itch.io

Congrats! That’s a big accomplishment 😁

Wanted to comment on the submission directly, woops:

So much music! Really so pleasant to listen to and I love how you guys structured the page and everything. The final moments of the soundtrack feel really deserved after all the conflict, lovely note to end on. Makes me wish I hadn’t done the jam solo!

What was the final length?

Hi all, I’m Greg :) I’m an experienced composer with quite a few years making music under my belt. Usually I’ve done solo music-only jams, but am looking to join a team and make some nice comfy, summer vibes for a change. Currently making the music for a puzzle game called FamCram

Here’s my latest work which is from the recent OST Composing Jam:

Soundcloud link

itch.io link

I like quirky Nintendo-style soundtracks and work in a variety of styles from fully orchestral to fully electronic. Let me know if you’re interested, I’m up for any sort of genre and am happy to adapt to your vision <3

My discord is: cattoratto

Thanks for the detailed answer :) interesting to know a bit more about your process, especially how you arranged the day/night versions of the tracks! Actually wasn’t familiar with Cardiacs! One of those bands that you hear the name of constantly, but never manage to listen to… Thanks for the rec

Some random notes I took, really liked it!

track 1: i’m a sucker for thumb piano and zither vibes. very nice textures you created here. a bit tense, but also somewhat wistful

track 3: smacked in the face by that bossa nova entrance (in a good way)

capybara: tone on the electric guitar is great, and of course capybara deserves a song. very nice use of panning to add some movement to the loop towards the end. like this track a lot

the grass listens… really like the syncopated piano ostinato, i think i remember hearing this one in the discord which is a good sign that I remember it hehe very interesting texture with the sort of “conflicting” string pad layered on top, it’s playing in a different key at some point, right?

sonar mountain, whatever harmony is happening in the horn section goes off, very foreboding. ah i looked at the score! i knew i smelled some quarter tones, very cool. really curious how you came up with the harmonies or if it was more “this sounds cool!”

this ost is probably my favorite so far! love the eclectic mix of percussion styles, creative harmonies/orchestration. a very unique vibe that somehow also feels familiar. also really like how central the piano is in the soundtrack overall. gives a nice unity to the OST

-really like the glitching piano throughout the OST, gives that “clean, but electronic” vibe. curious what sort of processing you used there -the piano ostinati are generally very inventive :) give me some breath of the wild vibes. quite nice rhythmic interest, light dissonance -power station theme DAY was one of my standouts -i’m slightly curious what your definition of “hyperpop” is haha definitely getting more chiptune vibes, when I was hoping for a bit of SOPHIE ;p -the day/night cycle i really enjoy as a unifying idea. maybe difficult to pick up on first listen (my ears are tired), but I wondered how much material is shared between the two different versions of the track? -altogether super united, professional vibe and the main “character” instruments are well-chosen. they sort of stick out in the orchestration very well and i like the contrast with the electronic elements Great job!

Doing my best to leave some detailed feedback and your (very cute) album art caught my attention :) some things are numbered (track order) or I started just referencing the titles cuz I realized I couldn’t comment on EVERYTHING

1. can definitely imagine it as a title background song. i like the kind of bit-crushy “air” in the higher frequency range on the sides of the mix, gives a nice ambience without crowding the arrangement. think just the right amount of movement for a title track, but some of the vocal samples don’t work for me quite
2. already like this one better than the first, the repeated very drum machine hi-hat is quite a nice gesture. and the harmony is much more mysteriousss
3. i feel like there could’ve potentially been more contrary or oblique motion with the up-and-down quack figure. it follows exactly the same movement as the chord changes without any sort of suspensions or anticipations and could maybe have added more interest big fan of momma burnap, is this a boss theme? really fun use of distortion mandibles of steel: like the shift in instrumentation, this track has a lot more energy and is a nice contrast over the seas: i particularly like the chord progression here and it hits really nicely with the environmental sounds. i think however, the arrangement gets too busy with a bit too many elements coming in and out, or when they join they are a bit too dry/forward in the mix. it already has this really beautiful wistful character and I think you could leave more room for that :) welcome to st. duckio: love a chaotic duck dance. very fun drum part side of the hill: is a whole vibe! great chord progression, and the bass line has so much room to take center stage which is really nice. would’ve liked a bit more spacious drum mix, feels a bit too much in the center for me, especially the crash towards the end (might be my taste there). I feel like it’d compliment the width of the rest of the arrangement some spare thoughts: I think this album is full of exquisite vibes, well-chosen instruments and fun textural moments. a nice balance between diversity and consistency. my biggest “but” here, though is I would’ve liked a bit more variation in terms of melody potentially, it feels a lot like most melodies quite directly follow the chord progression, riffing on the chord tones themselves without many passing tones, things like suspensions/anticipations. and generally sticking to straight 8ths or 16ths. experimenting here with more melodic techniques would elevate some tracks quite a bit in my opinion. great job! and congrats for hitting the 60-minute mark, I didn’t quite make it there haha

Ah thanks for the compliments on the pixel art and on the music! I don’t know silent voice so I’ll check it out 😁

Ah yea, playing the drums in manually definitely paid off then 😁 I also haven’t found a sax I like yet…

Definitely don’t wanna discourage you there! It’s a really original opening, but IMO just more suited for a higher energy track 😁

Ah nice! It has a really good sound.

re: frog, yea definitely you don’t need any excuse to draw a cool frog :p

Yeah, in music there are a billion skills to master 😅 so no sweat, you clearly have a very good grasp of composition and orchestration so that’s already worth a lot!

