I’m currently working on a game for which I’ve written several pieces of music: a main theme, to be played in the menu and during significant moments, a quieter, more toned-down version of the theme for conversations with NPCs and pensive moments, and an energetic, more upbeat piece which I’m thinking will play during exciting moments and chase scenes.
I’m planning on writing a few more pieces to create a more comprehensive suite, but I’m interested to know what you all think of these first few.
The game itself has a linear storyline that centres around an investigation into corruption in a municipal government that spirals into a web of lies and manipulation that ultimately affects the fate of the entire nation, so I’m going for something of a sombre yet intriguing theme.
I’d like to know whether the musical motifs that I’ve tried to include in each piece are recognisably similar in every piece and whether they feel like they fit together, as I’m going for a very cohesive suite that identifiably belongs to the same soundtrack.
I think the quiet theme might contrast with the main theme better if you make the drum beat less punchy or lower the octave of the melody.
In the energy theme, the harmony seems off in a few places. At 0:16, for example, the strings play a C major chord while the bass plays an E flat (rather than an E natural), which sounds kind of dissonant to me. At 0:40, the strings and piano seem to clash over the same chord. I wonder what would happen if you changed the first chord in the progression to a C minor chord.
I was thinking that the drumbeat in the quiet theme could be made a little quieter or otherwise altered, so I will take a look at that.
I wanted the energy theme to be in a major key to symbolise that it represents movement and action, but not necessarily a threat, hence the chord progression C major - E flat - F major - C. In terms of the strings and piano clashing at certain points, I had noticed that but I wasn’t too sure to do about it. Making the strings quieter means that the melody is difficult to hear over the rest of the instruments, but it’s important that the piano is audible as well as it provides the block chords once the strings transition to playing the melody.
I’ll definitely keep these things in mind, however, and I do intend to clean these pieces up before I use them in a final product. Thanks again!