The Music of Grand Voyage
When working on a project like Grand Voyage, we wanted to do more than just feature some of our favorite historic ships - we wanted to take you back in time to their glory days, and this meant that the entire experience needed to be crafted with a sense of authenticity and attention to detail. One of the most important ways in which the game transports you back in time is through its soundtrack, and this is being expertly handled by our friends over at Score Twins, who have been hard at work creating the stunning music you will hear in Grand Voyage. Brimming with nostalgia and an indisputable passion for the craft, each track is a veritable time machine in itself, helping to bring these ships and historic locations back to life in a way that feels both respectful and complete, not to mention strikingly beautiful.
This fine group of lads was kind enough to answer a few of our questions on their experiences and their vision for Grand Voyage. We hope you enjoy this behind the scenes look at the making of the game’s soundtrack, and look forward to all the musical goodness to come!
Tell us a little about yourselves!
Hello, we are Alex, Iavor and Simeon, a.k.a. Score Twins (not triplets haha). We've been working in the industry of game and media music for more than a decade now. During this period, we’ve been involved in different game projects for computer and mobile games in different genres.
Apart from scoring music for games, we have vast experience in the field of orchestration and live orchestra recording for a number of game projects published by THQ Nordic, Paradox Interactive, Platinum Games, Focus Entertainment and others.
We are passionate about creating unique music worlds for each project we work on as a way to give more depth and immersive feel to these games. We’re always aiming for making the music as coherent with the game world as possible.
How did you get started with music?
It all started for the three of us in childhood when we found out our passion is music. In our early 20s we’ve started working on separate freelance projects. Back then we didn’t even know each other. But 8 years ago when we first started working together in Sofia Session Studio we knew right away that we could achieve a lot more when we unite our experience and powers.
What do you find so intriguing about video game music specifically?
We’ve always been passionate about film and game music and since we are all gamers ourselves it was an easy pick. Of course the work is not as easy as we initially thought it would be, but the final results are always satisfying. Working with live musicians is also a great experience and seeing your music come to life is the best feeling ever.
What do you think differentiates a “good” game soundtrack from a “great” one?
A good game soundtrack is something that usually would work great with the game and you would find the whole experience enjoyable. But we believe a “great” one will make you hum the themes inside your head 20 years from now and eventually come back to the game even after all this time.
“…when we found out there’s gonna be a game dedicated to bringing back historic ships and vessels we knew right away that this is a project we want to be involved in.”
What drew you to Grand Voyage?
Another hobby that Simeon and Alex have is maritime history and living at sea. We’ve always seen some kind of “freedom” and excitement when it comes to traveling the oceans and boarding great ships. For that reason when we found out there’s gonna be a game dedicated to bringing back historic ships and vessels we knew right away that this is a project we want to be involved in.
We talk a lot on this team about “bringing history back to life” - how do you find that music fits into this ethos?
Music always had a crucial role with storytelling. It’s the easiest way to travel in different time periods. When you board the Lakonia for example and the first thing you hear is the band playing that typical 1960s music you can quickly get involved not only visually, but also musically. We aim to help you dive into the atmosphere of the ship or place and their time period.
How different is it composing for a game like Grand Voyage compared to the other games you’ve worked on?
Every game project is quite different. Sometimes we need to compose adaptive music, other times it should be a more background relaxed and unnoticed. Here it’s none of those. The music should sound both historically correct and at the same time a nice ambience that would accompany you along while you explore the game. Every ship and area in the game has a different feeling and time period, so each of the musical themes would sound differently depending on the era and vessel. We’ve also tried to “tie” musically the different vessels and their corresponding ports, so there will be some music elements (and easter eggs) which can be heard throughout the different music themes.
Have you found that you’ve become partial to a particular ship, time period, or place featured in GV since you began working on it?
We found some attachment to the Empress of Ireland and Lakonia since both their stories are quite memorable and tragic. Don’t get us wrong, most of the historic ships here have an intriguing story to tell, but we really put in some effort in creating the themes for these two vessels, musically recreating their last days at sea in the best way we could. Another ship we are quite interested in is the Andrea Doria. This one also sits deeply in our hearts.
“Music always had a crucial role with storytelling. It’s the easiest way to travel in different time periods. “
What parts of the soundtrack are you most excited for players to hear for the first time?
The first parts of the music that players are probably going to hear are the dry dock and ports themes. We’ve really tried to hype up the excitement in those areas. The ship themes are not as energetic, but more of a background ambience, aiming to make you feel as if you are at open seas. However the port's themes are more exciting and uplifting, preparing you for that long awaited voyage across the ocean you booked months ago. We tried to recreate that feeling in the music so you can experience the excitement yourselves.
Finally, which theme from GV do you think will end up stuck in people’s heads the most?
We really hope each one of the themes finds its audience. You could be more of a 1910s person and enjoy the era of ragtime and late romantic music. Or you could be more of a 1930s person, enjoying a nice jazz lounge. Or how about the 1960s, with their rock’n’roll ballads? We tried giving the best listening experience possible in each one of the themes so there would be a happy listener for each one of them no matter what time period you prefer to dive into.
We are deeply appreciative to Alex, Iavor, and Simeon for taking the time to answer some of our questions and, most importantly, bringing the music of Grand Voyage to life! We hope you’ll love this soundtrack as much as we do. We have so many more exciting updates to share from Score Twins and beyond, but for now, feel free to show them some support over at www.scoretwins.com.
