Well, you promised me "its very kind on the ears this time", but to be honest, I find this very hard to listen to. The song is unpredictable as heck and has no consistency whatsoever. This is probably going to sound downright cruel, but it sounds like you simply used one random chord after the other, combined with melodies which are just as random. Sure, there's no dissonance, but there isn't any structure either.
Apart from that, and this is me being nitpicky, this isn't true 8-bit. When you say that your song is 8-bit, at least try to make it follow the limits 8-bit music has. It may sound 8-bit, but in reality, it's not. Apart from that, it would've been nice if you actually elaborated your choice for the title "Im still alive". Sure, I'm still alive as well, but apart from the world possibly ending in 2012, what's it got to do with New Year?
Hope I haven't ruined your day with my commentary. I'm just being as honest I can be. Perhaps it's just not my taste, but keeping various factors (general rules of music theory) in mind, it's just not that good in my opion... All in all, 5/10 and 3/5 for the effort.
Despite the 'heavy' review, I wish you a happy New Year ;)
1: im sorry to read that you cannot hear the structure and melodies and percieve them as random, i can only say about this that youre simply not used to the form of the instrumentation wich to some people 'needs time to get used to', even i sometimes need to sit through a loop or two on certain tracks in this instrumentation before i hear the composition again and until that moment it sounds like a chaos or clutter of sound without direction, however that is also the beauty of this. eventually you hear the absolute order in the chaos when the chords and melodies are ..individually noticed and its worth it.
2: it is true 8bit as i made this with two 8 bit librarys, one being magical8bit the other being famiconchip. if you mean how the background sounds like a harpiscord its because i balanced two seperate instruments on the same patterns to create a unique sound.
you dont ruin my day when you fail to grasp the music, just my time writing a review of its size for it, you couldve just said 'i cant hear the melodies and harmonies, sorry' and it wouldve been enough.
thanks for reviewing anyway, youre the first in a month or so that does.
and happy newyear back.
Like the others have said, try changing the chord progression a bit next time. Or, if that doesn't work for you, try adding different melodies here and there instead. The piece tends to get a bit repetitive after a while, even though it's quite catchy. That said, the key switch at 2:33 was a good idea, and I think you implemented it at the right time. I think you should have, however, added some more variation earlier on. Again, nothing that hasn't already been said, but it's just to show how important variation is in music.
I really like the build up here though, even though it is slightly generic and goes on for a bit too long. Glad you didn't use an overpowering bass drum like a lot of other electronic songs. The mastering is well done here, though when you combine two melodies at 03:25, it gets a bit too heavy for my taste. I know this is the 'big climax', but I think you made it a bit too overwhelming, especially with the crash cymbals.
As mentioned earlier, a catchy song, made with a catchy chord progression and catchy melody. Be sure to alternate it with something else in the future though ;)
All in all, I think you did well, though there's always room for improvement :P So 8/10 and 4/5 for you.
Don't worry about your obsession with low notes on the piano: I have the same thing with high notes on the piano ;)
There's a bit of clipping here and there, so you might want to lower the volume of the entire mix a bit next time. Not a huge problem, but it's more pleasant to listen to a piece without the 'crackling' in between. Apart from that, mastering is fine as far as I can tell. The guitar (?) at 00:08 is a bit unexpected though. Perhaps it would've been better to let that blend in more with the rest of the piece, like you did with the piano at 00:20, which was a great implementation.
The piece has very 'grand' feeling to it, perfect for an ancient Roman setting. You don't hear music like this on Newgrounds very often, so I'm glad you decided to write it. I like how it also has a mysterious feel to it, which perfectly fits the 'sanctuary' part. Melodies and harmony are good and go well together, so a job well done there.
The arpeggios played by the piano go on for a bit too long, to be honest. Perhaps you should've alternated it with regular chords instead? That's just me being nitpicky though, so it's not a huge problem :P
I still don't know why I picked the guitar anyway... it's not even remotely Roman. I just think it sounds good. As for the piano, I might actually go back and change that right now... it does get annoying indeed, and I think some chords would be nice.
And ya, that clipping is a bit annoying. I already did some major reduction, but it still pokes through.
Quite a 'strange' chord progression you used there, yet even stranger is that it works pretty well in my opinion. I really like the way the song kicks off at 00:07.
The piece has a lot of effects, which all work well. However, I also think it relies a bit too much on those effects. Yes, it's a dance track, but still... Apart from that, the chord progression I mentioned earlier is fine, but you should've alternated it with something else. It gets a bit repetitive after a while.
Mastering wise, not a lot I can say here. Everything sounds balanced and the mix doesn't sound muddy. Job well done there!
I think a big error here is that your 'harmony' (chords) is the same as your melody. Keep those seperated in the future. If you find it difficult to add a distinct melody, try working the other way around: first come up with a melody, then add the appropriate harmony.
I like how 'light' the music is. Don't really have another word to describe it, so I hope you get what I mean with that. Thought Christmas is not the first thing that would come to mind when listening to this (for me, that is), after reading the description, it all started to make much more sense.
