itch.io

Thanks a ton!! Honestly, you're interpretation is pretty darn solid!

When I was putting this together, I was thinking a lot about some of the video games I've played over the years that feature these iconic last stands from the hero character, along with their respective music. I noticed that some of them initially have more upbeat, battle-type music because the hero is still fighting, but the melancholic vibes don't really hit until later when the hero has a sort of second wind to them.

That's what I was trying to capture with this piece - a first section that highlights the hero's will to survive, and the following section acts as a second wind for the hero. This is where the reaching to the heavens component comes in because I wanted this section to feel as if the hero has accepted their fate and wants to continue fighting to the end, with the heavens bearing witness to their feat.

Hopefully that makes sense. Thanks a ton for listening to my work :)

This was a lovely piece! The choice of instruments was excellent and the music progressed and developed nicely.

I would probably agree with others in that I'm not entirely sure how this fits the theme in terms of this piece's overall vibe (I could just be dense lol). I understand how the term 'molt' can mean to start fresh and begin new life, but I think the connection between that and the theme could use just a little more context either in the music or in a comment, IMO.

The other thing I wanted to mention is that I would've liked to have heard the tail of the instruments trail off a bit more instead of cutting off rather abruptly at the end, especially since there's no limits on the length of the submission. It might sound a bit more natural that way.

Thanks for sharing this, and keep up the good work :)

Dude!! Thank you so much!

I actually LOVE El Ten Eleven and take a lot of inspiration from them and similar bands, so for someone to hear similarities is a huge compliment for me.

Thanks a ton for listening :)

What I like most about this piece is that I can feel the sorrow coming from the music, and to me that represents strong attention to detail and a great respect for this fallen character. Absolutely spot on for the theme of this jam!

A couple people have mentioned the volume of the horns in the middle section already, so I won't worry too much about that. The thing I will mention though is that I would've liked to have heard a little more call and response from the woodwinds in the last section. I say this because there's some very lovely melodic ideas there! It feels as if each musician is getting their opportunity to pay respects to the fallen character and I think it would've been cool to hear them fleshed out more and have the chance to shine on their own. IMO.

Thanks a ton for sharing this, and keep up the great work :)

This was a wonderful piece to listen to! The two sections blend very well together and expand on the initial ideas nicely, despite having different tones and instrumentation.

Thanks for sharing this, keep up the good work :)

Very cool use of harmony for this piece - I think it suits the theme nicely!

My main critique for this is that some of the parts are pretty MIDI sounding, especially through the first ~50 seconds in those strings parts. If you get a chance, you could try and experiment with the velocity and release of those notes so that they sound a little more natural. It would also be worth overlapping some of those notes so that they don't stop and start abruptly. These could also help to give the piece a little more dynamic range overall.

Thanks for sharing this! Keep up the good work :)

Your choice of instruments and harmony was absolutely wonderful, and very fitting for the theme of this jam!

My only critique is that the bass instruments felt a little overpowering at times, especially in that second section. It might help to either cut a bit of mid frequencies on those instruments for more clarity, or reduce the volume altogether so that the piano and higher register strings could push through the mix a little better, IMO.

Thank you for sharing this, and keep up the great work :)

I like what you've put together here - the bass and drums both sound good and go really well together.

My only critique that I have is that I would've liked to have heard a little more in the higher register aside from some of the synth sounds you've got going. The bassline outlines some pretty interesting-sounding harmony, and I think that could've been explored a little bit more. Even if it was just some subtle arpeggios on a piano above the bass/drums for a section, IMO.

Thanks for sharing this, and keep up the good work :)

This was really cool - I got some serious Halo vibes from the vocal melody and the orchestral instruments. Really fitting arrangement for this jam's theme!

While I definitely liked what I heard, I didn't get strong fallen hero vibes from this. I think if you added an element to this piece that was a little more moody/melancholy, or a variation of the main ideas that brings in some darker harmony, then it might drive home that idea a little more. IMO.

Thanks for sharing this - keep up the good work :)

I think you've nailed the vibe of this jam pretty well - my only criticism is that I would've liked to have heard a little more development overall. You've got some cool ideas, and I think the piece would benefit if they were fleshed out and explored a bit.

Thanks for sharing, and keep up the good work :)

As someone who enjoys post-rock music and other music that involves lots of repetition and buildups, I very much enjoyed your submission.

The use of the guitar slightly in the background with all of the textural change in the foreground was super cool and quite appropriate for the atmosphere you were creating, as well as the themes of this jam.

Honestly the only real feedback I have is that I would've liked to have heard just a little bit of change in the guitar near the end of the piece, where the instrument becomes a little more exposed along with the percussion. Even if it was just altering the chords/voice leading by a note or two. I think it could've been a nice complimentary section that adds a little bit of variation to give the listener something different to hear for the outro.

Thanks for sharing this! Keep up the good work :)

It was wonderful to hear a fully orchestrated piece as a submission for this jam. This piece seems to pay homage to Hisaishi's work in a way that feels inspired more-so than copied, so props to you for that!

