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Tsuya - OST Jam 07's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Correlation to theme | #37 | 4.173 | 4.173 |
| Composition | #43 | 4.141 | 4.141 |
| Overall | #61 | 3.979 | 3.979 |
| Impression | #64 | 3.948 | 3.948 |
| Quality | #95 | 3.995 | 3.995 |
| Creativity | #224 | 3.639 | 3.639 |
Ranked from 191 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 overall structure is nicely defined— I love how this opens with that absolutely beautiful flute/piano duet. The introduction of strings is nicely handled and feels sensible and organic, and it builds beautifully into the full statement. Very nicely handled, and has that sense of inevitability that is sometimes very difficult to achieve— excellent work. The C#/Db in the solo violin part at 1:46 does somewhat stick out to me. While I like the idea of increasing the harmonic complexity, something about this particular note doesn’t quite sit right to my ears— I think perhaps because it is at the top of the dynamic peak it pokes out quite a bit. Having said that, this is only a small critique insofar as I think a live player would certainly be able to pull it off by tucking it in a bit— to the extent possible it might be worth trying to get the sample to not make that note protrude quite so much— I certainly can understand *why* you’d like this particular note here (it seems to fit with the overall harmonic idea you’ve developed), the execution in the moment I think needs a bit of smoothing out. Your string writing sounds wonderful, and I think it could be further enhanced by trying to liven up individual string lines *as lines* rather than just chords. You’ve chosen lovely chords to go along with your melody, now try to use that structure as something that can be a framework for arpeggiated chordal textures in say, the cello, or “rocking” figures in the violas, etc. From a production perspective, I do feel like the reverb effects are a touch aggressive for my taste, especially on the piano. Having said that, I love some of the effects you’ve put on the piano, especially those that give it that “snap-back” sound. Very nicely implemented. I love how you bring up the overall density and dynamics after the violin solo, letting us seamlessly segue back into a more soaring string statement— I was expecting the piece to sort of die down after the solo violin section, so it was a pleasant surprise to hear such a nicely-rendered set of ideas here. Based on your notes, I can see how this illustrates that you could adapt your composition to the flow of the story. Overall lovely work that I think definitely achieves what you were attempting to execute!
Description
Orchestral song.
More detail on the page of the submission or in this Miro link:
https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVKzVwkVc=/?share_link_id=923033516824
Message from the artist
https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVKzVwkVc=/?share_link_id=923033516824
Here is a Miro board with my thoughts.
thank you!
Theme
How does it fit the theme?
Impermanence:
Examining the picture, we can see a little girl in a yukata smiling while holding the hand of what seems like a maternal figure (mom, grandma?), so immediately the theme in Japan (a country I would love to visit for its cultural richness and vistas).
I had some thoughts about the text theme "inside my world", and thought that maybe the bubble-shaped lady could be in the imaginative and boundless world of creativity of this kid.
But even if there is a lot of happiness with the girl smiling from ear to ear and the cute, drawn fish, bubbles, and algae, to me it's still reads as something quite tragic.
Bubbles are by essence, one of the flimsiest physical events that I can think of.
When formed they can seemingly pop randomly and almost immediately, and in the mind of a child, they just cease to exist.
They are the beautiful, but ephemeral, the physical manifestation of impermanence.
In a way, they are a good image for life itself, a fragile and provisional state of existence that we are all bound to.
This picture paints, for me, the beautiful imaginative world of a little girl who is, in a way, connecting one last time with a recently deceased mother/grandmother.
Tsuya:
A Japanese wake is called tsuya which means "passing the night".
I think having this be the starting event of this story would fit well both themes.
Saddened by the loss of her mother, the little girl tries to paint a colorful world with her mother on it but as she falls asleep, she gets transported into this dreamy world of her drawings, but now tainted by darkness.
But her mother (bubble lady) will show her the way to save her world, give her the strength to face her new life without her, and for one last time, show just how much she loved her.
Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://soundcloud.com/kevin-fernandes-878873752/tsuya-main-theme
Number of tracks1
Genre
Soundtrack use permission
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Comments
Tsuya - every second of this piece was well thought out. Don't want to repeat what everyone already said but the orchestration at 1:15 gave me goosebumps. This track is a great example of if you're gonna do one thing you should do it really well. We had the opportunity to give more than 3 minutes of tracks but I feel this is how it needs to be done. I am looking forward to hearing more compositions from you now.
In context of an imaginary game, I see this as the perfect intro track which starts the player in the characters feet in the game. A very momentous and important time for the player experiencing the game through the characters eyes.
