Play imaginary soundtrack
Automatennui's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Creativity | #20 | 4.268 | 4.268 |
| Overall | #150 | 3.737 | 3.737 |
| Quality | #184 | 3.707 | 3.707 |
| Impression | #214 | 3.561 | 3.561 |
| Correlation to theme | #225 | 3.634 | 3.634 |
| Composition | #264 | 3.512 | 3.512 |
Ranked from 41 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Description
Automatennui (a combination of "automaton" and "ennui") is an OST for an imaginary, Psychonauts-inspired action game in which the protagonist must traverse the minds of NPCs to battle their mental illnessess/infections. Next to the image prompt, the phrase "inside my world" feels so inviting. My first instinct, even, was to go with the image because of how warm and soft it looked. But the more I thought about the phrase, I wondered what it would look like if you removed the inviting association provided by the image. What if you weren't invited? What if you were intruding "inside my world"? One aspect from the image that I did gravitate towards—and ultimately ended up including in the final concept—was the idea of an imaginary world inside someones mind, which was kind of implied to me by the scribbly fish. As I wrote more (and partly due to my personal composition style), I settled on the idea of these NPCs being robots or computer programs instead of humans, and what would affect their "mental state". One of the main concepts I infused into the tracks to tie them together was a feeling of intrusion. Frequent interruptions of the musical material provide stark tonal contrasts moment to moment. In-game, these would accompany sudden, drastic changes to the overworld environment.
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Electric Sheep (Title and Demo; Credits)
Opening the game, players would be met with this track. After a brief time waiting on the title, the classic VG "demo mode" would begin, showing gameplay and hinting at the story. "Electric Sheep" introduces the bright arpeggios and interruptions that will become a staple in this OST.
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Android Insomniac (Level and Boss)
Concept for one of the levels and boss battles in this game, perhaps near the beginning. I often imagine what it must be like for my laptop when I leave it on for weeks at a time (sorry techies, my uptime is terrible) and how it might affect an artificial intelligence to be left on indefinitely, without a chance to clear its cache or perform other important processes linked to powering down.
Furthering the idea of interruption, I imagine the quick cycling back and forth of moods to involve almost nightterror-esque visuals directly following a slightly more laid-back atmosphere to capture the loopy state we've all found ourselves in when sleep-deprived. The player won't have much time to catch their breath in between these shifts. Leading directly into the boss battle, the titular "Android Insomniac" gives a quick spiel before the battle begins. Switching the musical material yet again, this section creates an energetic and hardcore electro feel as the android's processors rev like engines to display its full power.
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Virotechnics (Final Level)
Starting out deceptively chill, the boss of this area quickly interjects to make the player understand that their guard should not be dropped. Infected with a maddening virus it yet retains some control, incorporating the virus into the level as obstacles and enemies (I imagined it similar to the TotK "gloom" mechanic in a way, with a glitchy twist). The virus has still taken its toll, however: musically, the beats don't seem to line up where they should, creating moments of relative chaos amongst the otherwise technical arpeggios. Upon reaching the boss, and in a brief moment of clarity, the suffering robot pleads with the player to release it from its madness. It reveals the original intention of its design: as a therapy bot meant to aid those in need. It laments the state in which it has fallen and longs to be helpful again. The glitchy "voice", frenetic and babbling, nonetheless betrays the robot's pain and sadness at its infected state.
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Nonpracticing Empath (Final Boss)
The alarms are raised! The virus has taken back control of its victim and all hell breaks loose. The once-offbeat percussion has found its footing as the virus exerts its power over the poor robot's mind. After defeating the boss, it speaks again, similar to the previous track however the battle has taken a toll on the sanity of the bot. It's voice, once sad, has turned manic and unsettling as the robot short circuits. Despite the virus's defeat, you could not save the mind of the infected, who suddenly powers down. It thanks you for your efforts, nonetheless.
