Its a bit generic, but very clean and proper aswell, good job :)
Reviews for "Anthem of the Adventurer"
ChronoNomad responds:
I suppose that everything is basically generic because it's all been done before. Nothing new under the Sun, and all that. Looking forward to your generic entry for this fantastically generic contest! Let's get...generic. :P
Better generic than geriatric, I suppose.
Anyway, thanks for the generic review. Clean and proper seems legit--in a generic sort of way. Without some explanation about what you think is so 'generic' about it, I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree. :)
This is an NGADM Round 1 review.
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The reason I liked your audition was because it had such a great atmosphere, coupled by highly sensible composition. You deliver these qualities again in this wonderful piece. This has really nice composition that follows well with the premise of medieval/folk adventure and excitement that you offered. I can't really describe the composition in any way other than saying that you certainly know what you're doing. The instruments fit together nicely, the melodies progress beautifully, there are little pauses here and there (like 0:35) and the key change at the end was very well-placed.
The sounds leave much to be desired. They sound very much like soundfonts, which will never give you the crisp quality of high-end VSTs like East/West. Because I understand that not everyone can afford that stuff, I won't deduct marks for it, but I will deduct marks for the following. Firstly, the strings that appear at the beginning have the right sound but they need to be harsher and more spiccato (it's mostly noticeable in the pause at 0:35 where instead of having the harsh, sudden sound that would work for something like that, the note trails off lamely). There are a few levelling issues too; when a lot of instruments come in, it becomes hard to decide which instrument to focus on. There's a slight muddiness that's constantly present in the track that might be due to release times that are too large or too much reverb.
Anyway, if you've noticed all the issues I mentioned have to do with the sound of the track, and not the composition, which was great (albeit a bit generic). You're a highly talented composer!
Score: 7.8/10
ChronoNomad responds:
Many thanks, Step! There's no denying the quality (or lack thereof) of the SoundFont instruments, but as I am still learning my way around FL Studio, that also means lots of room for improvement. I'd love some awesome East/West VSTs, and anyone who wants to contribute to the cause by floating me a few hundred dollars will be my best friend for life! ^_~
Seriously, I'm a bit jealous of all the awesome orchestral suites that many of the other entrants possess, but I've been able to spend some time hunting down some really great stuff lately. Still SoundFonts, and of the relatively inexpensive or free variety, but they sound even better. Here's hoping that I can really bring the heat in the next round! I'm working on something entirely different for Round 2, and we'll just have to see how things go. A bit of chill D&B, which is something I've never really done specifically, and it's a blast. Look forward to it! :D
I'm extremely happy to hear that the composition is nice and tight, if a bit generic (I will probably hate that word for the rest of my life lol), and I am taking all of the sound critiques to heart. I'm trying to make things more dynamic going forward, from stereo effects to velocity, so hopefully that will be evident going forward and reduce that muddiness. I can't wait to dive headfirst into Round 2 with all these other hyper-talented artists! Tally ho!
This is an NGADM Round 1 review.
Great intro! Sounds like this could belong in an RPG for sure. Reminds me of sailing. I really like the part at :37, though the mixing could be a little better – I feel as if the arpeggiated strings should be taking a back seat to the neat melodic stuff you have going on, but they really stick out. While I like the build in the middle of the piece, it definitely could have been a bit bigger. In general, I think, the piece could have been “bigger”. The modulation, while a good idea, just sort of crept up without notice. Maybe the introduction of a new instrument, descant, or cadence would have really helped build the section before the modulation. And naturally, I was hoping to hear the modulated part give me something new other than the same thing in a new key. The ending is a bit abrupt, kind of like you’re reaching the top of mountain to shout “VICTORY!” and right before you take your last step you trip on your shoelace. Maybe because of the voicing in the violins (they should resolve upward to the tonic!). All this said, this is a great piece and I very much enjoyed listening to it! It takes me back to my old gaming days.
Score: 7.5/10
ChronoNomad responds:
Thanks for leaving me this informative review, bassfiddlejones! Everything I used was strictly a Squidfont instrument, and that was maybe part of the problem. Honestly though, I didn't have much else to use at the time, but I've been busy trying to expand my instrumental repertoire for better quality going forward.
As for the arpeggiated strings, they were a bit softer originally, but it was suggested that I make them stand out more...which I ended up doing kind of against my better judgment, and that was - in perfect 20/20 hindsight - was probably a mistake. Everyone hears something different, so sometimes suggestions run counter to each other; that's fairly inevitable, I suppose.
Nothing you've said is untrue, though the stumbling on your shoelace analogy did kind of make me cringe. ^_^; C'est la vie. I'll be taking all of this input with me as I move forward and hopefully continue to improve in my musical journey. I'm really glad that you still enjoyed the piece regardless of its flaws, and once again thank you for taking the time to leave this review. I truly appreciate feedback more than I can ever express.
Nice job being the first one to finish the first round of NGADM ;-)
I like this, it fits your comments perfectly. It's like I'm going on an adventure! I feel like Link! Or something.
I like the choice of instruments. I really enjoy the reeds that sit on top of the mix and add this soaring feel to the song.
The percussion is subtle and well done.
Anyways, I have a few suggestions for improvement.
The mixing is generally good, but I would suggest to make the 'most important' instruments (in this case, the violin(?) that carries the lead melody) louder than the others. Right now everything is about equal volume, which makes it harder to understand the song without listening closely.
There's a minor mixing problem where you have the french horn at the same frequency level as the strings. I can tell you panned because otherwise they would clash, but I think that you should just remove it - or move it out of the clashing range. Same thing with the oboe(? I'm bad with instruments.) at 1:00.
The dynamic (volume) level of the whole song is pretty flat. I'd suggest to make the parts where you have transitions a little louder (with crashes or what have you). Like, you modulate up a key or two at the end, but the listener could almost miss it entirely because there's nothing in there to indicate a change is coming.
Last, it feels a little repetitive. I think if you fix the dynamic levels like I said before this will clear up a little bit because the song will feel like it's constantly changing. However, I don't think it'll fix all of the problems because I think the song is just too long for the number of ideas you have. This is an easy fix - just make the song shorter. I always believe that it's better to make the song a tad too short and have the listener press replay than have it be a bit too long and have the listener get bored.
That's all the criticism I have! It's a lot, but it's mostly easy to fix stuff, which is good. Nice work on the song, I liked it!
ChronoNomad responds:
Yes, that is a lot of information to process, but I really appreciate the time and effort that you put into your review. You make a lot of excellent suggestions, and of course I want this piece to be as good as it can possibly be. At least I've managed to gain a bit of a deadline buffer zone somehow, so I should be able to expend a bit more time on this one.
I've also started on my next submission, but that can temporarily go on the back burner. Hopefully I'll receive more reviews with yet more feedback, even as I'm working on your suggestions. This could get interesting, but I'll just have to make sure I don't lose track of the next piece in the process. Thanks again for the phenomenally informational review! I truly appreciate it. ^_^