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VANITAS's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Creativity | #15 | 4.316 | 4.316 |
| Impression | #19 | 4.184 | 4.184 |
| Overall | #26 | 4.147 | 4.147 |
| Quality | #31 | 4.263 | 4.263 |
| Composition | #45 | 4.132 | 4.132 |
| Correlation to theme | #140 | 3.842 | 3.842 |
Ranked from 38 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Judge feedback
Judge feedback is anonymous.
- The entirety of your entry is absolutely exceptional-- truly achieving something special. The sense of atmosphere was immediately apparent when I began listening, and I really appreciated the cloud of gestures that opened on "In Between". The synth bed beneath was chosen expertly, as its tone color served as a perfect backdrop. I did feel that the drone-like nature of the synth there became somewhat unwelcome by the end, although I suspect just bringing it down in the mix might have alleviated that problem-- worth keeping in mind that you don't want to fatigue the listener. (This is a very small nitpick) "Plain, Meander, Erupt" stood out to me as a wonderfully inventive and interesting interlude-- the second half with the arpeggiated synth was breathtaking. Absolutely excellent work here, thank you for sharing it! The choice of having an eclectic instrumental palette succeeds quite well in my opinion. I found myself eager to listen to each new track to hear what new combination you had put together! The only small comment here would be that the piano textures feel somewhat dissimilar, especially on "Funny Business", which though a fun track (and well written to boot), seemed like it was zapped in from another OST entirely, I think mostly due to the fact that the piano sounds remarkably different. "There is Void" succeeds in texture, I think, but did overstay just a hair as I was listening. I think probably because your writing on the other tracks is so strong, the long, ambient stretches and sounds felt a bit *too* long on both my first and second listen. "Inside my World, A Great Beyond" is... stunning. I have no other words. As a chorally-oriented composer, I appreciate very much the kind of writing that so gloriously uses the human vocal texture to do that thing it does that no other ensemble can. (And I didn't even mention *the winds here*, which are absolutely breathtaking). Just expertly handled, congratulations on this.
Description
Storytelling soundtrack of various genres. I imagine this soundtrack to be composed for an immersive, artsy adventure game. You can find my description/interpretations of each track on the project page. My DAW of choice is Cubase. Since I've already had a template setup, I just use it as a canvas to generate ideas. The prompt this time is kind of introspective, so the instrumentations I choose focus more on small chamber ensemble with electronics. There is a lot of experimentations with the sound palette and synthesizer, especially on the third track Plain, Meander, Erupt, which I wanted to create something unique rhythmically to create a sense of imaginary headspace inside an artist's mind. There is also the last track with the choir to tie the whole thing together as the palettes of the soundtrack really vary track by track.
Theme
How does it fit the theme?
The word prompt suggests to me something abstract and introspective. My soundtrack uses a great variety of sound palettes to paint a picture of a world that is colorful and varied, rather than being defined by specific instrumentation. The anchor of the soundtrack is by tonally basing the root key on D, which is also only suggestive as either the root or it can be any key on its scale. If one is "inside" one's world, there should be no defining feeling of boundary because it is essentially a "made up" world based on pure imagination. And I try to root the music on imagined contexts that are connected to the imaginary world based on the imaginary girl's life experience.
The picture theme is an extension to what my soundtrack strives for. It paints an imaginary that is beautiful and surreal, also lighthearted and fun loving, which my music uses lighter instrumentation and orchestration to portray.
Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://on.soundcloud.com/H7GCRvhrS14hdcT36
Number of tracks7
Genre
Soundtrack use permission
Any non-commercial project
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Comments
All around very high quality, congrats!
Hi Tony!
Love what you¡ve done! The amount of different colors that you've created along the whole ost is AMAZING!
So much variety of instruments yet cohesive between tracks.
A Great Beyond, my favorite one! Very impressive the dinamic control, especially in the choirs.
Great job!
Very beautiful soundscapes, wonderful production and fantastic ideas. It left me wanting for more to be honest. I would love to see what you'd do if you dove deep into just one of the tracks and developed them more. Overall, great submission.
This is beautiful!
Great combination of ambient & classical/orchestral sounds, as well as the other inspirations you've drawn from.
Hard to pick out a track a track as a favourite, you've gone in an interesting and creative direction on all of them whilst keeping the soundtrack still feeling very coherent.
