=> rushed because work =>
=> five minutes long =>
ALL THE LOGICS
Like LSD said, it seems so empty! Although layers would probably require work into May. :P Otherwise, I quite like the song. Funnily enough, my least favorite part (other than the ending, which we've all gotten used to by now) was probably the breakdown. It sounded beautiful, but it was WAY too jazzy for the rest of the song. :P
Still, good work! It's great that you're still working on stuff, even though you're so busy. Thanks for making this such a priority!
Fun fax: When I did NGADM, the length of my entry was a direct inverse correlation to the amount of time I spent on the tracks. In other words, the longer I have, the shorter my tracks get. Usually my process is to sketch out a bunch of ideas really quickly, then gradually refine and shorten them. In this songs' case I really only spent about 2 hours on it. I try not to tell people how long I take any more because then they'll totally judge me for how lazy I am :P :P :P
> empty
Well space is empty isn't it <insert evil laughter here>
But I take your point. Probably bad mixing. haha
> WAY too jazzy
I just can't resist. My fingers hit notes and they end up being jazzy notes. Hehaheh.
> Thanks for making this such a priority!
I don't think I could ever stop writing music at this point. Thank YOU for making the process a little less lonely :)
So this is the finished product! Good job. Glad to see you took our suggestions!
This sounds a lot like it would play in the background of a movie where the main characters are at a club. It doesn't have as much crunch or resonance as typical dance music does these days, but would sound good as background club music. If it were me, I'd put it under dance, but this does make for very nice trance music as well.
The first part of the song sounds a bit repetitive, but from 2:11 onwards, the song just sounds absolutely awesome. I think you could probably make it denser with some stronger pads, but the overall effect is very nice. Great work!
"This sounds a lot like it would play in the background of a movie where the main characters are at a club."
I can't imagine that scenery, however, I rarely watch movies.
"The first part of the song sounds a bit repetitive, but from 2:11 onwards, the song just sounds absolutely awesome."
I feel almost the opposite way, lol. I think the first half of the song is a lot better than the second half. It's nice to know other people's views on the song though.
"I think you could probably make it denser with some stronger pads"
It is extremely difficult to work with pads while I am mixing. If I make the pads too loud, it ruins the leads, and if I make them too low, people want it to be louder. I will probably ask someone with more experience than me for help on this topic.
Loops! I think you should take pride in the fact that your loops do so almost perfectly. Not many musicians can say that.
This one sounds extremely eerie, with some really cool sound effects. The main melody, played by some sort of theremin-like instrument, sounds really nice with the rest of the song. The background strings and the rest of the ambient, reverb-heavy stuff create a really nice atmosphere.
You say you were practicing your bass? Well, I think you should probably make it louder. I could barely hear it as it is, with everything else going on around it. Although, from what I heard, it sounded fine.
I can easily see how this was based off of Elitistinen (except for the fact that it was so short :P ). I keep thinking you two know each other from outside the website or that you're both Finnish or something since you have such similar DPs.
It doesn't suck completely! I wish it was longer. You know, come to think of it, the melody does sound 3/4. Strange.
This song belongs under bluegrass. EVERY SONG IS BLUEGRASS.
The only reason my loops work okay is that I figured out the secret behind making somewhat smooth loops with Cubase (at least my own version of it...). There are actually only two steps! First, it always helps to hame some kind of a loud noise in the very beginning! I think that some kind of drums often do the trick. The other one is: I actually duplicate my loop in Cubase before I export it. That means that the file that I get actually plays the whole thing twice. Then I put the audio into audacity, and cut off the first half. That way, all the reverb and delays/echos and other stuff that remains from the end of the song is played in the beginning. I'm sure there's some other way to do it, but this is my way :3
I put such a deep filter on the melody instrument that it's creator could not recognize it though! I do love theremins, which is why I liked the sound I got :)
I love eerie songs too, and I tend to use extreme amounts of reverb!
"You say you were practicing your bass? Well, I think you should probably make it louder."
=> Actually, I phrased myself poorly. You can clearly hear it, you probably don't realize it's originally a bass though. First of all, it was a synth bass. But I put so many effects on it, and ran it through some other VST:s to get the sound I wanted. That whole jumpy thing in the background is actually the synth bass! Even so, one can also hear the RAW bass sound in there, if one focuses, which I think is what you're referring to :)
I'm glad you can see that this was based off of Elitistinen, since that was part of what I was aiming for :3
"except for the fact that it was so short :P"
=> BOOM! HEADSHOT!!
Well, Elitistinen is Finnish, even though he lives in Canada XD We don't know eachother from off the web, but we've talked some on the web :'D
You feel like the melody sounds like 3/4!!? I feel so too! Strange indeed...
I almost want to put this under blugrass now. Almost.
Not sure if this is bad or good, but to me, it sounds a lot more like dance music than trance music. Or maybe it's a combination of both? Drance music?
One thing I'd like to point out: the tune that comes in at 0:53 shouldn't have that weird jump on its second beat. It just doesn't sound right; You should probably change it so that it fits to the beat. Other than that, this sounds great! I can't wait until it's finished.
