-Scary = scare
-Prelude = preludium
-Scary Prelude = Scareludium... Or something like that :p
So this is yet another one of my older compositions. For some reason, the song that inspired me to write this is the Prelude from the Finlal Fantasy games o.O
This was apparently recorded 7 months ago, so as usually I don't remember how to play it :/
The original instrument I recorded this with isn't necessarily that good, which is a shame. I once again tried to add some reverb and other stuff with Cubase, and I'm not sure whether the end result is actually good. You can compare to the original version if you click here: http://yourlisten.com/ShadowDreamer/scareludium
I could've quantized the original MIDI file (where ever I have it), but usually the end result is somewhat mechanical, even if you use a certain error percentage. What I really should do is record the songs properly at first hand, with a metronome or somthing, but if you're lazy you're lazy :)
Also, this song might seem very repetitive to some, but if I recall correctly, every single chord used is at least slightly different than any that has been played earlier in the song. Which means that this song is actually not that iterative.
Anyhow, feel free to spew out your thoughts in the form of a review :'D
- (Real) synth on which I played the glockenspiel => Thomann SP5500
- I also used UpStereo to boost the sound slightly
Love it
I really love the chime sounds you got going on in this one, so here is something that finishes one way and ends another way but I like all but it has a nice mix of chimes and sounds makes for a nice soft tune here, you made that charm work well and made a smooth track here anyways nice work.
~X~
Heyyy, I'm glad you liked this one! It was a bit of an experiment, and it was fun to come up with. Thanks!
This is so nice, that reverb! the way it progresses. i love it!
Thank you :'D
I'm glad you liked this odd little song. I'm even happier that you liked the reverb, since I wasn't sure whether I actually made a good job with it, since I added it more than half a year after originally creating this :)
This is beautiful! :D Did you play it live? If so, I'm very impressed! I love the mood, btw. It's creepy and ominous in a way, yet also strangely innocent - like a baby hypnotized by its mobile. I think it needs more variety and structural development, though. The phrasing gets very predictable and repetitive after a certain point. The simplicity of it gives it a stagnant feel as well. I'd advise you to add more instruments, variation, and dynamic contrast across phrases. I also thought the ending felt a bit...inconclusive. However, it is very harmonically sound, and had just the right amount of reverb. Good work! Keep at it, LucidShadowDreamer! ;D
Thanks for another review! Yes, I did play it live, so thanks for being impressed. I've got to admit that it took a couple of recordings even to get it this good though :)
Interesting comparison with the baby :D
Yes, you're definitely right; this song is very predictable after a while, since it's structure stays precisely the same. I don't think I was aiming for a good song though, I made this pretty spontaneoulsy, one summers day XD
I've always been lazy about adding more instruments, but when I get time I'll try to do more songs that actually have more than one instrument in them.
That ending is just a random chord I came up with, since I didn't really know how to end the song :p
I'm glad you liked the reverb, since I tried my best adding it afterwards!
Once again, thank you, and I'll definitely try to keep up my (good?) work ;)
Great song!
I don't actually think it's particularly 'scary'. Creepy, maybe, but not that scary.
The tempo changes really worked for this song. There were a bit more than was necessary, but I think the overall effect given by the slow-downs was very nice.
Chordal-ly, the song isn't that repetitive. Melodically, it is. If you ever approach stuff like this again, I'd try changing things up a bit to try keeping your audience interested. johnfn's advice of changing something up every eight measures is a pretty good one, and I think you could've implemented that here somehow by changing up the melodies or rhythm. Anyways, I am now tired of arpeggios. :D
It's really cool how you made each chord different. I can't really tell, but I'll take your word for it. I also really enjoyed the ending. I expected it to sort of slow down into a final note, but that slightly dissonant chord just came out of nowhere and really hit home.
Good job!
Thanks for writing serious reviews for all these old songs I'm posting!
Yeah, it's definitely not scary. It's not a happy or a sad song though, and I think that 'creepy' fits much better than 'scary' as well. However, "Creepludium" doesn't sound as good (I've never been good at names).
The changes in tempo are slightly exaggerated, but you might be right in that it doesn't matter that much in this particular composition.
"Melodically, it is. If you ever approach stuff like this again, I'd try changing things up a bit to try keeping your audience interested."
=> Well, it is somewhat difficult to notice, but almost every melody segment (usually the length of two chord hits [arpeggios], or eight notes) is slightly different from any earlier segment as well. They are however only extremely slightly different (like 1 different note in 8, unless the chord requires the melody to change).
Structurewise, as well as rythmically, this is one of the most repetitive songs that exists. The only variation that is even a bit differently built is 0:59 - 1:04, and that's because the chords needed to change faster at that part. However, this is supposed to be at least slightly in the style of a prelude, and since there's only one instrument I didn't vary things that much. Excuses excuses... I know :p
"Anyways, I am now tired of arpeggios. :D"
=> Lol, so true! I was just lazy once again, I really should have made something more creative with the left hand XD
"It's really cool how you made each chord different."
=> Yeah, except that every chord is played twice in a row, which I forgot to mention. But otherwise it should be true. However, many of the basic chords "are" the same, but with different variations! (C, Cadd9, C7 and so on).
"I also really enjoyed the ending. I expected it to sort of slow down into a final note, but that slightly dissonant chord just came out of nowhere and really hit home."
=> I'm glad you liked it. When I was tired of finding new chords or new melodies (or scales), I needed to end things quite abruptly, and what better way than to play a chord I couldn't even name because of its complexity :'D (I could probably give it an incorrect name based on the keys, but meh).
"Good job!"
=> Thank you! I was actually surprised to see that you had given me such a high rating on this song! I have a couple of more somewhat good songs (possibly up to 10), but after that things will start to go downhill, I think :)
I'll try to keep my future work mainly quality stuff though!
Please contact me if you would like to use this in a project. We can discuss the details.
LucidShadowDreamer 
