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Quantum Lock's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Correlation to theme | #5 | 4.435 | 4.435 |
| Overall | #39 | 3.870 | 3.870 |
| Creativity | #44 | 3.783 | 3.783 |
| Impression | #51 | 3.739 | 3.739 |
| Composition | #64 | 3.652 | 3.652 |
| Quality | #67 | 3.739 | 3.739 |
Ranked from 23 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Description
I used Garageband for all of the tracks, and used a mix of GB's default instruments and sounds from the BBC Symphony Orchestra plugin, as well as Spitfire LABS. I tried to recreate the sounds of clocks for each song, but since I didn't have a plugin that was just clock sounds, I had to get creative by adding reverb and other effects to the bongos in different drumkits. I also made most of the songs with loopable seconds (the tracks don't loop, but parts of them can), with the exception of tracks 2 and 6.
Clock, a rare boy with the power to manipulate time, lives in a peaceful village where the trees are always green and the sun is always shining. But one day, his home is attacked by a pack of hounds who feast on time itself. Following their ambush, Clock realizes his entire village is frozen in time, everything and everyone—except for him. Help Clock find the hounds' hideout, and restore time to his village once and for all! A puzzle platforming adventure.
Track 1 - Quantum Lock: (Main menu and title screen before completing the game.) The background shows a dark town, eerily still. Detuned music plays from the only house with a light in its window.
Track 2 - The Hounds: (Cutscene where the village is attacked.) Inside of the lit house, a large group of people are gathered around a grandfather clock, waiting for it to strike midnight and declare them safe from danger. Seconds before the clock can complete its cycle, a boy calls out from the window, "They're here!" The people rush outside, terrified, as a massive stampede of pitch-black hounds rushes towards them. The boy watches helplessly from inside, afraid to venture out. By the time the hounds are gone, he finds his fellow villages motionless, frozen forever in fear.
Track 3 - Timeless Town: (BGM as the player explores the frozen village, gathering materials and discovering the village's lore.) The boy, named Clock, ventures into town. It's frighteningly lonely, yet oddly peaceful. The moon peeks out from behind the unmoving clouds, piercing through the eternal darkness. Clock's village is unchanged, yet without the liveliness of its people. Clock explores the timeless, but safe, town, preparing for his inevitable quest.
Track 4 - Playing With Time: (BGM as the player works through the forest, solving puzzles and avoiding enemies.) Ready for his journey, Clock enters the nearby forest and begins his quest to find the hounds and free his people. Along the way, he encounters puzzles which he must use his powers to solve in order to proceed. Some puzzles require him to pause time, while others require him to reverse it; the boy plays with time on his side.
Track 5 - The Keeper's Game: (Cutscene and BGM over the final puzzle of the game, against the Keeper). Clock reaches the hideout at last, only to find that the hounds are not alone. They have a master, who introduces himself as the Keeper. Rather than trying to attack the boy, the Keeper makes a deal with Clock: "Win against me in one game of chess, and I will restore your village. Lose, and my hounds will feast on you, too." Seeing no other choice, Clock agrees to play the Keeper's game. He carefully calculates his every move, using his power to see the Keeper's next move before it comes.
Track 6 - The End: (Plays over the credits and title screen after finishing the game). After a long journey and a tense chess match, Clock beats the Keeper and his village is restored! Upon his return to the village, Clock is met with treats and hugs from his grateful family.
Message from the artist:
This OST was a little bit of challenge to make, and even now I'm more confident in some tracks than others. Mostly, I worried that the tracks might not be “full” enough as I don’t really know how to make a track sound full without the instruments sort of…drowning each other out. I'd appreciate as much feedback as possible, since this is only my second OST Composing Jam (third if you count RMX) and I'm constantly trying to improve!
Theme:
How does it fit the theme?
As I said above, I tried to use clock sounds in every song, so the sense of time passing could permeate through each track. In the first track, time seems to pass by slowly, creating a feeling of dread. Time in the second track is much faster, creating a sense of tension. In the third track, the clock sound sits far in the background, representing how time is unmoving for everyone except for the boy/the player. The clocks are most irregular in track 4, representing the act of manipulating time. Tension returns in track 5, and in the last track, time proceeds normally, representing a return to normalcy.
Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://soundcloud.com/pap3rg4mer/sets/quantum-lock
Soundtrack use permission
Any non-commercial project
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Comments
What a haunting atmosphere you manage to create here! Super smart way of creating the clock sounds, if you hadn't said anything I wouldn't have suspected a thing haha. Other than that, very nice track composition and arrangement. I really liked in particular the whole feel and haunting melodies of "Playing with Time" and the little Bossa Nova / Jazzy groove on the clock percussions. Other than that nothing really stood out to me, everything sounded really full, I don't think you need to stack instruments too much on top of each other which can make it sound muddy as you said if not mixed properly (usually the pitfall I personally tend to end up in). Really great entry, you did an amazing job being able to tell a story from start to finish just through your music!
Thank you so much!! *rushes over to listen to your submission*
Quantum Lock: Wow you were able to make very convincing clock ticking sounds! They have a nice panning effect. This eerie vibe is the perfect atmosphere for a the menu of a creepy video game. The instruments you use almost sound like they belong in an N64 game - I would believe you if you told me this was an actual track from a real game!
The Hounds: This is another creepy track that gets my heart racing as I’m reading your story. This whole story is a very creative take on the theme! I like that the short melody motif you use ends on an upturn on the 4th scale degree, which adds a questioning or mysterious nature and has the effect that the music does not feel anywhere near being resolved (which is no doubt what you intended). This is good melody writing to meet the needs of the story!
