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The Hallowed Showdown's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Accompaniment | #2 | 4.529 | 4.529 |
| Jam Theme | #2 | 4.588 | 4.588 |
| Overall | #3 | 4.471 | 4.471 |
| Melody | #4 | 4.294 | 4.294 |
Ranked from 17 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Explicit Content
Methodology
What better way to celebrate Halloween than with an epic showdown with the king of Halloween himself? The Hallowed Showdown is a boss battle theme that is high-energy and full of spooky composition motifs. I made specific choices in instrumentation to highlight the spookiness of the Halloween-flavored sound such as harpsichord, organ, plucked strings, a deep gritty bass, a howling wind pad, and of course, the theremin. I composed in melodic minor which to me evokes a classic haunting sound. I also used intervals that classically are associated with Halloween music such as the major 7th/minor 2nd and the tritone. My favorite part of this composition is the melodic character that the bass line has as an independent line. It also works to complement the melody as well as enhance the overall spookiness (I recommend listening with headphones rather than a cell phone speaker to hear all the deep bass nuances). I had a lot of fun writing this piece and I am looking forward to hearing all the other submissions! Please enjoy The Hallowed Showdown!
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Comments
This is fire dude, I will listen your track for a while :D
This really means a lot! Thank you!
Woo automation! The VSTs are killer in this mix. The intro reminded me of sweet Caroline though that's definitely more my problem with earworms. The melody has tonnes of great phrasing and develops over each repeat helped along by the harmony with all the leading tones like in the Gm Bbm Cm/D and the G D Eb Bb pattern is genius.
Oh I can definitely hear that - maybe it was a subconscious reference. Thank you so much for taking the time to listen to my music and leave a comment!
Very strong melodic composition. (In the lead and the bass line) Not only is the melody memorable, the way it dances within the key and across chords is executed masterfully.
It should go without saying, but the production is top shelf! I hear either a highly synthesized harpsichord or a layering of a harpsichord and some kind of saw. Either way, it’s an interesting blend of Halloween and electronic!
Thanks for sharing this tune with us!
Thank you so much for the feedback and thoughts on my music! I had a lot of fun writing for this theme and getting out of my comfort zone a bit compositionally. I really appreciate you taking the time to listen to my and everyone's music! Thank you so much again for hosting!
I always love your entries, and this is no different. You always incorporate interesting melodies, good mixing/sounds, and some extra Blue Lava flair.
I love your Theremin sound. That is exactly how it is supposed to sound.
I also love the choice for a 6/4 signature instead of the usual 4/4. It allowed you to give it a 3/4 or 'waltz-y' vibe at 1:00.
Your instruments sound more electric than I'm used from you, which feels to me like you are experimenting (which is always good!). I may be wrong there.
And my God, what is that visualizer image? It is madness! I am amazed you spend so much time and effort on these songs, while I often come in with 3 to 5 instruments. It is no wonder you are regularly at the top and I am not ;)
Keep up the good work. See you in the next one!
Nick, I have to apologize that I realized I never responded to your long and thoughtful comment in the last OST Composition Jam. Your feedback and thoughts do mean a lot to me and I apologize for dropping the ball on that.
I agree that this was a little more in the electronic realm which was a welcome challenge outside of my comfort zone! The secret to how many instruments I use is nothing special really - it's more a factor of me just continuing to find new instruments that I think fit the theme or sound good together and adding more intricacies and details layer after layer. I think that it would be very difficult to compose this way in Musescore and may be an advantage to writing in midi VSTs (thought there are also downsides to that as well - such as not being able to see harmony in the musical notation nearly as easily). I'm glad you enjoyed listening! Thank you as always for your close listening and your thoughtful feedback - it is always much appreciated! Looking forward to hearing more of your music in the next jam!
I had a smile on my face the whole time! The different melodic elements were woven together so well, and the bass really stood out. It's obvious you put a lot of love into it. And the switch to half-time was the cherry on top. Super-fun, fits the jam's theme perfectly, I would fight a boss to this music any day.
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts! These are exactly the things I was hoping to convey! I appreciate you taking the time to listen to my music. Looking forward to seeing you in the next music jam!
Amazing work. The composition feels spooky yet entertaining. I liked very much the synth selection and polyphonic style. Congratulations.
Thank you so much for your listening and leaving a response!
Excellent composition! I love the retro synth sounds and the melodies are captivating.
Excellent composition! I love the retro synth sounds and the melodies are captivating.
Thank you so much! I appreciate you listening and sharing your thoughts.
That was really cool! After listening to other songs, I feel like my mixing abilities sound really weak compared to the other songs, lol. There's that sort of big sound I've kind of gotten used to from listening to pop music that I'm still trying to learn how to create which I'm slowly getting there
A lot of the synth parts sound really cool in this song and I like how it kind of phases in and out during certain parts of the song. Kind of sounds like a modern take on the sort of classic 16 bit gaming of Halloween music where you have some instruments that sound more realistic but with a lot of synth sounds and sound effects to it. I also kind of get Pirate vibes from this kind of like some parts in Donkey Kong Country 2 or Monkey Island. I feel like there were some parts in Monkey Island that sounded like this but I'd have to go back and look, lol
This was a really fun listen!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts! The 16 bit era is some of my biggest influence so it makes me happy that you can hear the inspirations shine through! My take on this theme is that Halloween blurs the line between reality and paranormal and I thought it fitting to use a combination of acoustic and electronic instruments in a way that makes it a little bit challenging to distinguish the two. Thank you so much once again for your listening and comments!
