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A jam submission

MistmeltView project page

My Submission for the 2024 IMPRESSIONS Composing Jam: Ambience #1
Submitted by Ro'sø — 2 days, 11 hours before the deadline
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Mistmelt's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Composing Quality#44.0634.063
Correlation to Theme#64.1254.125
Overall#93.7253.725
Listenability#103.6253.625
Mixing Quality#163.5003.500
Overall Uniqueness#243.3133.313

Ranked from 16 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

Link to Streaming Service
https://youtu.be/7hN_y1gcys4

Description
mistmelt takes you through the high lands at dawn, with soft melodies that capture the morning waking up. then, we move to a still lake, where water droplets dance on the surface, each note reflecting their delicate movements. as the music progresses, fog rolls in, filling the air like floating crystals. finally, the mist melts, and the music swells, building into a powerful release that reveals the raw beauty of nature.

--

i resonated a lot with charles stuart's painting, the incoming mist, when it was provided for the jam. i used to live in the uk and spent many a day walking its countrysides and this painting speaks to the many beautiful things, small and large, about the natural world. having discussed some examples in the discord of background music for video games that was quite classical and active and i wanted to go in this direction. i tend to compose horizontally, trying to build a framework of ideas and sounds that go in the direction i want. then i start to build the harmony and sound profile around it. i really wanted each section to have its own flavour and i think i achieved that. if i had more time i would have expanded upon the sections more and given them more time to develop as they're a little unexplored right now.

--

i composed this in logic using vsts from the spitfire bbcso range. i think the sounds are great out of the box so only spent some time managing mic positions of various instruments and relied upon solid arrangement of the instruments and automation of each track to mix them. for reverb i have a separate reverb instance for all groups of instruments (winds, brass, strings, etc...) and within that i have separate reverb busses for short and long articulations so i can manage the reverb in all these instances. i tend to enjoy a very conservative approach to reverb to avoid tracks getting muddy so i just try to emulate the reverb of some classical records i enjoy with similar string-first arrangements. at the mastering end of the chain I used ozone 10's maximiser to put a -1db limit to spare everyone's ears and manually automated the threshold of the maximiser to manage any volume differences that I didn't have time to go back and manage in the mix (bad habit but short on time!)

Screenshot of DAW
https://img.itch.zone/aW1hZ2UvMjk4NDg4MC8xNzg1NDYwNi5wbmc=/original/xrL9y6.png

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Comments

Submitted (1 edit)

Critical feedback as requested : 

Highland Dawn : Personal taste but the cello sound is pretty airy and missing some vibrato if you can add some especially at the end of long notes. At 0:37 the cello movement feels a little weird and stiff maybe the portemento was not well done on the VST. In terms of composition so far its fine, nothing is really happening and I think thats intended you just want to introduce the mood.

Droplet dance : Like I said really some hollow knight vibe like this track :

.The main issue here is probably the woodwinds and strings together except when you play the tonic chord, all the others doesn't seem to match in terms of chord voicing and woodwinds melody the biggest example is at 1:25

Mist Descends : I think now would be a good time to use tremollo especially on the cello and double bass while the bassoon is playing the dark pitch. Watch out for the bassoon note mix with the cello and bass especially at 2:10, it starts to get too low and muddy for them to work well together 2:15 nice chords, I think its a great opportunity to make the cello or viola move and play some notes while the violins are suspending the legatos. Strings like to move often.

Shards of Air : Nothing really too say, its a great change of mood, very modal keeping it straight, nice expressions

The Mismelt : Okay the big bang, distorted a bit in terms of volume gotta watch out for that. I think it would've been great to have a plain chord here like a good major triad and not a suspended chord the transition at 3:23 is also a little hard, not very smooth you can probably automate that better. Same for the Bass/Cello at 3:27 it goes on the lower registrer pretty fast, you can probably add some notes to make it sound smoother. Also 3:40 until end is also a good opportunity to move even more the strings together you're moving a bit the high notes and then you probably need some response on the lower registrer, you did it a later on which is good but you're mostly moving around the same notes at the same tempo, you can probably go and mix more your rhythm and good finale chord I like it.

