Many thanks, Xaolan! I do not mind at all, please do. As long as you credit me for the music, it's all good. ^__^

Thanks for the review, Purgy! Everyone seems to like pretty much the same things (which is awesome) and dislike the same things (not so much), so there's not really much to add response-wise at this point, but I hate to short-change someone who takes the time to leave a review, so...

I am happy to hear that the piano progressions and strings impressed pretty much all the judges, so that feels like a solid success. Knowing that the intended-yet-subtle tension can be felt also feels like a win, as that was the balance that I was aiming for. A sense of hopefulness. Or is it...? The end comes for us all, but to delay that for but a little while is still a victory. Therein lies the main theme.

I would love to have a better cello that I could have transposed down another octave, but it just didn't sound right with this one. Even now that I've spent hours getting new SoundFonts, I still have only a handful of nice cellos, which is a shame. Words like lazy, generic, and sloppy are basically anathema to me at this point, and there was certainly no intended laziness that went into the melody that seems so repetitious to everyone, so these kinds of comments are simply frustrating...or would be if I didn't feel nice and numb about it at this point. I tried building on top of a melody over time, but it just comes off as being repetitive to those in the judgment seats. So be it. Life goes on.

I am glad that everyone seemed to at least enjoy listening to this piece. That's quite heartening to know, and making it this far in the NGADM has been a very interesting learning experience. I really appreciate your time and it's very nice to know that the atmosphere comes off as being appropriately relaxing yet tense. Thanks again. :)

Many thanks for such a positive review, N-B! I would definitely say it was worth the wait. :)

I put a lot of effort into this piece, and it's nice to know that - even though it ultimately lost the NGADM battle - it still holds a special place in people's hearts. Even I am surprised at the beautiful melodies that emerged during this phase of the competition, and that's how it still feels so often when I compose a new piece of music. The instrument selection was mostly predetermined in my mind before I even started working, but that ended up evolving a bit, as also tends to happen.

Initially, the idea was to simply use piano and cello, which - rather like chocolate and peanut butter - are two things that just seem to naturally go great together. Big brassy instruments and percussion had to sit this one out, but the addition of choir felt appropriately reverent even though I had just used the same one in my previous submission. The music then proceeded to seemingly write itself, which is always a good sign.

Is there a flatness to the mixing? Yes, and I blame that mostly on my lack of experience with the Stereo Shaper at the time. I usually like to leave the piano to its own devices since it pans naturally across the field, but applying that bloody Stereo Shaper just seems to have bastardized the sound. A poor and costly choice, indeed.

Thanks again for the lovely review! Please peruse my musical repertoire at your leisure. ^__^

Thanks for another lovely review, BFJ. You gave this one a slightly higher score than Tir Na Nog, so I guess I must have been doing something right here! :D

It's nice to hear a good word about the cello slides, especially since I worked on them a lot to try and get just the right kind of sound and timing. I'm hoping to a find an even better cello soon that can sound even more solid when using tactical note slides. It's also great to see someone commenting on the rolling chords! I was beginning to feel as though they went rather unnoticed, so I am very happy to know that someone enjoys them. Seriously, bless you for that.

Still working on my mixing and mastering, but I think I like to think I'm getting there. I think that using too much Stereo Shaper in this track was a mistake, to be honest; it kind of made the music sound thin and less dynamic. Six of one, half a dozen of the other, I suppose. Hoping to make better choices in this regard in the future. I can't deny that there is a bit of repetition in the second half, but there was a purpose behind it, and I guess it's just a case where my own artistic vision didn't resonate with others in quite the same way. So be it. I can fully understand and accept the alternate point of view.

It is very nice to hear that the music is well liked, overall. There's certainly nothing to be ashamed of in the scores that I've received and I'm proud to have made it this far. I'll keep working on things and maybe take another stab at it next year. Excelsior!

You are seriously the best. Thank you so much for this outstanding review, John! Until now I've actually been really surprised at the lack of comments about the underlying melodies, so it's really good to know that those do not go completely unnoticed. I was starting to think that I was the only one who was really in love with them. :3

You've made some very nice suggestions in conjunction with your feedback, and I truly appreciate that. It's always nice to have some direction as opposed to the decidedly non-constructive "I don't like this" or "I don't like that" without any kind of explanation why or anything. I think I'm finally getting a hold of my love affair with reverb, but it's still a pretty delicate balance; less is definitely more in this regard.

Thank you again for leaving this very encouraging review. I'm happy to know that you enjoy this piece, and am still working on music post-NGADM, so I hope you'll drop by from time to time. Your presence is definitely welcome here!