Timber Hearth

One of the most interesting phenomenons that I've encountered over the past couple of years has been the video game, Outer Wilds.  No, I don't play video games and the few snippets from the game that I've seen left me confused and bamboozled.  It's all quite beyond my multi-tasking capabilities.

Despite the success of the game, it has engendered a tangential phenomenon -- the evident love of gamers who play Outer Wilds, not just for the game itself, but also for the various musical themes from the soundtrack.

Aficianados who are musically inclined apparently feel compelled to recreate the many different musical themes of the game.  They then post them to youtube.  Not only that, but composer Andrew Prahlow is delighted that people feel drawn to do so and has encouraged it.  This all makes for an open-heartedness and special bond amongst the gaming community surrounding Outer Wilds.

And so here again is another gamer doing his rendition of a theme.  In the game, the little space-suited people like to camp out amidst the pines on various minuscule planets, roast marshmallows over a campfire, and play their banjos.  Who can resist an image like that?

I suppose one of the reasons people are drawn to replicate the musical themes of the game is that they're somewhat simple and reproducible.  All it takes is a good ear.  But there's something else going on here.  Why would I, not a gamer, and not a musician, feel so drawn to the musical themes of the game?  What is this feeling they elicit?  I can't quite put my finger on it, but I love it.  That's the innate charm of music, I guess -- it sidesteps the brain.

Here's Paolo Munier's version of the musical theme, Timber Hearth.  The crackling sound you hear is supposed to be the fire.