Adaptive Music

When producing music for a video game, it is often useful to compose adaptive music. This is music that interactively adapts to the actions taking place in the video game. I recently started working with a video game development team, on a game called “The Sand Knight”. In this game there are seven levels. In each level, there are several rooms or chambers. Each room has its own challenges. We want the music to adapt, so that in one room, a basic music theme plays. Then, when the player moves to another room, the music seamlessly switches to a continuation with an added level of complexity.

So, here I composed four separate music tracks. Each one is identical in duration, and each one is loopable; The individual tracks can play forever in a looping fashion, with the seam barely noticeable. Below I show the four individual tracks, #1, #2, #3, #4. The first track is a basic arpeggiated animation using the electronic “Elysion” virtual instrument. The second track is identical, but adds percussion. The third track is identical to the second, but adds a wind instrument called a duduk. The fourth track replaces the duduk with a completely different melody sung by a virtual instrument by the Ethera Gold 2.5 library.

In Track #5, I show how crossfades work between the four tracks. It starts with Track #1. Then at time 0:28 it crossfades into Track #2, then into Track #3 at 0:46, and into Track #4 at time 1:17, which continues to the end.

Track #1: Basic Electronic Animation 

Track #2: … Plus Percussion

Track #3: … Plus Duduk

Track #4: … Plus Vocals

Track #5 Crossfades between Tracks #1-4.