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Lost in Space - Pixcele's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Correlation to theme | #57 | 4.072 | 4.072 |
| Creativity | #91 | 3.904 | 3.904 |
| Overall | #92 | 3.866 | 3.866 |
| Composition | #113 | 3.888 | 3.888 |
| Impression | #152 | 3.688 | 3.688 |
| Quality | #154 | 3.776 | 3.776 |
Ranked from 125 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Description
While its really hard to convey a longer story with just two songs, I wanted to use these songs to convey the two main points of the little story I came up with for this, so I'll give a little explanation for each track:
STUCK IN TIME - (Menu Theme)
This is the song that I would have establish our protagonist, a nice more relaxing but distinctly hollow instrumentation that starts to plant the seeds of the nature of this character, who is incredibly lonely and struggles to break out of their bubble (this song was pretty directly inspired by the inspo pic). They are happy in their little place of solitude, but the sense of lonelyness and not being enough slowly becomes more and more apparent, which is when we meet them as it finally starts to reach a tipping point where they set out on a quest to try and find a greater purpose in life. This song is supposed to embody the naivete of this character at the start of the story, a lot more visibly "happy" and doesn't fully grasp the changes in their life that have to happen to get them out of this.
THE EARTH CAN'T HOLD ME - (Final Area)
Playing more towards the emotional climax of the game, this would be the song that plays as the protagonist reaches her final destination, as in her fight to escape her loneliness she has unintentionally pushed everything away, and physically pushed herself to the furthest reaches of the earth, with the swell at 2:00 representing the steps beyond the earth's atmosphere, the danger and unknown that comes with being in space. Shes not only mentally lost and struggling, but physically lost and in danger by nature of being alone, in space, just with the thoughts that have tormented her throughout the story. Nothing about this final area is safe, nothing about it is comfortable, nothing about the protagonists' mental state is comfortable. The worst memories are on loop, the worst thoughts, and running to space hasn't fixed them. The song gets darker and more muddled as the dangers get faced head on (i kind of envision this as a pixel platformer jumping between space debris with the earth sitting in the background), before finally slowing down as the protagonist finally starts to grasp what she has to do as the looping repetitive thoughts finally start to slow down.
This was all made on Ableton Live!!
Message from the artist
Feedback is very appreciated! I've never done something like this before and would love to understand what people think of my music!
Theme
How does it fit the theme?
I chose to embrace the theme "inside my world" especially from the side of being stuck inside ones head, allowing "The Earth Can't Hold Me" to provide a more stark contrast to the more happy feel of "Stuck in Time" which plays off of the more relaxed feeling of the picture theme. I wanted to show both the good and the bad of being stuck in your own little world, and how that (in this story) the bad ultimately turns ugly as the protagonist's world essentially falls apart around her.
Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://soundcloud.com/pixcele/sets/lost-in-space-ost-composing?si=10fc5cd7e4714d09873d41d53293994f&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
https://youtu.be/lPxpinzhPKc
Number of tracks2
Genre
Soundtrack use permission
Any project
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Comments
While the music is way too quiet, after turning up my volume, it's really nice to listen to. Good work!
Haha yeah, I've learnt a lot about mixing and making everything a good volume over this. Definitely something I did not think about enough, thanks for the feedback!
I actually liked the 8 minute long track. Like there is a very fitting build up to some end scene, which draws itself in the head, when you listening to it.
Thats awesome!! Thank you <3
Wow that was an experience! Really like the personality of your tracks, specially the first one, that mix of sounds and the phrases were really interesing and cool!
The second one reminds me to The Other Wilds, nice one!
Congrats for your work!
Never heard of The Other Wilds, so I'll look into it! Thanks for the suggestion :D
Geez! You put a lot into those 2 tracks, especially that 9 minute long one! I really commend you for being able to hold the listener’s attention for that long. I can totally see some vibes from games like Celeste and Minecraft. I see these working in an actual game loop! Love how wide the sound is, and the clarity in your mix is on point!
Thanks a ton! This project was super fun and I really got into it so i'm really glad thats translating, thanks for taking the time to comment :D
Very cohesive sound palette! Great mix of chiptune and orchestra. Also nice dynamics inside each track. Love melody writing and chord transitions. Super cool submission!
Thank you so much!!
Really chill and ambient soundtrack!
First track was a very cool blending of guitare and chiptune loved that ;)
2nd track also great and work really well with that evolving feeling but maybe was too repetitive to my taste^^
Overall great job!
Completely fine! I get its not for everyone haha, thank you for your feedback regardless :)
those oscillator bends on the first track sounded amazing, could probably fall asleep to it really lmao
awwww, thank you so much!
I don't think i've ever heard such a clever mix of Chiptune and orchestral. Beautiful! Very well composed
Really??? Thank you so much!!!!
You put a lot of thought in the theme and the feeling of loneliness, and it showed in your track. I loved both of them, The Earth Can't Hold Me was a "close your eyes and enjoy" to me. Stuck in Time was very enjoyable as well, it works great as a menu theme. Great job on this submission!
