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Waaaaay too much reverb and delay on everything. If you want this much reverb / delay on your instruments you should at least automate it so it doesn't happen during a melodic section.

You're coming at this from a very Toby Fox angle, and your rather unusual chord choices maybe suggest you don't know a lot of theory, and if so, you're doing very well. Not too much is out of place here and that means you have a pretty good ear.

I think the main thing is it's not so clear what your melody is supposed to be. New melodies are added all the time but not one really dominates the music. I suggest adopting some kind of musical structure like ABA.

By the way, I would not care to yap for this long if this didn't have potential. This is good, well mixed music coming from cheap plugins.

I think everything here is pretty solid. The composition is as elaborate as it needs to be and allows the forest ambience and beat to carry this track. The novelty of this idea also really helps it stand out in this jam's submissions.

All of this is fine, but I like to be critical and I dare say this could be a bit bolder. For example, you have your string section, but why? It's mixed way lower than the beat and the ambience, and chords change at the same pace as your funky drone, so it's a sonic downgrade from the funky pad that you began the piece with.

You chose to put a vinyl crackle in that section, which suggests a sort of retro aesthetic and perhaps this moment is intended to be a flashback. So why not add a bit of tape / vinyl distortion to the strings so that they feel like a trip to the past too? After that, why not take it another step further? Why not mix the strings in the foreground and pan them in all directions (+ doing some other sound design stuff) to make you FEEL like you're in the middle of the string orchestra? In the middle of HISTORY, metaphorically speaking.

Sorry to go on this diatribe and you don't have to follow my direction or agree with me, but you are skilled in production and you can push your ideas further. None of what I suggested takes any more compositional or production chops than you have already demonstrated. I just want you to encourage you to take creative musical decisions and to be intentional with what you make.

There's some really strong sound design here but sometimes it feels a bit lacking when only one element is prominent for a long time. Safety and Madness feel a bit empty with their focus on one textural / pad idea and I think Safety in particular could've benefited from something simple like a pluck playing broken chords that fade in, then out.

Your last two tracks are less atmospheric and I wish they just had a bit more to them, they loop without layers being added in and I'm craving some gradual change. Overall though, solid theming, mixing and it's pretty spooky.

A bit repetitive and this track loses a bit of its mystique it achieves at the start in favour for a pretty standard adventure-y vibe. That being said, everything here is pretty solid, the groove is groovy, the melody is catchy and it's pretty aesthetic and relates well to the theme.

Careful with your string writing. You're writing a lot of double stops, which change the sound of the instruments that are played a lot. They cannot be played with vibrato and some of the parts you wrote are impossible (to my non-expert knowledge) The most apparent ones are at bar 13 where every instrument has a 2+ octave jump between the notes. In addition to being impossible, they just do not sound great.

Overall though, I like the energy this gives. Don't give up and keep learning o7

Careful with your string writing. You're writing a lot of double stops, which change the sound of the instruments that are played a lot. They cannot be played with vibrato and some of the parts you wrote are impossible (to my non-expert knowledge) The most apparent ones are at bar 13 where every instrument has a 2+ octave jump between the notes. In addition to being impossible, they just do not sound great.

Overall though, I like the energy this gives. Don't give up and keep learning o7

Bro this reminds me of Ben 10 and you have no idea how big of a compliment that is.

I like this but it's too repetitive and I don't think really is anything like Undertale (I haven't played / watched the others) you have a great ear for what sounds you want and your mixing is impressive for the first track you've made.

Blue Lava has made some great suggestions already but in this genre I would consider fading in and out an instrument that plays like one note in sixteenth note patterns to add a little movement. More percussion also would help with the groove.

Bro this reminds me of Ben 10 and you have no idea how big of a compliment that is.

I like this but it's too repetitive and I don't think really is anything like Undertale (I haven't played / watched the others) you have a great ear for what sounds you want and your mixing is impressive for the first track you've made.

Blue Lava has made some great suggestions already but in this genre I would consider fading in and out an instrument that plays like one note in sixteenth note patterns to add a little movement. More percussion also would help with the groove.

You know, the bird call thing is a happy accident. The real idea I had was to just add something sparkly with a large registral span to maybe evoke a body of water like a river or a lake while remaining in an RPG-y atmospheric aesthetic. I thought it was also a nice constrast to the shaker sounds that precede it. 

Also, wanted to say thank you for listening to my piece, but also for actively listening to others' pieces. I love that you're always in the comments, being positive and giving helpful advice to myself and the others! You clearly care a lot about giving this feedback and I'm sure it is appreciated by everyone here.

So much potential, but alas, the procrastination monster hunts us all.

The intro was expertly done and this sounds really pretty for the timeframe you had to write this.

Feels surprisingly classical. Also for how simple the notation is, pretty nuanced in terms of its harmonies.

Pretty fun but too short.

Very diverse genres in this soundtrack! I really like the attention to detail such as the bird calls being used as an instrument / being lined up with the downbeat in the Reverie. I also love the idea of a tree just standing up to annihilate you. 

