Thanks a lot for the feedback!
Yeah, .wav format is the way to go apparently.
It's the first time ever I've used a dulcimer in a composition hahahaha glad you liked it!
And the drops thing, I think you're right, might consider doing what you suggest, it might be so interesting! Thanks for pointing it out.
And no, I'm not familiar with them, will definitely look them up.
Will be seeing you in your comment section! 🤟🖤
The Maestro spoke! Thank you so much for commenting and taking the time to write ALL of this down. Commitment, once again lol
I think you can learn a lot from the past. It's a great reference when you work this way. Through analysis, trial and error, you can achieve at least partially what you're aiming for.
The Bond motif is a must have for dungeon levels, apparently 😅 It was kind of cliche, but it just ended up being in my improvisation, so I just left it in. I mean, it works, it worked since, what, Final Fantasy VI? Hahaha
I really can't notice the crackling... It must be some kind of "interference" between two plugins, probably. Or maybe just some fx creating "sonic artifacts" (?).
Thabk you sooo much for your feedback 🙏
The thumbnail stood out among the other submissions. The sound design was AWESOME. The eerie ambience you managed to create really was amazing. You can easily recognize the main themes. I'd love to hear a less CRT-ish version of this work, I'm quite curious to see what it'd sound like. This is probably the creepiest work I've listened to, so far. The 5ths are so strong!!!
The whole thing makes me think of a sh*tty 3D graphics first person indie game AND I'D PLAY THE HELL OUT OF IT!
Hope to listen to more of your works!
Man, the voice in the first track was totally unexpected! I think you can humanize the plucked strings a little bit to make it sound a tad more realistic. Totally loved the way the instruments were mixed. The general feeling was astonishing. I only feel some weird harmonies at around 1:41, some major/minor chords inconsistency that doesn't ruin the experience but I usually pay attention to how it is used because at times it works, at times it does not.
The Long Trek was such an experience, I felt lost in an empty space, staring at the stars in the middle of the night.
I needed more hahahaha
Very good job!
Greetings and here we are! Won't waste any time in saying stuff: THIS IS WHAT MY MIND SOUNDED LIKE WHEN I FIRST SAW THE JAM IMAGE.
Okay, now... Here comes the stuff lol
First track was a statement of how polished the whole thing was going to be. Simple chords, simple music, simple instruments, the most efficient combo. And I didn't say "easy". Very well built theme.
Second track was so beautiful, atmospheric, relaxing, and the sea waves in the background... You were drawing the whole landscape for the game. I'd just say, probably the flute player (and I'm not one, so it's just an assumption) would need some more time to breath in between one phrase and the other at times hehe
Third track, the catchy one. The time signature is just spot on. Love the main chord progression. The instrumentation is perfect. The claps were a pleasant surprise. What kind of set me off was the "reversed" timpani? And I don't mean it in a bad way, it works quite well the more you listen to it. The only thing I'd just like to point out was the major chord in the strings at 2:24, the main arpeggio playing in the background doesn't work with it. If you want to stick with an ostinato, then you can leave an open 5th chord, without adding any other note that makes it major or minor. But definitely, the major chord over the minor arpeggio doesn't quite work to my ears.
Loved the effort you put in it, it was pleasant to listen to, thanks for sharing!
Found your message on Discord and decided to look for your works among all the other submissions!
I think this was a one-of-a-kind OST that you came up with. My highlight was the very first track and the sixth one.
Gotta be honest though, I think you can go very well beyond using samples! And also, you might want to chop some of them and play around with those bits a little bit more. The atmosphere you managed to convey made me feel things, I appreciate that.
On another sidenote, I'm not sure this would be the kind of soundtrack you'd listen to on a night drive. Some of these tracks are so long and so descriptive they just don't serve their purpose as mere music. They'd make more sense while playing the game itself.
Some good ideas overall, I liked it!
I'm sorry I can't show the same commitment you put in this work while commenting here. So I'll just say I'm amazed, like everyone else I guess, at how much you managed to achieve in such a little time.
I like how you particularly enjoyed using the organ, the odd tempos (such as in Expect the UnExpect), the way you managed to try and add some realism without making it sound less than videogame music (BigCity Dots among others) and you can really tell you're fond of good 'ol prog rock. Amazing work with the drums, the layering and the instruments picked in general. Quite enjoyed the harpsichord in The Maestro and the U.F.O. like sound!
Also appreciated the recurring themes and the general consinstency.
How you pulled it off is beyond me.
I'm sorry I can't show the same commitment you put in this work while commenting here. So I'll just say I'm amazed, like everyone else I guess, at how much you managed to achieve in such a little time.
I like how you particularly enjoyed using the organ, the odd tempos (such as in Expect the UnExpect), the way you managed to try and add some realism without making it sound less than videogame music (BigCity Dots among others) and you can really tell you're fond of good 'ol prog rock. Amazing work with the drums, the layering and the instruments picked in general. Quite enjoyed the harpsichord in The Maestro and the U.F.O. like sound!
