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Sky Kingdom of Arcadia

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Author Comments

With this song, I set out to create something that embodied the notion of living in the clouds. I used heavy brass and string elements to bring about that sense of grandeur and fantasy, then I tried to use lighter sounds (like that of the celesta) to catch a bit of a whimsical theme. So just sit back and try to imagine yourself living in the sky. Any feedback, tips, advice or anything of that nature would be really appreciated! I hope you like it! :)

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Very pretty but a problem here lies. It reminds me of clouds, undoubtedly, and the orchestration as I can get beneath the somewhat out of place bass drum is the majesty of sky. What I find lacking is that it is really a lot going on, but nothing in particular as far as a melody goes. The strings are pretty, and it really had me from 2:20 onward, and the little trills in the flute were good; so much so that I would've turned up the volume to hear them.
The bass drum, as already mentioned, is just really sharp so that it distracts me. What I like in the percussion, however is the cymbal crashes, and of course the rhythm itself that the snare and bass drum snare.
So really, beautiful stuff, but the lack of familiarity in melody with the sharp bass drum were all that is worth fixing for it to be truly great.

Neon-Bard responds:

Like others, you're most definitely right about the percussion. I've sense fixed the drums but haven't gotten around to uploading the new file. I'll keep this in mind for future pieces all the same! I'm glad you found the song to be 'beautiful'! I'm starting to see what others have been saying about the piece being a little overbearing as well.

Thanks for taking the time to review the song, the feedback is definitely helpful! :)

Hm... is that Edirol Orchestral you used here? It's not a bad library, but its instruments are quite easy to recognize, as they have a very specific tone to them. That's not a bad thing though, but it's always funny to recognize other libraries. That said, here's my review (second time I write this, because Flash Player decided to die on me right before I wanted to click the submit button).

Let's start with the mixing aspect. There are two things I'd like to point out here, both regarding the percussion. The bass drum is a bit too overpowering, in my opinion. It would be good to cut its lower frequencies, so that it fits the overall mix better. The other percussion elements are a bit too 'sharp' sounding, which sadly makes the piece unfit for ambient settings.

The composition itself is also not without its flaws. To be honest, the piece is a bit chaotic, and because there is no clear melody, it is also quite difficult to listen to. The arrangement, however, is the big selling point here. The image you describe (the clouds and all) really comes forward because of the different instruments you used. Good job there!

All in all, it's a decent piece of art. If I were to give you some advice, it would be 1) to spend more time on the mixing aspect of music production, and 2) to invest some more time into studying music theory.

Good luck with your future productions!

I'm with the previous poster saying the middle section lasted too long if this music is made for listening purposes only. If it was made as part of a game OST you could get away it by saying "it's just mood music". You can't really do that if it's just for listening.
I'm not going to judge your work on the quality of your tools because I understand that it's unfair to do so, but I would like to point out that your strings sound quite tinny/whiny in the middle section and could use more beef to add to the realism.

Apart from that, some good work on the composition, interesting percussion that holds the whole piece together and I liked that sneaky flute at the end. ^^

Neon-Bard responds:

Really good points man, I appreciate them! As always I make my stuff geared towards the game genre and I wanted this to be more along the lines of 'mood music' as you put it. Either way you're right about the prolonged mid-section of the song...I think this is going to turn into another song at some point. I just feel really attached to this song. :)

The percussion elements work surprisingly well and the melody work is simply great. I love the violine/viola from 2:15 upwards. From 3:00 on I'm missing some progression, though. The middle section drags on for just a little bit too much for my taste.
I'd also really like to hear some more tension building elements within the arrangement, maybe some buildup in the middle part and a release in the finale, I think the song would feel more rewarding that way. Somewhere in the intersection between 3:10 and 3:50 there certainly is room for, let's say, a drum roll leading to a new layer of percussion, or anything to that effect.
I'm absolutely stunned by the piano section, it blends in incredibly well.

So, in conclusion: Great work, a little too less tension and a tad too much repetition for my taste, but still a really good track. Well done!

Neon-Bard responds:

I'm glad you thought that the percussion worked out well, the same goes for the melody! :)

I thought that the violin I used around the mid-point was great too...but hey, I'm biased lol! I'm thinking about doing a second version or adding more to this song so I'll keep what you said in mind about the middle section of the song. I can totally imagine placing a drum roll from the 3:10 - 3:50 mark, thanks for the tip! :D

Thanks a million for the review! :)

The brass work on this track is astonishingly well-done! As another user said, very Lord of the Rings-esque! The vocals are similarly wonderful and wholesome... and in addition to the cymbal work, it is simply masterfully done.

Neon-Bard responds:

Thank you! That's really good to know! Actually this is the first time I've really worked with brass to this extent so at least I'm on the right track. Again the LotR reference is more than a compliment for sure! :)

Credits & Info

Artist

Listens
2,603
Faves:
7
Downloads
123
Votes
6
Score
4.42 / 5.00

Uploaded
Nov 2, 2012
7:47 PM EDT
Genre
Classical
File Info
Song
11 MB
4 min 48 sec

Licensing Terms

Please contact me if you would like to use this in a project. We can discuss the details.