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A jam submission

RedView project page

Submission to the OST Composing Jam #4
Submitted by Marian Walczak (@MarianWalczak1) — 5 hours, 15 minutes before the deadline
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Red's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Correlation to theme#254.0564.056
Overall#483.8223.822
Quality#513.8893.889
Impression#573.7223.722
Creativity#703.7783.778
Composition#783.6673.667

Ranked from 18 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

Description
Both orchestral and atmospheric music for a 2D isometric action-rpg game. Hand-drawn art with paper textures.

The plot is inspired by the old tale The Little Red Riding Hood. Red has to reach her grandma's house to give her the care she needs. But to achieve this goal, she has to make her path through the woods and face her biggest fears.

I made 3 slow-mid tempo tracks :
- "On the road to grandma's" : describes the departure from home. Keywords : leaving things behind, responding to the call for epic events, sense of nostalgia.
- "Enter the woods" : describes Red's travel through the woods, meeting wild animals. Keywords : intriguing, naive, uncertain.
- "The wolf inside" : describes the encounter with the wolf. Keywords : intimidating, fear, trap, violence, manipulation.

Instruments used : piano, strings, synthetizer, timpanis, orchestral hits, winds ensemble, brass ensemble, snare, cymbals, long reverbs.

Tracks were made with Ableton Live DAW.

Message from the artist:
Of men and wolves

Theme:

Runaway

How does it fit the theme?
By revisiting this popular tale I thought it would give me a strong direction. I could have explored variations that fit to the runaway theme : the sense of adventure / the fear of the unknown / the one way trip with no return.

Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://soundcloud.com/user-390297219/sets/red-video-game-soundtrack?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

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Comments

Submitted(+1)

I like the combination of that title with the track titles. :D

On the road to Grandma's - It's quite a relaxing and comforting opening. I can see the forest path when listening to this theme.

Enter the Woods - I quite like how this one feels positive at a first glance, but then has a melody that contains all these little moments of doubt.

The wolf inside - Nice and ominous. Love the darker orchestration here. Really nice use of percussion and those little swelling string details. Great storytelling in this track.

It's a great soundtrack. Getting a fairytale vibe from the whole thing. My favourite is definitely The Wolf Inside with its darker vibes.

Excellent work!

Developer(+1)

For the titles I'm trying to find evocative terms. Actually,  I like to choose titles for tracks at first and then compose the music that could fit in!
Thank you saike ;)

Submitted(+1)

Such a pretty start with "On the Road to Grandma's." Even though there's some tension building with some minor progressions, the stay so pretty. I picture this for the RPG games that I once had time for years ago, smoking cigarettes, drinking coffee, and all the time in the world. These would be great songs for a chill game.

Developer

Thank you for your comment!
I'm glad the music helped you to remeber carefree moments of your lifetime :)

Submitted(+1)

Great ambiance in all tracks. The wolf inside was really menacing. Nice job!

Developer

Thank you very much!
It was interesting to propose some kind of emotional evolution for the wolf theme

Submitted(+1)

An inspired concept taking the 'runaway' prompt in a unique but understandable direction based on Red Riding Hood! Well put together and recorded tracks that sounded clean and impressive. Nice job!   

Developer

Thanks a lot for this feedback ! Old tales may be so dense they can sometimes give us the reliable directions we need.
I really don't know if I would have felt  the same way with a story I had created by myself...
Anyway, I'm happy you took time to listen to the tracks ;)

Submitted(+1)

On the Road to Grandma’s: When the timpani and bass came in, it sounded like a growl which I thought was pretty cool foreshadowing though maybe a happy accident. :) These chords sound very cinematic! I was picturing an epic movie intro panning over a misty forest as it zooms in on a person with a red hood. Piano over strings is one of my favorite instrument orchestrations, and this is exceptionally executed.

Enter the Woods: I like your use of mediant chords in your progression to capture a cinematic effect and to musically describe the feelings of naivety and uncertainty. I particularly like your melody for this track. I think that using an upward conclusion on the second repeat gives a sort of questioning nature to the phrase which adds to the unsettling sound of an otherwise very pretty melody. And as others have mentioned, I am also a big fan of the synth pad effect!

The Wolf Inside: The dissonant chords and melodic structure, the reverberant creaky drone, the ominous snare, and booming basses create a sound that captures the evilness of the wolf. I find it interesting you chose to end on this track, maybe implying that your version has an alternate end to the classic story…

Overall, wonderful work creating beautifully unique but connected themes that fit the story very well. I also thought that you had a very nice balance of instrumentation and the reverb/sustain effects you used were perfect for creating the atmosphere you were going for. Great work and thank you so much for sharing!

Developer

Wow thanks a lot!
I like the way you analyze things, you know how to transcribe sensitive thoughts into words . That's a super strong quality. I hope I'll be able to deliver such constructive remarks. Thank you again Blue Lava!

Submitted(+1)

Pretty sweet piano strings composition, I liked the mix too, good quality. good job.

Developer

Thanks FoxHyode, I appreciate you took time to listen ;)

Submitted(+1)

On the road to grandma's: Very nostalgic... I really love the melody, it reminded me of Crybaby by Kensuke Ushio (composer of the Devilman Crybaby OST)

Enter the woods: Listening to this I imagined someone exploring the forest and the key words you chose fit perfectly with what I felt, but with more emphasis on the feeling of "naivety" (btw the synths reminded me to the intro of Pro Memoria by Ghost, really awesome song)

The wolf inside: This one is my favourite, It made me feel like something was lurking and scheming behind scenes to finally reveal itself at the end of the song.... very intimidating atmosphere.

I like the theme you used for this, overall very creative!

Developer(+1)

Hey Altair DNP!
Thanks a lot for being so accurate through your listening, I really appreciate you took time to analyze and criticize. And thank you for the references that I'm gonna check right away ;)

Submitted

Cool!, hope you like them :D

(+1)

I really like it , Great Job!

Developer(+1)

Thanks man! I appreciate! Happy to work with you on Fate of Kingdom https://r4hulcorleone.itch.io/fate-of-kingdom ;)

Submitted(+1)

I'm getting LOTR soundtrack vibes from this! Nice job!

Developer

I'm glad you heard LOTR snippets because I was tempted to compose tunes inspired by britannic traditional music.
Thanks for taking time to listen and comment!

Submitted(+1)

I liked the calmness you interpreted the theme. Hauntingly beautiful

Developer

Thank you : slow mid tempo helps a lot to go emotional. That's what I figured out :)

Submitted(+1)

Nice job! I really liked all of it, but the piano intro on Enter the Woods was very pleasing to listen to!

Developer

Thank you for listening!
For future projects, I will try to get a much more realistic VST for the piano. Programming dynamics would be easier ;)