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Synlyfe - Longing Freedom's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Quality | #11 | 4.167 | 4.167 |
| Overall | #22 | 3.853 | 3.853 |
| Composition | #24 | 4.050 | 4.050 |
| Impression | #31 | 3.883 | 3.883 |
| Correlation to theme | #32 | 3.650 | 3.650 |
| Creativity | #67 | 3.517 | 3.517 |
Ranked from 60 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Description
Wanted to work off of the sombre tones in the picture and lean more into a melancholic longing vibe. Did this by running the piano through some heavy processing, then filtered the final output to keep it a little crispy and muddied by a driven low-pass filter, with some resonators to really bring out and excite some key frequencies.
The piece has some pensive melodies and rather simple supporting instrumentation, leaning heavily into ambience to set the overall tone and drive the track forward. The majority of said instrumentation is rather clean, barring the sine wave from Serum which is being run through similar processing as the keys. Originally planned to do more elaborate string sections but ran out of time so I opted to strip back some underdeveloped sections and supporting lines.
Despite the initial direction, I wanted to inch toward a more hopeful feeling by modulating the key to Ab in the final section. The supporting instrumentation takes a little bit more of a backseat here but the rhythms switch up to lean into a more pensive, possibly-uplifting vibe to round the track out.
As for how this would fit a game - I originally started working with a title theme in mind but then found myself leaning more into a pensive level theme, possibly for some kind of side-scrolling platformer similar to Celeste or even the likes of Hollow Knight. The latter in particular is what made me want to rely more on ambience over outright melodies. I think the piece could be befitting of a kind of Save-Room theme; the journey isn't over, but it's OK to rest a while.
Done in FL Studio in approximately 3 hours. See "Message from the Artist" for more details.
Message from the artist
Misread the ending date for tomorrow so when I woke up and saw 3 hours to submit I realized I'd have to work quick! All in all this piece feels very underdeveloped and I'd prefer to keep some elements, dump the rest and start over but time isn't on my side. Happy enough with the result for a couple of hours work - likely won't be to everyone's tastes but that is OK!
My preferred 3rd party website Audiomack may be having issues displaying the track - I have uploaded the same mp3 to Soundcloud for now as an alternative: https://soundcloud.com/synlyfe/longing-freedom
Theme
How does it fit the theme?
Despite the title and the nature of the picture, I personally found it to have some sombre tones. I wanted to lean into this kind of pensive sadness by intentionally having the keys blown out and reverberated, then applied a resonator on certain frequencies and low-pass-filtered the output while engaging some drive.
As for how this would fit a game - I originally started working with a title theme in mind but then found myself leaning more into a pensive level theme, possibly for some kind of side-scrolling platformer similar to Celeste or even the likes of Hollow Knight. The latter in particular is what made me want to rely more on ambience over outright melodies. I think the piece could be befitting of a kind of Save-Room theme.
Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://audiomack.com/synlyfe/song/longing-freedom
Genre
Soundtrack use permission
Any non-commercial project
For game jams only
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Comments
Wow, this carried me as the listener with super rich and evocative ever-changing flow. The longing vibe that you had in mind is so present, and the modulation is very effective. Subtle changes in brightness can really be felt evolving as it goes. Just really hits the mood, an excellent work!
Appreciate the kind words and you taking the time to check my submission out! Congratulations on your work in the jam; I knew your composition would go far. :)
Well... well... Time for the coolest participant of this jam!
A wonderful track, with wonderful airy percussion, a nice ringing melody, with a wonderful rhythm, wonderful harmonies... Everything is wonderful! (especially small bitcrush effects - I love them)
Overall - good job!
...and I want to express special, separate gratitude for your dedication and the amount of effort you put into commenting on everyone! I think you wrote enough text for this jam to create a novel
P.S. Rawr!
You're too kind! I'm glad you liked it and I appreciate you taking the time to check it out and leave a comment. I wasn't sure if the bit-crushing and filtered gritty piano would err on the side of being too muddy and 'blurry' for people so I'm really happy to hear that most seem to be vibing with the sound.
This jam was a blast as a whole and there were so many quality entries. It was a little too easy to get lost in them all, and everyone deserves to have some form of engagement with their content. Not easy putting yourself out there, but that's part of the thrill! Appreciate the kind words all the same. Best of luck!
The melody at 0:58 is an absolute gem. A wonderful easy-listening track that entirely reminded me of Hollow Knight before even reading your description. Just a great sound, and the mixing really gave it so much dimension. A great great great example of quality over quantity for these kinds of time crunch jams.
I'm really glad to hear that the Hollow Knight vibes resonated with some people! I wasn't sure if I was reaching with that but the visuals of HK definitely influenced some direction in terms of the moodiness. Thank you for taking the time to check it out and leave a comment - I'm happy to hear you like it!
that key change was so smooth i almost missed it. between the subtle delay on the piano, the bitcrushed percs, the marimba and the melody, there's so much going on here. was there any saturation on the piano or was it just resonators? i like how it sounds so warm that it's close to clipping but not quite, gives it a bunch of texture
I'm glad to hear you think that because I felt as though the key-change had the grace of a sledgehammer smashing pottery, lmao. I appreciate the kind words and you taking the time to check it out and comment!
