Puffle Launch Soundtrack
The Puffle Launch soundtrack consists of a series of music composed by Chris Hendricks for Puffle Launch, a minigame from Club Penguin. The minigame featured three themes, a main theme, which played in the menu and normal levels, the boss theme, which played in the boss levels, and a "boss clear" theme, played in the boss level after having beaten the boss[1]. In the process of composing the soundtrack, a few unused song that were discarded show up as well.
Composing Process[edit]
When prompted with the game, Chris became nostalgic and thrilled to compose a song for a game that reminded him of the Donkey Kong Country cannon barrel levels. Because of the nature of the game, Chris, decided the theme needed to be high action. The team told Chris that they wanted a song that represented "non-stop action", something that would get your heart pounding. He first composed Puffle Howitzer. Upon presenting the song to the team, they replied saying that it hadn't fit the theme of the game very well, and Chris agreeing, the theme went unused.
Then, Chris proceeded to create Puffle Bullet. The Club Penguin team was a big fan of the piece, and they rolled with at first. With the feedback, he proceeded to create Boss Bullet, a boss theme based on Puffle Bullet, and then, he composed the boss victory theme based on it, Boss Bullet Success. At this stage, the game's soundtrack was complete, and ready for launch.
After the soundtrack was completed, the game was presented in a creative meeting from the staff as something that was about to be released. However, in this meeting, someone pointed out that the music sounded too much "secret agent-y". Having done many similar EPF things at the time, they feared that the tone might end up being confused with it, when it was meant to be completely disassociated, considering when other things such as the crab bosses were present. Then, moment after Chris left the Club Penguin team, he was messaged, with the team requesting him to do it from scratch, making it in a more "electric guitar" and "action" filled direction, and making the bass lines less prominent. Chris started once again from scratch.
He then composed Puffle Coaster 1 as an attempt for the main theme. It was not used and he made the next attempt, which he named Puffle Coaster 2, which also went unused. Finally, Chris composed a theme which he called Puffle Coaster 3, currently known as Ramp It Up!, the final theme. Then, he also made a new boss theme, which he called Puffle Coaster Boss, which was the theme that was used. The boss victory theme was not remade, and the game was released with the songs.
Puffle Howitzer[edit]
Puffle Howitzer is an unused song and the first one composed by Chris intended for the main theme of Puffle Launch. It was first released in Chris' Club Penguin Music series. As with subsequent versions, Chris named these after weaponry due to the game already presenting a cannon theme. Chris stated that he "isn't sure what inspired the song", and that the violin sounded "very disco", and felt like the music would be better off used on something else, although he noted the tempo of the song had been appropriate to the game idea.
Puffle Bullet[edit]
Puffle Bullet is an unused song and the second one composed intended for the main theme of Puffle Launch, being composed after the first attempt was discarded. It was first released in Chris' Penguin Music series. In order to avoid giving the listeners "ear fatigue" from having too much action repeated, Chris made sure to make the song long for Club Penguin standards, with a length of 2 minutes. He also made the song in a constant state of build up or suspense, and let the song fill in the gaps when the game stopped, making the experience more exciting. Chris liked this song a lot, and ended up reusing the instruments for "Janky Tanks" later at Hyper Hippo Games.
Boss Bullet[edit]
Boss Bullet is an unused boss theme from Puffle Launch, and the first attempt at making a boss theme. It was first released in Chris' Club Penguin Music series. It was named after the previously composed main theme, Puffle Bullet. According to Chris, the song was certainly inspired by the shape of the boss crab's airship. The song feature a wide variety of percussion instruments. The choice for "comical instruments" like the clarinet and oboe playing the melody is backed up by the crab boss looking rather unmenacing. The song would later be discarded
Boss Bullet Success[edit]
Boss Bullet Success is the victory boss theme from Puffle Launch. It is based on the unused boss theme, Boss Bullet, since he did not wish to go from scratch for a song that would not be heard often. Chris at first made two versions, one having more instruments, and the second being more mellow, though it is unclear which one made it to be the final one. Even though the other "bullet" songs would later be discarded, this song made in into the game, possibly because the creative team missed this song's existence. This song was later released in Chris' Club Penguin Music series.
Puffle Coaster 1[edit]
Puffle Coaster 1 is an unused song and the 3rd attempt at the main theme for Puffle Launch, being also the first Puffle Launch theme made after Chris left Club Penguin. It was first released in Chris' Club Penguin Music soundtrack. Since Chris wasn't extremely familiar composing with electric guitars and drums, making these songs required him to further improve his artistic skills.
Puffle Coaster 2[edit]
Puffle Coaster 2 is an unused song and the 4th attempt at making the main theme for Puffle Launch. It was first released in Chris' Club Penguin Music soundtrack. This time, it featured synths that gave the song a lighter vibe, using pitch blending for certain effects. Chris' inspiration for this one was Sonic the Hedgehog music, mostly, the Sonic CD soundtrack.
Ramp It Up![edit]
Ramp It Up!, also known as Puffle Coaster 3, was the 5th and final attempt at making the main theme for Puffle Launch. Coming back from his two previous attempts, where he removed the orchestral strings in order to reduce the "secret agent" vibe of the song, Chris decide to bring them back. These are the following uses for the music:
Usage | Info |
---|---|
Puffle Launch | The main theme, playing in the menu and in every level that is not a boss level (final world level). |
Igloo Music | Released as "Ramp It Up!". |
It was later released in Chris' Club Penguin Music series.
Puffle Coaster Boss[edit]
Puffle Coaster Boss is the boss theme from Puffle Launch. It was made after Ramp It Up!, and its name derives mostly from Puffle Coaster being what Chris called the "post Puffle Bullet" songs. It was later released in Chris' Club Penguin Music series.
Puffle Launch App Trailer[edit]
Upon the release of the Puffle Launch game in the mobile App, the team prepared a trailer, and asked Chris to make the soundtrack for it.
Unused Version[edit]
The first version of made a more "playful" and "cute" version. It was first released in Chris' Club Penguin Music series. After presenting to the team it, they commented that the song was too "cute", and they needed something more "edgy", and it was discarded.
Final Version[edit]
The final version of the Puffle Launch trailer was based on Puffle Howitzer's melody and guitars. Although the team went with this version, Chris thought that the unused version had been more appropriate. It was later released in Chris' Club Penguin Music series.