Ken “coda” Snyder is definitely our retro music extraordinaire, making a name for himself in the chiptune scene. He is versatile, however, writing music in a variety of retro and modern formats, touching on everything from pop and electronic to rock and more. His biggest works in the indie game space include his FM score to Read Only Memories: Neurodiver and his upbeat electronic contributions to the Drive Ahead! series. He’s also a popular arranger, having contributed remixes to Shovel Knight, Fez, and Duke Nukem 3D.
Read his full biography, credits list, and hear some sample music on his Scarlet Moon Artists page. Check below for an interview with coda about his style, inspirations, and collaboration with Scarlet Moon.
Working on Indie Games
I grew up with a passion for videogames in a time where almost all games were made by “indie” developers. I quickly developed an interest in the whole creation process, not limited to music, and I’m always excited to play such a crucial part of making those ideas into a reality.
Favorite Kinds of Projects
I try to have as wide a range as possible and test my limits when it comes to music genres, but a few that I feel most at home with tend to be synth-heavy, melodic ’80s and ’90s pop/jazz-fusion styles, a bit of metal, and of course chiptune.
Creative Philosophy
I tend to do a lot of planning, analyzing, and iterating, but in the end I think a “happy accident” can easily beat all that effort. I write nearly all my music in tracker software (OpenMPT), since for me that’s the environment where those accidents are most likely to happen.
What Makes Me Unique
I love to dig into the technical stuff whether it’s recreating a specific videogame console’s sound, a composer’s style, or figuring out what kind of synth was used on a track.
Partnership with Scarlet Moon
Jayson has been a huge help both connecting me to developers as well as providing production assistance on projects, letting me focus on the creative stuff instead of budgets and contracts. Very happy to be part of the team!
Learn more: https://www.scarletmoon.com/bio-coda
Contact: https://www.scarletmoon.com/contact.html