Description
The Debt of Living is a narrative-driven fantasy soundtrack written for the 9th OST Composing Jam hosted by Lone Rabbit that consists of 10 total tracks, with the first track being more of a leitmotif that's established.

Rather than following the story of a traditional protagonist, the soundtrack follows the journey of a half-elven writer who ventures into the world in search of answers (and to repay a debt of his own).

When I made the story for the "game," I was thinking something along the lines of story driven, choices matter, sort of game (Think Dispatch or Telltale games) with the soundtrack covering only one possibility the player, the half-elf, chose.

I wrote down the whole idea and rough arrangement on my notebook when I was out on vacation and established the arrangement fully on my laptop. On my laptop I used Cubase 12 Artist with stock VSTs to fully realize the arrangement and composition first while noting down which VSTs will be replaced with what I have on my PC back at home. Foley-made sound effects are also written down first as concepts on my notebook before recording it and processing on my PC. As for mixing and mastering, I could only do the bare minimum in fear of missing the deadline.

As for the story itself, this was something more of a personal sort of fantasy bucket list for me when I was but a wee child. I've always wanted to live in a fantasy world and have a sort of journal to document what I see there. The creatures, the people I meet, the different architectures, etc. In a way, this is my way of realizing that bucket list.

Message from the artist
If you enjoyed what you listened or even gave me some of your time to listen to my work, I thank you sincerely and I hope what I made can also inspire you just as everything around me has been a massive inspiration to who I am as a person and what I create. Now if you'll excuse me, I haven't had proper sleep in 3 days catching all sorts of deadlines and I am e x h a u s t e d.

Theme

How does it fit the theme?
The Debt of Living is essentially what the world that was documented by the half-elf was like before its eventual ruin. The original idea was Kana never actually died, she was taken away and used as a weapon and eventually sealed away after the Tyrant King, Dvinali, had no more use for her. She awakens to a weakened seal and a ruined world filled with ruins of a civilization and creatures that outlived mankind. Somewhere along her journey, she finds the half-elf's journal, and this journal is a sort of prequel to Kana's own journey.

Number of tracks
10

Genre

Soundtrack use permission

Yes (CC BY)

Any project