Impressions Composing Jam: OST #2

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A jam submission

CivilizationView project page

Orchestral track for Impressions Jam OST #2

Submitted by Eetu Suikkanen (@Nenakkius) — 17 hours, 23 minutes before the deadline

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Results

Criteria	Rank	Score*	Raw Score
Correlation to Theme	#8	4.273	4.273
Composing Quality	#9	4.045	4.045
Overall	#14	3.845	3.845
Listenability	#22	3.818	3.818
Execution	#23	3.636	3.636
Overall Uniqeuness	#30	3.455	3.455

Ranked from 22 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

Link to Streaming Service, such as Soundcloud, Bandcamp, Youtube, etc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoBkJkPQTXc

Description
I made one track that has different sections that represent the different stages of the empire/paintings.

I imagined this as an empire being founded, that then starts to wage war out of greed, achieving a momentary "golden age" because of that, but ultimately getting destroyed, as the nations/people they have oppressed join together and revolt against them (sort of a greed doesn't pay thing😉).

i also made this as a sort of companion to my track from the previous one of these OST jams, using the theme of DEATH from that track as the theme of WAR in this.

Track from the previous OST Jam: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJIDiZmqwKw

GEAR/SOFTWARE USED:

Cubase 14 as my DAW

Dorico 5 is where i actually composed this in, before porting it to the DAW

EastWest Hollywood Orchestra (old play version) for all of the orchestral sounds

Olympus Choir for the Choir

Kontakt Factory Library for the Harp

Thanks for listening, and all feedback is very much welcomed!

Screenshot of DAW
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Comments

The Symphonic SquirrelSubmitted42 days ago(+1)

Wow. Love this. Great work! Love the instrument set and the tone and feel you got. Each section has its own fun and enjoyment.

Cubease! I need to through the money into that and buy it.... Sadly I just have not. EastWest, I have heard of that one. How is it? I

Overall, I really liked this one.

Submitted

Ghandia: Kingdom of the White Hare | Impressions Composing Jam: OST #2

Eetu SuikkanenDeveloper42 days ago(+1)

Glad you liked it!

From my experience with it, the EastWest's orchestra package is pretty great, but it's hard to learn how to use it properly (at least has been like that for me😅). I've heard the new OPUS version of it is a bit easier to use, but haven't upgraded yet so I cant really say 😁.

I saw you use Ableton, is there some features missing from it that you would need Cubase for?

Reaper could be a good cheaper alternative, since a lot of features like expression maps and other stuff in Cubase are also available in Reaper as add-ons made by users.

The Symphonic SquirrelSubmitted42 days ago(+1)

Really? I have heard of Reaper, but didn't know it was like Cubase. That is cool. Thank you. Aw, Ableton is great. But it has features that are more for live music and really great for large orchestrations. It does not have the note function that Cubase has, like the staff and such. However, I have found it to be very useful compared to what I used to use (which was LMMS). I will look into that then! I use The Orchestra Essentails from SonuSCore. It is a really well made collection of samples. Much better than others that I have used in the past.

Eetu SuikkanenDeveloper42 days ago(+1)

Ah, if you really need a good/easy to use score view, then I wouldn't recommend Reaper.

The score view is really basic in Reaper, and entering notes in it is really not intuitive, the one in Cubase is a lot better since they recently upgraded it a bit.

But even if the score view pretty good in Cubase, I still like to compose big arrangements like this in notation first, since inputting notes in the Cubase score view has always felt a bit cumbersome when i've tried it.

Cubase and Reaper both have trials, so you could test out the trials to see how they both feel to use for you. Learning a DAW takes time so I would really recommend using the full trial periods to get a feel for both of them.

If you need some other sounds to use with The Orchestra Essentials, and you might already know these, but the free version of the Spitfire BBC Orchestra is pretty good and then there is the FREE ORCHESTRA 1 & 2 by ProjectSAM, Blueprint series by Fracture Sounds and SineFactory series by Orchestral Tools. If you haven't used any of those, I highly recommend taking a look, since there's a lot of good stuff included in them.

The Symphonic SquirrelSubmitted42 days ago(+1)

Wow! Yes, I have used BBC and the SAM. I like them a lot. But those other ones sound good too! I will check them out.

Oh, in that case. I will stick with Ableton haha. As for notation programs: Which do you prefer? Dorico or Musescore? I have not spent much time using either yet so I don't know. Again, thanks for these tips! They are very useful to me.

Eetu SuikkanenDeveloper42 days ago (1 edit)

I'm currently using Dorico, mostly because I use Cubase, which is by the same company.

I'm hoping that they will one day make the workflow between the two apps really seamless.

I've also used Musescore quite a bit, and it's really great and FREE! If you just need a notation program to write in, Musescore is great and has some good stock sounds too.

I'd recommend Musescore since it's free, but later on if you one day get Cubase, you could then maybe get Dorico.

Just wanna point out that you really don't need get Dorico even if you use Cubase, Musescore works just as great! It's just that i own the Noteperformer soundset which I used to use with the Sibelius notation program before Dorico was released, and then changed to Dorico when they started supporting it.

