Play OST
BLighted's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Composition | #33 | 3.909 | 4.100 |
| Quality | #52 | 3.623 | 3.800 |
| Impression | #58 | 3.623 | 3.800 |
| Overall | #61 | 3.556 | 3.730 |
| Correlation to theme | #72 | 3.337 | 3.500 |
| Creativity | #95 | 3.289 | 3.450 |
Ranked from 20 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Description
This is an orchestral soundtrack. The game is called BLighted. It's about a character who lives in the shadows, but has always been fascinated by the light. One day, he reaches into the light, and his body is turned into a crow while his soul is trapped as a shadow. He then must figure out how to reunite his soul and body so he can escape his new life as a shadow and return to what he is used to.
The first track is "The Rest of Me Can't Fly." It begins as a cutscene which shows some of the character's life in the shadows, and then the transformation into a shadow when touching the light. Then, there is a short gameplay section where the character is chasing the crow as a shadow. Eventually, the crow escapes, which is when the track ends.
The second track is "Sunset City." This is one location that the character must traverse through as a shadow to find the crow. The glow of the lights around the city and the haze of smoke from industry combine to form a colorful glow. There is also ample light for the character to travel around in. (Shadows only exist where there is light to block; thus the character as a shadow can only exist in the light)
Another location that I would have written music for if I had time would be "Diurnal Desert" which is a place where the sun's movement results in a rapid lightening and darkening throughout the day. The character has to race across the desert while the sun is out, stopping at the occasional campfire or lantern along the way to survive the night.
I used MuseScore Studio 4 to write this. I wrote it in 4 hours total. For "The Rest of Me Can't Fly" my starting idea was the first four chords. For "Sunset City" my starting idea was the ostinato. From there, the starting ideas just flowed.
Message from the artist
So, I uploaded the wrong mp3 for Sunset City, and when I went to fix it on the project page, I didn't realize I couldn't add the correct mp3 back until after I deleted the correct one, and it autosaved my changes. To listen to Sunset City, you'll have to go to the musescore page: https://musescore.com/user/69986872/scores/24666829
Theme
How does it fit the theme?
I based the game off of the themes, and then the soundtrack off of the game. The game fits the theme "Freedom" because the character is seeking to escape being a shadow to regain the freedom to live how he is used to. I decided that the picture would show a very rough idea of what it looked like when the character reached into the light.
Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://musescore.com/user/69986872/scores/24666817
https://musescore.com/user/69986872/scores/24666829
best I could do, sorry
Genre
Soundtrack use permission
For game jams only
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Comments
Heh... your post reminded me of how I played old lego games :>
Rawr!
Thanks!
Which games?
Some sax, finally ! ahah Both tracks are really appealing, I like the universe. The first track would fit super nicely in a movie as well. The second one has this jazzy groove that is pretty addictive (makes me think of Rayman Origins, the music world levels). Great job !
Thanks! I'll have to check out Rayman Origins to hear the similarity you noticed.
If you like 2D platform and artistic direction it's a big banger :)
I really like Sunset city!! Awesome track, with a great line and lots of variation throughout.
For "The rest of me can't fly", first of all, I really like the tile already, then the music itself os also great, the starting chords are beautiful, and the melodies following it a great too. I do wish however, you would have stuck with the chords a bit longer, they were really nice.
I would have loved to hear what you come up with for Diurnial Desert
: ]
Thank you!
I'm still not sure if I'm going to do more with this project. If I do, I'll probably make extended versions of the two tracks (which would include more time with the chords at the start) and write out Diurnal Desert. I'll also post in the discord, if I do end up writing more.
The Rest of Me Can't Fly opens up with some really nice orchestration that puts more of a focus on evocation than crescendo and over-complication of voicings and the likes. The middle section feels a little more appropriately typical, with plenty of busy melodies all weaving around one another. Loving the diverse use of articulation throughout this track.
Sunset City has some really nice voicings off the bat. The staccato strings give it a kind of regal vibe, but the saxophone makes it a little more intimate. Haven't heard many submissions use the sax so this was a really welcome change in the instrumental palate. Great melodies throughout, and the supporting orchestration does its job perfectly.
I think of the two, I prefer the first track but it is a close call. Great understanding of managing each section and playing to their strengths. Solid work all around. :)
Thank you! I'm also not sure which one I prefer. I think that if I fleshed both of them out more, Sunset City would end up being my favorite of the two, but I don't know.
I really like the 2nd tune, your melodies are really strong. One thing I would critique would be your voicing and voice leading in the first tune. you have cool and interesting ideas for harmony but I would try to spend time at a piano just playing the chords you have and try different voicings and different amount of space between different voices(look for the more natural sounding voicings don't try to force unnatural voicings to work), these small details can make all the difference. other than that this was an awesome listen Good work :)
Thank you!
