This sounds so neat and spacey! (I know others have said that too, but really, 'spacey' describes your music so well.)
I really loved the instrumentation you've got going on here. You've got all these almost psychedelic synths that are just really soft and work really well with the reverb-ful drums and pads and whatever panning gritty spacey effect that is that comes in at 2:04. Speaking of 2:04, though, it felt like some of your transitions were a bit forced. 2:04 comes to mind, and so does 2:47. (although I really liked the one you had at 3:16!) Also speaking of 2:04, The melodies there felt like they lacked... something. I don't really think I'm qualified enough to give you specific melodic advice, but here's a bit of melody advice that I find really helpful (hey, that author looks familiar!) - http://www.reddit.com/r/edmproduction/comments/1wmtzy/tips_on_writing_melodies/
At 2:47 when the track changes up the most, those eighth note hits were a bit jarring the first time I heard the song, but I've come to enjoy them after listening a few times, especially with the really creative drum fills behind them. I didn't really see a problem with your drum EQs throughout the piece (except for maybe that 2:47 thing being a bit too loud), and the rest of your mixing was pretty nice.
Glad you dig the arrangement. Transitions are kind of bleh, especially 2:47, I agree. Why do these things make sense to me when I do them, but are so easy to pick apart in retrospect? I need to practice more.
The melody at 2:04 is sort of a play off of the bass line from the beginning part. It's...well...it's there. Thanks for the johnfn link -- I read it over, and will probably reference it later too. I do play the tenor saxophone, but I haven't touched it in a while. Probably going to pick up piano lessons in the summer when I have time. Can't believe I haven't done that yet actually.
I really like that delay, so the fact that you pointed it out at all is good enough for me. The mixing is really bad, again, in retrospect. Sounds like someone's holding a blanket over my song. I tried some things that didn't end up helping me all that much, but made sense at the time, I can assure you!
Back to the, uh, mixing board.
I enjoyed your NGAUC piece! Knew I recognized you from somewhere...
Man, this song has got so much awesome going on! That sweeping noise, the lonely plucks, the ominous strings, the deep voice, the seriously well-done anticlimax, and that sexy down lift. And that's just the first thirty seconds! This is seriously a really awesome techno song. In fact, I might even go and call this industrial, since it fits the dark vibe industrial normally has.
Even if the chord progression is a bit cliche, I still love the main melody you've got going on there, and the extra synths you layer onto it sound great. I felt that 1:32 could've used a better transition, and that the next climax at 1:47 could've used some variation from the previous one, but other than that, the song's great! I love it. :D
Once again, I have to compliment you on your melodies and chords, which have done nothing but improve in the last few tracks I've seen you upload. :D
That drum beat of yours is pretty cool. I love how you used all three hat sounds in such a rhythmic manner. Even though LSD thought the piece was pretty repetitive, the interestingness of the drum beat kept me un-bored throughout the whole song. (Although I am a drummer. So hey, what do i know.)
The other instruments you used fit really well with the piece and were pretty well mixed. That high plucky synth felt somewhat comedic and made me smile, and that "chill atmospheric synth guitar" (well, whatever instrument came in at 0:40) is similar to stuff you've used before, right? It sounds a bit like the bells you've used in previous songs and serves the same purpose, which sounds great!
If I were to nitpick a few things, the bass automation at 1:17 is a little disconcerting. It's like it just randomly dropped out, and even though it builds back in, I think it could've been eased into the automation a bit better. Same goes for the higher synth at 2:15.
Anyways, great work, TL! You're definitely getting better. :D
Thanks so much, LunacyEcho! :D I'm glad you liked the melodies and chords, although in my opinion how the harmonies come together at :45 (and other places) is the highlight of this piece more so than any individual element (as you refer to later in your review). It was my hope that the drum beat would keep this piece interesting, so I'm glad you thought that it did. ;) I didn't really consider that the high pizzicatos would have a comedic effect, but I can understand why they did for you. :) I have indeed used similar instruments to the "chill atmospheric synth guitar," probably in "Cut Me Some Slack." I see what you mean with the automations (although the only thing I automated there was the volume). I'll try to think more about shaping my transitions a bit better in the future. Thanks again LE! :D
Whoa. This is not something I expected to hear from you! Cool.
I'm afraid I can't say much about the chord progression because I'm horribly bad at analyzing those, but to my untrained ears, it sounded really great! It felt original and emotional, and if you turned that into a full song, I'm sure people would praise its composition.
Needless to say, for now, since it's just chords and some orchestral samples, it isn't your best song. But I think the emotion in it has a lot of potential! Even if it is about coffee. Blegh. Bitter swill.
