Noir7
April 12th, 2009, 07:41 am
READ: This is the first reviews of the compositions submitted to the contest. I've reviewed them all, ultimately picking out two compositions which stood out from the rest. However, my vote is not a final one, as there is still a secret judge who is to give the final thoughts on the winning two.
Part 2 (Final results) will be posted in about 4-5 days, but the current score reads:
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Capriccio No1 -- Adrenaline
"This is one of my craziest and free-form compositions, which resulted in its given title. I had a video game battle track in mind, which turned into a duel of pianos (with a violin thrown in between), which turned into a complicated mess of a 100+ measure free-form composition. I put aside meter, rhythm, voice-leading, and other standard composition techniques -- and the result is the intended enharmonic "battle" that you now hear."
We both have very different views on the words "crazy" and "free-form" when talking about music, I think. Let me comment on the 'overallity' here first by putting up a simple yet slightly absurd analogy, but bear with me:
A 50-year-old white collar office worker is living a normal life. So normal, to his thinking, that it is a saddening bore. What he does to turn things around is that he decides to "live vicariously" and books a flight to Thailand where he intends on being for two weeks. While there, he stays at the epicentre of the tourism empire, thinking to himself that he is so proud of exploring an immensely different culture. Of course, he isn't... he only thinks he is. He's still just a boring office worker who is being served by under-paid thai workers. When he goes to bars he feels much more alive than he was in his own country, because he can actually pretend to be "interesting" in this country, since the women here see him as such. Though of course, throw in a woman from his country in the bar and she would never think of him as interesting. So with the thai women, he can actually get some pussy even though it would be impossible for him with his 'own kind' since they instantly recognize him as nothing special at all.
The "A" sections of this song represents that boring office worker, which to untrained ears seem really cool, exciting and a bit wild. For those who know better, it sounds more 'locked-in' than free in form, and the fast-paced runs serve as a cover for that. It's not crazy, it's very simple, standard and see-through. It works -- for the general public. Now, just as the office worker this song would do pretty well when presented to the right crowd. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, because if you think about, most composers do compose music for "regular" people. And since this originated as a battle theme, it served its purpose quite well. Although, if it were finalized as such it would definately need to scrap that violin off the top and keep it as a piano solo, or to fully orchestrate it. When using a violin as a solo instrument with such a crappy sound (as most sound fonts are) you have a challenge in front of you: To make that crappy sound be overshadowed by a great melody, which you did not succeed doing.
The slower interrupting sections were much better than the fast-paced ones. They're even simpler, but simple doesn't need to be a negative thing. In this case, it surely isn't. With the right dynamics, these sections could stand out better than with this version, but the groundwork is good.
This composition achieves 2 and a half Noirs out of 7.
Estrella
"Estrella(Star) is a short piece in a waltz time. The piece starts with its first theme in C major with a "childish" inspiration. After this first theme the second theme comes in A minor; creating a contrast with the first theme. The oboe takes the melodic part then the bassoon enters in a third section in F major; connecting the second and first theme. The themes are repeated, then the piece start fading out slowly."
The short lenght of this piece serves it well, and it was a good choice not to let it drag on. it's sweet and simple throughout its duration with little to criticize on. The use of the bassoon was quite clever, and in my off-set mind I pictured the oboe as a kid jumping around in bliss, and the bassoon as his fat penguin friend. At 00:47 the penguin runs off, stealing the kid's thunder. I know, it might sounds weird but whenever songs get my imagination running it's always a good sign.
This composition isn't one that will go to Ichigo's archive of super milestones, it is simply a piece true to itself and free of pretentiousness, which to me is even better than songs titled like "Creme de la bleu la croix de petite baguette c'est grande penis No. 1 Op. 20" but has no substance whatsoever. My main liking with this piece is that, in contrary to some other pieces submitted to this competition, it doesn't feel forced. It's refreshing because there's no need to add additional, excessive, flavours to this song - and you didn't, and so it rings true with the Hemingway concept, Less is More.
This composition achieves 4 and a half Noirs out of 7.
