute, ah, I understand. I’m pleased to know the musical forms which inspired you. I heard hints of many of them, but for me they were subtle and it’s instructive to have them identified. I look forward to the “real” version and/or more music for the 8 squares game.

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