Lol, I love how this still has a rating of 5 somehow, by 3 people too XD
I try to be versatile.
I love the chord progression here. It seems so simple, yet, it uses several interesting things. A lot of the times, there are three whole notes right next to each other, even at the top where the melody is. I also used pretty much every fitting variant of progression for the chords I used, and played similar melodies while I switched the order up.
This is truly meant to be a sarcastically emotional piece. I can see how it could really affect people if produced properly. It'd just take so much work, and I'd have no idea where to start.
"I always try not to make my piano compositions somewhat unlike each other, even if there's still a very noticable style in all of them."
This is pretty accurate. :P When listening to this song, one of the things that jumped out at me was that in the 'verses' (not sure what else the call them), you use the "play eighth arpeggios with left hand and play quarter chords with right" technique quite a lot. I remember it well from trying to learn Misguided Passion! The awesome part is, it still flows into the wonderfully progressive second half.
You have tons of amazing flourishes as well. I can't imagine how long 1:13 took to learn, and 1:31 is just beautiful (although it feels like the key transition here is forced a bit). I also love the rhythmic focus the song gains at around 2:03, since even though you wrote it a long time ago, it still feels like you're listening to my advice about rhythmic variation. :P
That ending is also very beautifully written. Although, come to think about it, it would've been cool if it went back to the same register the intro had. In fact, it would be so cool if the ending was just an inverted version of the intro. Actually, that's given me an idea - a palindromic song! I will do this soon. :D
The one critique I think it's within my scope to give you about this piece is that in Newgrounds song titles, 'special' characters don't show up in the audio player display. I can only see "- Hont no ao", not the full title. It seems a bit English-centric, but there you go. :/
This was such a great song. I can't wait to hear what else you've got in store for us if you've been hiding stuff like this! :P
Well, the "verses" could be said to be divided into two parts, and there's 4 "verses", so basically 8 parts. Aside from that, there's the middle part, and the long outro.
So basically:
Verse 1, part 1: 0:00-0:22, verse 1, part 2: 0:22-0:42.
Verse 2, part 1: 0:44-0:59, verse 2, part 2: 0:59-1:15.
Verse 3, only part: 1:15-1:31.
Interlude: 1:31-2:03.
Verse 4, part 1: 2:03-2:19, verse 2, part 2: 2:19-2:36.
Long outro: 2:36-3:06.
That's how I see it.
The rhythm is pretty different in the fourth verse though.
This is unsusually repetitive for having been made by me, insn't it? The truth is that in all the version, the chords are actually different at some parts, or a variation of the same chords, and while the melodies are similar, they are varied as well. I have no idea what I'm doing while I'm composing :p Things just happen, and I try to never let a part be exactly the same as an earlier one, unless it REALLY adds to the song. Though it's exactly the same, it's like Phonometrologist said. What comes before and after the part, makes it sound different, even if it's entirely alike another part in everything (paraphrasing).
Actually, I'm mostly playing triple chords with the right hand in the verses, although there are indeed some quarter ones. I think I know why it sounds like I'm playing quarters though. Most of the chords in this piece are not basic, but are more like D7, EbMaj7, FAdd9 and such. Several times, I only play the Bass note on the left hand, while not even including it in the right hand, which may give the illusion of a Quarter chord being played with the right hand. For example, I probably played a CmAdd9 with C in the left hand, and then Eb, G, and D in the right hand. I'm not sure if I exmplained it well enough, but meh.
Unless you meant something else by "quarter chords with the right hand", of course. Granted, they're here and there. They require quite a bit more precision though, especially if it takes a lot of stretching!
Hahha, thanks for playing "Misguided Passion", it's definitely one of my personal favorites :3
Oh, you realized that 1:13 isn't easy! Well done! It's actually more difficult than 1:31 (possibly because I've practised the beginning of the third movement of Moonlight Sonata...)
The things with 1:13 is that I struggled to get it played in the right rhythm. I am using both hands for this, so it usually works okay. I usually play all my pieces at least 100 times before recording them though, so to the most parts, I don't need to practice specific parts XD
The forcefullness of 1:31 is kinda intended.
Especially the key change at 1:35!
The rhythm just happened to be there. This is one of my later songs, despite being about 15 months old (damn army -_-), so it's automatically more rhythmically varied than the even older stuff I posted while in the army! I should still vary things more rhythmically than I usually do though, so it's great advice!
I was afraid people would think that the ending was draged out, but that's the way I wanted it to be. I see what you mean, and it would actually make sense with how I see this song!
