Nice, I hear how Muse's 2nd Law inspired you, especially the gradual progression, arpeggiation, and parallel major chords towards the end. I like the combination of slowly changing layers with persistent drones. Good stuff
Hi! Here's my submission for the NGUAC Knockout Round. I don't usually produce cinematic-orchestral music so I wanted to give it a try. Hope you like it!
I was inspired by many soundtrack composers, and by a Muse's song "The 2nd Law: Isolated System", so I wanted to give the feeling of something intense and mysterious. I mainly used Albion One from Kontakt and Serum for the electronic parts.
Nice, I hear how Muse's 2nd Law inspired you, especially the gradual progression, arpeggiation, and parallel major chords towards the end. I like the combination of slowly changing layers with persistent drones. Good stuff
I like the mysterious mood at the beginning and the spacey pads. The cinematic quality of the piece is great, but the progression is a tad slow-paced and the mix could be more distinct in places. The string lines start to get a bit buried at around 1:30, for example. I love the pent-up tension of the piece, and the melodies at 2:08 help create a sense of resolution to the tension. That said, I couldn’t help but feel like elements of the piece were a bit dragged-out and underwhelming. I think you craft the narrative arc of this piece so well that you could’ve made the final climax much more dramatic, hard-hitting, and ambitious. But that’s less a critique and more of a missed opportunity. The sound design, progression, melodies, and atmosphere are all great as they are. My main complaint is that the mastering could be a bit tighter, but I think that’s a pretty straightforward matter of toning down the reverb and getting stricter with the equalizers. Overall, you’ve done a great job of channeling the emotion, creating full and rich textures, and reconnecting the piece with its mysterious origins towards the end. Keep it up, Ana! :)
Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.25/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.25/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.75/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.5/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
8.5/10
I think those 16th notes in the beginning could come down a bit or be rolled off with a low pass -- the pspsps stands overtop your intro pretty loudly.
I really enjoy the development through 1 minute.
Nice and pensive. I think centering your bass to pulse underneath the track would give more dramatic effect.
1:42 sounds great. The track as a whole may benefit from more compression, as contemporary cinematic in this style is typically quite loud. I find myself wanting more volume and spread on your brasses, louder slams on choir and percussion at that final big section.
Nice work! Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!
Daaaaamn that's an amazing distopía style (~‾▿‾)~!
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