While following your score, I noticed a great usage of dynamics in each of the instruments that really adds depth and expressiveness for each of the instruments that I don't always see from people that submit their work straight from music notation software. This is great to see!

The main critique that I have is that, on a couple occasions, the piano seems to play a significant amount of notes in a way that would be very difficult for a live pianist to perform (mostly occurring at the end of the 6/4 section). Not that that's necessarily your goal, but in my opinion the idea of "less is more" in those measures could help add some clarity to this section. Especially considering that you appear to be doubling the piano's left hand with one of the bass stringed parts - having it doubled with another of that instrument instead of with the piano could help free up both hands of the pianist instead of relying on just one to play that part in higher register. Hopefully that makes sense.

Thanks a ton for sharing, and keep up the good work :)

Appreciate your comment, friend. I'm kinda surprised by that considering this is probably the piece I experimented with the most and was most worried about its reception, but I'm happy you liked what you heard.

I'd probably agree with your comment about the deeper bass, that could've sound pretty cool to at least give that track a little more variation.

I think if I had interpreted the theme in any other way I would probably try do better work with EQ and muddy frequencies but, because I wanted to fully commit to the idea of an audio recording that's losing its clarity due to old age, I felt at the time that it'd be appropriate to have some parts of the piece sound a little muddier than normal 🙃

Thanks for taking the time to listen to my work :)

Ayy thanks a ton! And thank you for listening :)

Thanks a ton!

While I was pretty inspired by works of ambient music that were made decades prior, it's definitely possible that listening to some of those 2000's/2010's playlists of liminal music from time to time seeped their way into this submission. They always seem to have this quality about them that has a mixture of melancholy and nostalgia that I felt was really suitable for this jam's themes, at least in the way I interpreted them.

Thank you for listening :)

🖐️ Absolute Cinema 🖐️

Thanks for taking the time to listen to my work :)

Thank you! And thanks for listening :)

Thanks a ton for the feedback!

I think at the time I was trying to make those parts a little more prominent, trying to give a glimpse of clarity if that makes sense. Listening back to it today, I'd probably agree with you though.

Thanks for listening :)

I liked the atmosphere of this piece quite a lot, and the light piano was a nice touch!

My critiques for this would be:

1) I'd like to have heard a little variation in the bass - having that repetition is nice to create the vibe, but I think having even a slight change once the piano line on Track 4 comes in would have been a cool contrast in sections without being too different.

2) I would've probably liked to have heard a bit more reverb on Track 2 and not as strong of an attack. I like the timbre of the part and how it seems to change in texture over the course of the piece (maybe?), but I think if you played around with its velocity a little bit it would help it blend better with the rest of the tracks, imo.

Thanks for sharing this - keep up the good work :)

Thank you for such awesome feedback!

I was pretty excited to get the takes that I did not having much experience with the instrument, it took an embarrassingly high number of attempts just to get these parts down lol. I'm hoping as time goes on, and with a LOT more practice, the melody parts I write can develop a little more and gain that direction. Or at the very least go beyond the small phrases that fit the structure of the piece. 

Thanks a ton for listening :)

Thanks a ton for the feedback!

As much as I liked how much contrast this piece had, I'd probably agree that some low-mids could be reduced a bit in the pads.

Thank you much for listening :)

Thank you!! And thanks for listening :)

Appreciate the feedback - thanks a ton for listening :)

This was a cool piece to listen to! Not really in my wheelhouse, but I see the appeal!

I really like how you applied the rule-breaking component to this - I think it really helps keep the momentum going, and I enjoyed trying to count beats/tempos in the different sections. I also found that the contrast between the sections was really solid!

Some others have already mentioned some of the repetition with the higher pitched melody, and I would probably agree to an extent. I don't dislike the idea of repetition in some sections (as my submissions has quite a bit of that lol), but I think it could've helped if some of those sections were not stretched out quite as much as they were, IMO.

The section at ~ 3:35 was probably my personal favorite because it was such a nice contrast to the faster paced sections preceding it. I think I would've wanted the buildup to go right into this section instead of dropping down and building up again. Maybe that's a genre thing that I'm unaware of, but I think this would've been something I'd do to better introduce a contrasting section that's as cool as yours was, but also still maintain a level of repetition in the lead parts. Hopefully that makes sense!

Thanks for sharing, and keep up the great work :)

There were quite a few instances in this piece that almost completely subverted my expectations.

At first I wasn't entirely sure how this percussion was going to mesh with the rest of the mix, but it was actually one of the biggest components that I enjoyed. I also liked how it didn't just build and build, but some parts were taken away and reintroduced at certain sections. I think I personally might've delayed the entrance of those elements just a little bit longer at the beginning so that it comes in with some of the other instruments you used, but that's nit-picky.

I was also pleasantly surprised by some of the harmony you used - it was different and gave the piece a brief change in tone, but it was also very tasteful and kept me intrigued throughout its entirety.