The music overall is pretty repetitive but there is just enough change both instrumentally and dynamically that I am not dissatisfied, although I'm craving a second section to these melodies apart from a bridge in the middle of the track. The exception to this is Slay the Rot which is very varied but also short.

I can't imagine these would blend together very seamlessly in a game, but this soundtrack is immensively creative and well executed, also ambitious for a game jam submission.

The first track reminds me of Percy Grainger, with its folk tune-y vibes, it also reminded me of playing in a concert band and I wonder if this is also a musical influence for you.

Anyways, I think overall your music is held back by too much repetition of the same melody and the VSTs you use as well as the dynamics they reach. (Or, at least the VSTs were a prominent issue in the first track)

In addition to the other advice presented for the snare, I'd like to add another suggestion:

Consider removing the reverb or noise gating the snare so it gives a stronger decay so these strong snare hits feel more sudden

The first track reminds me of Percy Grainger, with its folk tune-y vibes, it also reminded me of playing in a concert band and I wonder if this is also a musical influence for you.

Anyways, I think overall your music is held back by too much repetition of the same melody and the VSTs you use as well as the dynamics they reach. (Or, at least the VSTs were a prominent issue in the first track)

In addition to the other advice presented for the snare, I'd like to add another suggestion:

Consider removing the reverb or noise gating the snare so it gives a stronger decay so these strong snare hits feel more sudden

Simple and straightforward, this feels like a track I could hear in any game or movie and it would fit pretty decently. Outside of the birds that can be heard at the start and end, I don't think this particularly fits the theme.

Despite what the critic inside me says, I cannot deny that the production and melody have an infectious and unstoppable energy that is achieved expertly. This is the kind of music that makes me shout out of my window at the world and I would only be able to give you feedback while dancing unwillingly to this music.

Simple and straightforward, this feels like a track I could hear in any game or movie and it would fit pretty decently. Outside of the birds that can be heard at the start and end, I don't think this particularly fits the theme.

Despite what the critic inside me says, I cannot deny that the production and melody have an infectious and unstoppable energy that is achieved expertly. This is the kind of music that makes me shout out of my window at the world and I would only be able to give you feedback while dancing unwillingly to this music.

Your synth pad gain is turned up too much, I don't feel the impact of the drums and I can almost not hear the percussion when I turn the volume down so I can hear a bit better. Other than that, this is a certified bop. I like the interplay between the swell SFX and the rhodes and the silence at the end is built up to wonderfully (I really like the delay on the synth to finish)

Defo one of the hidden gems in here.

I like these compositions, they're rhythmically interesting and the layers / changes that you make to the core melody are good. 

Your distortion on the guitar in the Thrill of the Hunt along with the compression makes the notes unclear. There's also too much reverb on most instruments in Hymns of the Wild, making sections bleed into the next and making the soundscape muddy with stray decays that clash with the notes that the instruments are playing. A possible solution is to automate the reverb, or gate it so that it cuts off sooner while still giving a good echo.

This feels like it's reaching for the theme a bit but I can see some of this being chase music? This ambience feels more at place at a wind tunnel unless the forest is particularly windy which would be uncommon. The piano feels a bit out of place and it does not feel as polished as the sound design aspects in terms of the velocity of each note. 

This feels like it's reaching for the theme a bit but I can see some of this being chase music? This ambience feels more at place at a wind tunnel unless the forest is particularly windy which would be uncommon. The piano feels a bit out of place and it does not feel as polished as the sound design aspects in terms of the velocity of each note. 

Not sure how any of this relates to the theme. Mountains and manipulative leadership do not give me forest vibes.  I like these tracks, they have a nice minimalist counterpoint that keeps these cyclic melodies interesting although I don't like how it's broken in the middle of Drowned Mountain by strings (it just sounds a bit out of place)

Other than that, these are perfectly good.

Not sure how any of this relates to the theme. Mountains and manipulative leadership do not give me forest vibes.  I like these tracks, they have a nice minimalist counterpoint that keeps these cyclic melodies interesting although I don't like how it's broken in the middle of Drowned Mountain by strings (it just sounds a bit out of place)

Other than that, these are perfectly good.

Really beautiful intro, the shimmering saw arps are a beautiful depiction of falling petals and overall there's a nice gentle aesthetic to this music with these high tones. I find the bells to be just a tad too aggressive and it really takes away from the music.

There's also just not a lot happening compositionally, which is fine but the flutes are a bit too piercing to be able to pull off the minimalist 3 note melody without it getting grating.

Really beautiful intro, the shimmering saw arps are a beautiful depiction of falling petals and overall there's a nice gentle aesthetic to this music with these high tones. I find the bells to be just a tad too aggressive and it really takes away from the music.

There's also just not a lot happening compositionally, which is fine but the flutes are a bit too piercing to be able to pull off the minimalist 3 note melody without it getting grating.

