This is my submission for the Precision OST Jam #1. I chose to do the Level 3 challenge for my composition. 

I composed this as the end credits song for a futuristic farm simulation game called "yield" that's about a grizzled space explorer forced to retire after a freak accident and return to the farm town where he grew up.  Given the time cost of space travel, he feels like a stranger in his own community and has to come to terms with a world that is both familiar and foreign to him.  Friends have moved on and maintaining a farm requires him to study a multitude of new technologies. Unlike a game like Stardew Valley, the protagonist has a baked-in reticence around people and interacting with your neighbors requires constant skill checks to ensure you build relationships and remain open to learning opportunities. By the end of the game, the astronaut turned farmer learns to appreciate the beauty in community through maintaining a life built around reception towards the world around him. 

A recent favorite soundtrack is Minari, which utilizes a lot of haunting vocals, lilting piano, and warm synth pads. By emulating this soundtrack, I wanted to make something infused with melancholy that gradually tipped towards joy. I see the instrumentation in my track as representing different "characters" in the game. The saxophone could be the astronaut; rusty and slightly out of tune but harboring a rich soul. The tinnier vocals in the first portion are the sound of times and friends lost before shifting to a more resounding chorus in the second portion that represent the people now supporting the astronaut. The piano, reflecting the beauty of the natural landscape that envelops the game and the astronaut's memories of space travel, plays a leitmotif that gradually shifts to the chorus towards the end, reflecting how the protagonist has changed perspective to recognize the wonder of the universe in the people around him. The saxophone eventually yields and accepts its place at the end of the track, much like the main character at the end of the game.

I really enjoyed crafting this track and thank you to any who listen!

DAW Screenshot