I don't have critiques for this one. I think the soft attack on the synths is perfect for the composition. I like how there's some audible process involved, but you break out of the minimalist mold. Quite frankly, as cool as minimal composition can be, I really like when people use those techniques in a less rigid structure and incorporate more traditional methods. This is nice. I wouldn't mind hearing this played by two (real) violinists!
Nice work gruber99!
Hey thanks!
I agree re: breaking out of the minimalist mold. Writing something as a rigid "gradual process" could be considered lazy, compositionally speaking. Then again, sometimes it may suit the piece perfectly.
nice reharmonization! The strings got a little muddy at some points. I think with the reverb drenched synths and the super sludgy attack/decay on the strings did it. Making an element here or there a bit more punchy might help clean it up a bit. That said, nice work!
Actually, the strings are just a pad from the Nexus2 VST, so there weren't many parameters to change. I made this song in a very short amount of time, so I couldn't put as much love, care, and attention to it as I normally would in my orchestral pieces.
I'm glad you liked it though!
Really nice production here. Did you use some vocal processing on the lead synth? It almost sounded like vowel formants in some parts.
yes i did actually! I used a vocoder off of Reason on the synth and then also added in a couple of different effects in the chain that I thought would sound cool, that's probably where you're hearing all the weird change in frequencies in the melody lol
Really gorgeous work here! I love the subtle swelling, and you did a great job building the orchestration. Parts of this almost reminds me of the string parts of Charles Ives' Unanswered Question with the constantly shifting somewhat angular but always nice tonalities. Well done!
Oh, thanks a lot, sFW! It means a great deal to me that you approve of this piece!
You've done it again! That dirty bass has this sort of quality that sounds like slowly ripping construction paper. I love it! What is your background? Your bass game is on point and your harmonic sensibilities suggest some serious jazz study. Your music makes me want to get a beer and nerd out with you. Let's not make this weird.
I dig those metaphors man! I've been playing in different bands since I was in High School. I learned most of my "classical" theory during that time and I studied with one of the best guitarists in the world where I learned a great deal about jazz theory and technique (mind you, he never used sheet music as a lesson tool I learned that on my own!).
Lessons would include him dictating specific chords, like the split voicing of a B Minor 7 played as the third inversion. If I didn't have it within a second he would be very angry! So, it made me practice a lot haha. But he allowed me to graduate his school at a young age which was cool too.
Other than that it's been self study for the most part, which is the lifelong journey anyway. I want to try and get you some gigs in Jersey! PM me if you want to nerd out one day brotha!
This is great! I got some serious Thriller vibes at ~1:00. Nice job separating the countermelodies. Everything sits with a lot of space in the mix. The ping ponging of the bass is a cool effect and totally works in this track. As a general rule of thumb, I typically try to keep bass and any meat and potatoes percussion panned dead center, but you make this work.
I kind of want to see an animated music video for this song featuring a giant squid destroying a city. Any New Ground animators up for the challenge?
Great work! 5 stars!
Thanks so much, SleepFacingWest! :D This is a really positive review. I totally understand what you mean about keeping the "meat and potatoes" panned in the center, but I kind of broke the unwritten rules with this one (in multiple regards). Love your idea for the animated music video. Thanks again for the review! ^^
Great! I'm a sucker for minimalism. There were some nice unexpected twists in here as well. I gave it 5 stars because I think it works well as a composition, but I could have personally used a little more variation in the loops themselves so you wouldn't have to rely so much on completely changing the loops for each section. Reich's textures are constantly undulating due to audible processes and after awhile your ear becomes highly sensitive to the slightest shift in texture (which is happening all over the place). I really liked way the duple vs triple feels interlocked in different ways. I think by adding or subtracting a note to either of those loops and/or changing a melody note here or there could work out well, and you could get more hypnotic mileage out of your already sonically rich material.
The mix was perfect. I have no feedback there.
All in all, enjoyable! I look forward to your next release.
Hey thanks!
Yes, adding or subtracting a note here and there would definitely help the monotony a bit. I was determined to keep the note-for-note vibe haha. Do you know Phrygian Gates by John Adams? One of my favourite pieces of all time, and inspired this piece quite a bit I think.
Nice work! That bass is super dirty!
Thank you brother! I'm definitely proud of the bass grooves in this song! Just doubling it with a live bass and rough square shape sound for this effect. Sometimes it goes off with some counterpoint between the bass and the square but I've been having fun writing for this style lately. Appreciate the review dude!
I added you to my favorites. I'm super impressed with your incredibly clean and expressive instruments and compositional ability. If you don't mind me asking, what is your background? The samples are so clean and perfect, either you have access to some super legit studio space, or you have some really great DIY tips to share with the community!
Well done! 5/5
Haha, actually the space these were recorded in was quite bad! A drywalled classroom (luckily with high ceilings). My "secret", I guess, is a stereo pair of Rode NT1-A's. I'd put them on anything imagineable. I don't understand how damn good they sound, but they do! Now Rode has an even better version of the NT1 (it's jet black too), that I really want to get at some point.
It's actually very very basic recording stuff... just a spaced stereo pair of NT1-A's, like 2-4 feet apart from each other, high up pointed down towards the sound source, then a close mic.
The secret sauce is, of course, good convolution reverb. I swear 90% of how people perceive sample libraries is the reverb used in the demos. Convolution reverb well used is the difference between realism and flatness. A little white noise/hall noise stuck in there is no bad thing either.
My background is exactly what you hear... game music. Although I've dabbled in everything from 3D design to tutorial writing, game design, and more.
If you're around in a few months, I plan on releasing all of these instruments soon. :)
This is great! really nice harmonic motion. The atmosphere you work with is perfect. The composition seems to really ebb and flow with the field recording. The mix seems a little distant to my ears. Was that a puposeful choice? I can see it working with that wistful feeling, but I would think about some light compression and maybe eq the highs up a bit? That's SUPER nitpicky though. You really did a perfect job with this one.
Also, if those are your own samples, good job! SUPER clean recording and they didn't sound robotic. I'm incredibly impressed.
Hey dude! Thanks for the review.
Just me puttering around C minor with some divisi stuff. Always fun. Yeah, I did intend to make it a bit distant sounding, to fit the more ambient sound. I didn't do much mixing to it at all, haha, aside from the field recordings.
I make music for media (primarily animation). Work on Disney, Nickelodeon, Hulu, and tons of indies. Stylistically versatile, overly verbose, and constantly looking for work.
Male
Composer
New York, NY
Joined on 5/1/15
Pulse Sketch 3 
Day of the Sloth 
The Fog 
Death of a Prodigy 
The After Hours 
T-Logic - Architeuthis 
Pulse Sketch 1 
Shadow Play 
Veil of Dreams 
Stormy Evening 
