An epic journey, both visually and acoustically - The music of Songs of Silence
If you already had the chance to play the game, or if you’ve watched our recent trailers, you’ve also experienced the beauty of the game’s musical atmosphere.
We knew, to keep up with the legendary theme of the game and the unique art style, we had to excel with the soundtrack, too. We wanted to match the same level of epicness we have visually, acoustically.
So, we wanted to take some time and give you more insight into the creative mind behind the sound of Songs of Silence. The epic musical landscape is composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto, the famous musical-mastermind behind games such as Final Fantasy Tactics, Final Fantasy 12, and Valkyria Chronicles.
Why and how did we choose Hitoshi in the first place?
Creative Director Alexander Kehr sheds some light on this question:
“We are big fans of his work, and fondly remember the games he worked on in the past, sometimes mostly for the music. We still listen to the OSTs of those games. Especially, I personally love the soundtracks of FF Tactics, Tactics Ogre, Vagrant Story and Dragon's Crown. His unique style of evocative "military fantasy" (that's my personal description, nothing official!) is a perfect fit for the type of game and story we are going for.”
Now you might be asking, what does working with a famous composer look like? Well, we got you covered once again (thanks Alex!):
“We created a big digital whiteboard with the lore of our world, the factions, gods, and all other core concepts of the game. It also contained the heroes and their agendas. The board described those elements in detail, and showed a lot of artwork to help imagine the atmosphere of our world. The whole whiteboard was translated into Japanese, to help Mr. Sakimoto to understand the intricacies of our unique setting.
Then, we started developing so-called 'Identity Themes' which capture the 'mood' for our most important factions, heroes, and concepts (such as the Silence, or the Divine Hymn).
After each major element of the game got its own signature sound in the Identity Themes, we started branching out into additional music, such as battle, world map and so on.”
Intrigued? You want more? Why not let Hitoshi speak for himself this time?
Enjoy the interview with Hitoshi Sakimoto:
Listen to one selected track on our official Soundcloud right now!
I've created a Soundcloud account, where you can listen to one of our most favorite tracks of the Songs of Silence soundtrack.
Enjoy: https://soundcloud.com/songs-of-silence-game
And who knows, most likely we will add one or more tracks until the full release. Stay tuned and make sure to follow us!
Songs of Silence currently playable with Steam Next Fest demo
Jump right in and play the Songs of Silence demo.
Experience the first campaign mission and dive into the story and world of Songs of Silence. For sure accompanied by the music of Hitoshi Sakimoto!
If this isn’t enough, a skirmish map awaits, too, to test your strategic wits against two AIs.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2195410/Songs_Of_Silence/?utm_source=steamnews&utm_campaign=devdiary
Previous Dev Diaries you should not miss
Dev Diary #1 — Cards of Faith:
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2195410/view/5282201245366689503
Dev Diary #2 — Art and symbolism in Songs of Silence:
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2195410/view/3728461191740894243
Dev Diary #3 - Hymn and Silence:
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2195410/view/3695811997070178937
Dev Diary #4 - Real-time battles:
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2195410/view/3669918835631185973
Dev Diary #5 - Songs of Silence demo during Steam Next Fest
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2195410/view/3743111843412503377
Thank you for your ongoing support and stay tuned for more exciting news!
Don’t forget to follow Songs of Silence on Reddit, Twitter, & Discord and share your thoughts and demo feedback with us and the community!
Enjoy the Songs of Silence demo!
Greetings from Munich!
Lars & the Chimera Team