Actually it's pretty good. A lot of the parts I really liked including the beats.
The melodies are going good. :) Respect! :D
Reviews for "Ecosystem"
Step responds:
Thanks! I honestly can't thank you enough for all the comments you've given me on my tracks.
I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Hallo thar Step! Allow me to return your favor that did NOT happen.
The Good: There is too much good about this to fit in the character limit, so I'm going to try to get through these quickly and get to things I think could be improved.
-That intro is awesome, though I think I already told you that.
-Staccato woodwinds are surprisingly awesome, I really really liked them.
-That guitar has a really tasty sound to it, it's making me consider getting Ra again.
-Your main melodies are sweeeet.
-I particularly like the mallets, and the way they're used. Of course, I do play mallets, so I suppose I'd be a bit biased about that, but... the reverb on them is REALLY cool.
-The overall rise and fall of this song is very nicely done, as is the combination of the different melodies. The other small rises and falls within the overall action make it more entertaining to listen to.
-I personally really like how the overall sound just slowly goes down kinda like it opened up with. It's very satisfying to my ears.
-Mixing is clean, sweet, and pretty. I am very pleased with it.
-Gotta agree with Buoy, that little flutter at 2:52 is SO nice.
The Not-So-Good: It has to come sooner or later. I'm going to be nitpicking to an insane point here, so sorry in advance.
-As much as I really like the arpeggio at around 1:02, it REALLY does need some 'mouse-fucking' done to it to change the velocities and definitely the timing of the notes.
-At around 1:20-1:22, the strings sound obviously faked. The extremely quick, seemingly-staccato diminuendo right before the equally quick staccato could have been done a bit better. It's mainly the staccato-like diminuendo that's the problem, so what I'd do is lessen the volume right before it does down rather than building it up immediately prior to letting it go.
-This is more of an optional thing. I personally think the syncopation at 1:10-1:13 is slightly offputting, and since this is all about harmony, making things offputting is not the best. Rhythm can be 'dissonant', in a way, just like harmony.
-I can only think of one way to improve the guitar, and that is this: Slide notes every once in awhile.
-I like the little ritardando at 2:42-2:45. However, here's a little tip - make it slightly more pronounced. That will make it easier for the people without a musician's ear to be able to hear it better without going "wait why did the groove go all weird here".
-The last iteration of the melody at 3:03-3:24 deserves more than a few very small variations. Try adding a rainstick with delay on it in the background instead of the shaker (or with the shaker turned down). Also try perhaps shifting instruments from the foreground to the background and back, giving each one a little feature. As in: The flute has the main melody initially, but then push that to the background and bring out the mallets, then push that back and bring out the percussion, keeping the end of that little bit the same.
Overall: Wow, I love this. Downloaded, faved, 5'd, and here's that review I promised. Yeah tons of nitpicky stuff. Anyway, I'm off to tell Captain Planet who should make his new theme song.
-Your Mr. Friend from the RRC, Skye-
Step responds:
"Hallo thar Step! Allow me to return your favor that did NOT happen."
Ohoho I see what you did there :3. Thanks for reviewing man!
"-That intro is awesome"
Sweet! I'm not usually very good at intros, or at least I don't think I am. I guess I got lucky!
"Staccato woodwinds are surprisingly awesome"
I love staccato woodwinds. And woodwinds in general. Of course I still prefer strings (because strings are so much more dynamic and powerful) and piano remains my favourite instrument, but yeah, those woodwinds are awesome! Flute and bassoon are my two favourites from the woodwind family.
"That guitar has a really tasty sound to it"
Yeah! It's the Washburn guitar; my favourite ever guitar sample ever. I love it and I'm so glad Ra includes it. Blackhole12 says it's too mono but my deaf ear is like "I BEG TO DIFFER" so yeah.
"Your main melodies are sweeeet."
Thank you :3.
"I particularly like the mallets"
This is actually one of my first times using mallets so much (before I just included little sections with them).
"The overall rise and fall of this song is very nicely done"
Yeah, rises and falls are awesome. I include them in like all of my orchestral songs now.
"I personally really like how the overall sound just slowly goes down kinda like it opened up with. It's very satisfying to my ears."
