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Ferrous Blossom's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Creativity | #37 | 4.025 | 4.025 |
| Storytelling | #50 | 3.850 | 3.850 |
| Overall | #60 | 3.870 | 3.870 |
| Composition | #61 | 3.900 | 3.900 |
| Impression | #62 | 3.825 | 3.825 |
| Quality | #88 | 3.750 | 3.750 |
Ranked from 40 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Description
Story:
Samun is a dancer from Sungiven City. Growing up he liked to dance by the beach (while it was still a small town.) The town was home to a lot of dancers, with enhanced physical abilities seemingly gifted from the sun itself.
A few years later, an eccentric, wealthy and intelligent man named Dyson arrived to the town, and the town developed at an unnatural pace, becoming a big city before Samun even knew it.
Finally, one day Samun wakes up to darkness and realizes there is some sort of machine blotting out the sun (essentially a Dyson sphere he uses to monopolize the suns energy. He's aptly named...) The reasonable conclusion is that Dyson was responsible, and not being a fan of the summer becoming one long night, Samun decides to have a meeting with the man, by sneaking through his mansion. Being the strange man he is, Dyson owns a dance mech he is very proud of, and agrees to free the sun from the Ferrous Blossom if Samun can best him in a dance.
Notes:
My idea for this OST was for a rhythm game. In the overworld, you traverse rhythmically like in Crypt of the Necrodancer, while in battles, its more along the lines of Everhood. I focused on groove this time around, trying to make enjoyable rhythms to fit a summer theme.
Ferrous Blossom refers to the machine (iron) utilizing energy from the sun, akin to photosynthesis (flower).
Genre-wise, my main influences were 80s synth and prog rock. Sound wise, influences include Motoi Sakuraba and Yoko Shimomura, and in general I try to make a somewhat more modern take on SNES music and game music from that time period up to the mid 2000s in general (this is why I feature the Roland SC-88 synthesizer so heavily).
The analog lead and Hammond organ I used throughout is meant to imply the suddenly technogically developing city (as they were some of the first synthesizers to be made). I had the idea to use that lead sound the way a motif would be used.
The image was created by combining and color editing two stock images from Unsplash.
A few synthesizers I used:
Roland SC-88
Roland Zenology
Vox Continental
A Hammond B-3 patch I made
Omnisphere 2
And Mellotron keyboard
If you want details on any instrument used, just let me know!
Tracks:
Act 1: Day
Solar City:
This plays in Sungiven City during a hot summer day. Area theme. 80s synth inspired especially with the bass combination I made.
Baile en la Playa:
Theme for a dance on a summery beach. Standard battle theme. Latin inspired but with synth use and some small time signature play.
Act 2: Eclipse
Sunstolen Espionage:
This plays after the sun has been blocked out, while Samun seeks answers sneaking through Dyson's mansion. Second area theme. Jazz inspired with lots of chromaticism and the use of the altered chord bV7#9 to enforce a darker sound due to the eclipse.
The subtle atmosphere was made with Mellotron keyboard and an atmospheric Hammond B-3 patch I made doubling the melody. Later on is another Hammond B-3 patch I made carrying the lead.
Whimsical Ferrous Blossom:
This plays during the final dance against Dyson, reflecting Dyson's eccentric nature. Final boss theme. Combines motifs and ideas from the previous three tracks, particularly from Sunstolen Espionage, developing the chord progression further while bringing back some motifs. Tried to convey the idea of whimsy+frenzy for a frenzied dance with an odd opponent, bringing back the chromaticism from the previous track but with much more energy.
Message from the artist
I had a lot of fun working on this despite being very busy during the jam. I hope you enjoy it and I can't wait to hear all your submissions!
Theme
How does it fit the theme?
My core idea for this OST was of a man-made eclipse turning the summer into one long night.
Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLM6jJ1Ve8aIfSTroylIV7FQfqCt07DTGi
Number of tracks4
Genre
Soundtrack use permission
For game jams only
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Comments
YOU NEVER DISAPPOINT DO YOU??
This is so good, what an amazing work you've done again it's dripping so hard with personality it's actually unreal!!
Have a perfect score, no no don't worry, it's on me! xD
I was looking forward to you hearing it, thank you so much!!
Ooh yes I'm definitely hearing the Crypt of the Necrodancer influences, the melodies and instrumentation have just the right mix of real and electronic stuff with SO much funk. Interestingly, especially for Whimsical Ferrous Blossom it felt a bit like something from Everhood? (the first one is such a banger) I think Solar City and Baile en la Playa are my personal favorites, especially with that one passing chord at 0:27 of Baile en la Playa. I found myself humming and bouncing along with both of them, great work!
Thank you so much! Yeah for the gameplay I pictured Everhood style battles so I'm happy that came across! I'll give your OST a listen tomorrow too!
