Only As Good As The Last Day

Links:

SoundCloud:

https://soundcloud.com/joseph-black-16953843/sets/only-as-good-as-the-last-day

Youtube:

Only As Good As The Last Day

“The last day of any vacation is the most important when it comes to forming memories. If you have a good final day, the trip is a success in your mind. If you have a bad last day, was the trip even any good?”

I’m sure many reading this know the feeling. A week long vacation with tons of fun and happy moments, only for the last day to be riddled with issues that ruin the entire experience in your mind.
Do you remember that cool picture you took? Or do you remember how sick you got on the drive home?


SONG 1: Today is NOT a good day

STORY SECTION 1:

“This is the worst vacation EVER!”
Viktor is on his last day of summer vacation, 1 more night before he goes back to school, and it is the worst. day. ever.
On vacation with his family, Viktor is visiting the boardwalk. Games and rides aplenty, but none of that matters because today is the last day of his trip.
The past few days were fun sure; He played lots of games and rode tons of rides. Swimming and eating until he tired himself out, but none of that matters now.
Viktor couldn’t sleep well last night. The only food for breakfast was his least favorite cereal. His last pair of shorts are uncomfortable and chafe. And to top it all off, a hefty stub of his toe on the bed frame created the perfect storm for a very um-perfect day.
Tired, hungry, uncomfy, and in pain. Viktor’s last day of vacation sucks and he knows it. He is not happy and preemptively decides that today is gonna be terrible before it’s hardly started.
There are lots of fun things planned for the day, but none of it can make up for the fact that Viktor has already decided that today is NOT a good day.

GAMEPLAY SECTION 1:

This is a QTE sections.
The players goal is to avoid obstacles as Viktor makes his way towards the boardwalk. You will be avoiding bird droppings, spilled ice cream, and other such hazards in order to prevent Viktor’s day from becoming any worse.


SONG 2: Waxing Fun, Waning Sun

STORY SECTION 2:

They headed to the boardwalk again that afternoon despite the angst that Viktor was emanating. He clearly did not want to be there but he couldn’t just wallow in self-pity in the hotel room.
Viktor had already played all the games and rode all the rides. Why couldn’t they just go home early so he could be alone?
Despite what Viktor is thinking, it’s not true that he has ridden every ride. There is one that he has yet to approach. The Ferris wheel.
That death machine is the last thing Viktor wanted to think about on this day. A crippling fear of heights and watching scary movies had turned him off of Ferris wheels for life he thought.
Unfortunately for him, the Ferris wheel is the main attraction and the family would not leave until they rode it.
Waiting in line for something he didn’t want to do. Another reason this is the worst vacation ever.
He sits down on the ride. Shaking and mixture of fear and anger. He clenched his eyes shut, just waiting for it to be over.
The wheel started moving and he reconfirmed in his head that this is the worst day ever.
He reached the peak and his eyes opened.
The ocean was beautiful. Sparkling in the sun as it began its descent.
Despite this highlight, Viktor still had his pride and he couldn’t get the disaster of a morning out of his head. Today was still a bad day in his mind and it would take more than that to alter his perception.

GAMEPLAY SECTION 2:

This acts as more of a life-sim section. The players goal is to attend to Viktor’s needs as they arise. Things such as getting him a meal or getting to the ride he wants in time.
His happiness meter will fall slowly and get a boost when one of his needs is met.
His anger meter will also slowly fall and will jump up if needs are failed to be met.
The section ends when his anger meter has finally reached zero.


SONG 3: The Best Last Day

STORY SECTION 3:

Despite the terrible start of his day, despite his pride clouding his attitude, despite every obstacle in his path, Viktor reluctantly admits that this is a good day.
He is having more fun today than he did any previous day on his vacation. Winning prizes, playing games, riding rides.
After some time, his cynical attitude began to wash away and in its place, pure unabashed whimsy took its place.
The sun began to set on Viktor’s last day of summer, yet despite this fact, Viktor wasn’t at all disappointed.
A vacation is only as good as its last day, so this must be the best vacation ever.

GAMEPLAY SECTION 3:

This section would be filled with mini games. Carnival games. They would include games such as: Knock down the bottles, ring toss, and other carnival games. The better you do in the games, the more prizes you get to take home as a trophy collection. They would appear in the main menu depending on if you got the best prize for each different mini game.