The piano itself has no saturation directly. Booted up the project file again to refresh my memory and my chain was basically: Compressor → very light diffusion reverb (helps add some grit for future processing) → split into two sends, the first of which has 2 separate resonators and some more diffusion reverb / the second has a delay (slightly reduced sample rate and tone rolled back) and then processed through some very light shimmer reverb (to add back onto the highs) → both of those sends then return to the one track which is then ran through a driven low-pass filter and has a soft tremolo to add some movement.
I'm glad you like it! I wasn't sure if it'd be too muddy and bordering-on-clipping for people's tastes but I simply loved how moody and gritty it sounded.
i get that, the key change was pretty sudden but it honestly made me go 'woah' and took me a moment to process. the fx chain is pretty interesting, i dont think ive used sends in the middle of the chain instead of the end before so i might have to look into that. thanks for the reply!
You made ear-candy. This is such a nice track, perfect to sit in the background when either playing a game or working on something. Really enjoyable, well done!
Appreciate the kind words and you taking the time to check it out and leave a comment. Thank you, and best of luck - your submission was fantastic!
Excellent work and fantastic mixing for such a short time frame! Really reminds me of the Minecraft soundtrack with its bit-crushed percussion and lovely ambient synths.
I really like the rhythm on nice ambient that create a unique vibe, Consistently go well together.
Love your style <3
Very nice ambient track. Despite your lack of time, I think it turned pretty good.
Very chill ambient, I love the textures you have here.
The modulation at 1:21 is a very welcome change to give it some variety, I loved it !
As others have said, I would have loved to here this track even more developped, I think you have great ideas. Well done !
For sure - maybe in the future! I wish I had more time with this but ultimately wanted to just participate more than anything, so I'm happy to see that the piece is resonating with some people. Appreciate you taking the time to check it out and leave your thoughts!
Your song was incredibly chill! Sad when the song ended, felt like it fell short. Feel like it could easily been a 3-4 min. song. I really enjoyed this. Keep making beautiful music.
I love this! Really gives me some Mirror's Edge vibes, good job :DDDD
Great vibes, very ambient, mix felt really nice too! Bravo!
I strongly agree with some fellows below, it really fits the theme image. The pensive sadness is well illustrated, and it has a little tenderness as well, perfect for a save-room atmosphere. I like the vibe, well done in such a hurry ! :)
Really appreciate you taking the time to give it a listen and leave a comment! Very happy to hear that you think the piece fits the image - I wasn't sure if I was a little off the mark with my interpretation so it is both a relief and a comfort that people seem to hear that. Thank you again for the kind words! :)
This fit with the theme image so well. It feels like what the color scheme looks like! It's a shame you had such limited time for the project, I would have loved to see how you would expand on this idea. Great job!
I really loved the tone you achieved on your instrumentation. 1:45 onward is something really special, that sound combined with the pacing and layering; it was very Minecraft "esque". That ending really made me feel like I was floating away.
Appreciate you taking the time to check it out and share your thoughts! Ooh the Minecraft comparison is interesting and quite the compliment. I'm glad the piece resonated with you. Thank you again!
The feelings: The song feels cold, but not hostile. I would say that the general emotinal hue is somewhat tragic, like exploring an abandoned place, wishing to break free from its desolation. That, or either deeply philosophical and contemplative thought process. Basically, Celeste + Hollow Knight, so good job there. But, for me, the modulation makes the song feel absolutely chilling and not uplifting, in fact quite the opposite, as if there was a storm approaching. So perhaps something else would work for that mood lift. (Just my opinion. It sounds great - yeah, but I want to give some honest feedback from the listener's position)
The instruments and etc:
Not really much to say, the composition is great, as well as the processing and mixing... so great job, you've got some skill! Very high quality in only 3 hours.
Some of my favourite moments:
0:48 - love that little segment, adds identity and your own little touch.
0:58 - that "ostinato" section is my favourite, very platformer style.
Overall - gud :3
Really appreciate you taking the time to listen and comment! I absolutely love hearing people's takes because it is always fascinating how different they can be. Seeing the modulation be described as chilling is really interesting, and has me curiously listening back over it. I think I can see where you're coming from; the tension doesn't quite resolve ultimately. I'm glad that the little touches around the 50 to 60 second mark resonated with you! I would have loved to have done more, but oh well - another time!
Thank you again for taking the time to listen and share your thoughts. :)
It's a solid and smooth ambient track. It was impressive for only a few hours of work; I loved the modulation. It kept me interested throughout the track. Great job!
I'd say that this is a very meditative and reflective piece, fitting with the text and picture theme
Amazing work! For 3 hours its really well composed / produced!
The ambience you described works really well - the whole track gives a "less is more" vibe while still carrying some intricate layers. Use of space is great as well, and I love how you switch up the key around 1:20. Very nice work!