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Self-Acceptance Full (Ost Composing Jam 7)'s itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Creativity | #183 | 3.700 | 3.700 |
| Quality | #302 | 3.467 | 3.467 |
| Impression | #386 | 3.200 | 3.200 |
| Overall | #386 | 3.287 | 3.287 |
| Correlation to theme | #463 | 3.100 | 3.100 |
| Composition | #500 | 2.967 | 2.967 |
Ranked from 30 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Judge feedback
Judge feedback is anonymous.
- As a more orchestrally-oriented composer, I confess that I was somewhat nervous about critiquing this submission given the genre choice, however, upon listening to it, I was quite glad that I did. I think the strong texture work is very admirable, with the use of synth throughout providing some really nice sonic palettes. The percussion often feels like it has this sort of hypnotic feel that really adds that extra layer of interest— this is a skill I struggle with so I always like to hear it! Across the span of the 9 tracks, I found that each individually brought something new, tonally, to the full set which was appreciated— on a track to track basis there was certainly a lot of variety and I thought each track’s overall tone and style was nicely contrasted with the whole. Each felt like it could be implemented in a specific and unique way. Despite this, and while I am consistently impressed with the texture combinations overall, I do think there are opportunities to vary them *within the span of a track* more frequently. For example, at times I found myself growing a little tired of quarter-note kick drum plopping away in the background of “Hildegard Vision” (what a great track title, by the way)— to the extent possible, it might be worth looking into that layer (and others) to see if there are some rhythmic or textural figures that keep the same feel while mixing it up a bit. Having a bar every four measures in the kick drum, for example, that throws in a dotted rhythm or some other slightly different pattern can do a lot to avoid fatigue and add interest to the track. Never do exactly the same thing twice if you can avoid it! Subtle changes in pattern loops can make a big difference and allow you to hold onto that ambient feeling across a long span of time. (This critique is something that I had to learn too— a lot of my early work doesn’t vary enough across repetitions and it is something that I’ve had to consistently put in effort to avoid.) “Knocking Down Heaven’s Door” definitely feels to me like it varies itself more consistently than some of the other tracks— I’d focus on getting that level of interest and variation into all of the tracks— remember, you have to justify the time your track takes up by making sure that all of it is doing something interesting throughout. As far as meeting the theme is concerned, I think that this the most difficult area for me to hear in the submission. When listening to the music, I confess that I am not seeing a connection to the art or the text overall, as skillfully as I might otherwise have found some elements. I would encourage you to attempt to more directly connect to the theme when it is presented in a contest— I think you might find more success in future jams and competitions, which would be great! Overall, it is really fun to hear something that is full of so much textural work— I’m sure some of the other judges who have much more experience and work portfolios in this area will have a lot more valuable feedback than I do, nevertheless I was glad that I came across your work!
Description
DAW - FL Studio
VST Instruments - Harmor, DS Thorn, AIR Xpand2, Kontakt, Shreddage 3 Stratus, and others
Note:
- Recommend listen at low volume, some music are designed specific with heavy distortion!!
- Blinded By Kindness is split into 2 mixes (one with guitar solo, one without it), we have received feedback before and agree that solo instrument performance is not our forte. We split it in order to not ruin listener experience. So, if ya can do solo better than us, do it!!
Message from the artist
hoanglongplanner - We all listen to music, but only the ones that is interesting and engaging. I do have regrets, sometimes I can't recreate the original magic of 1st prototype I listen. Seek revisions and importantly know when to stop.
Texas - Making jam sandwich while Planner hysterical
Theme
How does it fit the theme?
A knock on the door, do you still remember?
"Good morning, my name is Hildegard, a special anima assigned to protect you, how may I assist you?"
"Make me a jam sandwich"
"I don't compute."
Do you still remember that you two stare each other, explaining the intricacy of jam sandwich?
Since when it all changed?
