This album, The Fat Man and Team Fat are in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Humongous Entertainment, Tommo Inc. or Billionsoft Ltd.
Buy the game on Steam, the Humble Store, or on mobile:
humongous.com/games/freddi-fish-and-the-missing-kelp-seeds/
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For Freddi, George created several long (in the case of "Detectives," the opus of the album, 9+ minutes) suites that they could then cut up and use mere portions for in the randomized pool of background score throughout the game. It was an innovative way to create an experience as comfortably dark and groovy as the deep sea itself.
We would never have gotten this one without the tireless help of Justin E. Kovar, doing our labor for us remotely at the UT Austin Videogame Archive. If you like hearing this music, you owe it to him—and to George for setting up such an awesome archive in the first place.
–Tim the Curator
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I hadn't heard this music since I wrote it, and you know what? From the "two-note samba" to "Freddi, we need your help please," I like the whimsy, I like the tropical-meets-mystery tone, I like the pacing, and I regret nothing. It feels good to my heart, it brings back happy times with good friends. I really hope it makes you smile, too. That will be the best. (The ghost ship music may still be scary to your inner child, so listen with appropriate caution.)
–George "The Fat Man" Sanger
P.S. Thanks, Tim. As many of you have figured out, this is Tim the Curator's project even more than it is mine. Per the UT Austin Videogame Archive, that was my good friend Bill Bottorff's idea, and it never would have happened without his perseverance, intelligence, and irrepressible personality. Thanks for so much, Bill.
---And Hey One More Thing---
We get asked sometimes why the MIDI tracks are in mono.
The MIDI tracks are all in mono because that's all that's survived in the archives. Other studio tracks are in mono because they match the instrumentation heard in the game. It's complex:
When we went to produce new stereo versions of the studio tracks using the surviving stems, the steel drum MIDI soundfont that was used in the game on the keyboard had been lost, and all we had was a standard keyboard sound instead. (All we had was a digital recording, not a MIDI master file.) As a result, producing a new stereo version using these stems meant they would not match the sound heard in the game: the iconic steel drum associated strongly with the sound of Freddi Fish.
HOWEVER. We also had the final mono versions that were shipped to Humongous. They were high bitrate, but not stereo. Given that these were mostly cuts out of much larger suites, we included both: the mono, game-accurate versions you'd recognize, as well as much longer "expanded" suites that sound a little different and were mixed from the ground up.
I hope this answer is interesting, and that you're enjoying the album!
–Tim the Curator