"Don't worry, I've also got trouble with WiP things. :P That aside, another great start for a full length audio work, although this time I've got a few more critiques."

I like your critiques, they're always extremely helpful :D.

"The thing about this song is that with the instrumentation, building up to a climax is difficult and I'd say not the way to go. Another way to keep people interested would be key changes and things like that, and it's especially effective when it comes to pianos."

I've never actually tried a melodic transition from one key to another (I think it's called uh, modulation, but as I said I suck at music theory) but there's always a first time for everything. I'll definitely experiment with key changes when I finish this up.

"Toward the end I was a bit bored because it seemed like nothing new was happening. It went back to the original melody too soon perhaps, or maybe each segment lasted for too long. One thing I know would make this sound great would be some different chord progressions. If you put in some chords that don't necessarily fall in the key but will resolve in the key (C major?) it would definitely sound more interesting."

Haha I doubt I have the skills to do that xP. Although thankfully I have a friend who can help.

"The piano and the orchestra went very well together, and the orchestra could get stronger as the song progresses, but it's build in this little preview was fine. It was definitely pleasing to hear and the melodies you've come up with thus far are amazingly catchy to me. I'm sure you won't have much trouble finishing this baby off, and when you do, I really look forward to hearing it!"

Awesome, glad you like it!

Just liked to say thanks for all the reviews you've given me. I'm surely going to go back to them and use them as guides to help me finish my WiP's.

Thanks again, and in case you're planning on reviewing any other of my submissions, I'd love it if you review a collab I did with my friend on our shared account Raven-Guard.
http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/liste n/343750

If you don't want to, don't worry, you're already helped a lot, and I'm really grateful for it.

So yeah, thanks a LOT xD.

"This is a very nice song, you really are getting better, these are very unique,"

I don't do generic songs :3.

"although, you could change the style a bit, it's gettin' kinda routine, try techno or trance again, that would rock :D"

Sorry, no techno and trance for a while. I know basically 90% of all NG members enjoy the 'unce unce' but I don't and I make what I want >:3. Although Against the Clock is a mix of Classical and Techno, so that way everyone wins :D.

"The instruments were fabolous, I loved the way they all blend in with the whole 'happy' vibe, which brings me to a bad point, the name is kinda off-tune, if i may, this song IMO represent hapiness and triumph, not eager to succeed or, 'almost there',."

Firstly, thanks, the instruments are East/West, as you know. Piano and strings fit so well together. Secondly, a name cannot be 'off-tune' xP. I don't know, for happiness and triumph I'd have more brass in here and it should be more powerful. I sort of think of a 'don't worry, not everything is lost' feel when I hear this song. Well besides, if you don't like the name, that doesn't mean you can't like the song.

"The percussion, disappointed me harshly, they were incredibly dry, which sucked."

They're dry on purpose, but yes, I have to admit they do suck...

"And they were a bit not fitting to the song."

True...

"Overall not bad, but needs work.
Nice job."

Well that's what I like to hear with my WiP's. Thanks for the review!

Thanks :3. Feel free to check out my other submissions, although this is the first soothing melody I ever made so any of my other songs are either Trance or Epic Trailerscore-type songs :D. Whatever, thanks for the review!

Haha I was doing the RRC update, and when I came to check this Audio request, it was only 2 minutes after you posted this review. If I came more than 2 minutes earlier it would have been less points for you xP.

"STEPHAN! I'm expecting very good things from this track, given the epicness that tends to be your little creations. ;D"

Thank you :D.

"0:04-Nice piano; quite fast paced and giving that upbeat feel from the get go. The cymbal cresc. intro I'm a little in two minds about; it has a cohesion with the one at 0:23, but felt a little odd as a way to start the track, in my head."

I tend to start a lot of my songs with a cymbal crescendo. It seems better than starting it immediately, but to each his own I suppose. Maybe I could make the cymbal crescendo a little shorter?

"0:16-Cool change in harmony; was worried the entire theme would just be six seconds long and repeated over and over, so it's nice to see you still have a good grasp on melody."

Great, thanks :).

