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Clara's Dreamfall (OST Comping Jam #7)'s itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Creativity | #84 | 3.931 | 3.931 |
| Composition | #133 | 3.828 | 3.828 |
| Overall | #160 | 3.710 | 3.710 |
| Impression | #183 | 3.621 | 3.621 |
| Correlation to theme | #191 | 3.724 | 3.724 |
| Quality | #321 | 3.448 | 3.448 |
Ranked from 29 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Description
UPDATE: My Proof of Work/DAW screen recording is on Youtube via the link below (uploaded the same time as the submission, just wanted that to be clear since I didn't post screenshots, also YouTube's audio quality is kinda garbage, the soundcloud link is a much more accurate representation if you don't want to download)
Total Runtime: 00:12:13
Overall, this music is a sampling of the main ideas and points I would explore throughout a full-length game/OST. The gameplay tracks (all except TRAILER and FALLING) are meant to be looped or at least easily turned into loop-able music. I wanted the music to represent the story I imagined through genre. The deeper into this dream world we go, the more electronic and heavy the music gets, and the closer to reality, the more organic and orchestral. My main inspirations for this come from games like Celeste, Spiritfarer, and the Xenoblade series.
I imagine a 3D single player adventure game, Clara's Dreamfall. The game is very open-world and dynamic. and with visuals stylized similar to the picture theme. The rough story is that you play as Clara (I decided that's the character's name in the picture), who falls, physically into her own dreamworld and needs to find her way back to reality.
-TRAILER, is well, trailer music. I wanted to hint at some of the main motifs and textures used throughout the soundtrack, and I kept it mostly orchestral. I think of it more as an overture than anything.
-The Main Menu track is meant to be a sort of impromptu on the trailer music and sort of ease the player into the soundscape with very little electronic sound.
-EXPLORATION is meant to be early-mid game level music. Where we have some more ambient electronics and a much bigger feeling to the overall sound.
-FALLING is a major plot point where we see Clara nearly make it back to her own world, only to just miss her window of opportunity. Much smaller orchestration, with a more sensitive and solemn feel.
-BIGBAD is meant to be boss music for the nightmare-villain, and Clara's fight against it. Fully electronic, big, scary, and headbaning! The bassline is taken directly from EXPLORATION (transposed) to further show that this is uncharted - now nightmarish - territory to Clara.
As for the musical process. I composed/mixed entirely in Studio One, mostly with Musio/Cinesamples, Vital, and Kontakt instruments. As a classical musician, this was my first time making this much music entirely in a DAW in such short time, but I quickly overcame the learning curves and I was able to really stretch my creative muscles with this soundtrack! Most of the tracks just kinda started with a motif or synth noise that I liked and developed into something fuller. I'd love to keep working on this after the jam is over and really dig deep into the soundscape I have!
Message from the artist
Hello! I hope the soundtrack is fun (or at least tolerable XD) to listen to (feedback is VERY welcome)! This was the most fun I've had making music in a long while and I'm happy to be submitting it to this jam.
Theme
How does it fit the theme?
Overall, the main idea I got from the picture theme was "little person, HUGE world". I set out to accomplish this musically by having a lot of variety in genre, and by making things as "open and wide" as possible. I didn't think my imagined game was entirely underwater (though some of the music does feature watery sounds), so I drew more inspiration from the words theme. I imagined a girl falling into her dream world, and I made that happen with variation in genre. As stated above, the closer to reality/familiarity, the more gentle and organic. The more nightmarish and unfamiliar, the more harsh and electronic.
Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLeTtNOmL4JOwO5bUnrGiQxbx5p9gjCU55&si=ng-kdfRmxbi-LLQo
https://on.soundcloud.com/3x8yAXFEyuQKZhNN7
Number of tracks5
Genre
Soundtrack use permission
Any non-commercial project
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Comments
YO THIS IS SO SICK! I’ve never heard a submission attempt trailer music for their imaginary game so that was so cool to hear and well executed too. I really like the section in it where it almost sounded Star Wars inspired. All the other pieces came together wonderfully and used the instrumental leitmotif (that being a particular instrument used throughout multiple songs rather than a particular melody) of the swooshing synthesizer well to make the project sound cohesive. My favorite other than the trailer theme is the menu theme. The melody was so well made and memorable and the piano performance was very enjoyable to listen to.
Overall, this was a very good submission. Keep it up!
