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Pulchra Carcerem OST - Kaleb Melendez (Cheeze_Maniac)'s itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Creativity | #65 | 3.536 | 3.619 |
| Impression | #92 | 3.350 | 3.429 |
| Composition | #93 | 3.303 | 3.381 |
| Overall | #108 | 3.201 | 3.276 |
| Correlation to theme | #115 | 2.931 | 3.000 |
| Quality | #126 | 2.885 | 2.952 |
Ranked from 21 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Description
Genre is Orchestral/Adventure. The game genre is a 2D platformer RPG. Track "000" represents the kind of music you'd hear playing a level, whereas track "255" is the kind of music you'd hear during an big enemy and/or boss fight. I composed the tracks by first coming up with a simple motif, and then fleshing out all my instrumentation. The rest is trial and error. DAW used was FL Studio 12 Producer Edition v12.3 [build 72] - 64-Bit.
Message from the artist
There needed to be three tracks but only two met the deadline. Despite that, I'm still happy with the tracks. Unlike the last jam, I didn't focus so much on making a 'life-like' OST, and instead focused on creating a "story-telling" OST. There's a .JPG file that gives more context on this.
Theme
How does it fit the theme?
The music was composed with the intention of telling the story/provoking the feeling of coming home to a prison, and that the desire for freedom hasn't been vanquished entirely yet.
Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jpelvv9P7gw
Genre
Soundtrack use permission
Any project
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Comments
Your cover reminds me of my favorite Paddy and the Rats :D
In general - I am a HUGE fan of this kind of musical mood. Like... sea... PIRATES! When your soundtrack starts to have deep bass - I started trying to shake my head to the beat... but in the end I decided to enjoy the music and listen to this menacing orchestra, heh
Good job!
P.S. Rawr!
I have a strong tendency to do chugging basses since I played a ton of mega man growing up. Also that's so cool how the cover art reminded you of Paddy and the Rats. I have never heard of them but now I have a new band to give a listen! :)
Thanks! ^^
Prisoner's Banquet was a great vibe, loved how natural all the instruments felt and all the percussive elements gave it a nice sense of space. I really vibe a lot with The Chain That Hangs, instantly gave me Terraria boss vibes with that orchestral percussion and bitcrushed pluck. Also felt like a great progression from the last song with the repeated instrument usage. Really solid stuff great work!
Thanks! ^^
There is a really cool sense of "natural" writing to Prisoner's Bandquet. Choice of instruments here really set the tone and paint a rather strong image. Others have noted that the claps in particular here are great - the rhythm isn't perfect but that kind of adds to it. Some nice little bits of sound-design ear candy present here throughout, too. The orchestration is solid; nice and varied with some good use of articulations. The main melodies are gorgeous and play to the strengths of several different types of melody writing, notably call and response and pick-up.
The Chain that Hangs comes in and subverts expectations almost immediately. The thumping, rumbling bass here is great, and the orchestration does a fantastic job of bolstering it and keeping it appropriately intense and in motion. The brief quieter sections that allow subtle melodies to take the lead are great - feels almost like you've eluded the boss temporarily, but the battle has yet to be won. I could imagine this track fitting into a variety of games in all honesty, it just has that magic to it.
All in all, really nice job - two varied tracks that play to two very different strengths but are perfectly befitting of what they need to be. Enjoyed listening to this. Great work!
Thank you for your feedback! ^^
What would I give to know what I would have made for the alluded third track, as I definitely wasn't expecting the music composed from this jam to be as fun to write, mainly due to the very short time frame. Someone did mention that there needed to be some dynamic shaping in the tracks, and I feel like that was the biggest thing missing in them, but I am glad that you enjoyed it! :D
i like the first song's sound design and sfx and stuff! super cool and good for world building.
the 2nd song was really intense and had a nice uplifting part, could have done with a slightly better mix tho and i think both songs could use some different patches for instrument? could be personal preference there though.
I loved this sub tho, keep making cool music dude!