"0:25-Nice drum beat with the light strings in the background...however, the drums themselves felt a little flat, for me."

Flat is exactly the word for them :(.

"You had a nice bit of cymbal work throughout, but the bass kick felt a little dull and the toms in general were quite lacking when they were around. Of course, toms are a sure fire way to make a track feel heavier, so maybe you made the right decision in keeping it cymbal-heavy. But definitely the insertion of toms in a few places would have helped beef up the variations a lot more."

I'm thinking of changing all drum samples except some of the cymbals and maybe the snare, and obviously making the drums less repetitive. I tend to naturally add drums to every song I do, and in this one I was unsure of what would fit, but I was adamant about adding drums, so I just HAD to add something :P. Still, I shouldn't keep to the mentality of every song needing drums.

"0:45-Feels like you definitely could have done more with the transition, it ends quite sharply"

Haha thanks for being the first person to actually agree with me about that transition. I'll probably try and make a more melodic and less abrupt transition.

"...but what it goes into is cool, so by 3 seconds after it you're forgiven. ;D"

Yay xD.

"0:58-Nice entry of the strings, could have done with being a touch louder, but what it's playing is nice. piano and strings have that inherent quality of working together well."

Louder, got it.

"1:16-When lower strings come in as well...those lower strings by 1:25 start muddying everything else up a bit; definitely look at those levels, because it is a little...weird? At least when I was listening to it I found these thick lower chords taking grander precedence over everything else, though that could just be me and my crappy hearing."

You, crappy hearing? I'm deaf from one ear. If there's anyone with crappy hearing it's me :P. I agree with you about it muddying up the mix although for some reason I like those heavy string chords :3.

"1:37-Nice repeat of theme, love the superhigh chords you have every so often just giving that extra feel of aspiration to the track. It also loops back to the start quite well, so more plus points for that."

Looping was unintentional, although that's cool I guess :P.

"What can I say. You certainly know what you're doing with this whole writing thing ;D Shame you're in a bit of a rut with just managing to churn WIPs out as opposed to fuller songs, but as WIPs go I certainly wouldn't mind NG being populated with a few more of this caliber. Keep it up, as always."

Well, as I said to sixflab, it's basically because I don't have time to finish songs, not because I can't figure out what to do with them, although I'll try and submit full songs more :P. Anyway, I'm really glad you think of me as a somewhat good musician, and thanks a LOT for the awesome review. Your reviews are definitely among the ones I look forward to the most when requesting to the RRC. THANKS AGAIN! :D

Thanks for the review. You now get a big response :3.

"Hey 'lil Wells, you have some nice skills huh."

Thanks. More like luck rather than nice skills but I suppose my year and a half of making music wasn't for nothing xD.

"I liked the song, it has a great melody and it's pretty well executed, I liked the sound of the piano and the other instruments..."

People keep telling me the melody is good, even though one professional said it was uninteresting. You probably like the sound of the piano and the other instruments since they're all from East/West Symphonic Orchestra (minus the drums) which is a very good orchestral library.

"The piano did a great job together with the drums, it sounded great, I liked the back beat, it fitted really well to the whole song, I love listening to songs like this one, it has a nice melody, and it's very confortable to listen, the piano sounded great in the 0:47 part, I liked the variation of the melody, the whole song changed, what is great, since the same repetitive thing gets WAY TOO BORINGG..."

Wow, epic long sentence. While I don't really agree with you about the piano fitting with the drums, since the drums seem to be too rough and repetitive, thanks anyway. Yeah, the main purpose of this is to be easy to listen to, which is why I'm so fussy about that transition at 0:44. Hm, about 0:47, you're not the first one to like that part. I might make it better when I revisit this song. Also, I'm glad you liked the variation; I always make it a point not to make my songs repetitive at all, even though sometimes I fail to follow this point :D.

"Anyways, Steph (no more Stepha... xD), you did a great job, you have potential, kid, I wanna listen more songs from you, specially the final version of this one. Keep it up, and, make a big Author Response... :3"

Thanks a lot for the review! If you want I can PM you when I finish this :). Glad you liked the song, and I hope you like the big response :D.