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Inside My World's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Correlation to theme | #31 | 4.221 | 4.221 |
| Quality | #42 | 4.221 | 4.221 |
| Overall | #65 | 3.961 | 3.961 |
| Composition | #78 | 3.974 | 3.974 |
| Impression | #144 | 3.714 | 3.714 |
| Creativity | #202 | 3.675 | 3.675 |
Ranked from 77 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Description
"Inside My World" stemmed straight from the beautiful theme art provided. I have always been in love with game music and this jam sounded perfect for my summer before graduate school.
I imagined this game as a 3D platforming adventure game focused on an art style similar to that of Studio Ghibli with mostly hand-drawn objects and assets. Overall, I wanted to convey the simple story I had in mind with plenty of character, while leaving a lot on the table for later in the game.
All tracks were created in Musescore 4 or Cubase 11.
Track 1: "Inside My World"
(Main Menu Music)
I tried to capture the mystery of the ocean and the quaint setting the game would begin in. I sought after a more intimate setting than the later tracks and laid the groundwork of using mostly acoustic string and percussion instruments since that is what I am most familiar with. I wrote a short theme in the cello that could easily have counterpoint added to it, and ran with it.
Track 2: "Tide Pools"
(Cutscene Music)
A short cutscene backing track, meaning to allude to the wonder Lila would feel exploring the tide pools and ocean near her home.
Track 3: "Dr. Kelp"
(Character Theme)
Lila meets a goofy, clumsy little crab who turns out to be an older gentleman. He is a marine biologist just like Lila's father.
Track 4: Ebbing Tide
(Area Theme)
Lila follows Dr. Kelp in the surface-level ocean through short tutorial-style levels where he instructs her on the basic mechanics of the game. I chose to begin to introduce the general vibe of the game more and more throughout this track and the next.
Using real percussion, string, and electric instruments, as well as a mix of electronic sounds to aid in the atmosphere, it created a groovy environment that had me dancing in my desk chair :)
Track 5: City Atlarin
(Area Theme)
Lila arrives in the first major area of the game, the beautiful "City Atlarin", a massive fish city inhabited by sea creatures of all shapes and sizes.
I returned the theme from the title track, this time with new counterpoint and a new background behind it. I continued with the groovy environment I had created before, with nearly the same instrumentation and just began to find more and more sounds and instrument combinations that added to the ocean atmosphere such as the steel hand pan. I love the groove and homey feeling it all became while being quite emotional at the same time.
So much of the kid in me wants to finish an entire soundtrack for this "game" I imagined. If it weren't for the 7-day time limit, I would have flooded this with so many more tracks.
This was a blast.
Message from the artist
I could not have had more fun writing this short portion of an OST. Thank you guys so much for hosting it, this was the most fun I have had writing music in years.
Proof of ownership of the contents is within the video linked in the comments of my project on my profile.
Disclaimer: I've been approached by a few other users regarding the use of AI artwork. I understand the implications of using AI art in a context such as this one, and why it is frowned upon. This was my first jam, and I forgot about artwork until the final few hours I had to work on this. I have learned from my mistake and will be contacting an artist for every jam in the future :)
Disclaimer 2: I have since added a few tracks to the album that are NOT included in what I finished in the 7-day limit. Tracks 1-5 are what I had done at the time of submission.
Thanks,
Owen
Theme
How does it fit the theme?
"Inside My World" is a game that I imagined straight from the provided image. I created a character, Lila, that fits the same description as the girl pictured.
Within the details of the project I attached, I wrote a short description of the game I imagined, and how it would develop throughout.
Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTtLpEM4r_9WzVGcfkOrgCJxwluSMzzn1&si=zrfvn22mVgcuqO1Q
Number of tracks5
Genre
Soundtrack use permission
Any project
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Comments
Every piece here is beautiful! It is so sweet and nice! My favorite is definitely city atlarin its such a banger! Great job!
<3
Every piece of music is wonderful, each with its own characteristics, especially that few Area Themes which are truly astonishing!
Thank you!!
What a pretty and sweet sounding soundtrack! These tracks are so full of life and character that its hard to single out one as my favorite. If I were to pick though, I'd go with "Dr. Kelp". The track matches Dr. Kelp's description really well so I think it works great as a character theme. Congrats!
Thanks!
Beautiful tracks, and thanks for the hangdrum and such a light breeze, is that synthesised noise or field recordings? Did you play the hangdrum yourself or on samples?
Some of the ambience, especially in the first and last track was made from automated filters on hall noise with a ton of gain. Other than that, it was all in either Omnisphere or EW. The handdrum was from EW as well, but now I definitely wish I owned one.
thanks for the clarification, but the hangdrum is very necessary, it helps a lot to diversify ambient for example. I have a simple tank drum (steel tongue drum). I don't use it often, but it's very inspiring and relaxing.
This is a really nice soundtrack; it reminds me of the kind of music that would play in the water levels of Mario Galaxy. The tracks feel polished and cohesive, nice work!
Thank you!