New Beginning
"The beginning of the song brings the audience to picture the beginning of a great adventure, with a light and carefree mood. As the travelers approach the unknown, an increasing tone of excitement climaxes into a flash of light. The travelers are now transported into the world of fantasy, silent in awe. The travelers cautiously look around in this mysterious world, and start to notice the beautiful and magical surroundings. Here, there, and everywhere, there are countless discoveries! The curious travelers wander around in wonder, exploring this world of fantasy. With a new found energy, the travelers reminisce about the wonders that they have seen, and then depart from this world, back to reality. The title represents my personal wishes for the listener to feel as though they had just been rejuvenated after listening to the piece. As though they had just been given a new beginning and anything is possible. The title also shows my own commitment as a composer to explore more areas and genres in music."
Ambitious compositions of large porportions describing epic things like this one always get my interest. For better or for worse. They can either take my breath away or fail miserably on their own weight.
The opening ten seconds of the song almost screams of a cheesy vinuette of something like "You're watching Noir News, bringing you tomorrow's news -- Today!". I just had to point that out! Anyway, carrying on... The composition is very clear in its portrayal of a magical journey. It does it very well, and very very stereotypically. Although perhaps you were going for that, since it's so clear and uncovered.
I must say though that the latter half of the song is substantially better than the first. The middle part is especially good, I liked the chord choices at 2:11, 2:18, 2:24 and 2:32. The orchestration from here on out is quite good too, although the composition's artistic value diminished from here. Especially when it metamorphed into some kind of national anthem towards the end. The sense of journey is depicted well, and it is nicely arranged.
This composition achieves 3 Noirs out of 7.
Notturno
"It's a nocturne in C#m, a purely lyrical and autobiographical piece, in which I used the Lied form (ABA'). The different three parts share some common infantile elements because the main intention was to evocate childhood memories. But memories soon disappear and the sadness of the present returns."
It's nice.
This composition achieves 3 Noirs out of 7.
Raise up dreams
"In this piece, Tess, the main character of Tess of the d'Urbervilles is telling her love, Angel, that he helps chase away her nightmares. She has many, as she has lived a hard life; she had been abused by her family, after they found out that they were descended from a noble line and became arrogant in spite of their humble means. Furthermore, after this she ended up being sent to live with another family who they assume are related to them (because they have the name d'Urberville), but are not. With this family, she is raped by one of the sons and Tess gets pregnant. She has her baby, who dies, and then runs away. She ends up meeting Angel (technically, they have met once before in the story, but never spoke), and they fall deeply in love and get married. This song happens during their courtship, but the melancholy, nightmare-ish feel of the first part of the song foreshadows the tragic ending to the story; Tess tells Angel the story of her past, and he storms out on her. She waits for him, but finally is desperate for money and food, and returns to the man who raped her. Angel ends up coming back, which leads Tess to murder her new husband so she can run off with Angel. At the end of the story, she is caught and hanged.
The song is supposed to convey the weight of the horrors which Tess faces in her life, as well as showing the hope and happiness which her love for Angel brings to her; in spite of everything that happens to her, she still risks everything to be with Angel."
I agree with the composer that the text is very intriguing, and I enjoyed it a lot. The music set to it is no exception either. Its artistic depth, chord progressions and the integration of the lyrics are my favourite points. Let's start with the first point -- the artistic depth.
I listen to a lot of music, and a lot of *Music*. *Music*, translates into music that gets my mind wander, my creativity flowing and basically something that inspires me. Of course, Ichigo's being a small community (relatively) serving as a home for less-experienced composers, finding these special pieces of music isn't something you stumble upon each day, but there are a few composers here who are definately capable of creating those songs. Two songs of yours had a similar effect on me, which actually inspired me to write what would become some of my previous tunes. I'm glad that you've started to compose such songs again, like this one, and it's truly no matter of *getting better* and practising for you, it's simply that you need to be picky, take your time and let the creativity consume you. Composition is like a huge rock, and a composer can already *see* the sculpture and what feeling it emits even before starting to carve the stone. In this case, you had the lyrics to serve as that rock, and I feel that this composition, artistically, reached a near perfect result.
