I wrote this Salmon Run background track rather spontaneously when inspiration struck, so it’s really just a rough draft for now.

Since the scene takes place by a river, and Erik mentioned that “if there is music, it would be nice if it stayed calm throughout,” I thought a soft, flowing piano might work well. There are variations in dynamics and pacing, but those are quite difficult to express in Guitar Pro. I’m also not very comfortable using the piano roll in FL Studio, so once my MIDI keyboard arrives I plan to record it directly by playing it in.

Considering that the focus of the audio design should be ambient sound, if I eventually finish this piece and put it into the game, the volume will likely be relatively low with quite a lot of reverb. On one hand, this helps match the outdoor environment; on the other, I want the music to remain subtle, almost like something you can only faintly notice in the background.

I let a friend listen to it without giving any context, and they said:

“Although I don’t know much about piano, it feels like reaching the end of a long journey, sitting on a hillside or a patch of grass, looking into the distance, wanting to reflect on the ups and downs of the past. But in the end, what really stays in your heart are just the sunsets and sunrises you saw along the way. It feels very calm and gently flowing. The latter half feels like stars.”

So it seems I managed to convey the atmosphere and feeling fairly well.

Since this is meant to be the BGM for a river scene, I used many continuous and repeating motifs to evoke a sense of flowing water. Shortly before the ending there is a brief pre-outro build based on a sustained E5. Through repeated high notes and denser note patterns, it aims to create the feeling of starlike reflections shimmering on the river surface, while slightly increasing the presence of the BGM. Otherwise, with the way I tend to mix things, people might barely notice the music at all. I still hope players can notice it just a little, without it taking away their attention from the gameplay.

While composing, the tempo of the piano is intentionally quite fluid. On one hand, it makes the piece more lyrical and less rigid; on the other hand, it mimics the natural flow of a river. However, this also makes dynamic control and notation significantly more challenging.

Stylistically, the piece leans toward a neoclassical approach. The main reference is Ólafur Arnalds, and I was also inspired by Oskar Schuster, especially his piece Damascus. The section I mentioned earlier was partially influenced by how he handles similar passages. Personally, I would love to include the subtle mechanical clicking of piano keys, but given the limited time, that kind of detail is unnecessary for our game.

After Erik listened to the full track, he felt that some parts might be “too much.” I completely understand where his concern comes from, but since this is not the final version, I will probably keep the piece for now. Before I become more familiar with Wwise, I might write a few other simpler pieces (although this is not my main responsibility), and only later think about mastering and mixing. If I ultimately can’t achieve the atmosphere I described, I might consider removing the scene BGM entirely and leaving only the ambience and SFX.