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A Dance With Death's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Accompaniment | #6 | 4.333 | 4.333 |
| Overall | #9 | 4.083 | 4.083 |
| Jam Theme | #10 | 4.083 | 4.083 |
| Melody | #13 | 3.833 | 3.833 |
Ranked from 12 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Explicit Content
No
Methodology
Composed in Logic Pro X using mostly MIDI instruments. In 3/4 metre to mimic a waltz to fit with the dance theme. Used an orchestral suite to fit a gothic horror vibe with inspiration from games like Castlevania.
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Comments
Nice! I was hoping to hear some Halloween waltzes this jam!
Smart move to establish the melody during the “music box” introduction. The full orchestra joining in at 0:10 create a sense of grandiose perfect for a boss fight. Also the accelerando towards the end was the perfect way for the player to end their waltz with the boss!
Wow! I'm honoured to get a response from the host! Thank you for taking the time to listen and I'm glad that I could fulfil your hopes for a Halloween waltz. I appreciate your kind words and the opportunity to participate in your tune jam. Looking forward to more in the future!
Celesta right to the heart in the beginning. :) Liked the blended organ/string instrument right at the beginning as well. A little repetitive in the end for my taste, but great instrumentation work! And who doesn't love a spooky waltz if it's as well done as yours?
Yeah definitely gonna focus on variation for future entries but it's still good to hear areas of improvement. I'm always trying to get better. Thank you so much for the kind words and for taking a listen to my track!
I love the glassy plucks of the opening into the 3/4 funeral march-like main section. The accompanying instrumentation and choir chants are well placed. I think this could be a solid foundation for a larger piece.
Thank you so much for listening and I'm glad you liked the instrumentation! 😁
Thank you so much for taking a listen and the kind words! I think subconsciously I was inspired a lot by Danny Elfman's work bc he's done a lot of the great spooky/dark soundtracks and some of the instrumentation/harmony has stuck with me.
This piece would fit into a game like Luigi’s Mansion where some of the boss fights are more like dances in a way. I imagine this is more of a battle of wits rather than a fight to the death. The choral pulses paired with the strings fit really well to create the haunted feeling. Great work and thank you for sharing!
I definitely get the Luigi's Mansion thing. Also yeah if I could do it again, I think I would make it more intense so that it fits more as a boss fight (and therefore more of a fight to the death). I'm glad you like the choral pulses bc they were super fun to make. Thank you for taking a listen! 😁
This was great! I would've never thought of doing a waltz style spooky track, that was very creative. I like the visualization I can get from the music box vibe with a tiny dancer, then exploding into an intense dance with death. Great stuff, I really enjoyed this one!
Thank you so much! Yeah I was definitely trying to tap into the visual of a music box/dancer so it's cool that you picked up on that. I appreciate you taking the time to listen to my track 😁
Very fitting name and a nice piece!
I think you managed to get the vibe you were describing and have solid orchestration.
While there are many good things there are some things I feel could be expanded on. The melody and dance aspect is very good but maybe add more intensity when the melody returns. I feel here there are many options to make the dance even more hectic. As of now the dance with Death seems more sophisticated and not very dangerous. Playing around with the orchestration and/or adding more movement is maybe one thing that could be done. The choir section in the middle is nice to get a break and is a good idea. However, I think giving the piece more time, especially the intro/A-section would make the choir section better. It's good to have a place where the listener can regroup in a quieter section, by playing around with more dynamical sections (as in high intensity and low intensity) I think each section would be more impactful. Sorry for not being able to explain properly but I guess what I mean is working with excessive contrasting can be important. Also, I think it would be nice to have the instrument from the intro (not sure what it is, it kinda sounds like a glockenspiel...) come back in the piece.
I'm not an expert so take my feedback with a grain of salt and not as truth.
Overall I think definitely is spooky and Halloween-like and you managed to show a great dance with Death!
Thank you for all the feedback! I definitely agree with what you've said about the intensity. After the upload, I kept thinking I could have made it more intense. I also like your idea of bringing back the starting instrument (which is a celeste but it does sound similar to a glockenspiel). I appreciate you taking the time to listen, thank you! 😁
I love the feel of this one, it kind of reminds me of the Underhero ost! It’s got a nice energy, and I could easily imagine this playing over a ballroom waltz type of battle, maybe with timed button presses or something of the sort. I do agree with the other comment mentioning a need for variation, but I think the repetition is ok for the sort of scene the song's made for. Great work!
Thank you for taking a listen! I've never heard of Underhero but now I'm definitely gonna check that out. I like your idea of it being a rhythm game type boss battle. Also yeah definitely going to work on melody variation for future entries.
Great orchestration ! Very spooky vibe.
I don't know if it's the sounds you've used (or the way you've composed), but it really feels like a video game. And it's cool.
If I may be so critical, in the last 40 seconds, the melody is too redundant for my taste. I'd have liked a little more variation.
Yet the arrangement varies a lot and brilliantly.
Tell me what you think, it's only a personal opinion.
Thank you for taking the time to listen to my track. I appreciate it! I definitely get what you mean with the melody. If I were to do this again, I'd definitely spend more time working on variations. The melody was a very last minute thing as I kept redoing it and starting over. I appreciate your feedback; it's super useful to hear from others so that I can improve. Thank you! 😁
The name honestly is very fitting to the song. I really love your choice of instruments, it sounds so beautiful, and very fitting. This is great, amazing work!
Thank you so much for taking the time to listen to my track! I'm glad you like the name as well 😁
Making it in 3/4 gives me N64 platformer vibes. It's all very well put together and all the instruments used definitely give it a horror kind of vibe but like in a ballroom with dancing ghosts
It's really cool ^^
Oh interesting, I hadn't considered N64 Platformers whilst making it but it's cool that it gave you those vibes. I was definitely trying to go for a ballroom/waltz vibe and yeah I can imagine it with dancing ghosts. Thank you for listening!