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The Mountain King's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Correlation to Project Description | #3 | 4.538 | 4.538 |
| Overall | #8 | 3.923 | 3.923 |
| Composing Quality | #9 | 4.000 | 4.000 |
| Listenability | #9 | 4.000 | 4.000 |
| Execution | #15 | 3.538 | 3.538 |
| Overall Uniqueness/Creativity | #19 | 3.538 | 3.538 |
Ranked from 13 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/pica-mechanicus/sets/the-mountain-king
Description
I wanted to sit this one out, but the theme happened to match something I actually started working on, so yea, why not wrap it up and the whole set as a submission.
Each of the pieces was made with a slightly different approach to composition, with different goals in mind and different starting points.
- Stronghold at the End of the World -
I wanted this piece to be the main theme, so I wanted it to be big.
I started from composing melodies as sheet music and harmonizing it on the staff before exporting to DAW.
It was also my first attempt to fully orchestrate the piece for the whole symphony. It might be a bit uncomplicated arrangement, but I'm glad it somewhat holds together.
- Heart of the Mountain -
More exploratory piece, that reuses part of the main theme and introduces actual instrument set chosen for the whole set.
More for setting the ambience than anything else.
- Sleeping Dragon -
Here I just wanted to create some unsettling vibes over a simple progression.
The idea was that you are approaching/sneaking past a sleeping dragon, so t's mostly setting the ambience.
Most important part are descending double bass runs, that are supposed to mimic the sound of a snoring collosus.
- Sheer Cold -
Battle theme for facing the dragon after a failed attempt of sneaking by.
Here I've focused mostly on dynamic rhythm patterns, so the composition actualy started from the drum track, and the rest was built on top of it.
Screenshot of DAW
provided in files
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Comments
Looks like Fox did a really good job of leaving feedback.
My main thoughts are the composition is interesting and the vibe is good, but the whole thing feels dry and not really mixed in space.
Solid work overall though.
Thank you very much.
What exactly do you mean by "mixed in space" though? Left/right panning? Front to back reverb work? Both? Or smething else entirely :D
Both.
All right, i'm gonna go hard on this since its unranked, feedback time, don't worry might seem brutal but its what it is.
Stronghold at the end of the world : Beginning seems a bit weak with cello and violins, what I mean is the melody and bass are a bit predictable and do not have a nice harmony together, the note you chose could be a litte different or the playing that sounds a bit MIDI its not too bad but I think playing with expression modulation will help alot. I like the second part but I would like more movement on the cello/basses instead of keeping the sustained notes for this long at every chord change, strings like to move alot. Its okay to sustain at first but then you can move it a bit more even though the high strings are moving.
heart of the mountain : Cello melody is fine but very simplistic and like the first song, playing with expression and modulation if possible would make everything better and more humane. I like the delay keys. 1:36 would be a good moment to introduce the doublebass doubling the cello melody. Other than that its just a couple of EQing to get rid of the mud.
Sleeping dragon : The most original so far, very weird chords I like it, gotta watch out the bass frequency with the basses/cello, they are clashing a bit. Almost the same with the brass they are very far away in the mix and I think its the most important instrument of this track, have to bring it back up a bit.
Sheer cold : I like the ostinato pattern but again percs and bass clashing a bit. The muted trumpets are a cool addition too but way too low. I think at 1:00 the tension is great but you could add something to make an even greater build up before we regain the main motif.
If its just a question of VST there is alot of free nice orchestral VST by Orchestral Tools, spitfire and even more if you have kontakt library or decent sampler.
That might seems like a lot but its still a great album production so don't be too offended by this. Good job :)
Whoa, "offended"? That's gold bro! Best feedback I've recieved since a long time.
Thanks for taking extra time to go in depth with my stuff, I really appreciate that :)
I think that my VSTs have a lot more power that I am capable of using (some base Native Instuments stuff). TBH, working with expressions/modulations always felt a bit overwhelming and extremely time consuming. Would you have some tips on how to git gud faster on that front?
I'm absolutely in love with the orchestration and the compositions are brilliant! Congratulations!
Thanks!
Really strong melodic and harmonic intro with "Stronghold at the End of the World", this is so solid. I feel like it has an abrupt ending, but enjoy how it was explored more in the next track "Heart of the Mountain". Great compositions!
Thanks, glad to hear that my stuff somewhat holds together.
It was my first attempt at making such a stacked orchestration as in the "Stronghold". Abrupt (and somewhat imperfectly resolved) ending was on purpose though :)
I really like the melodies in your work, they're very pretty and I love that you decided to call back to some of your pieces cause it's a great way to make everything super cohesive for a soundtrack. Really good work! :)
P.S. I think Sheer Cold is my favorite of the bunch, I just love the groove on that one and the plinky glock/xylophone sound
Thank you, I'm happy you liked it :)
I had a lot of fun with "Sheer Cold" rhythm. I think it's important for a battle theme stuff to have a driving groove, so I'm glad it worked out
remarkable composition, very beautiful sounds. Overall great work
Thank you very much
Very cool OST
Thanks