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A Story Of Seasons's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Impression | #1 | 4.227 | 4.227 |
| Quality | #1 | 4.500 | 4.500 |
| Overall | #1 | 4.236 | 4.236 |
| Correlation to theme | #2 | 4.318 | 4.318 |
| Composition | #3 | 4.273 | 4.273 |
| Creativity | #13 | 3.864 | 3.864 |
Ranked from 22 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Description
Genre: A Story of Season is a half improv/half written piano piece, with mild synth and orchestral editing to make it sound like something you would hear in a Ghibli movie. There is an obvious wink to Joe Hisaishi's work, especially Kikujiro no Natsu's OST. The full track is the Medley and follows the changing seasons. I added an element of sound design with an ambient evolving SFX texture to evoque each one. I also divided the medley in four different tracks for listener's convenience.
What kind of game ? the drawing gave me some strong Boku No Natsuyasumi vibes. It's an adventure game that is all about holidays in the Japanese countryside, spending time with your grandmother and living kid's adventures. In this imaginary game, the kid would stay beyond summer and experience the changing ambiences in the countryside and in O basan's house. The game would mix mild elements of exploration and role play, subtle yet powerful story elements about a secret hidden in the backwoods.
DAW: Ableton Live 10.
Composition method: The piano is the backbone of the piece. The mood changes with each passing season (from E minor, to F# minor, to A minor and back again, Spring jumps between C and E minor and finishes in G major for a more dramatic effect). Orchestration was done with heavily modded elements from Spitfire's BBC Orchestral Library, a Cypher2 software synth for added bells and even a Typhon for a clarinet like lead in the Winter part. The ambient part was made with the usual sound design shenanigans: layered ambient recordings, distorted, EQed and warped to sound more organic.
Message from the artist:
Jeddy Chu's drawing gave me some strong Boku No Natsuyasumi vibes. A Story of Seasons is an adventure game that is all about holidays in the japanese countryside, spending time with your grandmother and living kid's adventures. In this imaginary game, the kid would stay beyond summer and experience the changing ambiences in the countryside and in O basan's house. The game would mix mild elements of exploration and role play halfway between Animal Crossing and Maniac Mansion, with a subtle yet powerful narrative about a secret hidden in the backwoods.
Theme:
How does it fit the theme?
The drawing marks a clear line between each season yet remains unchanging in style.
I tried my best to evoke each season with this ever changing piano improv', but as this is still highly subjective I added the SFX layer to more obviously convey each particular mood.
Also, "Story of Seasons" is also the story of the passing of time, and how everything remains ephemeral, hence the bitter sweet flavor of the piece.
Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://soundcloud.com/pete-wojtek/sets/story-of-seasons?si=1f8d77c3274041559c88619bdc048a1c&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
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Comments
All of these pieces are absolutely beautiful! I could absolutely picture the seasons with each piece and the background ambience was so very clever. Excellent work!
*chefs kiss* mamma mia
So many absolutely beautiful textures throughout all of these pieces. Each season is captured so well. I love the repeating yet changing motifs on Spring - Gakkō Ni Modoru. That track tells an entire story on its own.
Very nice atmosphere, good work!
piano
钢琴
ピアノ
おもしろいサウンドトラックですよ！ 曲はとても美しい音がしますよ。よくできました。
Very pleasant music, piano perfectly fits sound design and background samples, very nicely done!
Well done! I loved the idea of making a continuous medley track for the final presentation of the music. It's a cool way to make the seasons shift gradually!
Exceptional work. Absolutely beautiful piano performances. The field recordings give it such texture and ambiance too.
I was intrigued by just the game description alone and then when I heard the music that would accompany such a game I was like, "Man, I'd like to play that".
I'm reminded of the work of Nils Frahm who is an ambient/piano artist I quite admire. This score is wistful and relaxing.
What's the secret hiding in the backwoods!!? 😁
Oooh boy! If not in a Ghibli movie, these are right up the alley for a Makoto Shinkai's one!!
these tracks brought me into the game and vibe, really well executed. love the orchestration choices on each, really makes it feel seamless
Beautiful tracks! I love how the melodies of each track has like a little surprise moment where it didn't go the obvious way. (I hope this makes sense)
I want to listen to this while sipping tea and maybe sitting in a train watching the countryside roll by. Maybe it's the shinkansen. I'm a massive Hisaishi fan and though it's pretty bold to compare your music to his, I think you nailed the atmosphere and feeling quite nicely! Wonderment and mystery mixed with childhood nostalgia and a touch of magic. The SFX layer is a nice touch too - it makes the music feel almost alive. As I'm listening I'm really growing to love the blend of different pitched percussive sounds (xylophone, pizz, and piano obv). Ah the rain sounds in the last track are putting me to sleep. In a good way! Bravo :)
Thanks, glad you liked it ! Though I have to say I'm only making a polite nod to Hisaishi sensei, I wouldn't even dare to put my work on his level (also had the chance to actually see him in concert in Lyon, back in pre-covid days, and oh boy... this was the best concert of my life).
Jealous!
It's pretty :)
you didn't over-dense the music and i think it fits well the type of game you imagined for this
even if that simplifies the efforts to make a good production sound quality
you made the piano and all the things that blend with it nice and crisp !
it's really good ^^
These tracks have a nice relaxing mood. The solo piano worked really well, great job!
My favorite so far :) I liked how the tracks work so well both together and separately. My favorites were "Summer" (the piano with a delay layer was beautiful) and "Winter"
Thanks a lot for your feedback ;)