Hot DAMN, bro! This is insane! Such an intense vibe going on. Love the horns, love the backgrounds! And this only took you a few hours? If you're willing to go back and spend a few more hours, I would so love to hear an extended version of this! :D
One nitpick I would make: the string melody gets a little repetitive after a while. But that's a super small critique in comparison to the epic feeling that this thing gives off. Great job!
I'd love to go back and do an extended version! I just felt that I needed to get this out before I messed with it too much and ruined it.
Yeah, the strings are really repetitive. That's definitely my fault. I couldn't think of anything else to do. I'll fix that in the extended version!
Thanks for the review, LE! I'm glad you liked this epic piece!
Wow, great mood-setting and atmosphere in this song! Listening to it fills me with a wistful desire for faraway places. I just love the way you can so clearly emphasize a particular mood with your melodies and instrumentation, and the narrative you wrote in the description is great. The fact that you have super clear mixing doesn't hurt either! :P
Compositionally, you had some great gems. I loved your flute trills, and the bells throughout the song were a great addition! Your melodies and chords are all beautiful and very emotion-striking, but I think the instrumentation in some places was a little thin, and could've benefitted a bit from more background instruments, such as 1:46. Also, the super-loud brass at the end at 3:35 is pretty disruptive and I think kind of disturbs the serene nature of the track. :/
Also, and this is probably a very personal thing, I would've loved to hear some drums in the track! This is probably the drummer in me speaking, but I think the track would've been accentuated with some kind of ethnic percussion or at least some atmospheric details, such as crashes, rolls, or other percussive effects scattered throughout the song.
But overall, this is a really great submission for the NGADM! Amazing creation of mood and atmosphere, great chords and melodies, and a few nitpicks here and there, but an awesome submission overall. Good luck! :) By the way - you probably didn't intend this, but the phrase "Welcome, weary traveler" is the same opening phrase in one of headphoamz's 2013 NGADM submissions, 'Ascension', and I guess that put its serene mood in my head while listening to your piece as well! :D
Wow, thanks for the epic review, LunacyEcho! I'm happy to hear that you love the song's overall atmosphere and my little narrative. And to know that you find the mixing to be super clear is quite simply fantastic.
Oh, those flute trills! I'm very fond of them, and I'm glad to hear that you are, too. Once I added the glockenspiel, I knew that there would have to be some resonant tubular bells, as well. Ultimately, I wanted those thinner sections to be more sparse, though I did try a few other instruments that just didn't fit as well as I'd hoped. And believe it or not, the extra oomph to the brass at the end is fully intended to do just that: disrupt the serenity a little bit right there at the end. It's a meaningful and important addition to me, though I figured it would probably end up being more hit-or-miss with other listeners.
Drums! Well, there's another thing that I considered pretty seriously. Timpani, snare, cymbal crashes...each one was ruled out systematically. Don't think I haven't noticed the distinct lack of percussion in both of my ADM submissions, but I get so tired of all the Stormdrum-driven Cinematic tracks that seem to flood the Audio Portal, and I wanted to prove - if only to myself - that a great track doesn't need to rely on percussion. I guess I'm weird like that. :P
It's funny, while the line "Welcome, weary traveler" was just something that popped in my head as I was writing the Author Comments, it brought Headphoamz's 'Ascenscion' to mind immediately. A truly beautiful song graced with her soulful vocals. So yeah, I really don't mind that being considered as a nod in Elspeth's general direction. Kind of miss her presence around here, to be honest...
Thank you once again for such an incredible review! The competition is fierce this year (and every year), and I'm up against a truly dynamic duo. Whatever happens, it's been a helluva ride.
Oh my god you have no idea how much I LOVE orchestral + electric guitar. These melodies are so uplifting - especially that melodic motif that occurs at 1:21, 1:55, 2:27, 3:36, etc! It's that sixth leap that really gets me every time I hear it. Even though it's played in tons of places throughout the song, the changes in instrumentation make it sound new every time! That melody at 3:00 is also amazing. And the entire guitar solo at 1:05. And basically that entire section from 0:00-4:12. Damn!
I'm also seriously impressed with your drum work. I feel like orchestral drums are a lot harder to get right than electronic (yet another reason I prefer to stick to electronic stuff), but you really nailed those hits that started coming in at 0:33! And then when they began playing in the background along with a rock beat at 1:05, it created a layered drum effect that just sounds so powerful and intense. It's easy to take a beat like that and dehumanize it, but you just take it to a whole new level.
