Conjuring Feelings Through Music

A piece of sheet music.

As a small team of two, Kristiina and I have needed to develop different skills for our projects. For example, Kristiina has learned animation skills (she has written about animation in this blog post); I, in turn, have dipped my toes into creating music.

Composing is both entertaining and challenging. You need to capture a specific kind of feeling, an atmosphere, as a combination of sounds. Sometimes, figuring the desirable sensation is tricky in itself.

First of all, a song needs to suit the project. While we have been working on Bewitching Baking, Kristiina and I have discussed how both of us envision the atmosphere of the game. During our conversations, Kristiina suggested that we could aim for something calm, warm, and happy, with a little bit of soothing melancholy included.

This suggestion brings us to the second challenge: subtle nuances and contradictory vibes. Happiness and melancholy may sound like a strange combination, even like an impossible mixture. Joe Hisaishi's excellent compositions show, however, that such flavors can be very pleasing and emotionally moving.

Therefore, I was excited to give the idea a try. I started forming different ideas by recording my humming and creating sheet music with MuseScore. These were the basis for further discussion and changes.

 

Working in GarageBand.

After these initial stages, I've been testing different instruments with GarageBand and a keyboard. Even tiny changes in musical instruments can affect the overall mood significantly, which is why I have experimented with various combinations. The results of these experiments have led to more conversations, which, in turn, have influenced the development of the song.

Visit our Dropbox to listen to an example snippet from the current version of the soundtrack. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section!

Anniina

Comments

  1. Congratulations! I love the music you created: it is relaxing, lively and joyful. Just right for your game.

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    1. Thank you—I'm happy to hear that you think so! - Anniina

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