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For years, we gazed at the stars, longing to know what lay beyond.
At some point in our history, we managed to see them up close, and then the desire arose to discover who—or what—was up there.

That was when we encountered it:
A planet as similar to our own as it was unknown.

Centuries had to pass before we could see it closely, and then, when we least expected it: life. And not just life, but life capable of transforming its world.
Year after year went by as we strove to reach it, eyes always turned skyward, watching its empire grow within that celestial mirror.

Then came the long-awaited day—the day our explorers descended for first contact: There was no one on that planet.

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Teegarden was originally a forgoten 2019 project intended to be a video game; the main theme has existed since then as a sketch featuring oboe, piano, and tambourine. I decided to give it a second chance for this jam by adding new sounds and developing the melodies into new songs.

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GAME IDEA

The original concept was a game where you would explore an alien planet with a party of four adventurers. My memory is a bit hazy, but there seemed to be an evil organization on the planet extracting resources, and the protagonists appeared to belong to some sort of academy—or at least that’s what I gather, since there’s a music track titled "Academy" among my files.

For this game jam, I decided to bring *Teegarden* back to life; in a way, an abandoned project is a forgotten world. But I didn't want to stop there, so I blended that concept of forgotten worlds with the narrative, making the goal to explore the planet and discover why no one is left there anymore.

I took advantage of the nature of distance: when we look into space, we are always looking into the past. From Earth, we would essentially be viewing a window into that planet's civilization as it once was; since we never saw its present, we remained unaware of its extinction until the very moment we arrived to visit.

Colorful visuals and upbeat music in a story rooted in tragedy? What can I say? I love those cheerful—even childlike—games that aren't afraid to feature dark, vague lore; games where the specific implications matter less than the experience and the emotions you take away with you in the end.

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SOUNDTRACK LORE

For this OST, I decided to venture into using more electronic sounds, dividing the tracks into two groups: those with a more electronic feel to represent the protagonists and their relationship with the space, and others featuring predominantly ethnic sounds to represent the planet and its culture.

My composing style involves blending textures from different eras and sound qualities to create a more "indie" sound—combining plugins, video game soundfonts, and instrument samples—and for this particular project, I even dared to include Delay Lama!

Teegarden (Main theme)
Created in 2019, the theme already had the sections separated into vibes, and featured the three melodies. Here, I added more instruments and accompaniment. Since this is a remix of the original version rather than a complete reimagining, some glaring flaws stemming from my lack of experience at the time are noticeable.

Holographic Design
This is the theme for the ship's interior and space scenes. It was the first track I composed entirely using electronic instruments, so you can likely tell I was being much more cautious about how much to do or change. The one thing I was truly confident about was the percussion; I loved experimenting with space-themed SFX—like the sonar pings—and using a clock sample as part of the groove.

Downhill Shore
For this track, I tried something different: having the instruments act as small, overlapping layers of simple melodies. I’ve been experimenting with modal interchange lately—I think it’s noticeable here. There’s even a section where I used them in succession to evoke a sense of adventure, or at least that was the idea.

Sandy Road
The desert track needed a bit more edge, since it’s a biome that isn't exactly lush and green. I incorporated the Phrygian mode—which is standard for desert music—though I tried to avoid overusing the usual clichés. I aimed for a hint of a subtle "western" sound,  to avoid veering into Orientalism—or at least, to avoid going further than the instrumentation already implies.

Underground Temple
I chose to start with MIDI strings to simulate a drone sound; I did my best to make the tone a bit grittier—after all, underground ruins aren't exactly pristine. This was the final track created for the collection; while I’m pleased with the result, I feel it could have used a few more revisions—varying certain sections and, above all, improving the transitions.

"Tracks that didn't make the cut due to time constraints" ™
At least four songs were left on the cutting room floor:

• A track for the "Wastelands"—using the name literally to evoke ruined, blighted lands—intended to further the mystery of the planet's extinction.
• There was also a song composed entirely of instrumental and natural sounds, serving as a counterpart to "Holographic Design" but representing the planet's past.
• Finally, there was a closing track—essentially a "Teegarden" reprise—meant to evoke the feeling of saying goodbye to the planet.
• As for the track that exists but remains unfinished, it was an underwater level—one I truly regret not completing.
  • At the very least, you'll be able to hear the demo when I release the album on streaming platforms.

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Full cover photo, in case you're curious :3