de katchum » Dim Nov 23, 2008 10:45 pm
Dear noctaventureers
You made me feel SOOO bad last time I've learned my lesson and want to apologize for my behaviour. I couldn't sleep, couldn't eat, thought every minute about the ZERO points Setzer gave me. I was in shock and I almost for the second time got a heart attack the first second I saw it.
I'm not at work right now because they have made the internet page inaccessible anymore and will continue to block noctaventures.com because it's a prohibited site (as it sometimes contains virusses on the main page).
As for the theme this time, I had a pretty good idea what I had to write because François was mocking me about my solo piano songs. So I went on to make a solo piano song but added some instruments to it.
So I went on to go to internet and search for jungle sounds. I found out that jungle sounds are pretty easy to find.
So here we go.
Techniques:
Sound quality and mixing:
I started with compo 1 and was shocked of the sound explosion (volume a bit too high), but after a while I concluded it was pretty good to the ear. I heard humor in it, but that's for emotion later on. Nothing bad to say about sound quality. Compo 2 sounded a bit softer and more normalized so I had to turn the volume up a bit. The sound quality is better than compo 1 for sure, but I thought for such a short piece, not much mixing time went into it, so it would be equal to compo 1 in points. Compo 5 was next on the list, as someone indicated before, we would get many ambient songs today, but this one uses the best possible samples, great! Also the length is convincing me to be long enough. Compo 3 has SUPER sound, I like the computer, electronic sounds a lot, bonus points! The instrument is a bit less good. Compo 6 needs a bit more dynamic in the orchestral instruments but it's pretty allright. You get bonus points for the ethnic instrument use. Composition 7 is super good mixed, just the right amount of animals in it. It's like a symphony of animals... The progression to more musical environment is flowing very well. Compo 8 starts with irritating noises of birds and ambient sounds, a little too much of birds really. The percussion sounds too much at the back, more reverb is needed. The second percussion part is too hard and I get crack noises on my sound blasters which is bad. Certainly the least mixed quality song. Compo 9 has a funny guitar like instrument as intro, which works very well. It is placed in the front of the other instruments which is genius. Strings have the right volume. Very good mix.
Compo 1 2/3
Compo 2 2/3
Compo 3 2.1/3
Compo 4
Compo 5 2.2/3
Compo 6 2.1/3
Compo 7 2.4/3
Compo 8 1.5/3
Compo 9 2.5/3
Harmony, structure, instrumentation:
I don't like ambient harmony and structure so I warn everyone about this at first.
Compo 9 sounds like it has the repeated harmony all over the song but the melody has a significant effect on harmonic variation, but it stays with the usual I IV and V chords. Not too interesting for me as the structure stays the same throughout the song. There is a build up in compo 8 both in structure, instrumentation and dynamics. I just am not getting the entire chord progression in classical harmony, it seems to me I only get the tonica. Not too good. The structure of compo 7 is really innovative, this composer uses animals to make the rhythm of the song, bonus points. The intro is accompanied by a nice addition of new instruments and the harmony is pleasant to listen too. Very well done. Compo 6 is disappointing me in the beginning because it keeps repeating the base line. But after that bad intro we get a nice atmosphere with the flute and the ethnic instruments. It's good and you get a plus point for the last sforzando because there you indicate the arrival at the temple. I already said I liked the sound effects of compo 3, but when we come to the harmony it's pretty bland and uninteresting, but I want to say already I like this song very much because of the hypnotizing effect it has, it almost sounds like Junya Nakano music (you'll get your points later on). But we're talking about harmony, so that's not so good. Compo 5 uses the right environment of harmony to indicate a malodorous and evil temple which is what our François wanted. I especially like the part at 0:55. The instrumentation with pizzicati really give the right impression of a search, journey to a temple. This is done well despite the repetitive harmony and rhythm. Compo 2 uses Arabic harmony and inclines into a climax which I find is done so good that all the other compo's fall into a deep abyss compared to this one. But because it's short I can't give it more points than the maximum point I've given to the other songs. Compo 1 is weird. I hear electric guitars with ethnic instruments and trumpets??? And then that bell like thing. I'm a bit confused right now... How shall I react to this. I'll give it the average points...
