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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
Great job, really chill vibe, deep yet accessible. There is some mixing issues, I think you tried to keep the ensemble too quiet for the vibe ? Anyway, great entry, you can be proud !
I have a habit of making everything a bit too quiet, but everyones feedback has shown me how i can make things louder to sound even better, thank you!!
Really like the vibe of these soundtracks! Definitely felt a sense of immersion and contemplation when I played this while sitting alone on the train... like I was inside my own little world 😉
Thank you so much!!!!
lovely, serene works here, you built an environment through your sounds really well. mixing could have used some work here and there (i'm thinking the piano in "stuck in time", and drums in "the earth can't hold me"), but that doesn't detract from the listen.
Absolute stunning Guitar work, I was shocked to find out it was a VST.
was super fun listening to your feedback on stream, thank you!!!
The guitar is so sick, is it a VST or are you playing? Regardless I love the sound choices :))
Its a vst! Its some built in ableton packs for the first and shreddage 3 free for the second one, thank you!
oh wow, stuck in time is really beautiful, the synth work on the song is great. the guitars are also a nice touch. i like the second track but i think it might've needed more time worked on, especially the mixing of it. still, it's a really cool song and i love how you were ambitious with the length of it. great entry!
i wish the mix filled out in the earth cant hold me a bit more, it just feels so empty with the high pass drums, but everything that is there is incredible, all of your musical themes are great, as well as the evolution of the track never getting boring and also that bass line earlier on SLAMS, but anyway the synths in the first track really fit the vibe, and the entrance of the guitar is great, love me some down sampling on the synths and piano, and the time manipulation and musical themes throughout are all great, only real criticism is the jump at 2:08 is jarring and i feel like that transition to the outro could be smoother, but it works nonetheless, and also i wish earth cant hold me got fuller when it got bigger but thats not realllyyy a criticism cause its just what i wouldve wanted
Thanks so much! After revisiting the overall mixing i completely agree and think i could have made it a lot bigger and more full at the climax to really sell it, as with the volume i was working with it worked well but unfortunately that did not translate when it came out overall far too quiet haha
Oh... long compositions... I love long compositions!
Stuck in Time - cute! Nice composition for the main menu)
The Earth Can't Hold Me - Oh... It's time for the sweetest! The guitar at the 4th minute? Beautiful! Synthesizers? Awesome! Gradual development of the composition and then a nice and simple ending? LOVE IT!
Overall it's very much the atmosphere of beautiful art platformers. Beautiful combination of chords, sounds and effects
Thank you for a wonderful 10 minutes!
And thank you for your feedback!!! <3
Huge fan of the lead tones on the first track! They gel so well with your beautiful guitar playing! The lack of drums/percussion gives the track a really cost feel like the syth and guitar players are just hanging out, playing off each other’s ideas, I love it! It’s a wonderful contrast to the second track where you tastefully integrate lovely dissonance, what a monster! Well done!!
Nice stuff! The main character's dynamic with leaving their bubble is a smart way of interpreting the theme, and I think your songs convey the emotions you're describing well. I especially enjoy the calm and emptiness of Stuck in Time.
OH MY GOD WHEN THE GUITAR HITS IN THE EARTH CANT HOLD ME!!! genuinely amazing work on that one!!
Stuck in Time - Begins really calm almost like an ambient track, but then when the melodies come in the track becomes really emotional, and the melodies are really memorable
The Earth Can't Hold Me - Another becautiful track, I can feel all the emotions you tried to convey - loneliness, a bit of fear of the dangerous space, being lost both physically and mentally
Overall solid soundtrack. Honestly I wish it was even longer, because it's really good
I would have absolutely loved to make more, even had a few other projects going but unfortunately time management is not my friend haha, glad you liked it!!!
Such a shame this was so low, I really liked it. Like someone else said, the bendy synth is super addictive.
THE EARTH CAN'T HOLD ME has so many pretty melodic paly and beautiful chords! Great job!
Thanks! I've been getting a lot of really useful feedback on my mixing so hopefully I don't run into issues like this in the future :P
Can't wait to hear more, and really pretty artwork too!!
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️!!!!
Stuck in Time: That bendy synth is addictive. Beautiful composition.
The Earth Can't Hold Me: Love the extensions on those chords at the beginning. This is a journey! Love the constant build up. Dark chord options towards the middle caught me off guard in a good way. That guitar tho!
The volume is a little low (but you know that as I saw you troubleshooting your mix in Discord haha). Its a minor issue that doesn't detract any points though. Great work and hope to see you again next jam!
Thanks! Im absolutely looking forwards to doing more of these, just the past day has already been an incredible experience.
Wow, really liked both tracks, but I especially loved 'The Earth Can't Hold Me'. All of that tension and dissonance building up into that grand soundscape was amazing to listen to! Great job!
Thank you!!!!
Good instrumentation choices overall, but the tracks are super quiet. I also feel like the hats come in too loudly in the second track (around 3:22), and a fade into the guitars at around 4:00 might have helped transition into that section. In order to properly hear the stuff before 2:00, and after 6:00ish, I had to crank my headphones loud enough to make the middle section way too loud.
Thanks for the feedback, mixing and mastering is definately something i struggle with so detailed feedback like this is always super appreciated.
Love the simplicity, tone, and contrast of your two tracks! Very cool instrumentation that suits the music perfectly! I love the entrance of the guitar in The Earth Can't Hold Me
If I had to give any feedback I think you could have mastered the tracks louder, I had to turn up my volume for this entry but that's pretty nitpicky
Noted! I tend to work with my volume pretty high on my computer but forget to check how it sounds listening to it at more normal levels, will keep this in mind in the future!!
From a very unassuming start this one builds into some beautiful sounds and melodies that all sit together perfectly.
Stuck in Time has a cute feel but there's also so much emotion packed into it.
The Earth Can't Hold Me really takes you on a journey and ironically, had a very tight grip on me the whole time I listened.
Thank you so much!! I really wanted to make the melodies one of the through lines through both pieces so I'm really glad you liked it!
Love your sound choices in "Stuck in Time"! I felt like it was a great blend of chiptune and acoustic elements. Also the envelope structure of "The Earth Can't Hold me" is a pretty cool idea, I like how subtly the track builds more and more as it progresses. There's something cinematic about how it starts... I felt like I was floating in space. Great work!
Thank you so much!!!! The Earth Can't Hold Me was absolutely one of my favourite things to write so i'm glad to see its translating haha