I always find it extremely difficult to master piano pieces, though you pretty much nailed it here. The sine wave (I think?) lead goes really well with the piano, and nicely adds to the 'lightness' or 'airiness' of the song. One thing that is really, really bugging me though... are the bass drums. They're too notable and kind of harsh on the ears. It's a small error, yet one with a huge impact. Might be worth to 'fix' that :P I also think there's a bit too much compression here and there, but that might also be due to the drums.
The melodies and harmony sound really good, in my opinion. Not much I can say about, other than that I like it. Sorry! I can imagine this being used in some (short) movie for 'emtional' scenes or something like that. It stands perfectly fine on its own though.
All in all, 8/10 and 4/5 for you! Merry Christmas ;)
I think I understand what you mean by 'light', Thank you! it took a while to get it down, I had to play it out on my actual keyboard then lay it on the piano roll. I don't do that often but I should start doing it more. The sine wave is my favorite :3
I made some changes to it, I took out the hard kicks in the beginning and the end. Also changed the main drumline kick from a hit to more of a driving bass. plus an extra hihat:P
Reminds me a bit of the music I used to write a while back :P
Anyway, in terms of mastering, all the sounds go well together. I couldn't detect any clipping, which is good. No overkill of effects, which is nice for a change.
Now, about the music itself. It's not really 'listening music', and would be better used in a short movie or game. You tend to use the same motif through a large part of the song. That is not a bad thing per se, so long as there is something to alternate it with, which is currently lacking a bit. If you added more variety in between, I think it would've been better. I do like the change at 1:40 though. If you added more parts like that, it would be a huge improvement to the overall piece.
The ending is a bit strange though. I'm not sure what you wanted to do with that? I think it would have been better if you left out the final drum part, and just ended it with that fading delay of the synth.
Also, put some more effort into your description man! xD You should look at it as your own personal business card.
Anyhow, all in all I quite like it, so here's a 7/10 and 4/5 for you ;)
I really appreciate the comment. This is definitely the most CONSTRUCTIVE response that I've received on my music, and I thank you. I've been creating music for a while now, and I'm trying to tweak my musical imperfections, which happens to be a lot of tweaking. I really agree with what you said about it being repetitive, and that happens mostly out of fear that I might ruin the entire piece. Anyway, I'm kind of rambling. Thank you so much!
First of, your track has very nice 'warm and soothing' feel to it. Quite relaxing, to be honest. I think it would work fine for a menu or something, though not as much in-game. It's slightly too monotonous for that.
Which is also basically my first point of criticism. There's quite a bit of variety, yet nothing 'spectacular' seems to happen. After listening to it a couple of times, it became mildly boring. Perhaps if you made it longer and added a few new things, it'd be much better.
In terms of mastering, the only thing that sounds a bit off are the drums. The hi-hat and snare drum could be a bit 'softer' to blend more with the rest of the piece. Other than that, you did well!
Not a lot more I can say about it. All in all, I quite like it, though there are a few things that you could work on to make it even better. All in all, 4/5 & 7/10.
First of, I'd like to say sorry beforehand, as I might sound a bit harsh when you're reading the rest of the review. Keep in mind though that this is all constructive criticism, and by no means intended to trash you with rough commentary.
Anyway, the first thing I'd like to say is: work on mastering! This is critical when producing music. The track in general is way too loud (use normalization / limiters to fix this) and the hi-hat is a bit too 'clear' for my ears. There's way too much bass as well. I know a bass boost is common in these kind of songs, but the amount you have here is just overkill. To keep things short: balance is the key to success in this case.
The title you chose is quite fitting. Though a more complex song does not mean a better song per se. There's quite a bit of dissonance in here, which is, sorry to say, just a beginner's mistake. I looked at your other submissions, so I know you're not new to music production. But if you write music, please take your time to find out which tones/notes/frequencies work well together and which don't. If complexity doesn't work for you, that's okay: stick to simple melodies instead. A lot of great songs out there are actually very simple!
As Nerosin noted, the piece is fairly monotonous. In other words, it gets boring. The last thing you want to do, is bore your public. Change the chord progression every now and then, that should do the trick. You need to look at every seperate section of your music as chapters in a book. They are all independed stories that are somehow connected to form a whole. Use this way of thinking to your advantage.
All in all, 3/5 & 5/10 for the effort. Don't worry though, I'm sure we'll hear many great things of you in the future ;) Keep it up!
dude, thank you so much! i really really appreciate this man. every single thing you posted will definitely help me with further project. I got a new computer, which for me is hard to tell how loud I should make the songs. If you think its too loud, then the perception of loudness that I have with my computer is too quiet. Thanks again, and I will definitely try to improve my work in the future.
