Deconstructing the Past: Creating a Soundtrack from A Loved One’s Memory
Cylinder’s OST takes notes from jazz and Japanese traditional music; from drum ‘n bass and dramatic classical music. But my biggest source of inspiration was composer Kevin Allen (1980 - 2015), the brother of Mighty Rabbit Studio’s co-founder Nic Allen.
“Kevin was a tinkerer,” Nic told me as we were discussing his brother’s life. “He enjoyed taking things apart to learn how they worked, and he took the same approach with music.”
This is the story of how I deconstructed Kevin’s own music to create a new score for Mighty Rabbit Studios’ upcoming game.
Excerpt from the Space Observatory theme.
Deconstruction: ‘Song2’ by Kevin Allen
When I joined the Cylinder team, Nic sent over a few tracks Kevin wrote in 2009, with the hope that I could incorporate some of his music into the soundtrack.
I immediately knew I’d use material from Kevin’s ‘Song2’ after hearing it. It’s a really playful track with a delightfully unconventional melody. Here’s a few stray observations for music nerds:
A Melody (the top line) and Countermelody (bottom line) from Kevin’s original “Song2.”
- Kevin’s track is in the key of C minor. While the melody is very classical and fits neatly within C minor, the countermelody uses a bunch of notes from outside the key.
- Throughout the track, Kevin switches the order of these melodies constantly, always keeping the listener on their toes.
- This all contributes to a sense of tension within the track, a tension heightened by the frenetic percussion loops.
Kevin’s track also reminded me of another piece I love: the Silph Co. theme from Pokemon RBY; the background music for a thrilling infiltration of a skyscraper full of mad scientists. And so, I felt Kevin’s ‘Song2’ would be a perfect fit for Cylinder’s Space Observatory level.
Reconstruction: Building on What Came Before
Kevin’s original track is a bit short for a game loop. I wanted to expand it for Cylinder, but I also wanted to make sure my new additions fit with Kevin’s vision for the track—or, at least, my interpretation of his vision: Playful. Classical. Tense.
Tension
To add to the track’s sense of tension, I added a particular chord progression as a throughline. You might recognize it as a tweaked version of the James Bond theme:
The chord progression in question.
This chord progression gets its tension from the fact that most of the notes here are exactly the same, except for one note that steadily creeps upward as you go along (highlighted above).
Playfulness
When I finished the first draft of the Observatory track, I realized I’d strayed a bit from the original vision. The track felt darker and more sinister than I intended! I made some tweaks to the SFX and synths that helped, but things really came together when I added a Xylophone. 👉😎👉
Classical inspirations
Before I started writing this track, Nic Allen sent me an intimate video of his brother playing Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto no. 2 at the family home.
“He started playing piano when he was just six,” Nic told me. “Our sister helped him play some basic songs, but he learned to play a lot of tunes completely by ear.”
Because of Kevin’s relationship to the piano, I wanted to write music he would be excited to learn if he were still with us today. And so, the piano has a prominent role in Cylinder’s soundtrack.
Piano plays a big part in Cylinder’s soundtrack.
Climax: Putting it All Together
This track culminates in a section that blends Kevin’s original music with the new material I added over a decade later. As I was writing this section, I felt a deep sense of synchronicity with Kevin as an artist. There was this person I’d never met, but whose music I’d been getting to know for weeks—and suddenly here we were, almost playing a duet.
I’m really grateful Nic trusted me with his brother’s memory, and I hope I've managed to do his work justice in Cylinder’s score.
