Drova – Forsaken Kin was my first big project as a composer for games. you can find the steam link to the game above, as well as links to the Original Soundtracks on Spotify.
Additionally, if you want to check out what I composed specifically, I assembled a custom playlist containing only those selected tracks:
Allright, let’s talk about Drova.
We discussed what Drova was supposed to sound like: Dark, pagan, folky, nordic, gaelic, irish.
Generally I tend to use Orchestral Tools a lot. Specifically Metropolis Ark 1 and Ark 2, and I also have the Berlin Series Main Collections (so Strings, Brass, Woodwinds and Percussion). My main Go-To are the Metropolis libraries, and then I use the Berlin Series as additional instruments whenever I need to.
I expanded my Libraries by adding Groth by Wavelet Audio, as well as Native Instruments Spotlight collection: Ireland. I used these two quite a lot, since they really helped with defining the sound for Drova.
I also got Orchestral Tools Grimm when that came out, but it was too late to really use Grimm for the soundtrack, as the game was already in it’s final development stages. So Grimm was barely used.
Other Librariey were Spitfire Labs and their collection of Free Instruments. I used Gaelic Voices, the Mandolin and Dulcimer regularly. Ableton also provides some free packs / some packs that come with the Suite.
These were the main Libraries I used. I also recored my 7 string acoustic Ibanez guitar for some songs on the album.
I was not involved with the implementation of the music;
We decided to use a layer based system for the game. That gave Just2D the freedom to dial in the music in layers, add and subtract certain elements.
This had a big impact on how I mixed the tracks for the game. I needed to export every layer in a way that, when played together, would sum back up to the full track. Some tracks were dynamically ducking for others (for example sidechained drums and bass instruments) so I had to bake that down first, the layers could not be auto normalized, and any „mastering“ I wanted to do needed to be baked down into the individual layers.
I tend to work with Send/Return Tracks for Reverb a lot, which I also had to consider and bake down to the individual layers.
This wasn’t really all that difficult, but it was a big part of the process, so I described it here.
My main job and focus was to write the battle music for the game. there are a few exceptions, but overall that was my part. This meant that most of the time, I had to write battle music that would fit on top of already existing ambient tracks that Marten already wrote. It was important to write the battle music based on Martens Tracks, so that it could be seamlessly blended in the game.
I had to figure out the BPM as well as the base note, scales and chords used for each song, then write something on top of that.
This too is not too difficult. Figuring out the BPM and the base note was fairly easy, for some songs I struggled with finding out the chord structure. There seemed to be always that one Chord that I just couldn’t figure out. I did eventually.
I liked the fact that I did not have to completely invent the music from scratch. I had some guardrails, which made my job significantly more easier. I think that also really contributed to the music. Some of the Chords and Melodies that Marten wrote I would have never even considered, but now I had to write around that structure. Overall I liked that, but I also totally understand that some people might feel trapped here, or feel like they are stumped in their creative freedom.
Sometimes, having something there already makes it a lot easier to write. That is a universal truth for any Artist. A Blank piece of paper is scary.
There were some downsides to this though. Some of the Ambient tracks were three minutes long.
We were composing in a Layer system, there was nothing dynamic going on, everything was fairly straightforward. So that meant that I also had to write music that would fit those three minutes and loop perfectly. Some of Martens decisions, and loops quite annoyed me. Some stuff he repeated twice, some 1.5 times, meaning that I had to write around that, and write sections that could be repeatable 1.5 times…
It was a challenge, but overall not too difficult to master. And, to be fair, it was only annoying to me because I had to compose better. The Ambient tracks really benefitted from the dynamic looping of sections.
After the game came out; the task of preparing the music for an album release fell into my hands, so I had the task of mastering both mine and martens tracks for the album, so I did that too.
That’s roughly how it went.
Generally I talked to Just2D, we figured out what each section of the game required, talked about themes, moods, colors or feelings for the sections, and then I went off to write the Music for it.
Now I don’t know how other composers work, but I like to start out with one, single demo. I don’t waste my time writing three to five snippets; at the end of the day, that is really a timewaster.
I see myself as a professional composer. My job is to accurately capture a feeling, an emotion, a mood in form of Music and sound. As a professional, I am accurate. For each demo I sent, I experimented first, wrote down some parts, revised them, deleted and rearranged them. Once I was fairly happy with a demo, I sent a roughly(and sometimes decently) mixed 30 second demo to Just2D. Most of the time, I was 80% there, so I just had to fix some things, mix it properly or extend a theme, and that’s it.
But sometimes I miss. I am human after all. Some tracks I completely threw away and wrote something new. I will talk about those at the end of the post.