Looking forward to hearing more from you :) also this made so much sense as a "spotting" exercise. Love it.
Thank you, I'm really happy that like me, the composition seems to have opened your mind's eye in a way. You nailed exactly where I was seeing this track indeed. As for only submitting one track, it's more because I had essentially 24 full hours to do it (in the weekend) and this is my first composition ever since I started learning early June. Thank you for the super kind words!
If you'd like even more context, I did a devlog that's linked on the project page :)
Thank you again for taking the time to listen and comment, really appreciate it!
Very powerful and well thought-out piece with slow but deliberate pacing. Very nice work!
Thank you, appreciate it!!
Super professional, it is a beautiful theme, I would love to compose like you xD, your work left me super surprised. you deserve 5 stars
Thats a HUGE compliment, that's too kind of you!
I just wrote a postmortem if you'd like to check that would be awesome :) https://indiekev.itch.io/tsuya-ost-jam-07/devlog/771078/tsuya-postmortem
Thank you for taking the time to listen and rate me, happy you enjoyed it!
One track was all you needed to make an impact. When the full orchestra hits for the first time, it HITS! Definitely getting some Hisaishi/ Ghibli vibes from this. Great piece!
Thank you, I've been super nervous since I saw everyone do multiple tracks but I couldn't. Really happy you liked it.
About the orchestra hit, I actually talked about my strategy for that to happen in this postmortem, feel free to check it out <3
https://indiekev.itch.io/tsuya-ost-jam-07/devlog/771078/tsuya-postmortem
Beautiful piece! It is pretty epic, yet emotional.
Thank you 🙏
This is so beautiful! Your string arrangement is very evocative and the way the piano plays with the strings is artfully done. That moment at 1:17 hits HARD! The whole piece is very dynamic and filled to the brim with emotion.
Thank you so much for your time listening to this and leaving me a comment! I’m very happy you resonated with it!
Art. A little polish maybe but beautiful nevertheless
Hey thank you for the big compliment! It does need a metric TON of polish indeed, thank you for the feedback!
Looks like someone played themselves a bit short, this is so beautiful!! 🥺 A lot of wonderful storytelling moments. I keep replaying 1:19 in particular, it's so lovely. The piano/strings build the theme organically up to it, without feeling repetitive, so it really disarms you with the bittersweet harmony. Such a great variation at 2:24 when it goes to the lower register. I’m amazed you only started a month ago?? Keep going!! Your work is already so impressive, I can't wait to hear what you create next! ^^
(Fyi I highly recommend Alex Moukala's Tutorial YT channel if it hasn't come up yet. So instructive/inspiring for me when I really got into orchestral stuff!)
Hey! How come you came and rated your agent??
Coming from you, I am actually jumping out of my chair, thank you so much for your feedback and encouragement. And yes my first test in a DAW was on FL Studio on May 30th just after having bought Nucleus. I went from there to Studio One, bought everything Cinematic Series and a piano early this month to learn it too. Binged a ton of content but wasn't aware of Alex's channel so I'll definitely go check it. I'm just super happy most of what I learned translated well in this piece. Now I'm actually looking for a mixing & mastering course because I've now seen the difference, notably with your work and some others, of what good mixing and mastering means.
Thank you again for the recommendation and the lovely comment on Soundcloud <3
Can't wait to see what's your next project, I just had a car ride for an hour back and forth and just listened to your submission on repeat ahahaha
Hehe what can I say, looks like someone themselves could use an agent 👀
Aww I'm so happy for you!! It's so wonderful to see how quickly you're growing, the passion and talent comes through.
Any time for recs ^^ Mixing-wise, I'm getting away with the fundamentals I learned from Evenant's Cinematic Music course (super helpful for me at the time and worth looking into, but you're already doing many things so well) because I invested hard in great libaries from Orchestral Tools that come with pre-processing/panning, recorded in the same studio. I really good things about Cinematic Series too!
And oh my god, hard to make my week twice 🙈 I'm amazed you like it so much!! thank you for being so amazingly supportive, for everyone here too TT
Stoooop Imma blush now!!
Yeah I went hard on Cinematic Studio libraries after comparing the string sections, with what orchestral tools offered, it seemed like the better package, and the woodwinds are also better in some ways it seems from general opinions, only the brass library seems to be lacking, and it also comes with 4 mixes for different mics + pre-processed and pre-panned (I also add some custom panning depending on how much stuff is playing in a phrase). I’m pretty sure I just need to learn how to make stuff louder while keeping highs in check, the library is pretty commonly talked for how simple it is to get beautiful results, even though the it’s also one that doesn’t fully play itself without some work on velocity and stuff but I guess they all do!
