MUS
Music from JETT: The Far Shore + Given Time is accumulating below.
JETT: The Far Shore + Given Time score composed by scntfc.
JETT: The Far Shore
link.tree
JETT: Given Time
JETT: The Far Shore + Given Time
available together on Steam and on Epic Games Store
JETT: Out Of Our Hands
available from Jim Guthrie’s Bandcamp
with contributions from Priscilla Snow, Jim Guthrie
created with Superbrothers A/V + Pine Scented
JETT: The Far Shore Official Soundtrack by scntfc, artwork by Sam Bradley, with a little Tor-graphic tuning by Cory Schmitz, assembled by C for Superbrothers A/V.
JETT: Given Time Official Soundtrack - album by scntfc
WHO: Songs and sounds by composer and sound designer scntfc.
WHAT: This new Given Time soundtrack joins the scntfc score to The Far Shore, creating a seamless, sumptuous, and orchestral synth landscape, suitable not only for carving out a future for a people haunted by oblivion, buuuut also for diving into with a set of nice speakers or headphones, and just enjoying some beauty.
Some songs function as reprises, recalling the events of The Far Shore (and its own scntfc OST), from Mei's vantage point three years later, finding new angles on those memories. Other songs are bold and new, like the pulse-quickening Aloft, the sweeping and sedate Given Time, the dazzling Synthesis, and the strange mix of moods and flavors that accompany Given Time's concluding scenes.
WHY: It’s the harvest of a close A/V collaboration with scntfc and Superbrothers dating back to ~2011.
WHERE: Listen here at JETT.fyi/MUS, or anywhere you listen to music. Links are below. Recommended: Scntc’s Bandcamp - like and subscribe.
HOW: To dig into how this music came to be, explore what’s on offer at JETT.fyi/MUS or hop on @jettxyz on Twitter.
JETT: The Far Shore Official Soundtrack - album by scntfc
WHO: Songs and sounds by composer and sound designer scntfc, with contributions from composer and vocalist Priscilla Snow.
WHAT: Soak in an ocean of atmospheric music devised over long years by accomplished composer scntfc. Linger in feelings of awe, wonder and dread as this breathtaking score illuminates JETT's sprawling, byzantine sonic cosmos. From symphonic science fiction spectacle to otherworldly synths to evocative off-kilter oddities to rough hewn songs sung by warm-hearted scouts, this immense release will take listeners to the stars, and beyond.
WHY: It’s the last of a harvest of a close A/V collaboration with scntfc and Superbrothers dating back to ~2011.
WHERE: Listen here at JETT.fyi/MUS, or anywhere you listen to music. Links are below. Recommended: Scntc’s Bandcamp - like and subscribe.
HOW: To dig into how this music came to be, explore what’s on offer at JETT.fyi/MUS or hop on @jettxyz on Twitter.
Out Of My Hands (JETT: The Far Shore) - single by Jim Guthrie
WHO: Song by Jim Guthrie
WHAT: This is JETT’s interstellar banner song, a ‘composer cameo’ from sworcery maestro Jim Guthrie aka Hans Jimmer.
WHY: The vision for JETT: The Far Shore’s prologue “0.Embark” involved building to the moment Mei and the scouts embark, and then blowing the doors off on this memorable interstellar sequence, leaving the player transported. The visuals, mood, flavor and tone of the music were clearly known, however in this case was needed was a song that could somehow match that vision. Jim handed this one over, and it was a fit. Boom.
WHERE: Listen here at JETT.fyi/MUS, or anywhere you listen to music. Links are below. Recommended: Jim Guthrie’s Bandcamp - like and subscribe.
HOW: To dig into how this music came to be, explore what’s on offer at JETT.fyi/MUS or hop on @jettxyz on Twitter.
VIDEOS + LINER NOTES ARE ACCUMMULATING BELOW
JETT MUS 1.01
“Soak In Brine”
WHO: Composed by scntfc
WHAT: A lengthy symphonic suite that establishes the sonic foundation and broad musical concepts for JETT’s breathtaking symphonic score.
WHY: In an effort to harmonize symphonic orchestrations, it dawned on scntfc that one sprawling composition had to be built. The grandiose outcome sounded, appropriately enough, like an overture from a sprawling 60s science fiction film.
WHERE: This music appears in JETT: The Far Shore’s initial ‘listening room’ lobby, before the player decides to embark. Elements of this music appear in-game on Tsosi Massif, an island at the heart of the narrative, as well as in an early spectacular encounter with the Dhrej Kolos, and later in proximity to ‘the throng’. This composition is the first song on JETT: The Far Shore’s Official Soundtrack, detailed below.
