I think you deserve some good reviews because of all the work you did on NGADM :D
This is really great.
I'm definitely hearing some stylistic similarities to The Festival. The first half is chill, the second half is much more upbeat. In the Festival I found that the first half was a little lacking in melodic interest, but I think you improved on that a lot in the first half of this song. I particularly like the light piano melody at :42.
There's a buildup at :42 that doesn't really go anywhere and a bit of a quiet gap before the piano starts up at :49. I'm not sure how I feel about it. It works, but at the same time I found myself wondering if it was intentional.
Hats at :49 stand out a little bit. Would be better if you introduced them as the piano is going rather than in silence. Or maybe a touch of reverb on them when they aren't backed by very much. Or just turn down the volume a tiny bit.
I would love just a tiny bit more going on at 1:11. Like a subtle countermelody going would improve it a little I think. I like how it sounds right now, but after the buildup it sounds a tiny (just a tiny!) bit empty. I like the syncopated white noise here.
The lead at 1:30 is really really awesome. (Is that my influence? Heheh.) The vibrato was a brilliant touch. The chord progression is really unique and delightful. (I had to open up the DAW to figure out what it was. C# -> E -> B -> C#. Interesting... Shouldn't that C be a minor? How does that even music-theoretically work? I don't know a lot of music theory. Sounds great though.) My biggest critique for this song was that I think that the solo could be double it's current length. It's so awesome I want more! I was really really hoping for it to soar (heh) into an upper octave and do some stuff up there. This is a problem we've discussed before >:D Though I really like how you come down from the solo with the piano riff you introduced before.
I really like the idea of bitcrushing your white noise. It adds a lot of flavor and crunchiness to the mix. I can see myself using that in the future! Your use of the noise throughout the whole track is well done.
Awesome stuff. Would play this game just to listen to the soundtrack ;-)
Oh man, thanks a lot for yet another detailed review! These really make my day.
"I think you deserve some good reviews because of all the work you did on NGADM :D"
Aww how thoughtful ^_^.
"I'm definitely hearing some stylistic similarities to The Festival. The first half is chill, the second half is much more upbeat. In the Festival I found that the first half was a little lacking in melodic interest, but I think you improved on that a lot in the first half of this song. I particularly like the light piano melody at :42."
Two friends of mine tell me that the intro of The Festival is the only reason why people should listen to the track, because the second half isn't as good. Others tell me the second half is much better. To be honest I agree mostly with you lol. This is indeed following that same style of "first half mellow, second half upbeat". I also included a melody from the intro of The Festival.
"There's a buildup at :42 that doesn't really go anywhere and a bit of a quiet gap before the piano starts up at :49. I'm not sure how I feel about it. It works, but at the same time I found myself wondering if it was intentional."
I actually love how that transitions haha. It's a similar transition to the one in The Festival, where everything builds up, stops, and starts again. I think it worked well for the whole theme of flying; thought 0:42 could be envisioned as the listener jumping off the hill, and spreading his/her wings so to speak, and then there's a moment of slow-motion-esque silence, and when the hats come in at 0:46 the listener realises that flying is actually kind of cool.
I don't do this whole "think of scenes for my music" kind of thing as you probably have guessed by now :3.
"Hats at :49 stand out a little bit. Would be better if you introduced them as the piano is going rather than in silence. Or maybe a touch of reverb on them when they aren't backed by very much. Or just turn down the volume a tiny bit."
Whoops, you're totally right. I'll get to work on that.
"I would love just a tiny bit more going on at 1:11. Like a subtle countermelody going would improve it a little I think. I like how it sounds right now, but after the buildup it sounds a tiny (just a tiny!) bit empty. I like the syncopated white noise here."
Good call. Might add a pulsing pad over there. Nice catch with the syncopated white noise - first time I'm doing something like that. I've heard it done before, thought I should give it a shot.
"The lead at 1:30 is really really awesome. (Is that my influence? Heheh.) The vibrato was a brilliant touch. "
Actually the whole setup of the song is inspired from Biohome! The piano, the piano's grace notes, the drums, and especially the lead. I was going to throw in a guitar but then I thought that would really make it sound like a ripoff haha. I'm really glad you like the vibrato - vibrato just works so well for square synths! Square synths are also the best kind of synths out there, unquestionably. I love them so much ;_;.
"The chord progression is really unique and delightful. (I had to open up the DAW to figure out what it was. C# -> E -> B -> C#. Interesting... Shouldn't that C be a minor? How does that even music-theoretically work? I don't know a lot of music theory. Sounds great though.)"
I have no idea how it works haha. The song can't really decide whether it's major or minor :3. Sometimes I thought using the major third (we're in C# so F would be the major third) worked and other times I thought using the minor third (E) worked.
"My biggest critique for this song was that I think that the solo could be double it's current length. It's so awesome I want more! I was really really hoping for it to soar (heh) into an upper octave and do some stuff up there. This is a problem we've discussed before >:D "
Yuuup, you're so right. I am still going through that nasty writer's block (I get it a lot when making music for games since I find it hard to make music that follows someone else's requirements on command), so I don't think I'll be able to extend that melody without it sounding forced.
