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Astral Wanderer [OST Jam #7]'s itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Composition | #7 | 4.509 | 4.509 |
| Impression | #9 | 4.255 | 4.255 |
| Quality | #11 | 4.455 | 4.455 |
| Overall | #20 | 4.178 | 4.178 |
| Correlation to theme | #85 | 3.964 | 3.964 |
| Creativity | #181 | 3.709 | 3.709 |
Ranked from 55 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Judge feedback
Judge feedback is anonymous.
- Gorgeous, lush, and emotive from beginning to end-- truly some great work here. You should absolutely be proud of this! I can tell that you are inspired by the Journey score but you're not just doing a copy-- it feels like its own unique work. You integrate gestures beautifully throughout, from the tremolo strings on "Main Title" to the chordal sighs in "Astral Plane" to the arpeggiated accompaniment of "Childhood Once More". Very nice compositional style that I think results in a very beautiful product. The winds on "Path of Wisdom" absolutely sing. I was very impressed with this writing here. Likewise, I thought the big success of "Childhood Once More" is that it absolutely feels like multiple independent lines coming together into a cohesive whole, and the result is really, really beautiful. I think the biggest thing that I'd like to hear is just *more*. The statements and musical material here are universally strong, but I do feel as if each idea ends a bit too soon-- these ideas are crying out to be extended even more. This is my favorite kind of feedback to give-- "I love your music, and I want your tracks to be even longer, and to see what you do when you "stretch out" even more!" Lovely production as well, I felt like the mixes were all pretty flawless with a sense of depth and just enough reverb to give everything a sense of space without getting muddy. Wonderful work.
Description
This is an orchestral soundtrack, with some mostly gamelan-esque synths mixed in for some etherealness. There's a LOT of "Journey" influence here. (I like the music a lot lol)
1 - Main Theme
The music you hear at the title screen. There's a harp/piano pattern in the background while a bunch of instruments trade the theme.
(There's an audio bug for the downloadable version of the first track that I couldn't take out before submissions closed, sorry about that. )
2 - The Astral Plane
Our main character, a young boy, awakens in a realm where an impossible landscape of what seems to be both the deep sea and night sky mixed together stretches as far as the eye can see. With no recollection of how got there or even his own name, the boy sets out on his journey to find answers. Gamelans and synths are used to create an outworldly sound, with a couple solos mixed in.
3 - Path of Wisdom
The boy discovers that he is not alone in this world - there are people who seem lost, but not for the same reason as him. They are souls from the real world that have passed on with unfinished business.,, this world seems to be a midpoint between the real world and the afterlife. A man asks the boy if he can help decipher what his father says at his gravestone. "I can see his lips moving, but there's always obstacles in the way and I can't get close enough to hear him. Will you help me?" The boy then has to clear a path in the ethereal realm for the man to hear his father's words before moving on.
This track features a few woodwind solos/duos, each having a little bit of the theme. I rarely get to use bass clarinet as a solo instrument so I had fun with this one.
4 - Nightmare
As the boy explores deeper into the astral realm, he encounters a creature that seems to recognize him and becomes hostile. We later discover that this creature is the amalgamation of the boy's negative emotions and self-hatred, and the boy has somehow been separated from it completely when he entered the astral plane. He has to find a way to confront the creature to escape this world.
This music is basically for the area this creature originates from. I experimented with a bunch of spooky sounds and a lack of tempo for this one.
5 - Childhood Once More
The boy meets a woman who asks him to help reunite her with her mother that she lost when she was a child. Her wish is to relive her childhood memories one last time.
There's yet another flute and cello solo in this one... I guess I really like them.
There was supposed to be a big climactic track at the end here, but didn't have the time! :(
I hope what I already have is enough though.
Message from the artist
Cover art is by my friend Asahi Yonaha! I gave her some verrrry loose ideas about the story and she came up with not only the cover but also a lot of the specific story concepts that I incorporated into the music. Huge thanks to her!
Theme
How does it fit the theme?
I guess a little bit of both.
-"Inside my world"-
This isn't just inside one person's world, but the individual worlds/stories of each person you encounter in the astral realm. It's also (supposed to be) about the boy's journey to face his own inner demons.
-Picture theme-
I based the track "Childhood Once More" off of the image given.
Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://soundcloud.com/jinseig/sets/astral-wanderer?si=0d3d4466ba284ca6975bd2f29f3f8c09&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
Number of tracks5
Genre
Soundtrack use permission
Any non-commercial project
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Comments
This is an amazing entry! The main title is so well crafted and the melody mixed with the rich harmonies is just pleasant to listen to. The writing itself sounds professional. Great job keeping the quality throughout the whole sound track they all match each other very well. One of the best entries I've seen amazing work!
What an ethereal soundtrack! While maintaining a similar theme throughout, you still manage to take us on a... wait for it... "Journey." This is truly quite a cinematic entry and I loved listening to this! Great job - looking forward to hearing more of your music.
Wow!! Most cinematic entry I've heard. Super rich harmonies and interesting orchestral techniques throughout it. Hard to pick a favorite with this one, each one is so well executed in its own way. Incredible job!!
Very pretty and well written! I really enjoyed how it paired with the album cover and the game story you have written. Despite not being able to get your big finish in I think you did a great job!
This was a gorgeous orchestration! I know you wanted a huge cinematic piece, but I feel like this subdued instrumentation can be more personal and can also work for your story. Great submission!