Real nice submission! "Embark" really took me on the adventure!! Everything is well thought and the variety of harmony/orchestration/spirits of the tracks really blew me away!
This is BEAUTIFUL man! The first track gave me Nier vibes. My favorites are track 3 and the final track. I gotta know what you used to get those ethereal choir samples because it sounds so natural and realistic. Great work man!
Thank you for comment, rikuwru! I used 8dio Insolidus Choir and a little bit of Soundiron Requiem Light for that last piece. The 8dio Insolidus choir really excels in slower tempo and classic 4-parts writing style of composition.
Great submission, lot of well done composition! My favourite is There is void - fantastic energy!
One of the best submissions. Love this piano!
AYO, you so COOKED at 0:35 of the third track haha! This, coupled with your vision of the game on the cover, is an evocative piece. The diverse environments/vibe presented in 7 songs were varied and fun but still cohesive. The first two song and the last song reminded me of GRIS is it wasn't sad.
I think you're one of the few submissions where i must have beaten some kind of speedrun between listening to following lol.
So pretty, the variance is insane while still making sense, really such a nice entry, I'm really impressed!
Absolutely fantastic! I always dread rating submissions with a lot of tracks because they tend to get really boring after a couple of tracks but this submission kept my attention the whole time. Love the variety in instrumentation.
This is awesome.. I'm really glad I stumbled upon your submission as it resonates a lot with me. And it definitely stands out! Thanks for the journey.
I think some artist struggle with tendency to be or thier work to be "Pseudo-Artistic". Like thier pieces are just beautiful orchiestral symphonis, but you just have feeling that you need to like it. It's like, you need to love this becouse it's beautiful, not becouse you like it. You have feeling like you need to like it. Or maybe this rock song which everyone love but you think it's mid becouse it's just boring love ballad. But when you're artist, you start to think. Am I Pseudo-Artistic? What If I also do not interesting work? Who exacly can objectivly say that my work is good or bad or Pseudo Artistic or Artistic? I think that would be a cool motive in an actual game of yours. Just my small digression. One of the best covers I saw to be honest ^^
You have managed to create a soundtrack where each track is yet uniquely different and still cohesive. The whole track was so ambient but still kept me on the edge of my seat!
とても聞きやすいキレイな作品でした！！！大好きです！！！！かなり癒やされました！！
It was a beautiful piece of work, very easy to listen to! I love it！！！！ It was quite soothing!
I really enjoyed "Plain, Meander, Erupt", so much attitude and color. I loved it. Great job!!!
Excellent work my friend! The orchestration, tempo changes, mix/master are all of a professional standard. Hard to believe this is your first jam! You'll be winning this stuff soon if you keep putting out quality like this!
in terms of originality/particularity it is one of the best I have heard so far. as well as from the sounds, the high level of the soundtrack can also be perceived from the different rhythmic tempos: both fast and with pauses, a must in video games where, after hours of music, the player could easily become bored.
other plus points: an absolutely non-trivial Ambient music, which is no small thing; I like the choice of timbre of a not very large orchestra, it sounds more European than American in some points. I don't know if the strings are from the Peteris Vasks library of orchestral tools, but they reminded me a lot of it. Great work, really! it will be a very difficult contest if these are the submissions.
Hi Floris, thank you for you kind words! Juxtaposition is something I think about constantly in my compositions, as well as the listener's experience.
I used Berlin Strings from Orchestral Tools for my strings writing. It has a smaller size (8.6.5.5.4) and to me it sounds closer to what a real classical string ensemble sounds like as well as more human compare to other popular string library that aims for the more produced Hollywood sound. I haven't checked out Peteris Vasks library yet, but perhaps because it is produced by the same company you have noticed their similarity of sound. You have great ears!
This is my first jam I've joined, but I've already noticed some bangers from others that far exceed common level of video game soundtrack in this jam. Really excited to see more talented composers/producers come into the game space and expect to see new stars rising from this community.
This is a great submission! Each piece is very striking. My favorite tracks were "Plain, Meander, Erupt", "Inside My World, a Great Beyond", and "Embark". You have a great sense of scale and texture in all of your pieces, and I think they paint a very complimentary image. Awesome work :D
Great job, this entry stands out in its creativity and managed to capture a range of emotions! I especially loved the tranquil atmosphere of "There Is Void" - makes me dream myself away :D.
And let's not forget that epic choir at the end!
It would totally fit an "artsy adventure", as you mentioned in your description ^^.