very nice atmosphere and sound design!
Play soundtrack
The Lost Lake's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Vibe/Atmosphere | #8 | 4.000 | 4.000 |
| Execution | #13 | 3.519 | 3.519 |
| Overall | #13 | 3.652 | 3.652 |
| Listenability | #14 | 3.630 | 3.630 |
| Correlation to Theme | #17 | 3.704 | 3.704 |
| Composition | #18 | 3.407 | 3.407 |
Ranked from 27 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Description
This is a 3-Song Album I made for the Competition!
Link to Streaming Service
https://www.youtube.com/live/f-wGz3oaeoQ
https://www.youtube.com/live/Zq19wjuwC6I
Outdated V1 Song Stream: https://www.youtube.com/live/WPUKbFEsZmU
DAW Screenshot - Demonstrate that this is your own work
Screenshots can be seen on the Project Page!
Discord Tag
latenightgamer_yt_17371
Comments
First track - some of those ambient sounds I would try to mix at different points in space and really use some spatializing techniques to make them feel more in the scene. Right now, they sound like they are just right between my ears with some reverb thrown on.
I think in general, the ambient noises could be a little wetter/could change position with the track. I've been using DearVR Pro... MNTRA is working on a GPU audio plugin that I'm excited for that seems to work better.
Overall though, it is generally quite well-mixed and was pleasant to listen to. Great work!
TBH, I probably could add a little bit of Panning to the Bird Calls, now that I think about it. Also, I wanted the Nature Sounds to be crisp; almost like a real Field Recording. I've looked into the FX Plug-In you mentioned, and it looks pretty professional to be free, so I hope to try it out! Thanks for the info!
I listened to all three pieces. My personal favorite was meditation. I think you are good at these kind of subtle synth pad swells, and it would've been a stronger submission IMO if you played around and experimented with those swells a bit more (as opposed to relying on foley/sound effects) and just submitted the meditation track on its own instead of all 3. You did do this to a certain extent, but I felt like there was a lot that could've been done in this space. One good example of this pad swell technique is in the song "Beyond Good & Evil - Peace" (ignore the piano, but pay attention to the pad swells). Hope this helps for your future submissions.
Submitted
Midnight Meeting at the Secret LakeI think some slight more energy would add a lot, but otherwise this is great.
Submitted
The Secret Lake - Ambient Jam #4It's like a haunted lake vibe, and it works here. The quiet SFX and restrained mix create a mood that feels genuinely unsettling in a good way, and it fits the theme well. Adding a slow evolution, a new texture creeping in, or a subtle shift in tone would give it more depth without breaking the sparse atmosphere. The foundation is solid!
Great work!
I do like to make Horror-Based Music! I love making my own SFX, too. I did try to make the Soundtracks Evolve over time, but it can be hard to notice. I didn't do much melodies or anything like that, though, as I was trying to make the songs as simplistic as possible, but still with a good amount of Sounds & whatnot. Anyways, thanks for the Comment!
Hey, thanks for your comment on my post.
Now i do want to establish that whatever i say here are things that came to my mind that might would help in the songs, but it's more what i would do then a direct feedback or improvements. It mostly apply to my style of composing and can help you as well or not or even you can use what i say and try to make changes for your own style.
First, i'd like to say that all the songs kinda remind me of the Twilight Princess OST, especially the twilight themes. Some songs also reminded me of Deep Docks from Silksong, with the atmosphere. I do like to think of these comparisons as a kinda of guide for the structure of the overall idea of the songs that i make, that way i can focus on topics like "how do they make this section interesting?", "why did they put these notes here?", these are examples oc.
Oh and also the mixing is really good in some aspects, so i'm focusing on more composition related stuff.
Overall, bcs i don't want to write an assay, i will sum up everything:
- I would play a bit more with the SFX.
- I'd give more space between notes in some of the songs. Which is something i forget to do often, that is to use silence as a tool.
- Work in the final section of the songs in terms of conclusion or connecting it with the next one. But it all goes to what you want to do with the album.
