Truly intense. It gave me an awesome feeling and I think you've done a great job. Keep up the good work!
Reviews for "Sanctuary"
Step responds:
That's nice to hear. Thanks for commenting!
This is good. So good it could be on a game such as Skyrim! Great work keep it up. I hope I get to hear another song as good as this in the future!
Step responds:
Oh man I wish this would compare to Skyrim's soundtrack xD.
Thanks a lot for the support though. I'm glad you enjoyed the song!
Really well done! I can see all the effort and work you put into this. I love epic orchestral music such as this and can't help but think of Age Of Empires during it! Really lovely, flowing sound...
Cannot wait to hear more like this eventually!
Step responds:
That's awesome, thanks a lot!
I can't say I was inspired by Age of Empires but I do love the main theme of Age of Empires 2 and you mentioning it brought me back tonnes of memories of playing that game and being absolute crap at it :3.
Thanks again man, I appreciate the review!
Not BAD
Really good
Step responds:
Well I would've liked it if you could tell me why you gave me a 3.5/5 rather than just saying the song was not bad :P.
Anyway, thanks for the review!
Well its about time I got around to writing an review on this. I listened to all of the songs in the orchestral theme and came up with my own noobish list of the top 32 after several days of re-listening (this was before the official top 8 were even announced). When I first started I thought your song was around 7th place but after much re-listening and comparison your song ended up in 3rd on my list of the 32 best of those 80 songs... So that is to say Sanctuary is a song that grows on a person as they listen to it. I think the reason it grows on you is because the melody of the song is a little bit overwhelming and scattered because of the vast amount of patterns... at first you cannot grasp the voice of the song and thus it doesn't sound sound quite right. When when you get to know the melody you start to enjoy the song more and understand that complicated melody. The complication is something I enjoy because the song does not become tedious to listen to after multiple listens. There a part of this song that I can only describe as desert-like and it sticks out a little too much from the lusher mountain-like theme of the song however this difference in melody is one of the major things that grows on you so I cannot say its a bad thing rather a difference and perhaps it help tell the story better. Sorry if that doesn't make sense. My judging was mostly based on individual scores in the following categories: Intensity, Emotional Change, Consistency, Fit, Story, and Feel. The categories that correspond best with the official judging were Story and Emotional Change (Indecently, NickPerrin's Windswept got the 11/10 for emotional change and 10/10 for story also 2nd place in my list, one place above yours). Feel and intensity are the two top stats for making a song stand out to casual listeners. While Fit and Consistency are more likely to be areas where judges knock a song off for a negative reasoning.
In each category only 1 of the 80 songs can get an 11. Sanctuary received an 11 in the feel category meaning your song had the most feeling of the 80. I'm sure you can guess this from my earlier comments but the song did poorest in the consistency category getting a 7/10 7 is equivalent to a "strong attempt" (5/10 is supposed to be "average" 10/10 is "pretty much perfect") I speculate your song was knocked out of the official judging going from top 16 to top 8 via negative reasoning which is something I prefer avoid doing yet it is unavoidable and often necessary in large competitions.
So a quick summary comment your song does well with the average dude but not as well represented with official judges.
Now to stop myself from biasing my scoring too early in the song I would write whatever came to mind while listening and I will include that here: In the depths of the world a wandering jipsy passes by a rocky cliff face. He senses danger begins to run to escape something unseen. An ambush! His path is blocked so he turns around to run. Again an ambush. Running away montage. He hides inside a broken fortress but the depths of the place have a strange asortment of creatures. Are the creatures dangerous? He wonders as he walks cautiously by them. Perhaps they are, he escapes unnoticed to wander off again to a happier place.
Maybe that is of no use to you but that is a story I imagined by listening to this song.
Conclusion: Fantastic work 3rd in my list.
Step responds:
Wow, this review is massive! Thanks a million, man, not only did you give me feedback on this track but you even wrote a scene for it and explained exactly why I came third in your list. I appreciate that!
"came up with my own noobish list of the top 32"
I know you didn't get much recognition for it in the thread or in your newspost, but I've got to say that the list you made is fantastic. The ones who didn't make it into the Top 8 were able to see where they stand in a wonderfully put together Top 32 list. You even executed your judging very professionally after many days of listening rather than just throwing together a list of thirty-two songs you liked at first listen. I'm sure everyone appreciates that a lot, me included :3.
"your song ended up in 3rd on my list"
Yeah I'm really happy I managed to make it all the way up there. I'm still pretty sad that I didn't make it into the Top 8 (I knew this would probably be the case, but when the realisation actually hits you, you do get a little butthurt). I listened to the Top 8 the judges chose and although I have my doubts why some tracks were in the Top 8 when there were other better songs which didn't make it in, in my opinion, I know that the artists in the Top 8 are extremely talented so it was only natural for them to make it in.
"So that is to say Sanctuary is a song that grows on a person as they listen to it."
Haha, I've listened to it so many times that I'm actually tired of it :P. I could say that I listened to it at least 400 times in all during the work in progress stage and hearing the final product. I like doing that with my songs because then if there's any little quirk that I want fixed, I'll definitely be able to notice it.
I see what you mean about it having an overwhelming melody. I think I did make Sanctuary a bit TOO sophisticated.
"There a part of this song that I can only describe as desert-like and it sticks out a little too much"
Lol yeah, this has plenty of different atmospheres and moods :P. The MAC specified to work on making mood changes, and I probably went a bit overboard! But I get your point about the different feel growing on you. I guess all of those changes might be what makes Sanctuary overwhelming at the beginning but then a little better later on.
"My judging was mostly based on individual scores in the following categories: Intensity, Emotional Change, Consistency, Fit, Story, and Feel."
Wow I'm really glad you think it has the best feel from all eighty submissions! And yeah I already guessed that I wouldn't do as well in Consistency. Ah well :P.
"I speculate your song was knocked out of the official judging going from top 16 to top 8 via negative reasoning"
Could be. Considering that my song had an obvious flaw being that in the first listen it could come off as overwhelming because of all the patterns and inconsistency, perhaps that was the problem. I do wish that the MAC would give reviews to everyone rather than just the Top 8 so that I could know exactly where I went wrong. That's why Echo and I, when organising our annual NGADM competition, we make sure that from up to the 52 submissions that would end up being submitted, all of them would get up to 6 reviews each, so that every winner will know why he won and every loser will know why he lost.
"that is a story I imagined by listening to this song. "
Awesome story, it fits really well with the mood intensity changes in the song and was similar to what I had in mind :3.
"Conclusion: Fantastic work 3rd in my list."
Thanks a lot for the really great review!