Excellent work! I love the variety across the tracks, and I think it’s awesome that you approached it with a rhythm-game mindset, that’s not something we see a lot in the jam and I really enjoyed it. My favorite was definitely Baile en la Playa, it was so entertaining to hear that lead synth come in. Super fun, and the overall mix throughout all the music was great. Congrats, excellent job!
Thank you!
Super groovy, matches your game description very well! The mix is great, I really love the percussion throughout and how they sync up with the bass!
My favorite track is Solar City
Thanks!!
Very nice soundtrack, enjoyed a lot its catchyness and sound variety !
The instruments chosen for the tracks is very nice (loved the Yes-like B3 organ sound on Whimsical Ferrous Blossom for example), and the tracks, although quite short, have a lot of great sounding variations throughout.
It reminded me of the musical style of tracks from Mother 3 which works nicely for the rhythm game you had in mind (I can imagine doing the rhythm attack combos from Mother 3 while listening to your tracks).
I liked all of the tracks and all of them are top notch, although I feel that Whimsical Ferrous Blossom is the standout track for me (has a great rhythm and intensity), so great job for your album !
Thanks for the detailed feedback!
This is a really cool OST. Though the songs might feel a bit short, they definitely got their point thru and the presentation was excelent. The different styles and influences blended well and created a cool and catchy atmosphere. Really liked the first two songs with the same Leitmotive put into different genres. Also the dirve of the song was very nice, which fitted very well with your rythm game idea.
Thank you!
I love how catchy your ost is; I was bopping my head along with the beat. Definitely nailed the mark for an 80s inspired synth soundtrack. Awesome work!
Thank you!
This bangs so hard, every song is really fun! Love the intentional use of portamento at the right times to make these tracks really glide.
Oh and I'm in love with the instrument choices.
One of my favs in this jam.
Thank you so much! I had so much fun working on those lead melodies
This is literally so much fun im really glad you had the chance to make these! even on a budget this is just plain an extremely fun idea and your execution of multiple styles was awesome. I certainly dont know many people who could pull off so many good ideas at once like this.
Great job and congrats!!
Thanks! I'm glad the different genres came off well!
Dyson Sphere, Dancing Mech, Sun Energy Monopolization 🗣🔥🔥🗣🔥🔥🔥🗣️🔥😭🙏
Dyson might be poor morally, but it sure sounds like he's rich with dancing skills, making him a worthy final boss.
Dyson so rich he can spend all time and money on pointless mechs
Baile en la Playa is definitely a banger and my favorite song in the bunch but I’m always a sucker for jazz inspired submissions, nice work :)
Thanks!
Oh yeah this is some good stuff!
Nothing overstays its welcome and they are all catchy, groovy, and fun!
You used orchestration techniques to fit the theme which I always appreciate!
I can't decide if I like Solar City or Whimsical Ferrous Blossom more. Actually, after relistening to them, I like Solar City the best. because of the part that plays at 33 seconds it's really good!
Thank you so much! I'm glad Solar City was one of your favorites this jam and thanks as always for rating everyone's entries!
I liked the different genres you managed to put in such a short runtime. The 80s sounding bass at the first track was a cool touch. Pretty good!
Thank you!
I have been playing Cross Code recently and the moment I heard your OST it immediately reminded me of the vibe of the game, so in the regard of sounding good for a video game you've done a really great job! I think it really captures the vibe of playing a modern game with retro-style aesthetics!
Now on to the more technical parts. The composition itself is already great, I don't think I'm unable to give any valuable inputs for that, however I may have a few criticisms regarding the mixing. That said, please note that this is NOT objective, rather just a "how I would do it, if it was me".
I really like the groove of the overall OST especially since that's your main goal this time around, I think the composition itself is fantastic. Now, one thing that I would do to really improve the sound is by adding a bit more groove compression to the mix bus. I'm unsure whether you've already had that in place or not, but regardless I would try to be a bit bolder with it!
Another thing is the way how some instruments don't feel like they belong in the same "space" as the other instruments. Take for instance the Sax in Baile en la Playa and Sunstolen Espionage (really love the way you compose the Sax there btw), while by itself they already sound pretty nice, if it was me I would try to make it blend a bit more with the rest of the instruments, perhaps with glue compression, or maybe add a bit more reverb, or dynamic EQ, or simply re-adjusting the levelling (point is that there are multiple ways of achieving that).
Again, those are subjective and please do take my criticisms with a grain of salt because I myself is still learning as well. If you believe in your sense and style more than my yappings, then please keep believing that and just ignore everything I've said! Overall though, I think it's a really great submission and you definitely materialized your vision well through your song!
Thank you so much for the detailed feedback! I also love the Crosscode OST and I really need to get around to beating it. I didn't have time to mix as I would have liked (especially on Baile en la Playa). I'm definitely going to save your feedback for later, in fact I'll experiment with it now to see if I can improve them!
