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A Winter Adventure's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Correlation to Project Description | #4 | 4.533 | 4.533 |
| Listenability | #12 | 3.933 | 3.933 |
| Overall | #12 | 3.800 | 3.800 |
| Composing Quality | #15 | 3.733 | 3.733 |
| Execution | #20 | 3.467 | 3.467 |
| Overall Uniqueness/Creativity | #27 | 3.333 | 3.333 |
Ranked from 15 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/sunshine_studio/sets/a-winter-adventure?si=d99e8e4d56f042eebf31c901f0784555&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
Description
Hey everyone, this is my submission for the Holiday Jam,
I guess just to start off, please don't feel obligated to listen to everything since I know it's a lot of music. If you chose to only listen to a few please take a look at the Main Theme, Meeting The Mountain King and Till The End of Time.
I came up with a setting for the fictional game I made this music for and it's written for the adventure genre in general.
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Setting:
In a snowy village far away, found at the bottom of a tall mountain, a young girl is preparing for a journey. An abandoned kingdom waits in the whispering winds at the top of the mountain that was once filled with warmth and joy. Now, only a lonely King resides there in his castle mourning his beloved wife. He resents that no one in the kingdom was there to help her when she needed it most and that they were unable to save her life. As our young protagonist slowly uncovers the truths of her past, misty memories of her family resurface as she gets closer to her inevitable confrontation with the King. Will she be able to melt his cold heart and bring the kingdom back to life?
- - -
I worked really hard on this one and I'm pretty happy with it. I know it still sounds very much like VST's but ill be investing in midi equipment soon so please look forward to that if you enjoy listening.
Thank you for taking the time to listen and please feel free to leave any comments, feedback, or constructive criticism.
Happy Holidays!
Screenshot of DAW
https://imgur.com/a/i1bnPQq
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Comments
This is composed well. I think a lot of this is still very dry, and could use some more reverb to brighten the space. The mix is also homogeneous as well. A good mix places things at different positions so that the sounds become clearer and less overlapped - our minds can separate out that information sonically and it makes everything sound clearer.
The composition is good though. Good work!
This really sounds like it's from the same game - in a good way. Cohesive but not repetitive. I liked it a lot :)
Winter Adventure - Great start, but melody becomes a bit too "quarter-notey" after first minute. Could use some more variety, especially as main theme is probably going to be heard many, many times.
Bard Theme - Very cool piece, but would sound more interesting with a second melody line. Perfect moment would be when you introduce the second instrument at ~0:53 - don't just switch, let them play together a bit, counterpoint or call and answer. You could introduce it a bit earlier then. Also flute part could probably use some more rests.
Wizard Theme - Very plinky, good choice for magic vibes. Sounds kinda eastern at times - was it intentional or just accidental pentationcs?
Fighter Theme - I suppose the lead was supposed to be distorted guitar? It's a tough choice. I've yet to hear electric guitar patch that would be realistic (even in top VST packs), so if you want it to sound good you need to play it yourself or get some loops. Otherwise it's gonna be a bumpy ride. Actually, if you ever need some guitar part again, you can let me know; I could record a line or two for you every now and then.
Meeting The Mountain King - I hear main theme coming back, nice. Would be great if you added a top line, either for some counter melody or maybe even chords. High strings paired with low cello/bass give very unsettling vibe; think horror movies: you have low pads and high shimmers, similar principle.
Till The End of Time - Only way I can describe this piece is "sweet". Felt right at home for wrapping things up, also sounds like a happier version of Main Theme first part - great job. I'd love to hear that one with some beefier VSTs.
Overall I really enjoyed this set. Can't wait for you to get some gear/sound packs, I'm sure you're going to make great stuff :)
Hey! Thanks for the detailed feedback I really appreciate it ☺️ For the wizard theme I borrowed chords from a Kpop song I really like so that eastern quality was probably due to that. https://youtu.be/WPVgLCY26Q8?si=UTEKhqSFKNpMi-s8
It has a beautiful magical quality so I wanted to see if I could borrow that sound.
I’ll definitely take you up on that guitar offer. I constrained myself to only using sound fonts for the entire soundtrack this time around, SGM and Undertale ones to be specific. Their guitars just sound much more artificial than the other instruments in there.
Thanks again for the feedback ☺️
First, yes its sounding "MIDI" but I don't think that can stop you, there is ALOT of amazing free plugins out there you can grab and make something more realistic.
There is alot of variety which is the best bits of the whole album, everything is cohesive yet still feel different not like the same song which I like.
For Bard or Balatro : The flute melody, it needs to breath cause the flute player is dead unless it knows circular breathing or you have two flute but a flute player would love to have more time to breathe, I so you can add some silence in the melody I think it will also help the track to breathe a bit.
A loyal soldier, most of the mix is in mid and low mid range so you need to add some highs to balance everything and get the mud since playing low chords is not the prettiest.
Whispering wind and Meeting the mountaing king has the same issues, too much in low-mid, need some balance, adding something to make it bit more clear.
Might seem a brutal comment but since its unranked I went all in to give my opinion, so don't be offended it seems alot but its a nice track overall.
Thanks for the feedback! Appreciate the constructive criticism and agree with it too. I just wanted to say for Bard or a Balatro I made the flute sound ridiculous on purpose to emphasize how silly it’s suppose to be. Imagining a Bard going ham on the flute and dying for breath is the part of the fun for me 😊 still though I think I could add in some breaths to emphasize that even so, its a good idea. Thank you for listening!
Don't worry too much about it sounding too midi. In my opinion, writing and composition capability is much more important down the road for a music producer, and I definitely see that you have a talent for that. Keep it up, you're doing great!
I liked the variety! I'd love to hear a little more dynamics/expression, especially with the more repetitive accompanying instruments
I think this entry that had the most vivid musical narrative in the jam. I could imagine each plot beat happening as each track played. Wonderful work.
Some great variety! I especially liked the music box version of Winter Adventure.
Hey, I listened to the entire playlist. It's amazing. I loved it. Great job!