Cubi Slide: My first job for composing game music

What is Cubi Slide?

Cubi Slide is a pixel style 2D indie puzzle game. At least, that's what it will be, because the game is still in development. I've been given permission to share the concepts of the menu music and level music. In the game, you play as an ice cube solving puzzles on slippery ice. The pixel art gives the game a retro vibe. I tried to complement that atmosphere with music. It's also a cute and happy game, and I try to implement that in the music as well.

Main Menu Music

The main menu should draw you into the game. We want to create a cheerful, yet cold game atmosphere. We're talking about an ice cube after all! The music has a time signature of 6/8 and is in the key of G major. It's structured in the following parts: part A, part B, and part A’ (the ' stands for 'accent'). Part A consists of 8 bars, part B consists of 2 bars, and part A’ consists of 8 bars again. The accent is used to indicate that this part of the music is a variation on the previous part, but it resembles it too much to give it a different letter.

Part A consists of the following:

• A glockenspiel playing triads in a high register. The triad plays in 1/8 rhythm. These triads form a harmony.
• A bass line in a mid-low register. The bass line changes notes on the 1 and the 4.
• A bouncing melody line in the mid-register.

Part B consists of:

• The same bass line as part A.
• The glockenspiel disappears here.
• In the background, there's a major scale, changing tones every 8th note.
• Drums are added, consisting of a bass drum on 1 and a snare on 4 with occasional variation.

The difference between part A and A’:

• The glockenspiel is absent.
• The scale from part B continues.
• The drums from part B continue.

Chord Progression

The chord progression is not super difficult, but it works well for the atmosphere.

A

G - - C - - | G - - C - - | Em - - - - - | D - - - - - | G - - C - - | G - - C - - | Em - - D - - | G - - - - - |

B

G - - C - - | G - - C - - |

A’

G - - C - - | G - - C - - | Em - - - - - | D - - - - - | G - - C - - | G - - C - - | Em - - D - - | G - - - - - |

Level Music

Cubi Slide should be a relaxed game to play. Therefore, I took a step back with the level music and changed the time signature to 4/4. The piece is in the key of C minor and is slower than the menu music. It's structured with part A, part A’, part A”, part B, part A”, part A”, and part C, making it more complex than the previous piece. Level music should be easy to loop, and of course, you don't want it to get boring. Part A and variations consist of 4 bars, part B consists of 4 bars, and part C also consists of 4 bars.

Part A consists of 4 bars and is structured as follows:

• A bass drum playing on 1 and 3, together with a snare on 2 and 4, with a variation of hits on 4 once every four bars and the last two 16th notes.
• A descending triad with an occasional root note in the middle register. This moves on 16th notes.

Part A’ complements part A with a melody in the mid-high register.

Part A” adds two more voices to that melody in the middle and high register.

Part B is structured as follows:

• The descending triad is adjusted to the chord progression of part B.
• The second and third voice of the melody disappear.
• The melody doesn't change much in rhythm compared to A’, but changes in melody to the chord progression.
• The drums remain the same.

Everything disappears in part C, except for the drums.

Chord Progression

Again, not super difficult.

A

Cm- - B | Cm- - - | B - - - | G - - B |

A’

Cm- - B | Cm- - - | B - - - | G - - B |

A”

Cm- - B | Cm- - - | B - - - | G - - B |

B

Ab- - - | Fm- - - | G - - - | G - - - |

A” (x2) Cm- - B | Cm- - - | B - - - | G - - B | Cm- - B | Cm- - - | B - - - | G - - B |

C

|- - - - | - - - - | - - - - | - - - - |

Writing my first game music, how was that?

I found that I had a lot of inspiration and immediately got motivated. The possibilities in Logic Pro X, the program where I produced the track, were overwhelming, and I played around with settings quite a bit to create the right sound and atmosphere. Looking back, I especially remember a fun, experimental, and educational time, where I laid the groundwork for the kind of game music I enjoy writing. I can't wait to write the next music for this game!

Do you have any ideas for my next blog post, or do you have feedback on this blog? Feel free to leave it in the comments.