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Northern Light's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Composition | #18 | 4.200 | 4.200 |
| Overall | #28 | 3.992 | 3.992 |
| Correlation to theme | #29 | 4.000 | 4.000 |
| Impression | #30 | 3.960 | 3.960 |
| Quality | #40 | 3.960 | 3.960 |
| Creativity | #57 | 3.840 | 3.840 |
Ranked from 25 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Description
An amnesic young boy finds himself fleeing in a dense and strange forest with a small child in his arms. He journeys towards the distant "Northern Light" and progressively unravels the truth about the mysterious prophecy of great power surrounding the child he is carrying, and this distant beacon of light (see project page for a more in depth summary).
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Tracks:
Innocence: The young boy wakes up in a strange forest, with no memory of his past or who he is. At his side, a sleeping child that he carries with him on his back. The young boy goes on to exploring the marvellous and vibrant with life forest . In the distance, he sees a strange yet familiar beacon of light, and decides to journey towards its source.
Unexpected: What first seemed like a welcoming environment soon transpires to be more dangerous than expected. Along with the glooming danger of the forest, the young boy recalls fragment of his past. He progressively understands why he fled his hometown, that feared an ancient prophecy involving the child he is now carrying.
Slumber: Lost in his dreams the young boy recalls the prophecy he was told at a younger age. He begins to grasp the tremendous power the child possesses and his connection with the Northern light.
Northern Light: After his long journey, our hero finally arrives at the source of the Northern beacon of light. There, he discovers the origin of the child's powers and the truth about the ancient prophecy.
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You'll notice that there isn't really any main theme or leitmotif in this soundtrack, but almost all of the tracks use woodwinds as the central instruments. I wanted them to represent the innocence of youth facing a mysterious, sometimes frightening but ultimately beautiful world. More generally I mostly used orchestra instruments to convey that organic feel of journeying through a forest, while also including some faint electronic elements here an there (mostly in the last track "Northern Light"). These electronic elements, and especially in "Slumber", represent the past and the memories of the young boy that are slowly coming back to him.
My main inspiration for this soundtrack and game was the story and the music of the animated series "Made in Abyss".
I used Logic Pro to compose my tracks with Albion One as my main orchestral library, complemented by Spitfire LABS. The synth sounds and percussions where created using Logic's stock synthesizer.
Message from the artist:
This was the second OST Jam I participated in and it was again an absolute blast! I'm looking forward to the next one!
Theme:
How does it fit the theme?
Running away from his past, a young boy journeys across a dense forest to understand the mystery around the child he is carrying and the light he sees in the distance.
Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMS7LFMUnM4eYg4raqPR690cKjyUvlJrH
https://soundcloud.com/gornemant_music/sets/northern-light-ost-composing?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
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Comments
You've done a really good job at creating an dynamic range of emotion in these tracks. I really like how the more whimsical tone of the tracks "Innocence" and the first part of "Unexpected" contrast with the more intense moments from the second half of "Unexpected" and "Northern Light" all which in turn also contrast with the more reflective, somber tone of "Slumber".
Well done overall!
Thank you fir listening, I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Magnificent!
I love the dramatic arc in Unexpected. It really feels like we're going up against some great odds.
I also love how in Slumber, we're suddenly greeted with this beautiful lush soundscape. Also really like the pillowy bass synth in this one. It's a nice contrast to have such a warm bass to such relatively cold strings/ambience. It was quite comforting when it came in. It was like starting a little campfire in the cold woods at night. Something to keep you warm.
Northern Light is really beautiful. Love the piano in this one and when it all opened up into those gorgeous strings, woodwinds and horns. It's a beautiful closing track because it has that quality that makes it linger for a bit after the soundtrack ends. Also love the little slowdown near the end.
Amazing work! My favourite was probably Slumber.
Thanks a lot for your detailed feedback, it helps very much to see what you've enjoyed!
very nice orchestration on this one, the shifts in intensity over the course of each song are well done
Thank you for your comment, I really had fun playing with the dynamics of the tracks so I'm glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Very well rounded tracks! Great buildup in Innocence from "where am I?" to "Oh this is amazing!". I like the orchestral style and how you blend in different instruments seamlessly. Slumber is the kind of sound that evokes feelings of wonder (would fit nicely in a planetarium). Northern Light is simply beautiful, hands down. Very worthy finale. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for listening, I'm glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Solide compositions! I was pleasantly surprised by the combination of woodwinds and harpsichord in the 1st track. Very solid(composition wise) 2nd track and Some Sigur Rós vibe on the 3rd track that I love. I also liked how the last track has a wide range of expression from dreamy keyboard to epic-ish cinematic percussions. Great job!
Thank you for your feedback! Don't hesitate to tell me what's wrong in the 2nd track (in the mix I assume) so I can improve for next time 😉 I didn't know about Sigur Ròs but I listened to some of their songs and I definitely see the ressemblance! And for the last track I indeed intended it to tie everything together with elements from all the other tracks so I'm glad this went through 🙂
Hi! I liked "Unexpected" and "Northern Light" so much. Story, music, theme and photo... They completed each other. I lovee it. Thank you for join this jam.
Thank YOU for listening! 😁
Wow, this definitely takes you into an adventure! Would go well in a movie too, great job!
Thanks! I do also think that my kind of music would fit better in a movie or maybe more in a game cinematic so I'm probably gonna work on making it more easily implementable in a an actual gameplay for next jam.
There's a really wonderful sense of joy and hope I feel in each of these tracks along with a very vibrant quality of sound overall that I love. Great job!
The idea really was to have, even in the tense moments, an overall sense of beauty and harmony, to reflect that sense of nature being dangerous yet beautiful. I'm glad you liked it!
I could definitely imagine a full game about the picture with your songs playing. This is really good and fits the theme lovely.
Thanks a lot!
Northern Light is my favorite one, always been a huge fan of the LABS piano. Well-composed throughout!
Thanks! Yeah LABS overall has some pretty great tools, it's such a blessing for composers on a budget 😄
"Unexpected" really builds up into something amazing. Definitely my favorite track of the ost! I enjoyed your compositions a lot, quality is top notch!
Thank you! It's interesting how there is no unanimous favorite and everyone seems to like one different track over the others. I'm quite happy about that 😄
Great composition and instrument choices. The story you wrote complements the soundtrack very well. Great work!
Thanks! I was quite inspired for writing a somewhat complete story for this one ^^
The music, story, and artwork go well together, I think I can hear the light. Nice work!
I'm glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for your poetic comment 🙂
Well done, nice orchestration on some parts, felt really classical at the beginning then switched out on the 2 last song. You have nice strings runs but it feels a bit too dry and condensed, you can open up your voicing a little bit more and add a touch of reverb, same for the piano you can use the sustain pedal a little bit more so it doesn't feel stuttery. You have some great writing, nice arrangement. keep it up !
Thanks for your detailed feedback! I agree with you that it could use a bit more reverb although I struggle with muddiness and I would need to train more on taming my reverb. And yes the next item on my "to buy" list is definitely a sustain pedal haha
I loved Slumber! It reminded me of an eulogy-style track, perfect for story-driven games.
Thank you!
The self-titled song Nothern Light is so beautiful and majestic! Honestly my favorite piece you done in your jam!
Thanks! It's my personal favorite as well ^^