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Pacific Blossom's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Creativity | #13 | 4.323 | 4.323 |
| Quality | #14 | 4.387 | 4.387 |
| Overall | #16 | 4.213 | 4.213 |
| Correlation to theme | #18 | 4.290 | 4.290 |
| Impression | #28 | 4.129 | 4.129 |
| Composition | #92 | 3.935 | 3.935 |
Ranked from 31 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Description
Genre: Ambient, generative
Length: 0:38:23
My idea of the game, while not very specific, is that of an adventure game, set deep within the ocean, starring a spirit of the water loosely based on the one from the image prompt.
The aesthetic aims to be cute but deep, pulling directly from my current styles and workflows. I imagine the game to be overall wholesome and charming, but both the prologue and the epilogue being of nostalgic sadness for a time bygone.
The specific purpose / meaning of each track can be found directly besides each title. On the Soundcloud descriptions you will find additional details.
The creation process involved starting each track with improvisation and generative patching, in a musical brainstorm of sorts. I did put a little bit more emphasis in deliberate motif composition than is usual for my current musical projects. Some of the tracks feature a leitmotif, made to represent the water-sprite's inner melancholy, or whoever is the object of such emotions.
I guess I've been influenced to do something cute from having recently obsessed over Baba is You, and also the image prompt might have given me a subconscious Ghibli inspiration. The surreal vibes of the ending area want to be like Earthbound's weird bits, although I haven't personally played it.
Software used: FL Studio, VCV Rack 2 pro, Caustic 3. Other software synths and effects.
Hardware: Polysynth, modular synth, electric guitar, effects pedals, mixer, VCA compressor
Message from the artist
Thank you very much for listening. Please, feel free to download, reupload, reuse, etc. I'd be glad to be given credit, and to be informed about any interesting projects that might want to use my work.
Theme
How does it fit the theme?
I took heavy inspiration from the image prompt to conceive of an adorable sea spirit living beneath the ocean, having said goodbye to a motherly protector in the past, but living a happy life.
The text prompt inspired the whimsical and colorful tones, the emotionally-driven style of the story. I wasn't thinking consciously about it, but I had the idea that the final segment of the game would be a surrealist voyage into the inner self, accompanied with the more vanguardist track of the bunch; That, I'm just now realising, fits the text prompt so closely!
Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://soundcloud.com/john-url-himself/sets/pacific-blossom
https://youtu.be/eONdCm9WEqE?si=qFiirkca8n2RIUQ7
Number of tracks8
Genre
Soundtrack use permission
Any project
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Comments
Really appropriate for an underwater world, I think you captured the essence of imaginary underwater themes! Great ideas in the ambiences you built too!
Oh this is unique sounding, and with bespoke artwork pieces for each track? That's really cool!
This is absolutely drenched in atmosphere and made for an interesting journey. One of the more truly ambient and experimental entries I've heard from the jam. I ended up putting both Zone 1 and 2 on repeat as I adored the vibes captured in both; particularly in The Reefs. Choice of soundscape feels so befitting of the title and had me feeling as though I were floating underwater with all these wonderfully blurry and ambient textures developing and evolving around me.
Zone 3, The Depths, evoked a similar feeling but this one feels almost a little more standard or perhaps typical in its arrangement - not a bad thing by any means, I think it makes it a little more accessible. This works really well as underscore and I could see this in a variety of games. The pulsing synth and washed out melodies drowning in reverb and smearing reminded me of the kind of sounds you might hear in a more modern take of the MGS1 soundtrack.
Zone 4, The Docks, is similar to 3 but leans much more into the passive ambience side of things for me. This has some oppressive air to it and really interesting textures embedded within. I genuinely think this could function as underscore in a lot of modern games - it is absolutely laden with moodiness and an air of unease.
I love the prevalence of a guitar-like melody in Epilogue - it does a great job grounding things and moving them toward a definitive end. The background ambience that pulses and washes in the background keeps it nice and congruent with the other tracks but that choice melody and progression adds this whole other layer.
Great job with this, it was a delight to experience and it has a lot of really interesting ideas and sounds present. Definitely one of the more unique ambient submissions I've personally heard - I'd love to hear more!
Is it a long soundtrack? I LOVE LONG SOUNDTRACKS!!1!
