Dang dude!! If I ever have a film job in the future and I need a musician i'll definitely keep you in mind! Brilliant song!! :D ..Now excuse me while I download this!!!
Reviews for "Tree of Life"
etherealwinds responds:
That is really nice of you to say so! Thank you :)
This is an NGADM Round 1 Review.
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Wow, man, this is beautiful. I am absolutely elated you managed to finish this before the deadline, and work on it enough to make sure it doesn't sound rushed. Your meticulous attention to compositional detail, your absolutely brilliant atmosphere crafting and, of course, your (and Merry's) mastery of singing makes this, in my opinion, one of the strongest pieces of the round. I can't stress how much I enjoyed the melodies and harmonies in this track. They have a particularly organic and earthen kind of vibe, which of course pertains to the title of the track very well! Regarding the singing, it's simply spectacular. The only issue I have with the singing is that at the start of some new melodic phrases the timing of both your singing could've been tighter, such as at 2:59. Nothing that a little audio slicing/positioning can't fix!
The instrumentation is well-chosen and well-arranged. You are the master of harp, in particular. The harp especially sounds great during 1:52 where you briefly switch to a more upbeat, staccato kind of section. The mix is suitably warm and smooth, which helps the atmosphere tons, although it could have been a bit clearer. Unfortunately there's quite a bit of muddiness and clashing of frequencies, especially when your voice is playing since it's so full-bodied. A clearer mix would mean being able to hear Merry's voice more easily, and appreciate the plethora of little compositional intricacies you threw in throughout the track, such as the melodic accompaniment played by the high strings a minute into the track.
While there are some execution flops, I'm blown away. This is well-deserving of its perfect 10/10 review score by far. Sorry for being the asshole who ruined it though!
SCORE: 9.2/10
etherealwinds responds:
<3 you're the best. <3
This is a NGADM review.
Your Score Breakdown:
Production: 27.5/30
Composition: 25/30
Instrumentation: 13.5/15
Originality: 9/10
Emotion/Interest: 14/15
Total: 89/100 or 8.90/10 or 4.5/5 stars
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Let me start this review off by saying that this is one of my absolute favorite entries in the whole contest. Not only does it have a fabulous emotion to it, but it just has all these wonderful tasteful ornaments and some great contrast and shape overall. My favorite points were around 1:14 and 2:21- jaw on da floor!
First off, MAJOR kudos for the vocals. Tuning, phrasing, and performance are all very good. My only comment is on the production side of the vocals. Your own voice can end up sounding a little flat and mid-heavy at points, maybe consider trying some EQ or other options. Also, although a luxury, recording in stereo might add an interesting feeling of scope to the vocals more fitting of a world or ambient feel. I also feel Merry's voice could be very slightly louder.
The main thing that I think could benefit this piece is a larger climax, maybe the addition of more instruments would help achieve this. I also suggest considering adding a fitting drum, perhaps a frame drum or bodhran, even a tambourine. I've done a few collabs with Camoshark over the years and that has suitably convinced me of the need for [tasteful] ethnic drums in world music. The light percussion is nice, but could definitely be supplemented with more instruments, especially around transition points like 2:21.
The mix is quite pleasant. I do feel some more time could have been put into the middle-ground and background of the piece, which as it stands is rather simple (not necessarily a bad thing). Perhaps the addition of some recorders or flutes to play along with the vocals would be an interesting addition.
-SG
etherealwinds responds:
Thank you for the review! I definitely have a long way to go in terms of learning to mix. Hopefully next year I'll have learned a lot more. I actually did make some percussion for this and ended up removing it because I felt it didn't suit the piece and overwhelmed it a little. I think I've just gotta learn to balance it all!
All the best :)