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The Course Of The Empire's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Composing Quality | #1 | 4.688 | 4.688 |
| Listenability | #1 | 4.562 | 4.562 |
| Correlation to Theme | #1 | 4.562 | 4.562 |
| Overall | #1 | 4.388 | 4.388 |
| Execution | #2 | 4.500 | 4.500 |
| Overall Uniqeuness | #22 | 3.625 | 3.625 |
Ranked from 16 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Link to Streaming Service, such as Soundcloud, Bandcamp, Youtube, etc
https://vimeo.com/1063967079/0dc4f1f081?ts=0&share=copy
Description
Just listen and thank you.
I started with Arcadian because I had an initial melody idea that I thought fit the picture. I stopped halfway then made Consummation and Destruction. These two took the longest to make.
I wanted Consummation to sound like the empire is at it's peak but there's anxiety of it collapsing, so a little bit of fanfare with some friction, and it's not just some anthem thing, I tried to tell the story of it. I tried to get across what the empire has created, destroyed, and conquered.
Destruction was simple, I just wanted to copy Trailerhead and Two Steps From Hell, and I hope it was a good execution. I might have gone too intense with it. I didn't just want it to sound like a battle scene but more like a prophetic apocalypse.
The last songs I made were Desolation then Commencement, both in over two days crunch. Desolation I didn't want to sound necessarily sad, but more happy that it happened. You can remember how great the empire was. Commencement was kind of an afterthought I think. I just really wanted to establish the main motifs very well, and have it sound tribal I guess.
I hope it was good because I'm absolutely sick of listening to it.
Pick your mode!
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Comments
A well deserved win! Congrats!
This is AMAZING !
It sounds so professional, composition is so solid, orchestration is perfect. I loved the dynamics changes, the music really feels alive.
Arcadian gave me LOTR vibes, Consummation made me think of John Williams music, such a triumphant theme !
One of my favorite submission from this Jam, thank you for that wonderfull musical journey !
Woah. This is unreal. I also was going to ask which libraries you use but see you’ve already answered below so thank you for being so open!
Compositionally - definitely here the Shore influence - some really stunning work.
Brilliantly well paced, amazingly executed and a joy to listen to. Bravo 👏🏼 a real pro.
Incredible submission! I'd be curious to know what sound banks you used for the orchestra, in any case it's incredibly well programmed
Congratulations!
Thank you, I used the cinematic studio libraries and cineperc
Very well orchestrated, it shows you experimented alot with orchestration you know how its done, awesome arrangement on everything and it even sounds great in the mix. Fantastic work, well done. You will most likely win this one, at least its gonna be #1 for Composition.
OMG, this is top level
Love all the detail! Great variety in sections here. I think Consummation was my favorite, I feel like it had the most nuanced emotion.
Alright, buckling up....
Reminds me of Wagner in the beginning a bit with the slow swell - Niebelungen. Thankfully you don't drone that long.
Lovely opening so far, very epic. Nice chord transitions. Some of it also reminds me of Howard Shore's LotR soundtrack.
Have you thought of singing yourself for some of it, to lend some organic sound to the midi voices? I find singing has been one of the greatest boons for music, and getting better at it is like bringing the soul of it out in real time so that I don't have to iterate so many times over scoring programs.
You're already really good at composing; so that's why I also bring it up. It added this next level for me and I think it would help you bring your music a little bit more organic nature. Especially if you also did something like learn an expressive instrument like violin or cello - not that those are necessarily cheap. I make instruments, so I used those in my track and those are a major boon.
I like the harp composition - same grip with midi harps - they always have way too strong of an attack. I can never find some that have that barely noticeable attack that still is clean and loud, IMHO one of the most important things a harp should be able to do.
Consummation definitely getting a little Star Wars at the beginning. :P
Really crazy, epic, amazing work. Thank you, it was a treat!
Image of man pushing a rock up a hill fits. as the man himself seems to be a sculpture from ancient Greece or Rome (More likey Roman).
Much of this music reminded me of soundtracks from 90s movies and before with orchestral elements. Along with some Opera elements (Rite of Spring?). Definitely some hard mode level stuff. Curious how long it took you to make this?
These two section caught my ear the most:
Consummation
This reminded of George Lucas Star Wars Sound Track from 80s/70s and Phantom Menace
Destruction
certain elements/lines gave me flashes Inception, Venture Bros, God of War, and etc.
In the Desolation section, with the strings. i can hardly hear a harp but it seems to be in the same frequency ranges as the strings.
nice to see someone using orchestral percussive instrument a more traditional/familiar manner. I get the impression you are classically trained in composition. Well done already, and thank you for sharing, Your effort is appreciated.
This is by far my second favorite submission! So much energy, smooth cohesion and just epic soundtrack! Such power and awesome dynamics. Everything just fit and sounded perfect. It was so smooth too! You put my own submission to shame. I wish to get to your level one of these days. But until then, I will have to enjoy and let your music inspire me.
Awesome, this really makes remember Two Steps From Hell just like the description goes, my favorite one is at the beginning, the dynamics everything is just perfect to my ear, thanks for sharing this awesome composition!
Was going to call it a day, but Eetu suggested I check it out, and damn glad I did.
This is a amazing job, judging by only the painting itself I would say your interpretation of the first one is the best one so far.
I loved the destruction theme! Surprisingly, Arcadian was my less liked one, still amazing tho.
Your mix is just on another level, I only gave 5 Stars cuz I can't give you 6, but one thing tho... where the living hell did you get those choirs, if those are VST or Libs and not recorded please do share (provided is free of cost )
Congrats, one of my favorites so far! Take care :)
Thanks for the review! The choir VST is Chorus from Audio Imperia
Good stuff!
Pretty jealous of how smooth and cohesive you managed to everything to sound, the low end especially feels great.
Awesome work!
Each piece felt unique but still cohesive, which I think really helped distinguish each chapter of this story. My favorites were probably the Savage state and Destruction, because I felt they were especially fitting and executed for their respective sections. To me, Savage state feels like the beginning of an adventure, and Destruction feels like the whole world is falling apart around the listener.
I also liked how how the motif was used in the Pastoral state as well. This was a nice change from the previous piece, and I found it helpful in pushing the momentum in the story forward towards the Consummation stage.
The choice of french horns to bring back the motif in the Desolation stage was an excellent choice. I'm not sure I quite heard the happy it happened vibes from it - for me this was more of a remembrance, like this is the end of our story. Also, I would have liked to have heard that final chord be a little stronger and more drawn out to really assert the finality of it, but that's more a personal preference.
Thanks a ton for sharing this, keep up the good work :)