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Osman - "The Mountain And The Sky"

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Author Comments

Hello again. Today, I bring you "The Mountain And The Sky," a song whose title came to me while on a fishing trip. I'm not much for deep thought, but I was struck by the idea of a mountain, towering high above all that exists around it in an attempt to be one with the sky, but never "really" achieving that goal.

I'd had tons of ideas to have this song be a marriage of sharply contrasting themes and instrumentation, in keeping with the title, but those ideas drained from me as I continued my work on it; as it is, this doesn't have the sound I wanted it to. I'm sure there's an irony relating to the title in there, but I won't be digging it up.

In any event, I sincerely hope you dig it.

Edit (8/13/2017): After reviewing feedback, I've made some minor changes to the song. Added a reverse piano effect to smooth out a few transitions, I've changed some of the piano layers around to clear up the mix, and I've changed to bass pattern in the middle section to not sound as harsh. The original issue with the bass was the result of me applying the entire sequence to the wrong sub bass channel, resulting in an inconsistent sound.

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I like the atmospheric vibe at the beginning. It certainly has an emotional appeal, and I like the piano melodies at around :40. The progression is a little slow, but the sound design is really strong. I really like the combination of the quirky, ambient vibes with the hip-hop-inspired beats. The section at 2:50 offers some nice structural relief, too, although I think you could’ve maximized the emotional appeal of this piece with more moments of climax and catharsis. All the reverb you put on the low piano parts was a bit of a risky move mixing-wise, but overall I think the mix is really clean. I really wish you developed the melodies a bit more during the last minute or so of the piece. You add very little new material to the last ⅓ of the piece, and that’s a huge problem IMO. The ending was also a bit lazily done. Overall, I really like the mood, instruments, and atmosphere. The composition could use a bit more effort, though. Keep at it, Osman! ;)

8.75/10

This has some really great elements. Like, really great. The melody started off pretty strong especially at 0:38 and I like the additions at 1:10. The strings and violin stand out a bit and they sound a bit flat. Perhaps it's just the sample library. I like the dynamics; the part at 2:56 onwards was nice - quite brave to go so empty but I think it works here in this case.

The part at 3:20-3:28 was a bit weird, timing-wise. I feel like perhaps you were trying to make sure the track wasn't repetitive by mixing it up a little here, but it didn't totally fit and sounded a bit out of the blue. By 4:21, going back to the beginning is nice, but it sorta feels like you're milking that part a bit and it gets very repetitive. Almost sounds like you copied and pasted the parts a few times to make the track longer. I feel like perhaps a keychange, or a change in the arrangement, or addition of new instruments, or all of those things would solve that issue as a listener! That's just my opinion though, of course :)

I haven't really listened to too much of your work in the past, but you've got yourself a new fan. Lots of potential in this! I feel like it started off stronger than it ended, which is basically my main qualm with the track. Rather than overusing a great idea, try to create a few more great ideas that work in your track. I really enjoyed listening to your track though. I wish you the best of luck for this round!

damn, i think i would've made something like this for this round if i didn't hate music right now :v

i think the drums are a little primitive in terms of their mixing - a little dry on the programming side too. the piano sound is a bit muddy, a bit like FL keys but a little better (still weighs the mix down a little imo). the sub bass is generally a little too savage (i.e. loud), especially in the middle breakdown section. i think the rest of the instruments could do with a bit more stereo imaging too (other than the reverb). overall the mix is fairly servicable, though.

where this shines is in the emotion and atmosphere, which i think is perfectly conveyed through the sound design and "orchestration" - the main melody is really lovely too. it's probably better that there isn't really that sharp of a contrast in that respect. certainly could be tightened up structurally as it doesn't quite earn its near-6 minute runtime, but i think carving out the breakdowns and buildups a bit more would definitely emphasize the emotional payoff of the drops.

anyway this resonated with me on both an aesthetic and emotional level, and not many things on NG do that for me!

Credits & Info

Artist

Listens
1,232
Faves:
2
Downloads
16
Votes
6
Score
3.82 / 5.00

Uploaded
Jul 31, 2017
12:29 AM EDT
File Info
Song
6.7 MB
5 min 51 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. *
No Derivative Works:
You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work.

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