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One Summer Night OST composing Jam 8's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Quality | #141 | 3.441 | 3.750 |
| Composition | #183 | 3.154 | 3.438 |
| Impression | #196 | 3.040 | 3.312 |
| Overall | #205 | 2.971 | 3.237 |
| Storytelling | #215 | 2.696 | 2.938 |
| Creativity | #259 | 2.524 | 2.750 |
Ranked from 16 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Description
Hello, I’m very excited to take part in this jam. It was quite a challenge to compose two tracks in just a few days, but it was also thrilling and I gave it my best effort. The image truly struck me, and even though the theme is “A Summer Night”, I couldn’t help but feel a touch of melancholy when I saw the girl looking out at the ocean — perhaps waiting for someone, lost in thought, or simply saying goodbye. I don’t really know, but I used that emotion and those feelings to shape my two pieces. That image, combined with an experience I went through a few days ago (the loss of someone I loved deeply), helped me create this small soundtrack — a farewell, a prayer, and the hope of seeing them again.
I composed the tracks in Logic Pro X, using the native instrument plugins along with the BBC Symphony Orchestra plugin. The result is a soundtrack designed for an RPG-style game, aiming to accompany emotional cutscenes and moments of tension and excitement.
Message from the artist
I hope you enjoy the two tracks I composed. I would really appreciate it if it’s possible to receive some feedback, as it’s very valuable to me to hear thoughts from artists and people who also create music and are passionate about video game soundtracks.
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Comments
Absolutely gorgeous orchestration and composition, really pulled on my emotions. The climax of A Prayer Beyond Moonlight gave me that potent emotional film score running with tears in your eyes kind of feeling. Some things feel like they could be mixed better here and there, but the composition and the emotions and grandeur of it feels really really awesome.
Great soundtrack, I could tell there was a lot of emotional weight behind it. Nice work :)
Really emotional tracks, I can tell you put a lot of feeling into them, and it comes through strongly. The orchestration is nice, though sometimes it feels a little jarring for the picture. It doesn’t fully click with the picture theme for me, but the emotion behind it is very clear.
Sorry again for your loss. You did an amazing job turning that emotion into music.
The tone is beautiful, with the added context of what you're going through (I'm sorry about your loss), this really does feel like a farewell. I can tell you were emotionally charged throughout the project, and that's a good thing.
I will say the only thing I wonder about is the attachment to the theme, I can't really grasp how it connects, I suppose the melancholic vibe does fit, but perhaps more integration with the setting?
Regardless, really nice work!!
Beautiful melodies, kind and sad at the same time, I see them in a game where there is a global war and the relationship between the characters as they travel across the global map.
very cinematic and pretty.
I don't really have much to add since this isn't the style of music I'm very good with so IDK what to improve and whatnot.
First off, sorry for your loss. Hopefully this jam was cathartic for you in dealing with that.
Secondly, I think this is a really great effort! In the interest of honest and productive feedback, I'm going to be as detailed as I can below, but I just wanted to preface it with: it doesn't mean your music is bad by any means. It's very pretty, the instruments all sound clean, and it feels well-connected with your descriptions for the most part. There's some good stuff here - and with the feedback you get from this jam, I'm sure your next submission will be even better!
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Feedback:
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A Prayer Beyond Midnight has some great emotion and energy to it! Nice job with the build up and bringing in new instruments one by one. The main melody that comes in around 1:21 - you had been hinting at it before that point, and it certainly translated. Compositionally speaking, it could have used some more impact - maybe some different chords right before that point to build tension? Or having more of a crescendo right before the mini-breakdown. when the strings come in harder. I feel like the idea was there, it just needs to be built out a little more to deliver properly.
The rest of the track feels good - instruments compliment each other well in terms of tonality. The synths play a solid support role and work well.The wind instrument in the beginning feels on point, but it may want to take more of a backseat right after when the next instrument comes in. On listening again, it sounds like you were doing the same kind of leading theme with the string section @ around 0:49 that you did @ 1:21, but I had missed it the first time.
Overall, I think having a defining leading instrument throughout would really help bring home this track. Some parts of the track feel like they have it, some not as much. The movement is good with the build-up on the drums and the staccato string notes towards the end, but without that lead standing out it just sounds like good bits here and there thrown together. Spend sometime playing with the individual volume levels of your instruments, and change them up or down as needed as the song progresses. If the strings need to take center stage, give them some space both compositionally and in the mix to do that.
Last thing I would say here: sometimes less is more. It can be really cool to jam a whole bunch of notes into a tiny space. Those couple of bars might sound awesome to you, but without the proper context in a song they will always lose their impact. Sometimes less is more, and generally the more notes that an instrument is playing the less impact they are going to have, especially as a lead. Think about some classic rock guitar melodies and solos - the best ones strike a balance between quick sets of notes and long, drawn out ones (think Hotel California, for example) and even a song with incredibly fast guitar playing (Mr. Crowley) still has rests and longer notes inbetween. If the speed or frequency of your notes doesn't change too much, they can either get boring, or, in the case of your strings - kind of all blend together.
That was a lot of words, so to summarize: powerful leads create powerful songs. Give them space, give them dynamics, give them energy, maybe some tension, and do that not only with the instruments themselves but with the rest of the song as a whole.
Thank you so much for taking the time to write this feedback. It’s really helpful and will be very useful for me as I continue creating. I agree with you that sometimes ‘less is more’ and that I need to work on things like structure. Thank you again!
Hello, congratulations on your tracks!
Here's some feedback; I think "A prayer beyond midnight" is great, and the other song is a tad bit weaker. Overall I like the sound and texture you made, as well as the change in pace through the songs. The mixing is good too (at least on my headphones).
The hook I found rather weak though, I couldn't find a strong theme and it's a bit of a shame when you have all this background nailed already.
Another remark is that the songs are a bit narrow in tonality and maybe you could've tried broadening them a bit.
These critics are mostly true for "See you beyond the Tides" but also slightly true for the other song.
Hope that helps, see you!
Thank you so much for listening and for your feedback! I really appreciate your comments — it’s very helpful for me to keep improving. I’ll definitely take into account what you said about the hook and the tonality. Thanks again for your time and kind words!