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Vaeltaja

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Author Comments

This is our first collab in a while!
And naturally, we dedicate it to our competitor; Jordi. Also known as EtherealWinds :)

He wrote a description for his track that very well covers the situation, so instead of reading a long one here, I recommend you check it out:

http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/754524

Jordi was also kind enough to provide us with some vocals that you'll be able to hear in this composition ^___^

The art for the NG icon was borrowed from SkyrisDesign:

http://www.newgrounds.com/art/view/skyrisdesign/welcom

I'm sorry to say that SnowTeddy doesn't appear to be around at this hour, but when asking for his description some days ago over Skype, this is what I was given:

"hi world, bye world! <<<< that's my description"

So there you go ;)

Enjoy!

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the Masokinism of Attainability >

not much greater praise I can give other than those cryptic words *^.^*

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

Thank you for listening, and for leaving your thoughts! :)

Good song.

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

Thanks :D

I was almost thrown off by the extremely audible attacks in the right ear, but once things get going, this is a very emotional, evocative atmosphere. Especially enjoying the suspended strings and gong, and then you've got your driving rhythm. Key change caught me off guard. The audible attacks in the right ear continue to confound me for the lengthy of the track, although I'm appreciating the horn rips traveling from left to right, as if given actual sonic space.

This is a very pensive piece which almost lacks direction, but it keeps the same theme throughout, so I can't really discount that. Using your competitors vocals? I'm not even sure if that should count as a disqualification or not! Lol. Although, that is quite kind of him.

Good piece.

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

Hey, thanks for leaving a review! It's a shame that most judges this year lacked the time to do it, since it's one of the main points and benefits of the competition. With attacks in the right ear, I assume you're referring to the piano. The mix might be a bit odd, I suppose! We kinda liked it that way :)

As for horn rips, there is no brass in the piece.

Well, the piece may lack a conventional structure. The title means "wanderer", so it's supposed to feel more as an adventurous journey! The thematic elements indeed are the ones that are intended to keep the balance in the piece.

As for using our competitor's vocals, we also provided elements to his track. Outside performances are allowed in the rules . And we ended up losing anyway, so no harm done! Naturally, we're back in because of the high score and some dropouts though.

Once again, thanks for reviewing!

I downloaded this and listened on CD while at work so I can give it several more listens before I said anything. The imagery that keeps coming to mind when listening to it is a panoramic view rolling over several different landscapes. This is a bit like a baroque piece in the sense that the music keeps on going without any pauses in between phrases. I also think it's brilliant that you and etherealwinds swapped audio. This makes me think that Versilian Studios has to create an Etherealwinds library soon. Oh and that melodious violin at 2:10 is quite beautiful and catchy. It an ambitious piece with a lot of variety. You've mentioned how some of my music would fly by without realizing how many minutes have passed, but I say that's what happens exactly with this piece you two created here.

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

We appreciate you taking the time to not only listen to the piece, but think about it too before you comment!

It's always great to hear that people get their imaginations flowing when listening to one's music. It seems that your imagery fits the theme of the piece quite well, considering the meaning of the name, and our thoughts while making it!
The melody at 2:10 was made by us both ^___^

Although Jordi suggested the idea, we had already thought of it individually, because of the circumstances. Unfortunately, we actualized it so late that SnowTeddy didn't get a good change to record anything.

And Etherealwinds library would indeed be something everyone should want :O!

As for the time flying by, we're really glad that you felt that way listening to this. We were actually literally just talking about you, and your music ;)
Thanks for listening, and for reviewing!

I love the tranquil moods and harmonies. Strong progression, too. A couple of the transitions here could’ve been smoother, like :37 and 3:21. The melodic content is great, and you do a good job of balancing the frequencies. Your orchestral samples are pretty good, but the uniform vibrato stills gives away their inauthenticity. I enjoyed the modulation at 2:10, too. Your mastering skills have improved considerably since “Tenebrarius,” although some of the string notes could sound a bit more distinct at 1:45.  Overall, the piece is very flowing, but lacks coherence (you knew that was coming). Make sure to let Jordi know that the vocals at 3:24 were great, btw. Tiny detail: I think the piano at the beginning is just a tad too strong - I thought I heard a little distortion, but it could just be an excess of reverb. At any rate, I think it would help you add a tad more shape at the beginning to fade it in more. How’s that for grossly specific, huh? All the same, this is a really strong piece. Keep it up, guys! ;)

8.75/10

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

Thank you for the very fast review!

I agree with the transition at 0:37 to some extent. I think maybe we should've incorporated a short break there?

As for 3:21, I think the transition is quite good. Especially if you don't read the description before the piece; the vocals are meant to come as an added bonus at the end. So the fact that the transition isn't entirely predictable and smooth and might catch the listeners attention, is a good thing.

I do think that SnowTeddy's mastering and mixing has improved indeed! The only part that I, LSD, mixed, is the part with the vocals at the end, and some atmospheric additions there and there. That said, we did talk about things, and agree upon the mix and what should be changed and all that. Collaborations can take a bit longer because of it, but it's also a great learning opportunity :D

There is no distortion nor clipping at the start; perhaps the piano sample just doesn't sound entirely right to you? It's a felt piano, so there could be some unexpected resonances here and there.

As for coherence, I have one long winded critique for all judges (even more so reviewers). Please bear with me.
It's easy to say that something lacks coherency, but if you're going to, do specify what it means to you, in that particular instance. Coherence can be interpreted in many ways. Is it the structure? The mixing? The instrumentation? The arrangement? The chord choises? The progression? The atmosphere? Something else? All of it?

Coherence in what, when, where, why? By definition, everything both lacks coherence, and has it. The word coherence is related to the words understand and interpret, or could even be connected to not being able to place something in a common formula, meaning one mentally has to create a new one. Is this bad, or good, and why? Breaking it down further, coherence is related to the goal or aim of something. Does that mean that the incoherent thing in question deviates from the set goal?

If that is the case, the person feeling that somemthing is incoherent has already defined (internally) what they feel the objective of that something was, and that the thing that's critiqued does in fact not follow suit, in regards to that objective.

Especially because said objective might not be the same for the composer and listener, when it comes to something as subjective as music, I wish you would specify exactly what you in particular feel when you essentially say, you don't feel the track is logical and consistent (the definition of coherence); you could exemplify what it is or isn't logical and consistent, to you.

Otherwise, it's about as helpful as saying you like something, or don't like it. Which by all means, already is somewhat helpful.

Sorry about the rant! But I keep seeing that word (which really means next to nothing on its own) in reviews all over the place, and I thought it could be interesting to have a discussion about it!

Thank you a lot for so actively judging everything in multiple competitions, while taking the time to write reviews as well. That's strongly done.

Credits & Info

Artist

Listens
2,323
Faves:
19
Votes
33
Score
4.22 / 5.00

Uploaded
Jul 9, 2017
11:56 PM EDT
Genre
Cinematic
File Info
Song
9.4 MB
4 min 8 sec

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