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mirrorlake (OST)'s itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Creativity | #36 | 4.130 | 4.130 |
| Overall | #132 | 3.757 | 3.757 |
| Correlation to theme | #149 | 3.826 | 3.826 |
| Impression | #187 | 3.609 | 3.609 |
| Quality | #219 | 3.652 | 3.652 |
| Composition | #240 | 3.565 | 3.565 |
Ranked from 23 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Description
This soundtrack started with a story about a child from a fishing village and a mysterious girl standing in water, which was inspired by the theme and a stay at the Baltic Sea I had recently.
You can read the full story on the project page or the descriptions of tracks on streaming services.
I decided to program very few elements of the compositions onto a grid and instead tried to capture spontaneous performances with my acoustic guitar or midi controller and then layered these.
I was surprised how many cool things can happen if you allow yourself to experiment and how serendipity can make an entire track (see the story behind GIANT ROBOTIC EEL WITH LASER EYES).
I also learned, that it is great fun to experiment and generate ideas, but it is equally important to take ideas further, to arrange them into cohesive pieces, pace them out and make them the best they can be. I feel like I did not fully succeed with this yet, but it opened my eyes to a whole new aspect about the creation of music I am eager to explore in the future.
1. Mirrorlake
The piano part in this song starts playfully and then slows down, forming a sort of questionmark or feeling of hesitance - I think in my head I heard "Married Life" from the "Up" Soundtrack by Michael Giacchino where something similar happens.
The harp and cello parts were improvisations and became these kind of cool countermelodies so I left them in.
The end shifts suddenly in tone to illustrate the moment when you first witness the serene beauty of mirrorlake. I also added some noise that emulates the sound of waves.
2. Girl Standing In Water
This track was born out of a pretty random Massive X synthesizer setting run through a reverb that made this cool sound that felt like a distant orchestra or voices. The Glockenspiel and rising bass add some ominous atmosphere as you encounter your mirror image for the first time and get dragged underwater.
3. In The Kelp
I decided to use a lot more electronic sounds for the underwater sections to give them an alien and otherworldly feel. Something about percussion makes me think of townscapes and I imagined the kelp fields to be full of life with many strange creatures.
4. Salty Premonition
This was my attempt at creating something really dissonant and scary by layering two acoustic guitars. There is a scratch I made with a guitar pick across the strings at the end, which turned out nice and spooky.
5. GIANT ROBOTIC EEL WITH LASER EYES
Certainly the track I had the most fun creating, I slapped a lot of elements together and pushed them around until the final mix emerged. The rising synth and impacts illustrate the eel charging its laser and firing. Electronic bleeps and blubs suggest the robotic nature of the eel.
Interestingly, this track got started by a total accident: I wanted to pull some midi notes onto something like a piano but instead put the notes onto a drum track - upon playback, the sounds were just right in the drum track to give these robotic noises, which then inspired the whole idea of the robotic eel encounter :D.
6. Wild Waters
This track kind of marks the emotional low point of the OST and I tried to incorporate the opening motif of "Mirrorlake" by now playing it in a minor key with the Glockenspiel. The rest is an acoustic guitar and a piano which were recorded quite sponteanously.
7. Evening Breeze
The final track started with the acoustic guitar part which felt extremely calming to me when I played it. I was searching for a melody and tried to find it by whistling. In the end, I did not put the whistled melody onto an instrument, but instead layered it two more times, pitch-shifted it and panned it around.
I think the whistling is quite funny and ends the whole adventure on a calm, introspective but also absurd and comical note.
My recording setup was basically:
Ableton Live 11,
a Duke acoustic guitar,
a Zoom H5 handy recorder as an audio interface
and an Arturia microlab Midi controller
I have never properly tried to compose and produce music before and only made short bits for game jams. This project made me incredibly excited to make more music and I am very thankful the jam exists.
Message from the artist
Create music! It is one of the best things a human can do!
Theme
How does it fit the theme?
This is a soundtrack for an adventure game set at a lake, which features a little girl who drags you into her underwater world.
Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLq4mRRbWaFx72rmvoKMSIrRlxT67JsOA0
https://soundcloud.com/prospero-612157814/sets/mirrorlake
https://pbits.bandcamp.com/album/mirrorlake
Number of tracks7
Genre
Soundtrack use permission
Any project
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Comments
Great variety in your tracks! I like the contrasts you created to tell your story with really cute tracks and some with more tension, loved it!
First real composition? Incredible job then, I specially love how good the guitar sounds, you did a hell of a job with the recording and performance.
Heh... A very diverse soundtrack! I liked your idea and style and...
