Writing music for video games, it’s sometimes fun to look back at the creative brief and the musical references that went into making a track what it is today.
I wrote this piece of music for a goldmine level in the video game, Bang-on Balls: Chronicles - a chaotic, fun 3D platformer (like a mix of Mario 64 and Crash Bandicoot) where you play as a bouncy ball character, BOB, exploring large, destructible, historically-themed open worlds (Vikings, Space Race, Wild West, etc.)
For the Wild West expansion of the game, I was brought back to write the bouncy, punchy tracks needed to bring this American West map of the game to life through music. In this goldmine level, we had a variety of musical references including the song 16 Tons by Tennessee Ernie Ford, Luigi’s Mansion, and Wild West saloon songs. I combined all of this into a jazzy, western-feeling, bouncy track that sometimes echoes like it’s playing through the caverns of a deep, sometimes spooky, goldmine.
This section was largely inspired by the drum break and instrumental build in the jazz standard Sing, Sing, Sing (with a Swing) by Benny Goodman’s Big Band with Gene Krupa playing that iconic tom line on the drums. Here, I’m using bending clarinets and trombone glissandi to underscore the spooky, queasy, but ultimately jazzy feel to this goldmine cavern level as we ride the roller coaster of the old-timey cart tracks throughout the cave.
Composing a video game track like this is a real blast. I hope that seeing some of the references that went into the brief for this track is a fun look into all the small creative choices that make up an indie game soundtrack!
I definitely had a lot of fun composing for this game!