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Picnic at Maple Pier's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Composition | #148 | 3.787 | 3.787 |
| Impression | #166 | 3.660 | 3.660 |
| Overall | #167 | 3.702 | 3.702 |
| Correlation to theme | #192 | 3.723 | 3.723 |
| Quality | #196 | 3.681 | 3.681 |
| Creativity | #213 | 3.660 | 3.660 |
Ranked from 47 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Description
My album includes three acoustic/orchestral tracks for an imaginary narrative adventure game called "Picnic at Maple Pier." The anxious main character seeks connection by inviting a friend to a picnic on the pier. Along the way they discover the richness of the everyday world.
Track 1: "Morning Light Through The Bedroom Window"
In this track, the main character wakes up and takes in the morning (the world of the new day coming into the bedroom). It's going to be a great day! This track features live recordings of guitar and percussion, sampled piano and flute, a couple instruments from BBCSO Core, LABS Gaelic Voices, and an excerpt from a Carlos Drummond de Andrade poem! The poem focuses on the line: "Tinha uma pedra no meio do caminho," which translates to "there was a stone in the middle of the path. It's repeated over and over in the poem, making it a meditation on mundane details.
Track 2: "Under The Umbrella"
In this track, the main character experiences a summer rainstorm (the world 'under the umbrella'). It uses a woodwinds, brass, and percussion from the BBCSO Core library and the LABS Soft Piano.
Track 3: "On The Pier Under The Stars"
In this track, the main character reflects about their experiences from the day (the world under the canopy of stars). Not everything went according to plan, but that's okay. It was a day they will not forget anytime soon. This track uses a sampled piano and flute and mixed percussion from BBCSO Core.
I created the cover art using Procreate.
Message from the artist
Thanks for listening! I hope you enjoy it!
Theme
How does it fit the theme?
"Picnic at Maple Pier" is a meditation on the little "worlds" we inhabit in the course of our everyday lives--a sunlit bedroom, an umbrella in a rainstorm, a pier under the stars--all full of beauty and meaning, if only we'd pause to see it.
Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://soundcloud.com/michael_l_wood/sets/picnic-at-maple-pier
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgmfNiNAGnmn6erxhuHSyHpYqJQeWJuPn
Number of tracks3
Genre
Soundtrack use permission
Any non-commercial project
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Comments
Such a cute soundtrack! Don't have too much to say other than that it made me feel happy, and the composition was great! Also thought the third song was gonna be One Summer's Day from Spirited Away from the first few notes!
Thanks so much! Funny how a few repeating notes on the piano can have such strong association. Maybe too strong, but it fit so well with where I wanted to go 😆
The first track really make the every day appreciation shine. It's joyful and the accoustic guitar recording flesh it nicely! I think It helps getting that "real" vibe that the charachter is seeking after through connexion :)
Under the umbrella was a tender moment, I could totally imagine it with rainy background sound!
The final piece had smooooth chords :D that mixed with the flute and percussions sounds was cool.
Overall a very charming ost for a charming game!
Thank you so much!
Morning Light Through The Bedroom Window: Making I-IV-V-I sound fresh. Secondary dominant into the relative minor was cool. Love what you did with the melody around 0:45. Wasn't expecting vocals! Great instrumentation.
Under The Umbrella: Labs piano! Cute track. Magical sounding instrumentation.
On The Pier Under The Stars: Minor plagal cadence! Always sweet. Love that woodblock like percussion. Great woodwinds. Really cool progression here.
Great work!
Thanks so much!
Nice mix between some orchestral and folk its very sweet and happy liked it. Things I would look for is specifically the piano playing, its dominant in some part and it really sound like a "robot". Don,t be afraid to use sustain pedal and play with velocity to create a more human feel. Changing the chord voicing would also help to space the piano better in the mix. Good job !
Thank you! I do want to say that I recorded all the piano input, all with velocity and most with sustain pedal. There was a bit I used a small portable keyboard without sustain though, I think the start of the first track. I think some of what you may be hearing is me struggling to make cheap piano samples sound decent. I guess some could be because I'm not an excellent pianist. I did a lot of manual adjustment to compensate for some of that; maybe some went too far.
Those were cozy, for real. I loved the quirky sound effects and the reoccurring elements that popped in and out of the tracks. The last track is particularly special, what a great composition. I do think David offered some solid advice, but you still did a remarkable job!
Thank you!
Morning Light: I'm very delighted by this light-hearted melody, and the light variations of it as the piece goes on! Each new phrase is pleasantly different from the last, with enough transitional material and a contrasting b-section to drum up interest. You've done very well here. My only advice is that some instruments sound a little out of place-- the bell, and the whipping percussion sound, for instance-- and that the mixing is very guitar-heavy, with some instruments drowning out others. Mixing is tough, though... and not everybody has extensive instrumental libraries. So from a purely compositional perspective, I'm very impressed!
Under the Umbrella: another beautiful and well-written melody. The tone switch from gentle piano to whimsical orchestra was also very nice! All the textures you explore are very beautiful, and pleasantly contrasting-- I might even invite you to be more restrictive, as lots of textures and instrumentations don't get revisited after their initial presentation.
On the Pier Under the Stars: for two seconds there, I was like... 'Spirited Away?' this is a similar melody for sure, but I have no grievances. This track is probably my favorite: another delightful melody, with a good balance of variety and familiarity.
In all, I'm proud of your work here! Between the story, cover art, and music, you've created something cohesive and very enjoyable to listen to. Great work, and keep writing!
Thanks so much for listening and for the detailed feedback! This is kind and helpful and encouraging. Mixing the live tracks was definitely a (new) challenge, and today I was thinking I wish I had brought the guitar down a bit more so it's nice to hear I'm on the right track there. I don't think I can get rid of the tubular bell in the first track though; brings me too much joy 😄
I also appreciate the suggestion to consider more restraint. Maybe because I'm a percussionist, my first instinct is to throw in all the toys 😁 Makes me want to experiment with some minimalism like your tracks. Thanks again!
Gave me the warm vibe of a Steve Waring album, loved every second of it !
Oooh thank you! I'm going to have to look up Steve Waring!
Very coherent vibe throughout here and well composed stuff, all the instruments and percussion complement each other and sits together nicely.
Really fits the narrative you laid out in the description!
Thanks for listening!
Very well done, very nice compositions. It's kept coherent while it's entertaining, good job! :)
Thank you!
This was absolutely beautiful! The piano told the story well. It really felt like I was out there on the pier.
Surprise! You live here now.
There is a nonzero chance this playlist ends up in my life outside of jam ratings.
Impression 4/5. I did not get bored.
Creativity 4/5: I never know what to do about creativity. It's phrased in such stark terms of "different-ness" but this feels creative.
Composition: 4/5
Quality 5/5: Very few if any complaints as to mixing.
Correlation to theme 5/5: Good interpretation, making the mundane 'magical.'
Very Clean and nice!! I loved the live instruments in the first track, really gives a sense of liveliness to it! the flute throughout is really nice as well! great job on this
45 seconds of Morning Light was all it took. The live recordings make this track so much better. It succeeded in leaving an impression.
Under the Umbrella was a calm, soothing ride as well. Such a nice use of percussion.
That piano melody on On The Pier. Wow. The flute's such a nice addition too.
I loved your unique interpretation of the theme and how it directed the collection. The little moments in our lives being our worlds - so right! Either way, loved your entry!
Well done, very clean sounding and you are a talented musician, I wish I heard more guitar!
Thank you very much! I would have liked to do more guitar tracks. Took me too long to get my recording pipeline going though. Something to look forward to in the future. Thanks for listening!