Fine Work: Act I Original Soundtrack is Out Now!

[p][/p][p][/p][h3]The award-winning Fine Work: Act 1 Soundtrack illuminates the unforgettable characters and otherworldly locales woven throughout the city of Gleamhold. Music is at the heart of Fine Work: drenched in memories, vivid with nostalgia for realms unknown, these songs capture the simultaneously weird and cozy atmosphere of this picturesque fantasy noir.[/h3][p][/p][p]20 original songs composed by Casey Michelle and Evan Courtney for Fine Work: Act 1. An hour of music, available in MP3 and Lossless WAV format. [/p][p][/p][p]In honor of our OST going on sale, we wanted to share a more in-depth look into just a few of the aspects of Fine Work's dreamy soundtrack! We do all of our music in-house! In fact, Fine Work's game director is also the composer of all of the sendshaping music and Fine Work's sound design! There is no better person to ask about the music in our game... [/p][p][/p][hr][/hr][p][/p][h2][/h2][h2]So pour your tea, it's time for...[/h2][h2]An Interview with Casey Michelle![/h2][p][/p][p]Q: Each character's sendshaping music really seems to have its own genre and style. How do you choose? Why does Marr... sound like Marr?[/p][p][/p][p]A: Well, before I do anything like sketch out melodies or boot up Ableton, I'm thinking about the inner life of the character! And how they show up in the world of the game. Like, I'm almost asking "What music would Greenbell make? What samples would Greenbell choose (Cat purrs in the chorus, cicadas in the field behind the intro)? How would Andriss make a beat (By slashing drum samples apart, and breaking in, of course)?[/p][p]So, for example, with Marr, I wanted to capture this idea of sequencing as a physical, mechanical process, automated but still having the randomness and a sort of broken-down quality that low-tech/early machinery could have. So, for this song, I made the -machine- in question first, I sort of built the Sequencer in my DAW, to add a random element to portions of the verse and chorus percussion. I used Alkma's beautiful Euclidean Sequencer to trigger nested drum racks, full of various mechanical samples, and created small random selections on each layer (4 different kicks, 5 steam sounds, 4 junky hats, etc). Steaming vents, clicking gears, clacking rods, garbage can lids hit by a drumstick, change dropped, all sorts of little metallic and percussive sounds. After building up this sort of shambling, chaotic-sounding pattern, I used a multisampled bansuri library through some mangling/distortion to play chords reminiscent of steam whistles? The touch I was happiest about was setting up multi-pitched high hat samples to trigger when the pipes stopped playing, the pitch of the hat proportionate to the "size" of the pipe. Which resulted in this effect of a "lid" coming down on the pipe after it blows, sort of parallel to hearing a woodwind's keys clicking on nice small ensemble recordings.[/p][p]So, with each character, I sort of built an idea of how they might make sounds, what generative engines, and then, from there, made sure to write a melody that fit with their attitude and general presentation.[/p][p][/p][p]Q: Were there any instruments or sounds that you found yourself returning to often? [/p][p][/p][p]A: Hmmm, well, as with most things written in a DAW, I did return to the keyboard a lot, but that isn't terribly exciting. What I LOVED using for melody writing was this little E.W.I (Electric Wind Instrument), the WARBL2, made by Andrew Mowry out of Oregon. It's so expressive, using one's breath for melody just feels appropriate, like really natural, and then you can have your breath control things that, sure, sound like wind instruments, or you can play an electric guitar solo on this little MIDI flute, or a roaring synth lead? The double-reeds you hear on Be My Strange Twin, the Cello on Out of Time, the oboe on Steady Hands, and the dramatic pipe organ solo on Inside Joke were all played on the WARBL2. I also made extensive use of the Ableton Suite Max4Live libraries. The Max4Live community is so awesome, and there are soooo many wonderful and creative devices there.[/p][p]Otherwise...my beloved harp, Eva, made an appearance on Out of Time as well. And I sampled my own kalimba and shakers on I Dream of Steady Hands? I wrote A Memory of Violence entirely on the Digitakt, but all of these were more one-off things that fit that particular character's vibe vs things I'd use in every song.[/p][p][/p][p]Q: What was working with Evan like?[/p][p][/p][p]A: Such a treat! Evan is SOOOO plugged in when it comes to rich textures, to finding these lovely, warm voices that all blend together in the stereo field. It really feels so gritty and rich to listen to, with nice headphones, especially. Evan wrote many pieces and variations, in a mainly "environmental music" context, while I wrote the music for the sendshaping (rhythm game) sections, which were more character-oriented. [/p][p]That being said, some of Evan's music was also used exclusively for character appearances, like Darling's theme, Let's!, (which always makes me tear up a little!), and the iconic Dark Company intro when Aulos gets all shadowy/spooky during the call-in segments. Evan has a really subtle sense for how music can make or break the mood in a scene, and I think that the world feels so vivid and otherworldly with their music behind it![/p][p][/p][hr][/hr][p][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink]Fine Work: Act I's OST will be on sale for 7 days to celebrate, ending March 4, 2026! If you're interested in picking it up, this will be the biggest discount on it for quite some time~[/p][p]And, hey! The first one is on us! ;) [/p][p]2KYAP-6VPVP-4NNW9[/p][p][/p][p]We'd like to shoutout streamer - Phenexa for playing Fine Work so beautifully, and letting us feature her on our Steam page all this month! Be sure to visit one of her streams because they are all such a joy! We often see Phenexa going out of her way for indie games like Fine Work! As a game with several notable birds, we have to add... she has a bird cam. [/p][p][/p][p]Thank you to all of our players & community for everything. All the love for the music in Fine Work shared with us over the years, online, exhibiting at conventions, or in our reviews, truly moves us every time![/p][p][/p][p]Be sure to keep an ear out for an upcoming Fine Work 1.1 update! Join our Discord for the must up to date Fine Work news and animal photos, and find us on your social media of choice @fineworkgame![/p][p][/p][h3]Stay Vivid!

Tethys Games
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