Thanks for your feedback! ^^
When you say better mix, do mean like volume levels of certain instruments or the instrumentation itself? Also I agree with having some more variation with the sound-uniqueness amongst the two tracks, as I did have everything loaded in one project, it tempted me to re-use the instruments/voices without editing them in anyway. Maybe next time I will encourage myself to have an individual software project file for each track, that way I can't easily re-use as much as I can with the way I normally do it. X)
I really like the dynamic of the "claps" in the first track, it really gives a smooth rhythm to the exploration/adventurous theme. The boss music is well executed as well, totally believable and the instruments choice is coherent all along. I like how the composition is old-school orchestral but clearly modernized with some synthetic touches without feeling weird at all. The whole thing sounds very coherent. It worked on me, great job :). One of my personal favorite because it's totally my composition taste ahah
So glad to hear that you enjoyed it! :D I too find orchestral composition to be fun and trusty, but perhaps now one of us or both of us can experiment with a new soundscape next jam :o
Greatly appreciate the feedback! ^^
i appreciate your context on how you were able to personally relate to the theme and put your current experiences into your composing; much respect...
ough, these two tracks are distinctly well composed; very well done doing your best within the jam's timeframe to compose a diverse enough collection of atmospheres to convey some amount of story for your videogame concept! ^^
i was a bit caught off-guard with the experimental nature in both the instrumentation and melodies — i'd love for that brief chromatic chiptune synth in "The Chain that Hangs" to have additional feature in the track, perhaps in a dedicated section, to have more presence.
i did try to give that synth a spotlight in the second section/modulated part of 'the chain that hangs', but i couldn't figure it out. i was telling myself to just delete the voice since the strings were also already playing the same gesture along with the synth to begin with. however, a part of me also said to keep it since it is possible for some voices/instruments to exist solely for one section, motion, or even possibly/wildly enough, a single note or two for a part of a track/song.
definitely a missed opportunity though for sure X(
thanks for your feedback, i very much appreciate it! ^^
mm, i get that! it makes for a good statement by including it only for a brief moment! i think it's highly dependent on how the rest of the soundtrack would be, but we don't have the full picture [for now] on how other tracks might be since it's a jam ^^
mm, i get that! it makes for a good statement by including it only for a brief moment! i think it's highly dependent on how the rest of the soundtrack would be, but we don't have the full picture [for now] on how other tracks might be since it's a jam ^^
Really nice work! I think the only thing it needs is a liltte dynamic shaping, to make the highs really pop!
GREAT writing! Loved it!
i definitely agree. i forgot about this jam until about a week before it started. had i remembered, i could have requested the weekend off from my job (i work at this creperie that is open everyday) to dedicate more time to the tracks, and even get that third one (or maybe even more) in there. i did realize this too as i was finishing the 'chain that hangs track' as i was adding the violin volume fade-out automation envelope at the modulation section. once the chord hits, some violins in the higher register can be heard playing a drone and fading out. i was like, damn, i forgot about that i could do this beyond fading out a part, a.k.a. dynamics :(
thanks for your feedback! ^^
Oh wow, "255" sells the tension. Such a great variety of moods and feelings. The choice of instruments is also interesting. One of the good submissions, great job.
And also, does the choice of "0" and "255" as track names relate in any way to that story about computers?
the chain that hangs is my favorite of the two :D
and yes, it is correlated with some train of thought i was told about in binary/gaming, most numbers in a game or programs go up to 255, afterwards it's back to 0. i don't remember the full context or where i learned this, but to make the ost feel like it has a subconscious "beginning" and an "end" i did that little gesture with the naming X)
thanks for your comment! ^^
I really could feel myself playing in the scene. The first track feels like entering a tavern with a feeling of enthusiasm and curiosity. Second one is like entering an ancient castle where drama is about to happen, so drifting and inspiring looking forward to the gaming scenario match 🙌
tavern vibes funnily enough i was trying to avoid at first, but after giving the strum effect in the main 'string' instrument for 'prisoner's banquet', i just gave in. thanks for your feedback! ^^
Prety solid. This would be good for a dnd session
never played/got into dnd but from what i've heard it can be sooo fun. thanks! ^^
I like the story of this soundtrack! The first track I can also see being used for a Tavern Management game, it definitely gives off dining room vibes.
The 2nd track was also very atmospheric, I like the different shifts in mood, some parts more relaxed and others more tense. Probably my favorite part was at 2:50, it sounds very demonic and grotesque, I can see the boss showing its true form here :D
my submission for ost jam 7 and this one I do setup the tracks like an OST upload would, meaning the track plays twice, and on the third time/second loop, it fades. if im able to do another jam i think i will just keep it to one and done. thanks for your comment! ^^
the clapping/snapping noises were super unique! Really all the instruments and percussive noises were!
It made the tracks more interesting to listen to on top of them having so really neat progressions!
The second track was a really big tonal shift which was great for variety!
thanks ^^