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Valley of War

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Author Comments

My first submission to Newgrounds.


This is a theme I wrote that is obviously inspired by No Adrenaline/ Dream within Dreams from Valiant Hearts.


The chords and melodies may seem very similar in the beginning, but give it a while, and it will gain a life of it's own.
I don't have any expensive instruments, but I used Piano One and DSK Overture to make this.


Thanks for listening.

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Saw your review on dem0lecule's piece. I don't see why the pessimistic view, you've got a pretty good grasp on writing music for this being your first upload. I liked the change at 1:20 a lot. There's a lot of pitfalls on the mixing side (and this is the pot calling the kettle black; I still struggle with every bit of mixing), but that's something that gets worked out the more you make music. You'll only grow better as you keep writing, so keep it up!

Free soundfonts are tough to sell to the listener in a piece, but good composition will always bring the best out of what you have. If you want realism from your soundfonts, start trying to humanize them when you've got their parts finished (or even beforehand). Vary up velocities and use volume automation to give your strings (or any instrument, for that matter) a personality and direction. This is a great habit to get into early on if you want to write for virtual orchestra instruments. Bringing that element of dynamic expression is essential to any piece. Your piano part is pretty nice in that regard. The sustain + long reverb tail combo kind of bleeds into the string parts a bit, though, and sections like 1:43 suffer from it. Careful not to let reverb steal too much definition from your song. It's also worth thinking about how often you clear the pedal on the piano when busier sections happen, because it no longer focuses solely on the piano, and things like the string section need some space to breath in the mix. Those kinds of things will come up endlessly when writing, and you'll definitely get the hang of them. I like your handle on composition already, I'd like to see how it progresses from here. :3

TearsOfSadness responds:

Thank you for the long review.
I was not as much pessimistic as I was complimenting his incredible skills. I don't think I'm striving as hard as him to make music, as to me it's more of a hobbey. That is why I will never reach his level.
Yes, the mixing is pretty terrible.
I agree that the composition is more important than the production and quiality of instruments.

I should have spent more time on the humanizing of the strings, but the piano is as humanized as it can be. This song isn't even in a specific tempo.
I will consider your advice in the future Thank you, for the motivation as well.

Wow! It's like Phonometrologist said. This really resembles (not to be narcissistic) some of my stuff o.O
Wait, you used Piano One to get this sound? I've used the same vst in the past, but I didn't get it to sound this good. I should probably experiment with it more :/

Now, as has already been stated, the intruments interact nicely to the most part, but at times, they are kind of on top of each other. Still, they sound nice together.

I have heard "No Adrenaline" actually, and I can see the resemblance. There is still a lot of differences. Almost everything, in fact. It's just the style (rhythm, tempo and such) along with the key that are similar, the rest is pretty unique.

Another complaint I have is that 1:43 though 1:50 sounds a bit messy. The strings sound a bit too slow to me to be used the way they were. That's just my oipinion thoug.

Great work! I'd scout you, but I see that you were already scouted somehow.

TearsOfSadness responds:

Thank you. I am surprised by the amount of reviews this piece has gotten.
I didn't do anything special to Piano One. I basically just EQd it and added reverb...
I see your point about 1:43. I'll think about it until next time.
I checked out one of your improvisations, and left a review.
Yes, I was scouted by Phonometrologist.

Nice little piece.
Opening chords instantly hooked me in. The rhythm and string parts were also fun to listen to. I also liked the chord progression at 2:35. Hope to hear more from ya. This piece reminds me of some of LucidShadowDreamer's work. Check him out.

TearsOfSadness responds:

Thank you.
The opening chords are practically stolen from the Valiant Hearts theme, because they really managed to capture so much emotion for something so simple. The chord progression at 2:35 is basically the same as in the beginning.
I'll check him out.

Oh boy, this song is making me want to get the game even more now! I've simply skipped out on it for quite some time, although it looks quite appealing. I need to get this soon.
Anyway, boy, oh boy, do I love this one! I, of course, haven't played the game or heard its music, so I can't tell the similarities. Even with that said, I don't even know if I can put my opinion into words. The only thing I feel that could be made better is the panning, as it sounds like the instruments are battling it out for the center. Panning them more to the left or right would have given them a good identity.
Besides that, this is awesome. I also probably feel this way since I'm a sucker for the piano to begin with. I'm really looking forward to hearing more of what you'll come up with!

TearsOfSadness responds:

I see what you mean about the panning. You are right in that everything is focused in the center.
Thank you for listening and reviewing, and I'm glad that this got you into a new hype for the game!

Credits & Info

Listens
2,340
Faves:
6
Downloads
50
Votes
7
Score
4.84 / 5.00

Uploaded
Feb 23, 2015
2:47 PM EST
Genre
Cinematic
File Info
Song
3 MB
3 min 17 sec

Licensing Terms

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