The story is this: A person goes on a years long journey to find something very special, but at the end of the song, the person realizes that what she/he has been looking for, has been in front of his/her nose all along, after which the journey comes to and end, and the composition calms down! It would make sense to have the song end where it started, as the person would be back to the same point where the journey started. Then again, maybe the person lerned something, which is why the ending is different from the beginning ;)
Either way, cool idea! Good luck with that :D
Yeah. Same goes for "Älvjakt" by me. It doesn't bother me much though. The full title is "本当の青空 - Hontō no aozora" anyway. At least the page is able to show it, which is nice.
Hehheh. I still have a few compositions left. Although some are old, it can be fun to see how my style has developed. Some have very jumpy transitions too, and some are very rhythmically unchanging. Apart from that, many of them are actually pretty good!
Firstly, let me tell you it annoys me that LSD didn't use the right terminology for the first entry in his sequence.
Man, these buildups are pretty amazing. That's probably the biggest thing that impacts me out of this song - how nice the buildups are, and how different they are from your usual... I dunno how to say it. 'Minimalism'? But that seems weird. Anyways, the buildups and just transitions in general here are really great. The one that starts with the volume automation at 2:20 is probably my favorite. :) (trying not to make a 'multiple climaxes' joke here)
The melodies in the rest of the song are pretty good, too! No clashing notes, although I wouldn't really call any of them very 'big room' - except for maybe the melodies that play right after the drops. I've always found anticlimaxes in music a bit uncomfortable, but these feel pretty good to me. The general progression that the song goes through is pretty interesting. It starts getting into a nice groove around 2:05, then it gets destroyed in the climax (not a bad thing) and reshaped into 2:35, which starts progressing forward itself.
Instrument-wise, you do a pretty good job keeping the song full-sounding in most places! I'd suggest something chord or a pad during emptier parts, like 00:16 or others like it. There aren't very many of them in the piece, though, which is great! And then there's that random ending, too. :P
Good job! You really are progressing in your composition. It's great to watch. Looking forward to whatever you've got next! :D
Haha, thanks LE! :D I'm really glad you liked the build-ups and transitions, and I agree that they are quite a bit different from my usual style. Yeah, the drops were definitely the most "big room-ish" element of the piece. ;) I kinda wanted to do more with 2:05 myself, but I thought the song was already long enough as it was. It's great to hear that you liked the texture, although I think the emptiness at :16 and the "random ending" speak to how you didn't use headphones to listen to this. The sub-bass comes in at :16, and the random ending is the same riff that's been playing in the sub-bass for almost the whole piece. ;D I'm really glad you think my composition skills are improving, though! Thanks again for the review, Echo of Lunacy! ^^
Ooh, this is delightfully creepy! It's a pretty good ambient track. I really love all the different effects you added, like the static and those percussive hits around 2:48. Seriously, you have a very good instinct for details when you make songs like these in Cubase. Minimalism just isn't in your electronic music, it seems. :)
The thing about this song is that if it's going to be used as background music, there might be a little TOO much variation. Seeing as this is an ambient song, that normally wouldn't be a questionable thing, but for background music, you normally want the listeners to be able to listen to it without distraction from the game while the song still contributes to the ambience. Super-loud parts like 2:35 and 2:47, the loud static, the unconventional rhythmic parts at 1:30, and the soundlessness at the end all contribute to a really amazing ambient song that deserves 5 stars as a song itself, but I'm not too sure how it would be as background music. Knowing you, though... I'm sure you'll find a way to make it work!
Great job, LSD! Now that you've said it, you should definitely have a 'picking flowers' side objective in your game. If it's a puzzle game like your other two, you could have flowers in places that would be 'hard-to-find' alternate solutions, like stars in Cut the Rope. :P Can't wait for the game!
Why thank you! Don't you just love it when something gets so uneasy that you can't help but love it?
Those "percussive" hits actually consist of me gently touching crystal glasses containing different amounts of water, with a knife. After that; lots of reverb, a heavy filter, and some panning. They would've sounded like crap otherwise. If you listen closely at examplewise 2:42, you can actually hear me rubbing my finger at the edges of the glasses too :p
I'm sure I'll do something minimalistic evenntually as well, but you're right; I do love detail :)
"The thing about this song is that if it's going to be used as background music, there might be a little TOO much variation."
=> HAH! I knew that you would be the first to point this out >:D
Luckily, I've prepared my defence ;)
In a way, you are right. There are some places that really stand out in this piece. That said, I actually tried listening to this track on loop while reading and writing, and it worked really well; I wasn't distracted much at all. And I know this will work in the game too, as it will be a (spoiler) text based adventure game! So reading and writing is precisely what you'll be doing while this track plays. And in such a game, the music is a great addition, as you only have the text and the music to set the mood. There will be no other sounds in the game.