Compo 1 2.1/3
Compo 2 2.5/3
Compo 3 2/3
Compo 4
Compo 5 2.2/3
Compo 6 2.1/3
Compo 7 2.5/3
Compo 8 1,8/3
Compo 9 2/3
Total:
Compo 1 4.1/6
Compo 2 4.5/6
Compo 3 4.1/6
Compo 4
Compo 5 4.4/6
Compo 6 4.2/6
Compo 7 4.9/6
Compo 8 3.3/6
Compo 9 4.5/6
Winner is compo 7, so I like animal noises and rhythm.
Emotion:
I'm now completely relying on my emotions, nothing else. If I don't like ambient music I'll give less points!!!
Compo 9 starts out rather boring, unfortunately it stays boring. And I don't like Arabic music. For compo 8 I like the animal sounds, they give me a happy feeling. I unfortunately don't like the mix of the sounds and the instruments so I'm a bit disappointed after the intro and have to say compo 9 was better. I'm pleasantly surprised by the funny animal sounds of compo 7, it's full of humor and the orchestra coming after that is making me feel and see the very cinematic structure of this song. I would be surprised if compo 7 didn't win the contest or didn't come in the top 3. Compo 6 sounded uninteresting to me in the intro. The second part was much much better, but too short for me to like it. I like sound effects and will give compo 3 many points, it is also the perfect music to listen to when I want to relax. It reminds me of some video game music that is played in forest towns. Compo 5 gives a feeling like I'm flying in the air in perspective and come to ground again between the animals. Evil feelings and good feelings are exchanging with each other, I like it. Compo 2 blew me away to be honest, that crescendo was almost like Harry Gregson-Williams music... And I have to say compo 1 is the best compo in humor, creativity. You'll deserve the 5.5 points.
Compo 1 5.5/6
Compo 2 5.3/6
Compo 3 4.8/6
Compo 4
Compo 5 4.5/6
Compo 6 4/6
Compo 7 5/6
Compo 8 3.3/6
Compo 9 3.5/6
Theme:
Compo 1 is a mockery, I want serious music because this temple is evil and can't be humorous. Compo 2 has these choir sounds that fit very good with the evilness of a temple, it has percussion and the crescendo says that something is coming, maybe the treasure hunters running into the temple while people are chasing them? Compo 5 has dissonant timbres which is necessary for this theme. I like the rhythm, because it gives a certain:"we are exploring the temple" feeling. Bonus points! I don't think electronic sounds can be used for this theme, so compo 3 gets minus points. It also sounds too happy to be a search for a hidden temple, we're not on a tourist vacation here. I think compo 6 is describing to us the journey to the temple in the first part and in the second part we get into the temple, finding the treasure. It's worth a significant amount of points in my opinion. Compo 7 is just made completely perfect: it starts from the animals in the jungle, going through the forest with a slight change of harmony to describe the mysterious atmosphere and then arriving at the temple with foot steps. Going into the temple and continuing the rhythm of the footsteps in the percussion. Obviously this gets the most points. In compo 8 I can see the temple in front of my eyes, apparently it's a very majestic big temple as the percussion suggests, it will get a high score. For compo 9 I can imagine the journey to the temple, but I miss the temple itself.
Compo 1 5/8
Compo 2 6.5/8
Compo 3 4.5/8
Compo 4
Compo 5 6.8/8
Compo 6 6.5/8
Compo 7 8/8
Compo 8 6.4/8
Compo 9 4.5/8
If compo 7 doesn't win I'm gonna be very, very disappointed.
Dernière édition par
katchum le Dim Nov 23, 2008 10:52 pm, édité 1 fois.
VGM and anime music forever!
Site Noctaventures
Composition 1 : Indiana Relou et le Temple Ketejustakote (François)
Y'a du sacré niveau !
