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Letters by the Sea's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Impression | #4 | 4.421 | 4.421 |
| Quality | #4 | 4.579 | 4.579 |
| Overall | #5 | 4.321 | 4.321 |
| Composition | #7 | 4.474 | 4.474 |
| Storytelling | #14 | 4.237 | 4.237 |
| Creativity | #53 | 3.895 | 3.895 |
Ranked from 38 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Description
Game Description
This project presents the soundtrack for a lighthearted mail-delivery simulator. You play as a young postwoman in a small Mediterranean seaside town during the 1940s. Every morning she waits at the pier as a small boat arrives with the letters, which she then spends the day delivering to the villagers. Gameplay involves light puzzle-like mechanics: figuring out which letter should be delivered first, or identifying the correct recipient. Beneath this simple routine lies an emotional layer: she has never received a letter herself, even though she secretly wishes to be someone’s recipient. The game blends warmth, reflection, and the charm of everyday life by the sea.
Music Commentary
The soundtrack was composed to evoke the coastal, Mediterranean setting of the 1940s. To reflect both the era and the warm seaside atmosphere, I used instruments such as nylon guitar, mandolin, and accordion, alongside woodwinds, trying to achieve a tone that feels at once nostalgic. The inspiration also draws from soundtracks like Octopath Traveler, Gravity Rush, and also animated films from Studio Ghibli, trying to balance JRPG intimacy with slice-of-life charm.
Each track follows the rhythm of the day: a contemplative main theme (Letters by the Sea), a lively piece for the daylight deliveries (Paths of Paper), and a calm nocturnal track for reflection and rest (At Day's End). All three tracks were composed with seamless looping in mind. The goal was to capture the feeling of a bygone era while keeping the mood light, emotional, and immersive.
Composed and produced in Cubase Pro 12.
Message from the artist
Hi everyone!
This is my second time in the Composing Jam. I joined last year and really enjoy the community here, it’s a great chance to try new ideas, give/receive feedback, get out of my usual composing routine, and create new music in the process. I truly appreciate any feedback, and I’ll try to listen to as many soundtracks as I can this week :)
Cheers, and good luck!
Theme
How does it fit the theme?
This music wants to reflect the same calm, nostalgic atmosphere as the jam’s image: a quiet seaside scene that suggests both routine and inner reflection. By using Mediterranean instruments such as nylon guitar, mandolin, accordion, and woodwinds, I aimed to capture the feeling of a peaceful harbor town at dawn, matching the tranquil yet emotional mood evoked by the picture.
Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://soundcloud.com/gianlucafaccilongo/sets/letters-by-the-sea
Number of tracks3
Genre
Soundtrack use permission
For game jams only
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Comments
Back here again after this made it to the top 20! Again, such fantastic work. Thank you for sharing your music with us.
Letters by the Sea: Beautiful strings, reminiscent of BOTW. Dynamics were done pretty well!
Paths of Paper: Nice and bouncy, nails a sort of seaside feel. I love the bass sound and the plucked strings.
At Day's End: Ooh this one is so JRPG I love it. The instrumentation, overall feel, the chords... Really makes me want to pick up a new RPG this moment lol. This is my favorite track here.
Overall get somewhat of an Octopath influence as you said. Great work!
First seconds got me emediatly hooked with that lovely clarinet. The music style is very lovely with a very medeteranian flair that just invites to stay and dream or just nodd their head with the lovely rythm. Composition wise this is also very nicely done with the call and answes of different instruments. Simple but definetly beautifull.
Wonderfull!
Thanks so much! I’m really glad you enjoyed that kind of call and response between the instruments, I had a lot of fun writing it. By the way, I REALLY enjoyed your entry as well, and the game idea was fantastic too!
Wow, fantastic work here! I really love it. I can feel so much heart and energy. I also love the game idea! A poster worker! All three tracks are really fun. Great job with the orchestration and music in general. Really solid work that is fun and lighthearted. Great work! (And congrats on your second entry! It was my second as well!)
Thank you very much for the kind words! And congrats to you as well on this second entry :) I’ll head over to your submission now while there’s still some time left
Fantastic work! The first track reminds me of rito village. The instrument sounds are obviously fantastic and used really well. Where are your orchestral instruments from? All my free orchestras have way too much reverb.
Thanks so much! Most of the orchestral parts are from the Berlin series (Berlin Strings, Berlin Brass, and Berlin Solo Woodwinds), the guitar is from Ample Sound, and percussion from ProjectSAM Swing. I also tend to use the close mics, since sometimes the room sound feels a bit too much to me. They’re actually quite old libraries I got around 10 years ago, but I think they’ve held up really well over time! :)
WOW. Extremely well crafted OST! Stellar mix, beautiful harmonies, orchestration and instrumentation! This soundtrack alone paints an entire picture of a game to go along with it. Excellent work!
A very charming soundtrack that is quite cohesive, including an enjoyable blend of Mediterranean elements with orchestra. I especially loved the melodies and countermelodies of the soundtrack - well done!
Gianluca I wasn't ready for that intro goodness me. I was instantly feeling like I was watching Porco Rosso with that production and quality. Really incredible to see, and I love your interpretation and story that you've developed. I also got a lot of interesting sound influences like in track 2 it made me think of like Professor Layton with the accordian/oboe. Enjoyed listening to this so much and made me feel nostalgic with my love of studio ghibli! Awesome submission!
Oh, thank you so much for that! I really appreciate that it brought you some nostalgia and reminded you of Porco Rosso. Actually, you’re not the first person to mention Professor Layton. Someone mentioned it in the comments and I’ve been listening to it these past few days. It’s truly excellent. I knew the game series but wasn’t very familiar with its music. Thanks a lot for your feedback :)
Your songs are very nice and calming.
