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Ticky Tockerson and the Cosmic Clock (OST)'s itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Correlation to theme | #22 | 4.074 | 4.074 |
| Composition | #26 | 4.111 | 4.111 |
| Overall | #35 | 3.911 | 3.911 |
| Impression | #36 | 3.889 | 3.889 |
| Quality | #42 | 4.000 | 4.000 |
| Creativity | #83 | 3.481 | 3.481 |
Ranked from 27 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Description
Ticky Tockerson and the Cosmic Clock is an imaginary adventure game about a young horologist and his efforts to repair the Cosmic Clock, whose steady pulse keeps the universe in sync.
The soundtrack features three orchestral tracks created in FL Studio using BBCSO Core and LABS. The tracks represent the first part of the game, when Ticky learns about the Cosmic Clock, goes to town to prepare for his adventure, and travels to an alternate universe where time behaves differently.
I created the album art using Photoshop.
Message from the artist:
Thank you for listening to my music!
Theme:
How does it fit the theme?
The songs have a steady tick-tock pulse and the game is all about time and clocks!
Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://on.soundcloud.com/rjVwm
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgmfNiNAGnmm2l6QIfNCY4vxerCGYhkKv
Soundtrack use permission
For game jams only
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Comments
The Cosmic Clock: I love the chromatic melody of this track! The emphasis on the woodwinds and progression into strings and brass gives a sense of growth throughout the track that brings the listener along on the musical story you have put so much effort into. I love the harp rolls! The percussion also adds a fun twist throughout as well.
Ticky Goes to Town: The waltz feel is a nice style to use next. Your composition uses some very classical-sounding minor chord progressions which I am very impressed by. Your melodies are also very strong and I like that you give it to us once and then restate the same melody line in other instruments to have it be new but familiar. You have an excellent sense of compositional structure.
Ticky Goes to Another Dimension: Those 7th chord arpeggios immediately give a more spacey feel to this track. The space you put between the other instrumental interjections also adds to this effect. That vocal effect was a very interesting sound and fits in with this almost organized randomness of a track that works perfectly for the unexpectedness of another dimension.
Overall: This is some really great orchestral work with excellent compositional skills and creativity in taking the music in different directions in each of your three tracks. Great work and thank you for sharing!
Thank you so much for listening and for your detailed comments!
BBC symphony orchestra is amazing! And you made something incredible out of it :). Behind these beautiful instruments I sense a great work in composition. You have a great ability to create an atmosphere while keeping the songs very melodic.
I could feel the fun you had toying around with this library, very inspiring work overall, thank you for it :)
Keep up!
Thank you so much! I really do enjoy using the library.
This soundtrack was beautiful! The way you weaved together all the different instruments and sounds (all very high-quality) was absolutely lovely. I am particularly a fan of the rich-sounding woodwinds in that first track - those trills were deee-lightful! The second track was also a pleasure to listen to, floaty and dance-y. The third track with its oriental sound and introduction of vocals was a surprising but nice shift to show your range. Excellent work!
Thank you so much!
Very nice non-epic orcherstration! I want to master to create such a music myself) Production is also very good, great work!
Thanks so much!
Playful and dreamy with a fairytale twist. I love the vocals!
Thank you! I used Gaelic Singers from Spitfire LABS for the vocals. It's free!
Very cool! somehow the music, combined with the art, reminded me of Pajama Sam! The prevalent use of reverb and the presented lows in the mix being rather direct gives me old hand-animated point&click adventure game vibes but that could just be childhood bias.
Btw, is Ticky Tockerson his birth name? I definitely would change it tbh literally askin' to be bullied here lmaoo.
Thanks! I never played Pajama Sam but i grew up on point and click adventure games and have a soft spot for them. I haven't thought too much about the name 😅 "Ticky Tockerson" popped into my head and it was playful and memorable so I stuck with it.
I really like "Another Dimension", it sounds dreamy thanks to the repeating arpeggio, supported by good orchestration choices, and the dissonance you that appears near the end gives it the otherworldly atmosphere which I think you were going for
really liking your work on these tracks. the first fits so well to the theme and i could totally see it in a video game. I love how The Cosmic Clock has all these cool production elements to it. the little (i believe) xylophone, to the choir, to the percussion. it all makes the song come together very well.
i also love the strings in Ticky Goes To Town. may i ask what instrument library did you use for them?
super well done overall. i really enjoyed my time throughout the whole soundtrack. honestly think you killed it. very impressive work. followed you on soundcloud. cannot wait to hear more from you
Thank you so much, your highness! I used Spitfire's BBCSO Core for most of it. It's one of the more affordable libraries if you can get it during a sale. I like it as a solid entry-level library.
of course. again great work.
i will def have to check it out! ty ty
Very nice and creative entry! Very thematic use of the instruments, I really like in particular how in "The Cosmic Clock" you have a bunch of clicking percussions, and various instruments that come regularly, kind of like to signify how overwhelming it would be to take care of all the complicated elements of the clock! Great job overall!
Thank you so much!
