Circus

This one had a nice circus feel about it and it builds up into even more, The track used was nice and set the tone as it was differant and allowed for everything else to to flow I am proud to say that this was pretty impressive, a good sound. a good unique sound at that, keep up the good work especially the circus elements.

~X~

NGADM Round 2 Reviewz0rz

What I liked:
- Like a jazzy circus from hell... I'm not sure the from hell part was intended, but that's how I saw it in my head.
- Very unique... and I do mean VERY unique. I personally have never heard something like this before, mixing jazz and "circus music" together... and it works very well.
- I love how all of the instruments interact with each other, nothing really feels out of place, and like everything has its own role to play.
- Paints a (somewhat terrifying) picture while listening.

What I didn't:
- The biggest issue for me was there was so much going on that half the time I didn't know what I should be listening to. I wasn't really sure if I should be listening to the chimes, the sax, the brass, etc. etc.
- This probably plays a role in the above point, but the mixing is a bit muddy, everything is fighting to be at the front, and that contributes a lot to the confusion from my previous point.

Overall:
Extremely unique, lots of colorful instrumentation, but lacks in mixing which causes a little bit of a scatterbrained listening position, leaving me with no idea what I should be listening to and what is actually the focus of the piece.
Still though, do more like this... I liked it a lot.

9/10

- NGADM Round 2 Review -

As usual, you have great sound. Your production is excellent; you combine your instruments beautifully as well as their respective melodies, and nothing sounds off at all. I am a little disappointed in the lack of originality of this one, as it is very similar to your other pieces. And I'm not talking about the atmosphere, but rather some repetitive rhythms in the composition. This is somewhat minor, however, as you have layered some great new composition atop the old and that helps to keep the song fresh. As always, a highly enjoyable track.

Score: 9.1

Hi.

The Good:
-Why am I not surprised that you'd make this, you evil clown. This is cute, evil, and completely unique, just so 'you'.
-I love the switches between adorable major and evil minor, they're very well-done.
-Instrument solos are sweet. The little mallet/piano solo at around 1:10 is awesome, I like the way you echoed it.
-So much good compositional technique here. It's actually really impressive.

The Not-So-Good:
-There's a bit of mud in some of your instruments, some seem to stick out and bury others for no particular reason.
-That kick sounds like a blop of blah to me.
-The ending is kinda sad, it feels like this was meant to just keep going and going. If you had made it a loop, that would have been much better IMO - that or giving it a more proper, more 'finished' ending.

Overall: Score of 8.2/10. This is unique, but kinda short. The composition is excellent, I just want MORE.

This is an NGADM Round 2 review.

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Oh man, for something like 3 days of work, this is excellent. For 2 weeks of work this is excellent. I don't think at all that this sounds rushed! This track takes a few listens to fully digest but I found that after I few listens I was deeply enjoying it. The composition is brilliant. I can hear a strong jazz influence in your melodies, which I agree isn't something typical of your style, but dear lord does it sound fantastic. I love the grace notes, trills and little articulations here and there. They fit well in this style and give the piece a certain authenticity, contrasted interestingly by your cute electronic synths in the background playing rhythmically rigid accompaniment. Said accompaniment, by the way, is just spellbinding. It's got the extremely enjoyable and smile-inducing obscurity I've come to expect from you.

Before I move on to the production, I'd like to mention that the atmosphere/mood is great. The mood is a bit cliché in terms of circus music, but your unique style certainly makes up for that, creating a song that's both relatable and original. The production is stellar (apart from a miniscule quirk I'll mention in the next paragraph). You don't have a huge amount of different elements playing together so I can't credit you too much for making this so clear, but nevertheless it's commendable. The sounds you've used are good as well (although not nearly as good as your use of them). The sounds you use in your music always seem to be an enigma - I'd love to know what VSTs/soundfonts you used in this track actually. Finally, props on the low-key intro and ending! They do their respective jobs considerably well.

This track is a pretty decent length; not massive but quite sizeable. Despite this, like johnfn I was left wanting more at the end. I felt like this track slightly lacked development - it's kind of the same problem your Christmas MAC submission from last year had (although perhaps not to that extent). I heard so much variety in the different sections of Make a Scene and I was hoping to hear the same variety here; while compositionally you vary it plenty, the mood is stationary throughout the track, and you could've made the track longer by introducing unpredictable new sections that temporarily take the track to new directions. I'm a stickler for varying moods in music though, so this is entirely personal preference, and it really doesn't detract from the listening experience that much. Also watch out - as much as I LOVE your timpani (sounds great at high volumes), they drown out the foreground melody a little, especially in parts like 0:32!

The more I listen to your work, the more it grows on me and the more I look up to it. Superb job with this - I felt like it would be unfair to give you a higher score than johnfn since his track was more fleshed out and developed, but quality-wise, you two are very, very close, hence my very, very close scores for both of you.

Score: 9.4/10