Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons REMAKE (Project)

Based on the original game’s music, this remake features a fresh new soundtrack
that includes new arrangements for some of the old theme and tons of new bespoke
music.

In February 2024 a remake of Brothers game, developed by the Italians Avangarden came out, with a total new look and new features. Daniele was called to take care of the music of this new version.

How do you go about making the soundtrack for the remake of a classic indie game? The conversation started with the question “what would have they done back then if they could”? The original music was great, some of the themes had to be kept, but they could have been enhanced: this is how the idea of re-arranging and recording it all with an orchestra and choir came about, and classical composer and Daniele’s longtime collaborator Christofer Unterberger was involved.

After watching hours of gameplay, it also become clear that more original music would have been beneficial. This to better guide the player’s emotions throughout the unfolding story while giving more dynamic and changes to the gaming experience.

During the pre-production stage a lot of experimentation took place, a lot of ethnic instruments recording was done to find the right musicians

This is how the amazing Xavi Lozano got involved. He doesn’t just play and collects all kind of flutes, he also creates his own from animals horns, toys or any object you can imagine, digging holes to tune them correctly…

This is how the sounds of the soundtrack was crafted. Some of these recordings were processed electronically to be used as pads, or recurring sound candies that would glue scenes together. Every level has different music, different sound palettes even. Each cue features live recording, some full orchestra while others just some solo ethnic instruments. The story starts in the brother’s friendly and safe village, the music reflects that and while the adventure intensifies the music does too.

To keep a strong link to the past, Emma Sunbring, singer that performed on the original game was also called. Her unique way of singing (Kulning) takes root in old Scandinavian traditions: it was
used to herd the animals or even to communicate through distances in case of peril as it said it can be heard for more than 2 kilometers distance.

A few curiosities about this soundtrack

In the game there are 92 music cues
More than 2 hours of music was composed, arranged and produced
2 full days of orchestra recordings
The music creation took in total almost 2 years