IS THIS YOUR FIRST TIME?! Man... cool!
P.S. I love the incredible combination of orchestral instruments, chiptune, electronic effects and real guitar in GIANT ROBOTIC EEL WITH LASER EYES.... cool!
First time creating music?? Thats a fantastic start keep going! Youve got the intuition and feel for music, mixing and all that will come later but wow thats a really good job. Love the melody in Wild Waters and how you captured the vibe of Up.
I like how chaotic the Eel song felt without being overly loud or fast. Just by having things happen at somewhat unexpected times it made for an intense song.
I love how you just created this whole build up in the first half in order to put GIGANT ROBOTIC EEL WITH LASER EYES!!! Acoustic elements of this one are the best parts of it without a doubt, I mean whole OST but also GIGANT ROBOT EEL WITH LASER EYES!!!
you're telling me this is your first time really making a soundtrack?? this is really fantastic!! i can really feel the heart you put into this and you convey the story very well. make more soundtracks, please!
i especially loved evening breeze; its both whimsical and light hearting, but also calming and sincere.
Thank you so much for the encouraging words, I will make some more :)
Great job! My favorites are Girl Standing in Water and Wild Waters. It's refreshing to hear the experimental off grid take, I know I'm heavily guilty of relying on it too much. I think you have a real knack for both eerie and calm sounds, also excellent guitar playing. And props for going all in on the story!
I really like your use of acoustic guitars! I absolutely love the vibe of Girl Standing in Water and Salty Premonition. Your blending of styles with GIANT ROBOTIC EEL WITH LASER EYES is super cool. Great job!
Amazing story, really helps you imagine all those things you described!
Fantastic story and well done music! Harmony is sometimes aiming to strange places, don't know if that was a purpose or not but it definitely kept me wondering where is it going next. Didn't expect acoustic guitar in a (technically) battle track, interesting! :)
Kudos on exploring the theme so much! Each track stays in its' respective lane but it still manages to be cohesive enough to fit into the same soundtrack. The acoustic guitar melodies throughout caught my attention - a great grounding aspect amidst the various electronic pads and leads. I'm a sucker for moodier tracks so Girl Standing in Water appealed to me the most - it treads the line of ominous curiosity. Feels like a very contemporary entry in regards to sound-design often taking the lead in recent years. Great work!
awesome concept and story here - really inspiring and a great mix of acoustic and synthy sounds. i loved the delicate guitar noises of Salty Premonition and the gentle motion of Wild Waters. beautiful guitar playing! great work!!
These tracks feel very organic. As described, I can definitely hear how detached from the grid everything is, and its execution was great! It’s difficult to detach from the grid without everything sounding like a mess.
My only critical feedback is that, at times, notably during In The Kelp, the mixing felt a bit harsh and would likely stick out during gameplay. It’s a difficult balance!
I loved the vibes going on in Salty Premonition! My favorite track out of the bunch would probably be Wild Waters due to its beautiful progression and overall composition.
Thank you for your critical feedback, this helps me improve :)
I love to see others so passionate about what they create, and reading what you've written is inspirational to me and makes me want to try to incorporate more of the elements you've written about into my own music going forward. The album has a great tone, and reading both the commentary and story through the itch page itself was great. I enjoy the setting being a lake rather than an ocean, which it seems most people ended up going with (including the project I worked on). The acoustic guitar, whistling, etc. gives it the really nice feeling of a camping trip. GIANT ROBOTIC EEL WITH LASER EYES was one of the most intriguing things to read about and when I eventually heard it, it did not disappoint. Finally, I want to compliment the album art, as well as the art of the titular GIANT ROBOTIC EEL WITH LASER EYES seen on the side of the itch page. I can definitely envision a short RPG Maker game akin to Ib when listening to the game's soundtrack.
Overall, just a great submission.
-Chey
Thank you so much for this lovely comment. I need to check out your submission ASAP, but want to take my time tomorrow with it ^^. The concept sounds super cool!
First of all, that's a sick cover. Covers that can act as moving visualizers are always 👌✨.
You did great capturing a wide array of situations/emotions here. Salty Premonition reminds me a bit of Inscryption. (You know? With that guitar and creaking sound like in the cabin?) Speaking of guitar, I feel like guitar lines are your strong suit! I wish I was also good at guitar and didn't cry when doing bar chords. The whistling in the last song is nice as well.
PS I'm also rocking the Arturia Minilab! Such a good small MIDI Keyboard.
Thank you so much for the comment, it made me feel great :). Having heard your chilling entry, I knew you would have a taste for the sp00ky salty premonition ^^.