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Whispers of Sands's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Composition | #3 | 4.613 | 4.613 |
| Impression | #7 | 4.323 | 4.323 |
| Overall | #10 | 4.245 | 4.245 |
| Quality | #10 | 4.484 | 4.484 |
| Creativity | #32 | 3.871 | 3.871 |
| Correlation to theme | #35 | 3.935 | 3.935 |
Ranked from 31 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Description
In a world where time materialises as a rare, sand-like dust, each individual possesses an unknown quantity of time that defines the length of their life. The Time Palace stands at the heart of this realm, housing at its center the Fountain of Youth, source of all time. Protected by powerful time-bending entities known as the Keepers of Causality, the Time Palace remains shrouded in secrecy.
Amidst this world, an organisation called the Time Stealers emerges. They steal slivers of time from "time sprouts" on the outskirts of the Palace, and distribute them to those in need – the dying, the sick, and the poor.
Our protagonist is a member of the Time Stealers, and the story begins during a routine "time heist". However, driven by a vision of a loved one's demise, the hero decides to ventures deeper into the "Corridors of the Time Palace".
As they dive deeper through the intricate corridors of the Palace, they encounter a "Keeper of Causality". A gigantic entity resembling an hourglass and formed from intricate gears and wheels making regular clock and winding sounds. And although it fiercely defends the inner gates of the Palace, our hero surprisingly manages to make it through. And as they pass the gate, a sentence appears on the arch: "Everything happens for a reason", and the Keeper of Causality stops chasing him.
Reaching the central area of the Time Palace, the hero stands before "The Fountain of Youth", with flowing sands that reflect the warm light of day, undulating and whispering their hypnotising melody. Surrounded by a lush forest of crystallised flowers and plants, the hero focuses on their mission: gather enough time to spend the rest of their life with their loved one. But the Fountain holds a secret – time grants not the wish people desire but rather what they deeply fear the most. It just so happens that in most cases, in their desperation to avoid death, people unknowingly fear life, leading to a cursed gift of eternal living, hence the name everyone gave to the Fountain of Youth.
Confronted by the overwhelming power of the Fountain, the hero realises that their true fear actually lies in not cherishing the time they could have spent with their loved one. Upon this realisation, the hero is sent back in time, to the day they first had their vision. Armed with this knowledge, they now face their challenging futur, embracing the present instead of fleeing from their fears by seeking ways to mend the situation.
Message from the artist:
I used Logic Pro as my DAW and BBCSO Orchestra plugin for all the orchestral instruments. For the synths and sound design I used PhasePlant and Alchemy.
I had especially a lot of fun writing the flute parts and mixing slower moments with fast paced sections (a flute player or 2 might have perished from asphyxia while playing these parts lol).
More broadly, I also feel like I'm starting to get the gist of how I want to blend organic and synthetic elements in my music.
Ironically, I was struggling a bit with time since I was wrapping up another music project, so I didn't really develop all the musical ideas I wanted nor finish polishing (I find the mix particularly muddy), but I really liked the ideas of the sounds and game concept I came up with.
As always this Jam was an absolute blast and I can't wait for the next one!
Theme:
How does it fit the theme?
It's the story of a hero standing alone against time-bending entities to regain the time needed to save their loved one.
Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMS7LFMUnM4d4VBxcuTH3984q7-yPmOUR
https://soundcloud.com/gornemant_music/sets/whispers-of-sands-ost?si=aa22cb057d254bd19c45e482e869e172&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
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Comments
Whispers of Sands: Love the opening with the flutes! The drums are nice, though it would’ve been kind of cool if they slowly got louder as in a song like Pilgrim (Andor OST). Love the strings around 1:34! From experience I know it can be hard to layer orchestral sounds but I think you did quite well :)
Keepers of Causality: The feel of this one is so imposing (as you intended). I love how the strings buildup in the first minute, and the explosion of sound around the 1:00 mark is amazing! The chords and melody are great. I can see how you might have been concerned about muddiness with everything overlapping, but again, I think the sounds are mostly clear.
The Fountain of Youth: Firstly, I love the story for this song, such a fascinating twist to the overall story. This is my favorite track too, the staccato strings and how they keep changing speed, then how they get louder at the end…it just washes over me.
You’re really good at buildups and releases of energy, which is such an important part of making orchestral music. I’d absolutely love to play this game and/or watch this short film lol, you’ve made such a solid soundtrack. Great work!
Thanks a lot for your in depth comment! I just had a listen to "Pilgrim" and, a part from being really really good music, I see what you're talking about with the drums, I really like the effect!
Corridors of the Time Palace: This has such an epic sound. I love the French Horns/brass and the choir. The flute melody is also very well-written. You have also mixed this very well and have the perfect amount of reverb. Excellent first track!