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Electric Sheep (Reprise) (Credits)
This theoretical 5th track would feature a return of the "Intro and Demo" theme listed above, acting now to accompany the end credits. While it is not strictly necessary, listeners are encouraged to play this track again after "Nonpracticing Empath" to achieve the desired effect. I chose not to include a second iteration within the files to avoid copy-pasting the same track twice.
Message from the artist
<3
Theme
How does it fit the theme?
Next to the image prompt, the phrase "inside my world" feels so inviting. My first instinct, even, was to go with the image because of how warm and soft it looked. But the more I thought about the phrase, I wondered what it would sound like if you removed the inviting association provided by the image. What if you weren't invited? What if you were intruding "inside my world"? One aspect from the image that I did gravitate towards—and ultimately ended up including in the final concept—was the idea of an imaginary world inside someones mind, which was kind of implied to me by the scribbly fish.
Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://soundcloud.com/room308-155404173/sets/automatennui
Number of tracks4
Genre
Soundtrack use permission
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Comments
Great first imression by sound design dude!!! How did you achieved that keyboard sound x)
Got caught off guard by that unique style x) remind me some great youtube video for 2nd track called cows and cows and cows !
Fantastic sound design for 3rd and 4th track aswell ! Chaotic tracks
Overall it fit really well your theme^^
yes Yes YES you reminding me of Cyriak has unlocked something, that is exaaactly the kind of music I try to make! Thanks so much for listening and for getting me to watch cows & cows & cows again 💖
this was just really fucking cool lol good shit idk what else to say
😭 Thank you so much, and thanks again for the s/o in Discord! Can’t tell you how much I appreciated that 🥲
Great and very unique submission !
The instrumentation and arrangements certainly feels very unwelcoming (a bit like the tracks in Chakan : The Forever Man on Genesis which feel extremely tense in a similar way), which fits greatly with your interpretation of the theme.
Also the instrumentation and structure of the songs convey quite well the robotic vibe you were going for, and it makes you wonder how robots are able to think in your world : instead of being an continuous uninterrupted train of thought like humans, it is a more structured approach executing each task strictly after the other (like in a computer task manager), hence the various interruptions and the very hectic changes.
Overall very interesting soundtrack, I liked it a lot !
Hey thanks for listening! Toootally agree, I definitely had AI stories on my mind. I think a lot about that one that came out recently where 2 AIs talking each other invented their own language and syntax using the characters provided to them (letters, numbers, coding symbols) and also just about how jagged and weird lines of code can look to people who don’t know how coding works
I absolutely love it, I bang hard on the wall, the door, the chair, and the doggo outside the house.
HARDCORE REALLY, GLITCHY BEEP BOOP, GODDAMMIT NOW YOU'RE GONNA DONK ME WITH RUSSIA HARD BASS, I SWEAR TO GOD I HEAR THAT DNB TOP LOOP FROM SOMEWHERE, DUCK IT I WILL DANCE TO IT NO MATTER WHAT
I can’t help but think of Electric Sheep. At 2:24, when you introduced the bright synth arp, it reset and lost the momentum of the previous section setup.
I think it could be better in progression if you make 2:00 a long vibe check, rework 2:24 as slowly introduce synth bright arp, create tension friction teeth grinding until force goes into breakdown 3:40. But it is still fine, if interruption is the main design intention.
PS - I'm actually interested in remixing your songs, if I ever find some time off, would ya let me?
Wow really glad you enjoyed! Haha I kind of imagined that part like an electric sheep alarm clock where they bleet the poor robots awake, but I’ll keep your thoughts in mind! And feel free to dm me on Soundcloud about ur request 👍
This is some thick, chiptune adjacent synth work. Nice and crispy low-ends and plenty of light distortion and harmonics. Very unique approach to arranging and handling progressions - at points the choice of voicings and pace reminds me of some techniques used in breakbeat.