I wrote the main melody in the drova main theme, but, due to a ton of different variables I was not able to finish the main theme myself. Just2D and BowsToHymns liked the main melody and asked me, if BowsToHymns could write the main theme with it, to which I agreed, and it turned out great!
Originally these two songs were written to be the battle themes for mines in Drova. Kampf im Untergrund being the low level fights, and Kampf in der tiefen Mine the epic level battles. They fit perfectly over each other, and are composed on top of Martens Ambient Tracks.
I tried to make it sound like a rocky, hollow environment by adding clicks, and ticks as well as some reverb. I tend to have more of a melodic focus, but for this I tried using a ton of percussion, and I really like how that turned out. The Ticking and Clicking adds a very interesting polyrhythmic Texture to the song. The Rolling Timpani hits work well as a transition, and my favorite part is at 2:17 where the song has the most melodic elements and an actual progression.
as mentioned above, this is a great example of melodies and chord progressions that I would have never chosen that way, some of the sections repeat longer than I normally would have repeated them. All of this forces me to approach it differently, and that is why it turned out so well!
Kampf in der tiefen Mine uses heavy brass and reverby trumpets as well as Groths screamed choir vocals. I also have some sound FX that I use as transitions. I really like how this song turned out. the rhythmic chanting and screaming reminds me of vikings rowing their boat through a dark thunderstorm, which I think is a good fit for Drova. The middle section features violins that play trills, which is a great textured ambient addition to the song. I also added very reverby, rhythmic trumpets to the beginning, and there is a second section later on (2:17), and I love those trumpets! The trumpets, especially at 2:17 could be interpreted as sounding spanish or latin inspired, but I just could not NOT add them there.
That trumpet idea is based on an obscure song by Devin Townsend called Watch You.
at 2:48 there are some digital trumpets, both fairly prominent but also fading to the back of the track, and I really liked that.
I am going to be honest, I don’t like these songs.
this is one of the exceptions where I also made an ambient song for the game.
I actually really like ambient and chill music, as well as epic, powerful or aggressive tracks.
The ambient track Wald…. there is too much going on unfortunately, and it’s too rhythmicly straight. It will get annoying very fast unfortunately. Overall I like the instruments I used, i tried to evoke a kind of magical but dark grove feel by using woodwinds like clarinets, Bassoons and oboes, and I also used one of my favorite new instruments here, the bouzouki, as well! I really fell in love with the sound of it!
Kampf im Wald suffers from the same problems. I have a swelling piano chord in the back that I reversed the sound of, and I like the female gasps I added for dramatic effect. also the arpeggio guitars I recorded are nice. I like the individual elements of the song, but somehow it just does not work for me.
Unfortunately there was too much to do to really go back and fix the track, and also Just2D was happy with it. I wrote the music for them, and for their game, not for me.
This is probably one of the best songs in the game. Just2D especially liked this one, and the fans of the game seem to like it as well! Me too!
We wanted to have a dark and smoky, yet melancholic track for the red swamp section of the game.
I added swelling strings and a ton of breaks in the melody. the echoing effects make the whole song breathe and swell, it really feels like it’s alive beneath you. There is a deep, bassy heartbeat in the song that I think contributes majorly to that alive feeling. Also the deep male choir is very impactful here.
I played Drova for quite a bit, and there was a very key moment where I left a mine in the game, and the Rotmoor track started playing, it felt perfect for that moment. The second half of the track consists of variations on the theme, I use the Tagelharpa primarily here, as well as Banjos and the Bouzouki again. (the Bouzouki will be back plenty). The song is a very interesting and iconic mix of things.
Gefahren im Rotmoor sounds to me like a dark pagan festival dance, which fits Drovas aesthetic.
Later on when the brass and strings set in, they completely change how the song feels, it gets a lot more epic there.
Something interesting I did for this track is I actually distorted the Tagelharpa, I put it through an Amp, that’s why it has that much treble. This pushed the sound of the tagelharpa more in the direction of bagpipes though.
A dark, yet magical and shining, but also dangerous forest. Not an easy task. I started out with the idea from before, using staccato woodwinds to get that magical grove feeling, made it darker by using distorted textures and a male choir. Then I added that glowyness by adding echoing bells and a high pitched, screetching waterphone sound for the top end. The track also features a children choir in the back, that helps adding to the creepiness of it all. I think this is a solid track, I like how it turned out. I composed on top of Martens ambient tracks again here. I think this works a lot better than Wald/Kampf im Wald.
The Battle music for the spiders!
overall I tried using woodwinds and strings to establish the general theme and mood of the location. The throat singing voice is a cool, new thing, and I think it fits well to the atmosphere. So Spiders…
Creepy, Crawly, fast, ugly. I found a great reference in the Soundtrack for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by John Williams.