HOW: Liner notes are below.
“Soak In Brine”
So, scntfc had been composing new music for JETT from ~2013, following plenty of conversations with Superbrothers A/V about film and music, with the memorable tone and scores for Terrence Malick’s films ‘Tree of Life’ (2011) and ‘The Thin Red Line’ (1998) coming up often, as well as the songs “A Planet” and “Going In” from Marc Streitenfeld’s score for ‘Prometheus’ (2012). Rachmaninov’s symphonic poem Isle Of The Dead is another influence, so is the work of Maurice Ravel, John Luther Adams, and Cesar Cui. At a certain stage, in around 2016, to rationalize all these bits and pieces of music, composed at different times with different tools, it made sense to create a single unifying musical edifice to weave everything together and get it in the same key. This song is that edifice. It begins with the sound of our mythic ocean planet, then emerges into misty shorelines and woods and mountains, building towards a grandiose space opera moment - imagine the kolos high above, Tor on the horizon - before shifting into uneasy dissonance and winding down, step by step, to the heaving ocean, where we began.
c - October 4th, 2021
JETT MUS 1.02
“To The Stars”
WHO: Composed by scntfc with Priscilla Snow
WHAT: The first audio from the first few minutes of JETT: The Far Shore’s memorable 30 minute prologue “0. Embark”, as Mei steps out of the hutt to a warm, mournful reception
WHY: < liner notes to come >
WHERE: < liner notes to come >
HOW: Liner notes are below.
“To The Stars”
< liner notes to come >
c - October X, 2021
JETT MUS 1.03
“Jett to Cosmodrome”
WHO: Composed by scntfc and Morgan Kuhli
WHAT: A memorable feel-good song that accompanies the player’s first minutes at the helm of the jett.
WHY: In order to get the feel of the jett to resonate with people, the player’s first moments had to sound good. There was a need for warmth, grandeur, and uneasy regret. This song predates JETT, and it helped propel it.
WHERE: This music appears in JETT: The Far Shore’s first jett section, within JETT’s prologue segment “0. Embark”, as Mei uncertainly takes the helm, before embarking at cosmodrome Z-13.
HOW: Liner notes are below.
“Jett to Cosmodrome”
This song sure has a long history with JETT.
The ancestor fo this song is “Journey of a Bird” by reclusive new age composer Morgan Kuhli (hi Morgan!).
“Journey of a Bird” was the first song that played in a JETT prototype that was slapped together over a weekend in Toronto in spring 2011 by Patrick (Pine Scented) and I (Superbrothers A/V). This was five or six weeks after sworcery had shipped, a busy time, but it was great to fit this jam weekend in, as Patrick just about to move to Japan.
The mood of Morgan Kuhli’s song was an ideal match for a player’s first time at the helm of a jett, so, it stuck. In some ways, this song and one other from that time, have propelled the project since then.
Later on, once JETT’s particular style of science fiction cosmos and the culture of the cradle world had come into crisper focus, it made sense for scntfc to step in, with Morgan Kuhli’s permission, to transpose the song into the particular key and color of JETT.
We were compelled to ask JETT Squad 1.0’s trailer editor Derek Lieu to create a laidback music video type clip to go with this song, and the sketch of it was pretty powerful.
As we approached launch we contemplated what clip might fit, and this one made the strongest case. We had already released a series of relatively dense and informative JETT clips, it felt like time to take it easy, let a song and the footage breathe together.
I love what Derek came up with here. It captures the spirit of the song and those first few moments at the helm, but then it warmly reaches out and embraces the broader scope of the visuals in this project.
On the eve of October 4th, 2021, we had a JETT Squad 1.0 pre-launch hang-out seance, ie. a Zoom call with breakout rooms. It was a great time, a lot of relaxed smiles and the remote work equivalent of hugs. Towards the end of the event we put this clip on, to contemplate and warmly remember that time we all got together on our computers, from corners around the world, adapting and persevering, and then eventually being together to witness the emergence of this strange new videogame we’d built, with all its heart, its warmth and hard-won grandeur.
c - October 16, 2021
JETT MUS 1.04
“Out of Our Hands”
WHO: Composed by Jim Guthrie
WHAT: The song that plays at the end of JETT: The Far Shore’s memorable 30 minute prologue “0. Embark”, as Mei and her unit of scouts lift off on a rocket, and from there to the far shore of the cosmic sea
WHY: The vision for JETT: The Far Shore’s prologue “0.Embark” came together fast in late 2015, it involved a series of brief, dense, tone-controlled scenes that put the player on the hook in disparate ways, broadening the narrative scope from the intimate to the epic and back again, all building to the moment Mei and the scouts embark. The spec for what happened next involved blowing the doors off with an all-timer of an interstellar sequence, 2001 by way of M83, leaving the player sufficiently transported. The narrative, visuals and mood/music were clearly known and in place, but it was a struggle to conjure up a song to match this vision. Then, on a visit to the shedquarters, sworcery maestro Jim handed this one over, and yep, it was a fit. Boom.
