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The Sound of the World

Listen. The world was singing long before you came.

Before a world can be seen, it should be felt. Today we're sharing thirteen pieces of our music on a new soundtrack page. None of them is bound to a place yet. They're the direction: the atmosphere we're building, and how the world should feel while you're in it.

An ancient sound

The world is old, so its music is too: nothing modern, nothing hurried. Its melodies lean east, open and modal, over drones and open fifths, without leaving the ancient world behind. The instruments change with each piece, harp and lute, horns and strings, drums, gongs and bells, but every piece is led by one clear voice.

Each one has to stand being heard a hundred times. A world you'll spend hundreds of hours in can't have music that tires you on the tenth lap.

Music that moves with you

Music follows you through the game. The lobby keeps its own long theme, while the world draws from a shifting set of pieces, each flowing into the next and never repeating twice in a row. Step from the lobby into the world, and the music fades, falls quiet for a breath, and the world's own sound rises to meet you.

Every piece has a shape

The new player draws each piece as a ring of gold, like our emblem: a quiet opening, a swelling heart, a settling close. Press play, and a spark travels the ring as the music unfolds. Touch the ring to step anywhere in the piece.

You can share a moment, too: this link opens Above the Cloudline a minute and a half in.

From the Forge

A loop should never announce itself. Every piece that repeats in the game is joined where the music is most like itself on either side of the seam, so the end flows into the beginning without a break. Some pieces loop their whole journey, with the quiet close melting into the quiet opening. When it works, you never notice. That's the point.

On the Horizon

Next, we'll find where each piece belongs: which roads, which halls, which moments.

What makes a game's music something you'd play outside the game? Tell us at hello@worldofaccords.com.