Hairy Tales
Notes on the Soundtrack
One of the coolest features of the soundtrack to Hairy Tales is the simple adaptive music feature. Each of the world pieces, which combine elements of the land with the playful characteristics of our protagonists, have two musical layers.
The first layer plays while the player is moving the pieces around and setting up the puzzle solution, the second, more intense layer begins once the player 'executes' the puzzle. The music then intensifies and provides a nice lift in the energy for the unfolding of the level.
Below is an example of the second layer of the swamp theme along with it's notation.
The first layer plays while the player is moving the pieces around and setting up the puzzle solution, the second, more intense layer begins once the player 'executes' the puzzle. The music then intensifies and provides a nice lift in the energy for the unfolding of the level.
Below is an example of the second layer of the swamp theme along with it's notation.
The harmonies of the pieces are simple, triadic chords connected by common tones. The instruments feature some of my favorites, marimba, xylophone, celesta, strings, brass, winds. The bassoon, especially, makes numerous solo melodic appearances.
At the successful completion of the level the following tune plays. Originally I had sketched out a couple of victory ideas but this one seemed to work so well that it is the theme at the end of every stage. This melody will be heard by the player many times throughout the game.
At the successful completion of the level the following tune plays. Originally I had sketched out a couple of victory ideas but this one seemed to work so well that it is the theme at the end of every stage. This melody will be heard by the player many times throughout the game.
At the end of each world, there's the final level which features a boss, these stages are more complex and we decided to have the music reflect this intensity. The boss tracks are the loudest part of the game. Here's an example of the boss theme from the rock world. Again the minor, triadic chords make up the harmonic set of the track.
I hope you've enjoyed the brief look at the soundtrack for Hairy Tales, I would love for you to check out the game and get a good sense for how the music functions in the game.
