Reviews for This is Not the End

[Echo]

NGADM Review:
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Melodic content is definitely the biggest high point of this piece. You've got excellent melodies, and a good use of orchestration and harmony to get the effect you want. The piano moved smoothly and fluently, albeit with a few awkward transitions, but all in all it developed nicely and progressed into different sections, each of which were well-structured and elegant.

That being said, the piano lacked realism, which is important in a piece where it's pretty much the sole focus of the listener. I'm not saying it's entirely robotic, but something just doesn't sound real about it. Quality wise it's great, but it lacked a human feel to it, particularly in the rigid tempo and velocities, a few random tweaks of which could have made it much better.

Overall, you've got a lot of potential and a clear understanding of melodies and orchestral ideas, but the key problem you have is humanization. A little work on that and you'll be making awesome stuff in no time.

Score: 8/10

ChronoNomad responds:

Well, I guess I'll just have to figure out how to add those little random tweaks in FL Studio, won't I? Maybe once I've been using this DAW for a year or two I'll be a master of all the ins and outs, but for the nonce I can only defer to what I know. I'm learning bit by bit, but there are only so many hours in a day, and ultimately I guess that's what hurt the most here. Looking forward to flaying everyone else in the NGADM alive in a few more years! Am I being figurative? Hell no. It's a Death Match, so let the blood rain down and paint the world crimson! :3

Pseudo insanity aside, thank you for the review. This one just plain wasn't going to be as good as Tir Na Nog no matter what, and I probably never should have gone for such a piano-driven piece when even my best version of the instrument (at the time) was apparently the musical equivalent of a steaming pile of shit. Lesson learned. I'm mostly just frustrated at myself for blowing it, but there's a lot of good here to chew on and learn from. The world has moved on...as have I.

[alternativesolution]

- NGADM Round 3 Review -

The strongest part of the song is its melodic content during the first half of it. Very beautiful, and soulful. You've got some good compositional ideas....but the way you have played them out is not so good. You do have some unsmooth transitions (1:38 being the worst offender), and your piano melody becomes repetitive after a while. At the section during 2:25, the mixing of the strings and piano was unclear, and made neither stand out in its own way, really. I don't think there is much off about the sound of the piano, itself, except for those high notes at the end, which sound a little hard-hit. I think once the repetition issues are out of the way, along with smoother transitions, this piece could be more improved.

Score: 8.5

ChronoNomad responds:

Thanks for the review, AS. I'm wondering if it's based on the original version or the newly updated one with improved piano, but I guess it's more or less academic. I really like this piece for what it is, whether anyone else agrees or not, and that's fine. It's not perfect, and doing a piano-driven piece when all of my pianos sucked at the time was probably ill-advised.

I've already been dragged through the proverbial mud on this one review-wise, so everything just feels comfortably numb at this point. It probably could be further improved, but I've stuck a pin in it so that I can move forward and concentrate on other things. At least the piano's better than it was! :)

[bassfiddlejones]

This is an NGADM Round 3 Review.

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What I liked:
-The strings in the beginning sound great. Especially the slide in the cellos, very nice.
-Around :43 the chords/melody gets really cool.
-The chords you use around and after the 1:00 mark are fantastic, I'm a fan of all the key changes!

What could have been better:
-The mixing/mastering is a little flat. I would have liked a bassier, wider track.
-The IV, V, vi chord progression is nice, but is used a little too much.
-It feels a little repetitive in the second half.

This is overall a really nice track, with great melody work. I would like to see a little more bass and some creative panning of instruments to widen out the track. Great work!

Score: 8.2/10

ChronoNomad responds:

Thanks for another lovely review, BFJ. You gave this one a slightly higher score than Tir Na Nog, so I guess I must have been doing something right here! :D

It's nice to hear a good word about the cello slides, especially since I worked on them a lot to try and get just the right kind of sound and timing. I'm hoping to a find an even better cello soon that can sound even more solid when using tactical note slides. It's also great to see someone commenting on the rolling chords! I was beginning to feel as though they went rather unnoticed, so I am very happy to know that someone enjoys them. Seriously, bless you for that.

Still working on my mixing and mastering, but I think I like to think I'm getting there. I think that using too much Stereo Shaper in this track was a mistake, to be honest; it kind of made the music sound thin and less dynamic. Six of one, half a dozen of the other, I suppose. Hoping to make better choices in this regard in the future. I can't deny that there is a bit of repetition in the second half, but there was a purpose behind it, and I guess it's just a case where my own artistic vision didn't resonate with others in quite the same way. So be it. I can fully understand and accept the alternate point of view.

It is very nice to hear that the music is well liked, overall. There's certainly nothing to be ashamed of in the scores that I've received and I'm proud to have made it this far. I'll keep working on things and maybe take another stab at it next year. Excelsior!

[Back-From-Purgatory]

NGADM R.3 Review

What I liked:
- Great piano progression and sound.
- Strings, OMG the strings... so warm and rich and pretty.
- Overall atmosphere the song creates, very mellow, yet with a hint of tension throughout, it's a nice balance.

What I didn't:
- There needs to be something occupying the low end in this, it all seems to be stacked in the mid-high range with nothing down below, which I think made it feel a little less full than it should have.
- First half of the song was quite varied as far as how the piano played, key changes, rhythm changes, etc... but the second half felt a bit more lazy, as if you ran out of ideas and opted to go with a more generic melody to just fill out the rest of the song.

Overall:
Aside from a somewhat repetitious second half and the lack of low end, I really enjoyed this. How it creates an atmosphere both relaxing and somewhat tense at the same time I think is a great accomplishment.

8/10

ChronoNomad responds:

Thanks for the review, Purgy! Everyone seems to like pretty much the same things (which is awesome) and dislike the same things (not so much), so there's not really much to add response-wise at this point, but I hate to short-change someone who takes the time to leave a review, so...

I am happy to hear that the piano progressions and strings impressed pretty much all the judges, so that feels like a solid success. Knowing that the intended-yet-subtle tension can be felt also feels like a win, as that was the balance that I was aiming for. A sense of hopefulness. Or is it...? The end comes for us all, but to delay that for but a little while is still a victory. Therein lies the main theme.

I would love to have a better cello that I could have transposed down another octave, but it just didn't sound right with this one. Even now that I've spent hours getting new SoundFonts, I still have only a handful of nice cellos, which is a shame. Words like lazy, generic, and sloppy are basically anathema to me at this point, and there was certainly no intended laziness that went into the melody that seems so repetitious to everyone, so these kinds of comments are simply frustrating...or would be if I didn't feel nice and numb about it at this point. I tried building on top of a melody over time, but it just comes off as being repetitive to those in the judgment seats. So be it. Life goes on.

I am glad that everyone seemed to at least enjoy listening to this piece. That's quite heartening to know, and making it this far in the NGADM has been a very interesting learning experience. I really appreciate your time and it's very nice to know that the atmosphere comes off as being appropriately relaxing yet tense. Thanks again. :)