Love the cover art! Overall, this is a very cute little submission and I love the idea of going on adventures with your cat. Composition wise, the second part of your four part chord progression with the higher piano parts sounds a bit off to me. It's in key, but using different notes in the scale on that bar I think would have delivered a sound that fit the rest of the song more appropriately.

The feedback you've gotten around velocity and volume is on point, I think. As someone who learned music by messing around with straight MIDI in Noteworthy Composer, it definitely took me a long time to "figure out" velocity - especially when you talk about using higher quality soundfonts or samples that actually reflect the subtle changes in tone of a real instrument. The piano is the most important example of this - the tone shift from playing a note softly to banging on the keys is incredibly dramatic and can really make your piano sound "flat" or "dead" or "fake" if you don't account for it properly. 

Practice makes perfect though - just keep experimenting and playing around with different velocities as you write new melodies and you will begin to understand what works better. Looking forward to seeing how you've progressed in future jams!

I enjoyed your use of the Oriental scale! I also liked how you emulated the water sound in your tracks.

Enjoying the vibes and feel here!

I have seen some comments about how the melodies maybe feel a little aimless and, while there's some truth to that, I also think that it does work for the out on the ocean scene you wanted to go for with this. It has an endless wavey kind of feel and I appreciated that. I also enjoyed the business of the tracks for that reason as well.

I do agree that there is a flatness to the production and the way the instruments are playing. I think more use of dynamics in each instrument would go a long way. Maybe some other instruments too. And I do think it would help to have the songs evolve and change a bit more throughout or yo just have some other tracks with different tones and feels, but I still very much enjoyed what you got down.

Also, I love the story idea you have and how well it fits the theme! Some other tracks that put forth some different feels would really help tell that story, I think. Nice work though!

Yo Clear Spark this is a really nice entry! I like the sound design and instrumentation in both tracks a lot and think you've definitely hit the calm, reflective moods you were trying to achieve. For me,  I feel like a bit of dynamics and development could really elevate the pieces, but they're still solid! Well done!

I really liked the storytelling, its good. I would've liked the progression to vary a bit, but aside from that, excellent work!!

loving the synthwave vibe right off the bat with your first track! feels very anticipative and somewhat playful, fitting of your storyline of going on a journey. i like how the melodic line in the piano develops as the song progresses! my only critique regards dynamics. make sure to keep your countermelody and harmonies lower in volume in comparison to your melody - some times it felt like the piano's melody was lost in the various accompanying harmonies the piano was playing as well. it's a beautiful composition! i just wanna hear more of that wonderful melodic line u made :DD

ooo immediately i love the continuance of the deep synth from the previous track into this one, it really makes the OST sound cohesive. liking the use of the retro synths here!! really builds that surreal and explorative vibe you're aiming to achieve. loving the development of your story through your instrumentation. i would've loved to hear some percussion alongside your composition here to give it more of a drive, but it was still a great listen nonetheless! definitely feels like the approach to a boss battle!

overall this is a great listen!!! i love ur storyline concept its so cute!!! really fun submission thanks for sharing :DDDDD

I liked the track Whiskers Before The Storm (Wet Paws Final Voyage) has unusual fx, but track 2 is also good. Both of them give their own atmosphere and style.

This was a pleasant submission! 

I think it could be elevated by playing with instrument velocities a little or involving more instruments, as they're currently somewhat flat and it doesn't feel like the track is "going" anywhere. In their current form, these tracks work as themes for calm areas of rest, rather than adventures.

You're lucky you didn't create the cover art! I have a gut feeling the person that drew it was a warrior cats kid and I was gonna make a bunch of references. But alas, you only made the music and not the cover art.

I think overall the tracks can be a little flat. The first track for example doesn't really feel like it captures the moment you describes. The lacking presence of the drums means the song feels a little aimless which I don't think is what you want for a song representing going on a quest.

The same issue persists in the second song. There isn't a lot of evolution. It feels static and that doesn't make the songs feel like the story you tell. It especially does not make me think of the end of the journey. 

A much more involved percussive line I think would make these songs so much more in line with what you want even if it doesn't solve some of the other issues.

wandering and curious. the sounds and melodies you found fit together in this space that sounds naive (this is a good thing; like a kitten exploring!!) and optimistic. if i heard this in a video game, i'd be delighted. if you wanted a fun direction to explore in, try some plucky low-pass filters on your leads with some high-feedback delays afterwards; i get a lot of my favorite sounds doing that to arps and melodies that are along this direction. thank you for sharing :)

Adventure truly has never purred so close

This was good stuff! One critique that I have is that the main melodic instruments (Not the chord/root note pads in the back) are extremely busy. I think moving up and down between half notes or whole notes can certainly be enjoyable, but in moderation. It makes the theme a little hard to track when I cant hum/sing along with it. (Not a requirement by any means)

The other thing is that the instrument velocities dont move much, and you can usually lightly counteract this issue by introducing more new instruments/sounds more often, but we didnt get a ton of that.

Try to avoid putting notes on the down beat all the time. The bassy synth in Amaya's Overlook constantly feels the need to play the same note twice or three times in a row to make sure it lands on the downbeat, but it doesnt have to. A nice thing about Bass is that it can be a sudo rythmic instrument and play syncopations or on different times than the main focal instruments and fill up space.

That being said, I think sound design/your sound choices here were really really good. The idea you came up with is very cool to me and im jealous! These critiques may seem like a lot, but they are all really easy implementations and would make a good piece of music even better I think! Be proud of your work here!

I think both tracks sound pleasant overall. One criticism I have though is there doesn't seem to be much diversity in the mood between tracks. For the second track specifically, I was expecting to hear much more tension since it is the track that plays as you approach the final boss. However, it sounded very calm overall much like the main theme does. 

"Adventure has never purred so close" made my heart melt

I really enjoyed it a lot, thank you!

Love the retrowave vibes. The game concept is cool too! I'm imagining the main gameplay mechanic is that you engage in combat through Amaya and you act as almost like a support character. Very cool!

These were pretty fun! I got a sense of adventure and playfulness, especially with "Amaya's Overlook", from the melody and the drums, but also felt like there might be something deeper and more mysterious going on, which is great to keep the player/listener invested! Also really liked the sound design you made in "Whiskers Before the Storm", gave it an unsettling vibe!

Good job!

Pretty nice tracks, they were pretty enjoyable to listen to.

With the black cat on the cover and the sailing adventures theming it reminded me of the movie Flow which is very nice.
Concerning the tracks themselves the melodies and synth sounds were well arranged and pleasant to listen to throughout, maybe a bit more on note dynamics and some different sections in the tracks could make the listening experience a bit more lively, but it was already very enjoyable as is so good job !

I think you've got some really nice sounds and ideas here! I feel like your songs like a certain sense of movement and adventure. Not that they need to be explicitly adventurous or anything, but they're not really bringing me anywhere, if that makes sense. I think a little more work mixing with some layers can really make these songs come alive. But it was still a very pleasant listen and a nice break from some of the more hectic soundtracks!

You have a lot of good ideas here! The love you put into this submission really shows and I'm glad I was able to experience it. One suggestion I would have is try panning some of your instruments to the left or right a little bit to create more space in your mix. Keep up the good work!       

I think this is a pretty solid soundtrack with a lot of cool ideas, the way both tracks use the same motif makes it all feel cohesive, the chords are interesting, the motif itself is fun and chill, and there's some cool textures mixed into Whiskers Before The Storm that add a lot of atmosphere. While I do agree with most of the criticisms here, there's still a lot to love and it feels like the intent behind the soundtrack comes through really well! Great work and thanks for the submission! :)