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Discovery - Synlyfe's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Overall | #55 | 3.998 | 3.998 |
| Composition | #57 | 4.062 | 4.062 |
| Impression | #60 | 3.991 | 3.991 |
| Correlation to theme | #69 | 4.018 | 4.018 |
| Creativity | #85 | 3.929 | 3.929 |
| Quality | #96 | 3.991 | 3.991 |
Ranked from 113 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Judge feedback
Judge feedback is anonymous.
- I'm sorry to hear about your ear injury! Here's hoping that you're recovering well and are going to keep making music. This submission has a lot of promise and some quite interesting textural blending that I think is very effective. The use of sharkuhachi flute I think works in its brief appearance, adding a new, breathy layer to the soundscape that fills it out. In that moment, I really found that everything you had been building to kind of snapped together, which was lovely to hear. I'm sure due to the nature of your shortened preparation time, the track as a whole feels a bit disconnected from itself in that it doesn't seem to quite build toward a target, even as the textures that I do hear are very nicely put together. Structurally I think it just needs more of a sense of direction, where the listener can know that they are being taken on a journey-- told a story-- that's clear and concise. Even though in games we know our music is going to get sliced up and recombined in implementation, having a clear journey from the get go makes a huge difference. Given that you had such a short time to prepare I think the result here is admirable!
Description
Genre: Ambient, electronic.
Purpose: Theme; could function as a title, credits or a lore-driven level theme.
More info available below in "How does it fit the theme"
DAW: FL Studio 21 + Native Instruments, Heavyocity, Serum and stock plugins.
I wanted the track to be driven primarily by piano and strings and then use woodwinds and synths to buff out the composition. Composed in a minor key, but not inherently spending too much time on the defining minor notes - tried to strike a balance between sombre tones and a subtle but progressive hope.
Link to DAW overview on YT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyBn1Zm4Nik
Can be streamed via Audiomack, link below.
Message from the artist
Was super pumped to join this jam but unfortunately sustained an ear injury the night before it kicked off. After a couple of much needed quiet days, I finally got a chance to start on my submission approximately a day before the jam was ending.
There's very little post-work done, and there are a couple of instances of clipping that I missed upon exporting. All in all I'm decently happy with the composition but I would have liked to have taken it much further and developed the concepts within a lot more. I feel as though the chord progressions in particular are lacking, as is a general sense of substance.
Theme
How does it fit the theme?
I wanted to focus more on the spirit the child is speaking to and what it represents, so I opted for a minor key and left some of the child-like visuals, emotion and expression to the instrumentation.
I used short, delay and reverb soaked synths in Massive to represent the bubbles and wrote primarily for piano, strings and woodwind to set the tone; slightly sombre but with hope on the horizon. Marred happiness and fond memories are two keywords I kept in mind while scoring.
Ultimately the child is speaking to a spirit of a (presumed) loved one, manifesting amidst the bubbles and chalk drawings of fish. I let some reverb tails ring out a little longer and soak the ambience to really sell the water and sea creature vibe as best I could. Playful synths to represent bubbles and the occasional use of a shakuhachi flute to pay due respect to the culture.
Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://audiomack.com/synlyfe/song/discovery
Number of tracks1
Genre
Soundtrack use permission
Any non-commercial project
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Comments
I really like this - I'm sorry to hear of your ear injury, I hope that's gotten better. I can absolutely see what direction you were aiming for with this, and the atmosphere and emotion is all there. I always think if the intention and feel is there, I can totally forgive production that falls short in some places, like I can forgive a game for having less-than-amazing graphics if the gameplay is too much fun for me to care. I loved listening to this, it's gorgeous so well done!
Appreciate you taking the time to leave a comment! Thankfully my ear is doing OK - I needed those quiet days. :)
Very chill! Like others are saying, really good blend of electronic and more orchestral/ambient sounds, worked very together! Instrument choice and overall orchestration was incredible. I loved it, awesome job!
Impressive work, I like how orchestral piece get groovy beats and then returns to esoteric sound of echo and droplets... nice job.
