so pesaful
Reviews for "A Villager's Dream"
LOTR vibes, love it
Official ADM review:
Well, I'm starting to feel like I'm running out of new things to say here. It doesn't really matter what set of instruments you choose - and the choice for this particular piece is flawless - you make it work every single damn time. The flute might have been difficult to program, but even focusing on that, I can't find fault with how you went about this - it sounds natural and like it's exactly where it's supposed to be.
Once again your storytelling is simply magnificent - I can actually see the places our protagonist is traveling through as the music changes, starting in their home village, going into a dark forest with some curious occupants, a castle and a landscape of rolling hills only for them to start dreaming of home again, and going back.
And this is where I feel the only shortcoming of this track is. Pop culture has been bombarded with medieval/fantasy films and series over the past couple of decades, so much so that within half a minute the listener will have your track firmly pegged as belonging to this genre. This can only be achieved by stringing the right number of clichés together - which you do expertly, but they're clichés nonetheless. And because the cultural mind is so conditioned to hear this music in support of visual arts, hearing it out of its expected context immediately makes it feel like something is missing.
Compared to your previous two entries, which don't have as clear an established cultural framework to be viewed against, I think this one is a step in the wrong direction for these reasons. And you're still scoring incredibly highly because you are simply damn good at what you're doing, but at least I thought I could give you some feedback with this that may help you for the last leg of the journey. Good luck in the finals!
This is an official NGADM review
This is giving me some epic main theme vibes. I cant say i hate anything that has been added there and the overall piece sounds really professional.
The leitmotif in the track is really reminiscent of the soundtrack from the new Rings Of Power series. The section transitions from the moody to the upbeaty/happy ones just instantly remind me from the compositions in the Hobbit parts and I was surprised on how you can manage to compose those parts with the atmosphere being really similar. Few more tribal drums and youd have a perfect epic Hobbit theme, but I think it's for the better if you'll maintain the atmosphere a bit more unique. I'd personally love some ethno sounds thrown in to make the composition a bit more versatile.
The structure is rich, flowy and very smooth. As I said before i dig those transitions but I expected them more stretched out maybe? Some just play right away before I really start to enjoy the previous section and it might be better if those sections were more progressive. For example the part 00:54 has some very good potential but the next section came a bit to early for me.
The mixing is a part you really outdone yourself. Just tame few instruments like the shire flute or those huge crashes, they were unnecessarily loud. The overall composition sounds crystal clean:*
Wish you the best in this contest!
-CRY
Everratic responds:
Thank you for the detailed review!
I'm glad you noticed the inspiration from LoTR soundtracks. I watched the LoTR movies, RoP, and listened to some Hobbit themes within the past few months. You mentioned that the atmosphere is also similar, and there may an unexpected truth to that. I read on wikipedia that both the LoTR and RoP soundtracks were partly recorded in the "Air Lyndhurst" hall. That happens to be where most of the string libraries and percussion in this song were recorded. I purposely used distant mic positions to get that coveted hall sound.
I thought about adding some more ethnic sounds like a bagpipe but there were some technical complications and I dropped it.
I agree that some sections could be longer. I'll try to work on that next time.
The shire flute has over 8 different plugins trying to tame it and it's still not enough xD I'll try making the cymbals quieter next time, but I do like it loud so I'm not sure if I'll stick with it.
I feel like I'm a little kids, leaving my village for the first time without my parents. I have my best friend with me and I know the journey ahead will be a bit scary but I find comfort in the fact that I'll always have a nice bed to return home to and a nice meal waiting for me. I love this piece. Good work :)
Everratic responds:
Thank you for the review! I love to hear what people imagine when they listen to my music :D