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The Hidden Portal's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Overall Uniqueness/Creativity | #3 | 4.280 | 4.280 |
| Overall Uniqueness/Creativity (double field for weight) | #4 | 3.840 | 3.840 |
| Execution | #9 | 3.920 | 3.920 |
| Overall | #11 | 3.807 | 3.807 |
| Correlation to Theme | #20 | 3.560 | 3.560 |
| Composing Quality | #22 | 3.640 | 3.640 |
| Listenability | #26 | 3.600 | 3.600 |
Ranked from 25 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/aven-gelic/the-hidden-portal
Description
The Hidden Portal
Water Spirits from the Far Reaches of the Hidden Portal in Amida Falls.
Observing the reference image "The Amida Falls in the Far Reaches of the Kisokaidō Road" by Katsushika Hokusai, I perceived the painting as a sacred place. To me, the waterfall resembled a central nervous system and a portal. Exploring other works by the artist, I discovered several depicting yōkai. This led me to imagine that the painting conceals a yōkai, represented by this "nervous system," a coded message indicating the presence of a portal between our world and that of the yōkai, envisioning it as a hidden message within the artwork. I imagined the waters of Amida Falls flowing through both worlds, linking them together through this hidden energetic portal, symbolizing the waterfall as a bridge between the visible and the invisible, which in Japanese spiritual culture is associated with the realm of yōkai. A yōkai is a specter, spirit, or demon, which in some cases has animal, human, or both parts simultaneously. They are also often representations of nature and invisible forces. Waterfalls and other natural elements are frequently associated with the supernatural in Japanese folklore. For example, there are yōkai related to water, such as mischievous aquatic creatures, and dragons, which are guardians of rivers and lakes.
For the sound design, I was also inspired by the movements and flows of water, waterfalls, spirits and underwater monsters like ryu dragons, and especially images of light reflections on and under water. Except for the percussion, all sounds were designed by myself. The overall sound design represents the presence of light in the dark depths of water. Light also symbolizes life, energy, the portal and the channeling between the two worlds. The deep darkness, in contrast, symbolizes the inner world, the hidden, rest and solitude.
Since this is an impressions jam I decided to go for something very experimental so I tried to push the boundaries with the sound design and decided to make a blend between different styles and genres that would represent this idea about this energetic portal at Amida waterfall.
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Comments
Well, this definitely breaks past 5/5 for Originality haha. I'd give it a 10/5 if I could!
As an enjoyer of sound design I absolutely love what you did with the beginning and how it's interspersed throughout the track. I got a little worried seeing how large the file was but it was definitely worth waiting!
Absolutely killer sound design! This feels like it's on the cusp of becoming hardcore EDM but it ebbs and flows back in on itself in such an ethereal way - great work!!!
Great synth work! Really cool sounds!
haaah that's some nice chill ambience dude, really cool sound design... is that an EDM ris- spills coffee
awesome submission! meticulously detailed description! i was not expecting actual EDM to work in the jam but the ambient design intrigued me and the drop convinced me. i heard the riser and thought 'no way he actually does that' - 5/5 for actually going through with it :D
this is by far one of the most unique pieces I've heard. I love it
Thank you so much!! I really appreciate it!
I loved it so much, amazing piece of work !!! Thank you for sharing <3
I appreciate it a lot, thank you!!
This was certainly unique take on the theme!
I really loved the aesthetic of the song and how its finale, I think it has a grandeur that the theme required in my opinion.
Great job, take care :3
Thank you so much! The theme was very important to my creative process. I tried to be creative with the theme as well, so thank you!
Impressive sound design. Perhaps too many ways explored in just one place, my little brain has stalled. Great proposal anyway and lot of work, gratz.
Feels like I stumbled into a boss battle with a cyber-yokai, very nice immersive sounds altogether.
This is a cool track. Love the space and sense of space, feeling like things are moving through space. Very nicely done.
That section at 3:25 is really fricking dope. This is already a favorite entry of mine.
Well done!
I'm so glad you liked it! That last section you mentioned, I used elements of hypertrance, since it's a very energetic genre and its leads generate a feeling of light and crystallization. Thank you very much for your comment, it means a lot to me!
Sounds very cool really like the textures in this one you nailed the "water spirit" vibe, pretty dark and shimmery. Well done.
Thank you so much!
Sound design is absolutely, completely, 100% possible using software synths. Sound design is possible using a Casio Keyboard. It's possible using a $30,000 Eurorack Modular Synth. It's possible using a Sure SM57 and a styrofoam cup. There is so much evidence supporting this that it's not even worth arguing, but the best evidence is right here in this submission.
Not only did you heavily experiment with sound design and synthesis, you formed it into a cohesive song. This thing is bangin. You got me praying for that kick to hit again and got me begging for a bunch of spicy frequencies to hit my ears. My only critique is that I want more of your percussion, because you're damn good at it. The ending segment with snare on the 3rd beat felt like ecstasy. I wish there was more "oomph" in the bass during this section, like the insane cerebral kicks around 1:25.
Nice work!!
Thank you so much for your comment. I've worked a lot on my sound so I really appreciate it. I'm glad you enjoyed that drop as I've really enjoyed producing it! Thank you for your words!
You talk about designing the sounds yourself but the plugins / vsts used are visable in the DAW screenshot, I'm also confused by how the names of those are all cropped. It's quite difficult to tell what exactly is happening in your daw, since the piano roll doesn't quite match up with a melody or line from the track?
I think a more clear picture of your daw would be super helpful for folks wanting to actually grade your composition, mixing, and sound design.
Otherwise, the track is a bit to electronic for me. Way to Dance club and not really giving deep dark Japanese folklore vibes.
However it is a nice track, and a good submission.
I dont know what you mean, I sounddesigned every sound in virtual synthesizers. And the screenshot is from the track I uploaded.
Sound designing and just using a virtual synth aren't quite the same thing, is what I was trying to say. Typically when someone says they designed a sound it means from a waveform or audio file themselves, in something like a sampler or wavetable editor.
I said virtual synthesizers not virtual synth and I didn´t use external presets. I designed every sound in wavetables virtual synthethizers, like serum and vital.
If you had a better picture of your DAW we'd be able to actually see what software you used, was my point.