Really exciting piece, was wonderful to listen to. The harmony especially is super fun, tastefully dissonant and suitably wonderous for this magical castle. I would critique that the track only occasionally dips into the more ethereal, reflective ideas I would normally associate with crystal castles in video games, like the string interjections near 1:25. Ultimately, that part of this comp is pretty much up to interpretation so I'm not marking it down particularly harshly for that. Nice work
Skunk0
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I'm a huge fan. The opening is fantastically orchestrated, and though I honestly wasn't in love with the sudden inclusion of a drum beat, the beat was actually simplistic enough that I didn't feel it took away from the mystical, ethereal feeling of the opening. For the sake of suggesting an improvement, it would have been cool to see a bit more variety in the bassline, maybe a bit of melodicism even, as although their entry at 0:26 is very satisfying, that bassline then remains the same for the rest of the piece. Nice work 👍
Thank you for the kind words, and I appreciate you giving such specific feedback on the strings. I was aiming to create a surprisingly large crescendo with those strings but it sounds like it comes across as too much. Would definitely be more inclined to just dial back the dynamic on the strings at the beginning
Overall a very pleasant listen, I thought the way you used glockenspiel(?) was especially tasteful. If I was going to try and poke holes, I personally found that the lack of a clear melody to latch onto as a listener can make it a bit confusing when your are writing quite dense textures like this. Carefully weaving a melody in amongst all the chordal writing would elevate this piece for me. Nevertheless, nice job.
The overall composition of this track is very impressive and makes for a super fun listen, and there are definitely moments where earthbound comes through. Definitely quite intense for a shop theme, this could absolutely shine if you added a few more goofy, mock-theatrical elements.
Nice work, I'm especially a fan of the drums.
I think you fell into the same trap I did, forgetting about the track being meant to be a shop theme, but I'm a huge fan of this track nonetheless.
The synth and trumpet sounds are super well chosen and generally the ideas are pretty creative, nice bit of panning as well. In my unprofessional opinion, I'd say to make this sound even more earthbound you could try to use silence a little bit more to break up the constant melodies, just to add that little bit of awkwardness. Still very impressive
Awesome vibe, feels pretty spot on for a goofy merchant, especially love the chromatic walk up in the bassline. For me, it does lose the ethereal earthbound feel a bit due to not using synth or electronic-sounding instrument sounds, but if you were going for a more modern take on the soundtrack then that's your creative decision ultimately. Nice job!
The compositional ideas in this piece are lovely, it's a refreshing listen - nice work.
I would say, I think you've this from others already, that the mix is pretty in your face which is definitely taking away a bit from the more chill Animal Crossing vibe this could have, but I am 100% behind the instrumentation and the style.