What a well-deserved score in the NGADM. This is the kind of song that makes me happy that the NGADM exists, since it'll basically force you guys to churn out music of this quality for the next few months! :D Good luck, and I hope you make it to the very end! :P
LunacyEcho, thanks man! It's this kind of stuff that is a huge drive for me to keep making music.
We tried hard to keep the melodies fresh, but wanted that continuity throughout the piece. I'm glad that it came through. Also, Josh is responsible for the drumset part at 1:05 and I did the orchestral drums, I think they matched up pretty well! I'm really glad you enjoyed the song, we've got more coming! :D
Dude. LOVE. I've been so impressed with your work since I first heard about you in the NGADM last year (which you probably would've placed even higher than you already did had you not had tech problems!), and this is just amazing! :D
Everyone's already commented on your killer shredding and chugging, but I'm really surprised that no one's commented on that melody at 1:00! I'm gonna disagree slightly with stunkel here (sorry!) and say that that was one of the more memorable melodies of Round 1, in my opinion! One of the things about your tracks last year was that they were a little hard to tell apart - similar instrumentation means that to make a big difference, you gotta make them all memorable in their own way! However, this song is one I'm DEFINITELY going to remember because of that awesome melody! Damn... when it plays filtered at 2:50, it just puts a smile on my face! :D
Great job, dude. Good luck in the rest of NGADM! Not that you need it! ;)
Wow, I didn't expect this from you at all! I know you for cool dance music and cinematic stuff. I didn't know you did metal as well! You're certainly one of the more diverse participants in the NGADM! :P
Anyways, this song sounds like it could've been written by someone like PirateCrab who specializes in metal. The main melody is super nice, and while it sounded a bit repetitive on the first listen, the complexity of the song is really growing on me in subsequent ones. :P The mixing on the song was also pretty good, in my opinion. I guess you could've EQ'd the kick with a little more bass, but I didn't really have any problems with anything else! One thing, though: No killer guitar solo? :D
There's that one synth sound that plays throughout the song, but I felt like you could've added more! I mean, it's not like you don't know how to manipulate electronic sounds, right? :D It's just imo, that spots like 1:42 could have done with a little synth accompaniment - maybe just some little high-pitched details?
Great work with the song! I'm sure the judges will be pleasantly surprised. :P Good luck in the NGADM!
Yeah, this is a really repetitive song, but that wasn't much of an issue to me. I tried EQing the kick, but it never produced a very desirable effect.
I've never been a fan of killer guitar solos, and I don't think I'd be much good at composing one.
I had added more synth bits, but it began to oversaturate the overall song, so I left it out.
Thanks for the review! I really hope the judges like this piece!~
This song is so beautiful o.o The melodies are amazing, and with songs like this, people generally disregard the mixing, but the production quality on this song is great too!
But man, the composition is so good in this song. Everything from that soft beginning to the magical ending was great! There were so many melodic gems. 1:45 in particular stood out for me, since it's a beautiful way of playing some of the simplest notes possible - the first, third, and fifth of a scale. I mean, those three notes can make such nice motifs. Everyone does it - garlagan, that Book Thief movie, the seatbelts jingle on airplanes, etc. - but you made it sound really nice and original here, and I really commend you for that :D
All the strings scattered throughout create so much dynamic variation throughout the piece. 2:29 was another of my favorite moments in the song, because of the intensity of the strings that brought out the melody, and the way you had guitar in so many places just added to the strings/piano combo.
If I were to nitpick at some details, I would probably say that the panning was a little distracting for me, but looking at 1f1n1ty's review, it looks like that's definitely not a problem for other people :D Anyways, great work, and good luck with the NGADM! :)
Hi Man!
Thanks so much!
Ahaha, Yees, sometimes the simplest notes sound so catchy, I had a lot of fun playing that part XD
I'm so happy you like the composition! and the strings and guitar too :D
Thanks again, for everything, your words mean a lot! and looks like we're in the same group XD Good luck to you too with the NGADM! :)
Never Gonna Give You Up - Rick Astley
Indeed. I was actually just about to go review your track. Expect a small review soon ;)
Wow, this song is brilliant! It's got such amazing transitions, like 0:28, 1:47, and 2:22 (which are my favorites)! Glitching transitions are fun, and there's a serious tendency that people have to over-glitch because of the sheer fun-ness of it all, but I think you had the perfect amount in here: enough to make the atmosphere last throughout the entire song but not so much that it becomes overdone.
