What Do Dreams Sound Like?

Hey everybody! My name is Felix Arifin, and I’m the music composer and sound effects designer for REM Cycles. We are still very much hard at work programming and implementing all the parts of the game together, but we all thought it’d be fun if I could have a stab at writing words instead of music. So without further ado, let me show you a little look at what goes on in the composition process for the video game!

This Is Where the Magic Happens™ 

When Danny Spencer and I first discussed the music for REM Cycles, we both agreed that the music had to not only be unique and fun to listen to, but it had to also pay tribute to the soundtracks we both grew up listening to when playing video games as children (of which we both shared many!). The team and I shared music from Pokémon, Fire Emblem, and many other nostalgic game franchises from which to draw inspiration from, and after a few listens I was able to narrow down the feel of the music to three key characteristics: Dreams, Nostalgia, and Adventure.

Sweet Dreams are Made of Modes

Since the main plot of the game revolves around ten strangers trapped in the same dream, I knew that I had to either create a dream-like quality to the music, or introduce a dream-like motif that will be heard throughout the game. I settled for a motif since it will be easier for me to intersperse it throughout the soundtrack, and I can use it as an emotional grounding point for the players to hang on to as an anchor point for their gaming experience.

Personally, I think the Lydian mode is a great place to start for creating a dream-like motif (and to those looking to impress some of their musician colleagues, it’s the same mode used for the Simpsons theme). I’ve attached the mode by itself below, in a C Lydian format:

You can almost hear the title screen just by looking at it…

What I really like about this mode is the raised fourth on the scale. It creates an interesting musical tension to where the pull towards the home key (in this case, C major) is much stronger than that of a regular scale, but it is also possible to shift from one key to another unrelated key without requiring to modulate, or pull off some wicked fancy cadential progressions. In this particular case, I’m able to move from C Major (no sharps) to D Major (two sharps!) fairly easily. The D Major chord might not have the leading tone it needs to make it a full D Major, but that works well to my advantage!

Red for C Major, Cyan for D Major

What is a dream but a way for our consciousness to explore our own subconscious thoughts and feelings? A state of sleep in which we can perceive things that should not make sense, but do because of dream logic? Because of this ebb and pull of a dream state, having two moderately disparate keys working together in harmony to create a main theme makes a lot of sense. Here’s the main theme written out in its entirety, again with C Lydian:

You’ll hear this a lot in the game~

I’m having a blast finding ways to reuse this really simple melodic figure throughout the game’s soundtrack. Can I reharmonize it and turn it to a totally different key? Can I use its retrograde for something else? What if I used these notes as the bass line, and use the notes written as the root note for a chord progression on top? You’ll just have to listen to find out~

Nostalgic Sounds, or Tones?

One of the things I love to do when working on a game project is to look at the art that’s being done for the game, whether it be in-game assets or concept art. Sarah Boeving's art has been an absolute treat to admire and to draw inspiration from! It also gave me a really good feel for what the team was looking for in the music: something that evoked nostalgia, not necessarily replicating it.

A sneak peek at one of our levels, the Townlands!

The game’s bright colours, its use of procedurally-generated levels to create interesting scenarios for the player, and its wide assortment of critters and baddies certainly ring familiar to players who are fans of the rogue-like or dungeon crawler, but oh gosh look at the pretty pixel art, and the bubbly animations! The game might look like something that came from gaming’s yesteryears, but the design philosophy behind it is very modern.

Because of that, I made sure to follow suit with the game’s soundtrack. You’ll definitely hear lots of chiptunes and bouncy beats, but don’t be surprised to hear some orchestral instruments, rock guitars, and twinkling pianos blending in with the mix for an auditory treat~

Adventure Awaits!

The writing behind the game is not really a realm in game development that I need to write music, but when Emily Morrow’s writing is this good, it’s hard to not pay attention to it! If you guys are a big fan of incredible characters and unique storytelling, this game will be an amazing fit for you. Not only was Emily able to pull literary references and genres and make it work within the context of the game, but she was able to make it funny and relatable to players from all walks of life.

Originally I was going to stick with some established musical genre tropes that are typical of this type of game. Chiptune lends itself really well to peppy and energetic tracks, and you’ll hear lots of tracks that involve that style! But being able to read the really fun stories and characters of the game, there’s no way I was just going to stick with one established “style” of music. I hope you’re fans of funk, classical, and everything in between, because the soundtrack is as diverse as it is fun!

And here’s a sample of it all coming together!

Phew, that was a lot of words. This was a lot of fun! Thank you so much for reading, and I hope this gets you super excited for the release for the game. Please keep in touch with us at Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Tumblr via screenshots, gifs, and in-character posts. See you soon!

<3,

Felix Arifin and the rest of the REM Cycles team