Play soundtrack
Conversations with Lords of the Boreal Realm's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Overall Uniqueness | #3 | 4.174 | 4.174 |
| Innovation | #4 | 3.870 | 3.870 |
| Overall | #10 | 3.630 | 3.630 |
| Execution | #13 | 3.609 | 3.609 |
| Composing Quality | #22 | 3.478 | 3.478 |
| Correlation to Theme | #27 | 3.348 | 3.348 |
| Listenability | #30 | 3.304 | 3.304 |
Ranked from 23 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Link to Streaming Service
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXS2wFPfYJk
Description
Conversations with Lords of the Boreal Realm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXS2wFPfYJk
—--
“So when he had gone a good way, he came to a high hill, and there he met one who was lord over all the beasts of the wood, for they all came home to him when he blew his horn; so the King asked if he knew where Whiteland was. “No, I don’t,” said he, “but I’ll ask my beasts.” Then he blew his horn and called them, and asked if any of them knew where Whiteland lay. But there was no beast that knew.”
—--
This is my sophomore attempt at creating 100% improvised music. It's three jam sessions. Each song is a combination of only two live takes: me playing the electric piano, and me playing the electric guitar, with some light post-mixing. This challenge was compounded by the fact that I’m not very great at playing guitar, and I’m even worse at playing the piano. Regardless, this is the most fun I’ve had making music and the feeling of satisfaction from stepping away from the piano roll/timeline was immense.
The electric piano was configured within Reaper to control and trigger a variety of synthesized sounds I designed. I don’t have a MIDI controller with knobs at the moment, so everything had to be playable using just piano keys.
The music itself was inspired by the second act of the folk tale “The Three Princesses of Whiteland”, with an emphasis on the land, air and water landscapes.
No samples or recordings were used. All synth sounds were custom designed starting from an “INIT” patch. Video was thrown together in After Effect CS6 using copyright-free stock videos from pexels.com.
—--
Track 01: Lord over all the Beasts of the Wood (Tiaga Biome Theme, 03:30)
Track 02: Lord over all the Birds of the Air (Tundra Biome Theme, 03:30)
Track 03: Lord over all the Fish of the Sea (Frozen Coastline Biome Theme, 03:00)
Total Playtime: 10:00
—--
Yamaha P45 Electric Piano
Gibson ES-137 Electric Guitar + Pedalboard
Native Instruments FM8
Native Instruments Prism for Reaktor Player
Daichi Synth1
Vital
Various VST FX
Reaper (DAW)
Screenshot of DAW
In Project
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Comments
You're right on the money for uniqueness - there's simply nothing I've ever heard like this before! that last track has lots of spookiness to it, and the thrumbly beat of the 2nd track is engaging in a very strange sorta way. Excellent job! These could've been official Stellaris background tracks and I'dve never known the difference!
Great work, one of the most unique submissions I've listened to.
I love how varied and complex your electronic sound is. The first and third tracks reminded me of early electronic music like Tangerine Dream, while the second one gave off a more modern slow techno vibe (which was a very cool contrast).
I love the eeriness of the track, I felt like I was in some woods, stalked by misterious fae beings. Congratulations!
I love this take on the theme, a very electronic journey and I think you nailed it! The ambiance of the digital realm is always on point. Lord over all the Fish of the Sea is my favorite track, I can hear the underwatery textures translated electronically so clearly! Amazing work once again!
We have the same Digital Piano 😄
Really liked the feel in the first track, gave me a lot of the same feels i get from listening to Ryuichi Sakamoto's Async album.
Good stuff!
Definitely a unique composition.
There is some cool stuff going on here. There is definitely a particular vibe I could imagine this being used in a game with.
Great work! :)
That was definitely the most unique take of the jam that I have heard. Really cool experimental take for an improv it all blended pretty well together too. Good job !
Killer electric tracks man! Loved them. Very very and spooky! But in a good way. And I can't believe you did this all using just your keyboard and guitar. Crazy. Anyway, I like the mood and sound. It came across very well!
Incredibly peculiar, this project! Definitely coming form left field in comparison with other entries, and I really like how you tried to work around your playing limitations by experimenting with composition and sound design.
While it may not make for an easy listening for some, I think it's great!
Very unconventional and extremely unique composition. Despite a near lack of rhythmic elements there is a sense of progression and emotion. Superb ambience full of evolving sounds and textures cause a sense of unease. While not something I would sit down and listen to for 10 minutes repeatedly, the ambience and emotion it creates would be exceptional in film and video games. Overall, very fascinating style and track that creates an immersive thick atmosphere with emotional elements.
It feels quite dark and forboding (in a good way). Really dig the different textures and atmosphere with every song having its unique identity. Really well done. Also the visuals are quite fitting. For my favorit I have to say it's "Lord over all the Beasts of the Wood". It has a very raw tribal quallity and the mangled dums sound very eery but interesting. PS. might be a shot in the dark, but I would suggest the band "The Ocean" if you like that guitar heavy ambient dark ambience. Your last song kind of reminded me a bit of them. Although they are also quite heavy.
The folk tale inspiration and icy biome themes come through beautifully. Would love to hear more like this, will explore your youtube videos for more. Really compelling and impressive stuff!
I've got some serious attention span issues, and despite that all three of these ambient tracks felt completely engaging the entire way through. The off-grid rhythmic textures and constantly evolving synths all work really, really well together to create something that feels grand and beyond our understanding. Each track has such a distinct character to it that makes it really hard to pick a favorite, phenomenal stuff!