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Duo Dividum's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Creativity | #56 | 3.600 | 3.600 |
| Correlation to theme | #68 | 3.450 | 3.450 |
| Composition | #98 | 3.200 | 3.200 |
| Overall | #101 | 3.260 | 3.260 |
| Quality | #108 | 3.150 | 3.150 |
| Impression | #116 | 2.900 | 2.900 |
Ranked from 20 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Description
The overall genre is a mix between prog rock/neoclassical/metal, using purposefully clashing styles to emphasize the difference between the two worlds. The first track, Discovery, is the main theme/title screen theme. The second track, Devil's Dance, is the overworld theme, and the third track, Dangerman, is a boss battle/climactic action theme. I used Soundtrap as my DAW, and pretty much just wrote each one straight out after getting some chord progressions down--I didn't really have any time this weekend to put any more thought into it.
Artist comment:
Honestly this was the best I could work up in like eight hours, since that's about all the free time I have this weekend. For more "detailed" commentary about the tracks, please check out the project page, and thanks for listening!
Theme:
How does it fit the theme?
The title, Duo Dividum, is Latin for "divided into two", implying that the "two worlds" of the prompt may have been one world at a point. I was imagining one of two games: one where the protagonist explores different realities, or a political strategy immersive sim set in the middle of a peoples' revolution -- the "two worlds" being the worlds of the upper and lower class, which is somewhat reflected in the album cover. I decided to interpret this theme by combining two different music genres, orchestra/prog rock and metal, using harsh transitions between the two to highlight the differences. As for the composition itself, the (optional) theme image was giving off some mega-altered reality vibes, so I decided to go with a creepy/haunting tone with a lot of accidentals.
Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsQ4SmjD4m4C3a8s5pE3YDjBX8_bDOUwk
(Also available through the project page)
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Comments
Amazing. All 5 stars. <3
First track has Doom vibes! ^_^
good work.
Thanks! I was definitely going for that Doom-metal vibe to both match the dissonance of the piano but also be its own distinct section.
I quite enjoyed the third track and can see myself fighting a boss while it plays. For the first two tracks, I thought there were some pretty cool ideas, but they struggled a little to find a "home". I think a big part of composition is finding a good balance between tension and release, and while the perfect balance is totally a subjective thing, I felt like you built up a lot of tension without releasing it very often. I think having a more clear home chord could help here.
Another thing I quite liked was the choice of instrumentation, well done! The little bell sounds were very cute :)
Honestly, as much as I'd like to give the cop-out answer and say "Oh, that was intentional, it's meant to represent how the main character struggles to find where they belong!" (which actually could be true, but the only thing that was intentional was the constant tension), I care too much about the music theory behind the compositions to disregard this critique. I agree, a good home chord is important, and my tracks aren't the best they could be in that category. Thanks for taking the time!
Thanks for your reply :) I hope I didn't come off as too harsh in my comment, I just usually try to give some constructive criticism in my feedback and sometimes end up focusing on perceived weaknesses a bit too much. I also absolutely think that these songs contain some really unique harmonic choices and the tension they build is a nice fit for the class conflict theme you're going for.
Oh, no, not at all -- it's completely valid criticism, and very constructive for me.
Rockin' guitar. Creative composition!
Thanks! I was worried the guitar might not go over too well if the listener doesn't like metal.
Great work on these pieces! I enjoyed your tonal language, and I thought you caught some cool timbres. Thank you for your work!
Thank you so much!
Track 1: This is awesome! You used so much dissonance, yet you made it really fun to listen too. I love the transition from the orchestral beginning into the rock breakdown to close it off. The imagery of the two worlds is very clear through the different musical styles. This track would fit very well in an actual game and would add so much to the gameplay experience!
Track 2: I love the string ostinato that emerges halfway through- my favorite part for sure! I think it’s really cool how you wove through your chord progression and almost ended on a major chord but then the melody came back and reminded us that we needed to be on edge and couldn’t rest when the Devil’s dancing!
Track 3: The intensity is great here! Parts of this track reminded me of the King K. Rool theme and emphasizes that this would be awesome music to accompany a boss battle. Overall, your OST is really well done! I have great respect for making two very different musical genres sound like they were always meant to go together. This is one of the most creative submissions I’ve had the pleasure to listen to! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks so much! I can't even begin to compare our submissions, they're so vastly different in style, and I hesitate to accept the "one of the most creative" compliment because of that~