I'm not entirely sure what you mean by unnatural voicings. Are you talking about the chords, or the harmony? Is there a specific point in the song that sounds unnatural? All of the voicings sound natural as far as I can tell.
one of the biggest examples of this is in measure 4 beat 2 when the violin 1 goes down to the Gb. the harmony is Db in the cello, Ab in the viola, F in the violin 2, and Gb in the violin 1(Db,Ab,F,Gb). The Gb and the F directly against each other don't work very well, not entirely because its a minor second but because of the function of the notes in that chord don't support each other very well. An example of when it might be nice is in a Major 7th chord, with the root in the top voice and the 7th directly below it(this works because the bass will better support the 7th of the chord due to the overtone series) where as in
the example im pointing out in yours it is the 4th or 11th of what seems to be a Db(add11) chord (this doesn't work well because the 11th is one of the furthest away notes in the overtone series so it gets less support from the bass voice and would need to be in a higher register to heard as stable). My solution to this would be to space the chord out more such as having violin 1 on Ab and giving the viola the Gb instead( this could work for two reasons 1. the more open space between each chord tone help alleviate the dissonances of the extended chord tone 2. the viola was playing Gb in the bar before and it wouldn't be as harsh on the ear because it is prepared by the harmony before). there's two other way to solve this which is how a theory teacher might want you to do and its just to either not have the F (the third of the chord no half step, no clash) and replace it with a 9th or a 7th to rely more on the color from the type of harmony, second way, put the Gb(the 11th) in a higher register. theres pros and cons to all these methods of dealing with extended harmony, and for a game jam this is a very nitpicky thing for me to point out, if you like it stick with it. to me the clash felt very sudden and disconnected from all the other harmony around it, there's similar voicing things every once in a while in "the rest of me cant fly" I hope this doesn't come off as rude I love your melodies and they are 100% beyond better than any melodic material i can currently come up with. I hope that what I said can help you or at least doesn't hurt you. awesome work sorry for the essay it's just really hard to explain this stuff. :)
I was messing with the Db11 for fun and my favorite voicing for your situation rn is actually leaving the violin 1 on the Gb and bringing the violin 2 down to the 9th of the chord Eb, it still has all that color of a 11th chord without the clash with the 3rd and 11th. and you get to still have a nice solid 5th in the cello and viola to support the extensions. Try it out lemme know what you think :)
I tried this, and it sounds better as a chord, but in the context of the song I really wanted to keep the chords consistent. In my mind, the melody note is not part of the chord, so I picked the note based on how it progressed melodically and not based on how it fit the chord.
Man I really love the melodic movements in these, I'm a sucker for cool chords :D
Both songs complement each other very well, matching the setting you described and describing their respective emotional beats. Honestly I just wish there was more. Great work!
Thank you! I'm still not sure if I'm going to do more with this OST, but if I do, I'll post in the discord
What a great game concept, your music fits so so well, I loved the strings in The Rest of Me Can't Fly, and Sunset City was so catchy!
Thank you!
Nice work! These tracks are awesome!
My only recommendation would be, and its not even a composition one, its a scoring one, would be to push the forward repeat to measure 9, and add two measures to the first ending (Measures 7-8). Structurally that makes more sense, and so when you go have real people play this music it will be easier to read!
Bravo!
Thank you!
I wasn't worried too much about scoring the music well, more about getting the playback right in limited time. I definitely will make that change if I do anything more with the piece.
hm, i can't figure out which one is my favorite track of the two... the constant key changes (?) in "The Rest of Me Can't Fly" are so delectable in the way they continuously keep my attention and suggest the storyline and cinematic nature of a possible cutscene. "Sunset City" was a pleasant surprise with the choice of almost uplifting and heroic string motifs, with the saxophones beautifully countering that with melodic lines that hint at the protagonist's struggle.
i think it'd be exciting to get even more intense sections in "The Rest of Me Can't Fly", or perhaps a sorrowful ending to wrap up the theme since the track is deployed for a cutscene specifically? regardless, you did AMAZING capturing the storyline; amazing job!! ^_^
You definitely read a lot more into the music than I intended, but that's one of the things that is so great about thematic analysis 🤣
Thank you very much!
(not me noticing a weird typo in my original comment after getting notified AUGH)
i have a lot of fun with music theory so i can't help but really enjoy dissecting everyone's work HAHAHA
Well done! Aside from being short, well executed. Your song makes me miss being in an orchestra.
Thank you!
both of these songs are extraordinary, my breath was taken away while listening to especially the Sunset City.. This is really, really good.
The songs really sound like they'd be in a game, again holy shit this was amazing
I wish i could DL sunset city and put it in my playlist...
You in the discord? I can send the mp3 there so you can download it
Yeah, "verytrippy" thanks!!!
a bit on the short side, but what you had was compelling. sunset city especially had a great sound with that sax!
Thank you! Yeah, I really wish I had been less busy this weekend because I was really getting into it, but by the time I was able to write I was already really tired and so after 4 hours I couldn't keep going 😴
These were beautiful! I loved sunset city's vibe!
I don't really have any critiques other than that they were short and I wanted more.
Thank you! I also thought they were short and I wanted more 🤣 but they definitely turned out better than I expected, considering that I wrote them in only four hours.
Actually, looking back at Sunset City, I just realized I uploaded the wrong mp3. The correct version is longer (although primarily because of looping), and can be listened to on the MuseScore page. I will also update the project page to have the correct mp3. (edit: I screwed it up, so people will just have to listen on the MuseScore page)
Yo this is so beautiful I love it. Everything flows together so nicely I wish there was more BD. Also the concept for the game itself is so dope good job!
Thank you! I had a LOT of time to think about the concept for the game, because I looked at the theme right away but wasn't able to work on the music at all for the first 32 hours, so I had all that time to think about it.
What does "BD" mean?
Real I had to sit on the theme for a hot second before I could work on it too so your not alone! BD is like a emoticon, B is like the face/eyes and the D is the mouth :)
ahhh, never seen that one before
I like using it a lot with my friends, its probably not a very popular combination