The lenght of the piece is optimal, I wouldn't want to hear less or more of it. The chord choices you made are excellent, as well as the unpredictable melodies. This song, with light strings in the background of the piano, played-back with an old radio would conjure up images of the first half of the past century. Almost a bit Casablanca-ish. Although, the piano as a solo instrument with a singing voice works as well.
This composition achieves 3 and a half Noirs out of 7.
Re:Morse
"This submission, more-so the larger planned work, takes moments of Morse Code history and presents them in small almost independent viewings of musical experience.
This small opening segment is based off the Morse code text "SOS" (...---...). It is a minimalist tone poem bringing about emotions of swirling waters, life rafts bobbing up and down, and helplessness."
While I can feel the sense of helplessness depicted in this piece, I'm having a hard time picturing the swirling waters and stuff... but anyway, what I think isn't important for now - To make these kind of tone-poem compositions affect the listener you're required to put an enormous amount of thought into them, and then to make the listener feel it. What we have here is a good idea, well thought-out but poorly orchestrated and simply too abrupt.
I cannot help but feel that this song is trying to be something it's not. You describe it as minimalistic, and though that might be true in a strict sense, it just comes off as pretentious the more I think of it.
When the ending played, I felt like I was sitting at a cinema with my popcorn, being thrown out right after the opening credits. And speaking of the ending - the *actual* ending chords being my point here - were almost leaning towards embarrassment. When I listen to the piece a couple of times in repeat, the ending almost ticks me off, kind of like you tried to write that very last passage just to piss me off... and it really succeeded. But I mean, a song which emits feelings of annoyance and provocation are feelings nonetheless, and I suppose it counts for something.
This composition achieves 2 Noirs out of 7.
Running Home
"Running Home. I was going to do orchestral, but the emotions I wanted to get across didn't work well with sections like percussion and brass. Not that it couldn't be properly orchestrated for the full orchestra, but I think it works better with strings and piano only.
I simply imagined a typical anime scene in my head. A female school student is late home. So just imagine her yelling "jaa ~ matta ne!" to her friends as she starts speeding towards home. She runs through streets and alleyways, dodging people on her way home. Finally, she arrives home, safe and sound."
You know, there's nothing wrong with this piece at all. Orchestrating this with the brass and percussion as you intended on doing initially would've messed it up for sure, so good call on not going so. While it sounds utterly computerized and unrefined (seeing as you did have nice sounds to play with) I don't like to focus on the technical quality of compositions, so let me instead continue explaining why you won't be winning this contest; the word "mata" in Japanese ("again") is never spelled with a double-t-sound. That would be like saying "I'll see you latter", although the correct translation would be "I waited, didn't I?" if you use matta instead of mata. (Matta is "wait" in past tense form).
Added to that, composer-wise, I think you have much more potential than you show in your compositions (not just speaking of this particular one). You have a passion for music - that much is clear - you seem very inspired and motivated, and you have the privelege of being in possession of great sound samples, yet you stick to this level of mediocrity. Being a big fan of VG/Anime music is one thing, but actually striving to sound exactly like a billion other mediocre japanese musicians instead of evolving up and beyond is something you should avoid.
If I were to take this tune and throw it into a bin of 500 japanese half-arsed tunes I would never be able to pick it up again, because it would be impossible to tell them apart.
This composition achieves 2 and a half quarters of Noirs out of 7.
Your Name
The only thing more cliché than this song is its name! Then that voice came in and made me smile, and I don't know but... I conjured up this image in my head of a typical American high-school delinquent always being a pain in the arse to the "nerds" in the school. However, when he goes home, he locks himself in his teenage-room and starts singing these love ballads in secrecy.
The intro is actually quite good, as is the song in its overall orchestration and writing -- but that voice... I mean, it's entertaining, but in all the wrong ways! And at 04:20 you forgot what key you were in? Anyway, the main thing about this piece is that it seems compromised in too many aspects. Some parts seem to 'be there' because you needed a bridge or a 'door' to the following part(s). Compromising is a no-no this time around, which I thought I pointed out quite obsessively in my starting post of this competition.