Big fan of glitchy works that can retain some sense of forward momentum; chaos but in motion. I found that Nonpracticing Empath reminded me some of Yuzo Koshiro's more experimental works - specifically Alien Power from Streets of Rage 2, and his general approach to the soundtrack in Streets of Rage 3.
Some really cool ideas in here, which I think is where a lot of the joy in this kind of genre comes from - those diamonds you find scattered throughout the tracks. Overall a very unique submission - keep up the great work!
Thank you so much! Yea I’m a huge fan of really maximalist genres like speedcore and noise, I think they really influence the kind of music I like to make.
These are really well made and a super unique style!
While it isn't my cup of tea in terms of music taste I can still absolutely see the effort and care that went into this
good job!
Thanks for listening!
Glitchy Hardstyle for the win! Every track had character and unique elements that made each track stand out. Thanks for sharing this!
Yesss thank you for listening!!
I really like the composition and instrumentation in the conveyal of a game around robots, there is a lot you can do to explore this theme and I feel your choices just scratch the surface of the creative ideas you may have had in mind if you were to compose a larger version of this concept. I like the use of dissonance and the erratic interruptions, it gives it an inhuman feeling to the track, like the player is not welcome in these robotic minds. I would say my favorite track is "Electric Sheep", it reminds a bit of like a robotic DOOM. This soundtrack captures the concept amazingly, Great job!
Thank you so much! This stuff is bit a closer to my heart than what I normally get to write and I definitely like to use these jams to go in directions I’m not normally able to with my client work (not that they don’t toss stuff in the trash and tell me to start again 😂 but ya knooo).
Wow this is so energetic! I love how in Electric Sheep you built up suspense leading to a pulse pounding beat, really an excellent opener. Great tracks all the way through. I love the use of glitchy sounds throughout the OST and the percussion instruments used in Nonpracticing Empath too.
Thank you for listening, and for the thoughtful comment! Really glad you liked it 💖
THIS is an incredibly unique and amazing entry to this jam. Very well done - it's aggressive, energetic, and there's lots to bite into as far as breaking down what I'm hearing. I think you knocked this out of the park.
If I heard Electric Sheep live in concert back in college when I enjoyed certain fungal substances, you would have blown my mind even more than you just did lol
Wow this is a huge compliment, thank you 😭 I’m really happy it resonated with you so much. I was definitely trying to make Electric Sheep feel really epic, and yea I could definitely imagine some visuals to go along with it to further ur mention of a certain altered mental state 😂 Thanks so much for listening!
Electric Sheep: I'm immediately struck by these aggressive arpeggios! It creates a great impression, catching the listener off-guard immediately. The slow, gradual morphing of the low bass into the aggressive beat certainly kept me on my toes. This is how you do a long drone/repetition in an effective way! You've done brilliant work building a harsh, robotic sound. And, even though this track is already full of surprises, you continue to catch me off guard well through the middle of the track with the arpeggios. I did have to move on after about 5 minutes of this track.
Andriod Insomniac: this track really is nightmarish-- nontonal, and unrelenting and unpredictable in its changes. Really distorted and freaky (that's a compliment), but at the same time, if this comes on in the club, we're moshing.
Virotechnics: the idea of a virus causing a computer to grow mentally ill is very brilliant. I haven't touched much on the brilliance of your theme yet, but this piece and the implied battle really brings it to light in a good way. This is how you create a unique idea and embed it into the core of your soundtrack. This track is also just brilliant, and I'm not sure how I would've wrangled my DAW to produce some of this stuff. I'll stick to my pretty woodwinds and strings, I think XD
Nonpracticing Empath: again, very impressive work here. Could I mosh to this? Maybe but it would be a very uncoordinated dance. I would try regardless. This feels like the least interruptive track yet: it's still all over the place, but the more consistent beat makes it seem like we, the player, have perhaps learned our way around and are ready to face this final boss with confidence. It's subtle, but doing this in final-final boss music is definitely has a psychological effect. Love how the piece fragments into nothing towards the end. Seriously brilliant.