This might be a bit left field but your track "Childhood Once More" reminded me of one of my favorite childhood songs "Hachiko" by the Kyoto Connection. Thanks for sharing this and bringing back some memories!
This is a beautiful classic orchestration ! A very pleasant journey :)
The Astral plane is such a cool atmospheric piece and works really well with the landscape you described.
I was surprised by what you acheived Nightmare, it's not heavy and stressfull as I imagined from the title. It's subtle and disturbing, perfect in the mood of your ost. It makes the whole Ost very cohesive.
Then, great nostalgic ending, magnificent !
Ps: I love your friend's artwork !
It's so well-made. I can totally imagine an entire game composed and orchestrated by you. The cover art is amazing and props to your artist Asahi Yonaha. Childhood Once More was stunningly beautiful and was definitely my favorite. It hooked me in and made me feel nostalgic. The track has so much heart and was amazing.
These types of OSTs tend to be my favorite and I can say you're definitely one of the top for me! Incredible work :D
Asahi absolutely killed it with the art!! Thank you so much!
This is a beautiful and polished soundtrack. I also liked your interpretation of the theme, and the lore you built around it. It directed your soundtrack and it shows. The whole collection flows very nicely, I feel like Childhood Once More is such a nice wrap. Amazing work!
This had me hooked for the whole thing. You've achieved a really beautiful tone, the instrument choices are great, the cover art is amazing, and the composition is so so beautiful! This is an amazing submission, great work!
Such a beautiful soundtrack! The sound design in Nightmare is just right, and I love how it contrasts with the emotion of the next track, Childhood Once More. Phenomenal!
Top 20 easily! Incredible work it’s so good vocative and beautiful, I’m literally enraptured in this soundtrack!
Thank you for the submission,, lots from me to learn from your work, followed immediately!
Very good music! I liked it a lot!!
No other word I can describe this other than GORGEOUS! You're at another level with composition, the Main Title is gonna sit on my repeat playlist for a while. Fantastic job.
THIS.👏IS.👏BEAUTIFUL.👏
I uhhhhh I have no critique yeah ummmm I'll just leave my positive rating and go haha.
no 👏 u
Main Title: I agree that I certainly get Octopath Traveler vibes from this track! I love the oboe as the melody and the soft but mysterious string swells and the magical piano lines. I also really like the structure of this track and the loop is very seamless.
The Astral Plane: There is a cinematic ambient quality to this track that conveys so much emotion without too much going on to distract the listener.
Path of Wisdom: The idea of helping spirits is a really interesting gameplay idea and sets you up for a complex variety of emotions to explore in this theme. I don’t think I could name exactly how this track makes me feel, but I think it outlines the story idea so well - sort of melancholy mixed with regret, but also curiosity. II love the nuances in the melody and counterpoint!
Nightmare: Such a great idea for the story - I also used a similar “confront your emotions to escape” plot in my OST! I think it is so wonderfully unsettling to have no direction or meter and just bathe the listener in dark sounds.
Childhood Once More: I didn’t realize how well cello and flute go together. I’m certainly going to experiment with that combo in the future! I like that you included this track to add some contrast from some of the darker tracks preceding it.
Overall: This is very beautifully made with excellent orchestral quality. It is a professional level that I aspire toward for sure! I would have loved to hear the epic climactic track. If you ever get to finish it, please share! Great work and thank you for sharing!
Thanks for giving feedback on each track! For the flute and cello combo, I got a lot of inspiration from Michael Kamen's "The New Moon in the Old Moon's Arms," I highly recommend checking it out!
The first two songs remind me a ton of Christopher Larkin's writing in the best way, as well as a lot of JRPGs like Octopath Traveler! Your melody writing is top notch, very good at conveying a feeling of wonder and mystery. The orchestration of this, especially the using of the lower register instruments like cello to draw out some of these more magical running lines, I would actually really like to hear this performed live because it would just blow me away!!! Excellent work.
Thanks, getting this stuff performed live would definitely be cool! Funnily enough, in the middle of writing the last track I suddenly realized that what I had sounded a loooot like City of Tears from Hollow Knight, so I listened to it to make sure I wasn't plagiarizing anything lol. I took out the harp that was originally doubling the piano after that.
It's truly beautiful... Main Title and The Astral Plane are my favorite ! plenty of emotion in it !
Thank you so much!!
Wow, that's an awesome soundtrack. I loved all the tracks, they are quite diverse, but cohesive at the same time. Beautiful, very memorable and emotional melodies. I love how many different instruments there are and how good they sound together, every instrument complementing each other. I also love the range of emotions in this soundtrack and the fact that the soundtrack itself tells it's own story, I can get what the game would be about just by listening to these tracks, I don't even have to read the description to get a feeling of how the game would look like. I would like to be able to compose music as good as this one day
Also could I ask you what plugins/libraries do you use? Because all of the sound are beautiful and I just started making orchestral music not that long ago
Thanks for the kind words! For the plugins almost all of the orchestral sounds you hear are from the Cinematic Studio Series. They're great because for such an amazing sounding set of libraries, they don't destroy your bank account haha
It sounds very good... fascinatingly. The composition evokes the right emotions!
...I liked Path of Wisdom the most)
Thank you! The Path of Wisdom is my personal favorite as well because I like wind instruments, lol
Immensely beautiful stuff, congrats! I can totally see you winning again :D!
Thanks! I highly doubt it'll happen again, but it'd sure be nice if I can get feedback from the panel of judges!