I wasn't really going to partake in the contest (A.I.M. 2014), as I haven't had much time, and I was already working on another project. But I got stuck in that song, and happened to see this wonderful work of art:
I then decided to abandon my previous project (for now), and began playing around with my piano.
You can hear the result. Well, the premature result, at least. In order to reach the deadline, I had to rush the composition a lot; too much. The piano is mostly okay, but it needs some fixing. The sublte strings are okay too, but probably need a bit more done to them too.
The drums suck horribly!
In fact, with most headphones and speakers they sound even worse, due to the lack of bass in poor quality equipment. Thus, I uploaded a version with only piano and strings here (not on Newgrounds):
http://yourlisten.com/ShadowDreamer/when-its-cold
I will later (probably far in the future) return to this project, and most likely redo it completely. I really shouldn't include the percussion at all, but now that it's here, it feels dumb to just delete it all :p
I would've also liked to add some kind of subtle melody (as another instrument) to the piece, but oh well.
Also, this composition was subconsciously inspired by broove ( http://broove.newgrounds.com ), which I realized after a while XD
I'm not entering the contest for winning, as I have no chance, but it's always fun to take part of projects like these. I might just also be somewhere in the playlist after the contest :3
Enjoy!
Amazing
Well once again you do some amazing work especially with the piano and so smooth each key comes alive, Great track you have going here, really jumps out at you with the style you got going on this its stuff like this that really keep me interested in these types you have some Razor-Sharp ideas that push it forward great piano stuff here.
~X~
Thanks! This piece was made for AIM, and I'm hoping to participate this month as well. I might make another piano piece :)
So I'm going through these contest submissions, telling myself"Huh, I think I've got my Top 3 Fan Favorites established", thinking the last ones I still have to review are unlikely to alter my choice, and then this comes up and BOOM, OBLITERATED!
This is immensely beautiful. And then at 1:27 it becomes peculiarly beautiful. And then at 1:33 is becomes hauntingly beautiful. And at 1:48 it becomes profoundly beautiful and at 1:55 it becomes heroically beautiful. And at 2:07 it becomes all the previous types of beautiful into one.
I don't think I've ever heard a song with such a consistently beautiful chord progression in my life.
This gave me chills and almost stole a tear.
Bravo.
Wow! Thanks a million for that inexpugnably beautiful review :'D
It amazes how much positive feedback this song has received, but I still never imagined that this composition could alter someone's choice for the fan favorites!
I love how you pointed out different sections of the piece by describing how beautiful they are, using different adverbs :3
2:07 is actually my favorite part!
I think the main reason as to why this song is beautiful to many listeners, is that the piano is really a live recording. I always feel like I can portray so much more emotion that way :')
(Actually, it's really all thanks to ohtooeasy, for making such a wonderful and inspiring artpiece).
I'm happy that you and many others have liked the chord progression too! Chord progressions are one of the few things that I think I'm pretty good at, when it comes to composing. I still don't think I come close to your level though. You're an amazing musician! So are pretty much everyone that took part of this competition... I am baffled.
Again, thank you for the heartwarming review!
ahh splendid piano solo i love the tone color of the piano really gives this cold and light feeling just like the art
and that that pad/string really adds some great ambiance
though i would say maybe adding more to the piano like a melody perhaps :) the chord progression is great it just needs a melody
but i love the ending
Why hi there!
I'm glad you like the piano, as well as the strings :D!
I'd like a melody in this song as well. There's not enough happening, really. I think I'd like to add some more instruments, some of which play melodies. It's just my bad for deciding to enter the contest right before the deadline XD
I'm glad you loved the ending too!
And thanks a ton for checking by, I really appreciate it! :3
Beautiful! I love the simplicity and the atmosphere (reverb), as well as the chord progression. :57 was a high point for me. It gets a little repetitive after a while, but is very calming and relaxing. I liked the part at 2:07 a lot, but I think that you needed a more gradual transition between moods here in order to go along with the sort of "droning" aspect of the piece. I like how you transitioned back into the main theme at 3:25, though. The very ending could've been more climactic/conclusive, but overall I don't have many structural problems with it at all. Nice work, LSD! Sorry I didn't review this earlier. I stayed up 'til 4:00 A.M. this morning finishing my most important essay for English of the year. T_T Anyway, nice work! Keep it up, man! :D
Why hello there! :D :D :D
Good to see that most people here like my chord progressions in this song. I actually think I might have played this piece too "safe", but the chord progressions came to me naturally, so why not keep them? XD
I have to agree with everyone that this piece gets a bit repetitive. I wish I could've added more elements here and there, but oh well :) Some other time.
I personally like 2:07 the most I think, for the same reason that you think I should've made a better transition. I think I like the very rough transition, because it's almost the only place in the composition where you might go: "oh, what was that?". It's probably just my personal preference though. Maybe I should've made a more even transition :p
Especially since the rest of the piece is, as you said, "droning".
"3:25"
=> I know what you mean. I would say that the main theme is the one at 0:30 & 2:32. But I know what you mean; I'm pretty happy with how I transitioned back to the same theme as in the intro too XD
I like the ending, personally, but I think I get what you'd want out of it. I just like how it stays kind of true to the artpiece (in my opinion, that is), while still giving a slight mysterious feel. Or maybe not :p
Oh, and there's NO need to worry about being a bit late (I'm such a hypocrite though... As one might notice). I hope your essay went well, I'm sure it did, as you seem quite talented in that area (from what I've seen)!!!
Anyhow... Thanks a lot for the review, as always ;) !!!
This is a simple yet very beautiful piece and I think it fits the source of inspiration really well. It doesn't stand a lot of listening because of the simplicity, but it definitely works nicely as a piece you listen to once in a while when you're in a certain mood.
It's a shame you had to rush it. I find myself wishing there was something more to this. More variation, more instruments? Though on the other hand that might just completely ruin what the piece is at the moment.
I definitely want to hear more from you. It's nice to see a fellow Finn creating quality music here. If this is the quality you make when you rush, I wonder how good you'll sound when you actually have time to make everything the way you want. :)
Thanks Thonz! You're very right in that this doesn't stand much listening to. I think that I never intended for this to be much else than background music, but it would definitely have many more elements if I would've had the time :) I'm still probably going to improve it sometime far into the future XD
I wish there was something more to this too. I don't think that more instruments would ruin the piece, if only they are done right, so to speak. I think I'll go and give your piece a listen now ;)
I've noticed that I'm not the only Finn on this site either (How'd you get so good at speaking English?)! The quality of my music really depends much on how inspired I am, what type of genre I'm venturing into, as well as, of course, the time. This time, I was quite inspired, so the piano part only took one hour to make (almost two before I had a good recording and mix :p). But if I had the time and the skill to make everything sound like I wanted, I think I could do quite well. In a few weeks, I should have the time. I'll just need to aquire that skill somewhere...
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LucidShadowDreamer 
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