Amazingly calm and majestic with a lot of feels to it
This brings so many great images to my mind
Thanks for making such a great piece!
Author Comments
This piece is sort of a journal entry as I've been working on it since November. Throughout literature, autumn has always been used as a symbol for the latter years of one's life.
Emily Dickinson in "Because I could not stop for Death" wrote:
We passed the School, where Children strove
At Recess – in the Ring –
We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain –
We passed the Setting Sun –
Each line used as a description of the different stages in one's life. I'd recommend reading that poem in its entirety.
But I also think about the Haystack paintings by Monet and I'm drawn to them when I visit the Art Gallery here in Chicago. The different colors used with the same wheatstacks are always striking to me because of that still object reflecting the changes of the season's light. Autumn has always been my favorite.
And so this piece is a dream and a hope I have amid the seemingly fading light of this world. Obviously I think about the attacks since Paris, but I also see my friends and how fragile our time is spent here together. I'm not so foolish to assume that any of this will remain for much longer as our lives are but a vapor.
Time is too short to chase the dreams of others. It will have to take some courage to live out your own.
If this piece seems optimistic by the end, it is only because I still think that change will be beautiful... even if it will be difficult.
In regards to the technical:
The beginning to about 1:55 is what I call the filter. What you hear is a recording of my friend playing viola near the bridge with my piano. A Classical approach, but I can imagine not many liking it. But I don't mind. I never cared to write a hook right off the bat to grab someone's attention. I like to reward the individual by carrying them through a journey by allowing the music to unfold over time. I like telling a story so I didn't write in a structurally practical way. This was just yet another journal entry of mine through music and I hope you will make it your own as well.
Thanks for your time :)
Phonometrologist responds:
And thank you for commenting and letting me know your sentiments about it :)
Once again, you amaze us with a track that is brilliant in every way. I feel really alive when listening to your music. Maybe that is because your music feels very alive, not to mention, very real.
I like all the different sections. I love the approach at the beginning, but then again, I'm biased towards ambient sounding music. That said, I think that the sound design, and the performance, is actually really good, no matter who the listener is. This piece of music, I feel, could be part of a really powerful movie soundtrack.
2016 will be an interesting year in many respects. It can be scary too... But I'm sure it will be filled with moments of light, to balance out the darker times. This, I hope, is true for all of future. I've been feeling lately, that life is way too short to be afraid of putting your bets on what you know will make you happy. Or that is, on what you honestly want to do. Like you said; to live out on your own dreams.
This track is really beautiful. The pacing is perfect. The mix is great, the intrument use, the melodies, chords. They all work together to create a piece of art, which is not too far from resembling the real world, in one sense or another.
This is one of my new favorites from you. Incredible job, as always. I can't wait to see what else you have in store for us in 2016.
Phonometrologist responds:
You know, I'm perplexed on how you find the time to write, listen, and review as much as you do. But it's an honor that give your time to do this. Newgrounds is lucky to have you considering how much you bring to the community. I knew you would be one that wouldn't mind the strange beginning. Its remarkable what people can create with their wooden instruments when you just think of a sound first in your mind. While others wouldn't think of playing near the bridge of their stringed instrument, I find it to be quite soothing in its raw, primitive sound. It's always fun to see their looks of uncertainty when I tell them to do it as they push the boundaries of what is "supposed" to be done and stray away from the learned teaching of a particular instrument. Got to get messy with music! Okay enough of that tangent. I'm just glad that you, along with a few others, have taken a liking to it. Not that I need it to continue writing as I always will, but it sure is encouraging and good for the soul to know that I can share music with others in what I find to be therapeutic for myself. This year will be good despite how I might feel about it. God willing there will be more in store for all of us.
Reading Goethe's Faust oddly enough whilst I stumbled upon this, in the beginning where Mephistopheles meets and converses with The Lord...made for quite an interesting, interesting read. I felt like I teleported to a fanciful heaven listening to two celestial beings. Anyhow, amazing stuff as usual. I never take any of your journeys for granted.
Phonometrologist responds:
And I never take your comments for granted. I appreciate it.
That must have been quite an interesting read for sure. For me it's always fun to read a Sci-fi book while listening to some classical work or soundtrack in the background.
YES! I love Emily Dickinson. :D I like the sort of gritty, droning and jarring synth (oh wait, no - viola) and how that contrasts with the light piano music in the background. The pacing is very good too. It got pretty apprehensive and dissonant at about the 1-minute mark, and then you just created some more space for yourself by 1:35 with another "droning" session. Then the piece resolves to complete tranquility by about 2:45. The progression is just seamless, and the brighter, hopeful mood at about 3:30 and beyond is amazing. By around 4:15, it gives off a floaty sort of vibe, and then 4:30 is an explosion of emotion, a revelation of the most divine kind. I also love how you really fleshed out the coda from around 5:15 on. It made the piece feel very conclusive. Overall, great work and happy new year, Phonometrologist. ;D
Phonometrologist responds:
Happy New Year Logic! This review of yours is fun to read. Merely because I get a chance to hear this piece with a set of new eyes and ears. When constructing such a thing, as I'm sure you know, we kind of miss out on what others would take from it as they are unaware of the inner workings of the mind to construct it. There's something fresh about your writing here.
In regards to the "divine kind," that's what I would hope to reach in any of my writings and for it to be known to others who listen. What a difficult thing to do.
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