itch.io

Okay, fair enough.

It's always good to understand the feedback, that's how we all grow; so thanks for replying :)

Thanks! 

I spent the most composing time to make counterpoint sound good. Mando and violin sound unexpectedly sweet in 3rds (and resolving to 3rds). It's not really surprising per se, but it's only on the record when it gets this warmth. Wasn't like that with soundfonts :P

Would you mind elaborate a bit what did you find "forced" about B section?

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!

And congrats on getting the (very well deserved) first place :)

Thanks!

I totally agree. I'd love to make the everything without VST, but it's hard to play every instrument there is... which does not mean I won't be trying! :D

It's great that there is a possibility to use virtual instruments, but making them sound good is an art of its own. I'm still learning how to make stuff sound more dynamic and realistic. I guess that's the beauty of our craft, one can always get better :)

That's really nice for a first composition!

Very nice ambience. And while I get that you were going for *dark* vibe, don't be afraid to experiment more with some lighter tones - it will help make the whole thing sound balanced and less muddy. I can hear some crystaly music box/celesta going on in the background at times, it wouldn't hurt to boost them a bit (both eq & volume). Maybe make things a bit more dry (reverb tails seem to clash at times). Very common practice is to get some sharp eq on reverb tracks (if you have separate, parallel tracks for effects, which you should) to get rid of the very lows and very highs, as they are usually unnecessary on a reverb. In a similar vein, some more eq work to remove lower mids would be nice, to enhance the clarity.

I guess that in general my best tip for you would be to strive to "enhance the clarity".

Then maybe some more variety: shake things up a little, throw in a celesta/bells only interlude/bridge, into some B part, take us places! The track is nice, but it really could've been half as long and still tell the same story.

Another cool thing you could do is to play with dynamic panning - it works wonders in such ambient tracks. You can make the plinks and plonks appear semi-randomly around the listener, or make your pads gently flow from side to side. It's those little things that make such tracks extra interesting.

Sorry for the wall of text, but you called for a feedback and tips, so I threw everything that came to my mind at you :) If anything sounded a bit harsh, it wasn't my intention :)

Good job, keep making stuff!

Whoa, must've been a great guy. Lucky indeed. 

And yeah, public schools in general do not like funding any art much. Not really surprising, still kinda sad though. But, you know the drill: If an artist is not starving, it is not *real* art :P and football is our NATIONAL SPORT! ~Said everyone in every country ever. For some reason.

That was lovely :)

Very nice arrangement, everything sounds so... cozy.

The whale calls are a great touch! I'd probably pitch them to better match the piece, but the idea is really, really cool.

Wouldn't hurt to work a bit with the attack of the instruments (or shifting the tracks a bit) to get a stronger pulse, but it's nothing major.

Anyways, it's pretty much peak cozy orchestra. Great job!

Thank you!

Thanks!

I like to have recordings sound more "live" than "album", makes those smaller, more intimate arrangements sound more real :)

Aye, that's the vibe I was going for :D

Thanks!

Such a cool track! It does in fact remind me of some N64 tracks (like Koopa Troopa Beach, Mario Kart 64), you really achieved everything you went for, great job! 

And of course I loved bubble synth as well :) Perhaps, if I were you I'd probably shifted the whole bubble track a few ms earlier to compensate for its slower attack. Especially at the solo, it seems to water-down the groove (pun absolutely intended).

And "playing steel drums in middle school"?! Now I'm absolutely jealous! Such a wonderful instrument, yet so unobtainable in most of Europe (at least at the time, nowadays you can probably get one for $100 from thomann or something).

That was a very interesting submission, definitely one of my favourites!

There's a lot happening, but every transition and addition is very smooth and thought over, nothing really "jumps" in your face. Everything makes sense, so to speak. Super enjoyable piece :)

If I were to nitpick, I'd probably move those vocals at the end (2:50+) a little bit back in the mix (i.e. a few dB down plus some reverb), as they seem a little bit too strong for my taste. And maybe some more release time on piano (sounds a bit choppy at times, like this lower layer at around 1:20+?). But those are just some minor production things. 

Great job there!

Thanks!

I thought that some simple acoustic guitar would be a nice change of pace, as most stuff on jams is often electronic or full symphony.