INSTRUMENTS / VSTs USED:
Pianoteq:
Planet N (original Mix)
Toy Piano (a la piano)
Vintage Tines MKI (Punchy Chorus)
Uptight U4 (Back)
Electra-piano (RubberChorus)

Organteq:
Baroque Cathedral I - Solo

SWAM INSTRUMENTS:
SWAM Tuba Eb
SWAM Flugelhorn Eb

Pigments:
Analog Triple VCO
Twin Voice Lead

Albion One Orchestra:
Brass Mid

MiniSynth:
Keys Brass Buttons

Addictive Drums 2:
Fairfax Vol 2 - snares, kicks, toms, hi hat, ride cymbals, and crash cymbals

FL Studio Native SFX:
Reverse Cymbal Riser
Riser Laboratory
FPC 7 Kick
FPC Tamb

Goofy SFX (provided by others on discord):
Bluetooth
Ed, Edd n Eddy Sound Effects Compulation
Goofy Cartoon Sounds (Extended Version)
I like this new generation of music


SONG EXPLANATIONS:

My #1 goal in this OST is to make something fun and catchy to listen to. I prioritized making fun music over making a story. (Even though I made the story first)
The story is a loose base in which I made the music to fit 3 general themes of starting with angst, becoming more whimsical, and ending with maximum whimsy.

All songs share the same instruments to keep things consistent.
3 instruments I’ve labeled, “piano instruments”
3 I’ve labeled, “bass instruments”
4 I’ve labeled, “Melody instruments”
2 I’ve labeled, “chord instruments”
A percussion section and some other efffects such as risers and whatnot.

I drew all of my inspiration from the MAD RAT DEAD soundtrack and even tried to get my instruments to sound the same too (too ok results)

Song 1:
This song takes place during the bad part of our main characters day and as such has a different vibe than the other ones and has a darker tone overall.
It still isn’t completely dreary because the day isn’t actually all that bad, it’s just the characters emotions making it seem worse than it is.
This song highlights a Synth as the bass instrument as that one gives the darkest tone and the least whimsy compared to the others.
The main melodic instruments switch here is a bit of a harsher synth to give the song a harsher vibe.
This song has a clean loop and that’s not just for gameplay purposes. The song is supposed to represent a feeling of angst and anger as someone is having “the worst day ever”. This feeling doesn’t go away unless the person feeling it decides to move past it and as such lasts as long as they will it.

Song 2:
I wanted this song to be fast and fun while still retaining some darker sections to show the change from a bad day to a better day.
The bass pattern is a back and forth to maintain high energy and maintain the catchiness.
This song highlights the Piano as the bass instrument because it has a mix of a darker tone and a lighter tone with the higher notes forming the chords.
The main melodic instruments switch a round a lot in this song to represent the changing emotions of the protagonist as he starts to change his mood about the day he is having.
This is the only song of the 3 to have a clear and defined ending. This is because the song represents the transitional period between believing you’re having the worst day ever, to actually enjoying yourself. The song ends cleanly as the protagonist decides he will start having a good day.

Song 3:
This song had to be just pure unabashed whimsy and fun. It has echoes of the less fun morning but they are insignificant in the face of this much joy.
I asked for any goofy sound effects people had in the OST jam discord and used all of them that I got (I think) in some way during the song to add even more goofiness.
This is by far the most complex song I’ve ever made. The amount of accidentals and instruments all playing at the same time was a ton of fun to get working and it’s a marvel I finished it as fast as I did.
This song highlights the Tuba as the bass instrument since it has the most whimsy of the 3 bass instruments.
The main melodic instrument is a piano synth to give it a more fairground feel to match the vibe I wanted.
This song loops cleanly because even though the best day can’t last forever, the memories can. You can keep having the best day ever if you keep a good attitude even during difficult times.

Composers Notes:
This is potentially the most complex set of songs I’ve ever made in terms of the sheer amount of instruments playing at the same time. Yes most of them are just playing the same thing, but trying to imitate synths by ear alone is hard and this was the best I could do.
I truly hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed theorizing and crafting it!

I truly love these OST jams. I’ve never felt more of a connection online than I do when I interact with everyone on the discord and the comments here. Recognizing names and seeing others recognize me is such a great feeling and it continues to make me so happy to make music.

Whether or not I win or lose, these jams teach me so much about how people make music and they inspire me to reach even higher than I thought possible.

When I started making music 3 years ago because I watched a Bugsnax AMV (not kidding that was my inspiration) I thought I was the GOAT and that my music was good enough to be in any game.
I made lots of music. 20 original songs, an imaginary Megaman ost, a theme for each Risk of Rain 2 survivor. I thought almost all of them were masterfully made and perfect as is.
And then I joined my first music jam. Redlines Monthly Composing Challenge.
I didn’t do terribly, but boy was I humbled by the feedback.
Ever since that day, I have tried to improve myself constantly as I make new music. Experimenting with new styles, doing more music jams, understanding how to mix properly.
That first music jam was a little under 2 years ago and my growth as a composer has skyrocketed since.
I am so grateful to this community for helping nurture my talents as I create and create and create.
I may have only been composing for a little over 3 years, but here’s hoping I can make that number skyrocket as well.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR LISTENING AND READING!!!