Timeless Town: The synth pads feel forlorn and sad, which is perfect for describing the peaceful lonely feeling that this track accompanies. Sad but safe is a great way to describe this track. I like that the ticking clock has turned into a drum beat, as if representing Clock himself, an optimistic force in the midst of a somber atmosphere.
Playing With Time: This is a really creative use of changing time signatures. I really like the harmonic progression as it kind of has a Hotel California type of sound. This is a great track to solve puzzles to!
The Keeper’s Game: You have a knack for creating so much suspense! All of the elements you use have a distinct purpose in this track: the clock ticking showing time passing, the kick drum representing Clock’s heartbeat that he is no doubt keenly aware of, the bass drone and high strings to keep the tension, the bass ostinato to represent thinking, and the string swells to represent Clock’s drive to save his village and family.
The End: The return of the ticking of the grandfather clock! All is well again! This is a very chill theme that sticks with the low-key style of the rest of the OST, but does a good job of conveying relief and serenity when all is said and done. Overall this is a very well-planned and executed OST. It is creative, unique, cohesive, and uses many musical elements that work to tell the story without any visuals or text necessary. Great work and thank you for sharing!
Thank you SO so much for taking the time to leave such a detailed comment! It’s very helpful, and you managed to describe a lot of things that I couldn’t find the words to explain in my descriptions. My goal in making music (like many others’ I’m sure) is to always try to convey a feeling (ie create something atmospheric), make something that sounds cohesively good, and ultimately tell a story. Your comment identified all of those purposes perfectly, and I especially love how you explained all the elements of The Keeper’s Game. Your analysis is just so on point and somehow helps me understand my own musical style better. Thank you! :)
Very interesting athmosphere you created! Playing With Time is my favorite.
Thanks! :) It’s probably the track I spent the most time on too, I’m glad my efforts seemingly paid off lol
Nicely creepy OST! I love the game idea too! :)
Thanks! <3
Getting some Earthbound vibes, really enjoying the (kinda creepy) atmosphere. Love the mix and the beats. Are those some reversed synths in The Hounds? I'm also glad the the end seems to be a happy one!
Thank you! I’ve been really into Mother 3 (Earthbound’s sequel) lately so it’s funny to see that influenced my work on a subconscious level 😂 And I’m glad you pointed out the synths in The Hounds, it was really fun experimenting with effects to add to it :)
Timeless Town has a good melancholy feel to it. Playing With Time was a nice shift from the earlier tracks, perfectly conveys the feeling of a forest filled with strange wonders and danger around every turn. I would have loved more information about the genre of game it is, what's there isn't much to go on. A simple chess match where Clock can just see the future seems a bit of an anticlimactic conclusion, imo. Regardless, solid effort overall!
P.S. I would be very upset with my parents if they named me "Clock" ahahaha
What do you mean, Clock is such a great name 😂
For the genre, I couldn’t decide if what I was imagining was 2.5D or isometric (or if those are the same), so I settled on just puzzle platformer. I do imagine it being a sort of cross between the games Gris and Monument Valley, appearance and gameplay-wise. The chess match mechanics also seemed better in my head, as a sort of final puzzle where you get to use what you learned throughout the game in order to win. I could’ve used more detail to describe that though lol
Thank you for the comment and feedback!
It's getting late here, haunting tracks... setting me in a strange mood with the feeling that time is drifting away from me.
The End surprised me and got me out of this mood :) unexpected relaxing feeling to finish this very cinematic ost. I'm going to bed with this :)
Great job and great story! Congrats!
Just as dread can sometimes creep around the edges of our minds on a seemingly ordinary night, so can joy and relief appear amidst a night of terror… I’m glad I got the dual atmospheres across nicely and helped set the mood of your night :) Thank you for the kind feedback!
I like it. Some seriously foreboding tracks, though. Reminds me of the royal family tomb in Ocarina of Time.
Thank you! I’ve never played Ocarina of Time (I’ve been meaning too lol) but it does have some eerie music, so I’ll have to check it out :)
Really cool heartbreaking Silent Hill style vibe! First two tracks seems a little bit uncomplete for me, but the other stuff is really great! Good luck with this Jam!
Thank you, Silent Hill is definitely one of my influences! :) I did feel like The Hounds should have a bigger climax, I just didn’t know how to pull it off 😭
You've got some super smooth, haunting tunes here. "Playing with Time" really stood out to me, and I played it a few times! Nicely done.
Thank you! :)
I'd legit pay to play the game if it was real lmao. Super neat story. The happy ending was unexpected to me since the tenseness I sensed from the earlier tracks suggested a gruesome tale but I still appreciate it.
Amazing sound design. Perfect for atmosphere and retrospection.
Thank you! If only I knew how to make games lol
Honestly when I was making the happy ending it kind of surprised me too? My method of creating music is usually to just sit down and see where my intuition takes me, and I usually imagine darker endings to stories like these, but I guess I was just in a happy mood 😂
Really cool stuff here! my favourite was definitely timeless town. Idk if it was your intention but it kinda reminds me of the more chill drum focused silent hill tracks
Yes, thank you!! The Silent Hill osts are a big inspiration for me, especially in beat-based tracks like Timeless Town :D
Cool game idea, really consistent soundtrack, a bit heavy on the percussion for me in 03 and 04.
Thank you! For 3 and 4 I was going for a kind of trip-hop sound, but I didn’t know how to lessen some of the…peaks? So the beats ended up a bit stronger than I wanted them to be.
Really enjoyed the sounds and styles of the tracks - definitely evocative of the game you've outlined!
Thank you! :)
Love the aesthetic of this submission! The sound palette is so good. Playing with time is my favorite track
Thank you! It was my favorite one to make too :)
Timeless town and Playing with Time are going to my "chill beats for work" playlist. I like it a lot!
Thanks :)