WHERE: This song that plays at the end of JETT: The Far Shore’s memorable 30 minute prologue “0. Embark”, as Mei and her unit of scouts lift off on a rocket, and are transported from orbit to the far shore of the cosmic sea, in torpor above The Mother Structure.
HOW: Liner notes are below.
“Out Of Our Hands”
This song’s a real big one, JETT-wise.
Might have to go on a bit of ramble to get to how this came to be.
JETT’s prologue came together fast at the end of 2015 and early 2016.
The vision for “0.Embark” is that a player would be dropped into the deep end of a new unverse, they’d traverse a series of brief, dense, tone-controlled scenes, each scene putting the player on the hook in new way. Along the way, the intent was to build up the story on a few levels, starting with the psychological and the intimate, then broadening the narrative scope, painting out some scope for a feeling of epic grandeur, before reeling everything in to the intimate and the personal, everything building to the moment Mei and the scouts embark.
The spec for what happened next involved blowing the doors off with an all-timer of an interstellar sequence, 2001 by way of M83, leaving the player sufficiently transported.
The Mother Structure’s interstellar trip is at the heart of JETT. It is the bridge by which The Far Shore’s story is connected, and if ever there are other JETT stories to be told, the same bridge would connect those too.
The narrative, visuals and mood/music for this sequence were clearly known and in place, but it was a struggle to conjure up a song to match this vision.
In mid-2016 I took baby JETT on the road and stopped off here and there, letting some people check things out. In this 2016 build we had cleaned up and made playable five big chunks, including this prologue. For the people who played it in 2016, with whatever temp music we had in, it hit really home. The narrative, visuals and target mood/music were all firing.
It was a struggle to conjure up with our own JETT song to match this vision of the sequence, but it felt like a perfect opportunity for a very special composer cameo.
Sure enough, on a visit to Jim Guthrie’s shedquarters, the same visit where I encounter Sam Bradley’s artwork, sworcery maestro Jim handed this song over, for me to slot into JETT.
Yep, it was a fit.
The song and the sequence together have been a reliable mind-melter.
It has helped to propel JETT ever since.
As for the name, it always made sense to me for this to be called ‘Out Of Our Hands’, given the hands-sculpture, and there’s this feeling of ‘the remnants’ saying goodbye and good luck to the young scouts, wishing them well on their hard road ahead. Having the song that plays here be one of Jims is something that feels like cosmic alignment, the right overlap from sworcery to JETT, a mirror reflection of how scntc provided the sounds of the Moon Grotto for sworcery.
c - October 16, 2021
scntfc - composer album "JETT: The Far Shore"
Priscilla Snow / Ghoulnoise - contributing composer and vocalist
Jim Guthrie - composer of song "Out Of Our Hands"
Gord McGladdery / A Shell In The Pit - audio contributor
Sam Bradley - visual artist
Craig D. Adams / Superbrothers A/V - creative director / AV design
Will there be physical goods such as vinyl records?
Perhaps, given time.
Tuesday October 5th, 2021:
Listen to JETT: The Far Shore (Official Soundtrack) by scntfc at the places linked below.
JETT.fyi/MUS
^ Find playlists and things here at this ‘pop-up A/V exhibition’ aka ‘world wide website’.
scntfc.bandcamp.com
^ Composer’s recommended venue, remember to like and subscribe, then if so moved, chip in.
^ There’s a bundle available, if you wanted to go about things that way. There isn’t a cost advantage.
^ Apple Music, iTunes, Spotify and such are linked from here.
At Superbrothers A/V we have pretty strong convictions about music and its role in videogames, and we’re eager to tell people about scntfc’s significant new release.
If you dig all this then please, help us get the word out.
FOR MORE ABOUT THE SUPERBROTHERS A/V APPROACH, SEE THIS POST ON THE PLAYSTATION BLOG