Great style
I like the exotic style you composed this in, but I would have liked to see the melodies at about 0:40 evolve into more of a climax. The quietness at around 2:05 was fantastic, I really enjoyed the melody going on there.
One last thing.... I would have dexribed the influence as more Middle Eastern than Oriental (which I would define as in and around Asia) but that's just me :)
Best of luck in the competition, a fantastically exotic entry!
Hey, thanks for the helpful review!
"I like the exotic style you composed this in, but I would have liked to see the melodies at about 0:40 evolve into more of a climax."
Well, technically that melody evolves into a climax at the end, although if you mean a more powerful crescendo at 0:40, then I completely agree with you. I suck at climaxes :C.
"The quietness at around 2:05 was fantastic, I really enjoyed the melody going on there."
Thank you!
"One last thing.... I would have dexribed the influence as more Middle Eastern than Oriental (which I would define as in and around Asia) but that's just me :)"
Heh, well, the thing I focused on was making it have a desert atmosphere more than anything :P. The other influences were more of something which naturally came to me, rather than particularly intentional.
"Best of luck in the competition, a fantastically exotic entry!"
I appreciate the support, and thanks again for the review!
Wow!
Hey Supersteph54,
--Production--
Pretty fantastic. I don't know what you meant about lack of panning because the sound fills both ears up pretty nice. Not a heck of a lot of panning is required to do it correctly, by the way, and you've got it pretty down pat. The sounds meld together beautifully in a composition that is original and nice.
--Experience--
I was led from the original epic beginning to more oriental territory (almost Arabian), and then to a more medieval (?) type sound. I guess that scale that you discovered has a certain type of Middle Eastern feel about it, because it's very captivating and nice on the ears.
--Style--
The orchestra is very full and beautiful; there is no lack of instrumentation here. It has beautiful drums too, as well as good build-up and transitions. The interesting modified D harmonic minor scale also provides a catchy motif to remember the song by. Not many songs have that same quality in it, so it is differentiated from the rest.
--Wow Factor--
I was pretty wowed by your orchestral skills. There was a large variety of sounds being employed here, to great effect. From first listen, you can discern that a lot of effort goes into this song. It's not just thrown together, but masterfully composed.
--Personal Tilt--
I was looking for things to be negative about in this song, but couldn't. This song is a very emotional and good song with a specific purpose and niche that it can fit into. Very well done, steph. Proud of you :)
--Production-- = 19/20
--Experience-- = 20/20
--Style-- = 18/20
--Wow Factor-- = 18/20
--Personal Tilt-- = 18/20
OVERALL SCORE: 93/100
Benjamin
--REVIEW REQUEST CLUB--
Wow, man. Thanks for the really big review! Oh and sorry for the very late response...
"--Production--
Pretty fantastic. I don't know what you meant about lack of panning because the sound fills both ears up pretty nice. Not a heck of a lot of panning is required to do it correctly, by the way, and you've got it pretty down pat. The sounds meld together beautifully in a composition that is original and nice."
Thanks! The thing is, I didn't actually do any manual panning/stereo separation. If you look at my project file in FL Studio, you'll see that the panning knobs aren't even touched. I guess the stereo sound that this song has is because the software I used, East/West, is just so darn brilliant :D.
"--Experience--
I was led from the original epic beginning to more oriental territory (almost Arabian), and then to a more medieval (?) type sound. I guess that scale that you discovered has a certain type of Middle Eastern feel about it, because it's very captivating and nice on the ears."
Haha, the scale is actually pretty simple, it was just a mistake I did when playing D Minor, so you can't really say I 'discovered' it :P.
I was never that good at adding any foreign influences to my songs and making them sound decent, to be honest, so this might be one of my first songs which does so.
"--Style--
The orchestra is very full and beautiful; there is no lack of instrumentation here. It has beautiful drums too, as well as good build-up and transitions. The interesting modified D harmonic minor scale also provides a catchy motif to remember the song by. Not many songs have that same quality in it, so it is differentiated from the rest."
Thanks for the compliments! I'm quite proud of the melody I did here, even though I think I could've thought up some more melodies.
"--Wow Factor--
I was pretty wowed by your orchestral skills. There was a large variety of sounds being employed here, to great effect. From first listen, you can discern that a lot of effort goes into this song. It's not just thrown together, but masterfully composed."
Haha thanks! I'm actually really surprised that so many people like this song. It's one of my first orchestral songs.
"--Personal Tilt--
I was looking for things to be negative about in this song, but couldn't. This song is a very emotional and good song with a specific purpose and niche that it can fit into. Very well done, steph. Proud of you :)"
Emotional? Never actually thought of it like that. I'm more of an atmospheric type when it comes to making music, rather than emotional.
Well anyway, thanks a million for the massive review, and again, sorry for taking so long to answer!
Hmmm
Seems just a hair to simple for me, but all together wasn't that bad. Keep it up
Yeah I admit this is a pretty simple track. I wanted to add more depth to it but unfortunately I don't know enough music theory to get everything to harmonise right :(.
Thanks for reviewing!
Nailed it like a Jolly Peasant
Wow, that eastern feel is almost magical. You captured it very well, and, since I have no clue what "panning" is, the lack of it didn't detract from the piece at all.
My favorite part is definitely the opening, the way it builds and builds before coming in with the strong percussion in the background. Yum. Seems like the perfect soundtrack to a desert journey.
Thanks for reviewing!
Actually I'm really happy that everyone's thinking of this as a desert soundtrack actually, since that's exactly what I had in mind :3.
Oh and panning is making certain sounds play more on one speaker than on the other, to achieve a fuller, stereo sound.
Thanks again for the review, it's greatly appreciated!
Sounds very good
This has a very nice tone and feel to it actually. It has a dark epic feel as if one was preparing to enter the biggest fight or problem of their life or they were prepping for the hardest fight ever in a RPG of some sort, possibly Touhou. The sounds I hear just sound really cool and yet eerie at the same time to me.
The sitar and drums sound nice. The synth and other classical pieces I am hearing give it a somewhat Persian egyptian feel to it, almost as if you were deep in the desert and unaware of where to go until some people found you and took you under their wing.
Overall, a very nice classical piece.
Review Request Club
Thanks for the feedback. I agree with you that this has a desert-like sound to it. I composed the song with an image of a desert imprinted in my mind.
Glad you liked it!