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Ersatz

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Author Comments

My entry for the first round of this year's NGADM.


This is a pretty experimental track. Probably a horrible decision, but it's just where my mind went!


I don't want to specify exactly what the concept is so that you can come to your own conclusions. But the name of the song is certainly a hint. Something happened... and it's probably not a good thing.


Hope you enjoy it!

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dammm I love that synth at the start and the delays are perfect, good job on the mix too! I like how you experimented in changing the progression completely, personally I would've arranged everything around the intro synth with a more minimalistic approach because it has a lot of potential to be a really chilled tune, things got a bit too epic for me but thats just me! I still think it was still good and mixed very well. I didn't really like the drum samples used at first but they did suit the style you transitioned into. Finaly, I really love the sounds you created at the end of the tune, really playful with the DAW. Good job on this one dude

How did I not review this? Crap!

Well, here I am. Let me start off with the beginning and just how much the beginning impressed me right off the bat. That sound design is AWESOME! I love your choice of starting the track with all sine sounds. Not only does does it sound awesome, it gives your sound a unique breadth and atmosphere. Perfect. However, I do have to complain a bit - later on, at around 1:46, you start a build up. Here, there's a chord sound which I'm not a fan of. Its entrance sounds kinda cheesy, if you ask me. But most everything else was crafted so perfectly, it makes up for it.

Atmosphere. You rock! The spacey, dystopian image that the song creates is quite vivid (haha, Newgrounds is trying to auto correct me to "utopian" :/ ). I looked up Ersatz, and I found "artificial, inferior substitute". Not sure what that means, but alright.

Next, originality. You rock again! This track, being the experimental little track it is, has a lot of awesome ideas in it. A lot of interesting things happened, despite them maybe being a bit underwhelming. But you didn't stick with the norm! Good job!

Now, melodic ideas. And this is where the real complaints start. I like your melodic content, it's really cool! But the problem is, there's so much more that could have been achieved! This song could have had so much more depth and overall amazingness, but sadly all of that didn't happen.

I'm gonna say the same thing for your progression. The build around 2:00 had me waiting for the track to go somewhere, but nothing big happened. It just kinda died, if you ask me.

Overall, this track is really really cool! Some awesome ideas were presented here. Sadly, they may not have been executed in the best way possible, so a lot of possible development remains untouched. Regardless, this is a stunning entry! Great job! (Oh, and I can't say "good luck" anymore cuz it's already over :/ sry man) 5/5, 9/10, awesomeness!

This is an NGADM Round 1 Review

--

Props for making such a cinematic ambient piece! This feels like something that would be right at home in a sci-fi movie or game, and that's in no small part thanks to the phenomenal atmosphere you've crafted. There's a certain sense of peace for most of the track, with a small hint of tension from the distorted bass, that morphs wonderfully into a very serious, tense, and relatively climactic experience from around 1:45. You've made some pretty unconventional stylistic choices here (which explains the experimental nature of the track), but they're choices I support and commend you on!

Now for the bad news. It will be no surprise to you that, like the other reviewers, I feel like the melodic development here is lacking. I think this is fine for the section at 1:45 which is more about mood than melody, but I was hoping that at some point in the track you'd expand on the melody you started with, especially somewhere during its reintroduction later on. The track just doesn't have enough elements for it to remain interesting without some more melodic development, which unfortunately leads to it getting a little boring as a standalone experience. I'm also not sure why 2:51's transition is so abrupt. Was there a reason behind that? I'm a fan of abrupt transitions if they're pulled off correctly but in that particular case I felt like it was more arbitrary than abrupt.

Anyway, overall: awesome cinematic experience, great atmosphere, neat ideas. I feel like this song's potential remains locked, though! Either way, thanks for taking part.

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SCORE: 7.9/10

VGM review

- So gooooood! x)

10/10

NGADM Review

I really like the synth sounds at the beginning! I feel you have a strong atsmophere at the start. Although I felt the atmosphere could be better achieved if the beginning had more minimalistic composition. With the pace that the music and composition goes at from the getgo, I also would have liked to hear a quicker buildup. With no varied melodic content, it’s difficult to hold as much interest in a track.
You have this awesome atmosphere and feel to this track, but if the melodies were more varied I think I would have really enjoyed this more. The way the song is structured I felt like it is only 2 or 3 main parts to the song. Not that that’s a bad thing by any means, but the way the composition is laid out, it certainly needs a little more variety than what you gave it. Again though, your atmosphere that you created is really pleasant to listen to. I guess I didn’t really feel an emotional connection to the music either… it didn’t really have me bouncing, or feeling any sort of emotion in some way. I’m not sure what else to comment on! Nice work.

8.2/10

-Ryan

Credits & Info

Listens
1,643
Faves:
1
Downloads
16
Votes
11
Score
4.53 / 5.00

Uploaded
Aug 15, 2015
7:33 AM EDT
Genre
Experimental
File Info
Song
9.2 MB
4 min 3 sec

Licensing Terms

You are free to copy, distribute and transmit this work under the following conditions:

Attribution:
You must give credit to the artist.
Noncommercial:
You may not use this work for commercial purposes. *
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If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting creation only under a license identical to this one.

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