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Chess In The Park's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Challenge | #2 | 4.143 | 4.143 |
| Composition | #4 | 4.214 | 4.214 |
| Overall | #4 | 3.986 | 3.986 |
| Creativity | #4 | 4.000 | 4.000 |
| Mixing | #6 | 3.714 | 3.714 |
| Vibe | #7 | 3.857 | 3.857 |
Ranked from 14 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Title
Chess In The Park
Description
I imagined two people playing a game of chess and how the dynamics of the battle go back and forth. I can picture the initial game movements of the players in rhythm with the music, picking up a piece, moving it, hitting their clock on the side of the board and this keeps going until the king starts to be attacked. At that point, there's more tension as pressure is placed on the king but a moment of clarity allows for a counter attack that results in a checkmate which finalizes the song.
I enjoyed the first jam's theme and the style I used so I made something in the same vein, stepping out of my synth safety zone.
In this song I focused most on the mixing since it's not a strong suit of mine and I tried to "fill out" the sound as much as I could. Please let me know if there are improvements for future songs!
Plugins used
Flex and BBC Symphony Orchestra
Link(s) to your submission
https://foxandliongames.itch.io/chess-in-the-park
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Comments
Piano writing is great, however your song needs some more dynamics (basically, your song needs to have quieter parts, and not just full blast all the time). Like the intro for example, you don't need to have the piano play on max velocity all the time (or feel like it). A great example for good dynamics is Eetu Suikkanen's entry to this jam.
For mixing, when the woodwind was playing lead, other instruments were louder than it which is not ideal. The lead should be the main instrument playing at the highest volume, just like how you did it right after with the piano lead. Also some bass would be appreciated, especially to those kicks but I'm nitpicking at this point.
But definetly work on the dynamics thing, I used to have that issue for a while (and honestly still do a bit) and fixing it can make a huge difference without putting much extra effort into it.
It's really good. I really like the way the piano is struck to add impact to the tempo.
The alternation of melody between clarinet and piano is an excellent choice that sounds very good to the ear.
There's just one small problem with the clarinet melody at 0'41". It's a Bb against an A Demi-diminish, and I find it a bit clashing.
I love the descent that leads into the more rhythmic part. It's a punchy transition.
I like your submission. Nice atmosphere.Excellent mixing work.The stting of Game also.
I really like the way the various instruments intersect with each other to create interesting rhythms, especially in the final part. I think this is a hard thing to achieve, and the progression of the track makes it work great, well done.
Since you mentioned mixing (my weak spot as well), I can tell that some instruments didn't feel "alive", you could saturate them a bit and add effects. The drums also felt a bit disconnected (sonically, not rhythmically). Also, in the last part, the intersection I like gets a bit blurred. You could try panning the instruments in different positions so that each can be distinguished clearly, and that part will sound even cooler.
This one is quite a vibe! Great job! It reminded me of the Papers Please theme lol
Wow I love how this track develops from start to finish! The strings in the beginning give a good sense of “it’s getting real”, and then section that starts around 1:30 is so busy (in a good way) which makes it feel very climactic and of course allows for that really nice buildup at the end :)
Being not much of a mixing pro myself, I can’t offer too much feedback in that department, but I think it was done mostly well. I do think the percussion could’ve been done better, but I’m not sure how exactly because mixing beats is hard DX
Great work!