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Temporal Tower's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Overall | #6 | 4.332 | 4.332 |
| Composition | #6 | 4.537 | 4.537 |
| Creativity | #8 | 4.317 | 4.317 |
| Impression | #9 | 4.293 | 4.293 |
| Correlation to theme | #11 | 4.220 | 4.220 |
| Quality | #23 | 4.293 | 4.293 |
Ranked from 41 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Description
A soundtrack for an 8-bit platformer, created all in Ableton Live 11. Each track in the playlist is set for a certain moment in the game (levels, bosses, cutscenes, etc.). I go into more detail about each track on the official page!
Message from the artist:
PLEASE VISIT THE PROJECT PAGE!!! I've gone into detail about the setting, plot and creative process of this OST! Thanks so much for listening :)))
Theme:
Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://soundcloud.com/arceusnmew/sets/temporal-tower-ost-composing?si=20196d3ca56b4fac8619539242d13c73&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
Soundtrack use permission
Any project
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Comments
Fantastic! I'm usually really not a chiptune guy, but i love this!
First of all, the production is great! While most people tend to do chiptune in a very bare form, to stay "authentic", but you put the chiptunes at the front, and then create a whole world of modern production around it. To me it's very reminiscent of Celeste and Toby Fox. Great stuff.
The actual composition is awesome too! I like how you take your knowledge of musical theory and use it to boost the narrative of music's purpose - in time signatures, tempos and harmpnically. On top of that, your use of leitmotifs is fantastic, and really helps to "strengthen the bond" between the tracks, which reminds of the works of Toby Fox.
Overall, your ideas were very original and you executed them well, and the entire package (including the story and the visuals) seems to be an indie platformer begging to be made. Great job!
This is very well done! I find that (at least for me) chiptunes are easy to get sounding generic. you do a good job of mixing in other ideas like the reversed piano in the third track, the old sounding piano in the sixth track (I think this one might be my favorite track, I love the vibe), and the chimes that pitch down in the last track. This was fun to listen to, great job!
Lovely chiptunes, very fun to listen to. They do remind me of 1st gen Pokémon music. It has been a very nostalgic listen, for me. Nice work!
Wow, this sounds really great! very professional sounding, it would fit right into an 8 bit platformer!
thank you so much! i'd love to have this music put into a game if there was a team who wanted to make it :)
Temporal Tower: This has such a great intro! Very heroic and epic. The feel overall of this track is similar to Pokemon games as you are setting off on adventure with the heroism of Legend of Zelda. And then the big 1, b7, b6 seems like a direct nod to Pokemon!
Present Plains: I like that the overworld theme is taken directly from the title theme as it gives us a familiar tune to start the game off of, but with a lot more energy! I really like the harmonic variation at 0:52 though. Then at 1:03 we get something brand new which is another great melody before the repeat.
Chrono Fiend: I think it is creative that you used a familiar theme and distorted it in this track. The pitch bending, while not really a time-manipulation, does give the sense of slowing down and that things are being distorted. I like the 5/4 section - that extra beat really messes with my expectations!
Time Is Money: I like your use of real sound effects amidst the chiptune. It doesn’t sound out of place and adds to the character of the shop. My favorite part is the bass line you’ve written when it slides up before dropping down to the next note.
Where Time Can’t Reach: These are bizarre time signatures! Weird time signatures sometimes have the effect of making the music not enjoyable because it’s hard to follow, but I felt that 33 bpm very clearly. It’s interesting how we are leaving the chiptune style behind in this track with the addition of the strings and reversed sounds. But then at the loop it feels like we get whipped back to the reality of where we are in the Temporal Tower.
Reminisce: I like the wind effects that give this a very floaty feel, which works very well for memory themes. I think your choice to keep it grounded in 4/4 is a good choice. I also like how the beat picks up momentum, until it’s just the piano and the clock.
New Dark Ages: This is a really cool battle theme! I really like the minor chord progression you use. My favorite part is when the bass drops out and you have the big pitch-bending notes alongside the high fast instrument and the return of the familiar melody.
Overall: Very high quality work here! I really enjoyed listening to the entire thing! I think that it was really creative to have the chiptune represent reality whereas the more realistic instrument sounds represented distortion or memories. Very cool stuff! Excellent work and thank you for sharing!
very thorough analysis!! you've managed to catch some things that even i hadn't noticed until later in the composing process lol. i'm glad you decided to take the time to carefully listen to all of my music, it really means a lot!! :)
Whoa! Huge tracker vibes despite this being made in Ableton Live 11! Would love to know how you created all these great chiptune sounds.
i use a plug-in called "Magical 8bit Plug 2" by YMCK! it's a really solid little VST, it's got a good amount 8-bit of wavetables to use :)
Now all you need is a game for this soundtrack! If these tracks ever come to streaming services they got a spot waiting in my playlist :).
haha i'd love to have a game for this! i'll see what i can do to get them on streaming services, but for now i hope soundcloud suffices ^-^
Very quality 8-bit music! Awesome work!
thank you my friend!!!
"Time Is Money" was my favorite for how head-boppable it was. Overall, a very high quality chiptune soundtrack with very strong leitmotifs! The mixing was great too.
thank you! "Time is Money" was a lot of fun to write; it's probably the song that fits the theme the best on my whole soundtrack lol
Oh man, 8 bit music always amazes me with how much content it can pack into a single track using just a few simple sounds. I loved the additional synths and sound effects you used to enhance the 8 bit stuff as well, they really fit right in!! Not to mention the odd meters... awesome job!!!
thanks! composing chiptune songs forces you to make a lot with a little, and admittedly, i used the additional synths and SFX as a bit of a crutch lol. strictly chiptune music is tough :/
i'm glad you liked it though!