The Cosmic Clock: beautiful little pizzicato melody, and I love the trilling woodwinds. This track is super mystical, and utterly packed with character. I was initially going to caution against having an ever-repeating bassline with different things going on above it, but there is so much character and so many different vignettes, I couldn't possible complain. It has a really mechanical feel to it, and brilliantly orchestrated. Would work great with a live orchestra! The singing was an awesome addition.
Ticky Goes To Town: You've established a quirky, whimsical world, and this piece certainly follows in that vein. It is strikingly similar to the Second Waltz by Shostakovich, though. Definitely be careful-- it sounds like you're dancing around Shostakovich's work. 1:52 is a point where it sounds more like original work. 2:10's flute motive is lovely! Again, 2:30 seems to be a direct rip of his orchestration.
Ticky Goes To Another Dimension: this track, despite the steady drum, feels slightly disoriented because of the offset harp-- brilliant effect. There are some times where the mix feels a bit imbalanced, with certain instruments sounding closer to the ear than others. Again, the addition of vocals is really cool!
Overall, I loved this soundtrack! Your production is really good. I still have mixed feelings about the Shostakovich quote: it's a delicate thing, because I'm sure it's in public domain by now, but you showed that you can compose a fun, playful waltz without needing to copy somebody else (1:52-2:30 all sounded original to me.)
Nice work, and keep writing!
Thank you so much for listening and giving feedback! I really admire your work, so I appreciate your perspective and advice. You're right about the waltz. I admit, I haven't orchestrated many waltzes and leaned too heavily on a single source as a model. Ironically, my favorite part ended up being the more original section you correctly identified!
I appreciate the caution against repeating basslines. It is a trap that sometimes ensnares my composition, so this is good to think about. I think it was helpful for the mechanical clock feel this time around, but I'm going to think about that going forward. Thanks again!
Love the title theme, it almost feels like the opening to an animated movie (though the name Ticky Tockerson probably helped to create that image for me as well, hehe) Immersive, colorful, very well composed orchestra. The vibe of the music lends itself well to the genre of adventure game - specifically, it felt to me like a puzzle/platformer along the lines of Braid or Celeste. Very nice job!
Thanks so much! It's an honor to be compared to those games.
I really like the OST, especially Ticky Goes to Another Dimension! Great work!
Thanks!
Jeeeeesus, that's a high quality orchestra :' O ! Impressive, really !
How did you mix all of that ? :' D
Thank you! To be perfectly honest, the BBCSO Core samples are recorded in such a way that simplifies mixing. I didn't do much other than adjust the volume levels and a bit of reverb. There are no mic placement options in Core; every instrument is just recorded at the location they are in a full orchestra. This can be frustratingly limited at times (e.g. all the percussion is way in the back) but it's also handy for people with less experience mixing orchestras, like me. Even the panning is built in. It can be a little inflexible, but it's useful for quick work.
Good orchestration, the waltz is fitting for a stroll in town. It must be directly inspired by Dmitri Shostakovich's Waltz No.2.
Thanks! I think of waltzes when i think of strolls through town, probably because of Howl's Moving Castle. And yes, you are correct.
Excellent! I love the sound of your music. The trill passage is fantastic (the Cosmic Clock), and the fact that you add instruments as you go along sounds really good.
For Tricky goes to Town, I wonder if you know André Rieu the Dutch composer. The arrangement and chords are very similar. This music was a big hit in France a few years ago.
As for the last one, there's a touch of Nobuo Uematsu in your composition that I really like.
All in all, I have nothing to say except that it's very good orchestral music that would go very well in a game.
PS: Can you tell me how you did it? It sounds like a clarinet on E and a flute trill on C and D?
Thank you so much! I really appreciate your thoughtful comments.
There's no big secret for the trill. The orchestral library I used (BBCSCO Core) has different "articulations" for each instrument. Wind instruments have "trill" as one of the articulations. Here's a screenshot:
I had not heard of André Rieu, but I noticed he has performed waltzes from several famous composers, including Shostakovich, from whom I borrowed a lot of ideas. I believe that's what you're hearing.
Thanks again!
Oh, but I do have BBCSCO Core, but I'm nowhere near as good at using it as you are. Thanks for the tip, I may borrow your technique for some of my next compositions.
Let me know how it goes!
It sounds exactly as your masterpiece. Thank you very much for sharing your recipee (I won't use as is)
I copied the anvil too as you can see :D
Heh borrow away. Glob knows I have.
Great orchestration! Love the kinda cartoon vibes but mysterius
Thanks! That's what I was going for.
Nice work!
First track sounds like Tchaikovski (and I like Tchaikovski ~_^)
Second is... kinda sad, melancholic...
Third one sounds Epic, yet intimate...with some unsettling undertones, interesting stuf...
Thank you!
great for playing
Good stuff, you made BBCSO and LABS work well. I love the composition of Ticky Goes To Town, very pretty. The 3/4 and instrumentation help a lot with that feel too. The continuous pentatonic arpeggio in Another Dimension is a very cool vibe along with that occasional deep drone. Nice work!
Thank you!