Play single
Discovery - Synlyfe's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Overall | #55 | 3.998 | 3.998 |
| Composition | #57 | 4.062 | 4.062 |
| Impression | #60 | 3.991 | 3.991 |
| Correlation to theme | #69 | 4.018 | 4.018 |
| Creativity | #85 | 3.929 | 3.929 |
| Quality | #96 | 3.991 | 3.991 |
Ranked from 113 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Judge feedback
Judge feedback is anonymous.
- I'm sorry to hear about your ear injury! Here's hoping that you're recovering well and are going to keep making music. This submission has a lot of promise and some quite interesting textural blending that I think is very effective. The use of sharkuhachi flute I think works in its brief appearance, adding a new, breathy layer to the soundscape that fills it out. In that moment, I really found that everything you had been building to kind of snapped together, which was lovely to hear. I'm sure due to the nature of your shortened preparation time, the track as a whole feels a bit disconnected from itself in that it doesn't seem to quite build toward a target, even as the textures that I do hear are very nicely put together. Structurally I think it just needs more of a sense of direction, where the listener can know that they are being taken on a journey-- told a story-- that's clear and concise. Even though in games we know our music is going to get sliced up and recombined in implementation, having a clear journey from the get go makes a huge difference. Given that you had such a short time to prepare I think the result here is admirable!
Description
Genre: Ambient, electronic.
Purpose: Theme; could function as a title, credits or a lore-driven level theme.
More info available below in "How does it fit the theme"
DAW: FL Studio 21 + Native Instruments, Heavyocity, Serum and stock plugins.
I wanted the track to be driven primarily by piano and strings and then use woodwinds and synths to buff out the composition. Composed in a minor key, but not inherently spending too much time on the defining minor notes - tried to strike a balance between sombre tones and a subtle but progressive hope.
Link to DAW overview on YT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyBn1Zm4Nik
Can be streamed via Audiomack, link below.
Message from the artist
Was super pumped to join this jam but unfortunately sustained an ear injury the night before it kicked off. After a couple of much needed quiet days, I finally got a chance to start on my submission approximately a day before the jam was ending.
There's very little post-work done, and there are a couple of instances of clipping that I missed upon exporting. All in all I'm decently happy with the composition but I would have liked to have taken it much further and developed the concepts within a lot more. I feel as though the chord progressions in particular are lacking, as is a general sense of substance.
Theme
How does it fit the theme?
I wanted to focus more on the spirit the child is speaking to and what it represents, so I opted for a minor key and left some of the child-like visuals, emotion and expression to the instrumentation.
I used short, delay and reverb soaked synths in Massive to represent the bubbles and wrote primarily for piano, strings and woodwind to set the tone; slightly sombre but with hope on the horizon. Marred happiness and fond memories are two keywords I kept in mind while scoring.
Ultimately the child is speaking to a spirit of a (presumed) loved one, manifesting amidst the bubbles and chalk drawings of fish. I let some reverb tails ring out a little longer and soak the ambience to really sell the water and sea creature vibe as best I could. Playful synths to represent bubbles and the occasional use of a shakuhachi flute to pay due respect to the culture.
Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://audiomack.com/synlyfe/song/discovery
Number of tracks1
Genre
Soundtrack use permission
Any non-commercial project
Leave a comment
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
Comments
Beautiful vibe all around. I can totally see this being a score to a JRPG for example where you transfer to the past and relieve past memories or something. Love the piano work especially. Well done, and you had a handicap to boot!
Appreciate you checking it out and leaving a comment! Unfortunately the case with the lack of time, but happy to at least have something to submit in the finish. There's always the next jam! :)
Great composition work on this and it fits the picture theme perfectly. Great quality . Great job on this especially with limited time!
Appreciate it! The lack of time was a real bummer but I was happy just to have something to submit, you know? Thank you for checking it out, and best of luck!
This is a nice ambiant track, it really made me comfortable and let go.
The kind of ambiance where you get lost in dicovering an area of the game :)
Good job !
Appreciate you taking the time to check it out! Best of luck. :)
wow!!!! i love the mix between orchestral and electronics, it fits so well!!! great work!
It's beautiful.. and so much going on ! Fantastic work!
Thank you, appreciate the kind words!
This is absolutely fantastic, definitely sounds like an area theme to some kind of platformer. It's the kind of song where I could get lost in it for hours while playing a game and never get bored of it. Fantastic work, great instrumentation and composition all around.
You're too kind, thank you for checking it out and commenting. As usual, there's about a hundred things I'd change but there's always the next jam!
Very chill. The use of a wide variety of different instruments and sounds that change over the duration keeps everything interesting and engaging. The chord progression is simple, but it serves as a great foundation for everything else and helps provide a very relaxing atmosphere.
Appreciate you checking it out! I would've loved to maybe change keys and embellish on the progression a little, but unfortunately ran out of time. Happy to hear that it works well!
Beautiful orchestration. Mixed with various electronic sounds, there’s so much texture and depth to this track. My only critique is that it might be clipping in some areas, but that’s just super easy mastering stuff. The composition is great!
Thank you for checking it out, appreciate it! Yeah I realised after submitting that I accidentally reset a couple of faders. Oops! Oh well. I wish I had more time to vet this and do some actual post-production but it is what it is!
Only a few seconds in and I was caught in your piece. Beautiful harmony, beautiful melodies, beautiful everything. You really managed to bring me inside your world. I wish english was my first language to express all I want to say! That's a clear All 5 Stars to me and I want to see you in the finals.
You're too kind, thank you for checking it out and leaving a comment. J'apprécie les paroles aimables, mon ami. Bonne chance!
Dang. this so good!
I love all the elements you've managed to fit in to this track. It's a journey.
The shakuhachi flute parts are delightful and I smiled when the drums kicked in too.
Nice work.
Appreciate the kind words, glad you liked it!