The guitar solo is to my liking, although it's a bit too long. Then that voice again... it just keeps bugging the hell out of me, lol. 04:44 to the end is my favourite part.
This composition achieves 3 and a half Noirs out of 7.
Part 2 (Final results) will be posted in about 4-5 days, but the current score reads:
--------------------------------------
Capriccio No1 -- Adrenaline
"This is one of my craziest and free-form compositions, which resulted in its given title. I had a video game battle track in mind, which turned into a duel of pianos (with a violin thrown in between), which turned into a complicated mess of a 100+ measure free-form composition. I put aside meter, rhythm, voice-leading, and other standard composition techniques -- and the result is the intended enharmonic "battle" that you now hear."
We both have very different views on the words "crazy" and "free-form" when talking about music, I think. Let me comment on the 'overallity' here first by putting up a simple yet slightly absurd analogy, but bear with me:
A 50-year-old white collar office worker is living a normal life. So normal, to his thinking, that it is a saddening bore. What he does to turn things around is that he decides to "live vicariously" and books a flight to Thailand where he intends on being for two weeks. While there, he stays at the epicentre of the tourism empire, thinking to himself that he is so proud of exploring an immensely different culture. Of course, he isn't... he only thinks he is. He's still just a boring office worker who is being served by under-paid thai workers. When he goes to bars he feels much more alive than he was in his own country, because he can actually pretend to be "interesting" in this country, since the women here see him as such. Though of course, throw in a woman from his country in the bar and she would never think of him as interesting. So with the thai women, he can actually get some pussy even though it would be impossible for him with his 'own kind' since they instantly recognize him as nothing special at all.
The "A" sections of this song represents that boring office worker, which to untrained ears seem really cool, exciting and a bit wild. For those who know better, it sounds more 'locked-in' than free in form, and the fast-paced runs serve as a cover for that. It's not crazy, it's very simple, standard and see-through. It works -- for the general public. Now, just as the office worker this song would do pretty well when presented to the right crowd. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, because if you think about, most composers do compose music for "regular" people. And since this originated as a battle theme, it served its purpose quite well. Although, if it were finalized as such it would definately need to scrap that violin off the top and keep it as a piano solo, or to fully orchestrate it. When using a violin as a solo instrument with such a crappy sound (as most sound fonts are) you have a challenge in front of you: To make that crappy sound be overshadowed by a great melody, which you did not succeed doing.
The slower interrupting sections were much better than the fast-paced ones. They're even simpler, but simple doesn't need to be a negative thing. In this case, it surely isn't. With the right dynamics, these sections could stand out better than with this version, but the groundwork is good.
This composition achieves 2 and a half Noirs out of 7.
Estrella
"Estrella(Star) is a short piece in a waltz time. The piece starts with its first theme in C major with a "childish" inspiration. After this first theme the second theme comes in A minor; creating a contrast with the first theme. The oboe takes the melodic part then the bassoon enters in a third section in F major; connecting the second and first theme. The themes are repeated, then the piece start fading out slowly."
The short lenght of this piece serves it well, and it was a good choice not to let it drag on. it's sweet and simple throughout its duration with little to criticize on. The use of the bassoon was quite clever, and in my off-set mind I pictured the oboe as a kid jumping around in bliss, and the bassoon as his fat penguin friend. At 00:47 the penguin runs off, stealing the kid's thunder. I know, it might sounds weird but whenever songs get my imagination running it's always a good sign.
This composition isn't one that will go to Ichigo's archive of super milestones, it is simply a piece true to itself and free of pretentiousness, which to me is even better than songs titled like "Creme de la bleu la croix de petite baguette c'est grande penis No. 1 Op. 20" but has no substance whatsoever. My main liking with this piece is that, in contrary to some other pieces submitted to this competition, it doesn't feel forced. It's refreshing because there's no need to add additional, excessive, flavours to this song - and you didn't, and so it rings true with the Hemingway concept, Less is More.