"Being a human is ... a pain"
"You don't need to change, Hildegard. I'm too fond of that side of you"
"If I have you and everyone else by my side, then it's enough for me"
In the dark, there lies
"Hey Hildegard, it's nice to see you again"
"I will be back home somehow, wait for me there, Hildegard..."
THREAT ACCESSMENT - CATASTROPHE
TERMINATION REQUIRED
TERMINATION REQUIRED
A God Who Can't Even Play God Properly
And An Anima Which Can't Even Protect God Properly
UM2S Operating System - Version 00-00-00-00-1
Unable to boot...
Running automatic diagnostic, please wait...
Error founds:
F04.0 - Amnestic disorder due to known physiological condition: Used when memory loss is due to a known physiological condition, such as medication side effects or a medical illness.
F04.1 - Amnestic disorder due to known psychological condition: Applied when memory loss is associated with a known psychological condition, such as stress, anxiety, or depression.
R41.1 - Anterograde amnesia: Utilized for memory loss characterized by the inability to form new memories.
R41.3 - Other amnesia: Used for memory loss not classified elsewhere, such as transient global amnesia.
UNKNOWN ANIMA ERROR CODE NOT IN DATABASE DETECTED
I50.9 - Heart Failure, unspecified - 1001001 1100110 100000 1101111 1101110 1101100 1111001 100000 1001001 100000 1101000 1100001 1110110 1100101 100000 1100001 100000 1101000 1100101 1100001 1110010 1110100
Please contact support to resolve errors above
Thank you for using Unus Mundus 2 Sensory Operating System!!
Press F1 to continue.
Press Del to Enter BIOS Setup.
Starting recovery program...
Encrypting last memory data...
49 6E 73 69 64 65 20 6D 79 20 77 6F 72 6C 64 2C 20 74 68 65 72 65 20 77 61 73 20 79 6F 75
Recovery program is in progress, please do not turn off...
Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2J7-Rv6HTpp06gN0eU0HdNIh7t3eowaz
Number of tracks9
Genre
Soundtrack use permission
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Comments
I wanted to save your soundtrack for last... but never got around to it. I'll be honest: I've listened to Self-Acceptance in its entirety at least four times... and I did it a relatively long time ago.... I don't even know if I should spell out all the merits of this complete album.... Can I try to express my gratitude? When I first started participating in this jam (at the soundtrack creation stage) I had some problems in my personal life, which were growing stronger and stronger every day. To the point where I started actively harming myself again, breaking my life regimen... I was getting worse and worse. When the rating period started, I set myself the insane goal of rating absolutely every single publication of this jam. It was a stupid idea, really. In the process, again, I harmed myself a lot, had a lot of fights with a lot of people. At this second, I'm on the cusp of some problems, the abrupt disposal of which could bring me a great deal of frustration and pain.…
...but you know what? I came across Self-Acceptance. Your soundtrack...your soundtrack helped me. No kidding, no irony. Your soundtrack was very close to me, it was like it became a part of my soul and...I felt calmer. No other soundtrack from this jam created that effect for me...and yours was able to do that..... When I was in pain, the deadline of the evaluation period was getting closer and closer, the emotions and self-twisting were getting stronger and stronger, I listened to Self-Acceptance. It was as if it was speaking to me! Slowly falling spiral in Knocking Down Heavens Door With Menace seemed to merge with my mood, which was falling deep down under the influence of horrible thoughts... And then it slowly "broke" and under the influence of bitkrush went away. It was as if the "destruction" of the song was telling me, "Look, we're both breaking. We're both dissolving. We both feel bad. We're both angry. We're both going downhill. We're both repeating ourselves"... And then calmness would set in... I would sit down at my chair, put the scissors back in the far side of my desk and continue to listen and evaluate other publications.…
While I was listening to Heart Speaks Unto Heart, I wasn't just listening to what the song was telling me anymore. It was like I was dancing madly in my head with it. I was able to speak out! I was able to feel alive for a moment! I was able to merge with the music and finally love myself! I listened as if the music loved me and I loved the music! It was freakin' crazy! Blinded By Kindness - was kind of an anthem of contrasting moods for me. On one side - something cute, like a carefree and happy childhood where I loved myself, played with glasses... on the other side - the person I am now. I'm someone who hates myself. But your album... it helped me.
