Solving the mystery of a missing scholar and decrypting an ancient language are just two threads of the complex, open-world game, Heaven's Vault, created by Inkle Studios.
Laurence Chapman composed a gorgeous chamber music soundtrack for the game, in which archeologist Aliya and her robot companion, Six, travel to the distant moons in Aliya's home nebula in search of her missing colleague. Aliya is chosen for the mission because she's been studying an ancient language, and decoding the inscriptions that appear throughout the environment helps unravel the mystery.
As Laurence told me, his first idea was that a spacey/synth sound would best suit the game, but as the game grew, he realized that the solitary nature of the gameplay needed a more intimate sound.
Laurence recruited the Leos Strings, which he'd worked with before, and he joined them at the piano. He also added subtle synth pads to as a reminder that Heaven's Vault is a science fiction game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUgtMlkwXRA">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUgtMlkwXRA
Writing the music for Heaven's Vault was a terrific experience, Laurence says, because Inkle gave him lots of freedom with the style of the music, and lots of time to get the sound exactly right, and he's eager for his next game project!
Episode tracklist:
All tracks by Laurence Chapman, performed by Leos Strings and Laurence Chapman, piano
Heaven's Vault: Before the Fall; The Desperate Ways; An Ancient Language; The Age of Sail; The Nebula; The Children of Elboreth; A King Had Three Daughters; Fantasia on 'One Good Moon'; Heaven's Vault
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Thanks to Dick Roberts for production assistance, and Emily Morganti, PR