That's great to hear! Buoy seems to disagree but since you like it then it's probably moot and not worth changing haha.
"Mixing is clean, sweet, and pretty. I am very pleased with it."
Woo!
"that little flutter at 2:52 is SO nice."
Yeah I have to add more of that stuff in my next version of this. Details, details, details.
"As much as I really like the arpeggio at around 1:02, it REALLY does need some 'mouse-fucking' done to it "
I totally agree. I'll work on that! A pretty minor issue so it shouldn't take long.
"At around 1:20-1:22, the strings sound obviously faked."
Hm, what do you mean about the diminuendo? There's a quick crescendo there but no diminuendo... I think! Although yeah they do sound fake :3.
"I personally think the syncopation at 1:10-1:13 is slightly offputting"
Heh alright! I'll see if I can change that!
"Slide notes every once in awhile."
I did slide them a little in the guitar solo... well, sorta slide them. I wish I could slide them more but it's SO hard to make them sound realistic since Ra doesn't have a sliding articulation for this guitar, as far as I know.
"I like the little ritardando at 2:42-2:45. However, here's a little tip - make it slightly more pronounced.
Yes, I like this idea. I'll try that out!
"The last iteration of the melody at 3:03-3:24 deserves more than a few very small variations."
Well there are quite a few variations; the background mallets are entirely changed and I threw in quite a few new melodic changes. But yeah it needs something more to it to differentiate it from the first climax. I'll see what I can do!
"Overall: Wow, I love this. Downloaded, faved, 5'd, and here's that review I promised. Yeah tons of nitpicky stuff. Anyway, I'm off to tell Captain Planet who should make his new theme song."
I repeat for the third time. YOU'RE AWESOME.
Thanks so much for reviewing! I'm glad you liked it.
Wow. An ecosystem. I hear it.
"However, an ecosystem is also diverse, so you're going to hear plenty of different musical styles playing here." - I don't here a lot of variance in musical style. I feel Trinity far better showcases that design specification. But with that much variation it might begin to sound like /multiple/ ecosystems. :D
Very nice work. I'm not going to ask you to change anything. Grin.
Step responds:
Hehe thanks!
Yeah I agree it's not as diverse as Trinity. Rather than different styles it's probably a better idea to say different moods haha. Although the orchestral 'epic' part is a pretty drastic change in style. I just tried to make this diverse while still having it make sense musically.
Thanks again, I'm glad you liked it :3.
Masterfully done. A very refreshing and airy feeling to this piece along with a catchy tune.
Thank you for a great song of rare quality.
Step responds:
Hey thanks! I'm glad you liked it.
Well, I thought I would begin by reviewing your work :p.
I must say I was amazed by this work!
You skilfully incorporate the different instruments towards each other. Seems like the perfect music to go along with a game. Ever heard of Zoo Tycoon? =) This sounds like a track which would be played in that game :D
Perhaps the only drawback is the lack of a clear-cut structure, but then again I'm not very familiar with classical music!
Skilfully executed, you have my admiration!!
SoulofT
Step responds:
"Well, I thought I would begin by reviewing your work :p. "
Aw that's nice, thank you :3.
"I must say I was amazed by this work! "
Great to hear, I'm glad you liked it!
"You skilfully incorporate the different instruments towards each other. Seems like the perfect music to go along with a game. Ever heard of Zoo Tycoon? =) This sounds like a track which would be played in that game :D "
I haven't heard of that game but I checked some of its music on YouTube and yeah it has a reeaally similar style to this song. It sounds a lot better than my song though haha.
"Perhaps the only drawback is the lack of a clear-cut structure, but then again I'm not very familiar with classical music!"
Hm, well this has a pretty weird structure, in that it's more of a constant flow of melodic and harmonic motifs rather than clear-cut and well-defined distinguishable sections, although I think that my repetition of the main melody at the end did make it a bit more structured. I dunno.
"Skilfully executed, you have my admiration!!"
Awesome, great review, thanks! You know when I saw your thread in the forum I shamefully had you pinned down as one of those people who just cares about getting views without giving back to the community, since we get so many people like that in the forums, but it seems like I might've been wrong, and I'm not saying that because you liked my song :P.
Thanks again, I'm glad you enjoyed it. Good luck getting more exposure!