In all, this is far from my preferred genre, but real has to recognize real. You've made something compelling, creative, smart, well thought-out, and sonically stunning. Amazing work, and keep writing!
Wow this is so detailed and thoughtful, I really appreciate the time you took to go through each piece 🥲 like I’ve mentioned a few times in other replies, I love blending dance beats with more experimental synths and chiptune sounds. Anyway, your kind words are really encouraging, and I’m really happy about the context the track descriptions were able to offer you. This was just such a lovely comment to read all around 💖 (and don’t sell yourself short! you had a bunch of really well made tracks yourself, definitely hope your proud of those!! You’ve certainly got a way better handle on the orchestral side of things than I ever have!)
Great synthesizers. The great Isaac Asimov
Very curious experiments with sound! It's very good to have publications with a creative approach to sound and which in turn groovy)
Happy you liked it! I’ve always been heavily inspired by dance music, and obviously stuff on the more experimental side as well. It’s a fun exercise to blend the two.
Great experimentation with the sound design and textures
Hey thanks! I love crunch and grime 😋 Glad you enjoyed!
This is some solid synth work! Quite a bit of dissonance, but I think you managed to make it work well by committing to the eerie energy that your tracks emanated. The mixing is quite direct and in-your-face, and I would have preferred some more exploration of the dynamics. I also don't really get sucked "inside your world" when listening to these tracks, as they don't leave much room to be immersed, demanding quite a bit of attention. Overall, I like the vibes, I just wish the tracks were mixed a bit more atmospherically.
Hey thanks for the listen! I can see where you’re coming from, but you’re not really supposed to be sucked into the world per se (if anything, the “world” wants you outta there!). The “in your face”-iness of it all was pretty intentional, meant to highlight the broken, robotic minds that the player would explore. You’re an intruder after all!
The dissonance works awesome on the atmosphere, as well as the synth choice!
Hey thanks a lot💖 Glad you enjoyed 🤙
Electric Sheep goes hard ! Perfect for a fast paced action game or an intense plateformer! That's an interesting style and it have its vibe haha :)
Thanks for listening! Happy you enjoyed my style 😊
Really interesting that Psychonauts was an inspiration here, the way the fish were drawn in the picture also reminded me of the figments from the series a little, and subtly influenced our submission as well. I think it's cool that the music goes in a completely different direction despite the game having similar gameplay; the techno/EDM influence is a total vibe. I think you did a great job of capturing what invading the mind of a robot without their consent would sound like. Android Insomniac is my favorite, the instruments are on point, feels like alarms are blaring and I'm not welcome. Plus the song has this factory-like rhythm that's really catchy. Great submission, super memorable.
Thanks so much! Actually so funny, the figment were not part of my Psychonauts interpretation so I love that you reminded me of that! Thank you for listening, really glad you liked it 💖
No hate to the other orchestral/calm/chill/ambient submissions in this jam but you know what? Sometimes, I just want...
HARDSTYLE KICK, NOISE, BASS, FOLD DISTORTION, AND SYNTHS THAT DON'T CARE ABOUT THE WELL BEING OF MY EARS.
...When will OST Comp Jam include "BANGER" as a genre?
Overall, this made my teeth explode. Great submission. 11/10 (On a serious note, I love the sound selection and how you utilize syncopation.)
Hahaha yassss my thoughts exactly, I need stimulation to survive 😤😤😤 thanks for listening and for the super kind words 💖
I absolutely love the weird vibes from this
Thank you! I definitely lean towards the experimental side 😋 Thanks for listening!
This sounds so good, thanks for the submission, learning a ton with it ahaha! I could totally see it ingame and that chiptune is insane wow!
Thank you so much for listening! I’m definitely really proud of this project, honestly considered not doing this jam as I’m already doing another as we speak (coding, art, AND music which is 🙃🙃🙃 Stressful) but I’m really glad I diddd. Super happy you enjoyed 💖