Here's your main problem, I think: the sound quality stinks. That's probably a big part of the reason why the score was 1.90 with 5 votes (although judging by the score of my own recent submission, many people who browse the classical section don't actually like classical music, or perhaps they just vote 0 to strike down competitors). Anyway, if you want, you can send me the MIDI file and I'll try to create an mp3 that actually sounds a little more listenable. :)
As for the piece, it seems pretty nice to me. Some fairly nice harmonies, good melodies, good development. I thought there could've been a bit fewer dissonances in the first half, but that's personal taste. ;p
hey thanks for the review. the wierd this is, I was listening to your music right when you sent this review. no joke but anyway I use finale song writer to create mp3's and i know finale is not the best for this.
I dont think you can fix the sound because finale uses two files" BAK files and Finale Notation files" and i am not sure what those are or if they are fixable.
but its true that people dont respect this kind of music. the second they see "classical song" they vote 1 or 0.
Sorry I haven't been reviewing your songs much lately, Maestro. To be honest, I find it pretty difficult to give proper reviews to songs which really deserve a thorough analysis. I have the same problem with reviewing Simon-F's submissions. But be that as it may, I'll just try to give some of my first general impressions.
First of all, I thought that the ending was appropriate. I also loved those angry voices that you used at certain points in the song. How did you do those?
The piece overall was a bit of a mixed bag for me. On the one hand, I love some of the subtle sound effects that you managed to achieve. Sound design seems to really be your strong point. And it had some very effective moments. On the other hand, I ended up feeling slightly bored in certain parts. The middle, in particular, I felt could have used some more energy. You had those angry voices yelling every so often, which was good, but everything else was pretty slow and mellow. Some more energetic drumming or faster melodies (though I notice you don't seem to do those much) in the middle would have been wonderful. Also... the melodic progression was sometimes a little unclear, although this could be my fault for not noticing it.
Unfortunately, the piece as a whole seemed a little static to me; there was little to move it forward harmonically or rhythmically. Despite the occasional spark of energy, it didn't really go anywhere. Your sound design is brilliant, but I feel that here you focused on sound design (which is definitely important) at the expense of the harmonic and rhythmic aspects, which are at least as important. If your song still sounds good as a crappy MIDI file, you'll know that you've succeeded. ;)
Anyway, it's still a nice song overall, hence my score. But I think there's some room for improvement. :)
the angry shouts are a patch from the VST library Symphonic Choirs. There are four patches, Bass, Soprano, Alto, and Tenor shouts. These are bass shouts, as they depict soldiers best imo.
Yes this song is slow, and mellow throughout, because the underlining emotion I wanted to highlight at all times, was sacrifice. The story used for it is the telling of their youngest warrior, to the older, disabled older brother. Who was unable to join the fight with his younger brother due to his limp leg *the older brother is the bassoon, and the younger brother here is depicted as the panflute*.
"The fight was great, the fight was bitter, and though his youth kept his fear close, your brother kept his wits closer. Slashing, tearing, fearfully running into the enemy, one at a time."
The telling of his story begins when the panflute plays softly, this is where the news is brought out, your brother has not returned with us. When it becomes more aggressive, the slow motion story of his slashing hopelessly against wave after wave of enemies, taking hits, arrows, and hammers on an already battered, and partly broken body unfurls.
The arpeggiated brass depicts a scene where the general, close friend of the boy runs to his dying side, screaming "DON'T GO! STAY WITH US!" the choir that joins them shortly after, depicts him holding the young lads head close to his heart, screaming at the heavens.
With the angry screams that follow, they are back. The panflute, the memento of his brother given to the older.
I did not intend to go that much into detail ESN, but I hope it helps you understand why I did what I did. So many times I felt it was the perfect place to break off and bring in some fire, but every time I chose against it.
Thank you for the review, i'm glad you liked it! I apologize for the late response!
I can't help but visualize a film in my head as I listen to this. I know that it's meant to symbolize the calm feeling of raindrops falling against a windowsill, and the harsher sound in the middle represents the occasional gusts of the storm. And yet somehow, I think it would suit a Christmas-themed flash very well. I even have a scenario in mind. It's too bad I don't know how to use the program. :)
I just love this piece. Can you believe that it almost brought tears to my eyes?
You have incredibly effective harmonic progressions, wonderful melodies, and a great sense of purpose. You're definitely on my list of "best composers on Newgrounds" now.
Also, if I may ask a question... I've never heard that "soft piano" sound before. How did you make it sound like that?
Thanks for the compliment man. Means a lot to hear praise like that.
I use GarageBand, a program for macs. The Orchestra Steinway Piano comes in the rather steeply priced orchestral Jam Pack. I got the effect be lowering the note velocity to about 30 and then i drowned it in reverb.
Seriously, thanks for reviewing. Also, thanks for faving!
A very nice, slow piece. Pretty good progression. Simple harmonically and rhythmically. Quite pleasant overall, although the sheer amount of instruments playing chords got to be a little too much at times (particularly toward the end).
Thanks! The progression was inspired, I think, by the theme to You Only Live Twice, then I fiddled with it. Too many instruments is a hallmark of my work, I prefer to think of it as "growing elegance." XD
Thanks for the review!
This is a very pleasant piece that depends greatly on the quality of the musicians playing it. The biggest problem which this submission has is a lack of good sound quality. Looking past it, however, I find something really nice.
It's too bad that the recording isn't a little better...
Really nice progression with a minimum of frills there. Of course, it's not exactly front-line-of-battle music, but it's not any worse for that. I think that you're really good at just sticking to the basics and crafting a simple, but very effective piece.
I won't make any suggestions for percussion or other "more exciting" instruments that some other people will undoubtedly make - I really don't think that this piece needs anything more than what it has.
I really like the subtlety of your compositions. The main problem in this piece, though, is that it loses some of its harmonic momentum in the middle. Otherwise, it's great.
It's definitely not frontline battle music; more like the soundtrack for somewhere 20 miles behind the front line. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
Even though it was edited. It's still a pretty good version of Liszt, especially considering that you're providing it to us for free! A major deficit were the limited acoustics, but I'm sure that those were a consequence of using an electronic instrument. I also noticed a small flaw (almost like a skipped beat) around 5:07.
But because this is so far above the call of duty for Newgrounds, I'm still voting a "10". Thank you.
clarinet short solo 5 