I agree that Anxiety could use a bit of build-up before going full dissonant - if it was a song on an album. I was thinking much more utilitarian, just turn it on the really intense moment. Inspired quite a bit with Zawazawa Suru from Spice and Wolf (which is OST I absolutely adore), just a lot worse xD

I am indeed using Kontakt samples here. I composed the thing on the actual guitar, but because of technical issues I wasn't able to record in time, so I went with VSTi. And as I know how it would be played IRL it was much easier to program and make it sound less robotic. Not perfect, but oh well.

Anyways, glad you liked it and thanks again for the feedback :)

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!

Thank you!

Thanks!

Great to hear that it works :)

Thanks, it's great that I've passed the vibe check :D

Anxiety was mostly composed on a guitar by ear, after which I went back to write it down.

When the reverse chord finder told me that those are maj7sus4add#11 chords (most probably in this context), I was already sure that some people are gonna find it the best xD

Thank you!

I tried to focus especially on telling the story. Invoking proper emotions is probably the most important job music can make in media :)

Glad you enjoyed it :)

Thanks! 

I tried to have something for every taste/ear, while telling the story :)

That was a wonderful submission, definitely one of my favourites in the whole jam. 

Composition and arrangement is on point, and the vibe is great.

If I had to nitpick, I'd say that probably mix could be a little clearer - the whole thing sounds a little bit muddy.

Other than that, fantastic job!

That was so cool! Really took me on a journey :)

Really sweet piano piece in the beginning, then all of those sounds you've explored throughout the pieces, especially with Taken by Spirits. Working with ethnic sounds always makes things so much more interesting.

And then A Curious Spirit... that's so Shantae that I don't even... I'm sold xD

Fantastic job!

Thanks, great to know that my music worked as I wanted it to :)

Thanks!

Thank you!

Thanks, glad you liked it! 

Thanks!

That's definitely some of my more developed works, and it makes me double as happy that it strikes peoples emotions in the way I intended :) 

I always dig some synthwave vibes :D

But your work is much darker than normal synthwave, which goes very well with story you're trying to tell, with hacking and whatnot. Very nice choice.

The mix sounds a little bit bottom-heavy for my taste, but it might just be me :)

That was a nice listen. You have really squeezed everything that you could out of those soundfonts - Especially with the trumpet in ONE, neat sound :)

One thing that bugs me however is the mix/ballance. Some things are louder than they should be,overshadowing others. Also, TWELVE is (at least to my ears) a fair bit louder than the others as a whole.

Good job overall tho!

Great stuff, solid SEGA chiptune sound (at least to my ears, as that's what I've played back in the day). 

You managed to keep it crisp and clear while getting to pretty interesting places composition-wise (maybe Emerald Planet was a little bit muddy, but that's all I can pick at)

That's probably one of my favourite chiptune compositions in a long, long time.

Amazing work!

I always find your stuff very refreshing to listen to. It's like washing your ears from all the sunshine and rainbows with burnt oil and rusty nails - and I mean it in a GOOD way! xD

Great job, I'm glad you didn't back down from this jam.

Thanks, I'm glad you liked it!

Yea, it could've used some more variety at times. But also, you wrote "balancing/softening" - can you say which parts did you find harsh?

The Princess Bride is great :D

Thanks for listening!

Thanks!

I was experimenting with secondary harmonies here, both dominant and subdominant, which is still partially unexplored terrain for me. And I find those music jams to be the best place for experimentation. I'm glad you liked it, thanks!

Thank you!

Star Wars, more like Star Worse. I'm pretty sure my work would make John Williams cry, and not in a good way xD

I guess that in INTRO reverb tails are clashing in minor 2nds, and that makes it crunchier. It was however a conscious tradeoff between musical clarity and vibe. And, arguably, I find vibe to be more important in OST-ish music.

Thanks for listening!

Thanks!

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it

That was great, I especially liked how frantic 2nd phase gets at around 3:30.

YouTube messed with your quality at the beginning of 2nd phase with those big sounds, but it was well worth it to download the .wav and listen again :)

Great job!

I really like the arps and general sound design here, very enjoyable piece.

If I were to nitpick, maybe the drums could use a bit more *oomph* :)

Great job nevertheless!