Overall : its a nice orchestral composition, just need some tweek in terms of harmonic works, strings movements, maybe add some percussions nothing too strong keep it orchestral with timpani or triangle or something to add some shiny details but its not necessary just an idea.

HostSubmitted

Really solid composition, and maybe feels a hair on the "clicked in" side, but it's very good. Really good work with making the orchestration musical. It feels like you got more into your rhythm over time with this, like it got better after first track.

0:52 doesn't feel like that chord resolved quite right given the context of everything else. Just a small thing though.

One thing you did really well, especially later on, is have the right mix of instruments in their proper places to create those emergent timbres that you get from an orchestra. 

Really solid work! :)

Submitted

Very good! I believe you managed to convey very well the mood of the photo and what you described. I noticed that some people have already said it, but it reminded me a lot of the Hollow Knight soundtrack! Especially at 3:08-3:10 it is very similar to a leitmotif that they use a lot

Developer (1 edit)

Do you have a link to the Hollow Knight track? Now two people have mentioned it I'd really like to hear it for myself.  

Submitted(+1)

Hey! I think the instruments you used are mostly responsible for that feeling (strings, brass, woodwinds). It resembles with some ambience music of HK but  I couldn't find the specifc leitmotif I remebered, but is similar to a slower and calmer version of 1:07:25-1:07:31.

Developer

Will take a look. Thanks for taking the time to research it!  🙇‍♂️

Submitted

I really liked the balance you have in this song, it feels very intimate and grand at different points, and the range between the high plucky strings and the very low legato strings is a fantastic contrast and really tells your story!

Developer

I'm glad I managed to weave some magic in the time I had. Thank you! 

Submitted

I feel you managed to achieve the sort of cinematic adventure with this like you mentioned in the description!

Though for me personally, from Mist Descends onwards felt like I was moving inside the mountain in a sort of Mines of Moria type thing, and The Mist Melt felt like I've come out and seen the view opening up before me.

Really beautiful stuff!

Developer(+1)

Ooo, I like your alternative interpretation a lot actually. I'm also quite jealous of your disco inspired track! 

Submitted

I really enjoyed the story you told with your pieces and how smoothly it transitions between each section. I especially enjoyed the chimes on the shards of air section. It seemed to me that you leaned pretty heavily into drawing longer chords, and while the orchestration, dynamics, and tone of the chords are nice, I feel like some variation in rhythms of the chords or melody could add some more interest to your piece. I think pretty much everything else about this work is well crafted. Overall, really nice cinematic composing you've done here. 

Developer(+1)

Mmm, I agree with the variation comment. When I listen to that final section in particular I wish I had put some more internal lines as when I do have them that's where I love that section most. Thank you for the thoughtful critique! :3

Submitted

Very nice, lots of subtle changes in terms of instrumentation, melodic phrases and energy. Good use of automation in general for all the palette. The beginning especially sounds like Hollow knight with the pizzicato and the woodwinds playing the main melody I don't know if that was one of your influence but if it was its well executed. Well done.

Developer

Aw, thank you. I haven't actually played or listened to the hollow knight ost but I'll take a look. Positive comments mean a lot as I really enjoyed your pieces!

Submitted

Really thoughtful creation process that reflects positively in the soundscape. The last section is awesome! Great piece!

Developer

The last section was my fav too. I went. abit overboard and it's not particularly ambient but it is fitting! 😹 

Submitted

What a marvellous, moving little piece. You managed to write a pocket symphonic poem that despite its brief running time takes the listener on a compelling journey while discovering nature. Your composition skills are excellent and definitely make the sounds from the orchestral VST shine through! 

Developer(+1)

It was really lovely to read your feedback - really made my day! Thank you for taking the time to listen. ❤️ 

Submitted

Great job on reminiscing about good old-fashioned fantasy travel.

Developer

Thanks! :D

(+1)

I really enjoyed listening to this. Quite the musical journey.

Developer

oh, thank you! i'm really happy with how it came out. 

Submitted(+1)

Great work! Love how the piece took a slighter darker turn around the 1:40 mark.

Developer

sometimes it be perilous in the highlands! look forward to listening to yours when all the submissions are in.