This is fabulous, the orchestration is top notch! I'm especially liking your articulation choices, just enough to give some good flavor and distinguish the areas without overtaking anything. Your melodies and MIDI programming are great as well, I can tell you put a lot of care into them and I'm enjoying it. The story is so pleasant and inviting, I'd love to play this game. Fantastic work, I love it!
Play soundtrack
Seasons in Mellowtide [OST Composing Jam #3]'s itch.io pageResults
Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
Composition | #12 | 4.009 | 4.286 |
Overall | #15 | 3.795 | 4.057 |
Correlation to theme | #16 | 3.875 | 4.143 |
Impression | #24 | 3.742 | 4.000 |
Quality | #28 | 3.875 | 4.143 |
Creativity | #45 | 3.474 | 3.714 |
Ranked from 14 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Description
This soundtrack is a blend of orchestral and SNES-era sounds and timbres, and I wish I had even more opportunity to mix and blend these worlds.
I've composed this soundtrack for a story-driven farming sim like stardew valley (but a little more linear.) Each track was made in Studio One 5.3, using Cinematic Studio Strings, Cinematic Studio Solo Strings, EW libraries, and soundfonts from the SNES.
1. Seasons in Mellowtide (Title): this is the main theme for the game.
2. Atop The Skies: this is the character creation music. During this scene, the main character is in a hot air balloon. First, the player chooses which season to begin the game in. Then, you get to design your avatar. I enjoyed experimenting with the Cinematic Studio Solo Strings library-- the harmonics and trills are so gorgeous, but the col legno also has a cool effect. All three articulations are used in this piece :)
3. Stormbreak: after getting unexpectedly in a terrible storm, the hot air balloon is damaged and begins to plummet towards the ground. As it breaks from the storm, we get our first glance at the beautiful Mellowtide: mountains, valleys, forests, a beautiful seaside bay with a small fishing town perched nearby... but the beauty is short-lived, as the balloon hurtles to the ground.
4. Song of the Tides: In a vision, the Spirit of the Tides appears. She explains that there is no escape from Mellowtide, and that the balance of the seasons is under threat. You must find a way to protect Sundial Rock (at an undisclosed location) from destruction, lest the seasons fall into complete disarray. If you can do this, the way out of Mellowtide will appear. I wanted this music to be as celestial and ethereal as possible, so I again used CSSS as well as EW Choirs.
5. Take The Day: I wanted the music of the game to change based on the season, and this piece (which plays while you are in Mellowtide Town) was the only one I was able to bring to fruition due to lack of time. Rather than include each season as a separate track, all four seasonal variants of the piece play in a row. The first, Spring, is light and airy, using a solo string quartet; the second, Summer, is more rich and full, using the full string orchestra; the third, Autumn, is a bit more chill and acoustic, using the guitar and solo winds. Finally, Winter uses some 16-bit sounds to create a more muted, icy sound. Each variant uses the same core music, but are quite different from one another.
6. Pietro's Kitchen Sink: This is the shop music, and it's quite an eccentric track: Pietro, the store owner, has accrued so much junk that his store, aptly named 'Pietro's Kitchen Sink', is like a whirring machine of clutter.
7. Overcast: this music plays when it is raining or snowing in game. I again used the CSSS Solo strings library for this track.
8. Goodbye Mellowtide: After the main story is over, you are presented with the option of returning home (to your partner and family outside of Mellowtide) or staying there with your newfound life. The choice is bittersweet regardless.
Message from the artist:
Thank you all for taking the time to listen to these tracks! Sadly, due to a lack of time (I only had 2 days), there were several errors with the mix that I cannot fix. I may upload a remastered version that addresses these mistakes. Regardless, enjoy and please leave feedback!
Theme:
How does it fit the theme?
The idea was that most outdoor tracks would have dynamic orchestration based on the season. Take The Day is the only applicable piece in the soundtrack to have this effect: all four seasons, from spring to winter, are laid out in order (rather than include 4 different tracks.) Later in the game, the seasons become disrupted and change without warning quite frequently, so the shift in music is more obvious then.
Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://soundcloud.com/david-caldarella/sets/seasons-in-mellowtide
Leave a comment
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.