UM2S OS - I was reminded of the scariest days of this summer. The days when I wanted to jump off a bridge right into the river. This track is like an epitome for me of what my last seconds of life would look like before I choke and go into oblivion... and you know what's next? What's after nothingness? I don't know... The void for me has always been an excuse to fantasize and build my own world. My world. Where no one could ever penetrate. But this world I started to destroy lately... UM2S OS is for me a feeling of death of me as a living being and death of me as the one who controlled my world. And you know what that world was like? It was alive. Until I died. UM2S BIOS - ...and then I died. Already. At this second, as I write this message I don't feel like a living person. It makes no sense for me to feel that way... but the last thing that made me feel alive during the rating period was Self-Acceptance. I feel alive again! The last part of the track was usually the beginning of further evaluation of the publications…
And here it is... the very last day of the rating period. I am very much worried about the results... I made a huge mistake, spending a lot of effort and time (as well as my health) on a soundtrack of 1 hour long... I made an idiotic decision with the progression of dynamics, which will make most people have the wrong opinion about my publication and it will spoil the rating... And I was tormented by these thoughts quite a lot during these two weeks. And all because of my own mistakes... But thanks to UM2S Diagnostic I was getting better... I understood my emotions already. I understood everything that was going on inside me. Even when everything "broke down" and turned into noise, I could still recognize me in the noise. That noise at the very end was not the noise that was breaking me. It's the noise that was me. The me that I could fix. You were able to make me accept myself, accept all my mistakes and keep doing what I had to do for myself . ...I had to live.…
Hildegard Vision... I have a strange feeling about him. You know why? This track doesn't sound like a beginning to me. To me, this track sounds like that unreceived dream of being yourself. This track doesn't sound like the process of acceptance, which the rest of the album is. Hildegard Vision is the end result. To become as happy as I was at the beginning of my life's journey. It's a dream that was always there at the beginning, and that is missing at the end of the process of "fixing" myself, after I broke myself.... ...I'm well aware that the top 20 spots will go to professionals in the business. People who have known music for many years and know how to make someone's heart happy, fill their souls and make someone happy with just the melody of violin in tandem with cello, percussion and flute.…
...But I know for a fact that you were able to save me. Each track was like a different cure for each ailment for me. While all the other composers created just rhythms that made me shake my head, you made the greatest rhythm of this jam that helped me keep my inner calm. You didn't try to make me cry, you didn't try to scare me, you didn't try to make me marvel at the enormity of battles on vast battlefields, you didn't try to make me smile at the cuteness of the music. You were trying to talk to me. You were trying to help me. And you helped me... You understood the main theme of this jam, "Inside my world," better than any other composer. You were doing the real art. You were doing what music is: sweetness for the soul. I want to write one, the very last word I will write for the publications of this jam, which has undoubtedly become a part of me....
Thank you
Hey fox, if you managed to read this
The small lupo ask me to stand by here for 1 hour deep in thoughts, goddammit Texas
Ya really make the lupo worry about ya so much, so really goddammit fox
...
Thank you for listening, I mean it
At this point, you should understand what is means about self-acceptance.
It's about time, you dumbass.
(The small lupo is around somewhere, i'm sure that one feels proud about ya)
Because you fulfilled a promise.