Thanks a lot!!!! Im so glad you liked it :D
Immediately reminded of Aivi & Surasshu with your absolutely beautiful instrumentation. I wish I had a whole album, but that's probably a bit too greedy haha. Amazing job!!
I've never heard of this before! I will have to do some research and listen, hopefully ill get to continue with some of the ideas with this from the future!
THIS IS GORGEOUS! the chiptune and other instruments play off each other so well, and it strikes a perfect balance of having a really striking and memorable melody and being really atmospheric (I guess that's a good word for it? I mean the combination of instruments creates a really strong kind of soundscape).
also like everyone else, this reminds me of celeste, though it has it's own style going on, with the chiptune moreso emphasizing a sense of nostalgia, even if that wasn't intended. If you were going to expand on this soundtrack, it might be interesting to emphasize that aspect in the mixing and instruments used.
Also I think the mix could use a little more lower-end frequencies but that's the only real definitive criticism I have. Beautiful
AHHH Thank you so much!!!!! Lena raine has been a huge inspiration to me so its awesome that people are seeing her influence
eight minute track gang
I can totally hear THE EARTH CAN’T HOLD ME in the context of a Celeste map. It never feels boring and consistently builds upon itself with something new and engaging. I also sense the feeling of anxiety and tension, which I love. It works great as a massive loop, too, managing to lead into itself, while never feeling monotonous. I’m able to visualize the story described through this piece.
STUCK IN TIME is giving me UNDERTALE vibes, while also sounding entirely unique. I love the guitar arrangement, which fits perfectly with the synth melody. Beautiful.
Wonderful submission.
Thank you so much, from one 8 minute song to another im glad you also appreciate some drawn out vibes
You've conveyed a lot with just two tracks which is insanely impressive to me. Chiptune and guitar was a combo I never knew I needed and they work really well together. I also really liked the build up in "The Earth Can't Hold Me". As other comments are stating, you did a great job keeping the second track interesting despite its 8+ min runtime. Nice submission!
Thank you so much!!!!
The vastness of "the earth can't hold me" is so great! Loved what you did!
Keeping an 8 minute long track as engaging as you did is an extremely tough feat and you did it in spades. I loved the sound design and the spacey-ness of the whole OST!
Fantastic submission! Stuck in Time hit that nostalgic balance for me wwith some phenomenal sound fonts and melodies, and The Earth Can't Hold Me was probably the fastest 8 minutes of music I've ever experienced. I just got lost in it. Well done!
Fastest 8 minutes youve ever heard is incredibly high praise, thank you!
Stuck in Time - Enjoyed that chiptune melody with the live sounding guitar very smooth sounding and relaxing
The Earth Can't Hold Me - Very atmospheric start and build up, the snare and hat I think should be a tad bit louder in the bigger section, while the guitar is a little bit overpowering so a little volume adjustment to those and this be really solid.
Really nice work!
Stuck in time is a beautiful piece, love the chiptune leads and the crushed piano (soundfonts?). Really feels like the protagonist is ready for anything, basking in happiness. Earth Can't Hold Me's breakdown really sets the 2nd part of theme, I especially like the guitar parts you wrote for it. IMO you should let it cut a bit more in the mix, especially in the low/mid range so it sounds fuller. The track kinda reminds of RoR2's OST but with a darker tone.
Overall, think you did a great job constructing those ideas to sound and had a wonderful theme!
Thank you so much!!! Had a lot of fun with this and hoping to revisit it all and try and mix everything better and feedback like this is super useful :D
oh yeah, the chiptune aspects are all magical 8 bit and the piano is a lil bit of labs soft piano and soundpaints 1928 steinway, all of these are free!!
"Stuck in Time" made me feel super nostalgicccc! If I were in a game with a menu theme like that, it'd be such a special moment. It's the kind of menu theme that already makes you feel connected to the journeys you're still waiting to experience. "The Earth Can't Hold Me" is my fav though cuz GUITAR.
My critique would be that for the first song, you can push loudness further since it has a lot of space above that went unused. For the second one, the dynamic was well-utilized since the gap made the middle part more impactful. Even if that's how it's balanced in-game, I find that keeping a consistent audible volume is important for stand-alone listening!
So much heart, that is how I felt listening to Stuck In Time. I really love how it progresses with all the elements that get introduced. The guitar was an amazing addition and brings it to another level for me.
I honestly did not realize The Earth Can't Hold Me was 8 minutes, it managed to keep me interested despite its long runtime. It always felt like it was going somewhere and kept my attention. Definitely more ambient than Stuck In Time and was good.
I think you did an awesome job if I actually wanted there to be more tracks in the playlist, so I'm excited to hear more from you in then future.
Thank you so much!!! That's always my worry when i do longer works, keeping people engaged for that long is very difficult. Im glad you liked it!