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Into The Depths's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Correlation to theme | #236 | 3.617 | 3.824 |
| Quality | #405 | 3.227 | 3.412 |
| Impression | #420 | 3.116 | 3.294 |
| Composition | #422 | 3.172 | 3.353 |
| Overall | #431 | 3.205 | 3.388 |
| Creativity | #561 | 2.893 | 3.059 |
Ranked from 17 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Description
I decided to compose this soundtrack in a hybrid orchestrated/electronic genre, with some influences of ambient (especially in the first track). I imagined this game as a laid-back, exploration-based game, with a lot of emphasis on minimalist story-telling. The first track, "Follow Me," features the piano playing above strings and some synths. It plays as the player is beckoned into the depths of an imaginary sea by a mysterious figure wanting to play with you and show you the wonderful things in the water. The second track, "Finding the Way Home," plays when the player must navigate home out of the water - not in any dangerous way, but more so in that they know they have to go.
"Follow Me" was composed first, after meditating on both the picture and text themes, and is intended to create a calm, reflective mood. "Finding the Way Home" came next, and was the result of wanting to portray some energy and urgency contrasted against the first track. Both were made in Logic Pro.
Theme
How does it fit the theme?
This soundtrack uses colorful, impressionist harmonies and an intimate sound to portray the imaginary world inspired by the picture prompt. The tracks are kept relatively simple to maintain what I view as a sense of childlike wonder and imagination that both text and picture prompts display. The music also tries to walk the line between light and dark, as I interpreted the phrase "inside my world" as having to do with the mind as much as the physical world. So I intended them to portray a sense of contemplation ("Follow Me"), as well as a happier sense of newfound purpose and desire ("Finding the Way Home").
Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://on.soundcloud.com/7ji22x6aqtS5zept6
Number of tracks2
Genre
Soundtrack use permission
Any non-commercial project
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Comments
Love the sounds here. The falling chord progression and subsequent tempo change was very interesting to perceive. Nice work overall!
The sweet sound of the piano, the feeling of water and the general atmosphere, as if it melts all the time around ...
Thank you! I liked it)
I loved the creativity and your blend of multiple styles in one soundtrack! Nice use of slowing the tempo at the end of Finding the Way Home!
Loved the minimalism of the first track! The second had some really interesting dissonances in there which felt a bit uneasy to me, rather than happy, but it gave the piece a nice edge to it - well done!
This was a great listen!
“Follow Me” gave me a vague Hollow Knight soundtrack feel. One tiny thing is I think the synths could have used some more reverb to space some of the instruments out. But very solid overall. Good work!
I liked how close everything felt. super personal feeling.
Beautiful piano sound in the first track. Finding the Way has a great mysterious/meditative vibe which I like quite a lot, especially the glissando on that synth in the upper register. Great job!
Hey JaClay, thank you for sharing your music!
I'll start with Follow Me; I absolutely LOVE the Piano Sound you used and the harmonies + arpeggios were both very pretty and moody (which is great)! This piece made me think of someone quietly reflecting on something as they sit alone late at night under the cover of the moonlight, and I think the imagery and storytelling that your piece put into my brain aligns well with what you were hoping to achieve! I just wonder if the Strings and Synths could've been a little more active at certain points... I love that you were going for a more ambient feeling (which often implies some stillness), but I'd like to see if the Strings and Synths could add a bit more life to the piece. Beyond that, I love this piece because it gave me a STRONG FEELING and some Vivid Imagery, which means that you did a great job in my opinion!
Now let's talk Finding the Way Home: I really like this one! I love that you steadily introduce new sounds and ultimately build a really cool soundscape, you start with this bell like instrument (not sure what this one is), and then introduce the Piano, some Strings, a REALLY NICE Synth and so on so forth. I also really love the kind of chromatic wilt you use from about 0:32 to 0:40 to transition into the next section, that felt really good! I honestly can't think of a great criticism for this one (you did a great job), all of I have is a matter of personal taste; I wish the track was a bit more atmospheric, meaning I wish the instruments were less dry and had a bit more reverb, I also wish that instruments blended together more and that there was a maybe a Pad in there in order to make the sound fuller and rounder. This is just a matter of personal taste, I honestly love this piece and it has great character, really nice work JaClay!
I had a lot of fun checking out your work, I hope more people see your music and I wish you the best for this Jam JaClay!
The main theme "Follow Me" has to be my favorite out of the two. It has the 'less is more' touch, and I wish it went on for a bit longer!
Cool soundtrack, I feel that it really fits the game you described. Follow Me is really calm, dream-like, but it sounds like it was building up to something and never got there and there's not that much melodic material to make the track really memorable. Finding the Way Home is really interesting, I really liked the slow down at 1:03, but I also agree with chrisiguess that the instruments feel a bit "dry". Other than that good work, keep creating!
Great choices in sounds, each little development of the song had something new, which fits your concept very well!
Love the melody movements in the second track!
good ole spitfire labs soft piano lol
anyways, nice soundtrack! the harmonies on the first track r v pretty and the repeating arpeggio in the second track is memorable. the descending chords in the second track r also very cool to add a change up to the track. the instruments u chose r fitting makes the whole thing sound nice and chill.
I think it just needs some more production to add more details to support the melodic and harmonic ideas u already have down. the instruments all feel a bit dry at the moment and the tracks feel like they're missing something because of that
otherwise, nice work