Really beautiful intro, the shimmering saw arps are a beautiful depiction of falling petals and overall there's a nice gentle aesthetic to this music with these high tones. I find the bells to be just a tad too aggressive and it really takes away from the music.

There's also just not a lot happening compositionally, which is fine but the flutes are a bit too piercing to be able to pull off the minimalist 3 note melody without it getting grating.

Reminds me of the FUS RO DAH theme from Skyrim. I like your choice of percussion as it nicely complements the forest aesthetic with some foliage-like sounds but I think it gets overbearing about a minute in. 

I like the concept of how the music fades in and out to reveal the birds chirping in the background but the tone of a quiet forest and this adventurous theme are at odds with eachother and do not work well together.

This is most evident 3 minutes in, where there's some ominous stuff going on but you can still hear the birds cutting through, taking away from the drama that the orchestra is trying to capture.

Oh yeah. I dig this, the subtle sub that subdivides into 8ths + the synthy bleeps remind me so much of Portal 2 it's unreal. The tempo change at around 1:50 is crazy as well it feels like metric modulation but I'm not sure if that's it.

It's in a weird middle zone of being melodic and atmospheric and I feel like it should have leaned more one way or the other. I also don't think it fits at all with the forest theme but still rad. 

The production is strong but there's too much annoying pitch modulated stuff going on with too much reverb. It's not aggresive to my ears but it's a small blemish on an otherwise strong mix.

Whoa you have stuff in here (around 30 sec in) that sounds like the episodes in a Bach fugue. That's pretty funny. 

You obviously are strong compositionally, with good general knowledge of harmony (such as the bVI - bVII thing around 1:49) and an instinct for memorable section and instrumental changes which can be as obvious as the Penderecki strings leading to trumpet chaos into a very intense half of the music, or as subtle as the vibraphone doubling at 0:44 that gives the pizzacato part a bit more shine.

Very intentional and beautiful work. Definitely a contender for one of the best pieces here. 

I might be way off for this but this reminds me of the SCP Secret Lab OST when the nuke is about to go off. I like your choice of SFX to add to this piece but I don't see their correlation to the theme.

Chimes, clocks ticking, and industrial-sounding sizzle hi-hats (or whatever that sound is) are all mechanical sounds and metaphorically place us in somewhere industrial. To me, this sounds like music inside a clocktower, apart from the wolf howl. There is a way to use these sounds and still adhere to the forest theme, but I don't think this accomplishes that (admittedly difficult) goal. I think a different choice of SFX would have served you here.

I might be way off for this but this reminds me of the SCP Secret Lab OST when the nuke is about to go off. I like your choice of SFX to add to this piece but I don't see their correlation to the theme.

Chimes, clocks ticking, and industrial-sounding sizzle hi-hats (or whatever that sound is) are all mechanical sounds and metaphorically place us in somewhere industrial. To me, this sounds like music inside a clocktower, apart from the wolf howl. There is a way to use these sounds and still adhere to the forest theme, but I don't think this accomplishes that (admittedly difficult) goal. I think a different choice of SFX would have served you here.

You layer together rhythms really nicely. I like how the kalimba's percussive hit creates this like 16th note subdivision that lasts throughout the entire piece.

Automation is a must-have addition here, both to make your instruments more expressive and to make the moment where you take out all the instruments to only hear the birds singing that much more impactful. Imagine if at that point in the climax, you turn the reverb way up so it takes our ears to time to adjust and appreciate the bird songs.

A lot of the rhythms here are wonky, I recommend you quantize your music, the mixing is not the best which does not work well with these ambitious arrangements. I found the glockenspiel in the Overture to be especially loud but there are these kinds of issues throughout.

The music you've made is rather unique. The aesthetic is pretty orchestral but the way the ideas come in feel more like a rap beat where a fragment is introduced and then looped. It's outside of classical norm but it's a unique aesthetic that you could play into.

I like the Countess of Scarlet Lightning on an aesthetic level. It's fast paced, and the timpani and aggresive percussion really depicts that imagery of lightning crashing down on a battlefield.

I think you overuse a lot of the same ideas, though. You repeat the same melodic sections for almost the length of each of your tracks, and each melody uses a similar scale.

Very well produced and well composed music. All very cinematic and movie-like. I particularly like Cascade Forest with the shimmering percussion that sits beneath the main instruments and the swells that introduce instruments that come in and out. All of that is done with a great deal of finesse.

The pacing for the main theme is kind of slow to me (The theme is realized in full at the 1 minute mark and then afterwards in the last 40 seconds) but this might be a me thing.

Fun combat mechanics! 

I really like this game, it's such a meme but honestly it's more functional than some other prototypes in this jam. Very impressive turnout for 11 days!

Good music and great art! With a little more polish and additions to the gameplay, this could be very fun.

My favourite game this jam! Very cute Rhythm Heaven type game! Learning timings is intuitive and everything from the music to the charts and the art feels polished.