Title Screen Is Good... I started getting high from the very first seconds. Mesmerizing ambient, with a sense of ocean depth, massive bass and synthesizers... Is the whole soundtrack going to be that cool?
Introduction Cutscene - Yep. The whole soundtrack is going to be cool....... "I feel the heaviness of the ocean floor of the alien ocean... it seems like there is darkness around me, small lantern plants and bizarre fish that are surprised by my visit ...... and somewhere in the distance something is swimming and making sounds similar to a mating call. It feels like I'm in a place where everything lives, but lives at the bottom of the ocean. Then the melody comes on, saying that everything that lives here is fine. And so, already in the second half of the track, I find myself on a ledge, and below me is a huge underwater forest plain where everything blooms, glows and lives! Flocks of fish, large, but so far harmless to me predators. By the very end, I feel a calming life and understand: This alien life is mysterious and.. Too alive"
The Reefs - "Reefs... the very beginning of a beautiful and unknown world opens up in front of me. Everything is melodious and shows me its friendliness."
The Ravine - "the beauty and scale of this world reveals its nature to me more and more. She lives. She exists and doesn't even pay attention to me. The underwater world... He is full of life. Should I be proud that I got in here? Maybe. But I will be proud of only one, the most important thought: I had the opportunity to look at these beauties…"
The Depths - "I'm sinking deeper and deeper... is it dangerous here? I don't like the sounds this world makes... Maybe not everything is so friendly here? What if they don't see me as an alien to be wary of, but... food? Okay, I'll try to go even deeper. I hope I have enough oxygen."
The Docks - "Where did I get to...? Was there a REASONABLE life before me? Bizarre technologies, pipes, ruins and remnants of a previously great civilization... If what was beauty and nature above is heaven, then I'm in hell. It seems there is still life, many harmless flocks of sea creatures that huddle in pipes and in pieces of rust broken off from the metal walls... But I'm afraid. It seems to me that there are not only predators here... There's something scarier here... Something…"
Introspective Quest "...Is Not. There's nothing but what I've seen. Truly, all the beauties that I have seen before, the bizarre worlds and ecosystems of the underwater world... It's nothing. It's nothing compared to HER. Excuse me... Stop... Why I don't need it... Can I breathe? What has IT done to me? AM I BREATHING? Here! Under the water! There is no gravity... There is no spacesuit... Or did he never exist?"
Epilogue "...is everything. Now I am trapped here forever, in the boundless ocean. SHE gave me the will, taking away my freedom. She gave a new shell, destroying the body. And am I... happy? There is no more old world where everything is filled with the living dead... no… Now my new eternity is wandering and exploring this ruined world. Occasionally, I return to the coral reefs and watch the shooting stars. I watch those people who also sometimes fall here. Or they land on their own. But will they be able to do the same as me: to know eternity? Would they agree to a deal with HER? I hope for better, but... I haven't seen any other soul yet.
Or are they there, but I don't see them?
That's right, there are a lot of people like me wandering around the eternal ocean. Billions of restless souls of the old world, trapped forever in the rusty gears of a dead city.
They didn't agree. They chose death and emptiness, fearing an impending flood. They chose what they thought was preferable. They chose death because they thought they knew the oceans well. It was thought that there were many unknowns in death. Craving for adventure… But they did not take into account one, the most important detail in their lives...
The ocean is boundless. Death is finite. I am eternal."
Wow, that was beautiful, thank you so much!
Heh)
Incredible work! I LOVE the generative process (can't fanthom even understanding how much work it must be) but the result is incredibly atmospheric and unique without a second of boredom. Also really appreciate a ton you doing your own covers, that's amazing! One of my top picks of the jam!!
Shared this on the Discord, you need more people looking at your work most definitely!!
Thank you so much, it means a lot! These were somewhat swift creations, it's the fine details and adjustments that take up more time. Actually, with generative stuff you let the composition in itself do part of the creative work - the real time investment is in the hours upon hours of accumulated practice with the instruments and techniques.
Very full and immersive, the soundscape balance is really good! (❁´◡`❁)
The colorful and mesmerizing waveforms in the video were super cool and honestly enthralling!
Wow...it's simply amazing. The way all of these layers of sound come together to create such beautiful soundscapes is truly amazing, I have no other way to describe it. I've never been much of a synth person, but this submission has got me looking for tutorials on them. Thank you for sharing this fantastic submission!