Loved the begininning and the chilled drum bass. Good job ! I'm excited to listen to your future work. Thanks for sharing =)
The way the orchestral and electronic elements are blended neatly and smoothly is impressive. Glimpses of shakuhachi are so skillfully incorporated, love that very much. Totally love the piano rhythms, the strings and woodwinds, well, actually all the elements as well as the ideas :) The track is full of subtle details, it's floating like water and is constantly evolving, and 3:22 minutes fly too fast and I cannot help but push the 'replay' button :) The composition and mix quality is fantastic, I'm impressed you made it within one day.
While listening I felt exactly what you intended to communicate - slightly sombre feelings but with hope on the horizon. Splendid work! Looking forward to listening to your next compositions :)
Really appreciate you taking the time to listen and leave such a detailed comment. I'm glad to hear it resonated with you, and that my attempt at making it feel ambiguously sombre and hopeful managed to come across! Thanks again. :)
oh myy goodness, when the drums came in i had the biggest smile!
Amazing composer ^_^
Interesting track, very calming and minimalist, but with a lot of attention to details. I like the use of modulations to add more variety. I can imagine it playing in the credits, at the end of an adventure.
Interesting music! A lot of beat and orchestration. My type of music.
such a beautiful and soulful melody, and the drums and bass are very nice, thank you very much liked the track relax after work
I love your submission. It sounds like It comes from a real video Game and Generales a really Deep ambient. One of my favourite tracks, congrats!
Really beautiful work!! I loved the rhythm of the keys. How they give an impression of suspension and floating! And the surprise of it transforming into an electronic is very gratifying. Congratulations on the work!!
Thank you, appreciate words and you taking the time to check it out. :)
This is fantastic, I can't believe this took you a single day! Really great ambient piece, the instrument choices fit the image theme really well - I love the inclusion of the shakuhachi to represent the Japanese aspects of the picture, and the piano with the heavy reverb at the end really sells the underwater setting!
Excellent job!
Appreciate you checking it out and leaving a comment! Sometimes reverb is a little too addictive - given the chance I think I'd drown just about anything in it. 😅
Thanks again, best of luck!
I really loved how the soundtrack really described the theme and the picture. and i loved all of the detail sounds in the soundtrack!
I loved loved LOVED your detailed explanations for your instrument and mixing choices in relation to the theme! That kind of stuff is my favorite part of submissions because it invests me in the music so much further when I can see a reason behind the actions!
Great and diverse work!
I believe that we had similar situations and similar works, but you were able to work through everything better.
I wish you a speedy recovery!
Thank you very much, appreciate the kind words! Ear's all better now, just gotta knuckle down and practice for the next jam. :)
dang that's good!
I absolutely love this, everything flows beautifully and so many cool little additional splashes of colour pop up throughout. As others have already mentioned, the chip tune appearance was unexpected and very well done!
The looping effect and unique rhythm create a strong atmospheric feel for the song , it's amazing!
Aww man the song was so really well composed. Then the electric drums hit and make the atmosphere pop tenfold. Amazing job for the time you had left, am sad you didn't get a chance to fulfil a full soundtrack but I'll definitely keep an eye out for more of your works!
The sound design comes together really well here. Even though in your description you said the chord progression itself needed a little more substance, the orchestration is so varied and dynamic that it more than made up for it. It was engaging all the way through. I like the little flourishes of different instruments and sounds, and the electronic kick drum was mixed in well. I think you should add a little more reverb to that snare rim click to make it fit in with the rest of the lush atmosphere you built, but that's really the only criticism I have, and its a nitpick at best. This was really well done!
And kudos to you for getting this done in the time frame you had! I hope you recover from your injury!
Appreciate the kind words and the thoughtful comment! I was a little afraid of adding more reverb because I almost feel there's too much as is, but I simply can't help myself in some cases. 😅 Reverb and delay are too addictive sometimes.
Ear's all better now, plenty of time to prep for the next jam! Thanks again. :)