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Impressions Composing Jam: Imagination #2

Hosted by KaleOverlord
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A jam submission

Self-ExplorerView project page

Submission for the Impressions Composing Jam: Imagination #2.
Submitted by Grunt. — 1 day, 5 hours before the deadline
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Play soundtrack

Self-Explorer's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Composing Quality#163.7503.750
Overall#183.5973.597
Execution#193.6253.625
Overall Uniqueness/Creativity#193.7503.750
Overall Uniqueness/Creativity (double field for weight)#203.2923.292
Listenability#223.7083.708
Correlation to Theme#243.4583.458

Ranked from 24 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

Link to Streaming Service
https://soundcloud.com/grunt7517/sets/self-explorer

Description
When the jam first started, I got some pretty conflicting ideas about the vibe that I wanted to go with for this submission. While I had quite a few ideas that ranged in genre and scale, I was unable to commit enough time to flesh them out so I focused on the two pieces found here.

#1 - Out There

This piece was written with the theme in mind more-so than the painting. When I first thought of "The Far Reaches" I wanted to give the piece a sense of adventure - that the listener is about to embark on some quest or personal journey that takes them away. There's an excitement to be partaking in this journey, but also a tinge of sadness or worry that can come from being away from one's home. Those are the emotions that I wanted to capture in this piece.

#2 - At Peace, Away From Home

I imagined the location in the painting as the "far reaches" that the listener is trying to reach after a very long journey. For this piece I wanted to capture some of the things I imagine that I would feel if I were sitting on the edge of the waterfalls - even though I may be far from my home I am still able to find peace. Hence why there are few instances of a strong resolution in this peace.

Equipment Used:

I used a mixture of physical effects pedals as well as digital plugins in this submission. All of the specific gear can be found in the comment section.

DAW - Garageband
Notation/Composition - MuseScore4

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Comments

-NOVA-Submitted26 days ago(+1)

hoooly moly my dude, as someone who struggles with acoustics for guitars I really dig how guitar-heavy the themes are! Intros to both are splendid and give me that late-night 90's town feel, great work!

Submitted
The Farthest Reaches - Lustrous Roads
Reply
Grunt.Developer25 days ago

Ayy thanks a ton! That's definitely a vibe I was thinking about when putting these together.

Thanks a ton for listening, and congrats on your placement! :)

Reply
Javier S. DacarettSubmitted26 days ago(+1)

Great buildup in the beginning and some cool ideas!

Submitted
What Some Will Never Witness
Reply
Eetu SuikkanenSubmitted28 days ago

Cant really mention anything others haven't already mentioned, but have to say I love the tremolo guitar stuff on the second track, just perfect for the vibe of the track!

Good stuff!

Submitted
The Far Reaches
Reply
Grunt.Developer28 days ago(+1)

Thank you!! Any comment left here is still greatly appreciated!

Thanks a ton for listening! :)

Reply
KaleOverlordHostSubmitted29 days ago(+1)

Opening is definitely peaceful and tranquil, easy on the ears, very listenable.

I like the little pitch bending happening too. 

I love the transition at 1:28. It hits well. I feel like the the guitar at 1:38 could be more punchy in its dynamics. The composition is good enough that the dynamics are becoming apparent.

I think the chord progression gets a little repetitive after a while. I think I want more bass in this particularly.

Track 2:

Loving this. I feel like this is hitting the vibe more than the first track. I think the overtones in this track are cool but also maybe start to get a little harsh and muddy. Composition is cool. This track is definitely my favorite of the two.

Flute sounds a bit midi - I like to lower the attack on instruments like violin and flute when doing midi, and then play them by hand with velocity control, but also overlap the decay of the last note with the attack of the first. I've found this makes the most natural transition for a gradual transition. Heh, I used a real flute in mine and then later, used a virtual flute, so I guess you can tell me how well the technique works from an outsider perspective.

Great work though overall. Loved this one. :)

Submitted
The Procession From Beyond [Host Submission: Disregard Placement]
Reply
Grunt.Developer28 days ago

Thanks a ton for all the feedback!