- Also, put variation on some sections. Even some little notes here and there can help.
- And i would stablish a motif for the album. That way i could be refering to it in new ways for each song, giving a sense of connection and identity for the whole album, besides each individual music.
Yeah i think this is all i thought while listenign. Hope it can be helpfull for you or anyone, since i think i gave some good tips that everyone can benefit from.
Submitted
This Unknowing LakeYou did a great job setting an atmosphere with the pads and drones. There could certainly be more going on within the sounds/composition to keep the listener engaged, be it a new instrument, a new musical idea, a new effect, or something else entirely.
The mix and production value are both good.
Submitted
The Lost LakeThe overall vibe is good, it reminds me of "animal well", very unsetling. But I felt the 3 tracks were very similar, the same unsetling vibe and tone, as if they were interchangeable. And the vfx were way too lound, the birds became annoying after a few seconds.
Good job.
Submitted
The lake where the forg livesCan't tell if that "Good Job" is sarcastic, LOL. Anyways, I tried making the Nature Noises not too loud, but not too quiet either. I wanted to see how I can make them quiet enough for the Soundtracks to have an outdoor feel to them, but also loud enough to be noticed. A lot of my Soundtracks sound unsettling, because I do a lot of Horror-Based Music in my free time, so I use a lot of Dark & Ominous sounds in my Music. They shouldn't sound too familiar with each other, but if you think they sound familiar with each other, that's just fine! Thanks for the feedback, I appreciate it!
Hello, LateNightGamer! Here I go with my review for your entry.
[Note: Please don't take my criticism too hard, as I am trying to be as constructive as possible, and nothing is further from my intentions as to sound harsh or unrespectful with your work. I want for all of us to improve through these jams and I am learning myself to give a focused and attentive listen and thoroughly and sincerely comment other's entries as much as I would like mine to be reviewed.]
I listened to the Bandcamp version of your entry with closed-back headphones.
Track by track review:
1. Welcome
Great ominous vibes. The birds sound a bit mechanical, and the repeating background tinkling gets a tad annoying at the end. Maybe could get tamed a bit volume-wise and put more in the background.
2. Night Walk
The background and general instrumentation being the same than the first track is deterimental to the listening experience. It sounds like a different take of the first track, instead of a new one. Around the 0:50, really interesting things start to happen, with a kind of "crying baby" sound, and a hint of a melody. However, the repetition makes it lose force after a few seconds. At 1:40 there's a really cool transition to sci-fi territory. I still feel the artificial nature of some samples used, as they need more work to change their texture and pitch to feel less repetitive and more organic, but maybe this was intented, as it does create a sense of uneasiness. Feeling some kind of "evil laughter" of the landscape overall here. At the end of the track there seems to be an unintentional trailing silence for several seconds.
3. Meditation
Interesting textures and sound design. Loving the dripping sounds starting around the one minute mark and how it blends with the low-end. Very eerie and "haunted" feeling with the "oohs". Around the 2 minute mark it starts to feel a bit repetitive and asking for a change. That change arrives at 2:30 with the piano, which is really cool and works great. The ending playing note seems to be a bit rushed, not sure if that's intended.
General impressions:
Overall, your album gave me very dark and creepy feelings, like being in a haunted environment where strange things are about to happen. I think your tracks would work great in a horror setting and I felt the connection to the "lake" theme was strong.
Ratings by category:
Execution: 3/5
I found your work was good execution-wise (playing and mixing), but some perceived errors make me refrain from giving it 4 stars. I feel it would need some mixing improvements, work at making the samples more interesting and diverse and polishing some other minor issues, as mentioned in the review for each track.
Vibe: 3/5
The atmosphere was interesting overall, but I felt that because of the repetitive nature of some elements, I was not so immersed as I could have been.
Composition: 3/5
As in the execution category, here I found that there's room for improvement and more nuance and variance is needed to make the tracks shine. While the background soundscape works great, the added SFX and melodic elements feel they need more development.
