This last week was finally productive! Both for the game and my other projects. I hope I will be able to keep this pace.
Lounge
The lounge remained close to what I've shown last week. As I said, I mostly added some light percussions. And the motif is now played by a very light Rhodes. And actually it also give the music enough weight, so I didn't need any other instrument! Rhodes are great. Sadly finding a pleasant sound font for this instrument wasn't easy either. But so far it's always how I've been composing: I have a sound in mind, I try to reproduce it, instead I find something that sounds nice, so I keep it. Happy accidents. (yes, I've been watching some Bob Ross lately)
https://vocaroo.com/i/s1udIO8t8xfU
This loop doesn't have much melody. Actually it's minimalist enough so that most of the additional instruments change drastically its mood: an organ holding chords makes it relaxing, strings give some melancholy, vibraphone create some mystery, and piano or saxophone solo creates some kind of sad or noir atmosphere. Again, this part has a very distinct style, completely different from what I'm used to do. So it was nice to experiment with it. The result is far from being perfect, and again it lacks acoustic records (mostly for the solo parts, sequencers are not the best tools for that). But I sure learned a bit, and explored some interesting sounds and rhythmic patterns. While it isn't the cool jazz I had in mind, I hope players will enjoy a bit the mood of this room.
Talking about distinct styles, we arrive at the last room of the first floor. And it's a very special room! Once in the lounge, the player will see a door leading back to the corridor, and another with a sign:
The Club
The real party takes place here! Forget about jazz and sophistications, skeletons are there to dance (and get drunk) until the end of this (eternal) night! The dining room was chaotic, this is pure madness. Flashing lights, dancing crowd, and… loud electro music!
This room is a great "break", since I don't have to use sound fonts anymore. Just synthesizers, and crazy effects. Not only this is more appropriate for the tools I use, but it also gives me a lot of creative freedom. This room is just “stupid” techno, locked on minor E, so I can have some fun making loud and repetitive noises! =D And since it doesn't have to sound acoustic anymore, I can even explore some effects to obtain strange results.
Here is how the room sounds so far:
https://vocaroo.com/i/s0rfQrhpC1La
As much as I try to stay consistent on the global song, the lounge and the club couldn't be more far appart from each other! But this contrast is intentional: just like the kitchen, the club is one of the few room that "sounds as it should sound". Which mean the music the player hear might be the exact same one played actually in the fiction.
As stated above, I use LMMS. More specifically, I use its Triple Oscillator to create some instruments. Though it allows to obtain great sounds (combined with filters and effects), I'm thinking of trying to learn a new synth. I still have a lot to explore with this one, but I'm beginning to notice there are some resemblance in the different songs I composed with it. It could be interesting to try something new in the future. For now, a thing I should definitely do is save my instruments instead of trying every time to find a new one! Switching randomly waves and filters can sometime be tedious.
Anyway, the club is nearly done. What it needs now is the additional instruments. I wan to try some basic dubset effect (first time, huh), as well as some compressed percussions (it needs to be over-saturated). And that will still be a good excuse to randomly select some effects and see what it produce!
And once the Club is done… We'll have our first floor! Finally! Then we will be able to attack… the second half of the soundtrack. *sigh*
But before that, I will implement what I have here, and make some test in the game. So next week I might be able to show a little bit how the game will sounds! And it will be a nice occasion to share some code, why not.