Before I forget, this is what the small lupo wrote
22 57 65 6C 63 6F 6D 65 20 62 61 63 6B 2C 22 20 48 69 6C 64 65 67 61 72 64 20 72 65 70 6C 69 65 73 20 63 61 73 75 61 6C 6C 79 2C 20 6E 69 62 62 6C 69 6E 67 20 61 20 6A 61 6D 20 73 61 6E 64 77 69 63 68 20 2D 20 32 38 33 31 36 36 31
"Welcome back," Hildegard replies casually, nibbling a jam sandwich - 2831661
Really enjoyed the atmosphere this created. You did well matching the story you described. Good job on all the synths too, they go well with digital/robotic aspect.
That said, my biggest critique would be the track length. There are some cool vibes going on, they're just really spread out. I feel that though there are a lot of loops going on, you would be safe in combining a lot more of the layers at once, as well as reducing the number of repeats. That being said, I have little experience in this genre, so take what I say with a grain of salt.
Overall, kudos for the care and time put into this soundtrack. This was clearly a big undertaking, and that's seriously impressive.
I'm not going to pretend I listened to every single second because I just don't have the time T_T But I did listen to Hildegard Vision in full + large chunks of the other tracks on the OST, and what can I say, it's brilliant :D (and I will come back to it when I have more time!)
It kind of reminded me of an album I bought from a doujin artist years ago! It was music that could be used in games, and I bought it with the intention of eventually using a couple of tracks back before I started trying to make my own OSTs for projects, but also just because I really liked the sound and wanted to listen to it in general!
I definitely think the overall sound of your OST is slightly harder hitting than that album I bought though, along with feeling fuller, if that makes any sense, haha. I don't know technical terms for things, I'm sorry T_T Theirs was more sort of dissonant and empty in places by design, whereas yours is more atmospheric with more intention and emotion infused.
I have seen a few comments here and there in this jam on different submissions where people have stated needing an explanation of the type of game the soundtrack should be used in/exact use case of each track, or they can't see how it would fit. While I think it's cool to have that level of detail, (and sure, in some cases, it helps to better set the scene) I don't think it's entirely necessary to get an idea of how an OST would fit.
This is the sort of OST where I can see scenes unfolding in my head as I listen. It doesn't need hand-holding to evoke imagery. I can see this OST working well in several game genres! Heck, I make visual novels, and with the right story setting, it would work great as a VN OST even :3
Anyways, I'm rambling, sorry >.< If I had to pick a favourite, I would say maybe Blinded By Kindness, but it's a tough one! There's something about that track in particular though that gives me a hit of nostalgia and I can't quite figure out why, haha.
The entire OST feels like a journey, and it makes me sad that it hasn't got more ratings yet because it's a really creative and unique submission!
Great Job! I really like the style you guys went for. Keep it up!
This was a pretty big undertaking and im not entirely sure about how i feel about it if im being honest- i think part of it is that this genre isnt something i have the most experience with and therefore dont understand what goes into it/makes it click, but i will say regardless it made for a really interesting listening experience. I really liked Hildegard Vision though, which was easily the standout track for me.
on the distortion, i know you mention to turn the volume down so the purposeful aspects of distortion werent too loud but to get it to a good volume for me it made it a lot harder to hear everything else, so while I think it was a neat touch i think turning it down a bit could help make it more accesible.
Keep up the good work, I'm sorry i didnt resonate with it much but I see that other people here do seem to really like it so I'm glad this work is getting more positive feedback from people who understand what you were going for better. Hope to see more of what you make in the future :D
I appreciate your honesty :]
Your opinion is valid, we have our taste buds, we enjoy what we like, and we don't want people to shove their taste into ours. Let them explore and find what they like.
You don't understand this genre is also valid because I don't understand what I'm making :] If it sounds good and I like it, screw it.