Listenability: 3/5
I listened to it one time and I enjoyed it, but did not feel like listening to it a second time.
Correlation to Theme: 4/5
I think the general vibes you achieved conveyed perfectly the sense of both the lake and its secret and mysterious nature. It might lack some oriental elements to make it fully fit with the image and prompt, but the connection is still strong.
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And just FYI, for this jam I am starting to use a rating rubric/template in order to rate more consistently and make my feedback more insightful for the person I am rating. It is available here in case you wanted to check it out: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LEz4pyyHR7iQ75W2IFjA22odaeDNmdm-/view?usp=shari...
Submitted
The Secret LakeThanks for the Feedback! I was aiming for a Late Evening/Night vibe, and I do compose a lot of Horror Soundtracks in my Music Production Career, so that's why it sounds a bit Ominous; it's because I use a lot of Dark-sounding Pads. The birds were hard, since I only had a keybpard to control the Bird Calls & whatnot. The only samples for the Nature Sounds I used were the Water SFX! If I did more samples of them, I could've probably made them have variation to them, but I didn't think about it. Also, the Tinkling is a Tinkling Frogs Tone Patch from Omnisphere. I wanted to see how I could make the sound of Frogs in the background, but at the same time, they don't sound too much like Frogs. (That was actually intentional) I tried lowering the Nature Sounds below everything, but still make them fully audible. For the "Crying Baby" SFX, I actaully have no idea what it is, but I love how it sounds for some reason. It's supposed to add Mystery to the Soundtrack, along with doubling as some sort of Animal Noise, however you want to process it as. I honestly don't get much Sci-Fi Vibes from Night Walk... I always find it interesting to hear what unique Vibes people get from a Song! I used Moon Rays 3 From Sytrus & the PIXIE Toy Piano Toy Organette Tone Patch for the majority of that part. By the way, Night Walk wasn't supposed to sound "Evil," it was more supposed to sound Dark, Peaceful, & Haunting. And yes, there is unintentional silence in Night Walk... I accidently forgot to edit that out. that's because I used Scillintate or something like that paired with Solaris, which both are FX Plug-Ins with extremely long tails. For Meditation, I mainly used X-Stream, Vertigo Waves MK2, & Omnisphere, along with Model D. A lot of them work well in an Ambient-Experimental setting! Thanks for the Feedback, I appriciate it!
Oh yeah! Thank you so much for sharing the plugins you used! I have long wanted to give a serious go at X-Stream, as I played with it some time ago and looked supercool. I see that PIXIE Toy Piano is also free, as well as Vertigo Waves, so I will also try them out for sure to experiment with dark textures.
This is excellent, I think it fits the theme perfectly and as someone mentioned below, can't get more ambient than this. Personally in regards to this jam and theme, I would love to hear some random shakuhachi phrases sprinkled in on just one song but that is just me and doesn't take away from your rating or work at all! Great!
Submitted
Mystic LakeTo be honest, I don't really know what a Shakuhachi is, but I do think I have JADE Ethnic Orchestra, which is a Kontakt Library with I think Shakuhachis... Sounds familiar. In the V1 of the Theme, I actually used on of the Pads from JADE Ethnic Orchestra, but I scrapped the V1 last-minute because I thought the Percussion & Strings in the Pad were too loud/distracting. I also unfortunately missed the part of "Compose To This Image" TBH, until the submissions were already closed. If I saw that sooner, I probably would use JADE Ethnic Orchestra more, especially when I like using that Kontakt Library as much as possible. (The Painting looks like it's in the region where a lot of Instruments from JADE Ethnic Orchestra originate from) At least I saw the Theme being "The Hidden Lake!" (There was one Competition I actually didn't even see the Theme for on Accident, until I was halfway done with the Album I was making for it, LOL. Also that was around when I got JADE Ethnic Orchestra!) It's very nice to hear how Ambient people think my Album is! I kept worrying that I was adding too much or too little, or having an SFX and/or Instrument too loud or distracting. I basically remastered the entire soundtrack within the Weekend the Jam was supposed to end, it feels like LOL. I thought the V1 Versions were too distracting, in a way, and some of the things used just didn't seem to fit the "The Hidden Lake" Vibes all that well. Thanks for the thoughts you shared! Sorry if I talk too much, I tend to do that..
