soundtrack

If you opened the new app at least once you must have heard the meditative soundtrack in the background. We added it to set the proper tone and immerse users in a contemplative atmosphere helping them reminisce about their past journeys or plan future ones.

If you prefer video format, here’s the video about our app soundtrack:

As I’ve mentioned in the Concept of Me article, we wanted tTravel to be not only a tool, but also an artistic expression.

The Birth of an App Soundtrack Idea

The idea of an app soundtrack was first planted during my research on competitor apps. While exploring the Louis Vuitton City Guide app, I noticed their use of music and sound effects, which sparked a thought: could music elevate tTravel? At the time, I saw it as a nice-to-have, not a necessity—until I discovered Gris.

Gris is more than a video game; it’s a work of art. Its stunning visuals influenced tTravel’s design and the look of our mascot, Me. But the real magic lies in its soundtrack, composed by Berlinist. The music was transcendent, perfectly complementing the game’s artistic atmosphere. I even used tracks from Gris as the background music for my internal video pitch of the new app concept to our team:

As I developed the concept for tTravel, I often worked with Gris’s soundtrack playing in the background. It wasn’t just inspiration—it was a catalyst. This experience made it clear: tTravel needed its own music to evoke the same emotional depth.

DIY: A Humbling Attempt

At first, I tried composing the music myself. By the time we approached this task, DIY approach has worked pretty well for us: I’ve generated countries thumbnails, home screen wallpapers, stickers and Me sketches using DALL-E, while Sasha Buratynskyi drew the final version of Me in vector graphics. So why not compose an app soundtrack ourselves as well? 🙂

With my limited playing and recording skills, this is what I came up with:

While it was a fun experiment, it became clear that not everything can be done ourselves… 🙂 We wanted the music to be truly to the point, not just music for the sake of music. We wanted it to feel like ocean waves, drawing you into a meditative state. For that, we needed more than amateur skills.

Turning to the Professionals

Determined to find the right sound, I reached out to Berlinist, hoping they could compose a track for us. Unfortunately, I didn’t receive a response.

That’s when Sasha Buratynskyi stepped in. In previous life, Sasha had a strong connection to the music world. He played in a band called In Diana, worked as a sound engineer, and even created video interviews with drummers. One such interview featured Oleksandr Solokha, a talented drummer known for his work with O.Torvald, Lika Bugaeva, and DJ Tapolsky:

Sasha reached out to Oleksandr, who had since started composing his own music. To our delight, Oleksandr agreed to help—and he nailed it on the first try. His track perfectly captured the meditative, relaxing, and emotional vibe we were aiming for. It’s amazing how old connections can lead to such serendipitous outcomes years later!

Conclusions

Now that the app has been live for several months, we can confidently say the app soundtrack has achieved its goal. While notions like “meditation” or “emotional connection” can’t be directly measured, their impact is evident in one key metric: session length. Users are spending significantly more time in the app, proving that the music creates a more engaging experience.

Another important insight is that only 8% of users turn off the music in Settings. And personally, I sometimes just turn on tTravel to listen to it 🙂

Stay tuned for more stories about the creative journey behind tTravel!

By: Artem Shambalov