Great soundscape, well balanced mix, actually one of the best ambient album of this jam. Well done !
Commenting again bc I cannot stop thinking about this submission, this is genuinely amazing
Modular and Generative all the way!!
Me and my friend Texas adored the drawings!! They are just so special, that resemblance to how we view our childhood once
Sharp - Zone 3: The Depths, Rusty - Zone 4: The Docks, Autumn - Epilogue are the favorites!!
Ambient genre is kind of hard for us to sit in one place, boring at times, but we do sit down our bum and listen to interesting bits to embrace the atmosphere you expertly created
PS - There's just something in your song that I want to remix to express something, would you let me do it if I ever find free time? (It may not be ambient)
Thank you so much for listening! I'm just sayin'... CC-BY. Like if you even wanted to put my music to fascist propaganda, I could say nothing as long as you give credit. (please don't do that though lol)
It's flattering that you took the time to soak in the ambiance of my tracks, being as they are long, slow, and numerous. This IS a good genre to put on the background while doing stuff... or while doing nothing at all 🧘
If you do put together something with my music, I'd be very glad to hear it! Also I might be able to provide some stems. In any of those cases you can contact me on Soundcloud. Email is good but I'm not going to put my address on a public thread. (it should be available on my SC or Bandcamp somewhere though)
In any case, thanks for your time!
Are you Jon Patch like Don Patch?? Also very cute artwork and cool soundscapes. Maybe more melodic focus would listeners in? but in an actual game I think this would work very well!
Thanks for listening and taking the time to leave a comment! I did have the thought that for a contest you might want a little bit more staying power. I did actually compose a few melodies instead of going full generative melody salad (the first track is a good exception - full salad and improvised keyboarding). But as a minimalist I didn't want to overdo it. There is actually a leitmotif on three of the tracks!
For this first entry on the jam I just bet all in on my own generative, improvisative process, and my riff-based ambient style. If you check some random track on my SC chances are it's similar. But it's valid criticism, especially after listening to some of the insane compositions and arrangements on the contest. The closest I got is the final track, you can't run a generative patch on a guitar... But you can noodle on it! And so I did. And add effects and automate those, too.
And yes! right out the Hajike dojo in Edo, I'm ready for some sparking protagonist action! That show is very special to me.
It's also a pun of sorts with the whole modular patching thing, and my name is John but in catalan. Also like, I'm John Patch. like when you say John Twitch, or John America, to personify something as a whole. I'm Patch himself. silly stuff.
Extra bonus points because my fat orange cat is called Garfield.
Had this on just now and "Zone 3 - The Depths" really stood out with those detuned, electronic descending things. That's a really cool sound! Great stuff!
Thank you so much! It is a bit out of tune... Part of the charm of analog instruments, I guess. You tune stuff together by ear. Also probably a pinch of very slow vibrato in there. It did come out as my favourite of the bunch.
Fantastic collection of tracks here, great sound design and beautiful throughout. Really has that underwater feel too.
Not really much to say other than this is great!
This is absolutely incredible! It reminds me of some of Jean-Michel Jarre's work, I was completely immersed and enthralled from start to finish. It's impressive how unique each track feels - my favourite is probably Sakurako, I think it contains some of the best synth sounds on the album.
Fantastic job, you get my vote for best ambient work in the jam!
Wow, masterful synth work here. The tracks showcase your expertise with these instruments. Same with the guitar. Everything is very professional. Thanks for making and sharing!
Impressive is definitely the word I'd use, here. Deeply atmospheric, draws you into what I imagine to be a very dark game with a lot of exploration and tension. This could be an indie game soundtrack, for sure.
Impressive soundscape, very immersive, really great work. Love those drifting changing voices. Also nice mix an balance =)
Very immersive album. It feel like drifting...
A shame this has so few ratings (at time of writing) this is genuinely some of the best work I've heard in the jam thus far. Incredibly well composed, mixed, etc. Fantastic job!
I love this dreamy soundscape you created. Each song has a floating feel to it that really immerses you inside of this world. "Cherries - Zone 1: The Reefs" and "Tako - Zone 2: The Ravine" were my favorites. Thank you for sharing this!