On distortion stuff, I just want to protect your ears on certain tracks (Hildegard Vision, UM2S Diagnostic), this is one area that I have to be careful with (EQ out high frequency but still keep the original design intention, boomy but not constant ringing, importantly keep the vibe going)
Volume, ahhh hmm, well just listen to the level you comfortable, want to vibe with (Let the house boom if ya need to)
PS -
To quote from Texas "It's Celeste but more pixel who continue to contribute the community with unconditional love, me likey"
idk it's a positive or negative thing, but the small lupo insists on it
PS2 -
I am interested in your taste buds, could you introduce some of your favorites? (Me and Texas might love it, I would introduce ours too as a fair exchange) (Someone introduced us to ZEUHL rock genre, which is kinda of a surprise for us)
Makes sense ! Glad you guys weren't offended as that was not my intent. Some of my favourite music comes from artists like:
I try and explore outside of my personal tastes as much as i can though, so overall thank you for giving me a chance to try something new :)
Nah, ya cool, don't be too hard on yourself, please do be considerate for others (they may not share the same view unfortunately, just be careful :/)
Our taste (me and texas) is a combination of doujin music groups, game soundtracks, and other artists too
Doujin Music Groups:
Games:
Artist:
Thank you for business transaction, we do hope you enjoy our weird tastes (and found some that inspire and encourage you to do music)
PS - We don't mind ya share this post to others :]
PS2 - Gotta check your heroes one day :]]
What a soundtrack!!! Fantastic techno/trance vibe that reminds me of the Lain series. Superb drum programming/loop selections and rhythm variations! I don't know how tf you managed to produce all of these in just more than a week, but it showed a mastery of sequencing in your DAW and a deep understanding of this genre of music. Mind = blown. I will be following your music with great interest.
Thank you for your mind-blown!!
Me and Texas could be described as music arranger hobbyist, who never went through music school (We would break every instrument we could find, force 3 drummers to play at the same time, and throw the piano out the window), like to listen and embrace different cultures (Classical, Acoustic, Electronic, Game Soundtrack, DJ Mix, Doujin Music Groups,...)
If you want to do this genre or lack thereof,
Understand the instructions so far? No, well broke the rules. (Don’t break Mono Mixing rule, or you have a bad day)
Good, now make music that wow me and Texas, and inspires someone to take music composition as their hobby
PS -
"A plushy that is not a fumo should be called a plumo"
I apologize on behalf of this lupo
PS2 - Kinda a long response. Oh, the pun.
Did not expect what I did coming into this submission, but it definitely bangs!
The "How does this fit the theme?" reignited a memory I had when I was like six years old playing Cyborg Justice on my dad's Sega Genesis and being completely entranced by the intro cut scene.
I do agree with others about how this would fit into a game. More specifically, each track seems to have the same kind of vibe. Maybe an explanation of each track usage in the game would help in this regard.
The music itself, while a bit long, was very fun to listen to. My favorite was "Knocking Down Heaven's Door With Vengeance". Great work!
Nice transe-like ambiences! Maybe I would have liked one or two themes declined in the entire soundtrack but great work!
If Zeuhl musicians randomly decided they wanted to make experimental, terminally online electronic music, jamming around with slowly morphing textures, this is what they would make.
On pure scale, this is quite impressive, but I am not quite sure how well it was as a game soundtrack. The descirption is admittedly intriguing, making me look for connections within the tune, but it doesn´t really answer what type of game this would be and what type of gameplay music such as this would support.
I like the nature of these, they feel like jam sessions (idk if they are or not). A few of them actually felt like if Noita was a full-on sci-fi game - that game's sountrack is full psychecelic rock jam session. I really like these.
I'll be very honest, I do believe this submission is too long-winded for a game jam. There are lots of submissions to listen to, and also people will skip around if they see 14-minute long tracks. With regular game-dev jams it's always reccomended that your game should be beatable in half an hour or less, and I think this also applies here.
With that out of the way... I think your soundtrack will stay with me. The combination of more electronic dance elements with rock stuff, the jammy feel, the long musical voyages... This is beautiful stuff. The production is mostly quite tight, and the psychedelic / prog vibes send you flying away. If this was put in a game, I would gladly download a couple gigabytes of game just to have the soundtrack in lossless quality, uncut. You could have very long stages with these pieces.
