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I rushed this one. I'm uploading this directly after rendering it. It had to be posted for the NGAUC KO-rounds. I still like it (otherwise, I wouldn't have uploaded it).

[edit: deadline got postponed, so I tweaked some things, balanced the mix more and remastered the thing]


The song is heavily influenced by external factors. The main one of them is the way I felt in the past days. Even though not that much happened, my mood changed quite often. Also I got inspired by Townsfolk Melody, by BlueAlpha14, which has a great atmosphere, and by 1f1n1ty, whose story telling style, and crazy complicated compositions taught me a lot about music theory.


I really appreciate constructive criticism, because I'm not a pro. And if you have time, please share what this song makes you think of!


Chord progressions:

- Intro: Dm - C - A#

- Build up: Gm - Dm - C - A# - Gm - F - Edim

- Chorus: Dm - F - G# - D# - C# - B - G - Am

- Breakdown: Ddim - (an unknown chord with D, D#, F# and G#) - D#dim - C#m - Ddim - D#dim - Cdim - C#m - C - C#dim - Am

*a key change from Dm to D#m, and after that from D#m to Em*

- Build up: C - G#aug - Fm - A# - power chord (CG) - G#aug - C - Fm - Am

Also the tempo goes from 155 to 110, 155, 161 and back to 155 BPM.


Synths, FX and Samples:

DirectWave, Sytrus, Harmor, 3xosc

Fruity param. EQ 2, Fruity Reeverb, Fruity Convolver, Fruity Limiter, Maximus, Fruity Stereo Enhancer

VEC3, Stock samples, My vocals recorded in Edison

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01:15 is pretty much the only point where I'd say your mixing mastering was lacking. It felt kinda muddy and it was pretty tiring to listen to that part. I was going to say it's the sub bass, but the later parts that are similar for some reason don't share this problem. So make of that what you will.

This song kinda feels separated from it's own elements. Most of the time I keep thinking that this was originally just a piano solo instrumental, but then you slapped a dnb beat and a sub bass on to it. And while that can work just fine, I feel this song didn't really do that great. I'm also pretty sure that is not how the song was made, but that is just how it felt to me.

Also since the piano is such a huge part of this song, I would've really wanted hear more dynamics in it's playing, because at times it does really feel flat.

I have to admit my bias though, I'm generally not a fan of solo instrumental music (which again this song is not, but I can't get over the feeling that it is), so take all of this with a grain of salt.

BlastBeats responds:

I actually made the first 10s first. I loved the harmony, so I proceeded, made some drums. They are too punchy, but I was really happy with them for some reason. So I combined the two. I made the chorus, still being happy about myself, because I made a supersaw (wow...). It went so smoothly compared to my other songs, that I forgot about the flaws.

The supersaw didn't fit the timbre of the other instruments, and I completely mixed it the wrong way. Hence it sounds painfully intensive. Also the piano has a lot of warmth, because the experiment in this track was "how do I make a song with a piano as my bass?" I might have made it too warm.

The main focus of the track was harmonies of layers. So no slapping happened :P

I have to keep in mind what you said, because I'd love to experiment more with removing flatness from instruments. Thanks a lot for reviewing!

Amazed! Keep it up man :D

BlastBeats responds:

Thanks :D

I like the pensive mood at the beginning. The piece has a lot of bass and reverb that give it a great sense of atmosphere. The strings and piano mesh really well together, and it’s very melodic throughout. Sometimes I thought your melodies were a little overly convoluted, such as the piano one that ends at around 2:00. I love how you created some breathing room for the piece at 2:15. That section contributed a lot to the structural variety and space for contrast and climax you’ve provided here. The section before the second “emotional height” of the piece was a bit drawn-out, meaning there wasn’t much of a sense of direction within the phrase from 2:44 to 3:32 or so. Overall, I thought the mixing and mastering was really clean and you used the entire frequency range really well. You’ve kept a full texture throughout, and you’ve clearly thought through the harmonic direction of the piece very well. Perhaps you could’ve used some more interesting or unique sound design, but in general I think your instruments fit the mood they convey. This is impressive work. My nitpicks here don’t amount to much. If anything, I might caution you against making your melodies quite so intricate, as after a while it can detract from their memorability. Solid effort, though. Keep it up, man! ;D

