Reviews for Shinjitsu

[johnfn]

Gosh, the composition here is SOOO GOOD. I guess I'm just a sucker for these sort of beautiful melodies with all the diminished and augmented chords all over the place.

But. And this is a big but. The electronic instrumentation approach just smashes the emotion to bits for me. I really think you should have just stuck it out and done a proper orchestral version, or failing that, used a much more subtle synth, with more attention to vibrato and articulation and blabla - you know, all that stuff that makes orchestral music so emotive in the first place.

So I'm really divided on the score. The piano melody is gorgeous and one of the best in NGADM, but the electronic part I'm just not a fan of. 8/10 for the song as is, but the song in my head (which is just this song with proper orchestration) is an easy 10/10.

P.S. I hear clipping at :19. Be careful with your levels!

[Step]

This is an NGADM Round 3 review.

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Ahhh, that piano melody. You and ChronoNomad have both managed to make beautiful piano melodies in this round, and because I think piano is the best instrument ever, it just makes me even happier. You have a knack for piano solos, you know? Even in Fading Dystopia, you've got some lovely piano that surprisingly works well in a genre where often piano solos are used to unsuccessfully squeeze some emotional/expressive value from the piece. But yes, excellent composition. I can hear an obvious Japanese influence due to your strong use of pentatonic scales. The melody is memorable, flows entrancingly and is backed up by really sweet chords. Tiny little nitpick; I would've liked the chords to be a bit more broken/arpeggiated at the beginning. They feel a bit too... rigid? For lack of a better word.

The transitions are all pretty much perfect. You sustain some sort of hypersaw pad thing at around 0:50 which really brings up the expectations of the next section, making it quite a remarkable buildup, and then at 1:26, oh god, that was great. The key change is ridiculously cheesy but damn, it sounds so uplifting over there. The track dies down gorgeously, and then comes together almost right after. These kinds of buildups are expected mainly in orchestral, so to hear them done by SYNTHS is a truly interesting listening experience. Props on the abrupt but smooth transition to the soft section at the end by the way. In addition, you have a simple but effective intro, and I adore your ending. What a neat chord to end the track with!

I'm in two minds about some things in this track. Honestly, some ideas here sound very inspired. The melody, for example, flows so well and I wouldn't imagine myself being able to think of a melody like that without spending ages doodling around in FL or without some wave of inspiration. The key change sounds really well-thought-out; in fact the whole structure of the piece sounds like you had it planned from the start, because everything works together like clockwork, and as I said above, the transitions and all that jazz are great. Then I hear your synth rendition of an orchestra again and I think "damn, this really isn't cutting it".

I disagree with johnfn that you should've taken an orchestral route - that would be too safe. However, I agree that you could've chosen your sounds more carefully; perhaps chosen sounds that aren't so static when sustained and have a bit more sonic movement in them. The square synth that comes in at 0:57 is pleasant enough but ends up sounding a bit flat, and I'm not quite feeling the low pass filtering at 1:04 (it somehow sounds quite cheesy - works much better later on at 1:21). Your piano sound is nice but it clips occasionally. This track doesn't really have prominent percussion - it feels like it's just there to highlight some transitions and keep a rhythm going in the background - but unfortunately the snare 1:27 sounds like it's trying to bite off more than it can chew, and it sounds very muddy and dull. Then of course, that aside, I'd love some more melodic content, more development, more length. This barely skips the 2-minute mark, and it wouldn't even manage that if you cut off a bit of the silence at the end!

Anyway, I think my score for this is going to be a bit harsh, but I'm sticking with it. You have beautiful composition, and some of the ideas here are fantastic, but there are some execution quirks that kill the enjoyment factor here. That, and I'm usually quite harsh towards tracks that sound underdeveloped or don't have enough content in them. Really though, this sounds creative and inspired. I enjoyed it!

Score: 7.9/10

[SkyeWint]

Hello.

The Good:
-The piano melody is beautiful, as many people have said. Your composition with the melody is spectacular.
-I like the effect starting at 0:23 leading to 0:30.
-I do like your usage of synths as a fake orchestra, it's certainly a unique way to do things.
-Most of your transitions are well-done.

The Not-So-Good:
-Bit of clipping, significantly at 0:31. Try to compress the frequencies slightly more without any gain. I'd recommend turning up the ratio, though tweaking the treshhold could also work.
-Man, as much as I like the synth orchestra, the lead synth at 0:58 REALLY feels overpowering, and starts causing a lack of clarity in the lower part. At 1:33 this becomes even more pronounced, it's burying a lot of the other sound.
-Cutting out the lead synth at 1:48 sounds awkward. Also clipping.
-There's only really one melody, it'd be a lot better if you had two rather than just one.

Overall: Score of 8/10. The mixing hurt it the most, keeping to only one motif and repeating it throughout the entire piece hurt the composition.

[Echo]

NGADM Review:
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Lovely piano solo, definitely the highlight of the piece. Unlike in ChronoNomad's case, you didn't need to put incredible emphasis on realism of the piece, although you still managed to do this with those subtle shifts in dynamics and tempo. The rest of the backing instruments were great and supported the piano really well, with pretty decent mixing overall.

However, I'd have liked some melodic development as the piece moved along, as the main melody got a bit repetitive towards the end. Even a secondary melody to answer the first would have gone a long way. You've also got some volume issues, with clipping at certain key moments of the piece. This kind of ruined the vibe of the piece at points, and reduced the overall quality.

Overall, decent piece, lovely piano solo, but needs more work on the finer points. You've definitely got potential, so keep up the good work!

Score: 8.2/10

[alternativesolution]

- NGADM Round 3 Review

You have some really nice piano melodies (some of which sound very familiar, repetitive, and lacking a bit in the originality department). I do have to say that the synths introduced at 1:00 make for a strange mix that takes time getting used to. The way you back your main tune at 1:26 is done rather well, and produces a nice, full sound, and your percussion is decent, as well – although I think the rolling of the snares in its final measure around 1:45 could have been altered, as the simple slowing of the tempo at that part instead of making a conclusive pattern for it sounds too simple. Your ending also comes unexpectedly early with such a short transition. The thing this track could most benefit from is an expansion on length with variation to offset the repetition in the main melody.

Score: 8.1