This composition achieves 4 and a half Noirs out of 7.
New Beginning
"The beginning of the song brings the audience to picture the beginning of a great adventure, with a light and carefree mood. As the travelers approach the unknown, an increasing tone of excitement climaxes into a flash of light. The travelers are now transported into the world of fantasy, silent in awe. The travelers cautiously look around in this mysterious world, and start to notice the beautiful and magical surroundings. Here, there, and everywhere, there are countless discoveries! The curious travelers wander around in wonder, exploring this world of fantasy. With a new found energy, the travelers reminisce about the wonders that they have seen, and then depart from this world, back to reality. The title represents my personal wishes for the listener to feel as though they had just been rejuvenated after listening to the piece. As though they had just been given a new beginning and anything is possible. The title also shows my own commitment as a composer to explore more areas and genres in music."
Ambitious compositions of large porportions describing epic things like this one always get my interest. For better or for worse. They can either take my breath away or fail miserably on their own weight.
The opening ten seconds of the song almost screams of a cheesy vinuette of something like "You're watching Noir News, bringing you tomorrow's news -- Today!". I just had to point that out! Anyway, carrying on... The composition is very clear in its portrayal of a magical journey. It does it very well, and very very stereotypically. Although perhaps you were going for that, since it's so clear and uncovered.
I must say though that the latter half of the song is substantially better than the first. The middle part is especially good, I liked the chord choices at 2:11, 2:18, 2:24 and 2:32. The orchestration from here on out is quite good too, although the composition's artistic value diminished from here. Especially when it metamorphed into some kind of national anthem towards the end. The sense of journey is depicted well, and it is nicely arranged.
This composition achieves 3 Noirs out of 7.
Notturno
"It's a nocturne in C#m, a purely lyrical and autobiographical piece, in which I used the Lied form (ABA'). The different three parts share some common infantile elements because the main intention was to evocate childhood memories. But memories soon disappear and the sadness of the present returns."
It's nice.
This composition achieves 3 Noirs out of 7.
Raise up dreams
"In this piece, Tess, the main character of Tess of the d'Urbervilles is telling her love, Angel, that he helps chase away her nightmares. She has many, as she has lived a hard life; she had been abused by her family, after they found out that they were descended from a noble line and became arrogant in spite of their humble means. Furthermore, after this she ended up being sent to live with another family who they assume are related to them (because they have the name d'Urberville), but are not. With this family, she is raped by one of the sons and Tess gets pregnant. She has her baby, who dies, and then runs away. She ends up meeting Angel (technically, they have met once before in the story, but never spoke), and they fall deeply in love and get married. This song happens during their courtship, but the melancholy, nightmare-ish feel of the first part of the song foreshadows the tragic ending to the story; Tess tells Angel the story of her past, and he storms out on her. She waits for him, but finally is desperate for money and food, and returns to the man who raped her. Angel ends up coming back, which leads Tess to murder her new husband so she can run off with Angel. At the end of the story, she is caught and hanged.
The song is supposed to convey the weight of the horrors which Tess faces in her life, as well as showing the hope and happiness which her love for Angel brings to her; in spite of everything that happens to her, she still risks everything to be with Angel."
I agree with the composer that the text is very intriguing, and I enjoyed it a lot. The music set to it is no exception either. Its artistic depth, chord progressions and the integration of the lyrics are my favourite points. Let's start with the first point -- the artistic depth.
I listen to a lot of music, and a lot of *Music*. *Music*, translates into music that gets my mind wander, my creativity flowing and basically something that inspires me. Of course, Ichigo's being a small community (relatively) serving as a home for less-experienced composers, finding these special pieces of music isn't something you stumble upon each day, but there are a few composers here who are definately capable of creating those songs. Two songs of yours had a similar effect on me, which actually inspired me to write what would become some of my previous tunes. I'm glad that you've started to compose such songs again, like this one, and it's truly no matter of *getting better* and practising for you, it's simply that you need to be picky, take your time and let the creativity consume you. Composition is like a huge rock, and a composer can already *see* the sculpture and what feeling it emits even before starting to carve the stone. In this case, you had the lyrics to serve as that rock, and I feel that this composition, artistically, reached a near perfect result.
