Hi! I did music and sound for Jim’s Quest, and today I want to talk a bit about my work. By the way, here's the game: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/59/jims-quest-for-birthday-present

Here's the music: https://youtu.be/Efd4m68hrCU

When the theme was announced, our artist Natasha put together a mood board of references for the aesthetics, we discussed it and decided that vibe-wise, we would roughly aim for Zelda. As it happened, I had to step away for the whole day for family matters, and when I got to work in the evening, Natasha had already drawn the main art: Jim himself, the shop on the beach, and some items. This helped me a lot; I understood exactly what kind of vibe needed to be created.

We quickly realized that Zelda wasn't the right reference for us. It was important to create an atmosphere of carefreeness, joy, and a touch of nostalgia (without slipping into actual sadness) — we needed that feeling of warmth and home. Even though Zelda's music is generally quite wholesome, it carries a lot of ethereality, magic, and a certain mystery and tension. So, Animal Crossing felt closer in mood, although not a perfect match either.

Here is the list of tags I put down for myself before getting started: - Calm, soothing, sunny. Cute, but not overly so. Somewhat bristly. A bit bittersweet. - Beautiful string swells - Small percussion - Uke solo that goes harder than it needs to - Vaguely surfy strat

I'm really happy how the music turned out! Here's what works to create the atmosphere:

Harmony is mainly built on major 7th and 9th chords, which creates a light, dreamy atmosphere. Occasionally, a minor third degree appears, evoking melancholy, but we don't stay on it for long and return to major. There are also unprepared modulations in the music. But since the chords themselves sound quite soft, this isn't perceived as a jarring transition, but rather as an addition of freshness and a slightly jazzy vibe, like in the TV shows from our childhood.

Contrast. Instruments capable of loud, expressive sounds play very calmly and softly, while a tiny ukulele plays at the limit of its dynamics; even goes out of tune a bit during particularly hard moments. This contrast creates a slightly comical effect and keeps things from getting too serious or overly sweet.

Texture. The rolling swells of string chords evoke the feeling of ocean surf.

Rhythm. Small percussion, the bass rhythm, and guitar chords bring a somewhat Latin feel, which works well for setting a sunny beach atmosphere. Also, an electric guitar played with a slide adds a bit of a "Hawaiian" color.

I wrote three different tracks, and to avoid overcomplicating the implementation, I made kind of a mixtape of two of them: spliced together, added transitions, recorded a couple of bars of solo, rendered as one file and put it into the game in that form.

We originally wanted to leave one separate theme for the shop, but decided against it: the player doesn't spend enough time there to justify switching the music.

At work, I mostly do epic orchestral textures using VSTs, so for this jam, I wanted to write music using live instruments. I played and recorded a ton of stuff: violins, viola, cello, nylon and electric guitars, ukulele, and percussion. The only virtual instruments here are the piano and double bass.

I don't consider myself a professional instrumentalist, but even without proper technique, you can create sounds that set the vibe. The key is not getting fixated on a flawless start-to-finish performance, but rather proceed in small chunks. If a phrase seems too hard, deconstruct it: play it super slowly, understand its physics (bow movement, fingerings), and record the elements separately, up to single notes. When done right, it pieces together organically.

It's taking a lot of recording passes, so streamlining the workflow is crucial. I set things up so I can control the recording with one hand, without leaving the mic. My biggest roadblock is usually my own ego: thinking I can nail the whole phrase at once and wasting attempts instead of just breaking it down. Also, for monophonic instruments: focus on timbre, not pitch. You can fix the pitch in Melodyne, but a shaky, unconfident tone can't be saved in post.

Sound design didn't take much time. The metal detector pings were the main challenge, I needed a sound that played constantly without being annoying or getting lost in the mix. I've made the ping sounds in Phase Plant. Defold has fairly basic audio tools, so I couldn't build complex, randomized systems. That said, our programmer Stanislav implemented audio randomization in code, which allowed for necessary sound variation. This made the radar feel more organic and less repetitive. The same applies to the character's footstep sounds.

I'm so glad I got to work with Natasha @sobigdrasil and Stanislav @laminariy — we didn't know each other before, but we’ll definitely work more! I hope you liked the game and could relax for a bit in the world we created.

If you'd like to work with me, hit me up: timmedvedevaudio@gmail.com. I've written a lot of music in various styles for games, and also worked a lot as a sound designer.