Technical Post #3 - HotW Soundtrack (Patreon)

Hey Patreon folks! I’m Sarah, one of the composers for Heart of the Woods. I’ve written a bit about three of the songs I contributed to the soundtrack: “Communion,” “Restless One,” and “Into Another World.”

“Communion” is Abby’s theme music, but it originated as a piano sketch of a melody I was auditioning for Heart of the Woods’ romance theme. I had been asked to write a general-purpose romantic song that could be used for both happy and sad times, and covering all those bases in one song turned out to be a pretty challenging proposition! I had a couple of possible ideas that I wanted to develop, but none of them were feeling quite right in that context.

One idea with a more relaxed feel was developed into “Cold Comforts,” and another became Abby’s theme, “Communion.” Communion was very firmly on the more dramatic end of things, and in trying to develop it as an all-purpose romance theme it felt like I was fighting against the melody’s natural inclinations and holding back some of its potential.

Turning “Communion” into Abby’s theme freed me up to really lean into its drama and develop it as a song that could unapologetically carry some deep sadness underneath the surface. Abby is someone who’s dealt with a lot of loneliness and sorrow, but we get to see her quiet world opening up a lot thanks to Maddie’s presence and the love that blossoms between them, and I wanted her theme to capture all those aspects of her. In a sense, it kind of still is a romance theme! I really like it when a song can make you feel different things when it’s used in different contexts of a story, and I hope to have accomplished that here.

Morgan’s theme, “Restless One,” was a different kind of challenge. It took me a while to settle on what exactly was needed from a “shoegaze-inspired character theme,” so I had originally written something much more wall-of-sound and upbeat and had to be asked to keep dialing back its intensity further and further until I realized it would be better to just start over on it. I’m glad we didn’t end up using my original idea, because this song is much better!

When Morgan was described to me as “chaotic tired,” things started to click into place. This one wasn’t extensively planned like Abby’s theme, I just started writing and let melody ideas come to me. Once I’d figured out the right starting point, I felt like it mostly wrote itself. Alongside the atmospheric guitar, I incorporated some mandolin and contrabass to give it a bit more grounding in Eysenfeld’s old-fashioned environment. As much as Morgan doesn’t fit in there, she’s still a part of the village and living there has largely defined her life.

The very first song I wrote for Heart of the Woods was “Into Another World,” used for the train ride to Eysenfeld. At the time, there wasn’t a complete asset sheet available for the music and I was mostly winging it based on some rough concepts. I cheated a bit and wrote something that wasn’t on the sheet at all. I wanted to get across the feeling of a magical winter wonderland in which magic is something you probably ought to be a bit wary of. I’ve always loved twinkling, icy piano motifs and this song is all about them. Lots of reverb, rattling chimes, and big sweeping strings helped this one feel pretty epic, like something big is opening up before you. (BTW, the main piano motif from this song made another appearance in a modified form as the faster acoustic guitar part that starts around 1:18 in “Snowy Days”, though I’m not sure if anyone but me would notice it there!)

Getting to compose even one song for Heart of the Woods was a treat, and I’m glad that my first one made a strong enough impression that I was brought on to compose a bunch more! Thanks for reading, and I hope you’ve enjoyed the music!

Abby Theme Draft 

Morgan Theme Draft 

Communion (Final) 

Restless One (Final)