A liked the warm string sound you had here. I think it progressed a little too quickly given such a heavy, dark ambience. It's only 3 minutes, so I don't think it would've hurt to dial the tempo back a notch. Still, the progression is really beautiful, and I love how you cycle back to those initial chords at around 1:27. It kind of reminds me a little of Hans Zimmer's "Time" (and that's DEFINITELY a good thing!), but I think in order to really sell this piece you needed a little more dynamic contrast. Volume automations could really help. I would suggest making 1:27 pianissimo at the loudest, and then really highlighting the crescendo back into around the 2-minute mark. Little details like that really help bring out emotion in these kinds of pieces. Still, overall this is really solid work. Oftentimes, simplicity is beauty. :') Keep up the good work, LN! ;D
Reviews for "Death of a Prodigy"
Great job Man! this IS one beautiful piece of art. You really captured the essence of emotion and reflection. keep it up!
Thank you very much! I'm glad you liked this song!
For starters,I love this kind of music. Orchestral music like this,to me,fits the mood better than a lot of other songs could ever hope to. To me,this reminds me of the end of a long boss battle,where you finally triumphed over the enemy,only to find out one of your party members suffered their final death,where no revives or Phoenix feathers are going to bring them back. I think that you really did pour your heart and soul into this piece,and that it shows very well. Totally worth a 5/5.
Thank you for the kind words :)
== This is an NGAUC Audition Round Review. ==
This piece definitely has a lot of emotion to it. You have a really good sense of arrangement - you add and remove energy almost effortlessly, and it works really well. It definitely has a really strong and somber feel to it which perfectly matches the title. I’m also impressed by how you do so much with so few elements - just strings, and a tiny bit of piano and horns. On the other hand, I find that sometimes the melody can be a little undirected, and since the piece is already so subtle as it is, the piece loses a some interest. The piece is pretty darn good, though. Score: 8
P.S. I noticed you said this in a response to someone’s review: "if I add too much stuff my computer can't handle it, and Kontakt starts dropping samples when exporting.” That’s not a limitation! You can bounce down your tracks to waveforms, and then you (obviously) don’t need Kontakt for that instrument any more, so you can add MORE instruments! :D
Mini-scores (See http://johnfn.newgrounds.com/news/post/936953 for what this means and how to improve)
* Composition: 3/4
* Arrangement: 3/4
* Mixing: 4/4
Thanks for the review! I'm glad you enjoyed this piece :) As much as I love keeping things simple, you're right. It can lose some interest.
I've tried the method you suggested before, but even just exporting ONE instrument can be a challenge (my computer SUCKS). I just need more ram lol.
I definitely felt the emotion in this. Kind of took me to a weird place, deep within my psyche where things lurked, dormant for years without being recognized... So yeah. Thanks for that. I needed it. Your orchestral pieces are always beautiful and amazingly put together. As I was writing this, the horns came in near then end and took me even deeper. You got some serious talent. Keep it up!
:O My song made you feel all of that??? I'm so happy to hear it!