Soundtrack: CHUCHEL — Eight of 23 tracks are a radio show's station ID

Introduction — Music that tries to make you laugh before you solve anything

The music of CHUCHEL (2018, Amanita Design) turns the whole game into a radio show. It was composed by DVA, a Czech duo, and the album is called Cherries on Air.

You play a shaggy creature named Chuchel who chases a cherry. In our Komugi's review the difficulty is rated easy and the run takes about three hours (CHUCHEL review). There are no heavy riddles, so the music carries more of the mood.

With a cup of black coffee, I played all 23 tracks through a few times. What stayed with me was the texture of the sounds, more than any melody.

Gameplay screenshot of CHUCHEL (from the Steam store page)

8 of the 23 tracks are show jingles

The Bandcamp page calls the album a radio show run by a duo of comedians. The track list shows that idea reaches into the structure.

Eight tracks carry the title “Cherries on Air,” numbered 1 to 8, with other tracks placed between them. The show introduces a song and then returns to the show. At each scene change you come back to the same station.

The release runs about 44 minutes, so the average track is just under two minutes. That suits a game that moves through short scenes.

In a puzzle game your head resets with every scene. A familiar station theme calms the ear more than a new song each time. That is my first takeaway.

Toy instruments, with a groove that is the real thing

According to reviewer Simon Smith, the sounds center on voice, ukulele, toy piano and hand claps, instruments that feel like a child's toys. Odd noises and shouts are mixed in.

It does not fall apart because every track has a groove and a pattern. Smith writes that this keeps all the weirdness grounded.

Besides guitar and banjo, the two members of DVA use beatboxing and looping (layering sounds they record on the spot). They are Bára Ungerová and Jan Kratochvíl. Wikipedia notes their lyrics are nonsense words mixing German, Hungarian and Swedish, among others.

Without shared words, listeners take the voice as an instrument. Funny music turns out to be tightly designed. This is the part I most want to steal.

Gameplay screenshot of CHUCHEL (from the Steam store page)

Analogy with puzzles — sound with no failure for scenes with no failure

CHUCHEL is not a game of long deliberation. If you get stuck, you try something, laugh and move on. On this site it is classed as a no-fail game.

I usually measure everything in BPM, but here I stopped. You remember these tracks by how they stumble more than by tempo. According to the review, “CHVCHLS” sounds like an 80s computer game at about 150 BPM.

“Chuchel Walk With Me,” by contrast, is described as a slow-motion fairground ballad. One album holds a running track and a staggering one.

When the solving tempo is free, the music's tempo can be free too. Music that does not rush your hand turns the room to play into sound.

Tracks to hear

Start with “Cherries on Air,” the show's theme. It is the audio on Amanita Design's official channel, and it gives you the air of the album at once.

To hear the whole thing, DVA's Bandcamp is the official entry point. Also try “Cherry, I Love You So Much” and “Chuchlegg,” the latter led by a rubbery bass and a nasal voice.

Gameplay screenshot of CHUCHEL (from the Steam store page)

Closing — What I would steal

I would steal three things. First, repeat one title through the album so it has a station for a backbone. Second, even when the timbre leans toward toys, keep the rhythm's pattern real. Third, end a track in under two minutes to match the lightness of the scene.

DVA previously won the IGF Excellence in Audio award for Botanicula, and CHUCHEL was nominated in the same category at IGF 2018. Funny music is made seriously.

I wrote about the flute that becomes a journey in the same studio's world in the Samorost 3 soundtrack piece. Read together, they show the range of sound at Amanita Design.

Is there a moment in a game's music that made you laugh out loud? I would like it for my next piece.

Sources

・DVA official Bandcamp: Cherries on Air - Chuchel OST

・Cherries on Air (CHUCHEL Music by Dva) — Amanita Design official YouTube

・Steam: CHUCHEL Soundtrack + Art Book (official DLC)

・Higher Plain Music: Dva “Cherries on Air” review

・Wikipedia: DVA (band) / Wikipedia: Chuchel

・Images are screenshots from the Steam store page. They could not be visually checked in this environment, so captions avoid asserting content. BPM figures come from the review above.