Keepers of Causality: I love how this track starts small but then builds to a colossal sound of brass. This is very cinematic and would work very well in an epic movie using the story you wrote.
The Fountain of Youth: I really like the panned clinking and wind sound effects. This is also an epic climax to your OST. My favorite part is the reversed effect on the French Horns at the end - so cool!
Overall: You have such a good idea for the story of your OST and it is well written in the description, and even more impressive is your ability to tell that story through your music. This is masterful work and I really enjoyed listening to it. Excellent job and thank you for sharing!
Thank you for your insight and detailed comment, I really appreciate it! It was fun sprinkling around this little reversed french horn sample haha
I already see it in the top submissions. The orchestra sounds very realistic. I appreciate that you said what plugin you used because I'm using Logic too and was searching how to make an orchestra sound good on DAW. :)
Thanks for listening I really appreciate it! The free version of the BBC Symphonic Orchestra is a an excellent VST if you're starting out in orchestral writing!
Outstanding work! I absolutely loved the mystery and intrigue in each piece, and the sound design really complemented your wonderful writing. The story is infused into each piece; I had fun picking out the different elements of the story. I only wish I could've heard more!
Thank you so much for listening, I'm glad you liked it! 🙂
I guess Anakin Skywalker would not like it but I definitely did! :D
Corridors of the Time Palace - the flute is mesmerising!
Overall very cinematic, wide and professional sound! Interesting storyline! Thanks for sharing with us! :)
Yeah I bet he wouldn't hahaha Thanks a lot for your comment!
Corridors of the Time Palace: This is so grand. Great composition and quality. Those flute lines are so cool. I love the buildup at 1:24, very well executed with that bass.
Keepers of Causality: This is cool, it really makes me think of Motoi Sakurabas work (a composer who is my biggest inspiration). Very tense stuff, makes me think of a Dark Souls boss battle theme.
The Fountain of Youth: This is a very magical sound, and I really like the story associated with it. I like the continuous buildup into the grand ending.
Great work!
Thanks a lot! I'm glad the Dark Souls boss vibe went through in "Keepers of Causality" since it's the inspiration I had in mind when writing it 🙂
you did an outstanding job on this! the music fits perfectly to the story. the horns and choirs in the first track had me right off the bat.
i think The Fountain of Youth has to be my favorite track
overall i think you did an amazing job fitting these compositions to the theme and to your story. great work and thanks for sharing
Thank you so much for listening and for your comment!
Fantastic! You've created a soundtrack that's in service for the story, of which is already pretty good.
You write very orchestral pieces that ascend being simply cinematic, by being also very interesting on their own (while still being a great depiction of the story!).
I haven't really noticed anything muddy about the mixing, except maybe the end of "Keeper of Causality", but the production is still absolutely fantastic and very lively.
(May i also say that i really like choir parts, especially if they're at this level)
Overall - more than great of a soundtrack, and a beautiful submission as whole.
Thanks a lot for your kind words, super glad you enjoyed it!
Love the story idea, though this feels more like it would be better suited for a short film than a game. The music itself is already practically a cinematic masterpiece, great job!
o7 to the flute players that gave their lives for this worthy endeavor.
I guess this would make sense since I usually don't think of gameplay, and my stories are mostly character driven! And yeah these poor flute players were so brave haha
Thanks a lot for listening and glad you enjoyed it 🙂
i go about the same thought process when creating my scores. i think this would be great for a character driven video game. i just want more hahha
That's really great orcherstal soundtrack! I can say it cause I do such s music myself, Every componenet of the work fits the composition, well done!
Thanks!
It's a very epic OST. Many parts give me desert vibes, which I think makes sense since it's about sands of time. The composition is beautiful, and it's big. Great work!
Thank you very much!
This is phenomenal! The flute line over the epic back drop in the corridors of the time palace really gives a sense of awe and excitement, and I really liked the half to triplet to quarters build you had at the end of the fountain of youth, such a nice way to build resolution. But I have the same question as Aesaire, I think of percussion as driving the song, but you've made it almost an embellishment. What was the thought process there?
Great work over all, definitely one of the bests ones of this jam for me!
Thanks a lot for you comment! That half/triplet/quarter build up, I have to admit, was heavily inspired by "White Leaves" from the "Rings of Power" OST from Bear McCreary, which is my favorite music of the series, I think this way of building up is absolutely genius and I was always looking for a way to try it out myself.
Concerning the drums, you can also check my answer to Aesaire, but to put it as an image, I usually think of the drums as the stairs that pave the way to that high tower (which is the climax or the next part of the song), while the instrument and melody is the helping hand from a friend that takes you there.
The composition is great, definitely one of the best so far I've heard this jam. The melodies and harmonies are complex and the different parts dance on top of each other effortlessly.