Thanks for sharing such a solid piece of music - keep up the good work :)

Ughhh :/

I thought I was pretty thorough at adjusting levels in the mix to avoid these kind of issues, but apparently not. I'll look through again in the future and hopefully fix any other instances.

Appreciate you listening though - and thanks for the feedback :)

I really like the vibe you're going for - they're fun to listen to and I think the melody is solid.

A peace of feedback that I have for this would be I felt the drums were a little overbearing on the melody, so bringing the drums down a little bit might help it stand out. Additionally, I would've liked to have heard some of your ideas fleshed out a bit beyond these 30-ish second pieces.

Other than that, I enjoyed what you created. Hopefully we'll get to hear more of your work in longer pieces in the future. Keep up the good work :)

Ayy thanks a ton! That's definitely a vibe I was thinking about when putting these together.

Thanks a ton for listening, and congrats on your placement! :)

I think if you would've said you only used real flutes in your comment on my submission, I would believe you.

To my ears it seemed like there was a pretty consistent tone from one section to another. I heard a slight difference about 1:20 onward where the flute started to play longer notes with a little less tremolo or grace notes, but I figured that was done intentionally as part of the section changing. I may be completely wrong, but that was my initial thoughts. Honestly, I really had to listen hard to see if there truly was a difference if any, and that's coming from someone who's sat next to flute players in concert bands for several years.

As for the rest of the piece, I would say the vibe/atmosphere accurately captures what you set out to create. At the very least, it feels authentic. There's such a nice mesh of traditional Japanese-sounding instruments with a choir that gives it this holy, otherworldly sound. I imagined this piece as something that would be playing for somebody being guided to and joining this religious/ceremonial event.

I enjoyed this piece enough to listen to it multiple times, which I think gives away at least what I'm marking down for Listen-ability. Thanks for sharing this, and keep up the amazing work :)

Thanks a ton for all the feedback!

I agree with all the notes here, especially the ones that pertain to the flutes. I did actually try playing these by hand, but I'll definitely try experimenting more with the velocity. The note about overlapping notes might actually work really well with this piece.

I did consider adding in another part in the first piece to occupy the lower frequencies, but couldn't put something together that 1) I was happy with; and 2) didn't clutter the mix. So I decided against it for this submission and hoped that the drums + center guitar part could fill that space, but I'll give it another go in the next jam.

I'll be sure to give your submission a peek later today to compare. Thank you for listening :)

Thank you!! Any comment left here is still greatly appreciated!

Thanks a ton for listening! :)

Thanks a ton - appreciate it! :)

Garageband users rise up!! o7

That's great to hear!

Thank you much for your comment, and thanks for taking a listen to my submission :)

Yeah, my goal for this jam was to have guitar tracks that weren't muddy (a problem I've had in the past). It's possible I've over-corrected that a little bit- hopefully I can get somewhere in between in the next jam.

Thanks for listening :)

Thanks for your comment!

That's a good suggestion, I'll see if I can address that in the next jam.

Thank you for listening :)

This is the kind of feedback I was hoping for with these pieces. I'm glad you found some things you liked, and other things you feel I can improve on. I'll try these out on the material I didn't get to for Kale's next jam.

Thank you much for listening :)

This definitely helps! Thanks for the clarification!

I really liked what you made! I'm probably gonna be singing that melody from 'Mutant' to myself for the rest of the day. I also really liked your lyrics and choice of harmony throughout the submission.

Some food for thought - I felt that the vocals were a little difficult to hear at times. The rest of the instruments were a little overbearing, especially the bass + lower frequencies. Maybe try readjusting the volume of the instruments so that the vocals are a little more in front, imo. Additionally, I found myself adjusting the volume when each track started to get a consistent volume.

Thanks for sharing your work :)

Even though I'm not entirely sure where the farewell vibe comes into this piece, I felt that it was well done nonetheless. The vibe that I get the most from this is something between unsettling and foreboding - like something I would hear out of a cosmic horror story/game. That feeling for me was supported by the single-note synth line at the beginning, the harmony in the second half of the piece, as well as the image of the submission itself. I think if this was the vibe you were aiming for, then I'd say this was well executed.

With that being said, I'm not certain how the theme of this jam was utilized. My guess is that the text theme was used more-so than the image?

Thanks for sharing your submission, and keep up the good work :)

Welp, you got me to listen to this piece multiple times so I guess I know what I'm putting down for listenability ;)

I'm glad to see music being created with procedural components in mind. I think it'd be fitting for games like a walking simulator as you've mentioned. It's nice to have a little bit of variation if I'm exploring one place in multiple instances, or over one long period of time. I remember reading that No Man's Sky did something like this with their OST.

As for the piece itself, I feel that you've put something together that's solid and fulfills its purpose really well. It sets the vibe for a setting like the image in this submission, and lends itself well for other sounds/melodies/etc. to come in and give the listener (or the player) something unique to listen to.

Hopefully you continue experimenting with this tech - there's a lot of games that could benefit from this!

Thanks for sharing, and keep up the good work :)