As Peter began exploring his options, he turned to wind and plucked string instruments. The instruments also needed to be versatile enough to be used for both chords and melodies. Peter experimented with harmonium and pipe organ, but neither quite had what he was looking for. The Sift needed something a bit more energetic.
“I can’t remember how, but I somehow found my way to the harpejji, an instrument that sounds like a combination of a piano with a guitar. The harpejji, prepared piano, and other tonal percussion combine the playstyle of a piano with the sound of instruments that almost feel like vanilla Minecraft.”
The harpejji helped shape the Sift’s sound. A guitar recording for the track ‘Wellspring’ would take that exploration in an unexpected direction.
“I sent a mockup version of the song over to Pontus Fällman and Gabriel Holmertz for them to try a guitar recording on their end. What I got back wasn’t just their beautiful playing, but also a first version where instead of the harpejji playing the melody, they used a lap steel. That sparked what would later be what I recorded and used as the “soul sound” of the game, heard in everything from Press Any Key to boss fights throughout.”