The music of the city

“Anubis Nights” opens with an oud musing over the call of a riq. Then a ney flute takes up the melody while the oud keeps a steady ostinato and the kanun answers with quick runs. The second theme climbs higher in the saidi rhythm, a darbuka solo breaks it up, and the oud brings the first theme back.

Each theme is written note by note, part by part — like a tracker score on the scale of a maqam. A sequencer schedules the notes a moment ahead, so the rhythm stays tight even when the game is busy.

On every pass it picks new variations of the parts and new drum fills. That is why the music does not wear out: the same tune comes back slightly different each time.

The instruments are synthesized too. Plucked strings — oud, kanun, harp — use the Karplus–Strong method, the ney is breath and resonance, the drums are shaped noise and tone, and a soft drone holds it all together. The whole soundtrack weighs a few kilobytes.

Fountains, waterfalls, the Nile lapping at the quay, torches crackling, kites crying over the river and the murmur of the crowd. Every source has its place on the map: walk closer and it becomes louder and brighter, walk away and it fades into the distance.

The water is made of thousands of tiny bubbles rather than noise, so it sounds like water and not like static. The crowd is a real speech-like murmur of dozens of synthesized voices.

The Sound tab in the game settings has a small music player. Themes play through and then change on their own; you can skip to the previous or next tune, put one on repeat or pause the music without silencing the city.