Harnessing Static- working on the Main Menu theme for Cryohazard
The dark night carries a cold chill. The edges of yourself have become numb and are on their way to frozen. You’ve given up dwelling on anxious thoughts and instead stare into the dark- the falling snow the only reminder that you aren’t staring into the endless void.
The main menu theme for Cryohazard had a number of goals to hit.
- Give a sense of the unknown/the untraveled/the forbidden.
- Create motifs that can be revisited in future pieces (like with combat music).
- Capture the power and majesty of storms.
- Complement the 8-bit art style of the game without being restricted by it.
When I approach writing a theme for a project, it tends to be fairly late in the process. I’ve already established some musical influences and have some of my own written tracks to reference, I am confident in knowing the identity of the game and it’s narrative, and I know what restrictions (time/style/length/etc.) I have.
I tend to get a bit overwhelmed by writing main themes. I’ll get caught up in the excitement of somehow creating the ultimate track- the fingerprint by which all other tracks are derived, something that captures the very SOUL of the premise and particular tone (I know, I’m an ambitious boy).
…which means my attempts become bloated, experimental monstrosities as I try to compile every bit I can into one loop-able, enjoyable piece. Bad practice- let me share how I was able to bring this piece together.
Minimalist Approach
The nature of the low-poly art style led me to exploring chiptune soundfonts and electronic samples over more realistic sounds. I found static in particular, used in small doses, to be particularly effective when paired with night and blizzard imagery.
Creating Space for Scares
I had to really reel myself back to allow the track to have the space and openness that mirrored the long stretches of dystopian countryside players will pass by on their journeys. By removing a lot of ‘conventional’ melody/harmony/chord movement, I was able to instead focus on a single deliberate line and support it.
Utilizing a ‘High/Low’ Convention
This is an anecdotal practice that I’ve never seen written about anywhere- but an easy ‘cheat’ to making a track that sounds decently obscure and spooky off the bat is to focus on strong high (treble) and low (bass) elements that carry some amount of dissonance with each other. Often times, you can avoid having a midrange entirely, allowing the listener to feel as though they are squeezed uncomfortably between both layers.
While this track is still a work in progress, pulling up the Cryohazard main menu screen and hearing the track fade in has yielded the most satisfaction thus far. It makes me want to… close my eyes, and plunge headfirst into a pool of liquid static, and tumble my way down to tranquility in noise.