This is an NGADM 2015 Review.
I spent ages listening to both your track and bass/josh’s before making a decision, because it was close to impossible. Both tracks are very high calibre, and this track is pretty damn amazing.
I love the mood, how happy and laid back it is. The production is fantastic. Nice and loud, very clear; much like many of your submissions. Melodically this one is also fantastic. This is a top-notch song, and I’ve had it in my head the last few days. It’s catchy and effective, especially the soft breakdown around 00:40! My god. Love that low-passed saw.
In the end it was hard to find any objective characteristics to base any kind of decision on, but it was necessary to make a call somewhere. I think the relatively short length of your track played a part in that, though to be fair you don’t have much time to produce with NGADM (I could never do it, honestly). I’d like to think that the airhorn also played a part but I don’t know in what direction, lol. It startled me, but it’s also kinda funny. Essentially what I’m saying is that this track is difficult to pull apart, at least in any negative way, haha.
Usually I find it pretty easy to nitpick people’s kick drums, but I can’t really do that here. It’s actually pretty perfect. In fact, the mix on this in general is pretty perfect. There’s literally nothing that sticks out at me as being too soft or loud. Perhaps the snareclap could be louder or have more punch; and it might also be a little wide - but that’s mostly just an opinion. Transitions, also an easy target for most submissions, are awesome and difficult to fault here. This track is atmospherically awesome as well. The little hats and fills, even just in the breakdown alone, are enough to sell me. There are plenty of subtle components that help to create a fuller and more exciting listening experience and it’s really effective.
The sound design/instrumentation isn’t ambitious, but it also isn’t too simple. Love the use of saws in general. Saws are life. I love the bass as well, it gives the piece a somewhat nu disco/electro feel; especially in the intro, which i really love. You’ve probably done a bit of processing to your noise sweeps as well, and they sound really nice; unless you used samples, which is also fine. I’m guilty, haha. Excellent lead sound, too! Blends incredibly well, in fact it fits into the mix so well it’s almost as though I shouldn’t be able to hear the melody appropriately, but I can, and that’s actually pretty damn impressive.
Compositionally speaking it’s an obvious success. The melodies aren’t repetitive, they’re catchy and effective, and you keep it pretty interesting structurally. What I really love, is that this song feels very “credits” or “outro” to me (partially because of its happy demeanor, I guess) and so it’s quite appropriate for the grand finals, the end of the contest.
I suppose in the end it came down to nitpicks, subjectivities and subtleties, because there was nothing else, and I had to swing one way or the other. It was partially the length, and partially that to me, this song grabbed me a little less - the ending was also a little dubious, but you knew what you were doing :P. I guess I’m apologizing for the inherent subjectivity involved, because you did an incredible job here; and so did your opponents. I love this kind of music, and I love this!
What can I say, fantastic work. Congratulations on Second Place, and for being awesome!