Your first track is making me think of twin peaks a bit the way it’s a little menacing sometimes and set in the woods. I like it! I think my only point of criticism is I think some of your nature sounds feel almost too happy for the vibe you’re going for. specifically the more frequent bird chirps, unless that contrast is intentional. Like night creatures or more of the howley/distant sounds would make more logical sense to me with your vibe but maybe you want that disconnect?
Night walk:
I like the depth of the layers you’ve got going on! I like your transition to the darker elements in the second half as well.
Meditation:
Really digging the eerie vocal like layer swimming around in this one.
well done!
Submitted
The Secret of the LakeIt can sound relatively strange at first since I Compose a lot of Experimental Horror Music, that's why a lot of my Soundtracks can sound more on the Ominous Side. Also, the Soundtrack is supposed to sound kind of like it's taking place in an Alien World, at Evening/Night. (Or at least that's what I think of it.. I guess that could be considered an Experimental way) Te first two songs, I imagine playing in the evening when it's light out, but then for Meditation, that's when it transitions to a more Night-Like setting. I'm honestly not going for a specific Vibe except making it sound like the Album is what someone would hear by a lake around the Late Evening/Night. The Bird Calls are supposed to try to create a sort of thing to make the Album sound like it's outside, more ambient, & more beautiful, in a way. Same for the Crickets in Meditation. TBH, if I was going for a more Forest-Like feel, I'd be using more Soundscapes with leaves rustling & whatnot, along with less water noises. I find it rather surprising & interesting that you get Forest Vibes from this! For the Night Creature Tone Patches I use, I actually make them myself using samples from Birds and/or Trees, & when I turn those samples into a Drone, it can sound pretty eerie! In the first phase of Night Walk (More like Late Evening Walk In my mind, LOL), I actually used one of the Samples I made myself turning Creaking Trees into a Drone that sounds like that of haunting singing. I tried to make it audible, but not too audible. Finally, all the Sounds & Instruments were all intentional. I tried to make the Album sound Haunting, but Peaceful/Haunting too. Hopefully this explanation isn't too overwhelming, by the way.. Nice to hear your thoughts & feedback on my work!
oh yeah sorry I’m not really being precise with my language and that’s messing up the feedback lol. you are clearly giving lake vibes and the storytelling of day/evening to night transition is crystal clear. By woods I’m really meaning trees by the lake, that’s all.
Also love hearing your process with those samples that’s sick.
Can't be more ambient than this, I think this is really the difinition of ambiance, definitely more on the sound design side than music but the focus on textures was great you could probably take any moment and pick a loop point and it will work seemlessly, very unique choice of sound palette, I would never think of making something like that, good job !
Submitted
YūgenI already listen to these songs on Loop, LOL! Thanks for the kind feedback, I appreciate it! By the way, with the Sound Design part, I like making my own Tone Patches. I don't really remember which Tone Patches I used that were just Modified Tone Patches that were Stock in my Virtual Instruments, but I do know that I used a Drone created by slowing the sound of Creaking Trees I got when outside a few months ago audible for around the first 45 seconds of Night Walk. (It's the SFX that's a bit hard to explain; it's not a Pad and not in the Nature SFX, and sounds... Crackly, I guess I could say?) I love making Ambient, Experimental, Unique Soundtracks, and it's what I do the most in my Career in Music Production! I like being very creative with Sound Choices, and I love trying to sample just the most unique things. (Like, who has ever thought to use a Tree stand Ladder hung onto a tree by rope to make Bell Tone Patches?! And who tries to waste their time Sampling a Sawsall, or trying to sample drums using Buckets with concrete dried in it? Me, of course!) Again, thanks for letting me know that you enjoyed the Soundtracks/Album!
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