Wait, so you had a couple of tracks written ahead of time specially for a situation in which you knew would be coming, but chose to wait over half a month to publish them? :D
This is such a groovy song. I really like all the sounds that you used, especially the "sliding percussion" that steampianist referred to, although it did get pretty repetitive after a while. In fact, the whole song was pretty repetitive, but it's fun to listen to, so that doesn't matter very much.
I'm surprised you didn't add any glitches; they would've worked so well in your return to chipstep. I guess it would've taken too much time. Repetition typically means that one is very busy, and I can see that you wouldn't too much free time, what with preparations with your new job and all.
I like the song, but perhaps it would be better with more progression, or perhaps a bigger climax. (That ending seemed a bit sudden as well, but seeing as it's you, I consider it a success. :P) Good work!
> Wait, so you had a couple of tracks written ahead of time specially for a situation in which you knew would be coming, but chose to wait over half a month to publish them? :D
Haha you make me sound like a slacker. Oh wait... I am a slacker... oops. The real truth is that this is the only one of the songs that I consider to be 100% done. The rest need some fixing and I haven't really found the time to do that yet.
> glitches
Hah I didn't even think about it. Maybe subconsciously I thought I was abusing them :P:P
> progression, or perhaps a bigger climax
The funny thing about this song is that it actually progresses quite a bit more than most of my songs. It has two different chord progressions, plus that weird middle section where I do new stuff. However, it doesn't SEEM like it progresses as much because, like you said, there's no definitive climax or buildup at all. That was actually like halfway a deliberate choice, because coda (my inspiration) doesn't have climaxes either. He makes up for it with really epic melodies though. haha
Maybe April is Japanese influences month? Although you might not get much out of it. April-May, maybe?
I can totally hear the two parts, and the buildup at ~1:30. I think the synth that builds up in that section ought to sustain for the entire buildup. I know that having a small break right before the climax is often a cool musical technique, but I really think that was the right kind of climax to use it in. Also, you used it again at around 2:50 and it began to sound repetitive. You often use really cool techniques, but you can only use them so many times before they get repetitive.
Speaking of repetitive, even though the drum patterns (especially the hi-hats) repeated a lot, I quite enjoyed them. I'm not sure if it's the Japanese reference in the description, but they sounded oriental, especially when combined with the flute. If you could vary the hi-hats a bit more, it'd sound even better!
As I went into the buildup at 1:30, I noticed that you added lots of small background synth notes. I don't really think they fit that well, to be honest. Maybe it was their pitch. The part at 1:38, directly after the climax, sounded like great background music, but could really have used a driving melody. I really liked the quick synths that you used there, though.
Anyways, great work. I hope this means that you'll make more songs soon! Good luck at your new job!
> Maybe April is Japanese influences month? Although you might not get much out of it. April-May, maybe?
Every month is Japanese influence month!!! :D I think Yasunori Mitsuda is probably my #1 influence at this point.
Unless something weird happens, I think that April is just going to be straight up influences month. (also drums month... every month is drums month lol) I mean, I always was heavily influenced by other people, but I'm trying to diversify the people that I'm taking influence from now. You'll see when I get around to releasing more of my unreleased tracks...
> Also, you used it again at around 2:50 and it began to sound repetitive
Yeah, sheer laziness. Also, my worry that if I didn't wrap it up before I went to work I'd never release it haha. But you're right, I should learn to be more original with my buildups! :P
> I don't really think they fit that well, to be honest
Yeah I couldn't get them to work just right. I don't know why I kept them in, I think it was because I initially liked them. Oh well heh.
> but could really have used a driving melody
Yeah that flute needed more presence and less randomness for sure.
Thanks for the review! Gonna try to make more songz
This is such a beautiful song. It's people like you that can bring the best out of vocaloids, even if some people say that they're for the talentless.
I love how you covered so many genres here. It's extremely progressive, without a chorus, and going into tons of different styles in sequence. Some sections sound melancholy, some sound exciting, and the part between 1:49 and 3:54 sounds like it could've been in the Pokemon RSE soundtrack.
How long did it take you to make this? Because if it took less than two weeks, this type of song would definitely be a huge contender in NGADM '14.
Sorry if this sounds blunt, but, frankly, I was bored. :/ It had a beautiful atmosphere and the instrumentation was great, but I was bored. Except for the breakdown towards the end, there was just no change in anything except chords. The rhythm was the same, the instruments were the same, the pattern was the same, etc. There was an introduction of strings near the end, which added a bit of alteration, but not much. I have no idea what drugs RealFaction is on. This wasn't melodic at all; there wasn't even a melody!
Now that I've gotten that out of the way, I can compliment this a bit more!
It does an amazing job of reflecting the piece. It sounds like it could be lonely, yet peaceful. A light drift of snow, with giant mountains looming all around you. This doesn't work very well as a standalone piece, but it'd be great background music for, say, a movie scene in a snowbound world.
Your chord progressions were nice-sounding as usual, and your instrument choices were very ambient and fit the frostiness.