What a banger!
So many good things to say:
Firstly, the theme is super catchy, joyful and bouncy on first listen when the organ isn't there yet. In the second passage of the theme, the organ kicks in and you surprise us with a spooky, subtle arrangement (diminished notes and tritones).
The transition to the bass solo at 0'51" is fan-ta-stic! The organ intensifies on a final chord and bam! the bass plays a great riff!
The theme returns, but with a tempo divided by 2, reviving the music.
What mastery!
Obviously it fits perfectly with the theme and I could see your music for an RPG boss.
Great Blue Lava as usual
This is such high praise from the master themself! Thank you so much for close listening and for leaving your thoughts. I’m glad you picked up on the organ harmonization in the repeat of the initial melody; the diminished chords were written prior to the melody so of course the melody sounded like Halloween in my head with the context I was coming from! It’s interesting to think about composition methods and how putting things in different order influences the final outcome. Thank you so much for all your comments, they are most appreciated.
I can definitely hear the Nintendo influence on this and works well to add a whimsical element to the Halloween vibe. I do admit though that I agree with PerLonn, the melody, especially towards the beginning is slightly pirate-like but I think it eventually becomes more Halloween as the track goes on.
I also love the theremin lines; definitely a classic and it really brings home the Halloween aesthetic.
The bass part was also really well produced and written. This was really fun to listen to and I'm looking forward to hearing more music from you in the future!
Great job!
Thank you so much for listening closely and leaving your thoughts. A pirate-y Halloween it is, I suppose! That’s okay, I learned so many cool Halloween techniques from all the submissions to this jam for the next time I write a Halloween song! I’m glad it fit the vibe better as it went on. Thank you once again!
This track is super fun! I love the energy and playful but spooky energy it brings. I think in-game this would be a great theme for a fun fight! Good stuff!
Thank you so much for listening! Halloween has always been fun for me and that's the ultimate goal of what I was trying to convey in this boss fight theme, since that's the reason I like to play video games at the end of the day. I appreciate you leaving your thoughts.
Great choice of instrumentation! You manage to create a spooky mood instantly. The overall structure and each section complement each other nicely and I like how many of the instruments each gets a chance to shine with your orchestration. There are a lot of synth/layered sounds in the background that give depth.
For some reason, though I did find some parts sound more "piratey" and after thinking/listening I find the melody resembles Pirates of The Carribean, but that might just be a me-problem. I also feel like the piece moves between spooky and fun/playful, not saying Halloween and spookiness have to be dark all the time. Definitely high-energy, but maybe not epic (at least for me).
The more I listen to your piece the better it gets and I rate this very high. I'll be looking forward to hearing more from you!
Thank you so much for your close listening and for sharing all of your thoughts. I think you are probably right and maybe epic is not the best word to describe it, maybe "high energy" is more fitting? I think that Halloween music occupies a space in my mind that is very similar to pirate music for some reason. Probably the most notable similarity is that I feel both in my mind have a prototypical triplet beat subdivision giving both a lilting feeling, I wonder if that is what you are hearing or if there are other subconscious references I also pulled from... And in response to the playful sound, that's just my style. :) Nintendo music filled my childhood and is my number one inspiration for the music I write and it taught me that it is most fun writing music that is fun to listen to! I'm working on leaning into my darker compositional side though and this was at least a stepping stone in that direction for me. Thank you so much your thoughts - feedback is a great way for me to get better and I sure appreciate it!
In the end, many terms such as epic and high energy can be subjective and my comments are not necessarily "the truth". What I do find interesting is reading how the composer (in this case you) thinks about their work. Since you used the word epic I used my idea of "epic" to comment/reflect on your piece. In the end, what terms to describe it is up to you, or at least not up to a single individual (me).
Also in regards to the pirate thing, it's probably just a few notes that for me felt similar to Pirates of the Caribbean and combined with the fun vibe it gave me pirate vibes at some places. Who knows maybe from now on I'll start to get Halloween vibes when listening to pirate songs xD
Okay the instruments in this one, just amazing. I can definitely hear a lot of Halloweeny themes in here which honestly make it just perfect for this jam. This is another song where there's just too many positive things to say, I can't think of any constructive criticism! Great job with this one, and I really look forward to any future jams we both participate in.
This is such a compliment - thank you! I appreciate you taking the time to listen closely to my music and sharing your thoughts. I will certainly look forward to sharing future jams with you as well!
Love the mysterious energy of this one! I could see this being in a turn-based rpg like bug fables (one of my favorites btw, so that’s a high compliment!). Your music is always such a joy to listen to! Great work :)
Thank you so much! RPG is what I was going for, I'm glad you were able to hear it that way. I appreciate you listening and commenting!
It's always a pleasure to be in a music jam with you. I saw that you had an entry and just had to give it a listen! The melodic minor definitely gives it a nice halloween vibe, but also, is that a little dorian mode that I am hearing in places? It's a very nice touch. I've commented this about some of your past entries as well, but you are a real expert at bringing a fun energy to your compositions. 5 stars across the board from me! I thoroughly enjoyed your entry.
It's good to see you here as well - I am looking forward to hearing what you composed! Thank you so much for your comment! I think that the dorian you're hearing is probably related to the b7 major chord that I ended up using more than I thought I would. Melodic minor is relatively new for me, at least compositionally, and I had a lot of fun trying to figure out how to harmonize it, but I realize I probably could have leaned a little more into the darker parts of the scale than I did. Thank you for your close listening!