The visual aesthetics of Void Crew draw upon ancient Egyptian themes, mixed with futuristic sci-fi elements. And the music should reflect and support that.
Most of the time when working on a soundtrack you feel like working blindfolded in the beginning, but eventually you start fleshing out ideas and approaches that you can draw on, for the whole soundtrack.
METEM technology includes things like sarcographs - used for printing the Ectypes
While I was experimenting to find a way to illustrate the above, in the music, I found some themes that I kept going back to, that you can find in the game as well.
- The feeling of awe, of being lost in complete nothingness. Feeling like nothing, but connected to everything at the same time. A sense of serenity, beauty and wonder.
- Ancient wrath, ancient Gods, huge powerful forces that you cannot control. The sensation of thousand year old Egyptian/Middle Eastern Gods, that are much more advanced than you and at the same time, very much rooted in ancient times.
- The sense of adventure. Going where no-one has ever been before. Much like the old Christopher Columbus-like explorers. You don’t know what is around the corner. A treasure chest or shipwreck.
Different Instruments to Set the Moods
While not a strict rule, but using it as a general guide line, I illustrated the different moods with different combinations of instruments: I tried illustrating the feeling of awe and one-ness, by using very airy and delicate sounding swirling synthesizers, along with cinematic strings (an example of this is the track “The Endless Void”, “Light Among the Wicked”, “Home Among the Stars” and others). I tried illustrating the ancient wrath by using crushed sounding synthesizers, middle eastern instruments and middle eastern rhythms played on distorted drum machines (an example of this is the track “METEM”. “Doctrine of Power”, “Rebirth by Trial” and others). The sense of adventure and ship-exploring I tried hinting at, by using European instruments that reminds you of pirates and explorers. Old church organs. Pipe organs. Harps and traditional European strings (an example of this is the track “Passage through the Void”, “A Promise and Reward”, “Into the Unknown” and others). Again this was not a strict rule, and you will find many crossovers of instruments, but the general palette of instruments combined, still alludes to a general feeling of old European explorers, ancient Egyptian Gods, serenity and one-ness, good old sci-fi and bad-ass action.
I should mention that I laid the foundational groundwork for the sound effects as well (ship and weapon sound design approaches and general mood), but after some time I had to move on to other projects and the talented Tomasz Kulisz took over (also read: "Hutlihut - Spacelog #4. My Spaceship is Alive" Using Animal Sounds").
It was a joy to make the soundtrack. Seriously. I loved the theme of the game and I think this soundtrack turned out great. I had very free hands and was very much in charge of the musical direction. I had time to go and explore different approaches, but at the same time always having the final product in mind. As a general rule, I always want my tracks to be great in their own right, outside any game. It should be an engaging and great experience listening to my tracks, even if you never ever played a video game before.
I think I succeeded. I find myself listening to the soundtrack when going for long car or train rides. What can I say? I really enjoyed the process and the outcome. I feel very fortunate to have been a part of this project.
Original Soundtrack - Available on Steam
The entire Original Soundtrack (22 Full Tracks) is available on Steam. By purchasing you help support the game: Get the soundtrack >> Teasers for all 22 tracks of the OST is available for free on Youtube. Give it a listen. [ WIN ] Void Crew Original Soundtrack - until 16. September - Read more >> ... The Void Crew OST captures Epic Space Battles and Co-op chaos of the game. The ancient themes build on powerful, mythological motives, mixing with futuristic, synth music. From menacing drums of the HOLLOW, to empowering electronic beats of METEM. These 22 tracks feature a mixture of mighty battle music and serene soundscapes of the Void for players to experience in Void Crew. Ominous ancient powers clash with electronic beats. Mythological meets futuristic, inspired by tribal motifs and electronic music. An exciting take on the sci-fi genre. Go on a journey through the void, from the menacing drums and ominous drones of the HOLLOW, to the empowering beats of electronic instruments, bound by METEM. Get your crew together and jam out to some Ectype tunes from the Void and beyond! Outfit your spaceship and crew for thrilling quests, brave fierce enemies in Space Battles... and try not to panic!