8.75/10

BlastBeats responds:

I've never read, that was so well structured. I agree with everything you said. I have to say that this was more to pracise music theory than sound design. I did sound design in my first NGAUC entry. However, what you say about the melody hits me a bit. I know memorable melodies are a thing in modern music, but I think it'd be weird not to look further than those. There is a lot of interesting harmonies you can work with (but I'll try not to go too far from becoming memorable next time)! Nevertheless, I'm incredibly happy that this piece received some love. And I really appreciate the review.

Wow, really nice track! The melodies were fantastic and I liked the combination of piano with ambient sounds! The quiet part halfway through the track was interesting, it kinda reset the pace of the song. I'm no expert, but it does sound like you mixed everything nicely. However, the synth that comes in at around 1:20 and 3:45 seemed just a touch out of place, but it still sounded great. 4.5/5!

BlastBeats responds:

In my head that synth fitted very nicely. But I paid so much attention to the mix right from the beginning, that I maybe have looped the chorus so many times, that I got used to it. I still wouldn't really know what to do with it. I'm into that transition where the piano takes the lead, which sounds like a relief. Since my goal was to make fast paced ambient with punchy drums, I'm happy to read your review. It makes me feel like I didn't mess this one up :D

So much better than what I've reviewed last time if you remember me. :)

I might be biased because I love the intro and the part at 2:45 a lot. XD
Before going into others. Let me explain why I love it.
• Good use of velocity of each notes. It really makes the piece more dynamic. Keep this in mind every single time you do something with piano!
• The instruments are not too loud and suit the atmosphere very well.
• I love it!
• etc.

The progressions are great and I like it. However, I think the sound design doesn't go with the mood. That synth doesn't work well when it takes the lead. You can keep that synth in the background like in my favorite parts and let the piano takes all the front. And more importantly, don't push all the velocities to the max. You may raise the volume a bit (as I don't find the piano after the chorus relaxing as it should be), but since the velocity is not equal volume, don't push it to 100%. Doing this is even worse when combined with heavy use of reverb effects.

I'm not an expert on this, but the melodies could have some more works, too. For example, the arpeggio on the piano can be used in the chorus instead of straight chord hits, or used 'em both!

The best choice to go on this piece will be liquid DnB imo because of its BPM. Ambient is usually very slow or doesn't contain any percussion at all. So, rule No.1 of DnB, make the drums stand out, but not in-your-face. Instruments in this piece obstruct them and make them too soft, especially in lower mids to bass. give the volume on those to your drums. Not the hihats, though.

That's all of it. I might be missing something, but this was all I can think of and write. If there's anything wrong with this review, correct it as you like. I know I'm not good at criticizing things, but don't judge my grammer plz. :P

BlastBeats responds:

Luckiest R4R review ever! And yes I remember you too!

The part you liked the most, is the part I started this project off with! Hence it's the part I listened to the most, and tweaked the most. I'm really glad you liked that.

Your ears are good. My velocities were 100%. Like... how did you hear that? It's a good point. I'll take it into account (because I can't live without my piano). I made that supersaw lead to get force some call and response in this one. I don't really know what to do with it. It reminded me of the Lost Cosmonaut series, where I made the majority of my music for. Biased by nostalgia? I dunno...

An arp in the chorus. That seems like an awesome idea. I have some time before the deadline of the NGAUC. If I get it working, why not? I'm learning music theory, so I intend to improve my melodies too.

Good point, I shall change the genre name. Last time I made DnB, my drums were too loud, so I didn't want to do that this time. Now they're too soft. Mixing is tedious!

There is nothing wrong with this review at all! I cannot but appreciate it. It's in-depth and very helpful. Thanks a ton! And I will judge your grammar: No errors detected

Credits & Info

Production

Listens
1,340
Downloads
25
Votes
10
Score
4.22 / 5.00

Uploaded
Jul 26, 2016
9:53 PM EDT
Genre
Drum N Bass
File Info
Song
5.9 MB
5 min 9 sec

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