I think we can all agree that music connects people. I mean, here at stoneskip studio we all do, at least.
It's such a big part of our game that we thought, why not dedicate a whole post to the music and the awesome people behind it?
Remember that first post where we talked about friendship and community? Well, that theme's still going strong, because it's how we found George Pandrea, the musical genius behind Simpler Times, and how he found Maeve Kroeger, who later became the voice of Taina.
Dragos and I (Laara here) decided that we wanted a chill, lo-fi vibe for the music. We wanted to emphasize the relaxing aspect of the experience, and the lo-fi hip-hop beats reminded us of the early 2000s, the era we grew up in and connected with.
We made a playlist (an audio moodboard, if you will, which you can listen to here) of what we had in mind and started asking around for a local musician who could make it happen. Lucky for us, George's name came up through one of our friends. We gave George’s Spotify a listen and were instantly hooked. We knew he was the one for the job.
When Dragos and George met, it was like magic. Dragos's passion for the game was contagious, and George caught it. They both shared a love for music, which was the perfect glue for their friendship.
And just like that, within a couple of days, George was on board!
It's almost crazy how George's music matched our game's vibe so perfectly. It only needed a little tweaking, and after a few revisions, we had the first Simpler Times tunes to build on. Here’s an early example that we still love today:
Simpler Times | Slowly by George Pandrea
George wasn't just a one-man band, though. He loved jamming with his musician buddies. Little did he know that these jam sessions would lead to collaborations with some seriously talented artists for our game.
First up was Diana Sasu, the amazing singer behind 3 songs that you'll get to hear in the game. Then there was Mihai Nedea, the piano wizard who contributed significantly to several key songs. He also introduced us to Maeve Kroeger, the lyricist and voice behind the game’s trailer, and the voice of Taina herself. We must also mention Watzatka Robert, a versatile guitarist who lent his unique touch to one of the tracks (we’ll leave you to guess which one). Lastly, Victor Mihăilescu played a crucial role in mixing and mastering the tracks.
Storytelling Through Music
It was fascinating to see how each and every teammate was finding ways to explore Taina and her personality through their own individual parts.
But what really blew our minds was how George’s music captured Taina’s essence in a way we couldn’t have imagined. He created 4 EPs for the seasons in our game, each one portraying not only Taina’s growth and personality but the specific mood of the season as well. From the uplifting, innocent melodies in Winter, when Taina is a curious child exploring the small universe of her room, to the melancholic tunes in Spring, when she faces loss for the first time and the fading of her childhood dreams. From the introspective harmonies in Summer, when she embarks on a journey of self-discovery, to the nostalgic rhythms in Autumn, when she reflects on her life and the choices she has made. It’s one thing to draw a character’s personality visually or explore it through storytelling, but translating it into sound? That’s a different kind of magic.
Early on, George set out to create the perfect songs. I mean, we thought each new one was better than the one he did before. But every time he thought he had it, he'd come up with something even better. His drive and perfectionism paid off big time.
In Winter, we loved how he used the bells to create a cheerful and festive atmosphere in the song called “Snowflake”. In Spring, he completely captured the sadness and the hope of the season with slow pianos and guitars. The song “Blossom” is a soothing tune that shows Taina’s resilience and optimism for the future. We really admired how he explored the diversity of the seasons.
Even after we had all the EPs sorted for the four vinyl records, George kept sending us new tunes, like, every week. With all this amazing music, we had to find a way to use it. That's when we decided to have bonus tracks and cassette tapes in the game to accompany the vinyl records. Our demo, which we will launch very soon, includes one of these songs and has Maeve’s vocals on it. The song is called “Dreamflowers”.
George’s infinite creativity and inspiration ended up being something so valuable in the game - something that players can also enjoy and explore themselves.
Simpler Times | Cassette Player
Maeve & Taina
Maeve came to be part of the team when George began his quest for creating a representative song for our game. That’s how the trailer song came into existence, once these two decided to work together.
I remember clearly the moment we first heard it. We could not believe our ears and we kept playing it over and over again, in total awe. We all thought “Woah, this girls’ voice is something else. How can it be so good, who is she?” She improvised and interpreted the lyrics with such a child-like energy that perfectly captured the essence of Taina and the growing up theme we have in our game. All that from a jam session with George.
Oh, little side story. So after being hooked on the trailer song, Dragos and I, found ourselves at a dinner party at a friend’s house when we suddenly heard a familiar voice. We never met her before, only heard her on the song. But what do you know? It was her, Maeve herself! So that’s how we got to meet her in person. Funny how when the intention is there, the universe brings the right people in front of you.
It wasn’t long until we decided to commission Maeve to be the voice of Taina and thus the voice of the game. Again, something we hadn’t originally planned, but hey, you gotta go with the flow and take whatever the universe gives you, right?
What we discovered is that Maeve was a natural at voicing Taina, we embraced her personality and let it put her own spin on the character.
Here’s a snippet from one of our recording sessions, things can get pretty deep as you can see:
Simpler Times | Voiceovers recording session with Maeve
Music Connects People
We strongly believe that the world would be a duller place without music in it. We also strongly believe that the game would also be duller if it weren’t for George and Maeve’s contribution.
But we’ll let you be the judge of that, giving you the chance to listen to the full trailer song, THE song that checked all the marks.