Made for the jam, but I posted it in the Discord earlier in the week. Maybe you heard it there 😅

Sorry you found it repetitive, I guess I was imagining it a bit more ambient for some game with chiller gameplay

I think the drums in the beginning are done quite well. Like the delay that’s added there.

The thunder sound is mixed wayyyy too loud and doesn’t blend well into the rest of the mix. I feel like it’s too full-spectrum and should be EQed a bit, especially on the high end.

I’m not sure how I feel about the dissonance towards the end with the panning strings against the bass and the synth. It definitely feels disorienting in an interesting way, but I wonder if it could somehow be prepared a bit better (IE slowly layering the parts and having them gradually become more dissonant rather than all at once). Not sure. I like the vibe, but something isn’t clicking for me there

Gives the vibe of “something bad just happened”. I can kinda imagine it playing in a cutscene of a game after like the villain has won and the heroes are trying to figure out their next steps.

I like where the piano chords are sitting in the mix. They sound crunchy without being muddy and really compliment the guitar part.

I generally don’t like so many sound effects in tracks because the music itself is already doing so much to convey the vibes. I think you don’t need them, though the white noise-y background rain sound does fill out the high end and also sounds a bit like tape noise so I have less of an issue with that hehe

Agree with DSound about the string entrance as well. It’s a bit abrupt.

Good job!

Something about the guitar solo is popping out of the mix a bit for me. I think it might need just a tad more delay/reverb or some EQ work to blend in with the rest of the track a bit more. Not quite sure, though

I like the contrast between the sections and like how you open up the stereo space with the panned rhythm guitar parts. It really helps to make the different sections sound distinct from each other even though the base elements are largely the same. I also like the combo between the guitars and the synths

Did you play the guitar parts yourself?

The bass repeating pattern for me is too loud and adds a bit of muddiness to the track, I’d consider stripping out some of the mids there and generally making it a bit quieter. Would help the piano stuff contribute more to the vibes I think (I really like the piano figure also!)

I like the drum mix quite a bit and the fills you added sound very natural and propel the song forward nicely. All of the brass melody stuff also fits very well, but I think your rhythm section is so strong here that I would make sure it stands out a bit more in the mix. Then the more “climactic” sections with the horns could also be an even bigger contrast.

Great job!

The orchestration is quite nice and I think all of the instruments are very well-chosen :)

My only gripe is that sometimes the piano can be startlingly loud (with a touch of clipping at the loudest parts). I feel like the mix could benefit from some compression to help the different sections meld together a bit more. Dynamic contrast is great, but I feel here that the loudness is slightly too extreme and that we would feel the dynamics anyway just through the orchestration (with those big open chords and the more extreme range)

I really do feel the story as well and like how you take us through these different moods. Good job!

I know what you mean about snare with brushes, always gives me that soft rainy day vibe as well.

I really like the piano, but I wish that the sax was a bit more audible. It sounds just slightly too far away for me especially since the arrangement is relatively sparse, though I do like how well it fits into the ambience so I’m slightly torn. You did a great job of making the drum track sound very natural and human which I really appreciate. Which VST are you using there?

Also the mix! It really has a nice sense of place and I think everything is treated with just the right amount of reverb.

Yeah, and your harmonic choices especially towards the more improvisatory end are really great. This blend of kind of bright major stuff with the chromatic runs is quite nice, really love this track :)

Originally clicked because of that amazing frog art haha

I don’t get very froggy vibes from the track, but it definitely feels like rainy weather. I kinda wish it stayed at the beginning dynamic/intensity as I thought that was a bit more chill, but I also really like the layering of different elements over the course of the track. The beginning of the track with the slow attacks on the synth is my favorite however.

I also think you did quite a job with the mix. I like all the delayed hihats up in the edges of the mix, reminds me a lot of rainfall and really fills out the arrangement.

I agree that the pad is taking up a bit too much space in the mix. Think either you could EQ out some of the mids or just lower the volume a bit.

I personally am not in love with the intro. I think it sorta builds up tension for a track that is then pretty chill? Maybe it shouldn’t go up quite so high to that mosquito-y range haha

I really like what you did with outro! A very nice, contemplative way to end the track and reminds me a lot of the rain sorta dripping off the trees after a storm.

