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Thanks! I’m glad you liked it :)

Thanks so much for your feedback 🙂

Agreed on the opening strings. For one I work on iPad and I just dont have access to good sampled orchestral libraries (one of my biggest pain points with iPad music right now), so I used what I had reinforced by one or two synthetic sounds. Physical modelled SWAM instruments intrigue me but I didn't want the expense or learning curve. The main issue I had though is that the strings were kinda phasey at the beginning. I think this was consequence of using an effect(s) with a free running LFO or two involved, and every render came out a little different (at one point I printed my mix, duplicated the mixdown track and phase inverted one... expecting silence but indeed there was a LOT surviving the phase cancellation, so something going on there for sure). I gave up trying to fix it lol. As for being muddy, totally fair opinion, that's just down to my choice of voicing and EQ I guess.

Yeah that middle section I do kinda agree on the pacing. I had struggled with what to do there tbh, I was just making it up as I went haha. So I opted to go for a slightly darker sound with a shift to the relative Phrygian mode for colour and just played around with tension and building as you highlighted.

The ending is totally abrupt and that's just what I felt like doing haha. So I'll happily accept it has a bit of a Marmite quality (i.e. love it or hate it, for the non-Brits haha). Again I was stuck/bored, and when I get stuck/bored (considering how much time I spend listening as the author lol) I'm prone to totally switching up and going somewhere totally new. I'm a big Mars Volta fan and that proggy weirdness often bleeds into my own music in one form or another haha. Sometimes it's seamless, sometimes I just say F it 😂

Thanks for your feedback and I'm glad you liked it 🙂

Hope it helps! Would appreciate some ratings/feedback on my entry if you have time 🙂 Small turnout this time, hopefully the jams pick back up again 🙏

Very cool! TIL about the mapuche people. I really like the vibe of this piece. The droning quality and instrumentation choices, with the pan flutey motif on top, would be right at home as exploration music for a game level set in some ancient ruins or something like that, just holding down the vibe. The addition of that plucky slightly twangy instrument at 01:15 harmonising with the underlying pulse is a nice bit of ear candy, especially with that syncopated rhythm against the slow drudging pulse. And rhythmically I just love 6/8 as a rule 😄

At the 3 minute mark things get interesting with the switch to a modern electronic aesthetic. Now I'm feeling a sense of danger or threat as we have progressed deeper into the region. Really liking that bass synth, perfect amount of bite with that slow attack. Ominous without being overly dramatic, love it!

Nicely mixed, no notes really on that front, it feels right.

Great work 👌

Access to the project is denied, can't listen to it. Check your publishing status 👍

Nice vibe with the lute or whatever that is plucking away, and the trumpet/horn bugle is laying down a nice repeating motif. I guess that these are meant to be the "old" instruments against the "new" electronic instruments? Unless I'm missing something about the progression or particular melody (now I think of it the horn motif has a regal cadence to it, sounds like the king is entering court or something like that 🙂)

On the technical/mix side of things I will say that the levels need balancing. Bugle, lute, very nice... bass comes in, that's okay... Then the electric guitar is quite loud by comparison, but not awfully so... then things go quieter, and then BASS SYNTH... TOM... KICK 😄 Just needs a bit of level adjustments, back off the sub just a bit and probably a bit of parallel compression or straight into a limiter. Dynamics are great, you don't want to slam this song headfirst into a brickwall, but the loudness changes could be a bit smoother 👌The low synth could also maybe be sidechained to the kick/low tom a little so that they aren't reinforcing eachother so much, which is contributing to that booming low end. Same for the regular bass part, but only needed subtly.

