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Beneath the Ocean, Within the Soul's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Correlation to theme | #62 | 4.048 | 4.048 |
| Overall | #143 | 3.745 | 3.745 |
| Composition | #158 | 3.774 | 3.774 |
| Impression | #171 | 3.645 | 3.645 |
| Quality | #223 | 3.645 | 3.645 |
| Creativity | #238 | 3.613 | 3.613 |
Ranked from 62 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Description
Sana, a magical girl who lives in a bubble house underwater, has gotten bored of life closer to the surface.
She feels something is missing within herself and wishes to see if rumors of treasure deep below are true. She ventures deeper and deeper, entering "uncharted" territory and fighting against mechanized fish (where did those even come from?)
She reaches the lowest part of a trench, but finds most of the treasure has been taken. Perhaps the depths weren't so uncharted after all. However, the long adventure has made her stronger willed as well as more appreciative of the peaceful nature of the upper waters. Perhaps the real treasure was the (insert cliche line)!
Prologue (Introspection): Prologue, and Sana's theme.
Subaquatic Saunter: This serves as an overworld theme when traversing the ocean. Written in 5/4 to give the idea of swimming rather than a more typical walking rhythm.
Subaquatic Saunter (Action): Dynamic variation of Subaquatic Saunter for when doing puzzles or fighting enemies.
Within a Bubble: Save room theme. Take a break!
Mechacanthine Foreboding: Transitional theme when approaching boss areas (the depths). This track with the tonal shift marks the shift towards the depths of the ocean.
Mechacanthine Chaos: Boss theme that might play when you fight a mechanized coelacanth. Ends with a short boss defeated jingle.
Epilogue (Within the Soul): Epilogue, and variation of Introspection, as Sana realizes what she was missing.
Message from the artist
I had a great time making this one. Thanks for listening!
Theme
How does it fit the theme?
I primarily used synths that I felt had a sort of water sound to them (particularly electric piano/rhodes and Mellotron winds) as well as extensive use of leitmotif throughout the OST.
I took the picture theme for an overall water themed OST, and the text theme (Inside my World) to reflect Sana's discovery within herself.
I primarily used the Dorian mode in the first half of the OST and Phrygian Dominant in the second half. This was a means of further showing a "two worlds" interpretation of the text theme, with the more lighthearted upper ocean and the depths filled with mechanized and heavily armed sealife.
Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLM6jJ1Ve8aIdV1LV3bLW-zumd__hIXnfd
Number of tracks7
Genre
Soundtrack use permission
For game jams only
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Comments
"Mechacanthine Chaos" is pretty groovy! And idea about underwater mahou shoujo sound cool ^_^.
Perhaps the real treasure was the (mechanized fish)
Cool soundtrack overall, wasn't expecting (Shreddage?) to come in for the Subaquatic Saunter (Action) track, but it was a welcome addition. Your final boss theme slaps, love the switch up on the overdrive and distortion. Nice, complete sounding OST. Great work!
I loved the tracks! Well put together and sonically diverse. I especially liked the drums in the tracks that they were in. The piano was well crafted and sounds very pleasant as well.
The 5\4 in this is A BoP. I love the complex chords you chose to use here throughout the OST. It makes everything rich and or unique! Very well put together!
VERY bAsEd!
-BUMPUS
First track giving very Zelda, specifically the Serenade of Water form OoT. Really pretty, airy Flute on that one! I see you kind of took that i–IV chord progression and used it as a main motif which tied these together really well! Plus the way you play around with it chromatically later on breaks up the monotony. Really liked Mechacanthine Chaos, really reminded me of like a chill Pokémon battle theme (the break core percussion was a nice touch). Overall really nice work on these!
"mechanized and heavily armed sealife" is such a cool line, I could imagine a metal nautilus shooting bullets out of its mouth in the sea.
I wonder if the kind of game would be a roguelike with puzzle elements mixed in it.
