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1 Pm (Sunny) - Animal Crossing New Horizons (Alternative OST Jam #2)'s itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Overall | #3 | 4.133 | 4.133 |
| Impression | #4 | 4.222 | 4.222 |
| Composition | #4 | 4.222 | 4.222 |
| Sound quality | #5 | 4.111 | 4.111 |
| Creativity | #9 | 4.000 | 4.000 |
| Credibility | #12 | 4.111 | 4.111 |
Ranked from 27 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Streaming link
https://on.soundcloud.com/45Y54hLyU4V9oZhL9
Track description | Creative process
Everything I explain on this visual board in Miro for easier readability (no account needed!)
https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVKvNgVNI=/
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Comments
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.
Gorgeous bass line. I am so loving the entrance and the buildup you created to prepare for the lead voices. Bridge with tropical instrument also on point, and head bobbing all along with positive vibes. Let's go to the beach, furry friends, for it's a beautiful day!
And a million kudos for your Miro board. Man, you are such an inspiration. Learning so much from your notes already! A ton of valuable info there.
Me being an inspiration to anyone is a big BIIIIIG compliment considering I’m a month and a half in my learning journey 🤣
I’m super happy you jammed to the vibe, I tried to make something simple but that would stick a bit lol.
Thank you for the awesome feedback, you made my day!
I really like this track. Composition, theme, and sound/mix quality are all on point. Very well executed!
Super happy you liked it! Thank you for taking the time to listen :)
Great track, good vibe. I think it does capture the game really wel. The choice of instruments are good and wel composed. I love how you the focus of the instruments flow in terms of focus in the writing.
I do think the mix and sound of the instruments feel a bit aggresive especially in the higher parts of the spectrum/instruments. Which givese it a bit of a busy feel, instead of a more relaxed vibe. Everything feels a bit to much in the front of the speakers.
Hey thanks for the great feedback, may I ask you what hardware you were listening my submission with just for reference?
Sure, i use a focusrite 8i6 with Adam t5v monitors. Sample rate is 96kHz. Also i listened on my akg k702 openback headphones. My setup does lack a bit below 50 Hz, saving up for a fitting sub ;)
Amazing thank you!! Like I said to another guy here, I learned to mix essentially the week of the jam (two courses) but I still can’t spot properly what is right or wrong (even though I could tell the guitar was too aggressive but was not able to tone down the brightness properly yet) the rest felt okay to me personally on my Beyerdynamics DT 1990 PRO + Sonarworks to flatten the response to apparently professional standard.
Soooooo…
TLDR; My ears are super bad xDDDD
Anyways I appreciate it, it really echoes what most people have said to me and I look forward to gain in experience so the mixes become more “competitive”.
I’m also thinking of getting maybe two more pairs of headphones to try and have some more feedback on different material, so thanks for the great detail on your setup!
So,. I could talk for hours on setup and gear, I work as a sound engineer.
I would say.. and not everyone might agree with this.. but if you want to learn to mix.. its far more important to learn how things sound on your setup. An approach to perfect neutral audio is a long and complicated journey. You're headphone are a good set of headphones.. I would go for studio monitors next. And mostly.. listen, listen, listen. Get to know your favorite songs really well and use them as reference.
There's not really rights or wrongs, experience is important in this.. to know your ears and the system and goal your working with. Offcourse neutral is good.. but you can train your ears to make decisions when mixing without a perfectly neutral setup.
Learn how the digital instruments you use, would sound accoustically as a real instruments and where they fit wel inside the mix. Technique and tricks can be learned, but experience and workflow in how you approach the topic is what I've always found more important
All ears are different and mixengineers always make different decision on their opinion or the artists they are working with. So there's no right or wrong. Criticism is constructive and an opinion of where I, or someone else would make a different decision. (I also am never happy with my entries and keep hearing things I'd like to change!)
If you need help or struggle with a certain feel free to ask for help or insight from different composers or engineers!
Sorry for the long reply, but I hope that that helps, feel free to hit me up if you struggle with some technical aspects 😉
I'm super grateful for the long reply!
I didn't catch your discord but a sound engineer dm-reachable YES PLS! xD
A lot of good points, thanks for all the context!
When I meant doing right or wrong, it's mostly in the context of like you said lack of experience. The setup is all new and I'm new to mixing, so there's definitely a lot of listening like you said that needs to be done to become just better at knowing how to make the right decisions (even though like you said, there will always be subjective choices).
Thanks for the great write up and recommendations, I really appreciate it!
I found this track to be a ton a fun to listen to! The composition and the choice of instruments mesh really well for this type of game!
My only real criticism, as others have mentioned, is that the synth feels just a little too intense. Maybe bringing it down slightly in the mix would help balance that out, imo.
It's really cool to see how much thought goes into your work, and it definitely continues to show. I cannot wait to hear what comes next. Thanks for sharing this! :)
Thanks for taking the time to check the submission out and give me great feedback, I really appreciate it!
Could also ask with what hardware you listened to the song? I’m starting to think I might have to buy a few other things to listen through.
Right now I’m mixing with a Beyerdynamics DT 1990 PRO and with Sonarworks to have the best neutral reference sound possible, but I think it might be dentrimental for me to only listen through this for my mixes.
Thanks a ton!!
For these jams I've been primarily listening through a pair of Sony MDR-V6 Headphones, which I also typically use for mixing. They should be pretty similar to yours in terms of having minimal frequency enhancements.
I would also agree with you that listening to mixes from different sources will help you achieve the sound you're looking for. Personally, I didn't find my (very minor) critique to be as prominent when I listened again through speakers.
Also, I just read in your Miro board that you're relatively new to mixing, and honestly I felt this was solid work if that's the case. I think as you start to get more comfortable with mixing, and thinking a little more critically about where different instruments sit in the frequency spectrum, you'll start to get a better ear for how to balance instruments in a mix. I still feel I'm learning new things about the mixing process several years later. Keep on practicing and doing your thing!
Hopefully this helps!
it helps a ton thank you. I learned to mix this week with two concurrent courses. The goal of this jam was really to make a simple enough piece so I could focus all the work on learning and executing a mix from A to Z.
I think like you’re saying having a few other devices might help but yours is definitely not a problem.
But one thing that is as important or even more than that though is developing my ears and getting experience. I can learn to mix all I want, I need to mix more things and start developing a ear for what’s good or not, the foundations work well enough so that’s good, now only time and more work will help, and I think that’s still obvious considering how many people gave me great feedback on the current mix overall.
Thanks a ton again for all the great feedback, I’m spoiled to have access to people like you in the community so willing to help a noob ❤️