I rated you lower than I'd like but this is just due to there being so few entries that the ratings need to meaningfully differentiate entries, and I picked up on a few issues here (technical more than composition)... I still liked it! 🙂

I liked this, nice little game loop or menu music was my feeling. I'll be honest that I didn't really get what was "old" until reading your project page; the Amen break qualifies IMO, but it maybe could have been introduced as an actual break to make it more obvious? You did introduce it solo, but I think using it as a break with other tracks dropping out early to cap off an opening is what would make it immediately recognisable and in the spirit of the old throwback (it does this later on granted)

It's kinda repetitive, but again I hear it as in-game music and it fits the bill for that... so not a criticism, would have just been fun to hear it go somewhere else 🙂 Nice effort.

Nice! Simple but very enjoyable. Love how bouncy it is.

The first part not much to say but good to have the reference material for what follows; I did appreciate the soundfont though, had the right kind of bounce to it.

The second part was cool, I wanted to love it but I did feel it was quite repetitive vamping over the same chord pretty much. I wanted it to reharmonise (which I was rewarded with later). But a cool sound nonetheless.

Part 3 was my least favourite. Not bad, I just didn't love it. The ending was a bit jarring, though I realise it really is supposed to flow seamlessly into part 4 (I would have stitched them as one complete track for the stream).

Part 4 despite sounding like your least favourite was actually the best part for me. A culmination of all the ideas you had played with this far and a fun listen. My head was boppin 😄 And I really liked the variation in voicing and reharm (I think it was anyway? It sounded great in any case).

Solid effort. I also went with Bach for my submission, taking more of an "inspired by approach" than a strict rearrangement. I love how Bach sounds in different styles, truly one of the masters that I aim to learn from 🙂

Haha yeah I didn't think that was the intent at all, some synapses clearly just started firing for me haha. Don't know if it was Golden Sun exactly, I think the chord change just gave me some form of JRPG vibes, it felt similar to a bridge I've heard somewhere before and Golden Sun was what came to mind 😄 Well deserved winner! 👌

I really enjoyed this, fun vibe and some nice variation 🙂 The bass could have possibly come down a little, or made a bit tighter (I like the tone you went for personally, just maybe rode it a tad high in the mix). I wish there was more haha, nice work 👌

Definitely has a regal tropical palace vibe, brass sounds really nice. I can't help feel it would have benefitted from just a little bit of low end of some kind, be it in low horns/strings or some bassier drums, kept subtle but just to fill things out a bit and give it a little more rhythmic and tonal foundation. But I'm rating what you submitted and it sounded good to me, I just couldn't help but mentally fill in the gaps in the low end 🙂 Nice effort 👌

This has a nice lounge jazz vibe, very laid back. +1 the Nintendo DS vibe mentioned 😄 I imagine this as menu music, or as background for a level in a casual/family type game on a peaceful tropical island. Overall sounded really nice and melded well together, the panned delay on the guitar was a nice little rhythmic touch. My only real constructive feedback is that the glock (or bells? Something plinky) felt a little too high in the mix or felt otherwise out of place; I think it was the reverb, it didn't quite sit in the same space as the rest of the mix to me. I think maybe it was just a bit too wet, I could hear too much of the space and it didn't quite gel to my ears. I'd have considered perhaps playing an octave higher and sitting it back a little bit for more of a twinkling sound? But that's just me! Good track overall, thanks for playing 😄

Interesting approach to the challenge, i.e. focusing on percussion, though the melody was nice too. I love African and Latin percussion so I'm all for it! Nice variety of rhythms going on among the different voices and panning was appropriate. I'm in two minds as to whether I'd have liked more variety over time or if I just enjoy it vibing on this groove... I think both are valid haha, down to personal taste. Sometimes you just really dig a groove and just want to sit with it, I did a similar sort of thing so I totally get it... repetitive is only bad when it no longer feels good imo 😄 African drumming and other styles like Samba etc tend to have long stretches of the same rhythm underpinning everything. And you did break things up with the toms or whatever drum(s) that was 😄 The toms did stand out as sounding overly MIDI compared to the rest, which is unfortunate (VGM is the perfect outlet for "bad" GM samples, I think the toms just stood out a bit is all I mean). But choice/availability of samples doesn't take away from the composition. Perhaps varying the velocities on those 16th rolls would have helped to blend it better, or adding a second track as a workaround to play every other note to avoid that aggressive release cut-off , so the individual notes can ring a little more. Just an observation. I liked it, nice work 👍 Out of interest what DAW are you using?

