Main Menu Theme
Technical Specifications
| Specification | Details |
|---|---|
| Software | FL Studio 24 |
| Plugins | Stock plugins (with one exception) |
| BPM | 120 |
| Length | 2:20 minutes |
| Purpose | Main menu track, relaxed tempo |
Philosophy
This is the main menu track, since it incorporates multiple aspects of our chicken fighting game. The track sets an unsettling yet hopeful tone, reflecting the emotional journey of the player. It balances tension and resolution, creating a soundscape that mirrors the game’s themes of struggle and progression.
Connection to Game Themes
The main menu music deliberately reflects the game’s core elements:
- Underground Fighting: The distorted sounds and reverb create a sense of being in an enclosed, hidden space, emphasizing the gritty nature of the arena and poultry man area.
- Psychological Horror: Distorted chords and ambience create unease and tension, which fits with the game’s darker undertones.
- Hope: The end of the music conveys a sense of hope, representing the player’s determination to overcome challenges.
- Contrast: Like the game’s visual design, the music contrasts cartoonish elements with darker undertones. The song is broken up by lighter sounds and ends on a positive note.
Musical Parts
The main menu theme can be divided into three parts:
- The Beginning: Distorted chords, broken up by pluck sounds, set the grim introduction. The rhythmic interplay between the chords and pluck synth adds complexity and intrigue.
- Mid Section: White noise and a deep bass line gradually build despair. Automation is used to increase tension over time, reflecting the player’s growing unease within the arena.
- End: The calmest part of the track, but bittersweet. It gives hope to the player, with a buildup that deliberately avoids a drop or real payoff, since the chickens in the arena will end up dying either way.
The three parts mirror the player’s journey. Entering the arena for the first time is unsettling. This is followed by experiencing the despair of the arena (mid-section), and finally subtle hope of victory(the end).
Instruments and Sound Design
Key Instruments
- Eight Voice Chords: Heavily distorted synthesizer chords. Distortion setups and envelope tweaks are used to shape the sound.
- Sakura Ambient: Atmospheric pads providing eerie background noise. EQ adjustments remove unnecessary frequencies to maintain clarity and avoid clashing with the other instruments.
- Deep Bass: Representing the underground setting and adding weight to the track. The bass is programmed with subtle modulation to enhance its presence.
- Pluck Synth: Represents the chicken mutations and biological experiments. Envelope shaping and EQ are used to make the pluck sounds distinct yet cohesive.
- White Noise: Creates tension during the mid-section, programmed with automation to gradually increase intensity.
Arrangement
Throughout the song, sounds and arrangements are used multiple times, in different ways. This creates a sense of cohesion and familiarity, while still being different. The transitions between the three parts are intentionally fairly harsh.
Mixing and Mastering
Mixer Effects
- Master
- Fruity limiter, to ensure sound levels don’t become too high and prevent clipping.
- Eight Voice Chords (track 1)
- Fruity blood overdrive, to make the chords distorted.
- Fruity limiter, so the chords don’t overpower within the song.
- Sakura Ambient (track 2)
- Fruity Reeverb 2.
- Soundgoodizer, makes it sound fuller.
- Gross Beat: Used to create a stuttering effect by automating volume patterns. This effect causes the sound to rapidly alternate between higher and lower levels.
- Fruity Multiband Compressor + Parametric EQ 2, to take out the lows and highs. The sound is supposed to be ambient.
- Fruity limiter, to mix it better within the song.