Good work! Def the Overture is the strongest one for me. I like the blend of synthetic and orchestral timbres a lot! The writing was very good, my only two nit picks are that maybe raise the volume a bit of the flutes (or lower the rest) when they carry the melody. Since you are a classical musician think of it as the players adjusting the dynamics to blend better with the lead instrument of the moment (or a conductor telling them to keep it down lol). Ahh and my other super obnoxious comment would be that seeing the entire session spoils the surprises when the dynamics and instrumentation change. Over all great work, love when classical musicians starts getting into DAWs and synths!
very nice! I liked the rising trills in BIGBAD
Great mix of electronic and orchestral instruments! My favorite out of the OST was "MENU". Really cool submission!
Loved the fusion of expermimental , very panned-based electronic music and more "traditional" orchestral ! I find some ambiant elements to be quite overwhelming in the mix, but still a really deserving submission that I liked to listen to !
A fantastic mix of traditional orchestration and experimental electronic music! All the piano playing is beautiful and everything is so well composed! I think the wind-like sound might be worth bringing down a bit in the mix in the first two tracks but you really nailed it for the remainder of the soundtrack! Loved it - well done!
HOLY SHIT. This has so much going for it. The piano melodies, the atmospheric strings, the effects created by the overlapping wind parts, and the really simple chromatic elements of that main melody add so much to it. The weird watery synthesized sound effects make the setting feel really alive; though they could probably be mixed a little better if you're planning on continuing this project. Sometimes the way they're done feels like someone's breathing into my ears or directly brushing the microphone. Sometimes that effect really works in the music's favor though, and it could be what you're going for? Either way this is amaaaaaaazing
Very unique take with the high sound design that I can't describe and the re use of it in other tracks mixed with some nice orchestral. Most of the tracks were very nice and gental then BIGBAD happened, the contrast is huge and I think its even too huge because I wasn't sure if we were in the same game. Its sound great but compared to the other tracks its extremely different.
What a dynamic ! loved the little motive work and the sound design, really intriguing :)
Cool usage of the main theme motive.
This is a really creative OST ^^
I got that goofy vibe i got from Poor Things ost x)
Ah... It's wonderful)
Very high-quality and atmospheric work I like the way the sounds get closer and closer with each track. Cool idea! The general concept of the game is catchy)
Easily a top 5 for me, a strong combination of dynamic emotion and fierce composition.
My favorite part of this submission is the DYNAMICS! The way you combine the beautiful orchestration of traditional instruments with the modern synth sounds is clever, hard-hitting and impressive. Everything is so varied, yet lends itself well to being part of a full game OST "sampler."
Very well done my friend! This is something to take pride in!
TRAILER and BIGBAD are my favorites. I especially appreciate the varied range of emotion and exploration of styles throughout the soundtrack. Nice work!
This is incredibly creative, I really like your varied orchestration and overall quality! You took me to a lot of different places. Great job with your submission! :D
i liked how you went all in with such an interesting vibe! i liked the instrumentation, and id say my only criticism is that it feels a little disjointed? like the songs feel weirdly disconnected? other than that, i loved the vibe! great work!
Overall I think you have a lot of creative ideas here, and I really admire how bold you are with your experimental ideas and i think in turn they translate very well, as I think i did understand a lot of what you were going for here. My challenge to you is to really think about the artistic intent here and how you will translate that to the audience, you do explain that some of the choices you make are there but without any accompanying media sometimes the finer details of exactly why you do something can get lost, and while I really liked a lot of your ideas I found it a bit harder to fit them into the context of your greater story here, so even if you have a very strong idea of how everything fits together make sure you can explain that to a listener. Even if its just a blurb saying "i want this to make you feel this", it well help the listener understand why something is done more, even if the point is to make you feel uncomfortable/unnerved!
Overall pretty strong, I know my feedback may read a little harsh but I think its kind of impossible to make any feedback about artistic intent not seem daunting, think of it less as "i think this is bad" and more "i want to understand your choices more", because ultimately I do still really like this!! Keep it up :3
you've captured a diverse palette of sounds, love the harshness of bigbad especially, and the orchestration across the board is really solid too.
I’m a big fan of this soundtrack’s variety! There’s something new in every track, while managing to stay cohesive and flow nicely. Some sections or instruments get a bit loud, such as the worbling effect in TRAILER, but nothing that can’t be fixed with a bit of easy mixing. Each track is beautifully composed and never feels old. As somebody who enjoys darker stories for some reason, I really like how unique the theoretical ending is. Great job!
Beautiful lush chords. Great work on the ost, it’s really something!
Like previous commenter said, it’s hauntingly beautiful!
Amazing job! You definitely should keep going!
Haunting! I really love how confident and brash you are with the crunchy synth sound in BIGBAD, it suits the tone perfectly. Gives my Inscryption vibes a little.
I really like that you can tell some parts are not quantized! The blend of orchestral and electronic is very well done.