I’m Maxi, the sound designer and composer behind everything you hear in Golden Caravan. This project has officially lodged itself in a burrow in my heart, and I’m here to tell you how I found the rhythm of this shadowed city.
About a year ago, I saw the demo for Golden Caravan posted in a group for indie developers. I was blown away. The gameplay was addictive and the art was outstanding, but I noticed something: it didn't have an original soundtrack yet. It felt like a silent movie waiting for its ghost to start singing, a city of shadows that hadn't yet found its voice.
At the time, I was still a rookie in the gaming industry. I had recently pivoted from years of music production only to find myself as a complete n00b in this field. Even though I loved the project, I didn't feel ready to send a cold pitch for a game that cool.
Fast forward a few months, I was working with the team on another project called Weed Train. After wrapping up, I finally put two and two together like a detective in a noir thriller: it was the same crew responsible for the demo I loved! I kept my poker face and decided to play the best hand of the day. I took a deep breath and sent the toughest message a new composer can send: "Hey guys, any chance your game needs music?"
.
.
.
To my surprise, the response was: "We were actually thinking about asking you if you wanted to give it a try."
The game is set in a film noir casino owned by a mob of dangerous, predatory... birds. 🦅🥃 Despite the lively animations, the game was asking for musical depth. I spent two weeks deep-diving into old-timey records, analyzing what gave that era its seedy allure of corruption and moral ambiguity. I wanted the sound to feel like a secret whispered in a dark alley, something that pulls you in even when you know you should run.
One of the biggest hurdles? The Brass. Brass is notoriously difficult to fake with software. I pulled out every sampler I owned and invested in new libraries specifically for this project. It was make or break.
My first attempt was a track titled "The Golden Caravan." I sat with a microphone and hummed melodies I’d been collecting in my voice notes day and night, trying to capture the feeling of a smoke-filled room where every deal is a gamble.
I took those ideas to the keyboard, added a swinging drum pattern and some mysterious piano chords. It felt like the music playing in the back of a totally legal establishment (wink). But everything really clicked when I added the bongos. That was the missing piece of the formula. [Listen to Final Result]
We knew the music needed to be a living character, a silent witness to every betrayal. I designed the soundtrack so it could be split vertically into two stems: the brass... and everything else. But when the tension breaks, we look to the shadows.
When it’s time to fight, the brass section drops out. Why, you might ask? Because of Batman.
Remember the 1966 Batman series?
Like a detective with an iron poker face prowling through the gloom of a corrupt city, the music needed to strike at exactly the right moment. When a fight breaks out, the main brass section vanishes into the night. This allows the music to react only when blood is spilled or a blow is landed. I composed brass stingers that trigger only when a character is hit.
The harder the impact, the more the horns scream.
To keep the city from falling into musical chaos, I kept everything in G Minor. This ensures every punch stays tonally consistent with the misery of the streets. It is the sound of a wing meeting a face in a rain-soaked alley.
For the sound design, I felt uncharacteristically strong about one thing: the slot machine. Since the game takes place in a mob-run casino, the slot machine had to be perfect. I needed something with cogs, wheels, and bells. Something that sounded like fate turning on a rusty hinge.
Years ago, I bought a vintage typewriter at an auction. It was way too loud for 3 AM songwriting, so it sat as a hipster decoration for years. Until now. I grabbed that bulky, grimy hunk of metal and went to work.
I recorded every whack, ding, and thump it had to give. I layered those mechanical sounds with a nail file and a metal basket to create the machination for this imaginary slot machine. It’s the sound of a trap being set.
Let's put some drums and brass over it and…
Voilá!
When I clicked send on that first demo, I was bursting with creative exhaustion and pride. I had given that music everything I had. I knew these musical moments would never find their way into the city of shadows if the rest of the team did not love them.
I waited.
Waited.
Waited.
.
.
.
And then my phone lit up.
“Ding”
They loved it.
The city finally had its pulse. I hope you feel it too.
Come hear the sounds of the underworld for yourself in our demo.