One thing I noticed is that the percussion is generally mixed pretty far to the back, most notably the last part of "Corridors of the Time Palace" and the last part of "Keepers of Causality". Is this purposeful? I've occasionally heard people use it as a secondary or tertiary supporting instrument, but I'm interested to understand the thought process behind it.
Great blending of the ticking into the beat in Keepers of Causality, it has a super satisfying tactile property. You managed to capture the mystery and the sheer scale of the Time Palace, it feels like a place that could stretch on infinitely.
Thank you for listening and for your comment!
For the drums, I think it's mostly because I'm not a big fan of "in your face big trailer-like drums" so I tend to give them the support role. I really like in particular tracks where the drums help transition from one part of the song to the other (I'm thinking of the drum parts in the Attack on Titan soundtrack). In this soundtrack in particular, I wanted them as an ostinato keeping the tempo in track for the other instruments to follow and also as an element helping increase that sense of space (the drum part in "Corridors of the Time Palace" for example is just a kick and a snare per measure with an echo effect + some high hats). I also would lie if I didn't say that I didn't simplify them and put them a bit more in the back due to lack of time to mix them in particular 😉
Haha, I get you. Trailer-like drums can get super cringey if not done well; they are a bit overused in cinematic music. However, I think you can quite confidently bring them further forward in the mix (if you have the time), most of your percussion parts are done quite tastefully. The one part that might come off a bit cheesy is the second half of "Keepers of Causality". In my opinion the best percussion part was the first half of "Keepers of Causality" where it is mixed with the foley ticks and is integrated well with all the other instruments.
It's really helpful to get an external point of view on this so thanks! And actually the first part of "Keepers of Causality" has no percussions per say but it's rather violas and cellos playing in Col Legno, which gives it a nice hit without too much of a decaying tail that makes it hard to deal with.
Oo very interesting, it was perfect for the piece then. Thanks for the correction, I'm not well versed in the techniques of orchestral instruments.
AMAZING!! each track was so cinematic, i could almost see the game taking place right in front of me! the orchestration was huge, really giving this idea of a vast temple or maze, and the emotional quality you have in the harmonic structure of everything is powerful!
the only criticism i have (not really a criticism, more of a suggestion really), but that last song feels like it wants to be EVEN BIGGER, and i think you have the capabilities to take it even further than you already have >:)
that being said, everything here is INCREDIBLE! you've done an astounding job here my friend :)))))
Thank you it really means a lot! I really wanted to go even further with the last song in particular, but couldn't due to lack of time. It's part of the game of these jams so I don't really mind and I'm just looking forward to the next one :)
This is my favorite album art of the jam. I was like "that's a pyramid but I don't recognize these hieroglyphs", until I had a closer look 8-) And then you give me this really richly realized orchestral soundtrack. This is one of my more favorite orchestral soundtracks of the jam: strong sensibility, coherent themes that complimented rather than competed with each other, nice variation between tracks, everything I was looking for. Great stuff.
Good catch!! I was wondering if anyone would notice it hahaha
And thanks a lot for listening through!
The story you tell works very well with the ambient and cinematic atmosphere of your tracks. I feel like it could fit a very HQ graphics game. The orchestration perfectly renders the sand as a rare material idea and the vastness of the lore around it!
I particularly liked the intensity and darkness of Keeper of Causality!
Thanks a lot for your comment! Glad you enjoyed it 🙂
I love how cinematic these are! Awesome job with the orchestration and mixing synthesized elements with the orchestra. That flute part in Corridors needs to be an audition excerpt lol
Thank you for listening through! I think at this point it could also work for auditioning deep divers given the amount of breath you would need lol
These are such great OSTs! Loved the compositions, and especially the production and orchestration of the pieces. The use of the flute is really original, and it blends perfectly with the instrumentation and atmosphere. Amazing work!
Thanks! Really glad you enjoyed it! :)
Love the aggressive flute runs in the opening track! This was unexpectedly grand and packed with drama. I enjoyed reading your story along to the soundtrack. If I had to share a nitpick, I would say that the production could use a bit more brightness and 'punch' to the high-end, as it seems that the percussion, for instance, doesn't particularly stand out compared to the rest of the orchestra. Other than that, nice work!
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks a lot for your comment! I definitely agree with you, I think I still struggle a lot with mixing (and mixing drums in particular) so it's good hearing it from someone else :)
Amazing! You've created such majestic, ominous and rich-sounding music tracks. I especially loved the flute at the start of "Corridors of the Time Palace".
Just one note though - I think your SoundCloud and itch.io download have the wrong track labelled "Keepers of Causality"? It just seems to replay the first track.
Thanks a lot! Oh yeah, I must have been pretty tired when I did that haha just corrected it, thanks for the heads up :)