Tremolo strings for the tension, and high and quick staccato melodic runs. So I did that, in combination with the instruments representing the forest from before, it was a fitting combination. The driving, continuous drumbeat added some stability and countered the quick string stabs. Later on the string stabs go up and octave, and the tagelharpa adds more chaos, that is when the big spider appears. I also added some stick percussion sounds, that I imagined to be the sound of the spiders mandibles clicking together. Also, the beginning chord on the strings is held, then pitched down, which sound very strange, that adds a lot to the already chaotic and dark atmosphere.
This is one of those rare ambient tracks I wrote. It plays right before the player goes in to fight the big boar. there are a ton of instruments here: a throat singer, tagelharpa, cello, my favourite bouzouki is playing that prominent downwards melody, there are some ambient drum beats, the waterphone is back, combined with some atmospheric bells. I like the meditative and spiritual nature of the track, I like that kind of music. Also, this song is written after Drovas theme song was made, so I managed to add the melodic theme into some songs, like this one. you can hear it throughout the song, but especially beginning at 0:49 there are three descending, slow notes. that’s the theme right there.
The Music for battling the big boar is separated into multiple phases. The first phase is still fairly low level, then, after the big boar appears with a riser, the music takes on it’s final epic form. I use recurring themes and instruments, I looked closely at the battle tracks for Rotmoor and Düsterwald. The Big Boar has horns, so it’s theme obviously had to feature some Brass Horns. I think the song is good, it’s heroic battle music, and works well for the fight. The main Drova theme is also featured heavily in here.
Now this is an ambient track! I based it on Ankunft beim Kraftort des Göttlichen, because it plays right after the battle against the big boar. it features a string quartet playing singular chords that pan from left to right in a rotating pattern, and features a kind of glowy sond effect. I like how it turned out.
This is my favorite track I wrote. it diverges from the pagan folky style, and is epic orchestral, which is more my preferred style of music. So I went big with it!
I put in an arpeggiating organ, full string and brass section, a male and female choir, tubular bells, timpanis and other drums, even some thunder sheets. The arpeggiating organ is also panning and rotating through the stereo field. The song consists of three separate sections, I like the first one the most. this was a tough one to mix. there are a ton of moving parts here, a ton of layers, I have woodwinds in the mix that are mostly completely lost unfortunately. I redid the mix a couple of times, and I am still not quite happy with it. oh well, the curse of the artist.
I think this song works very well in the game, and also in the lore as well! It plays when you are fighting in the ancient ruins from a lost civilisation. I think it is quite fitting to play a different musical style for that section.
I love the soundtracks from Soulsborne games, for this track I did relisten to Lady Marias battle theme from Bloodborne, as well as some of the dark souls battle themes.
The Battle music for the Red Tower! I wrote the tension and battle theme, the track on the soundtrack is a mix of both. The three first notes are the slowed down version of the Drova theme. For this I really focused on the Instruments, themes, moods and textures that I already used in the game, to make it as accurate to the established soundscape as I could. Tagelharpas, Deep male Choirs, Drums, tremolo strings, chants. My favorite part begins at 0:32 seconds, a dulcimer is playing with a tagelharpa together, the combination of the drumpart, dulcimer and tagelharpa creates a very satisfying polyrhythm parallaxian effect. the melodies and rhythms seems to be separate but work well together. I like writing parts like that a lot.
The tension / Ambience music for the dialogues before the final fight in the Red Tower.
It perfectly loops over Kampf der Anführer, and is basically the relaxed version of it.
I added back the organ and tubular bells from Kampf der Vergangenen to imply a connection to the ancient civilisation. Also the dulcimer plays a major role in the soundscape of the red tower. It provides the high end to the same chords that I played on my 7-string acoustic guitar here.
I think this tension works well, it accurately represents the dire situation in the game.
This is probably the most metal track of them all. I wanted to have a fairly slow and impactful track for the final battle, so I came up with most of it based on Kampf im Roten Turm, and it was good, but it was missing something. I picked up my guitar and started jamming on top, and, although this was the wrong direction, I started playing and jamming powerchords on top of it. To be honest, I was in a time crunch and a bit delirious from lack of sleep. I realised that I basically wrote a metal rhythm guitar part on an acoustic. I sent it anyway, because I felt like the mood was perfect, and the rest is history.
Later on when arranging the album versions of the game, I allowed myself to add a variation that is not in the game (unfortunately). at 0:37 the main part is repeated, but now the brass section is playing an octave lower, which makes the song sound so much heavier! I am a big metal fan.
This is the final tension I wrote for the game, it plays on top of the red tower. I took elements from previous songs from the red tower and repurposed them. It’s a fast track, that implies urgency.
It’s actually a medley of two tracks. The player can enter a meditative trance state, that is what is playing in the middle. the trance state was modeled after Ankunft beim Kraftort des Göttlichen.