This was a nice track, good work 🙂 I'm basically going to just echo what others have already said; I found it little too bright, I think the guitar in particular (which was otherwise perfect for the vibe). Just bringing down those upper-mid or higher freqs possibly (I'm still developing my ear for frequency bands haha) would make it sit better I think. Definitely a cool surf rock vibe that I enjoyed and it grooved nicely (the head bop never lies). Good instrument and tonal choices all around other than the minor EQ thing, imo. My only genuine complaint is that it ended when it did 😄 I reckon if you had added a little turnaround to cap it off then it would be perfect for what you were going for 👌 Solid effort.

Nice pop-like progression, it's simple and light (not a bad thing) but in that simplicity you've communicated the theme very well. I was perhaps expecting a bit more of a backbeat, cross-stick on the snare perhaps like you used for the count-in? (maybe they were there and just a bit quiet in the mix?)  Just an observation, my expectations are just that haha and I like having my expectations subverted!... it worked perfectly fine with the hi-hat accents, especially for a shorter piece which wasn't looking to build to something bigger 🙂 Perhaps if this had been extended further then a little more percussion would have been brought in for the next go-round. The chords at the end were a nice unexpected change also. Nice work 🙂

I watched the YouTube video and it's not related at all.

Maybe I didn't pick up on it and need another listen, but it was the main percussion loop I was specifically referring to. Didn't affect my enjoyment of the track, was just an observation, and happy to be proven wrong 🙂

Definitely unique! I definitely get an N64 era aesthetic (I think the main synth is giving me a Super Mario 64 vibe?). I enjoy how unapologetically aimless and almost atonal it feels at times 😄 (that is supposed to be a compliment haha)

Nice ambient/exploration kind of track. It is repetitive, but I don't think in a bad way, more like meditative (which fits the mystical kind of vibe you were aiming for). Perhaps just a little subtle variety in the percussion would have made it sound more intentional than just a repeated loop? I think if it was humanised just a little it would be perfect for what you were going for. Not meant as a criticism, it did work for me but just an idea for improvement ✌️ I got the sense of dusk turning to night with the crickets at the end.

Nice, I enjoyed this and could definitely picture a horror scene with a beach monster wreaking havoc. I didn't get a tropical/beach theme tbh, without the contextual hint in the track name/jam theme I could imagine this over any number of settings. Still a good track by it's own merit 🙂 One thing mix wise that could do with a little tweaking is the vibraphone kind of synth, I think it's too loud and/or needs some low-mid cut? Mix sounded good otherwise 👍

Fantastic work, loved this track 👏 Never knew what was coming next and you got a bona fide head bop from me 😄 The pitch shifting synth at the top immediately intrigued me, giving way to a sparse, kind of mysterious/sneaking vibe. The breaking waves fading away giving the impression of a scene change to the jungle, and the sneaking feel subtly building tension, suggesting a lurking threat. The low level tension then stands up and slaps you in the face when the percussion drops (which elicited a good little stank face I must admit 😤). Loved the percussion in general, the high pitched pattern played with the fingers (I can't think what instrument it is?) was a nice rhythmic accent. The sax of course sounded excellent and really gave me a jungle chase vibe, and the elephant SFX was a perfect choice to really round out the thematic imagery, and a great timbral pairing with the sax. Very well done.

Edit to add: while not necessarily what you were going for, the shift at around 1:25 and the sax melody there gave me JRPG vibes (perhaps if downsampled and arranged for strings and chorus). Made me think of something like Golden Sun, if it were set in a jungle and a little jazzier. Just a cool little thing I enjoyed even if it wasn't the intended vibe 😄 

Thanks! I do agree it is repetitive vamping on that same motif. I had just spent enough time on it already so I left it as is, but you're absolutely right 👍 I'm glad you liked it still!