For the same reason, I wanted the piece to be divided into completely different parts. There's the part with the pads at the beginning, then there are isntruments like the piano and a filtered violin (definitely my favorite part), after that it's the organ, choir, and HEAVILY edited harmonica, and finally there's the "static and sound effects" part. The sections have slightly different moods as well. One of the points is to get the listener off-guard, and perhaps even somewhat uncomfortable at times. Similar sounding songs easily become part of the backgound, and are filtered away by the brain. But if things are constantly changing, every now and then you'll start thinking about the music for a few seconds again, although there may be several minutes in between!
So that is my thought process and counterargument. As you said, I have an instinct for detail ;)
You actually gave me a good idea. I thought of a nice way to implement an alternate ending, where you can pick flowers! (in text form, naturally, and perhaps a nice picture and a happy theme in the background!). I can't tell you though. It has to be a thing where 5% of people playing at the very most get that ending, as it sure isn't the intended one. Thanks for the idea! (I can't promise it'll make it into the final installment though).
It's kind of a puzzle/mystery (small bits of... Horror?) game. I can't wait for it to be made either!
But is it really variation if it was written a year ago? :P
I can't believe it's been this long and you're still uploading old stuff. How many songs on tap do you have?! Also, 2:00 is amazing. The different dynamics and accentuations you used here are absolutely brilliant; this is probably my favorite song of yours in terms of the way you physically play it. It's so energetic and lively!
Maybe you can outdo it this year, hmm? ;) Have fun on your cruise!
Meh, I think it's still variation :3 Afterall, the recording was done just some days ago, and it's still pretty different from my usual piano compositions. That said, I intend to compose something slightly different again as soon as I get inspiration or the right motivation for it ;)
"How many songs on tap do you have?! "
=> Unlimited.
No, but seriously, I still have around 20 or so (at the very least) songs I could upload, if I recorded them into some kind of sense making format (like with this one). I am going to upload some of them, but many will remain un-uploaded :p
I'm glad you like 2:00! I tried a lot of weird stuff while composing this piece, and didn't really give a fuck about how it progressed, which is why there's a lot of weird and jumpy transitions and such. I think it worked out in the end :D
I'm going to try to out do this, and thanks, the cruise was great!!!
Okay, to be honest, it's not the BEST stuff on Newgrounds. But hot damn! This is pretty amazing based on your experience with DAWs. I guess your skilled ability in composition really makes up for it. :)
It's such a progressive song. Transitions are really key in songs like this, and you really pulled some of them off. A few seem a little forced (especially the ones for really drastic changes, like 1:18, 2:01, 2:45, etc.), but mostly, they're really smooth and still manage to let such different ideas flow so well.
The melodies are amazing as usual. Also, it got slower! Personally, I think it might sound better if it were sped up a bit. ;)
Amazing work! Keep working at the stuff with DAWs, and you'll be real pro in no time. You're doing well at stuff like automations and effects - if I were you, I'd try learning more about effective ways of mixing and stuff. Good luck! :D
Hahha, if this was among the best stuff on Newgrounds, I might as well try to search for a job in movie and game score production XD Thanks for the honesty ;)
It's great that you think it's good based on my experience though! I wish to get even more experienced for sure.
Yeah, I totally get that the transitions could be better, especially at those spots. I actually had 2:45 working really well at first, as the reverse cymbal got a weird accidental glitch which made it sound amazing! Sadly, upon opening the project the next time, the error had been fixed automatically, which actually made it sound worse :( I didn't manage to recreate it either :p
Ahh, you noticed that this is slower than previous verions :) I had a real though time deciding the tempo for this piece o.O I eventually settled for a simple 100 bmp, but I can see how it works as a faster piece too (My issue was that the speed took some of the dreaminess away imo).
Thanks for the confidence boost! I'll keep working with Cubase, and probably get myself a better verion eventually. I think you're right about the mixing. I should try to learn how to mix properly. I'm actually thinking about asking my piano teacher (with whom I'll have my first lesson in more than a year tomorrow!) to screw the piano for a while, and try to teach me mixing skills XD Let's see how that goes :3
Stardust 
From The Dark Generation 
T-Logic - Influx 
Spoiled Coffee 
本当の青空 - Hontō no ao 
T-Logic - Throttle 
Vos Postergum 
Abrakazam 
The Last Dance 
