The final chapter for Celeste is here and while fans may be sad to see the game go, there is hope in learning some behind the scenes facts about how it was made. Composer Lena Raine recently talked about her experience in putting together the soundtrack and bringing together the team behind it.
In a blog post, she detailed some little known facts and influence that fueled her passion for creating the final few tracks for one of the most beloved indie games of 2018. Beware, there are spoilers in the post and if you haven’t played the final chapter of Celeste, you may want to do that first.
Raine says she wanted to focus on an emotion that was never experienced in the first eight chapters of the game: silence.
The new experience sees Madeline and the bird she met during her journey head into space where Raine says she decided to introduce a new sound to help guide the story into the unknown. Where Celeste’s original score typically revolved around the piano, guitar, and synth inspired sounds, the new section focuses on glass and steel noises and is featured heavily in the track Fear of the Unknown.
The new tracks also feature Michaela Nachtigall playing the violin and SungHa Hong on the Cello. They join forces on the third theme introduced in chapter 9, Granny’s Theme.
However, one of the most interesting details Raine brought up was when it came to writing Farewell, the final piece for the game.
Being the final level of the game, Raine focused on three specific details to make sure players felt the emotion of the piece and the level. She says the music needed to progress along with the player and award them as they progressed. It also needed to flow naturally between sections without cutting out parts of the track. Lastly, the song had to reach the end in a satisfying manner without being abruptly cut off for speedrunners.
If anyone completes it quicker than eight minutes, the team put in a fail-safe in the script that monitors the player’s progression alongside the track. If the player runs through the level quicker than intended, the music will seamlessly go into the final section early to match with the final screens.
? One Year Later – On Continuing & Concluding the Score to Celeste ?https://t.co/R3abCstsGn
My behind-the-scenes blog post going into how I approached & scored the Farewell release for Celeste is now live!
[Spoiler warning: I go into the full themes & story of the release]
— Lena Raine! ? FAREWELL OUT NOW (@kuraine) September 13, 2019
It’s fascinating to see how Raine pieced together every beautiful track for Celeste. The game is a masterpiece and the soundtrack includes the most satisfying songs in gaming I have ever heard. Due to the game’s success, Raine is now a full-time composer, producer, writer, and mixing engineer.
You can read Raine’s entire blog post here, which I highly recommend. If you want to read our thoughts about the conclusion of Celeste, check out our reaction.
Expect to see and hear more from Lena Raine in the future, she is a phenomenal composer.