Fair comments, just what I felt like doing haha. I set up the ending as a loop point (indeed the opening bars play again, I just faded out because you get the point, was the thinking). But it's not super loopable tbh... needs more variety and pacing, time to forget the more standout moments until they eventually come back around, whereas this is a bit too compressed timewise, so that's fair. For me this was kind of a microcosm of the vibe I was going for, but I just didn't feel like or have the time to expand it more completely ... if this were a real game project it would be a demo track 🙂

Thanks for the comments 🙂

(And FWIW, I'm all for bringing back the old school fade out haha 😜)

Oh you played the sax live? Good effort, didn't mean to put down your playing haha. Had a really nice tone to it 👌

Tonverk put it well, it has a fun carnival vibe, but the choice of instruments and lilting 6/8 feel puts it squarely in a seaside village vibe. Can definitely imagine this in the type of game that you were going for 🙂

You had me at the cowbell. Nice fun little shanty 🙂

Very minimal and contemplative, I liked it 🙂

Very nice, love the jazzy vibe. The sax sounds really good, though I feel like it's a bit overpowering and could be dropped back in the mix a little. And maybe it could have used a little more expression/mod for some of those longer held notes. It sounded good though, really liked the switch to the jazz club scene 🙂

Reminds me of home 😄 nicely done

I got a "this page has been quarantined" warning??

Nice lazy, calming, forget your worries and live in the moment on a boat kind of vibe ✌️

This piece definitely paints a picture and takes you on a journey. I'm hearing a kind of noble, dignified opening (it made me think of Vivaldi's Spring, the quieter parts maybe... I think I am getting my classics confused haha), a fine afternoon at the local fishing lake on the grounds of a large country manor. Things start off well for our protagonist, he's happy as Larry... before a rival sets up and the two begin a heated contest of cunning and will... I don't know, my imagination isn't superb today!

I got this kind of almost cartoonish exaggeration in the composition, and it really helped to tell a story with twists and turns and communicate the emotions of the character(s). I could imagine this scoring a Pixar short film 😄

Something that stood out to me several times was your use of a resolving cadence (I'm not sure which type, or whether it has an actual name... But hopefully you get what I am referring to?). It stood out as curious to me, it felt very resolved, only to immediately continue on. I'm just curious what your intentions were in this respect/what image you had in your head? 🙂

Thanks! Yeah I get what you mean, fair point! I see your track placed first overall, well deserved 😁

Thanks 🙂

I like the ethereal ambience of this piece, makes me feel like you're in the presence of something "bigger than us" if that makes sense? Feels like a climactic and pivotal scene. There are some high freqs I feel could be tamed slightly, but otherwise it sounds cool 👌

I think this fits with the idea you had, I imagine it accompanying dialogue as the group reaches the waypoint, leading into a scene change. It's simple and I think that's what's called for, I like what you were going for 👍

The progression was interesting, kept me hooked in. The "trumpet" was quite abrasive for me though, I had to turn the volume down for my ears, it was uncomfortable. Those fundamental waveforms can be very loud so just be cautious, they can sat lower in the mix and still pierce through. Cool composition still 🙂

Love the horns and flute trills, cool track 👌

Sounds like a dungeon level set in a desert 😄 Mission accomplished. Simple and uncluttered mix, suits the intended purpose well. Though as has been pointed out already, the drums are too loud. Other than that, nice job 👍

What an interesting track, loved it! Really enjoyed the latin jazz kind of sound, some really nice note choices and phrases in places that kept me on my toes. The switch ups kept me intrigued about where it would go next and definitely fits your idea of a cat and mouse game between the hawk and lizard 😄 Great retro aesthetic as well and I really appreciated those legato pitch slides. One of my favourite entries, well done 👌