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Transition's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Storytelling | #78 | 3.724 | 3.724 |
| Composition | #151 | 3.379 | 3.379 |
| Overall | #164 | 3.276 | 3.276 |
| Quality | #181 | 3.172 | 3.172 |
| Impression | #188 | 3.069 | 3.069 |
| Creativity | #207 | 3.034 | 3.034 |
Ranked from 29 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Description
Transition is the soundtrack for the fictional video game One Summer Night. The main character, Summer, has just learned of life-altering news. Overwhelmed with emotion, they take a walk to clear their head.
1. "When Things Change" supports the opening cutscene: the moments directly after Summer receives the news. They hurry through the apartment, grabbing their keys and putting on their jacket as they brisk down the stairs and out into the cool, fresh air.
2. "Clear Your Head" is for the first level of the game, in which Summer takes a walk through the quiet neighborhood to clear their head. The sun is just setting. The cool evening air dampens Summer’s high emotions and allows her to start untangling her thoughts.
3. "Twilight Spiral" is for the second level of the game. Twilight has set in. Summer continues her walk, now in a different part of town. With the night comes racing thoughts and high emotions. The streetlights help to keep Summer’s emotions in balance.
4. "Comforted By Stars" is for the final level. Summer reaches the local beach, where the stars twinkle on the serene water. No one else is around. They catch their breath and walk out onto the pier, taking the moment to reflect on the upcoming changes to their life.
5. "When We Change" supports the final cutscene. Having taken some time to process their emotions, Summer leaves the pier and walks back towards their apartment building. The emotional energy continues to fluctuate, but has become far more manageable and stable after taking time to feel the emotions and reflect on the situation. Summer accepts both that emotional energy will fluctuate in times of change and that it’s okay to feel what needs to be felt, as long as those emotions can be managed in a healthy way.
Genre: Rock, post-rock, ambient, electronic.
Software used: Finale (2014), Reaper, Audacity. VSTs include Kontakt 5 and Musio. Reaper stock plugins and Phase Plant plugins were used for mixing and effects.
Message from the artist
Jacob Motl is a multidiscipline artist who enjoys composing, illustration, painting, writing, cooking, game design, and game development.
Theme
How does it fit the theme?
A major theme of the artwork is transition: the time of day is between day and night, and the character stands between land and water. I capitalized on those elements, applying them to answer: "What is the character doing?" They look like they are contemplating something important or deep in thought and in need of the solitude represented in the artwork. I named the character Summer; the story I created doesn't necessarily take place in summer the season, but rather within Summer the character. The music portrays the story behind the contemplation I see.
Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://jacobmotl.bandcamp.com/album/transition
Number of tracks5
Genre
Soundtrack use permission
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Comments
The soundtrack sounds quite unique and comforting to listen to, but there are a few things I'd want to point out. Despite being a little monotone, it indeed would fit as background music for some calm game, but here's the second question and it's that while it's a really cool concept that you left those life-altering news she received untold, there's barely any info on what type of the game it would be, what would she even be doing gameplay-wise in the levels and all that. In other things it's pretty much flawless, except you could try to play with velocities more next time. And did you divide the frequencies? The quality is ok and it might be just me but it felt like the frequencies interfere with each other
The mix could definitely be more dialed-in and balanced. For the gameplay, I imagined it to be in the realm of Night In The Woods and Life Is Strange. Looking back, I completely glossed over this in the description. This is all useful feedback for me going forward - thank you!
Interesting story concept, and I really like that you never actually stated what it was the main character was going through. The music does a pretty good job of highlighting the process of, well... processing. I think there's some good feedback below about the drums, the only thing I would add is that a bit of variation in melody, chord progression or even just an octave switch on the guitar on some tracks might help to keep things interesting. Regardless, I enjoyed it overall. Nice job!
I appreciate your thoughts. Thank you for listening!
really cool interpretation of one summer night Jacob! I think you really achieved what you wanted to with the psychological introspection especially through the strong compositions of each piece. I think my fav piece was comforted by stars, that felt really meditative and on your theme.
Thank you so much for listening! Glad you enjoyed it!
Fantastic storytelling, I like the overall mood you went for the album, its all sounds like a light room reverb all the time that makes us float a little bit its a nice feeling. Well done !
I'm glad you enjoyed it!