I love the intro for the Mechacanthine being a separate song as you approach the area then going to the next song (which is a banger song).
Thank you! Yeah I was thinking of a cross between JRPG and roguelike with puzzle elements.
I really like what you did with Subaquatic Saunter by having it in 5/4 and also having an action version of it!! Also, Methacanthine Chaos is a banger, personal favorite for me. Great job on this!!
Thank you!
Very ambient soundtrack! It suits the story well, and the melodies are quite enjoyable. Great work!
Thank you!
Flute melody on that first track is fantastic!
Really like the way you've created a distinctly different two halves of the soundtrack to show the difference in locations but kept it all feeling like one soundtrack.
Great use of the drum break and nicely chopped. Drums throughout have a really nice bounce and groove to them.
Some very nice chord progressions, basslines and melodies throughout also.
Thank you!
Really cool ideas here! Contrasting Dorian to Phrygian is a very unique compositional idea, that makes as lot of sense! Same with using 5/4 to "depict" swimming (which I especially enjoyed 'cause I love 5/4). I like the use of leitmotifs, they make the ost sound more connected, which is great!
The production here is pretty solid, and everything sounds good.
This is a pretty good submission! Nice job!
Thank you!
Really cool use of 5/4 to imply that your swimming instead of walking!
Thank you!
I enjoyed the 5/4 in the "Subaquatic Saunter", that was a rare surprise! Great fun soundtrack, and really cool how you've taken care over each track's applications and what's actually happening. Really great work!
Thank you!
I love how you thought about how these tracks might actually be used in game, for example with the "action" version of the overworld theme and the save room theme. The save room theme in particular shows off your fantastic composition skills, the chords are really stylish (and it reminds me a bit of one of my favourite songs from the Majora's Mask soundtrack, the Milk Bar theme). I also love the tonal shift for Mechacanthine Chaos, I always appreciate a good breakbeat.
Excellent work!
Thank you! Great ear, the chord progression is similar to that of Milk Bar at some parts. Glad you liked it!
Really liked the 5/4 rhythm in "Subaquatic Saunter (Action), it worked really well! All tracks are well thought, good submission!
Thank you!
Your songs really have an interesting drive and rhythm that is quite catching. Quite variable roster you've presented here with also some very interesting ideas. Really liked Subaquatic Saunter.
Thank you!
such a bright and dynamic! i love your use of lietmotifs and variations when moving through different areas of your game. adaptive OSTs are always a favorite of mine, because it gives each location so much personality and makes the game feel more interwoven. you've achieved that well.
i also like your musical attention to detail. your switch between modes to represent different worlds is really creative and not something i would have thought of.
overall, great job!! keep it up!
Thank you!
This is a great soundtrack. Dynamic music that changes based on the environment is always very cool. I also like the multiple blend of themes, such as underwater and mechanical, that still keep well thematically. There is a good variety of feelings - safeness, foreboding, mystery, intensity, etc. I think it is very cohesive.
Someone mentioned "sounding midi", I don't think that is a bad thing. Unless if you are going for realism, it can be a great tool to use midi sounding instruments to achieve a game feel.
Overall, this was a nice listen, Great work!
Thank you! Yeah some of my main inspirations come from SNES games so the midi feel can be a part of my style at times.
Solid entry!
Feedback: I think some of the instruments are still a little midi sounding, and some of the legato on the strings kind of doesn't quite go. But that is also a tool limitation, not everyone has access to thousands of dollars of libraries.
Overall though, it passes the vibe check. It creates a nice atmosphere.
Yeah particularly on Within The Soul and Within A Bubble, given more time I would have humanized instruments more. Though I still have a lot to learn in terms of making virtual instruments sound more natural. Thanks for the feedback!
LOVE THE USE OF THE AMPLE METAL HELLRAZER MY BELOVED
All thanks to your suggestion! :)
Amazing, bla bla bla, have a cookie!
Thanks! Your submission was very nice as well :)