Play soundtrack
Stay Afloat (OST Composing Jam 7)'s itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Correlation to theme | #82 | 3.988 | 3.988 |
| Impression | #106 | 3.817 | 3.817 |
| Overall | #119 | 3.810 | 3.810 |
| Composition | #137 | 3.817 | 3.817 |
| Quality | #139 | 3.817 | 3.817 |
| Creativity | #239 | 3.610 | 3.610 |
Ranked from 82 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Judge feedback
Judge feedback is anonymous.
- You have a great grasp on a very cinematic style of writing that lets the musical medium achieve what it does best— adding a layer of emotional/personal depth to non-musical forms (like games). The music always unfolds with a really touching elegance that I found very affecting. I suspect you’ll find a lot of game devs that are searching for this exact quality in the music. A good example of this is around the 1:00 mark of “Mind at Sea”, where you bring in some really lovely percussive elements that I like very much. The piece instantly expands and incurs a quality of “vastness” and emotional depth. Its reoccurrence in other tracks serves you well, helping tie the whole thing together nicely. If I could offer some critique on this set of tracks it would be to pay as much attention to the endings of your tracks as you do the rest— at times (notably on “Mind at Sea”), it feels like the tracks kind of just stop rather than actually wrapping up and ending— I would encourage you to spend some time seeing if you can “land the plane” a little more gracefully. Additionally, I’m personally not really a fan of including non-musical elements in tracks (like the water sound effects)— your lovely writing stands on its own two feet well enough without it! You have a very good sense of drama and emotion that I think serves the music very well. Your choices of harmonic movement are very cinematic and effective, and something that I think will serve you well going forward. There is an expansive, deeply-felt quality to your writing that is wonderful to hear. Beautiful, moving work.
Description
This OST follows the mental personification of our protagonist, sailing peacefully through the waters of life throughout "Mind At Sea". As the weight of pressure starts to build up in the real world, the ship sails into some "Rough Waters", violently shaking and stirring until a strike of lightning sends everything into chaos. Desperately trying to "Stay Afloat" as everything crumbles around them, the protagonist eventually can't keep her head above the waves and surrenders to the sea, falling into the cold embrace of hopelessness as the currents drag her deeper, just like the souls who travel down the "River Styx" to their eternal damnation. Nothing but a flickering heartbeat remains, until a brief moment of reflection gives a chance to simply "Breathe", and find the determination to swim back up from the depths, push against the current, and as the music begins to swell in a triumphant fashion, they are finally able to "Resurface". Their mind is at peace once more.
I composed this soundtrack in Ableton Live 11 Suite, using various instruments and effects from third-party plugins, primarily from Native Instruments. If you have any specific questions about my composition process or the instruments I used, feel free to ask me in a comment, and I'll do my best to respond!
Message from the artist
This jam was an absolute blast for me to participate in, I put my full effort into composing my own tracks, as well as discussing ideas and sharing feedback with the rest of the composers. In the end, I feel like I've composed and produced some amazing tracks that I feel represents the best of what I can offer right now. And hey, for being 16 years old and barely out of high school with only two years of composition experience, I think I did pretty well. I'm looking forward to feedback from both the incredible panel of judges and the other participants, and I truly hope you enjoy listening to my submission! :D
Theme
How does it fit the theme?
I tried to draw inspiration from both themes and create my own interpretation, in the description you can see that the game is about the mental personification of our protagonist, as they sail through an oceanic world of their own creation, doing their best not to sink under the pressures of the real world.
Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://ihoist.itch.io/stay-afloat
Number of tracks6
Genre
Soundtrack use permission
Any non-commercial project
Leave a comment
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
Comments
Very nice mix of japanese composition with "sailor" epic aesthetic in Mind at Sea, that's an interesting blend and I would have liked to hear more of it, though you seem to have put the japanese aesthetic aside for the rest of the soundtrack. That's not a big issue but in my (subjective) sense it's a missed opportunity.
Overall the arrangements and production quality are really good, there's not really anything I can say. You clearly have some mastery over the style you went for.
Composition wise, you use a lot of ostinatos and "crescendo" type of structure which is perfectly fine - and you handle them pretty nicely - but I think you could try composition styles with more diversity regarding "movement". e.g an ostinato, which then turns into a crescendo, followed by a calm sequence, return of the crescendo, etc. What I mean is, I feel like some of them could get pretty repetitive in the context of looping tracks in a video game - depending on their implementation of course.