Also appreciated the recurring themes and the general consinstency.
How you pulled it off is beyond me.
Greetings! It sounds so good, considering it's your first compositions!
The soundtrack sets the mood for something cozy yet adventurous, very nice pick of instruments. Quite relaxing, it feels like the music that'd play in a nighttime hub in a MMORPG. Loved it, made me feel at peace with myself.
My main suggestion is: work with quantizations. You can tell, especially while listening to the second track, that some rhythm is just not spot on and feels very human made (might be an added value, actually hehe), so quantizations help you put all the notes in the right place, with maybe some minor tweaks if necessary.
You managed to achieve a very nice vibe, I liked it! Keep going, buddy!
Thank you for taking the time to listen and comment, Andrew!
I agree, it might feel kind of bland, but at the same time it seemed to me that adding too much texture to such a simple arpeggio when everything else is happening outside the piano and harp part felt overwhelming. I couldn't come up with anything different but for the harp to stress the last four notes of the arpeggio. The poor mixing definitely is the responsible for the lack of clarity in that sudden modulation.
Thanks again!
Kudos for this majestic accomplishment! That's kind of crazy, to say the least.
Thank you for the feedback.
I was working on a cover art myself (two actually, but I am no artist and yet there I was working with only a pencil and a piece of paper) but got nervous and ended up scrapping the idea. I want to replace it since I have the chance to and also since I hate the current one lol
The colorful cover art deceived me
I clicked on the YouTube link, not knowing exactly what to expect.
Then that weird and unsettling pad began playing.
Then the piano came.
Then the pizzicato.
Then the violin.
Desolation and isolation. With just a few entries.
The visuals don't make me feel any more comfortable.
But then 1:56 came and... I thought it was going to be more light-hearted... Yet harmony said otherwise, and the moment I stopped wondering about my feelings BOOM with the piano chords once again, except that this time we're going somewhere evil... Notes on the violin get shorter and shorter, percussions can't stop.
It's unsettling.
And I love it.
The only downside, if we can call it so, is that I feel like it lacks some kind of buildup, some more tension towards 3:49 that can justify the sudden change.
All in all though, quite polished, but also creative and suggestive, I've enjoyed it!
Hello there and good to listen to your work here!
I'm such a sucker for Chrono Trigger, Cross and anything Mitsuda worked for, so you really got me with that harp playing in the background, but I particularly enjoyed what happened at 3:06! The percussion and the bass somehow made me think more of Donkey Kong Country hehe
I feel like you managed to create a very cool flow with your creation. And maybe that's what you went for, you just followed the flow. I'd have personally liked more depth and something more "catchy" to whistle while doing chores, because the general atmosphere is such a vibe! Also, the ending was just... There... I felt you could have developed more and brought us towards something, and that's true for the whole composition.
The instrumentation and the whole sound is sooo spot on, it feels light and aethereal. Nice picks!
I wouldn't mind listening to this with a SNES or Mega Drive soundchip.
Cute work all in all!
Greetings and here we are! Was looking forward to listen to your works, and the moment I saw it was a chiptune OST it caught my attention: it's the first one of this kind I'm going to rate.
1. The Forgotten World
Love the secondary voices! The harmonies, the arpeggios, the panning. It feels sooo alive and yet so nostalgic. Also the chords chosen convey that kind of old memories vibe. Definitely a Title Screen track.
2. Our Peaceful Home
I feel so safe, but I also feel like I have to leave because something evil just happened outside the village and I have to fight anyone and anything to protect my loved ones.
3. Celestial Connection
The delay here was enough to create some catchy rhytmic pattern. Very interesting composition, despite being very short but it serves its purpose so well.
4. Cozy Town
I needed these chords in my life and didn't know it. They sound so good, they sound like you're familiar with and yet they sound so refreshing, so new. The chord at 0:49 made me genuinely smile because I really wasn't expecting it!
5. The Ancient Token
I didn't like this one because there were no other tracks afterwards :(
All in all, the whole production was so polished, and you really seemed to have been working with real hardware limits, it felt quite authentic to me.
The mix sounded very very good and pleasant.
Composition wise, it also felt so polished, so "simple" but not in the way when you take things for granted. It's been like someone I knew has been holding my hand but together we lived some new adventures, like good old times.
The only downside to me (I'll never stress this enough, it's just my opinion), is it felt quite generic, but the generic you can find in top class games. I couldn't really picture in my mind a specific game. Was it a modern setting, a fairy tale, a mythical world, a futuristic environment? Or maybe the truth is you managed to create something that just gets along well with anything.
Kudos for the very cute art! ^^
Looking forward to listening to more of your works!
I let the track play before even reading, and the first thing that went in my mind when "Forest Cantical" began was "Oh my, well, you got my attention, I wasn't expecting it. I hope it's gonna be some drum 'n bass" lol
Love the portamento in the pad and the background details playing! The main theme is so easy to grasp. Really liked it.
