Description
Hey everyone! This is my submission for the OST Composition Jam #7 based on the following theme: Inside My World. I was hoping that I'd be able to create several tracks but due to some unfortunate personal dilemmas, I was only able to muster up this main theme. Regardless, I hope that you enjoy this piece and find the music to be worthwhile! Below I'll explain both the Video Game Narrative I created as a premise for this Main Theme as well as how and why I composed this piece the way I did.

The Story and Game:
In order to generate some inspiration for this piece, I imagined a story in which a girl's younger sister falls into a severe state of depression and ultimately becomes unresponsive. In hopes of saving her younger sister from a terrible fate, the older sister uses her magical powers to enter the mind of her younger sister and explores her psyche in hopes of finding and defeating the source of the depression. In the process of exploring her sister's mind, our protagonist encounters beautiful memories, painful sources of trauma, and even has to face off against the sister's "Shadow Self". After a long journey of exploration, self-reflection, and trepidation, our protagonist is finally able to free their younger sister of their depression and return to the real world where they can be amongst their family and friends again!

The Composition:
I imagined that this game and its story would be emotional and introspective at some points, but also epic and even heroic at other points. With those characteristics in mind, I intended to create a Main Theme that's solemn, atmospheric, and reflective in certain sections while also having passages that are rhythmic, orchestral, and overwhelming both in terms of texture and volume. To achieve the more atmospheric feel, I used a highly delayed Piano, a swell Pad, a Synth Bass and a very "echoey" sounding Flute. Additionally, I wanted the Flute to represent the voice of the younger sister, with the Flute Melody embodying her spirit and emotional state.
For the louder, more heroic sections, I used Brass, Strings, Taiko's, and Cymbals to create a feeling of intensity and determination. I wanted these sections to convey that the Player is embarking on a deadly, but important quest to save someone they love and care for deeply!

DAW and Notation Software:
Although this was probably a poorly made decision that resulted in so much TEDIUM... I wrote most of the Composition in MuseScore and then exported the Individual Instruments as WAV Files into BandLab. I used BandLab to compose the Electronic elements of the Piece (such as the Synth Bass or the more modern sounding Percussion Elements) as well as to Mix and Master the Orchestral Parts I wrote in MuseScore. I finalized my Composition and exported it as a WAV File from BandLab.

Message from the artist
I just want to say thank you so much to anyone who took the time to listen to my music, that really is a huge deal for me and I really appreciate it! I also want to say that I would be incredibly grateful to anyone who's willing to provide feedback or criticism on this music. I'm desperately searching for ways to improve as a Composer, and receiving constructive feedback is a huge step towards reaching that ultimate goal!

Theme

Inside my world

Picture theme

How does it fit the theme?
So, the phrase "Inside My World" gave me the idea of a Video Game that revolves around literally entering someone's mental and psychological world in order to help them overcome depression. The picture gave me the idea of this mental and psychological environment of this game having a vibrant, colorful, and almost fantastical feeling to it, and this ultimately inspired my choice of Instrumentation. The phrase influenced me to create a theme that's somewhat solemn, reserved, and singable (to capture the human element), and the vibrancy of the picture inspired me to use a Flute as the lead instrument (I somehow felt that the flute and the character illustrated in the picture were connected). Both the phrase and the picture ultimately inspired the hypothetical video game story (explained in the description) that I used as context for my Main Theme, and I'd say that's the source of the connection between my Composition and the provided themes. Both the phrase and the art are super cool by the way, kudos to whoever made this incredible picture and to whoever picked the "Inside My World" phrase!

Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
YouTube: https://youtu.be/LRwcSJfyRlc
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/ryan-materna/inside-her-world-main-theme-rough-draft-v2/s-cuZRadZWG5F?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing&si=a97c6c896ed948baa72e21e4e385db8c

Number of tracks
1

Genre

Soundtrack use permission

Yes (CC BY-NC)

Any non-commercial project