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New Roots (Soundtrack)'s itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Correlation to theme | #52 | 3.792 | 3.792 |
| Creativity | #116 | 3.542 | 3.542 |
| Overall | #141 | 3.267 | 3.267 |
| Quality | #148 | 3.167 | 3.167 |
| Impression | #161 | 3.000 | 3.000 |
| Composition | #171 | 2.833 | 2.833 |
Ranked from 24 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Description
As Poj returns to his village with baby, Boki, it becomes clear something is terribly wrong. The village has been laid to waste, empty, abandoned, and a pile of ashes. ("Lost Home")There will be time to grieve, ("Lullabye") but not until Poj can get himself and Boki to his brother's village through the Forsworn Forest and across the Great River. ("Wilderness")
As Poj makes his way, more and more clues suggest that he doesn't need to simply find a new home, but run away from his last home. The vengeful Sabo is after any possible survivors of the ruined village! ("They're Here")
There is some moments of transient calm ("Safe For Now").
Poj and Bok finally do escape Sabo and connect with Poj's brother ("Freedom").
Made on Mixcraft 8.
Genre: Fantasy ???
Theme:
How does it fit the theme?
The songs portray the story of a man traveling with his child through wilderness and soon realizing that he must runaway from the calamity that destroyed his home.
Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://soundcloud.com/michael-sibrava/sets/new-roots
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Comments
Lost Home: I really like the wind chime effect of the bells. Keeping the mix elevated in the high register gives that lack of foundation that creates the sense of not having solid ground to rely on and feeling lost. The meandering melody also adds to this effect. Great musical storytelling!
Wilderness: The pitched drums give this track a primitive vibe. I think that it’s really cool that you were able to imply a chord progression almost solely based on drums. This is a cool effect!
Lullabye: The transition to glockenspiel and a more plucky string instrument gives this piece a lighter mood that is great for focusing on the baby in the story.
They’re Here: The dissonances throughout this track are both unsettling and intriguing. Similar to the first two tracks, not having a strong bass here adds to the uneasiness. The sparseness of the harmony gives me a sense that it is cold outside and there is possibly snow. Was that your intention?
Safe for Now: I think your melody informs the nature of the degree of “safety” here pretty well. I like that you establish in the minor scale, but then use the flat 9 to add a little Phrygian flavor which adds a little bit of a question to the melody making it seem like it’s not very certain whether or not it’s completely safe. Great compositional choice!
Freedom: Finally we have a bass foundation! Now I feel safe from Sabo. :) The I-bVII vamp feels really good compared to everything before it. I also love that final interval.
Overall: I think you do a great job creating a soundscape that captures the emotions mirroring those that you intend in the story. Even though I felt uneasy about not having a bass in the first several songs, I thought it was a smart compositional decision to wait to give it to us until the very last song when the danger was over. Good work and thank you for sharing!
Thanks so much for that level of attention! You clearly have a greater breadth of knowledge in theory than I. I did forgo the bass on purpose. I tried it out, but it did sound too grounded. I felt like the higher pitched tracks also make things feel more anxious, and those first 4 tracks all have anxiety built into the story - even the lullabye. It's like the character is just having to always be on his toes, ready to move. I've learned something today, 'cuz I had to look up Phrygian. Not an explicit intention, but certainly going for the dark, tense quality in "Safe for Now".
I like the play with dissonances throughout. My favorite are those vibes in They're Here. Very creepy. Thanks for sharing!
interesting sound, I was please the final track you added a little bit of bass finally, I was screaming for some bass at some point its all in the high-mid range and then some variation yes !
Tense, creepy, playful. Like the artwork! I thought the tracks told the story well and set the mood, although I thought they could've been shorter individually. I liked the Safe For Now track the most!
Thanks for listening!
This soundtrack has such an interesting and cool vibe. It sounds like it would be in a hidden gem experimental indie game. The orchestral instrument libraries you use work so well to create a really good unique atmosphere that I love. Excellent work with this!
I liked these somewhat experimental pieces. Again, I'm always impressed when dissonance is used intelligently, which you nailed on Lost Home (my fav) and They're Here. You seem a little less at ease with more conventional melodies (Freedom). I'm also curious as to what DAW you used. This is good work nonetheless !
Thank you so much for the feedback. Probably right, I haven't done something so conventional in quite some while... Tried to take a page from SpaceCastle's tutorial with Freedom! Pushing the envelope of my knowledge, experience, etc. I also went back and forth with keeping my very human rhythm or using the computer to clean it up. I do better with rock and disturbing. (I know my wheelhouse)
I'm using Mixcraft. I've been using it for years while I hack and experiment.
Lush sounding tracks that do well to back up Poj's story; there is variety between the tracks that highlight a sense of adventure in terms of their approach and sound. I most liked the last track, 'Freedom' for its overall sound and its sense of having overcome something important. Great entry.
Thank you for listening. It's a great compliment that you enjoyed the pieces.
Hey-yo, I really love the concept the whole album. It's well driven. Hope you don't mind if I give you some musician feedback. :) Take care dude.
Lost home: I think the instrument in the background doing a lot of things. I think a bit less, for a those reverb. I really like the front instrument with those vibrator. It's really fluffy, and light.
Wilderness: I really love this drums, it's really fun how the give back the jungle and tribal thing. My thoughts are if you give a lots of reverb on an instrument you cannot really give it to fast movement, because it will overlaps.
Lullabye: good instrument choice!
They are here: yeah I love these bells, and love the dissonance it give the music and the feel mysterious. I love the panning too.
Freedom: I really like the ambient in the middle, that has a little attack. It gives the track a pretty good movement. Well done!
Notes: I never saw a DAW like this before. Cool to see new things!
Thank you for spending the time and writing down your takes on the pieces.
Really love the higher-pitched instruments used throughout! Really like They're Here, the tuned percussion instruments blend so nicely.
Ha! My wife took a listen while she had an ear infection... she screamed at the high pitch stuff. Thanks
I like this—particularly They’re Here. Very unsettling feel, I love the (is it gamelan?). A little like the Dark Lich battle theme from Secret of Mana.
Edit: oh and I meant to add, I love how much work you’ve put into working out the story of this game.
Thanks! I had to look up gamelan. Beautiful stuff! I did commit myself when I started to tonal percussion. It's all glockenspiel in They're Here. Taiko drums also get used. Glad you like it. Appreciate you taking the time with it.
I really love how warm freedom feels compared to the rest of the album! Great work dude!
Thank you for listening
I like the granular effects in Lost Home, but I think my favorite is Freedom. Nice work.
Thanks so much for listening. Freedom came surprising quick, and I like it a lot. Thanks.
The percussion in each song is super earthy, but the use of strings and synths really give it a mysterious feeling! Lullaby stuck out to me because the instruments used reminded me of something like final fantasy with strings and an acoustic guitar. The relaxing nature gives a nice break from the other tracks. Overall this soundtrack exudes mystery, but also a feeling of enchantment!
Thanks for the compliment. That's so much of what I thought of the forest scene for this jam - glad it all works together.
Nice coherent soundtrack. I'm a fan of 'Freedom', very subtle with great sort of little delays and melody line
Thanks for listening! I really appreciate it!
I like your take on the theme, and I like that you gave the characters some personality
Great job! I really liked 'They're Here'. Simple, but created a lot of tension for the moment!
Thanks!