What Is It?
This is the Soundtrack I have composed for the game I have worked on.
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The making behind this OST required a long research process that involved the study of different techniques used in a variety of music genres.
Every single track has to represent a precise character, which required me to analyze them in order to find the perfect genre and style to use to represent that specific character.
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The first theme I have composed is the main theme of the game.
My main focus on this was to create a catchy melody using crispy sounds that could give the idea of a pixelated game, which led me to use a crunchy bassline to define the rhythm of the game and then adding synths, bells and an 8-bit piano to create the melody.
To create a sense of movement, violins and saxophones appear sometimes to fullfill the empty spaces, creating a contrast with the other electronic instruments.​​
Moving on, I started composing the OST for the different characters.
Every single NPC of the game has their own characteristics and behaviors. Their inner self can be analyzed through the dialogues of the game which allowed me to create fitting themes for everyone.
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Starting from Karen, an entitled and excessively demanding penguin that loves to be treated as a queen.
As shown in the dialogues, this character expects to be treated as she was on a throne, which directed me during the research process.
My decision was to create a Dance Pop song, which could reflect all the aspects of the character.
I made a bass line to introduce the incoming sounds, a melody of synths used both as lead and chords with a high-octave drop. Lastly, a saxophone has been used to create a stronger melody that could lead the song towards the end.
The Intensified version includes more synths to create a stronger sense of the royal mindset of the character.
After Karen, it's Balor's turn.
Balor is a superior being, a divinity. He is severe and solemn, and want to see the main character in action.
To create his theme, I wanted to compose something that went into the epic genre, based on the usage of cinematic drums and orchestral instruments such as violins and horns.
A drum orchestra welcomes the listeners and in a few seconds, a horn overture accompanies the drums to be later joined by the brass orchestra and the violins. This crescendo creates a more and more immersive song that suddenly gets interrupted by a moment of peace with a choir, just to release the final piece with a graceful outburst of violins with the main melody again to represent the greatness of this godlike being.
Balor's Intensified theme has more violins to emphasize his strength and a full celtic choir that adds more epicness to the character.
Vivien comes next.
She is a lovely and frisky penguin that loves to dance and have parties, which automatically made me think about doing another Dance Pop music but with a more focus on the Dance aspect.
The drum line uses gentle claps and features a constant usage of the hi-hats to give to the song a stronger rhythm.
An E-Piano is used to create the main melody of the song, with the company of synths that create a melodic line used as chord progression.
The intensity mix features more synths used to strengthen the chord progression and in the drop, a synth is used in an higher octave to highlight the joyful spirit of the character.
Bob is next.
This character is a polar bear dressing up as a penguin, but nobody seems to have noticed it, except you.
He is a comical character that, trying hard to camuflage as a penguin, fails misreably resulting goofy and clumsy.
For him I decided to go for a jazz track, taking inspiration from games such Grim Fandango, where jazz music manages to keep the noir aspect of the game leaving space for the comedy.
Different sounds of trumpets, trombones and saxophones are used to create a harmony of instruments almost talking to each other.
The intensified version has more use of the saxophone to lead the general song with the addition of clarinets and a more rhythmic drum set.
Then, Sir Parzival is the next one.
He is an old warrior always wearing his beloved armor. This character is a proud but tired soldier, scarred by battles.
Sir Parzival is a character that can be temporally located during the medieval age, which is the reason why I wanted to create an orchestral piece that could give the idea of a medieval champion that has fought for years and now his judgmental eye is looking at you, so I decided to use an harpiscord which will already create an appropriate setting, adding violins and a mandolin, typical instruments from the Middle Ages.
For the intensity mix, I added pianos playing fast progressions to highlight a sense of danger and then, as main features, horns and choirs that give to the track a holy connotation.
Salvatore is a lively but short tempered italian penguin that loves good food and he is extremely bound to his origins.
He loves to have fun but has little patience when it comes to food, especially pizza.
This character has been created to be a stereotypical italian penguin, which is what made me decide on which genre to use, the italian traditional Tarantella, a type of music that features happy melodies and typical instruments such as mandolin and then the "friscaletto" and the "marranzano".
Since FlapChat is a Shoot'em'up, I needed to bring some action to this track and that's how I opted to make a rock version of the Tarantella, where the guitars could emphasize the melodies that turned from happy to somewhat of angry.
For the more intense verson, I added more instruments and much more aggressive drums that would make the song even more aggressive.
Last but not least, P3-NG.
This character is a robot that doesn't know emotions and that has been adopted but he is trying his best to learn those feelings.
This has been the first character song I have worked on and to create something that could remind players of P3-NG, I went for a chiptune song with a strong rhythm that could give the players that feeling of action that would make them more immersed.
For the intensity mix I wanted to have the same effect but to produce something more complex, so I have added synths and made the song into a more dance/techno song that could still keep that chiptune theme.
There are more OSTs but those ar mainly short themes for Winning, Tutorial and Credits!
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The making of this album took me almost 2 months of work and it has been my first musical production for a game with different themes, allowing me to grow exponentially as a video game composer, learning to a deeper extent how to combine music and game to create unique experiences for those who will be playing the games.
I have learnt how to communicate through music, creating songs that represent our characters and their inner and outer sides, using the right instruments and effects to guide the players through their journey in the games and balancing the right amount of sounds not to steal the focus from the actual game.