The sense of 'loss', as Draganoth said, is definitely there. But why did you use the Dutch word for 'lost' as the title for this piece? Not that it's a bad thing, it's just a bit strange to see something in my own language on an international website =p
The first few moments are brilliantly mastered. You really get 'sucked' in at the beginning. Everything sounds nice and clear and the instruments are well balanced. However, after that (at around 00:35 and on) it doesn't sound as good in terms of mastering. It doesn't really capture the same 'surrounding' feeling of the first beginning. Perhaps some more panning/equalizing is needed here. (I listened to this with my headphones on, by the way.)
Apart from that, I can hear a bit of clipping when the drums kick in, which is something you should avoid at all costs. Implementing the drums was a good idea, but you should work a bit more on making them fit in the overall mix. Also, the guitar part doesn't sound quite as realistic as one could hope for, but that isn't a huge issue. If your DAW is capable of loading VSTis, RealLPC by MusicLab is the way to go if you combine it with an amplifier VST such as Guitar Rig. That's just a small suggestion though ;)
There's a lot of variety in here, which is good. The melodies are well thought of and harmony is good as well. As I said in the beginning, the sense of 'loss' is really captured here, and overall, it makes for a fine piece of music. Not really a lot I can say here, apart from the fact that I just like it a lot =p
Thanks!
Well, I've chosen the Dutch word for "Lost" because there was probably already a piece of music with the title "Lost" here, but I also like picking different languages for the titles (so far I choose dutch, english, italian, japanese, latin, spanish; not that I know them, but I've done a little search... taking the risk of making mistakes when picking titles).
Well, I don't really know anything about mastering... but I'm going to (soon or later) take interest on it as I will need to do more quality pieces.
I saw one peak in the drums part, and hear a kind of clipping when they're just entering (yet I don't know why, the audio doesn't really peak). I'm going to check those VSTi out if I can :D
I was tempted to join that Orchestral NAC as well, but when I heard the other songs (including yours), I was quickly discouraged =p
I like the Arabic feel it has to it. You don't hear that very often, and it's not one of the easiest things to master.
There's a good amount of variation and the melodies are interesting and nice to listen to. Harmony is good, though not extraordinary. Percussion is nice, though it could've used a slight boost now and then.
Something it does lack however, is a good climax. I was expecting one at 2:14 and onward, but it just wouldn't come... Instead it was followed by another build-up, and another... That is however my personal opinion =p
Tempo changes are nice, which I rarely use in my songs xD Although you say orchestral isn't one of your main genres, I think you're very talented. Too bad you're deaf in one ear (then again, look at Beethoven). No panning isn't necessarily a bad thing though ;)
Thanks for the quick response, and the lengthy review! I really appreciate it.
"I was tempted to join that Orchestral NAC as well, but when I heard the other songs (including yours), I was quickly discouraged =p"
Haha thanks, but you shouldn't have been. Someone like you could probably make it to the finals with their eyes closed ;D.
To be honest I didn't work on it as much as I hoped I would. I spent a lot of time working on it in the timespan of a few days, rather than spread out my time and worked on it gradually, so that might be one of the reasons why this is lacking intricacies such as the lack of a decent climax and harmony that isn't particularly good.
"I like the Arabic feel it has to it. You don't hear that very often, and it's not one of the easiest things to master."
I agree. Actually I was lucky because I had experience with making use of bongos/congas in my songs so it almost came naturally to me in this piece.
"There's a good amount of variation and the melodies are interesting and nice to listen to."
Thank you! To be honest I thought I could've varied the melodies more, so I'm surprised to see you found it varied enough. Then again I'm obsessed with variety in my songs.
"Harmony is good, though not extraordinary."
Very true :(. I'm musically inexperienced and don't know how to harmonise that well. Harmonising is pretty frustrating for me because I don't know what chords, melodies and keys sound good with each other and when I try and make up my own and see if it works out, I'm usually met with dissonance, and I have to constantly do trial and error to get the right sound, so you can imagine me yelling 'SOUND GOOD, DAMMIT' at my monitor...
"Percussion is nice, though it could've used a slight boost now and then."
Yeah SBB mentioned that too. I'll keep that in mind.
"Something it does lack however, is a good climax. I was expecting one at 2:14 and onward, but it just wouldn't come... Instead it was followed by another build-up, and another... That is however my personal opinion =p"
Sorry :P. Yeah I just half-assed a climax at the end (at 2:47) and I agree it doesn't sound all that climatic. Maybe if I add more percussion elements I could give it more excitement. Too bad when my computer died it took most of my project files with it...
"Tempo changes are nice, which I rarely use in my songs xD"
Hey, you're the first one to mention that in a review. Thanks :D.
"Although you say orchestral isn't one of your main genres, I think you're very talented. Too bad you're deaf in one ear (then again, look at Beethoven). No panning isn't necessarily a bad thing though ;)"
I appreciate the support! To be honest I've always wondered what it would sound like hearing sounds from all directions, but hey at least one ear works so who am I to complain :3.
"All in all, a grand piece of music. 9/10, 5/5!"
Thanks a million man, I'm really grateful for the wonderfully helpful review! Maybe we can trade reviews again sometime?
Im still alive (NY11) (8b 