I agree with all the notes here, especially the ones that pertain to the flutes. I did actually try playing these by hand, but I'll definitely try experimenting more with the velocity. The note about overlapping notes might actually work really well with this piece.

I did consider adding in another part in the first piece to occupy the lower frequencies, but couldn't put something together that 1) I was happy with; and 2) didn't clutter the mix. So I decided against it for this submission and hoped that the drums + center guitar part could fill that space, but I'll give it another go in the next jam.

I'll be sure to give your submission a peek later today to compare. Thank you for listening :)

Reply
AO ProductionsSubmitted29 days ago(+1)

Another Garageband user! finally! lol. great submission. I loved both, but the second was my favorite. it almost felt like a piece of movie score. great work :)

Submitted
What We Cannot Reach
Reply
Grunt.Developer29 days ago

Thanks a ton - appreciate it! :)

Garageband users rise up!! o7

Reply
FoxHyodeSubmitted31 days ago(+1)

Okay Grunt, first submission that went "indie band" style very different, I like the guitar sounds, very peaceful. Track 1 I think the drums especially the kick lack a little "oomph" you can clearly add some sub bass to it and make it more upfront, you can pan the guitars a lot, I suggest you double the tracks, one with some room verb in the background fully pan with another like 50% pan that will help create some nice space in the tracks. Well done !

Submitted
Forever's Edge
Reply
Grunt.Developer31 days ago

This is the kind of feedback I was hoping for with these pieces. I'm glad you found some things you liked, and other things you feel I can improve on. I'll try these out on the material I didn't get to for Kale's next jam.

Thank you much for listening :)

Reply
SunshineSubmitted32 days ago (1 edit) (+1)

Those guitars in "Out There" are amazing! I love the way it all came together there. Though, I wish it all went a little faster or there was more for my ears to grab onto in the first min of the song. Those guitars were beautiful though and really accentuated that bitter-sweet vibe you were going for. 

Submitted
A Journey Far And Wide
Reply
Grunt.Developer31 days ago

Thanks for your comment!

That's a good suggestion, I'll see if I can address that in the next jam.

Thank you for listening :)

Reply
exedexes1Submitted32 days ago(+1)

Everything is right on and crisp, the two tracks have enough distinctiveness and the correlation to theme is top-notch.  Pretty happy with this one, nice job.

Submitted
Upon Crepuscular Epiphany - submitted for KaleOverlord's Imagination #2 Composing Jam Itch.IO December 2024
Reply
Grunt.Developer31 days ago

That's great to hear!

Thank you much for your comment, and thanks for taking a listen to my submission :)

Reply
TurtleBoxSubmitted33 days ago(+1)

This would be fantastic if you spent a little more time mixing the guitars, they sound so thin and raw that it kind of breaks the immersion.

Otherwise, the tracks are great. 

Submitted
Far Reaches - Impressions Composing Jam #2
Reply
Grunt.Developer31 days ago(+1)

Yeah, my goal for this jam was to have guitar tracks that weren't muddy (a problem I've had in the past). It's possible I've over-corrected that a little bit- hopefully I can get somewhere in between in the next jam.

Thanks for listening :)

Reply
TurtleBoxSubmitted31 days ago

How're you mixing the guitars? I'd be happy to give as much advice as I can.

Reply
Grunt.Developer34 days ago

Specific Equipment Used:




Out There
At Peace, Away From Home
Guitars
Electric Guitars (Agile 3010, Gretsch Semi-Hollow),
Acoustic Guitar (Yamaha acoustic electric)		Electric Guitars (Agile 3010, Gretsch Semi-Hollow)
Physical Pedals
JHS Morning Glory
Immerse Reverberator
Digital EffectsOzone 9 Elements, TAL Reverb-2, CHOW Matrix Delay, Rough Rider 3 Compressor
Stock virtual instruments (pads, drums)
Ozone 9 Elements, CHOW Matrix Delay, Rough Rider 3 Compressor
Stock virtual instruments (pads, flutes)
Reply
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