I like the story idea, and you did well in capturing the feelings of transition you wanted to convey. The soundtrack itself was a pleasant listen! There were some cool melodic ideas you explored here. I would look into humanizing the drums more with some velocity variation to make them sound more alive. Nice work!
Thank you for the feedback!
Really great OST that feels like it gives me the proper scope of a full game! My only criticism is that the drums were a little loud and maybe a little more energy variety could be nice, but that's very minor and down to tastes, in my opinion. Great job!!
Thank you! I'm always glad to know that the story is being conveyed through the music.
I love the atmosphere of the music, it's calming and thought-provoking, with a warm tone that's tinged with a bit of sadness. Really does feel like a summer night in a way. I at times thought the percussion might be a bit too assertive in the mix, it sometimes added a bit more energy to the music than I would have liked when I just wanted to chill to it. My favorite track is definitely Comforted by Stars, I could see the game scene you were describing from just the music. Great job, and thanks for sharing!
Thank you for your feedback! These are all points I'll keep in mind for my next projects.
calming, uplifting, and meditative. glad to hear that this matches the theming as i read it after listening. thanks for sharing :)
I'm glad the intent came through, even without knowing the story before listening. Glad you enjoyed it!
Just went through all the comments, nothing to add here really, it's just a really solid submission all-together and your use of the theme works super well. Congrats!
I appreciate it!
Great soundtrack, submission, and storytelling through the music. This was great to listen to while I was working, as if I was playing the game :)
Thank you for listening!
wow i love this holy cow i listened to this earlier while doing the dishes and i love how moody, cinematic, and atmospheric it was. awesome
You listened while doing the dishes?! That's high praise, thank you. <3
Very nice soundtrack! I think I share the same sentiments as the feedback listed below, but overall this was a very enjoyable listen. Comforted by Stars was such a chill and relaxing track, perfect for a stargazing type level. Great submission and I hope to hear more of your work in the future!
Comforted By Stars was fun to write and definitely a reminder that less is more. Thanks for listening and I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Nice submission! Loved tha bass guitar usage. I felt like some tracks would be better without drums
I will keep this in mind going forward. Thank you for listening!
This was quite a nice soundtrack to listen to - the composition quality felt consistent through each track, and the way you articulated the story behind them was wonderful.
I think quite a few other people have already mentioned the quality of the drums in your submission, which was my only real critique here, so I won't say anything else about that. Other than that I enjoyed what you have!
Thanks for sharing this, and keep up the good work :)
Thank you for listening! I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Pretty good!
The songs all sounded good both in mix and composition. The drums could sometimes sound a little off but I don't really know why or how to describe it.
It also just felt like it was missing something to really hook the listener. Twilight Spiral got the closest in my opinion but it felt like you were playing it too safe. The melody for example in twilight spiral feels flat because it doesn't really move anywhere from where it started. Having a part where it hits a cool high or low note I think would have made it more memorable and hooked the listener more.
Thank you for your feedback! I did a lot of new-to-me things with this OST, which I want to learn from and improve upon going forward.
Nice submission, very moody and atmospheric I liked it a lot !
The whole package felt very cohesive, the instrumentation and arrangements give it a nice mellow and melancolic atmosphere, quite fitting for the theme well done !
Thank you for listening! I'm glad you enjoyed it!
I enjoyed the various styles and the moods this soundtrack carries. However, the drums and some other instruments sound a bit too bland sometimes, like the drumkit in the track "when we change", you could have changed the velocities to make the beat more dynamic.
I definitely plan on diving deeper into making the drums sound more... like drums for upcoming projects. Thank you for listening and for the feedback!
i really liked how cohesive this project feels! comforted by stars is a really beautiful composition.
Thank you for listening!
Really nice instrumentation and melody crafting. Drums feel a bit robotic, could use some velocity change ups, apart from that, you seem to know what you're doing, which can be felt from your soundtrack
All of the songs are composed really well, but start getting a bit repetitive near the end,
The story is well told through the soundtrack, even if it's a bit too vague (that's honestly just my opinion though lol, take that with a grain of salt). I like the escalation in intensity, before slowly calming things down near the end.
Clean Your Head is really good, defo my favourite! I also really like the electric guitar Twilight Spiral, really captures the high emotions
I appreciate the feedback! Thank you for listening.