(disclaimer: AIM judge review here! these are just my opinions and thoughts, you can take from them whatever you like! music is subjective and all that. <3)

what a gorgeous piano piece - the rubato and the way you play around with the theme makes this feel pseudo-improvised and super expressive. i love the rich harmony and the use of different registers at different points (especially when it goes up high!).

there are a lot of points where i think the deep reverb and delay effects are a nice touch, like when there is less motion and they really have the space for that breath to be taken. they can really be appreciated at moments like that. but on the other hand, when the motion picks up, when there's arpeggiations in the lower registers, it gets quite muddy quite fast, and the ability to really hear all that delicate piano writing is greatly diminished. maybe there's a balance to be struck somewhere in the middle, or some automation to reduce its prevalence at the muddier points, or a high-pass/lo-cut on just the fx. i wouldn't want them to be gone entirely, because they are not only a wonderful texture but also lend the song its watery mood that pairs so nicely with the artwork inspiration you chose. which, incidentally, is so emotional! it's a poignant take on quite a poignant scene. regardless of the periodic muddiness, this is so pretty, and i appreciate the detail in your piano writing. was a lot of this liveplayed? if it was sequenced, it's all the more impressive!

AIM 2023 Judge Review

Considering I've heard quite a few solo piano entries over my course of running AIM, I feel like it's amazing to hear one this compo that manages to be very emotionally moving. It helps that the art inspiration chosen is one that does fit well with the piano aesthetic - a focused and isolated image that is both beautiful and tragic at the same time. I also like that it was played live (or at least it sounds very humanized); the phrasing, dynamics and little "imperfections" in the tempo really help to enhance the tone of the image.

Composition-wise, I love the main hook heard at the beginning. Something about the way it ascends and hits what sounds like an augmented 4th chord and resolves on a 9th (my theory is so rusty lol) perfectly encapsulates that feeling of almost breaking but never hitting the surface of the water and instead, falling farther and farther away from it. I also hear some delays in the piano notes and I'm not sure if that was an added effect or you playing that live(?), but I think those delayed effects on the piano notes provide a shimmering sensation - it brightens up the image with just the right amount of musical "lighting".

Overall, I think it took me a few listens to really appreciate the craftsmanship behind the composition, but when it hits, it really does emotionally tug at the heartstrings. I don't want to say that complex chord progressions automatically make a piece more emotionally complex, but I think the way in which it's done in this entry just hits the right spot. The whole piece evokes the sense of hanging in the balance - it's got this immersive, everything-looms-above-you sort of feeling and it makes me feel like I'm the person in that image.

what a beautiful piano solo.
it made me feel sometype of way and it made me very calm thank you for making this masterpiece

It's been a while. Haven't heard your piano solos in years. I certainly missed the romanticism in your impromptu mood pieces—less of a technical show-off, and more like swashes of color, a painting in aural form. A dreamy piano, able to capture on its own the magic of an entire orchestra. And just like that, I snap back into reality as soon as the reverie ends.

this is so sentimental, I love it.