“We need to get rid of that placeholder 80s funk music, and we have full confidence in you,” they told me once when I was joining the promising student (back then) team Outside the Fox. I am Jan Knot, the music composer and sound designer Minister of Noise, and you are reading a development diary about the music of Silicomrades. Yes, you will find out how big of an orchestra we require to perform the soundtrack live, but first, we need to return all the way back to the beginning of the iterative process, because we are ready to admit all the blind alleys that we encountered along the way.
Looking for the right musical style of Lawtvia
If you've seen the trailer, played the demo, or taken part in Ministry of Testing, you already know what the final music sounds like in the game. But there were many iterations before we arrived there. First drafts were heavily based on various industrial, orchestral, and ethno percussions and drums. We tried to convey an impression that all robots in Lawtvia are just simple instruments in our very totalitarian and utilitarian world.
For the first listen, it was interesting, but sadly got boring very quickly. Around the time we also started messing with the adaptive music for the first time, with the clear goal of having all the music transitions in-game made smoothly based on the current state of the mission. For prototyping, I prepared various placeholder drum tracks for needed states (calm, action, etc), and they stayed in some places of the game for muuuuch longer than we would like to admit. I really don't want to write the exact number of years, I mean, I don’t even remember anymore. But the ominous “dum du du dummm” has certainly etched into our skulls in almost a hypnotic way, similar to a welded nut and bolt. Go on, give it a listen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEnSOVKL6uc
Anyway, after that phase, I experimented in a different direction, and tried my luck with fully analogue synth music, in order to evoke a feeling of a grim futuristic world. Some interesting ideas and melodies were created, but overall, it didn’t quite fit right with the visuals and direction Silicomrades were heading in. However, there was one specific word that I wrote that still lingered on my mind, ready to make an important comeback later on. Industrial!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K16skcB8Hn0
It was back then that I suddenly realized that our robots are made from metal, and the whole robotic world is built on metal (okay, maybe also tons of concrete); therefore, our game should sound metallic. Sounds obvious in retrospect, but it was a huge moment when I realized that I had to make metal music. And with that, I of course mean heavy usage of brass instruments.
First, I started experimenting with a combination of them and an analogue synth, which led to quite unique pieces. However, it again didn’t somehow fit into the game, at least not as much as I wanted to. So I went full metal symphonist, full heavy brass staccatos and chords, accompanied by big percussion, and among them was an anvil. Yes, “industrial” was truly the key. The whole team agreed wholeheartedly that THIS is the direction we’ll be going for. Exactly the kind of music that a robo-bureaucrat would listen to to increase his efficiency, and imperial (and kafkaesque) march.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHb9xIM9Bqk
Adaptive music system - Being smooth and unpredictable
Now was finally the time to begin designing the system itself. That’s one of the greatest unique quirks of making videogame music - it has to be dynamic somehow, to not become repetitive and thus annoying. We put together plans for when and how the music should change at every one of the 11 missions of the game. Sometimes it’s a simple change based on players’ location, sometimes it is triggered by the number of enemies on screen, or by your time running out. And sometimes, it’s a combination. Take a look inside the FMOD Studio where we prepared our adaptive music, and when you will be playing Silicomrades in the future, try to concentrate on the music and try to guess when and why the music has changed. There is truly rhyme and reason behind everything!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fz1YosVRtOY
First finalized music pieces, fresh out of the assembly line
Now the puzzle pieces were coming along - I already knew the general musical style, when it would play in-game, and how it would behave. So nothing was stopping me from going all-in and starting to (finally) compose the pieces you now hear in the game. I created several themes for our rebellious low-quality robots, some of which you can, for example, hear in the main menu screens. I also applied a slightly different musical style for each episode, to underline the differences in environment, mood, and game mechanics (there is a new one in every mission!).
Most notable is our forest Campfire Carnage episode, where I used guitars and contrabass to kind of mimic tramp (country) music style. I composed it in small segments that would switch, loop, and transition whenever needed, and thus created quite an adaptive musical score.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lai6pgTzaoM
Instruments and mixing - One man virtual orchestra
First, I have to clarify that all instruments you hear are virtual (digital) and were recorded by various professionals at different places. I am using those sounds in my sound-cave all alone with my PC. Would I want it to be recorded live? Of course! Even if it's just a small piece. Maybe one day. But there is an important question - How many musicians would I need? And which instruments are used?
Brass section: 2 tubas, cimbasso, contrabass trombone, 2 bass trombones, 4 tenor trombones, 2 euphoniums, 6 horns, and 3 trumpets. Woodwind section: piccolo, flute, bass flute, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet and contrabass clarinet. String section: 3 guitars and 1 contrabass. What’s the count at the moment? Well, we still have percussion left: 3 snare drums, 4 tom sets, 1 tenor drum, 2 bass drums, gong, 3 cymbal sets, and, last but not least, an anvil.
I might even have forgotten something. Overall, the Silicomrades soundtrack played live would need 47 musicians, mainly situated in the brass and percussion sections. Anyway, when virtual composition is done, all of these instruments are then processed together, in order for the result to sound cohesive and pleasant. That process is known as mixing, and you can take a peek at it in the following video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRYLSE1ctTM
OST - Adapting Silicomrades for casual listening
Well, as is probably obvious from the previous paragraphs, music files used in Silicomrades are quite short. In order to adjust our in-game music for your casual listening, I will have to make big adjustments and compose additional pieces to properly offer you the experience that humans (unlike robots) expect. If you ever listen to the OST after playing the game, you can try to spot any differences (and maybe it will make a difference also in your productivity!).
The Silicomrades will be released on the 20th of June, the OST will probably follow closely after. And let me know if you enjoy the music, because that’s the biggest reward for me.
Jan Knot, Minister of Noise
