Introducing our Sound Director!

To start off our second devlog, we have interviewed our sound director, Jose Daniel Ruiz, about his vision for the game’s soundtrack! We’re lucky to be working together with such a talented composer. We’re sure you’ll enjoy hearing a bit more about Jose below!

1. Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got into music composition.

I’ve been into music since a young age. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t have music as part of my life. However, my formal music education began in 4th grade on the violin. And I hated it! I didn’t know it at the time but I hated playing on an instrument which required intonation practice. I just wanted to press keys and hear perfect tones. So I asked my parents to get me a piano. That’s what I really wanted to play. However, instead of a piano, my dad showed up one day with an accordion (which has a keyboard on the right hand side) and I never looked back after that.

2. What is your workflow as like? / what’s your creative process like?

My workflow is a little different than most modern media composers. I like to write in notation from the start, primarily in Sibelius. I have two keyboards on my desk, a full sized weighted Roland stage piano for noodling around with ideas, and a smaller Korg midi keyboard which I’ll use to actually make the inputs into the notation software. I like to think about compositional ideas before I think about the exact instrumentation. Perhaps I’ll think of a cool rhythmic ostinato or perhaps a melody. I’ll jot that down in notation and only then after that I’ll play around with different sounds and orchestrations that I think will fit my goal for that particular cue. I do like to also wrap my head around the material. I’ll take a look at a design doc or some of the concept art, and try to write down what my initial reactions are. Sometimes a good idea will come to me at the worst possible time like in the car, shower, or bed, and I like to use voice memos to quickly hum out and capture that idea before it returns to the aether.

3. You have worked with conducting orchestras before, how is composing different?

It’s a totally different game in some respects, but from a technical standpoint the skills overlap quite nicely. With conducting, it’s all about audiation, being able to read the music and hear it in your head, while at the same time knowing how to communicate changes to the orchestra when the music doesn’t sound like it should. With composition, it’s the same thing except I’m yelling at myself half the time until I find something that works. Conducting is a very social activity whereas composition can be very isolating. 

4. How are you creating the songs for this game? Are you keeping in mind the characters or the style of game? What are the things that influence your creative decisions for this project?

I have two basic approaches to vgm scoring, and this game is no different. Firstly, I like to write out themes for characters, music that tells you about who they are without words. Some people call this use of music a “third narrator.” Basically the musical vibe of that character. The second approach is situational. The player might be in this area, or encountering this situation, or perhaps evolving in some way in the story. Think of this kind of music as an “establishing” shot for the narrative, not unlike what is done in films. One of my favourite composers of all time is Howard Shore (whom I’ve had the privilege of meeting twice!) and I draw a lot of inspiration from his work on LotR.

5. What have you learned from performing VGM and how do you plan to implement these learnings in your future compositions?

Easy answer: that a lot of early vgm music loops and never resolves, so sometimes my arrangers and I have to come up with creative ways of ending the piece or theme that were never in the original. That applies to modern music implementation as modern engines can handle intros and codas while maintaining a looping body of music.

Hard answer: VGM, especially stuff in the 90s thru the mid 2000s, I believe is some of the most creative, experimental, out of the box, fearless, and earnest music out there, before Hollywood homogenized a lot of AAA games in the current landscape. I’m not saying it’s bad, but it’s missing that edge which is what got me into this scene to begin with. I try to take a little bit of that with me with every composition, including those for this game.

6. Do you have any recent favorite soundtracks by other composers? / what are your inspirations for this soundtrack?

Recent favourites are Kingdom Come Deliverance and Hades II. Both Adam Spokra and Darren Korb are friends and their work on these OSTs has been absolutely inspiring. Perennial classics on my rotation are the soundtracks from World of Warcraft, especially those written and audio directed by Russel Brower and Jason Hayes. For this soundtrack, I’m really trying to channel that big epic sound from WoW/LotR/Fromsoft for the main narrative parts, while aiming to have something more intimate and personable, like a rock song with lyrics for some of the character themes and moments.

7. What instruments are you incorporating into this soundtrack?

I’m starting primarily with a typical orchestral palette. I’m using a lot of low winds, bell like percussion including chimes, bell plates, and gongs. My goal with these instruments is to convey a sense of The Deep. On top of that, I’m making extensive use of a choir to help impart a sense of grandeur and epicness. On top of that, I plan to give each character their own signature instrumentation. I’m still working that out, but it will give each character a nice contrast in vibe, while unifying the whole soundtrack by using that baseline orchestral palette.

8. How do you plan to make Stygiomedusa’s soundtrack different than other games?

I was first drawn to this project by the potential for a very rich soundtrack thanks to the extensive world building, diverse cast of characters, and branching paths. If we do our job well, we will have not just an epic soundtrack at its core, but also a memorable journey thru its twists and turns which the soundtrack will reflect.

9. Do you have a message for anyone reading this interview?

This will be the best soundtrack ever written for a dating sim, of that you can be assured of!!

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We hope you’ve enjoyed hearing from Jose!