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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
I really like "The Earth Can't Hold Me". The use of panning sounds and the way that several streams of music start to converge into the inner cacaphony of this person's mind is very good. I really liked the entries that reached into the psychological, and this one does the same!
Nice!
A thoughtful blend of acoustic and chiptune sounds, I loved those really subtle glisses at the beginning of “Stuck in Time”. The synths you chose for “The Earth Cant Hold Me” gave the track a simultaneously soft but spooky character, reminded me a bit of the Twin Peaks soundtrack! The buildup in that track was also really moving, I think it would work really well as the final area BGM, epic and restrained all at once. Great work here!
Well... that was a rollercoaster of emotions! The way The Earth Can't Hold Me evolves multiple times (freaking love the guitar choice) & slowly descends back into the beginning. Don't get me started on the fantastic melody of Stuck In Time, great work!
Wow! This submission is super well crafted. Stuck in Time just sounds beautiful I really like the guitar and the piano mixed with the synths. The harmonies are just beautiful really great job on Stuck in time. The Earth Can't Hold Me is just perfect. The dynamic variation is really nice to see. Really great job!
thank you!!!!!
gorgeous submission!! my personal favorite is The Earth Can't Hold Me - I can tell there is some minecraft inspo in this submission, and as the fiend i am for minecraft music, i am so here for it! your tracks are long but vary throughout and keep the listener engaged, and still manage to build a story. this is difficult to do, especially for game OSTs, since you have to think about how the track would loop. great work!
i can't wait to here more of your music, keep it up!!!
Wow, I really like the retro space like atmosphere you got! Good job. Really good work on the instrument blends and textures, it makes it feel like you are in space. Fits the theme and your story very well.
Thank you <3
Your welcom
I really love how you captured the space theme, nice job! The second half of the The Earth Cant Hold Me sound incredible.
The first track was really cute and fueled my brain with lots of serotonin, reminds me a lot of spellcasting mixed with Toby Fox for sure. I loved the synths on the second track, they're really warm and buttery on the ears, however, I do think the track could do without the drums. For a nearly 9 minute long track though and the compositional choices kept me engaged more than anything. Overall, an absolutely superb job!! <3
Thanks! Drums are a challenge for me so deciding how much/ how little or evem how to write them has been a big struggle so i appreciate feedback like this
This reminds me of RPG adventure games, like "Easterward," which are full of mystery and very well done~
Never heard of that, so I will be listening to the music. Thanks you!
If there was a beat drop on the middle of the second track it would literally be the best thing ever.
The Earth Canr Hold Me EDM remix coming soon to a corner store near u
Man, this soundtrack is amazing! Even though it’s only two songs, I think they have captured the feeling of being, well, “lost in space” beautifully!
The first song just invokes a lot of emotions in me. I love the use of chip tune here, and it goes very well with the rest of the instruments, never feeling like it’s drowned out or overpowering the others. Your main motif for this is also really nice sounding.
The second song takes a large tonal shift, yet still feels connected to the first. It has a larger sense of despair, which is perfectly conveyed through the music. Plus, this song is EIGHT MINUTES?!? That’s quite a lot of minutes, especially for a song, but you manage to use each of those minutes to their fullest potential to tell a complete story though notes alone, which is what I think makes this soundtrack so special.
All in all, amazing job, and I can’t wait to see what you make next!
Thank you so much!!! I am really hoping that i can use this to finally get together some actual drive to compose for fun and maybe make a more complete project with this. Im so glad you enjoyed it!
Stuck in Time: I like your main motif. Those first three notes followed by a longer phrase recurs throughout the piece and feels like the progression of a story. The use of piano with guitar and chiptune sound really nice together and is a very comfortable environment. I enjoyed listening to this!
The Earth Can’t Hold Me: You certainly captured the space vibe here - in particular with the arpeggio with the large intervals in the background. I really like the panning pad swaying back and forth which makes me feel a little dizzy in the sense that I really feel like I’m tumbling through space and am being disoriented, probably like the main character feels in your story. I thought the harmonic choices you made just after the 5 minute mark were really interesting and kept me engaged.
Overall: I like the dichotomy between your two tracks and I think the story is conveyed with the beginning and end here. I would love to know what happens throughout the story and hear more of your music! Well done and thank you for sharing!
Thanks so much!!! I've really come to like this concept and may see if i can make something of it in the future, would be super fun if i can pull it off
The first track reminds me so much of Snail's House (L'ete album in particular) and I'm all here for it. Playing around with the 1,7,5,3 scale degrees is such a good way to come up with a compelling main motif. The sound design is really easy on the ears as well.
the second track works as very effective background music for the scene you wrote for it. There are a lot of interesting textures overlapping over that 7/8 rhythmic base. The song doesn't stand out to me as much as the first one however. I think some more rhythmic or melodic variation would benefit this track immensely.
Overall a very fun listen.
Noted! Thank you for the kind words :)
the earth can't hold me is such an interesting track. it has this slow buildup, and yet there's still an ever present sense of tension and building towards something bigger. love the constant L/R panning to still keep this sense of unease. can def see the lena raine inspo that others have noted here!!! great job <3
TYSM AHHHHH
Alright I'm here
To start off, I think both songs were too quiet. yes the second song got loud eventually but even then I had to have my headphones at really high volume for it to get to be a nice loud instead of just normal volume.
I also think the second song while a nice buildup and decrescendo, lasted a bit too long. I think if there was more movement in the melody it wouldn't be as bad but it is a little simple for how long it is.
I liked the synths you used a lot. especially in the first track when they would slide it reminded me of bugsnax and celeste which is great.
all in all a good entry!
Thanks for the feedback :)
Very very solid ambience. I really liked it.
It was also very, what I like to call "listenable," which I feel like could be a category of its own. A lot of music is really interesting, but it isn't "listenable."
It was like a perfect ambience, I could see it pretty clearly. One thing I think I got from the vibe was this interesting rainy atmosphere, like if Simon Stalenhag's art was pixelated.
Im glad you enjoy listening to my music! I had to look up who you were talking about but i TOTALLY see it, thats really cool!!!
There have been a couple tracks that made me think of Stalenhag, you and one other person.
To me, if your music is making me think of my favorite concept artist, you're really doing something right!
Very very solid ambience. I really liked it.
It was also very, what I like to call "listenable," which I feel like could be a category of its own. A lot of music is really interesting, but it isn't "listenable."
It was like a perfect ambience, I could see it pretty clearly. One thing I think I got from the vibe was this interesting rainy atmosphere, like if Simon Stalenhag's art was pixelated.
Meant to comment on your submission ages ago, but JUST got around to writing this up! But!! Really good work, well-written & well-mixed. Love how well the electronic elements blend with the acoustic ones, both on a compositional level and a production one, it’s hard to pick a favorite track between the two. Again, excellent job! :)
Thank u so much!!!!! I had a ton of fun with it and glad that i can garner the respect of the cat game creators
i really liked the beach sounding theme of stuck in time, it really fits for the picture theme, at least as a title theme!
as for the earth can't hold me, it has that essence of finality (duh, what do you expect). i can't really say anything else other than it sounds like the end of something over and over. i really liked the plucked electric guitar at like 4:02. you did a really good job!
thank you!!! I love the comment about it sounding like something is ending over and over, as The Earth Can't Hold Me is really supposed to symbolize the final spiral of repeating intrusive thoughts before finally breaking away, and seeing you phrase it like this is really cool :D
Stunning work! So dreamy and emotionally rich. Love the panning work, and the slow-burn progression. Really enjoyed this :)
Aww, tysm! Glad you liked it.