I don't really think you need to stress out about the percussion so much. I could barely hear it; it blended in well with the deep piano chords you had going at the same time (I think). They sounded good together, and since they seem more like an ornamentation, it wouldn't make that much of a difference to the piece if you couldn't hear it. I think you should keep it in.
Good job and good luck! Sorry about the harshness.
Haha, there's no need to worry about harshness :p I mostly agree with you anyway XD
"Bored, same instruments, same rythm, etc."
=> Yup. This is true. That is what happens if you're me, and you try to enter a contest a cuple of days before it ends! If I had more time, I'd naturally still keep the same chord progression, but I'd add more instruments, and a few melodic parts. But not too much melody, as this IS intended to be background music/athmospherical. It's not really supposed to be a standalone piece, unless you want to just be relaxed. I was mostly inspired by the artpiece, but after I had recorded the piano, I realized that I must have been subconsciously inspired by broove as well, probably because I played "Pine" and "ALZ" by Dylan :3 (Where broove's music is used as background music).
I'm not really on his level at all yet though :)
Actually, the strings are playing very subtly the entire time, unless you're talking about the part at the very end after the breakdown with only piano. At points though, I moved them an octave higher, which allows them to be heard better, since the bass from the low notes from the piano doesn't interfere as much! So maybe that was what you were talking about :p
"drugs"
=> Hahha, I'm pretty sure he just wanted to say something, and said the first thing that came to mind. I can imagine one pretty much runs out of things to say when you're judging so many songs in such a short time! XD Well, to be fair, there is actually a bit of melody in this piece. Especially in the intro and in the solo piano part, but also in pretty much all the transitions. But I kinda agree with you still!
"Now that I've gotten that out of the way, I can compliment this a bit more!"
=> Yay :'D
I'm glad to see that you too think I did well in reflecting the piece! Actually, I'd say this song is purely meant as background music, at least at the moment. I tried doing other stuff like writing while looping it, and it didn't really bother me at all, simply because there's not many changes that can distract you from what you're doing. I basically wanted to portray that beautiful winter landscape :3
To be honest, I think that a couple of my chord progressions were a bit cheap and/or overused, but I'm happy with most of them :)
"Instrument choices"
=> You should have heard the strings and percussion before I added tons of reverb, put on a deep filter and lowered their volumes XD The piano is really what makes this piece, I think.
"No need to stress about the percussion"
=> Maybe not :/ The pure reason for why I made the drums almost unhearable is that I couldn't stand to hear them! I actually thought they were okay at first, until I accidentally heard on of the drums as a heartbeat instead of as a single hit. Now I can not unhear it, and I hear a heartbeat every measure :(
Also, I happen to know you have good headphones, but I always want to check my tracks with my poor headphones after I'm finished. And GOD DAMN! I couldn't even take the song seriously with them, as the percussion sounded so weird! The speakers on my laptop don't even play them at all though; not so that one can hear them :3
But I somehow told myself to keep them in anyway :D
Once again, don't worry about the harshness. I think we both enjoy critical reviews, as long as they are honest! Thanks again for being such an epic reviewer!
Ps. I think you could have made a great song, had you entered :) It's a shame you didn't, as I think you could've done well. The amount of amazing compositions are baffling though. My personal favorite is Steampianist's song!
nah i dont want the jazz people to be "displeased and explain why this isnt jazz" and then link me some coltrane or miles davis.. hehe thanks for the review btw
Well, it loops nicely and has a spacey feel to it. What more could you ask in a "Space Loop"?
The sounds are a lot higher quality, but I guess that should've been obvious since you weren't recording this time.
Personally, I don't really enjoy open hi-hats when used in such a way, but eh. The kick and snare seemed great, although I think the snare could have been a little more sharp.
The synths and melodies sounded very nice. Can't really complain there. The loop was also almost perfect.
Indeed. Want to know a secret? I'm actually really bad at coming up with names, so they're almost always dull :3
Yeah. The sounds ought to be of higher quality than usually. I didn't even use my synth/piano to record the midi, just my keyboard (get it :3?)... And my mousepad...
Oh yeah, you're a drummer! You're probably right about everything you said. I wish I knew how to do stuff with drums :p One day I shall learn! (Guess who just randomly selected some drums, and pressed here and there in the piano roll to see how things sounded, and didn't have any idea how to mix it all afterwards?)
Some of the presets in the synths sounded pretty nice, so I didn't really do anything to them. Except of course, up the drive on one at the halfway point, and EQ the other. As for the melodies, I'm pretty happy, even if this is waaaaaay too short.
I think I finally figured out how to make somewhat smooth loops! The only problem is that the very beginning of the song needs to play the remaining reverb from the last part, which makes the start of the first loop sound a bit odd :p
Not much can be said since this loop is so short again. Even if I'd happen to make another short loop, I'll make sure to upload something longer/better next time. Promises, promises...
It'll be fun to see what you'll upload next time ;)
deep space 
Hope 
Loop Oddity 
The Umbrella Salesman 
When It's Cold 
Fox-trot Fletcher 
Space Loop 