Damn that cello is gorgeous, beautifully performed. I started listening with the impression that this was going to be an emotionally heavy soundtrack, an expressive cello always does it to me. The rest of the soundtrack turned out to be much lighter than expected, with a healthy dose of playfulness and childlike wonder. It returns to a similar soulful leitmotif at the end to come full circle. You captured the Studio Ghibli spirit well, where it's sometimes fun and playful, and sometimes heartwarming.
The mixing was very well executed, all the instruments had a good amount of space to do their own thing. Drums were surprisingly punchy for an orchestral soundtrack, which was a welcomed surprise. Overall very well made, good job!
<3
Wow, this OST just kept getting better and better as it went on! My favorite tracks were 'Tide Pools', with its cute rhythms and flourishes, and 'City Atlarin', which was simply just beautiful. Great job!
I'm glad you liked "Tide Pools" I felt like I was writing a little jingle :))
Beautiful work. The title track was very transporting, loved the dialogue between the strings and the entrance of the guitar at 1:44 for a reprisal of the conversation. Fantastic also the quirky atmosphere of Dr. Kelp, and the overall aquatic mood of the whole OST.
Thank you!!
I really enjoyed how you managed to capture the image theme without the usual, low hanging fruit production tropes that one would go to (no hard feelings to those who do, you do what you have to in a 10 day jam). The pizzicato strings are a good choice at representing the depth of the ocean, as you can feel the space between the hits. Here, choosing to not apply copious amounts of reverb and delay really pays off. Very well done.
Glad you enjoyed it!
I really like the water motifs you added to the album! Really brings the whole thing together! Also really enjoy the grooviness of the last two tracks!
Glad I could get you grooving :)
An joyful experience to listen through, the steel drums really made everything feel so solid, and the texturing in some tracks was beyond professional.,
<3
The first and last track are really beautiful. I also really like the interesting combination of sounds and textures used in Ebbing Tide. It's very groovy and satisfying to listen to. Very cool soundtrack!
Thanks, Will!!
super pretty music, i loved the steel drums! some minecraft vibes here too, great job!
Steel drums are so cool!!
Definitely has that underwater level vibe to it! Your orchestration here was on point and didn't miss a beat. I especially liked the way you handled those soaring strings! my favorite track was City Atlarin. You did an outstanding job on this submission!
Thank you, Marchen :)
Really cool work here! I like how you mix a whole bunch of musical/instrumentation elements together using synths, e-pianos, electric bass, and beautiful orchestral composition. It all just works so well together.
I think if I had to give some feedback it would be that in the last third of City of Altarin when the solo violins come in you could maybe use a notch filter/take a little bit out of 2-3khz just to git rid of the bow grit and have the instruments be little less overpowering and harsh, but that's pretty nitpicky. This is a great submission!
Somehow I missed the piercing violins when mixing, I think compression would have solved the issue but I get so scared to use it to make sure the soft dynamics still shine through, and removing the top HZ of violins is tricky because so much of the timbre is from how present the close overtones can be. Definitely something I am ready to deal with in the future and I appreciate you pointing it out. Thanks for the kind words :)
DR. KELP! WE HAVE AN EMERGENCY! THIS JAM IS WOEFULLY LACKING KELP! ONLY YOU CAN SAVE US! Loved how you brought me to the sea! Great use of instrumentation to reinforce the theme and to stick the landing!
omg why is he SO BIG
you mean, NOT BIG ENOUGH!
Lovely tracks, all very well produced with great nice melodies and instrumentations.
I like that you started with quite regular (but still v well written and pretty) orchestral sounds and gradually evolved the pieces towards a more unique direction blending orchestral and electronic sounds.
Completely nailed the theme and really fit the narrative in your description.
Thank you! I love simple things that evolve into something more :)
Love it! The strings and physical natural instruments are just... lovely! Especially all the strings articulations and everything had me wondering (and I still kinda am) whether you recorded them. Really nice handpan in City Altarin!
Can't decide a favorite between Inside my World, Tide Pools Cutscene, and Ebbing Tide, they're all just so good!
The only item of criticism I would have is that some of your instruments are pretty hard panned to left or right. This can certainly work, but it feels more suited to EDM and other genres that lean into sounding electronic-y. You should look into stereo mixing techniques for width and space.
That said, amazing job. Like really. It was captivating from start to finish!
Guys if you haven't listened to Vox's submission yet and are reading this, it is a must listen!!!!
The composition is heart-warming and the instrumentation feels very high quality. The balance of dry and wet sound is Incredibly good, especially in "Ebbing Tide"; They really bring the soundtrack to a whole different level. The Studio Ghibli feel is captured nicely in this soundtrack. Well done!
Thanks for the kind words :)
The Orchestra library you used is outstanding, really curious of the name of it. The dynamics and softness of everything is quite pleasent.
Every track has a sort of tender brush to it. I think you've produced an insanely high quality piece of art here and I can see it making waves in this JAM.
Thank you!!! A very large portion of the strings stuff is EW or Spitfire, I mix the two quite a bit.