Good stuff :jam: !! I don't know if this is a reach but this gives me heavy mother 3 vibes for some reason, probably because of the variety of genres which Mother 3 also does a lot! I think the story you wrote and interpretation of the theme is really creative and really fits that whole "Summer" thing from the theme!! if we still had correlation to theme i'd have given you 5 stars there too. My favorite tracks are probably Baile en la Playa and Whimsical ferrous Blossom (in that order), but I think every song fits its intended purpose very well!! For Baile en la Playa I especially love the part at 0:20, and i also think the rhythm is very cool!! also those two 7/4 bars at the beginning of the song totally slap, would have loved to hear them more tbh. Whimsical Ferrous Blossom is just a bop, i really like how the trumpet and electric guitar sound on this one, in fact if thats okay I wanted to ask how you got them/what they are, i cant for the life of me find a good sounding trumpet 🙏😭
I love Mother 3 OST and it's one of the OSTs that influenced me years ago when I first started out (particularly in bassline writing), so its not a reach! And yeah if I had more time I probably would developed and reused the 7/4 section more. Crunch hit me hard on that track haha.
Trust me, I also have trouble finding brass sounds I like lol. It's a patch from the Roland Edirol SD-90 synthesizer called "Romantic Trumpet"! It's also known as the "Touhou Trumpet" and you should be able to find a free soundfont version in Touhou and Undertale soundfonts. You can also find a paid VST version in Roland ZENOLOGY and I believe Roland SRX World. I layered it with the guitar to make it sound fuller.
The guitar was done using Ample Guitar SC.
Thank you so much for the detailed feedback!
Love this! All impressive compositions and a lot of fun to listen to, but I'm especially partial to the last two. Huge fan of a big stanky Hammond. Mix sounds super clean too, my personal bias against That One Roland Bass Sample notwithstanding.
Thank you! Glad to see another Hammond fan. And haha fair we've heard some Roland sounds a bit too much lol
omg i remember listening to ur submission in OSTCJ #7 and loving it!!! excited to start listening to this one!
ooh i'm immediately loving your use of the retro instruments in this first track! i'm especially loving the bass line's chromatic movement, adding a sense of rhythm to the melodic lines. really feels like a city theme!!! nice nice nice nice!!!!!!!!!!!!
oooh hello this second song is so funky! loving the dance feel and certainly accurately feels like a battle theme. almost reminds me of mario kart at some points, honestly! loving your play on rhythms here as well!
wowow this song makes wanna tip toe around sneakily... definitely noticing the jazz inspo and loving the improv-inspired melodic lines! the electric piano solo and the tenor sax solos definitely compliment one another.
loving the boss theme take on the previous track with this fourth and final track! loving the introduction of instrumentation from the previous three tracks. again, this really has a mario kart feel to it, specifically in the synth! i love the combination of different textures here, as well! the chord progression is really nice as well!
overall this was a really nice ost and i had fun listening! loving the retro vibes used in conjunction with other genres! nicenice thanks for sharing :DDD
Thank you so much for the detailed feedback! And yeah I also remember listening to your other jam entries (I especially liked your Triquetra entry this jam). I love Mario Kart music so I'm glad it showed here!
You can't just throw Yoko Shimomura and Motoi Sakuraba's names out there and expect me to .... ok, FINE YOU WIN
seriously though, this was a fun little bop! Your sound design was awesome - the layered Hammond B3 patch in the last two tracks and the synth lead in "Whimsical Ferrous Blossom" have so much power to them. The story idea was intriguing as well, though admittedly - when I heard "Sungiven City" and "dancers" my mind pretty immediately went to Primrose from Otcopath Traveler lol. Regardless, the idea of a rhythm game here seems like it would be really fun and interesting to play - especially with the varying beats that you used between the first three tracks.
Very cool and fun to listen to. Great work!
I love Shimomura and Sakuraba so much, I'm glad to see you do too lol
Thank you! Yeah the hammond use was directly inspired by Motoi Sakuraba's work. I'm a huge Octopath fan as well but somehow I didn't make the connection to Sunshade City/Primrose until you pointed it out lmao.
The concept is nice and each track has a recognizable theme and identity which is cool and important for a rythm game, great work on that ! Nice influences as well :D
I just would have liked the tracks to be a bit longer to have more time to get immersed into that universe ahah
Good job !!
Thank you! Haha yeah if I had more time I would have made them a bit longer
Your ost has a strong character to it, it's catchy and engaging. I like the cohesiveness of its sounds and it almost feel like an already existing game !
Bailen la Playa was a great style adition for a rythm game ! Didn't expect that haha
Wow loved when the organ kicked in during Sunstolen espionnage ! That vibe was groovy and well made ! Definitely :)
Poor Dyson, having such a name... ^^
Thank you so much! Glad you liked the vibes!
Bro named after a vacuum cleaner, poor guy