FIVE STARS! Amazing job again! I love your work and this is really pretty in a weird techno way. Keep up the good work!
Reviews for "The Last Dance"
LucidShadowDreamer responds:
Thanks again SlammedSloth! I'm happy to hear that one can enjoy this composition :3
I will indeed do my best to keep on making weird music!!!
This is very lovely and it sounds so original too!
I really liked that section around 01:35 nice melody and sounds so spacey.
the one around 00:51 was also nice is that a harmonica playing?
Agh it really sucks you can only load up to 16 VSTi's is it in demo mode or something?
I can't imagine what stuff you'd compose if there was no limit for you :)
I feel your pain I remember when I used to work with FLstudio 32-bit as soon as I had like about 8 VSTi's like EWQL running my computer would go bananas. So I got tired of that and got myself Cubase 7 64-bit and bought myself some extra ram.
The volume isn't too low though plus you can always raise dat volume (⌐■_■)
Nice work as always!
LucidShadowDreamer responds:
Thanks a lot Mattashi! :'3
It's great that it sounds original. I was heavily inspired by this piece though, which is pretty clear in the beginning: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jk4KepVIOTw
I like 01:35 too. The interactions between the two lead melodies are pretty interesting, and the percussion is a bit unconventional. And yup; that is indeed a harmonica!
It definitely sucks not to be able to use more than 16 VSTi's :( It's a cheaper version of Cubase (Cubase AI 6), which my piano teacher gave me for free :D
Yeah, DAWs are pretty computer heavy.
It's good to hear that Cubase 7 has been working out for you (which is obvious from the quality of your music). I'll probably upgrade at some point too ;)
Hahha, I don't think the volume is much too low, but compared to most songs I've heard here it's a little bit more silent. I can't raise the volume in my DAW though, or we'd all die from all the clipping in our ears XD
Thanks for leaving an awesome review :)
This. THIS. AND IT EVEN LOOPS KINDA
Okay, to be honest, it's not the BEST stuff on Newgrounds. But hot damn! This is pretty amazing based on your experience with DAWs. I guess your skilled ability in composition really makes up for it. :)
It's such a progressive song. Transitions are really key in songs like this, and you really pulled some of them off. A few seem a little forced (especially the ones for really drastic changes, like 1:18, 2:01, 2:45, etc.), but mostly, they're really smooth and still manage to let such different ideas flow so well.
The melodies are amazing as usual. Also, it got slower! Personally, I think it might sound better if it were sped up a bit. ;)
Amazing work! Keep working at the stuff with DAWs, and you'll be real pro in no time. You're doing well at stuff like automations and effects - if I were you, I'd try learning more about effective ways of mixing and stuff. Good luck! :D
LucidShadowDreamer responds:
Awww, thanks LunacyEcho :3
Hahha, if this was among the best stuff on Newgrounds, I might as well try to search for a job in movie and game score production XD Thanks for the honesty ;)
It's great that you think it's good based on my experience though! I wish to get even more experienced for sure.
Yeah, I totally get that the transitions could be better, especially at those spots. I actually had 2:45 working really well at first, as the reverse cymbal got a weird accidental glitch which made it sound amazing! Sadly, upon opening the project the next time, the error had been fixed automatically, which actually made it sound worse :( I didn't manage to recreate it either :p
Ahh, you noticed that this is slower than previous verions :) I had a real though time deciding the tempo for this piece o.O I eventually settled for a simple 100 bmp, but I can see how it works as a faster piece too (My issue was that the speed took some of the dreaminess away imo).
Thanks for the confidence boost! I'll keep working with Cubase, and probably get myself a better verion eventually. I think you're right about the mixing. I should try to learn how to mix properly. I'm actually thinking about asking my piano teacher (with whom I'll have my first lesson in more than a year tomorrow!) to screw the piano for a while, and try to teach me mixing skills XD Let's see how that goes :3
Man this is fun to listen to! I didn't mind the sounds either as I think the heavy reverb helped--kind of gives a unique quality with all your interesting parts going on and your choice or arrangements. With your limited capabilities, you were able to create a really nice piece.
The frequencies sound quite warm to me-- downloaded! now i can just chill and relax on my bed while listening
LucidShadowDreamer responds:
I don't know why exactly, but I tend to use tons of reberb. Actually, I think that is beacuse of the dreaminess it often gives birth to :3
Apart from the beginning, my arrangements were actually pretty random, as it wasn't the main aspect of this piece (which would be the transition practice). I like the result though, but the process was pretty much like: "Hmm, I wonder what It'd sound like if I combined Some heavily altered 8-bit percussion with two leads playing different melodies in the same rhythm while there's a somewhat filtered orchestra and piano in the background. Let's try it!"
Thanks for listening + downloading, and of course for leaving a nice review ;)
I absolutely love the unconventional percussion~ those high-cutoff sounding bleeps and bloops, AHH!
Lots of progression in the arrangement, kind of like a more dynamic M.C. Escher endless staircase (in that it feels like it's constantly moving forward, despite looping, but dynamic in the sense of...well, dynamics, haha)
I actually really like the "lower" quality real VSTi's. It gives it a sort of character that it wouldn't have if it were made of more believable VSTi's, but I can definitely relate with putting a lot of time into a composition, and trying to get a real-sounding sound and being unable to.
LucidShadowDreamer responds:
I'm glad you like the percussion. I actually really like that effect too :)
I definitely understand what you mean with the M.C. Escher ndless staircase comparison! I had thought about this piece in similar ways as well :3
Yeah. As I don't have realistic instruments, I wasn't going for realism in this piece. I focused on creating nice sounds instead of realistic ones :D It'd be cool to have great VSTi's though!
Thanks a lot for the review, gween123!!! XD