Play soundtrack
Nick's "Snowly's Music Festival"'s itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Correlation to theme | #1 | 4.818 | 4.818 |
| Creativity | #2 | 4.091 | 4.091 |
| Composition | #3 | 4.273 | 4.273 |
| Quality | #3 | 4.545 | 4.545 |
| Overall | #3 | 4.432 | 4.432 |
Ranked from 11 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Theme
Correlation to theme
Given his pose and "coolness", I used a classical kick-snare hiphop beat and added scratch sounds from rap songs. For his ghost appearance, I made one of the lead instruments a theremin, and made it respond to a saxophone. The song has a little bit of swing and uses a classical Electro Swing chord progression (i-VII-VI-V) since I felt it fit the guy. Overal, I'm not disappointed :)
Challenge portal
Streaming service
https://soundcloud.com/nick-schuitemaker-189902296/whats-up-ghool
Last words
I'm happy I chose team Fish. In hindsight, it proved to be the easier team, so I applaud every member of team Bird for their difficult challenges. Whichever team may win, I'm content :D
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Comments
wow, that was an outstanding piece. i really enjoyed it.
the theremin and sax talking and conversing was awesome. everything feels spot on in coloration to the theme.
great job!
Thank you so much!! That means a lot to me :)
Wow, I think you nailed the character theme! I love how clearly you conveyed the character, with the chill beat and sax conveying the 'cool' side of Ghool, and the theremin and tempo changes conveying that ghost-y, spooky side of him. Really great job, I had a lot of fun listening to this!
Thanks a lot :D. Glad you find it fitting the theme well. Everything just fell right into place!
What a level!
It's brilliant to have mixed the saxophone for the cool side and the theremin for the spooky side.
The fact that it's on the left and right reinforces the call-and-answer and I love it.
Now that you've mastered odd time signatures, it's a delight to let yourself be carried along from 4/4 to 5/4 and then 6/4 so smoothly.
Each creation is more accomplished than the last, your progress is remarkable, and I am amazed by the quality of your work.
Thank you so much!!
I am continuously learning from other people's entries and am getting increasingly fond of the 'call-and-answer' style. A sax and theremin just felt fitting for this, and I am glad you like it too :D.
Thank you, saying I've "mastered odd time signatures" means a lot to me! I have liked them for a while - at first just as a way to be different from other composers - and am getting better at them! You got quite some mastery in it yourself I should say; your 'Wooden Shroom' and 'Cola Verde' are really inspirational.
I am personally also noticing that I'm making big progress: learning music theory, analyzing other people's songs, changing DAW, and just trying things out all really paid off! Thanks again, your comment means the world to me <3
You absolutely NAILED the character in my opinion, it sounds really high quality and, most importantly, it grooves. Thanks for the work!
Thank you so much, that means a lot to me! I am always very unsure about my works, but this gives me confidence that I made some good choices :D
Loved it! The time changes worked really well and the song is a bop, amazing work as always! Maaaaybe the only thing I could think about improving is centering the panning of the sax but other than that it's a 5*!
Thanks a lot! Glad you like my song and particularly the time changes :D
The idea of panning the sax left and the theremin right was actually inspired partially by your previous song, 'Hunting Season'! I loved the panning of the initial instrument there. Do you recommend panning the sax in the center or just more towards the center? I do like the call-and-response of the sax and theremin and having them on opposite parts of the panning-spectrum, but perhaps they are a bit too spread out. I am very new to the idea of panning, so I am still experimenting! Would love to hear what you think :)
oooo i'm glad to hear i inspired you! but i'd reccomend just nudging a little bit to the center, although i don't have much expertise on mixing so the experimentation really helps out!
Soooo great!. This was a really fun listen. When I'm rating these tracks I rate not only the track istelf, but if it could actually fit in a videogame environment, and yours definetely does. I liked the "sax solo" and the spooky synth a lot, and the signature times changed very smoothly.
Thanks a lot! I am quite content with some of my design choices, like the "spooky synth" and my signature changes. I am very glad you like them too and find the theme fitting for an actual videogame environment! Thanks again :D
All the choices you made fit so well - the instrumentation, the style, tempo, and sound effects. I like the sort of walking tempo and groovy beat with the heavy bass plus theremin which nails the ghost vibes. The saxophone is a sure-fire way to add a cool factor. If a ghost could saunter, it certainly would to this song! Your time signature changes are particularly fun! I like your choice to keep the same beat and to simply add a beat with an interesting sound to fill the space. I particularly like that upward pop sound in the fifth beat of the second 5/4 measure! Your instruments are all balanced nicely and I like that the saxophone and theremin trade off from one ear to the other. Great job and thank you for sharing!
I also agree that ideas popped into my head much faster for the Fish themes, but I'm glad I pushed myself for the challenge of team Bird! It's really fun going up such a classic all-star line-up on the Fish team!
Thanks a lot!!
I'm glad you like my instrumentation. It took me a while to get it find a nice balance (and am still not sure I found it). The sax vs theremin was a nice call-and-response duo you've probably never heard before, and I am very content with it! The idea of "trading off from one ear to another" was a trick I've learned over time - I particularly noticed GrassTypeFire using it in its previous entry, 'Hunting Season', and really wanted to incorporate it too using a call-and-response concept.
Happy that you like my time signature changes! I have never done a 4/4 - 5/4 - 6/4 movement before, so I really had to get creative. Adding a beat to an existing rhythm felt like a simple way, but I didn't want to add it to the end like usual. Instead, I added it in the center giving it a 2+1+2 = 5/4 rhythm. This was then easily extendible to an 2+1(+2+1) = 6/4 rhythm by simply repeating the first half twice! I learned from your genius 'Time Rifts of the Cuckoo Epoch' that if I simply keep the kick and snare consistent, I can add and remove beats without worrying about the listener losing track of where they are in the music. Quite a lot of things coming together!
I have respect for anyone who sticked to team Bird, since it did indeed feel like an extra challenge. You are the perfect person to try team Bird, since given how much of an expert you are and how easily you typically win music jams, it felt like you could really use a challenge. Whichever team wins, I am just really happy I joined these jams and was able to listen to these amazing entries again from some of my favorite composers! :D
Super fitting for the character. IDK why I didn't think to use a theremin that would have fit perfectly.
Thanks a lot! When I hear "ghost", the theremin is the first instrument that comes to mind for me and just screams "ghost". Super glad you find the song fitting the character :D