There are 2 main motifs in the game, both of which are featured on the title screen: the repeating 3-note bell riff, and the melody that repeats a few times throughout (first appearance at 0:05). Both represent different aspects of a certain key character. I wanted the two motifs to sound both good and dissonant when played together, for narrative reasons. I also think it's really cool when games callback to their title screen music at endgame (or the title screen music is a reference to the endgame music, whichever way you wanna look at it), so one/both of these motifs are heard during the penultimate boss, final boss, outro, credits, and at the checkpoints throughout the game.

The bell riff rips off one of my all-time favorite title screen themes: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles. I've always been fascinated by these FFCC bells... like I can hear new overtones in them every time I listen. My bells are probably less sonically-complex, but I like how they work as a layer that's easy to insert into several different contexts. The notes they play (E A G) are vague enough to work in lots of different keys, but also specific enough that they can feel spicy when needed.

As for the melody motif... I had this distorted guitar/synth patch I was playing around with, and I liked how some notes sounded really crunchy when played together. I made a picked chord progression out of it, which is what plays right before fighting the final boss. At some point, I realized I could pluck a melody out of these chords by removing some of the lower notes and extending some of the higher ones. I really liked the resulting melody, and that's how it became a main motif!

The spark for the Data Stream song was actually a royalty-free song I put out a while back ("Future Sleek") that I've always been fond of. I wanted a riff that was similar because of its kinda spacey sci-fi vibe. From there, it was just a matter of putting the riff on loop and scrolling through soundfont patches. It really came to life when I stumbled across the bagpipe patch. I thought it sounded extremely cool with the riff.

I was listening to Kelly Lee Owen's album Dreamstate during parts of X-YZE dev. My notes list it as an inspiration for the Prison level music. I don't remember which song from the album was a particular inspiration, or what parts of my song it inspired... I just picked a song to share here, but most of the rest of the album is pretty cool. I guess I can hear some vibe similarities. I know for sure I was thinking about the siren sound effects in Eggman's first stage in Sonic Adventure 2 while making this one. This is maybe the only song on the soundtrack where I had a very specific vibe in mind and had it come out pretty much exactly how I wanted.

I also wrote down "100gecs boiler room" in my notes for Prison. I'm pretty sure that refers to the boss song, and I'm pretty sure the part of the set that inspired it is the one at the timestamp above. Maybe it influenced the acid bassline. I don't quite remember, but this set was at least floating around in my head at the time.

The Datamines level song was the first song I made for the OST. I had just played some Mega Man 8 for the first time, and the sounds of Wily Stage 1 really stuck with me. One of the main soundfonts I used throughout the OST was a MM8 one! I knew this level would be the first bit of real challenge players face in the game, so I wanted the song to be fairly chill and maybe even relaxing. I don't remember if there was a specific reason I chose 5/4 time, but I do like how it spaces things out. With this song and the Datamines boss song, I decided that my general approach would be to make the level songs "intriguing" and the boss songs something you can bop your head to.

The Datamines boss song is the only one I scrapped even after I had a nearly full draft. The video above is that scrapped version (please excuse the rough mix). My original idea was "what if 90's Hikaru Utada as a boss song?". I couldn't figure out how to pull it off... maybe next time. You can hear some pretty direct influences in my draft lol. I stuck with the same general tempo range for the final song, so I think there are vague whiffs of the original inspiration still in there.

After failing to do the Utada thing, I realized Streets of Rage's music has similar elements. I somewhat copied the way it frequently shifts back and forth between different riffs as a way to keep things fresh, plus use weird sounds! That pattern wound up continuing into several other songs throughout the OST. I was also thinking about how the Sonic 3 boss music uses really crunchy drums as a major part of what makes the song memorable.

The boss song for HDD came before the level song, and the level song is basically just a lighter evolution of the boss song. They both pull from an inspiration I knew I wanted to pull from since very early in development: Machine Girl. I've loved their music for a long time, and I've always wanted to make something for a game that pulls inspiration from it. Their soundtrack for Neon White is phenomenal, but I wanted to pull from their non-vgm stuff.

I also wanted to pull more directly from juke/footwork music in general because of how off-kilter yet danceable the beats are and how high the BPM is. Perfect for a boss that's all about disorienting and overstimulating you.

Another inspiration for this is Daedelus. I don't know how to describe the music they make, but maybe "avant-garde electronic" is somewhere in the right direction. They also do some of the most fascinating DJ sets I've heard, many of which incorporate juke/footwork.

I wanted these songs to have a lot of back-and-forth between "happy" and "angry" sections, and for the "happy" to always sound a bit off in some way. Fits the theme of the boss/level. I also wanted to incorporate some sort of vocal sample that plays at various pitches to sound feminine sometimes and masculine other times. Fits the theme yet again. One of the soundfonts I used had random sex sounds hidden amidst the normal instruments, so that's what you're hearing lol.

I really like how these songs turned out, and I don't think I've heard any other game music quite like it.

Another inspiration I knew I wanted to pull from at some point was the disgusting and over-the-top stupid kick drums of J-core and Hardstyle. Just about any artist on Hardcore Tano*C fits the bill, but t+pazolite is my favorite. I discovered Jane Remover partway through development, and some songs from her new (at the time) album Revengeseekerz were perfect inspirations, too. The EKI boss was a great match for this style. The kick drum I ended up making isn't really all that nutso compared to its inspirations, but I still like it. I kinda wish I had given it another bar to play out, but maybe it's for the best I don't bombard your ears so much during a boss fight as stressful as that one.

Some other elements of the boss song... I wanted beepy boopy sounds like a computer going to town, since well... the boss is a computer of sorts. As I was experimenting with effects on the source beepy boopy sound, I accidentally made it sound like this really chaotic screechy riff (1:04 and 1:29). I also tried to get some sounds like engine-revving in there with various basses.