I liked what you did with water sound effects, it's always nice to have!
I'm very "critical" here but overall it's a really good submission with a great atmosphere and great ideas. :)
Really great entry! This soundtrack was just able to tell a good story. It was very cohesive throughout, and they all felt connected, which I think is really hard. Great work!
Very beautiful entry. Mind At Sea is so peaceful whilst also being motivational in a way. Stay Afloat is so cinematic. The heartbeat sound effect to convey feelings of anxiety is perfect for what this track was meant for. Really liked Breath too for the same reason. it pairs a sense of peace as well as anxiety as I assume the character is trying to calm down and finally realize "it's ok now". Resurface was also a great composition. It sounds very triumphant and is a great way to end the album. good work dude!
Solid cinematic tracks! My favorite has to be the final track, "Resurface".
Very nice composition dude.
Your composition makes me think of the thematic writing of Hans Zimmer
I like your leitmotiv and cohesion about your all tracks !
Beautiful atmosphere, you stay consistent thorough all tha tracks, well done. There might be a small improvements compositionally - bring a little bit more variations or modulations. But otherwise, great job! :)
The entire OST excellently conveys what you have described in words.
I'm curious to know what video games you took as inspiration (Unravel maybe?) It was the first game that came to mind maybe because of the way you crafted the strings and percussion and the sound as well.
Well done!
Very much got the feeling of being on the sea throughout and all the tracks feel very coherent with one another, especially with the reuse of the main melody. Some nice writing throughout!
Really cool leitmotiv for the first track ! and you use it in other tracks ! great storytelling :)
Enjoyed that little musical journey ^^
You have a very good sense of defining a soundscape and staying “in character” throughout the OST. Your harmonic language, especially in River Styx shines through and makes things really interesting! If I could offer one bit of critique, I would love to see you commit more to changes in the music. I can tell when you have new ideas coming up, and they’re great! Don’t be afraid to give them some spotlight; it’ll only make them that much more memorable.
Overall great sound, solid mixing, groovy, and flowing. Great job!
Really solid cinematic arrangements! Love your use of percussion, seems carefully and successfully used! Your string arrangments are very strong, very nice to hear through the soundtrack! Nice job!
i think ive talked about yours already, but this is amazing! im so impressed by the sound selection, and the recurring melody is really good!
Loved this! Very rich, cinematic, and beautiful. Can sense the story. The sound design is also great. Awesome entry!
This one gave me literal shivers, with the instrumentation and SFX and the way all of these songs tell a story and progress from one arc to another. This is excellent stuff!
The orchestral composition was already good but the sound effects take it to the next level, felt like I was listening to a movie. Mixing was also really well done with great separation between the sound effects and the instruments, takes quite a bit of work to get all the sound effects to stand out in a dense mix. The music stirs your emotions but it never veers into cheesy territory, epic but in a authentic way. Extremely immersive experience, hats off to you!
Really good use of leitmotiv, felt so coherent and pleasing, absolutly love this submission, one of my favorite !
Mind At Sea: So pretty. The water sfx is a great touch. Love the "fake Lydian" sound from the bVI-bVII progression. And then we finally get the i resolution at the end!
Rough Waters: The motif over darker progressions and textures. The shipwreck sounds were a great touch.
Stay Afloat: Nailed the drowning feeling. The motif returns again!
River Styx: A tragic sound befitting of the part of the story. Love that heartbeat like percussion returning again in this track.
Breathe: The perc again. Finally the sound of hope!
Resurface: Love this triumphant and positive ending.
Great work, was a journey!
So good I listened to it like five times back to back to back.
I really like all the different ways you use the main motif. They feel transformative enough without losing its central character. I also like the sophistication and tension in Stay Afloat and River Styx. Their placement in the context of the soundtrack adds so much! The titles perfectly match what the music portrays, and last but not least, the production is really great. Bravo!
I love the story your music told here! It really felt like I was brought along for a complete journey. Your orchestration sounds really nice and I like the little motif that follows you throughout the entire soundtrack. You should be really proud of what you've submitted here, it was a great listen. Nice work!