These are so beautiful!!! Wow, I am impressed by how professional and well these game out. Fantastic job, seriously!!
Not only have you provided info on how the instrumentation fits the theme, you also provided a short yet understandable story that has more layers than just "girl waits at pier for something". This kind of deeper connection and adaption of the theme is what I like to see in entries.
I also like that there is good variety in the tracks with a calm intro, a fun and bouncy second track, and a cozy third track.
Thank you so much! I really appreciate that you connected with the way I tried to approach the theme. It took me some time to decide on this direction, so I’m really glad it came across :)
What a lovely OST, it has such a warm beauty, that's always followed by a subtle wistfulness. Incredible work! The variety you manage to introduce in this OST, despite keeping such a cohesive atmosphere, is also astounding. I loved listening to every second of your music, thanks so much for sharing!
Thank you for listening and for the kind words! I’m really glad you connected with what I was hoping to evoke. Heading over to your submission now!
oo la la loving the clarinet sound in the first track! really beautiful chord progression introduced in the strings and outlined by the guitar! i like the viola solo later on as well. as someone who has been on the mediterranean coast, you're building the mediterranean seaside vibe very well, i feel like im in france of italy oo
ahh the second track is super nice as well!!! hello oboe! double reed representation ... i like the walking bass and the development of the Paths of Paper based on previous ideas introduced by Letters by the Sea. really nice and relaxing! i like the melodic line being exchanged between the strings, flute, double reed, and accordian. very cohesive and well thought out!!!
again the vibe is quite nice and i like the development of such a different yet similar track with similar instrumentation. the solo lines feel very humanized and i can almost picture an actual soloist playing along. really pulls a good nostalgic feeling out - a really sweet and feel-good track, love it!!!
overall this was a really lovely listen!!! i like your commitment to style and you really symbolized your storyline quite well. really nice listen thank u for sharing :DDDDDD
Thank you so much for the detailed comment and feedback! I’m really glad you enjoyed it. One of my biggest concerns was whether the Mediterranean vibe I wanted to capture would come through, so it makes me very happy to hear that. Thank you for listening, and I really enjoyed your tracks as well! :D
This is quite a lovely soundtrack, really laid back, and I like the way the music is composed, and some great melodic writing.
What sounds or sound libraries did you use for this soundtrack? They sound nice, and are well mixed.
Thank you so much! Glad you liked it :)
The string ensembles are mostly from Berlin Strings (I sometimes layer them with Spitfire Albion), the solo strings from the Iconic series in Spitfire LABS, all the solo woodwinds from Berlin Woodwinds Soloists, the nylon guitar from Ample Sound, and the double bass and percussion mostly from ProjectSAM Swing. In fact, most of these libraries are quite old (except for LABS). I’ve had most of them for almost 10 years, but I think they’ve held up really well over time!
Letters by the Sea: I heard the Octopath Traveler influence right away and fell in love with this track at the same time. You are able to produce that string swell sound so well - in my submission I tried to do something similar and you executed it exactly the way I imagined it! The clarinet melody is wonderful in its own right, but the quality of the clarinet sample you have playing it is also astounding! Such a beautiful track!
Paths of Paper: This is a really special sound that captures exactly what you were going for I think. Those instruments are very well-balanced and I love how they play off each other so seamlessly as if this were a live performance. I love the small inflections on the accordion that feel so “live”. Nice attention to detail!
At Day’s End: The oboe and clarinet duet creates a calm and almost dialogue-like feeling that adds to the feel-good social aspects of the game you describe. Once again, your solo instrumentation and your strings are immaculate!
Overall: This is a beautiful collection of songs that meet the standard of and in many ways surpasses that of the influencing works that you mentioned. These three tracks are some of my favorite interpretations of the theme that I’ve heard in this jam so far! Your composition and production quality are stellar and maintain a level that other composers, such as myself, chase. These are very well done, I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of my three full listens through. Thank you for sharing!
Wow! thank you so much, Blue, for such a detailed and insightful comment.
I really like to use these opportunities to try out new things, while still trying to achieve the same quality as if it were a piece of music I was going to deliver, so it’s really encouraging to hear that you enjoyed it.
I also appreciate you pointing out the dialogue-like feeling between the oboe and clarinet, which was what I was trying to achieve. Oh and btw, all those woodwind solo instruments I used came from the Berlin Woodwinds library, I think they sound amazing even without heavy automation.
I feel honored by such a kind review, and your words mean a lot to me. Your comment really made me smile. Thank you again! :D
This was a welcome OST to listen to at 11pm after coming home from work. Excellent work in creating a gentle, breezy musical environment.
yes!!!!! this might be my favourite submission so far. so well-written, well-produced, and so evocative. this is the type of music that would make me fall in love with a game - speaking of, i so badly want to play this game you've envisioned. absolutely stunning work, and to me, flawless!
wow! Thank you so much for those kind words, it makes me really glad to know it evoked something for you :)
Very cozy and wholesome vibes here! Your arrangements are all beautiful and I can hear the Octopath and Ghibli inspiration. To be honest I don't have much else to add, this is a brilliant submission
Seriously love this one, perfectly encapsulates the theme interpretation and it was very well done. Also could really hear the inspirations in it!
Your instrument choices gave me Professor Layton vibes. I definitely got a feeling of "city by the sea" from the OST. Lovely sounding overall, nice work!
Thank you so much for that! I had heard about the game series before but never really took the time to listen to the soundtrack, I just listened to some of it and I loved it. It’ll probably be in my listening playlist for the next few days. Really appreciate it!