whoa, chills, so nice, i bet this took quite some time to get done :0
- Pandasticality
Author Comments
Man, I sure have made it far in this competition. Fifth round and in the final four. So many fantastic musicians along the way have come and gone and I'm blessed to be among three really really fantastic musicians although sadly Kor-Rune, last year's winner, had to pull out! :(
On to the song. First thing's first, throughout the competition, judges have been saying that my vocals have been mixed in too loudly and I think that's my biggest struggle. Getting all the levels right. I've really tried my hardest not to mix them too loudly here.
I've been practicing the art of natural autotune, sometimes known as sideways yodeling which mainly comes in around 2:48. As usual, I've not used any pitch correction or autotune on my voice. ^ ^
My inspiration for this song came to me when I was sitting in the middle of town, just watching people as they walked by. Everybody seemed to be in their own little world, almost walking around like robots. Nobody seemed to take in what's actually around them. I'm lucky enough to live in a part of England that actually has a countryside. A town that's a ten minutes walk from the coastline with about eight different beaches within walking distance. Yet still, there are so many people moaning and complaining about insignificant, taking for granted the beauty around us. People seem so stuck in a cycle of meaninglessness that by the end of it all, most of us will regret what we've missed out. Only at the end of our lives do we truly appreciate the beauty we take no notice of in our day to day lives.
Thank you so much to JacobCadmus for pointing me in the direction of some higher quality VSTs, although I do still have my cute little ocarina soundfont. It may not sound completely realistic but it has such a soft and sweet tone to it.
Lyrics:
Hearts unfold
Eyes tightly shut
With arms raised
And hands ahead
One foot forward
The other follows call
One swift motion
Overlooked in all
The bustling streets
Traffic signs and busy feet
Passing by
Fleeting time
New inventions lost intentions
Rising tension without intervention
Never a mention of foul pretension
All an extension of one dimension
This is an NGADM Round 5 review.
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What I liked:
-I like the harp sound in the beginning a lot, the intro is very nice!
-Vocals are set well in the mix, great job!
-Neat chords in the beginning/throughout.
What could have been better:
-The "background" synth doesn't really do it for me, I think it takes away from the rest of the piece.
-I don't really hear anything from the intro again in the rest of the piece - would like to see that reintroduced.
-This feels altogether like it lacks some cohesion as a piece - that could possibly be remedied by introducing some more rhythmic elements as in the introduction.
Overall a very neat piece, great job!
Score: 8.6/10
- NGADM Round 5 Review -
You have a beautiful intoduction. The gentle harp and pads, along with the quiet waves create a soft, thoughtful mood that becomes lighter around 0:30. When the vocals come in, the mood becomes deeper. When they are first heard, however, they sound opposite of too loud – in fact, they had a somewhat restricted quality to them, as if the microphone is a bit too far away, particularly at 1:29. From 2:00 (my favorite is the singing in the last two verses; the composition is very soulful in that section, especially. Also, lyrically, the last verse is my favorite) onward, it balances out. There is also a lack of sound in the lower frequencies, which comes along from not having a bass-like instrument; this could be enhanced with some lower notes in the pads, instead. Overall, this is a nice song with good progression, unique melodies, relaxing atmosphere, and a great voice. :)
Score: 9
NGADM Review
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Such atmosphere! Like your other entries, this track shines with a pleasantly whimsical sound. I love it. The introduction starts out strong and due to your fantastic instrument choice, the rest of the piece builds marvellously. I like the fact that you juxtapose the idea and theme of the song with 'lighter' instruments such as the harp and ocarina...it fits in a strange, yet satisfying way. On topic of the theme, I pictured a very cold and frost-bound city with many people bustling about – this track has a wintry feel to it.
As with all of your other songs, your voice is near impeccable; I truly envy the control you have over your voice. A perfect example of your excellent voice control stands out at 2:47 and continues until 3:06. The lyrics are thoughtful and most certainly interesting as well. Your transitions are practically seamless and the mixing is quite something (aside from a few short sections here and there).
I have to say that there is little bass or lower frequencies in this track. The overall atmosphere and the general depth of your instruments and your voice could have used a slight boost from some deeper sounding instruments, you know? I also feel as if the song could be split in two in some ways. The introduction and first half of the track is quite heavy on the instrumental side of things, which is nice because everything sounded so delicate! However, the second half of the track tends to become fixated on your voice and while this is not a bad thing, the piece starts to flow with a little less energy. These
It has been an absolute pleasure listening to your amazing songs etherealwinds. I hope that you stick around the community for a long time to come. Keep creating and composing music and you'll always have somebody listening...that I can assure you! I am looking forward to your upcoming work my friend! :)
Score: 9.5/10
etherealwinds responds:
Thank you for the review! I actually am limited to mixing with ...yep... iPod headphones. We all know that they can be rather tinny and focused in the high ended sounds, so producing bass for me is rather hit-and-miss. I should probably invest in proper headphones.
You can betcha bottom dollar I'll be sticking around. I'm glad to have discovered this website and the NGADM. I hope I'll see you around more often! Thank you :)
This is quite amazing. I love how you keep things interesting all throughout. One of my favs from this year's NGADM!
etherealwinds responds:
Thank you so much, so glad you liked it :]
Credits & Info
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etherealwinds 
Licensing Terms
Please contact me if you would like to use this in a project. We can discuss the details.
