Chrono Cross’ minimalist music brought Disasterpeace to Hyper Light Drifter and beyond
As one of the most respected indie game composers, Rich Vreeland, aka Disasterpeace, has made a name for himself on the soundtracks of Fez, Hyperlight Drifter, solar axisand much more. And as it turns out, that work was partly inspired by Square Enix’s classic Chrono Cross.
Below, as part of Polygon FM — our weeklong look at the intersection of gaming and music — he talks about his inspiration from Chrono Crosshow he composed the song “Ford the River” and how we got the sound for it Hyperlight Drifter(If you want to delve deeper into his work, Vreeland has also written extensively about his process on his personal site.)
Was there a soundtrack or song from a game that inspired you to start making game music?
An example that comes to mind is the soundtrack of Chrono CrossMy foray into game music was largely inspired by my rediscovery of the music from the games I played as a kid.
There was something unique about Yasunori Mitsuda’s music – the way he combines contemporary influences with world styles… in that one game alone I could hear Celtic sounds and melodies, folk influences, patterns that reminded me of the minimalist Steve Reichand complex time signatures like you might hear in Fusion or Prog Rock. It’s a pretty rich tapestry of stuff, and I found the music extremely unique and memorable when I first played the game when I was about 13 or 14. It still stands out and has some of the most unusual and beautiful chord progressions you’ll ever hear in a game.
Have you composed a song that feels like a result of your many influences?
This song is called “Ford the River” and is one of three songs I made for the Soundodger game series.
I wrote this song in 2022. I think I just finished playing Alvawhich was a really beautiful game, and was inspired to make something that had a relaxed, quirky, optimistic island vibe. Another island game, Mutation was also a touchstone for the sound of this, as well as the music of Antônio Carlos Jobim, who is probably my favorite Bossa Nova artist. The doubling of flute and piano for the melody is something that was very much inspired by Jobim, who likes to use piano for melodies, but then tends to double it with other instruments in unison, or with effects.
The sound palette contains a lot of earthy and quirky sounds – a sort of combination of boom bap drums, fretless bass, bossa nova elements like nylon guitar, piano, flutes, guiro, shakers and then a few quirky things here and there to fill it all out.
Let’s talk about Hyperlight Drifter — how did you find the sound for the game? what instruments did you use?
The score for Hyperlight consists largely of synth patches that I made entirely myself.
I really tried to sculpt sounds that I felt fit the feel of the world — a lot of warm, textured, warbly sounds with organic components, things like the swoops of a pigeon or the flapping sounds of a reptile. I really tried to emulate nature and broken technology with the sounds, because the game (has) a post-apocalyptic, overgrown feel.