Scaithe (NGUAC Knock-Out Entry)

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Scaithe (NGUAC Knock-Out Entry)

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Author Comments

Here's my entry for the NewGrounds Underdogs Audio Contest. I wanted to try and tell a story with this one, trying to experiment with different time signatures and tempos to actually express the various points of the story. It is actually a really simple one, and so i wanted to leave free interpretation for it. I also used some kind of microtonality in this.

So since I don't know what else to say, I'm going to list all the equipment I used

Every single synth in the song was made with Ableton Drift, and synthesised by me excluding like 2 or 3 Drift presets
The lead in the second part of the first part was sang by me and high-pitched, eqd and distorted
The pianos (also the electric and the reversed ones) come directly from Ableton
The strings were made using the Kontakt library "Alpine Project"
The music box in the third part was made with Spitfire Audio's "Labs"
Every drum samples comes from the Ableton Sample Library

Let's hope for the best I guess

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midimachine

2023-09-01 02:03:48

lots going on in this one! i appreciate the musical storytelling; the best parts of this track are in the middle of the song where the LABS instruments meld with the synths and create this really nice atmosphere. the production quality varies throughout though - the final section especially lacks the impact that the distorted tonality tries to imply and the drums here feel strangely weak. the piece also lacks a strong enough melodic motif to tie it all together, and along with the fluctuating production value makes it feel like an incoherent experience.

TaintedLogic

2023-08-31 22:58:19

I like the airy synth arpeggios at the beginning and the build-up into :20. The reverb is rather heavy there, especially on the snare, although the hi-hats at :39 sound really neat. The piece is a bit slow to progress at times, but I really enjoyed the transition at 1:00. The added harmonies at 1:03 don’t come through the mix all that clearly due to all the reverb. The mellow breakdown at 2:01 was good for some variety, and the wonky harmonies starting around 2:15 really help jazz up the texture. The string melody at 3:02 is another element that could’ve come through the mix a lot clearer, but I really like the lo-fi beat at 3:21 and the pentatonic groove at 3:38. This piece certainly has a strong narrative appeal, and the sound design helps facilitate that. The drop at 4:28 was a pleasant surprise, with a lot of glitchy elements and a fairly heavy bass to boot. Dialing back the reverb at the low end of the frequency spectrum could really help add some punch to the mix there, though, and I was a bit thrown off by the extended pause at 5:33. Overall, I’m a big fan of the composition and instrumentation here. Tightening up the mix and maybe smoothing over one or two transitions could really turn this into a top-notch track.

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

xkatttt

2023-08-28 09:49:20

Great tune all around! I think it doubles as both a soothing background track and a highly engaging one. The dubstep break within the second half was pretty cool and I like the authentic glitches sprinkled throughout the song --- the last one before the outro got me ngl haha