Thanks for yet another recommendation, right now I’m eyeing a specific mixing and mastering for orchestral and modern orchestras (so with pads on top lol), at 359€ I’m hoping that will do the trick and it seems quite extensive (from a guy that worked on some feature films and for riot games)
I’m also eyeing Moulaka’s course. Hopefully ingesting and using it all will propel my game a bit more xD
Thanks again, can’t wait to see what you’ll cook up for the new jam!!
Oh I've still been doing that since your first message x.x
I think Moukala's course has a lot of value for the cost! I don't think it's as comprehensive as Evenant, but very practical. The mixing course sounds promising! All makes sense for libraries, and guess it all depends on each composer's needs. OT has a lot of articulations, which can be more versatile, but I often wish I had CSS for the punch. I can talk all day on recs ^^', so I'm glad they've helped! If I can summon the resolve to compile a personal list to share, I'd like to! But always happy to chat, or offer input if I can
Really want to set aside time for your dev log this weekend. So cool to see how comprehensive it is! You were wondering if there's anything we'd do otherwise? Happy to share any general personal decisions, or anything in particular!
And you too!! Also need to add: 'We will watch your career with great interest' >:)
I love the amount of thought and effort you put into fitting this jam's theme! The orchestration sounds very professional. I could totally see this within a story-oriented game like you mentioned. Congrats on a great track and submission!
Thank you for taking the time to listen, happy you liked my interpretation, that's where the brunt of the effort went, that and how to try and translate it :)
Honestly, even though the mix would definitely improve it at least a little, the beautiful composition pushes this track to a whole other level! I was super inspired by Ghibli making my submission, but I think yours really takes that feeling and encapsulates it. Also love the thoughtfulness you put into the concept of the game itself. Really great stuff!
The mix/mastering is indeed non-existent. I'm still super new but I'm shopping for a course that will help my next attempts hopefully :)
I'm super happy you liked the composition and the concept! Thank you for the lovely feedback!
What an extremely detailed and thought out approach to your piece. I really admire how much attention to detail you have in your analysis of the prompt. There's so much character going on here, and I'm all for it. Your piece is really beautiful and the orchestration is fantastic. Great work!!
Thank you for taking the time to listen and give me feedback, really appreciate it!
I'm happy you liked it, the theme and how to translate it definitely was my total focus so it's great that it got through :)
Nice Job!
Thank you for taking the time to listen to it and comment :)
Don't put yourself down so much xD
Anyways, I still really enjoyed this. Putting memes aside, I can tell you put thought and effort into the song and story. Keep fighting the good fight! (Also, high respects to you for doing so much rating and spreading the love for other's musics. We don't deserve you xD)
Thank you, I'm mostly joking but I am indeed proud that whatever I learned this past month and a half worked out good enough for people to enjoy. Gotta work harder now :) thank you for your encouragement!
Very emotional track, I can feel the lament in the piece, the tragedy. Love the combination of short and long pedaled piano keys. The track brought up a lot of emotions, well done!!
Thank you for taking the time to listen and give me feedback!!
A very majestic piece! Good Job!
Thank you very much!
The opening piano rolls remind me of Joe Hisaishi’s work. The strings that enter under the piano add tremendously to the emotion underlying the scene. I like that you strayed in some parts from a strict tempo and let the music breathe a bit. The overall structure feels natural in the arc shape. Well done and thank you for sharing!
Thank you for this comparison. I've been learning both composition, orchestration, piano and music theory (specially modern japanese music) since early June, and I focused all my attention into learning it as fast as possible. Because I went so heavily into japanese music theory that's incredibly rooted in jazz, and having also binged a lot of videos on Joe Hisaishi's way of writing, the influence is completely there. So thank you for comparing my measly entry to that work, means a lot and valdiates that I'm learning stuff properly ahaha
Very beautiful track, well done!
Hi there! This is a great orchestration, and I see that you referenced it as a platformer just as Celeste and I totally agree! This would totally fit a platformer with some emphasis on the story :) Thank you for the submission!
Thank you for the big compliment!
Finally checked this out, no other words than just beautiful lol. Great piece!
Thank you I really appreciate it <3
Stunning melody. Excellent transition into B section and solid strings to support the lead piano. For your first work, this is quite good!
Thank you! I got a lot of improvements and learnings to make better stuff but thank you for the positive vibes and encouragement! You guys are too kind!