"The Three Sages". What can I say. You instantly managed to set the mood for it all. It begins as creepy but ends up being reassuring and becoming kind of familiar. You should really try adding a 6 before the 5 note (starting from the root) at1:37! Please tell me what you think! The set of instruments chosen was just spot on, but I'd say it sounds more of a later moment in our gaming history than PS2. It kind of made me think of Transistor and Celeste, but can't really tell you why. Maybe the sounds, maybe the chord progressions, maybe the general atmosphere. Probably more on the Celeste side lol
And here he is, Bacchus, mentioned in the previous track. THAT PERCUSSION LOOP SOUNDS LIT! And the scale used is so fitting. I need you to teach me how to get that effect with percussions! Love what happens halfway, at 1:27. I get DKC vibes here hahaha Love the effects you used and that faint, final chord before the percussions solo. And the way the theme is there alone at 2:20, it was such a drop! It feels more like a dialogue with the boss rather than the fight. I can imagine the same theme played uptempo and with an epic orchestration!
The mixing sounds so good and professional, it was so easy to listen to.
Thank you for this journey!
P.S.: Kudos for the visuals!
Here we go, bard music at its best!
I wasn't expecting the 7/4 time signature! (I tend to listen before reading)
The first track really set the mood for the whole adventure, it felt so authentic, loved the general atmosphere!
"A song of adventure" had such a well written theme, really made the flute stand out. It kind of gave me some "Frog" vibes from Chrono Trigger. Loved the dissonances in the strings pad.
"A moment to Gaze at the Stars". Enough said. That's it. I think this is the kind of music that would help me on the days when I'm struggling, reminding me to take some time to breathe in and go on. Had to point out the glissando at 0:37 somehow sounded weird, maybe too forte and the notes chosen weren't quite fitting to me. But all in all, it sounded SOOO good. It really feels like something you'd hear in a very popular game.
"In Ancient Ruins". Good ol' dulcimer doing its good job. Love the snares here AND THE CHORD CHANGES FROM 0:51! That feeling when you just can't expect where the composer is going, and it really adds to the feeling of "Where are we supposed to go now? What's that? Why does it feel so off?". That's what I need in my life. Shattering expectations!
And after all this, the familiarity in "A Legendary Song" is just striking! The leitmotiv really adds to the sense of coming full-circle. Kind of gave me Soul Edge/Soul Calibur vibes.
"A Rowdy Evening" feels like an ending... or maybe it doesn't really end here??? Some very wise chord picking here, the way the ending part of the theme is exchanged between sections, the way the music stops and gets back together. It really feels like we're finally done. We've gone through stuff, but now we're all here together remembering what we lived.
Only possible downside (if we might call it that) is that you can easily tell everything's computer-made, but the sense of depth and complexity you managed to achieve really conveyed what you were surely trying to do with your music and it just makes you forget about that. It really felt emotional, you've been so coherent in every single track, everything made sense in its own way and also related to other tracks.
Thank you for this experience, bard!
Thank you so much for taking the time for listening and commenting!
I definitely agree, I really need to learn some more mixing. Also, due to time constraints (and due to working on these tracks at 4 AM), I really couldn't make it sound the way I wanted but then again, I still need some more mixing learning.
Thanks again and see you soon on your post!
Thanks a lot for taking the time to share such a long insight!
Also thanks for the in-depth feedback.
As for the voices, I felt like the more reverb I added, the more confusing it sounded, and many notes just stumbled upon the next ones, yet they sounded a little bit dry, so I kind of agree. I have to learn how to work with this plugin better than I did.
I totally agree on the timpani, they weren't as majestic-sounding as they should.
I really need to work on mixing a lot more.
Thanks again and will be seeing you on your post very soon!
Congratulations for your entry!
This music is very close to what I'd have imagined to hear first considering the theme. Very ancient and epic sounding.
The whole composition feels kinda complex but very easy to listen to. I love how you managed to use dissonances not going towards the root. Every single layer helps bringing a sense of solemnity and hyped everything up. The dynamics are quite spot on. You can easily understand when something's about to change and grow. The themes were quite coherent to each other and you managed to blend them all together very well.
The only downside I'd have to point out though is that both tracks lack a sense of depth, space-wise. I'd at least add some reverb. You can feel this music as such a deep soul but it doesn't sound as majestic as it could.
Very good job, I've enjoyed it all!
Congratulations for your entry! The story was quite captivating and you managed to convey it through your music.
I particularly enjoyed how you managed to exploit the instruments and their features to show different shades of the same place, be it a passage from one section to another (especially when going towards the next track) or be it leaving a single instrument alone, just like the protagonist of the story near the end.
The only thing that kept me from 100% appreciating it was the lack of reverb somehow, especially on the snare. But the more I kept going on, the more I loved what you managed to come up with.
Good job, it was a pleasant experience!
