Opening up "the sound of the title screen"

The scene where "nothing has started yet"

Working through #01 to #05 — thinking time, the moment of solving, the silence of being stuck, the afterglow of clearing — I suddenly realized something. Every single one was a sound from "during play" or "after play." I'd never made a sound for before play begins.

That handful of seconds on the title screen, fingers still resting on the controller, deciding whether to press start. That moment definitely needs a sound too. And it can't hype you up too much — I felt like it had to sound like it's waiting for you, or the player would just tense up.

Try playing it

It actually plays below. Press ▶ and a soft chord slowly rises like it's breathing, while a very quiet kick keeps a steady pulse underneath. 72 BPM — roughly the same tempo as a resting heartbeat.

Bringing the pulse closer to a heartbeat made it feel welcoming

At first I tried a grand chord progression to give it that "here we go" feeling, but listening back it hyped things up too much and backfired. I reconsidered — a title screen isn't a place to announce something, it's a place to welcome someone.

So I pulled the pulse all the way toward a heartbeat. 72 BPM sits close to a resting heart rate, and I kept the kick extremely quiet, down to almost just a trace of presence. The attack runs a touch slow at 0.25 seconds, giving the chord time to fill in softly — turning that one breath before everything begins into sound as-is.

If "thinking time" is the quiet after things have started, this is the quiet before they start. Making it, I realized: quiet comes in different kinds. Five episodes in, I finally feel like I've made the sound for this whole series' front door.

Next, it's your turn

"The sound of the title screen" turned out better than I expected. That rounds out five scenes now: before it starts, thinking time, the moment of solving, the silence of being stuck, and the afterglow of clearing. I haven't decided which one comes next. What did the title screen of a game you love sound like? Tell me in the comments if you remember.