Yeah, this pulls at all the right strings for me. And of course, the entry description binds it all together into a beautiful musical story. Very good job.
That was one of the best submissions I've heard, especially the final track - I really like all the crunchy noises and distortion (I really wanna know how you fit it all in while making each bit still sound distinct cause I struggle with that constantly...). I do think the first half is a tad uninteresting and some of the drum samples could have a little more dynamic variation but as soon as Blinded By Kindness hits it goes to 1000/5 submission for me. To anyone looking at the length of this submission and deciding to skip around I urge you not to cause it's such a good experience when listened all the way through (ESPECIALLY the last track and the guitar solo version of Blinded By Kindness).
The story you've crafted to go with the music too is also very nice, I can see it being developed into a story driven game.
10/10 I've added the playlist to my yt library lol.
GEEBUS RICE THAT IS ONE LOOOOOOOOOOONG BOI ngl, I kinda skipped around the tracks once I had a feel for them, but I will be coming back when I don’t have such a big backlog of ratings to get to.
There’s something about this that, even behind the lore and the convoluted way of describing the music and stuff, is really raw. Like I hardly feel human while listening to this. It’s almost otherworldly, despite how groovy and fun everything is when you get into it.
Hoping this gets more rates because it is buried so deep down compared to where it should be. This is GREAT!!
If only I have a heart
I n s i d e m y w o r l d , t h e r e w a s y o u
Okay the whole lore is amazing, and I love that you left us a message in plain sight! This is exactly the kind of creativity that i absolutely adore (and am incapable of x_x). I feel like this submission has a lot of meaning to unfold, I'm actually gonna come back tomorrow to try and get sense of everything.
As for the OST, I love that you created all these based on the scenario given up there. All tracks sound great, lots of great ideas and good sound design. One of my top submissions!
I tried to share your submission on discord, for the theme alone it's a hidden gem, and criminally underrated!
You have no idea how much we are smiling with joy now!! (There are so many things, but we couldn't express it properly, hahaha :] )
Me and my friend currently tried to make time to listen to everyone's submissions, there are a lot of talented people here with creativity and we are trying to immerse and understand their perceptive on the contest theme.
We will find time for you too!! That's for sure.
Creativity is different from person to person, we want you to find your joy and go all out, we too want to experience your creativity you know !!
PS - There is one more :] But you have to locate the small lupo from somewhere that is in plain sight, ask someone who has seen it.
PS2 - How many OS in this jam :? soulOS, UM2S OS
Cool tracks, but they were quite long and I felt that sometimes there some long periods of time without any change. There were some really interesting ideas, but some parts felt drawn-out and I think that drum sounds could be better quality. Blinded By Kindness was taking a bit long to get going, but I really liked when at 2:30 the drums started to go a bit harder, liked the groove and felt that the track started going somewhere and it actually started to get interesting. I really liked the thing (whatever this is) that plays at the very beginning of Knocking Down Heavens Door With Menace, liked the piano chords and the groove of the drums, that tracks sounds so weird, but at the same time my head was bobbing to it. I think I'll save this OST somewhere, so that I can listen to it again a bit more after the jam
These were very long! I apologize but I did skip around a bit because I am trying to listen to every entry but I heard at least half of every song and they were really well made!
I'm super impressed that you managed to so this in only 9 days so props to you!
I like all the processing you are doing throughout this soundtrack! Particularly the Heaven's Door sample in the beginning and the watery sounds in hoanglonplanner.
All the ideas are related to each other really well. Like it is clearly one single entity, a wholeness of a game. Makes it for me
Wow, so at first I was intimidated by the length of this soundtrack but I'm so glad I chose to listen to it all.
Very impressed you came up with so much stuff in such a short period of time and every track is so good and creative. Too many great things in each one to really be able to single much out but I absolutely loved the whole thing. This would make a great soundtrack but also works as just a great idm album.
For the most part sounds very professionally mixed too, top work.