"Though I really like how you come down from the solo with the piano riff you introduced before."
That's actually one of my favourite things about this track.
"I really like the idea of bitcrushing your white noise. It adds a lot of flavor and crunchiness to the mix. I can see myself using that in the future! Your use of the noise throughout the whole track is well done."
Bitcrushing (nearly wrote Britcrushing for a second there) is so tasty! Ever since I started using it I've become hooked, and now I almost follow the mindset of "doesn't sound good? Bitcrush it".
"Awesome stuff. Would play this game just to listen to the soundtrack ;-)"
That means a lot! Thank you for such a great review - good thing you reviewed when you did, so now while I fix the looping issue that GamekrazzyProduction mentioned, I can fix the issues you mentioned (except doubling the length of the solo which I don't know if I can do x_x).
Dang I don't know how I missed this one before the results of NGADM came out. I really really like your style. It's absolutely distinctive in a way that takes a lot of work and I'm totally jealous of.
Much like ZipZipper's song I felt like this one only kicks into high gear towards the end - to be specific, I always turn up the song at 2:50. The rest of the song is very good, but I like this part especially. And then there's a really wonderful modulation at 3:15. Awesome.
The judges rightfully chose this one as one of the best of the round. It is that good. Keep it up!!
I don't listen to a lot of metal - it's pretty much on the completely opposite end of the spectrum from my preferred genre, which is something like "people singing quitely and playing acoustic guitar" - but I thought this was totally great. I was just listening along and then I unintentionally started bobbing my head. Really solid and diverse solos!
I'd like a break or two from the machine-gun drums and guitars, but as a non-metalhead you can take my opinion with a pinch of salt :-)
The composition here is very good, but like the others I'm hearing some serious clipping at the climax. The way to fix this is very simple: take any limiters off your master, and then turn all your volume levels down until you're no longer going into the red. Easy, right? :P (I think half of the problem is being able to hear the clipping in the first place. I hear it around 1:44, and then again around 2:23). Seriously, if you just follow this one simple step you will solve like 80% of your mixing issues.
Composition was very good, as was sound choices. The piece sounds epic in the true sense of the word. I would only like a little bit more melodic variation to make the piece complete.
Thanks for the review.
Haha that does sound very simple but I think you are right about the "not hearing it' thing. I am going to have to change the way I listen to my tracks.
I have a fixed version of this which I will upload after the NGADM.
I think I will work the melodic variation too.
Thanks again!
Your main motif is totally gorgeous. Definitely getting those JRPG vibes. My favorite part of it is that little flair at the end (0:35). After a little bit of thought I realized it reminded me of the Pokemon intro music! (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sq2b-I b3jAI#t=26) Though of course you use the same idea to express something quite different.
I really enjoy this song. I thought the instrumentation was really well done and nuanced without being too much. Sounds both a tad melancholy and adventurous. I really love the string 'stabs' that sit under the main melody - I think those add a lot.
Hey, thanks a bunch for the review! You are right about that riff being similar to the Pokemon song, but you also hear it in tons of other places. That type of chromatic slide downward is used in a lot of jazz pieces as well.
I'm glad you liked the string stabs! Honestly, those took FOREVER to get done between figuring out the best way to voice the chords among the strings, get good voice leading, and include some extended harmonies. Plus recording myself playing all those parts, quantizing them, and then fixing the rhythmic errors and adjusting velocities. :o
This is really really good stuff man. Loving the sad feel. The mixing is really well done - when we get to the main section, the song feels appropriately massive. Knocking a star and a half mainly because it feels a tad generic (in terms of sounds, arrangement, etc.) and repetitive (after I had gotten to the 2-3 minute mark, I had pretty much heard everything the song had to offer). My other complaint is that the one buildup you have at around 5:00 is slightly disappointing, as what you drop into sounds exactly like what you were doing before hand.
But I really enjoy this piece, so don't let my whining get you down! Great work - and looking forward to hearing more from you. I would particularly be pumped to hear you experiment more with arrangement and melodic diversity. Scouted.
Strings at 1:38 could do with a lot more release. At 2:15 they sound a little fake (probably the fault of the samples) and overpower the piano. Mixing goes crazy towards the end with lots of reverb, bells at 2:50 are too loud, stuff like that.
But, I *really* love the ambient intro (until the first minute). I probably would have given just that part of the song a 9 at least, it's really good.
The latter half is interesting from a music theory perspective. You keep on surprising me with your chord choices.
I really like this one. It reminds me a little bit of the ambient music that plays in games like simcity when time is paused. There is a lot of wonderful attention to detail, like subtle acoustic guitar flourishes, nicely panned plucked instruments, and a very subtle beat. The swelling of the orchestra is really nice too.
Good stuff. It compliments Papkee's piece really nicely :-)
Sky's the Limit 
Mechanical Anima 
GM - I'm coming 4 u (NGADM13) 
The Ancient Ones 
Normal Mapping 
Aries 
Virtuous Reprieve 