The sound design here is also great! The drums are definitely excellent, and they sure kept my interest! That percussive hit that plays a bunch during the drum beats and also during the spooky ending sounds so cool. The song also has great low end sounds, I agree with your description. :D The mixing is great, and the sidechaining adds a progressive feeling to the first half of the song. I also loved the effects you added throughout the song that add to the atmosphere, like the scary sound effects at 1:52 that foreshadow the spooky ending!
I think the main way you could make the song even better is melodies. There are lots of chordal sections throughout the song that could be improved with some nice melodies (especially towards the beginning). I thought 0:30 in particular tons of potential for some catchy melodies to be played on top of it. Otherwise, the chords themselves get a little repetitive (although the transitions you have in the section are top-notch and reduce the repetition significantly :D ).
In 1:52, you do start to have some melodies on the organ, but they also seem a little like they're not necessarily being played with the right notes. Then again, it might just be my crappy earphones screwing up again :P
Great song, man! Loved the transitions and the sound design. Good luck!
Thanks for the transition love -- I had fun with those! A little more ambitious for me, I think -- more attention to detail required, but hey if it works it works.
The scary sound you hear at 1:52 can actually be heard as early as 0:57, it's just not as clear because of the pad that's playing at the same time. Fun facts!
I was scared of melodies while making this. I didn't want to ruin a part by adding something in that didn't complement it well enough. The section at 0:30 sounds the most empty, you're right. I'll work on that in the future for sure.
The mini organ solo does have the right notes (that is, the notes are part of the scale I'm using), but a lot of the melody involves "crunchy" chords on purpose for creepy effect -- It's most noticeable at 1:55. The dissonance can be kind of jarring, and if it doesn't flow with you then I understand. I love stuff like that, but sometimes it can feel weird. I don't regret using them in this situation though.
Thanks for the listen!
>listens to 0:41
>WAIT WAIT THIS MELODY IS CATCHY BUT IVE HEARD THIS MELODY BEFORE
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-dvTjK_07c
>laughs hysterically
...but daaamn. Aside from you accidentally turning out to be Usher, this song is so good :D Those solos are rhythmically boring, but sound so groovy and insanely catchy! The way the main melody pans around in the ears during the final solo is not only doubly catchy, but really homes in how good you are at mixing. I think it's a new life goal for me to find clipping in any of your tracks ever. :P
I definitely wouldn't have noticed any differences had you not said you didn't have your keyboard :D Although, upon reflection, the intervals your melodies jump aren't as drastic as they usually are... :P
If I were to give one nitpick to this song, it would be that in a song with amazing 80s bouncy transitions, you could have ended it so climactically with those blasts at 2:54! But they sort of stayed the same volume instead of being a crescendo, so it lost a bit of its momentum and... well, LSD's already commented on the ending. :D
Great song, though! If this is just one of your sketches, I can't wait to see what you put out for NGADM! ;)
Hahahah, the similarity to that Usher song is hilarious. I can't say that I've never heard it before. Maybe like once or twice. I don't think it was even subconscious inspiration, I think it's just a really funny coincidence.
Hmm, I think you might be able to find clipping. It's really easy for me to make a song clip if I'm too lazy to listen to the whole mix right before I upload. One that particularly stands out in my mind is that a preliminary version of Light Up was clipping on practically every single kick. I have no idea why people didn't hate it. Every time I listen to it I cringe, but maybe everyone else thought that was just what the kick sample sounds like? LOL
It was kind of fun to do a quarter note solo because it's kind of a constraint on the form. Like, is it even possible to make a quarter note solo sound good?
The funny thing about the panning melody is that I was like "aw man this is gonna be really hard to mix," but as soon as I panned it it just fit in perfectly and I didn't have to do any work at all. I like it when this happens. ^_^
Ah yeah, it would have been a good idea to crescendo that ending. I was so pleased with myself that I actually came up with a sensible way to end the piece that I didn't even bother doing anything else.
EDIT: God darn you now I can't not hear that stupid Usher song when I listen to this song. RUINED FOREVER. WAY TO GO.
Joined on 8/29/12
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