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A jam submission

The OccultView project page

Composed for OST Composing Jam 8.
Submitted by 5thPerfectNumber — 50 minutes, 24 seconds before the deadline
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The Occult's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Creativity#923.6723.882
Overall#1703.1833.365
Storytelling#1703.0603.235
Impression#1793.1163.294
Composition#1993.0603.235
Quality#2063.0053.176

Ranked from 17 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

Description
The game I imagined this soundtrack to be for is called "The Occult", which revolves around the main character's indoctrination into a cult.
Act 1 revolves around the main character's introduction into the cult, mainly focusing on their internal dialogue and self-conflict on whether or not they should've joined the cult at all. It also involves a mysterious prophecy that strangely closely matches with the main character's description.
Act 2 involves the main character discovering more and more details about the cult itself, and in the process getting more and more deeply involved within the inner workings of the cult.
Act 3 contains the fulfilling of the many parts of the prophecy, finally resulting in the main character's acquiring of otherworldly power.

All the tracks are composed with REAPER and Surge XT, and are in 22-edo.
The first track, Repose, is a menu theme that adapts throughout the playthrough with 4 levels of intensity depending on how far you progressed throughout the game.
The second track, The Beginning, is played during the first act, with 3 levels of intensity.
The third track, Interchange, is played during the second act, also with 4 levels of intensity.
The fourth track, Apotheosis, is played during the final act, also also with 4 levels of intensity.
The final track, One Summer Night, is played during the ending and credits.

Message from the artist
I think I got a little side-tracked from the text theme...
(Also ran out of time to write the description, my bad)

Theme

One Summer Night

How does it fit the theme?
The events of the story all began One Summer Night.

Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLamImOlekRb5vuLd3-fxqvKtHGVOsVt6R

Number of tracks
5

Genre

Electronic
Experimental

Soundtrack use permission

Yes (CC BY)

Any project

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Comments

Submitted (1 edit) (+1)

Track 1 : I really like all the cool harmony tricks you did to make the intensity work, and when the drums enter everything really feels complete. Is this by chance in 24tet?

Track 2 : Bringing in a motif from the first track? Genius! This feels both mystical and a little intense - there's a lot of underlying pressure.

Track 3 : I'm loving the way you develop motifs - melodically and harmonically. By this point, everything feels so off it's uncanny. Is this also 24tet?

Track 4 : Dies Irae????? Every musician's dream haha. This starts like a choral for the end of the world (which makes sense for it being the Dies Irae), but devlops into a depiction of dread and a downward spiral. Love it!

Track 5 : And again with the motifs! Truly genius. The way layers keep coming in and build upon each-other sucks you in and makes sure you really wallow in the atmosphere! And then it breaks down and builds up to show off some crazy harmonies - it's so weird, but makes so much sense considering the rest of the OST! Pretty long track, but worth every second in my opinion. I would love to hear this track in a more "orchestral" setting!

Overall, you managed to create something almost no one does in such a short time - an incredibly cohesive piece of music, the develops into something deeply emotional and meaningful. And just like I said for the fifth track - I would love to hear these pieces orchestrated, or at least played with live instruments (maybe like a midwest-emo setting?).

Amazing job!

Developer(+1)

Thanks for the kind words! The entire soundtrack is in 22-edo.

Submitted(+1)

ohhhh that's so cool!

Submitted(+1)

Nice Work! You nailed that unsettling/something is off vibe. I really like the drums in both Apotheosis and The Beginning, they were my favorite two tracks    

Developer

Thanks! 

Submitted(+1)

The out of tune notes work nicely for an occult theming. I also think your use of silence to make the listener even more uncomfy is really good.

I would have liked to hear more diversity in terms of the melody. Your leitmotif is abundant and clear, but it repeats so often to the point that the tracks lose some individuality.

Developer

Yeah, I kinda ran out of ideas...

Submitted(+1)

Super cool use of microtone with the pads that is a nice touch I like the "odd" rythmic time signature on second track (The Beginning) its also my favourite, I really like the percs and the overall vibe, very unique album, good job !

Developer

Thanks!

Submitted (1 edit) (+1)

I really dig this. I like how you based the identity of this OST around detuned synths — they instantly communicate that’s something’s off (literally). 

I particularly enjoyed Apotheosis – just a trip-hop banger where your approach really shines the most (distorted tails are a nice touch).

Great work!

Developer

Thank you!

Submitted(+1)

Yay! Someone else played microtones. You also used them well. Using them is one thing - understanding them is another. I even talk about microtones in my submission literally.

Honestly, this cooks. You did really well, and it sounds like I'm listening to music from an old school game sound track that gets remembered for its musical creativity.

Developer

Wow, I am honoured for my music to be called worth remembering!

Submitted(+1)

Loved the use of pauses in Repose and how its motif was used again in One Summer Night. Great soundtrack :)

Developer

Thanks!

Submitted(+1)

Yes, the microtones are delightfully unsettling in places. I like the dies irae type motif in Apotheosis. I like the head-bobbing beats and  abrupt breaks. I can imagine some otherworldly elements and perhaps the character going through some sort of transformation. 

Developer

Thank you!

Submitted(+1)

The way you use microtonality, dissonance, and the time signature to support the narrative is super creative, in addition to sounding cool! I also like how each track has it's own stages and progression on top of the overall ost progression. I think Apotheosis is my favorite.

side note- on the youtube playlist the tracks are in the opposite order than you listed here, not sure if that's intentional but I listened half way through the wrong way before realizing

Developer

My bad, thanks for letting me know!

Submitted(+1)

Quite a unique theme from what I've heard until now, love the microtonality and somes really spicy harmonies ! 

Developer

Thanks!

Submitted(+1)

The unique tunings in the harmonies are amazing. I love the pauses in Repose and how it helps the listener really digest each element of the track. I think that you do a good job expanding on the main motif and riffing off it with countermelodies (especially in One Summer Night) but since most of the tracks are very ambient/looping it would be nice to add more key motifs interacting with each-other. The drop in Apotheosis is my favourite part - just as the detuning starts to feel too disorienting everything comes together in this scary but composed way. Nice job!

Developer

Thanks! I ran out of ideas whilst composing a good amount of these, so I kinda just loop them a lot...

Submitted(+1)

Such an underrated soundtrack, cant believe no one else has rated this yet.  I love the use of microtonality and alternate time signatures, as well as the reuse of leitmotifs/chord progressions. The whole thing is very consistent and captivating. Good job!

Favorite track: The Beginning

Developer

Thanks! My favourite is The Beginning.