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Moon Dream's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Quality | #1 | 4.789 | 4.789 |
| Impression | #2 | 4.526 | 4.526 |
| Correlation to theme | #2 | 4.684 | 4.684 |
| Composition | #2 | 4.684 | 4.684 |
| Overall | #2 | 4.537 | 4.537 |
| Creativity | #17 | 4.000 | 4.000 |
Ranked from 19 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Description
"When you wish upon a star, does it come true?"
"Yes, but only if you go out and make it come true yourself."
Soundtrack style - piano-centric with orchestral textures
Game genre - story-driven with sailing/navigation elements
Game title - Moon Dream
Made almost entirely with EastWest orchestra samples and several synths.
Message from the artist:
This is my longest soundtrack to date! If you're in a hurry then these few songs give a good sense of the overall soundtrack:
- Wish
- Adrift in the Storm
- Moonrise
I thought the image prompt looked like the cover of a picture book, so I wrote a soundtrack for an imaginary children's story about a boy who wishes to go to the moon and the characters he meets along the way.
There's also a short story to go along with it :)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JyLWlJydFfvgoYyEcLpJTcwybg618McFrlDgwAL4YRw/edit?usp=sharing
In general the songs are low energy and relaxing, so lay down, close your eyes, and drift into the world of Moon Dream.
Theme:
How does it fit the theme?
The art for this jam is phenomenal! I did my best to write music and a story for a game that looks and feels like this beautiful image. The plot hinges on the question of whether you can get something simply by wishing for it. Can you?
Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
YouTube for a more seamless and continual experience:
https://youtu.be/wzdDN4hdJSs
SoundCloud for individual tracks:
https://soundcloud.com/paul-devito-270647719/sets/moon-dream
Soundtrack use permission
Any project
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Comments
This sounds to me like a mix of Howard Shore, Christopher Larkin, and Gareth Coker. Excellent compositions! Thanks for sharing
Those are three incredible composers for three incredible works of art. All of their music is definitely floating around in my head at all times :)
Great composition, great production quality. I like that you kept the track lengths shorter to make up for the higher number of tracks, it really helps with immersion imo since its being listened to without the game context. Moonrise is my favorite for sure, such a beautiful blend of instruments. Love the more subtle woodwinds adding an airy texture. And then those harmonies are so pretty. Amazing work!
Thank you! I kinda threw all the sounds at Moonrise and I'm glad it turned out well :)
Wow, great work!
I love the extra mile you went in writing the short story, it was lovely. The music emotionally supports the narrative you wrote incredibly well. The ethereal sounds you were able to get, the orchestration, production quality and detailed story you made, fantastic work!
Thanks! Glad you liked the story :)
I looove how you treated the violins sounds in Wish and The thousand Lights. It has an etheral feel, it fits the theme very well and it's original and bewitching! Impressive like the overall mixing of the soundtrack.
The flute sound in The Albatross seems very real even if I guess it's a vst from your description.
You embark us on such a magical journey all along, the quality sound you came up with is really good and helping with the immersion. There are so many things to say that I'll just have to re-listen to it tomorrow. ^^
If I had to choose one, I really liked Maelstrom of the beast with these down pitching voices evoking sirens.. It was mesmerizing. But every track was amazing honestly! Wonderful job and thank you for sharing with us :)
Thank you for listening! I love that you thought of sirens because I didn't at all, and it totally fits! The flute sound that seems real is pretty real, I think. My woodwind library has an effects section that seems to be random notes paired with random expressive techniques. Maybe it's whatever the soloist was feeling when they were recording samples. In any case, I knew I had to use a few :)
It's funny as I listened through the tracks and tried to work out what feedback I might give, I was thinking that the tracks sounded like lullabies. Then I hit the last track - 'Lullaby' - and saw that this was not by accident. Good gentle tracks that evoke a mood of dreaminess.
Thanks, if anyone were to fall asleep while listening to this I would not be upset :)
The very first two chords you used in the entire soundtrack in “Wish” are so magical and spacey and lend themselves to setting the overall tone of your entire work. The transitions into each new song after the first were so smooth and lend themselves wonderfully to the story you wrote (excellent by the way). This story and music deserves to be made into a short film! My favorite tracks are Moon Rise for the build-up, hopeful chord progression, use of return to and developing your main leitmotif, and perfect emotional climax of the story; and the Knowledge of the Albatross for the musical representation of the animal in your story and the acoustic painting with the light strings representing drafts of wind over the calm sea.
We as video game composers always talk about how we want to enhance the emotion of the gameplay or the visuals, but this is such a difficult task to employ. I think that when you are able to see the animations and the visuals without even opening your eyes and just letting the music immerse you in the story, this is a sign that you are achieving that goal we all are striving toward. You have achieved that, my friend! This is excellent work and you should be extremely proud! Thank you so much for sharing!
Thank you so much! It means a lot to me that you took the time to listen fully and share your feedback. And I love that you were able to see the story come to life. I tried to combine "diegetic" instruments like strings for waves and winds for the Albatross alongside the piano melodies. I'm so glad it seems like it worked!
You're totally right that it's our job as composers to bring out the best in the visuals we're given. I think we're incredibly lucky to have this jam format as an opportunity to create both the vision and the delivery. It's a very cathartic experience and it seems like every time I'm going through the submissions for a new jam I discover this magic all over again :)
Waw... what a journey you took me in. I'm absolutely baffled by the emotions you managed to convey, and I loved reading the story while listening to the music!
Even though all the orchestration is absolutely stunning, I think my favorite is "Adrift in the storm", the chord progression on the piano is amazing, it reminded me a lot of the soundtrack of Hollow Knight (mainly "Soul Sanctum"), with this sorrowful yet grand and hopeful quality to it.
Amazing job yet again!
Ooh yeah Soul Sanctum is a haunting and beautiful song, and that whole soundtrack is so inspirational. For Adrift in the Storm, the chord progression is 100% stolen from somewhere, but I had it lying around for so long I can't remember from where!
As always, you’ve written one of my favorites. I love how well all of it is written, but Moonrise felt so much like the epitome of your style of writing and it was so enjoyable to listen. Great job!
Yay! Moonrise was a very fun one to write as the climax for the story
This is really good!! I love how the tracks flow into each other like they’re telling one cohesive story. It’s hard to pick a favorite but I’d have to choose either “Rest: The Calm Before” or “Adrift in the Storm”, both are super emotional and very well done!
Thanks! I was worried the "Rest" string interludes would be boring so I'm glad it resonated with you :)
Whooa this was astoundingly beautiful, so beautiful
This is great
This got all 5 stars from me 🌟
:D
It's easy to make sacrifices in quality when you have so many tracks, but I don't think that happened here. Every track is so cinematic and emotional and expressive that I can clearly picture a scene in my head for each one. Truly a certified hood classic
Thank you Man :)
Absolutely amazing! My favourite track was Catching the Wind, it had an incredible momentum to it towards the end that I really love!!
Thanks! Catching the Wind is the second song I wrote after Adrift in the Storm and I think it's really where the style for the whole album came together. Glad you enjoyed it :)
I wouldn't be surprised if this was a 1st place winner! The quality and composition are fantastic!
You sir are too kind
This is really beautiful, you did a great job at nailing that picture book aesthetic. The composition is amazing!
Thanks!
I really like the ethereal soundscapes. Very immersive. Adrift in the Storm is my fav. The piano part is beautiful, great touch too with that instrument that sounds like whale song (what is this?). Very well rounded soundtrack!
Thanks! Adrift in the Storm is probably my favorite too. And for the whale song, a magician never reveals his secrets! jk it's an electric guitar crossed with some female choir :)