This is a scrapped track from the last Impressions OST jam that i used Musescore for (the sounds are their free MUSESOUNDS sound package!):

https://musescore.com/user/14415026/scores/21145336/s/33mDi2?share=copy_link

The Symphonic SquirrelSubmitted41 days ago(+1)

OH Wow! Thank you. Some how I missed the message you sent here. I have both actually. But I only have the free version of Dorico. But yeah I am leaning very much towards Musescore for it is free and has lots of good features. And wow. I am in love with that track you shared with me. So good! Thanks again. This has been so helpful! (I am going to be making my next song with Musescore, a piano song that I have not yet had the chance to put in digital format yet.) Good luck on your next project!

UnknownRoriSubmitted42 days ago(+1)

I love the opening, the build up until the golden age is smooth, thanks for sharing this awesome track!

Submitted

Nordland - ᚾᛟᚱᛞᛚᚨᚾᛞ

Eetu SuikkanenDeveloper42 days ago(+1)

Many thanks! 🙏

FoxHyodeSubmitted42 days ago(+1)

Very nice arrangement it was super fluid, I relistened without looking at the picture to see when its gonna transition and everything was smooth. Well done on this one :)

Submitted

Monuments to the Unseen - FoxHyode & pleatsandprints & railroadism & Evelina & Slayabest

Eetu SuikkanenDeveloper42 days ago

Thanks for the kind words! 🙏

BunjanaSubmitted43 days ago(+1)

Oooooo. Very nice!

Lovely opening - great use of the orchestral palette!

Great composition here - even getting some Powell vibes in places - doesn’t get better than that!

Nice choral moment at the end.

Great stuff - well done!

Submitted

Of Bloom and the Blood

Eetu SuikkanenDeveloper42 days ago

Glad you liked it!

fiberbundlesSubmitted43 days ago(+1)

Your arrangement seems to have a mix of film score and game score elements. The style here is really cool! I also like how you use the drum kit for orchestral backing, but sometimes take it into patterns that are almost like rock beats. The part at 3:14 reminds me of the Cait Battle theme from Octopath II!

Submitted

What Happens on a Stage

Eetu SuikkanenDeveloper43 days ago(+1)

The Cait Battle theme has the same oom-pah rhythm in it😁

You reminded me I still need to play through Octopath 1&2... I just somehow didn't vibe with the visual effects, meaning the lighting effects etc, so only played an hour of it via game pass 😅(soundtrack is great though!).

KaleOverlordHostSubmitted44 days ago(+1)

Heh second track getting very imperial march.

This was well composed as well. Awesome work.

Constructively, I think a couple of the tracks could use a little midi polish, but that's always a lot of work, and is best solved with real instruments when you have them available.

Great work! :)

Submitted

Course of the Empire [HOST SUMBISSION: Disregard Placement]

Eetu SuikkanenDeveloper44 days ago

Yeah, still learning how to use the samples i have, so some parts are a bit better sounding than others.

The string melody parts during the GOLDEN AGE section are especially wonky sounding, since i had some issues finding a patch with the right attack to the notes + be legato/slurred😅.

Hopefully if I do some more orchestral stuff on later jams, and try to mock those up with samples too, maybe I'll finally learn how to use the orchestral samples i have without feeling like banging my head against the wall every time i try to use them 😂.

Glad you liked it

MektoSubmitted44 days ago(+1)

This is great !

Very well composed, and really great orchestration.

I loved the Consummation of the Empire, the end "groove" of it was so cool, and it connected so well with Revolution

Congrats, it's some beautiful music !

Submitted

The Course of the Empire

Eetu SuikkanenDeveloper44 days ago

Many thanks! 🙏

Diego LaraSubmitted45 days ago(+1)

There were some great moments of anticipation that were beautifully resolved, this honestly felt great I can feel the epic of the paintings through the music! I think using Dorico to Cubase made it feel more coherent with the mixing too!

Submitted

The Days Long Gone

Eetu SuikkanenDeveloper44 days ago

Been glad to hear the track doesn't sound that bad, since this sort of the first mockup using samples I've ever managed to actually get finished, that uses the whole orchestra 😅.

2LAZYSubmitted46 days ago (1 edit) (+1)

I think it's extremely well done, the orchestration. I don't think there was a single part that I felt dragged on or felt boring, it sounded very well-paced. My only criticism would be to make the melodies just a little louder as they sounded a little drowned out in some areas. Also, I don't mind the MIDI sound at all, I think you used what you had perfectly.

Submitted

The Course Of The Empire

Eetu SuikkanenDeveloper46 days ago

Yea, had some issues with the cc automation, especially the strings during the GOLDEN AGE part.

Really need to dig deep to the Hollywood Orchestra library and find patches that use the same CC controls, so next time it wont be such a pain 😅.

muttzillaSubmitted47 days ago(+1)

I love this, I listened to yours first (hard mode) as I had high expectations and was not let down.

My favorite sections is Age of War and Peace of Greed (top name btw!) but that transition from Golden Age to Revolution is a delight!

Take care mate :3

Submitted

Eetu SuikkanenDeveloper47 days ago

Glad you liked it!

Couldn't really get the mockup sounding as smooth as i wanted (compared to 2LAZY's submission this feels really MIDI😅), but at least its a bit better sounding than the noteperformer sounds i initially used 😁.

muttzillaSubmitted47 days ago(+1)

After listening I get what you mean xD
but trust me, yours don't sound MIDIsh either