- NGDAM Round 4 Review -

I haven't heard such a refreshing intro in the longest time. I enjoyed the turn at 1:19, as well as the bass around 1:51. The strings that come after 2:00 have a great melody, although about twenty seconds after that, things don't mix too smoothly. As the track comes to its end around 2:52, well, let's just say you have completed the unusual feat of having a more impressive intro *and* outtro than the entire bulk of the song (opinion, opinion). Your ending is probably my favorite part, with its clear and pronounced melodies, the slow in tempo, and nice, airy background fading out. Beautiful. (I like your song title, too. The simple description of your dream is enough to picture a nice setting)

Score: 8.7

This is an NGADM Round 4 Review.

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What I liked:
-I’m impressed you jumped a little bit out of your “usual” for this one!
-Awesome atmosphere.
-Great use of chords!
-Unexpected orchestra at 2:00!
-Great pizzicato strings throughout, they pair well with the taikos.
-Great bass line!
-Fantastic ending, I love it.

What could have been better:
-This song sounds like it needs a vocalist or lyrics – that would really set it apart.
-Some of the melodies seemed to clash a little bit with the accompaniment at times – maybe some parallel somethings?

Overall I don’t have much to complain about in this piece, you did an excellent job as always. It was nice to see a more emotional piece coming from you!

Score: 9.6/10

Helloooooo!

The Good:
-Dear lord, everything you make is so weird. This is almost cute, but at the same time really strange and almost disturbing.
-Thanks for using our Zither! <3
-You have some really creative melodies and great effects in this. Props for the panning. I love panning.
-The music box at the end is a wonderful touch, and I absolutely love it.
-Transitions are lovely.

The Not-So-Good:
-I guess I do have to agree with Wolftacular that this doesn't really depict the scene as well as it could. Not taking off anything for it though.
-...and I have to agree with johnfn that some of your melodies don't really seem to have any direction to them but rather just aimlessness.
-Overall thing: This does start getting repetitive in the constant waltz feel, the only time it really takes a break is at the end, which is just awesome.

Overall: Score of 9.6/10. What can I say? I think this is great. Often the aimlessness doesn't really cause a problem, but instead is just kinda cute. Don't really have too many problems to talk about. Great work!

This is an NGADM Round 4 review.

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If I heard this without knowing it was yours, I would've still guessed it was, but despite that, this feels like an entirely new style for you (at least from what I've heard in your portfolio). You've got this really interesting blend between orchestral instruments and electronic instruments which is in the same light as InvisibleObserver's submission. The instruments work together surprisingly well.

Apart from that cool little thing, you've got a lot of the stuff in here that I love about most of your tracks. Clarity, a brilliant blend of instruments and harmonies, memorable/unique style, and a lot of character in each instrument that you use. I also loved the section in the ending. What a beautiful and suitable way to end the track. It sounds sweet, but with a slight melancholy tinge with your use of minor chords.

Unfortunately, while I may be the one of the only ones in the judging panel who may think this, I find this track to be not as melodically impressive as your previous tracks, so in that light I concur with johnfn. Only after around 2 minutes did I start to truly enjoy the melodies of this piece (especially the amazing melody work in the outro).

Before then, the melody seemed quite flat and directionless. You sometimes have a habit of doing this, I think. Your tracks would have some brilliant melodies in most of the sections, but in some sections the melodies just wander around aimlessly, and over half of this track had unsatisfactory melodic material (at least compared to the high standard of quality you set upon yourself). The bassline is awesome though.

I don't think this is your best work. I actually personally think this is my least favourite from you. That doesn't mean it's not an excellent track!

Score: 9/10

This is really a new direction! Nice work.

If I were to psychoanalyze you based on your songs, I would say that the only thing you really need to work on is your sense of melody. Like, you can (and do) write great melodies, but you also write melodies that kinda just wander around. Your songs are best when they're totally insane because the insanity and things happening all the time kind of disguise this fact. I dunno, I'm kind of hypocritical because I have the same problem :D

And honestly in this song I don't really feel like the melodies are speaking to me until about 2:06. After 2:06 it's awesome, but it makes me wonder what the purpose was of the first half the song haha.

I really love the music box at the end. It really is a beautiful chord progression/melody, and breaking it down to its essence really adds a lot in my opinion. Though I needed to listen to it a lot to really understand what the melody was doing. This might be my own fault, but I think it may also be a problem of dynamics.

Anyway don't let my crazy nit picking get you down cuz you're still one of the best musicians around. Keep it up.