I feel the melody is a bit too repetitive especially when you take out some of the spaces between the phrases. I think in general, the track could use more “space”. You have this nice wash-y pattern repeating, but then the melody is kinda right in your face and a bit too active. I would slow down the melodic movement, decrease the number of repetitions and maybe add some more delay/reverb on the melody or tone down the high end a bit. I like the repeating pattern for the accompaniment, but you could also vary that a little throughout the track potentially

Ah yeah, it’s just funny how we all have such a concrete idea of elevator music that we know exactly how to crank it out hahaha

Would’ve appreciated just one more loop so I could get the resolution of that lead-in at the end haha I liked what you did there with the harmony and the “crunchiness”. Thought you could have also played around with more harmonies before that point, though!

Nice submission, faithful to the theme as well

I find the organ synth (the one playing the chords) a bit too loud in the mix especially since it’s present through the song. I like the swapping of the melody between the vibraphone and the brassy synth, but I think the vibraphone gets a little covered up by the chords. The chord progression itself I found quite nice and liked that you spiced it up quite a bit with chords outside of the key (I think?). Definitely fits the jazz vibe and gives the song a lot of movement and also allows the melodies to go in more interesting directions.

Definitely less “elevator-y”, but I do feel like I’m maybe in the waiting room of a new age spa or something so that’s similar I guess haha

Feels a bit short for the genre as it really only just gets started, but understand the time constraint here. I think I would’ve preferred that the drums were a bit less active and lean more into the vibes of the intro since the drums suggest a bit too much movement for me.

Nice job and liked the interpretation

Doesn’t immediately give me elevator vibes, but I does feel like calming background music so think it fits well enough. The bell-like synths do remind me a bit of like elevator chimes when you reach the next floor so the song almost feels like a dream about an elevator (IE like the memory of being in an elevator ha)

I like the chords and like that you slowly add on more parts, but not sure if I like the breakbeat-y sections. Probably just a personal taste thing, though

I liked it!

Have now listened to a bunch of your submissions and like that you have a distinct style (sort of dark, spacious electric guitar vibes with subtle use of sound effects). You always nail the mix especially and here is no exception. I really like the interweaving guitar parts that never really overpower one another and it’s mixed with just enough high end to give it presence while still being mellow enough to feel “lounge-y”. I get slightly less elevator vibes, but really enjoy the track

Yea, as others have said, you did a great job 😁 I like the sound design aspects of including the floor announcements (I’m actually listening to this in an airport so to fits the vibe very well) Also the detuning effects are quite fun. I’m curious about your choice to lead into the “death metal” section? Reminded me a bit of Aggretsuko (IE getting so pissed from everyday life that you need to scream) so wondering if you had thought of that as well

Really like this one! Nice contrast in the texture for the B section and also liked that you used a different chord progression with some modal mixture going on to give it that more relaxed vibe. The “strum” effect on the strings is quite nice too and the sort of “sad” synth with the falling lines is quite fun, too and reminds me a bit of a trombone. I feel like we took really similar approaches here actually 😅 I think also your method of emulating the elevator speaker works well, too. I tried to do it, too

:) just might be

Yeah, I don’t think it’s strictly necessary either. Especially if the song was in the background for a game or something, there’s definitely enough going on already :)

Does a lot with a little! I really appreciate more scaled back arrangements (with only like max three things happening at a time). I think you’ve chosen the instruments and sounds very well and it’s nice that you give a lot of emphasis to those sort of “click-y” delays that really amp up the tension. The melody on the thumb piano/vibraphone sound is also quite nice and doesn’t overstay its welcome. Also nice that you add that string countermelody in the second half to bring in a bit more contrast. My only critique would be on some of the mixing decisions. I find the center of the mix slightly busy (sometimes with multiple percussive elements overlapping). And also thought the low strings were a tad bright and cutting into the melody’s frequencies a little. But honestly these are more nitpicky/personal preference.

Just reading the other comments. I personally don’t have an issue with the drum entrance, but it’s maybe a tad too loud in the mix? I thought you set up a very nice atmosphere, definitely sounds “underwater”. And is mysterious, but not overly dark. I felt it was more meditative than uneasy. Also it depends on the context that the song would be used in, but I thought it’d be nice to have some sort of countermelody introduced in the second half (maybe a higher piano melody or a higher synth line) just to keep interest up a bit more as there is not much change in the texture after the drums come in. Good job!

Here are some clues if you get stuck. They go from less information all the way to giving the solution

Here are some clues if you get stuck. They go from less information all the way to giving the solution

Very nice vibes, the slightly off-kilter arpeggio is really effective at creating that unsettled feeling. I think there’s just a slightly longer note in there somewhere and it really makes the whole gesture much more “special”/interesting. I do feel that the more buzzy synth pokes out of the mix a little bit. I think could benefit from maybe a slightly longer attack (without that hard percussive hit) or maybe cutting some of the highs, or actually even just slightly reducing the gain. The center of the mix also sounds slightly crowded so you could maybe pan some things around since there are a lot of relatively active parts. Good job!

I really liked the synth lines and the generally more somber vibe. I personally think the water sounds are mixed just a little bit high though (and potentially a tad too much high-end on the left sample?). It is definitely nice that you keep them to the edges of the mix so that the brighter melodic parts shine through. Good job :)