The lenght of the piece is optimal, I wouldn't want to hear less or more of it. The chord choices you made are excellent, as well as the unpredictable melodies. This song, with light strings in the background of the piano, played-back with an old radio would conjure up images of the first half of the past century. Almost a bit Casablanca-ish. Although, the piano as a solo instrument with a singing voice works as well.
This composition achieves 3 and a half Noirs out of 7.
Re:Morse
"This submission, more-so the larger planned work, takes moments of Morse Code history and presents them in small almost independent viewings of musical experience.
This small opening segment is based off the Morse code text "SOS" (...---...). It is a minimalist tone poem bringing about emotions of swirling waters, life rafts bobbing up and down, and helplessness."
While I can feel the sense of helplessness depicted in this piece, I'm having a hard time picturing the swirling waters and stuff... but anyway, what I think isn't important for now - To make these kind of tone-poem compositions affect the listener you're required to put an enormous amount of thought into them, and then to make the listener feel it. What we have here is a good idea, well thought-out but poorly orchestrated and simply too abrupt.
I cannot help but feel that this song is trying to be something it's not. You describe it as minimalistic, and though that might be true in a strict sense, it just comes off as pretentious the more I think of it.
When the ending played, I felt like I was sitting at a cinema with my popcorn, being thrown out right after the opening credits. And speaking of the ending - the *actual* ending chords being my point here - were almost leaning towards embarrassment. When I listen to the piece a couple of times in repeat, the ending almost ticks me off, kind of like you tried to write that very last passage just to piss me off... and it really succeeded. But I mean, a song which emits feelings of annoyance and provocation are feelings nonetheless, and I suppose it counts for something.
This composition achieves 2 Noirs out of 7.
Running Home
"Running Home. I was going to do orchestral, but the emotions I wanted to get across didn't work well with sections like percussion and brass. Not that it couldn't be properly orchestrated for the full orchestra, but I think it works better with strings and piano only.
I simply imagined a typical anime scene in my head. A female school student is late home. So just imagine her yelling "jaa ~ matta ne!" to her friends as she starts speeding towards home. She runs through streets and alleyways, dodging people on her way home. Finally, she arrives home, safe and sound."
You know, there's nothing wrong with this piece at all. Orchestrating this with the brass and percussion as you intended on doing initially would've messed it up for sure, so good call on not going so. While it sounds utterly computerized and unrefined (seeing as you did have nice sounds to play with) I don't like to focus on the technical quality of compositions, so let me instead continue explaining why you won't be winning this contest; the word "mata" in Japanese ("again") is never spelled with a double-t-sound. That would be like saying "I'll see you latter", although the correct translation would be "I waited, didn't I?" if you use matta instead of mata. (Matta is "wait" in past tense form).
Added to that, composer-wise, I think you have much more potential than you show in your compositions (not just speaking of this particular one). You have a passion for music - that much is clear - you seem very inspired and motivated, and you have the privelege of being in possession of great sound samples, yet you stick to this level of mediocrity. Being a big fan of VG/Anime music is one thing, but actually striving to sound exactly like a billion other mediocre japanese musicians instead of evolving up and beyond is something you should avoid.
If I were to take this tune and throw it into a bin of 500 japanese half-arsed tunes I would never be able to pick it up again, because it would be impossible to tell them apart.
This composition achieves 2 and a half quarters of Noirs out of 7.
Your Name
The only thing more cliché than this song is its name! Then that voice came in and made me smile, and I don't know but... I conjured up this image in my head of a typical American high-school delinquent always being a pain in the arse to the "nerds" in the school. However, when he goes home, he locks himself in his teenage-room and starts singing these love ballads in secrecy.
The intro is actually quite good, as is the song in its overall orchestration and writing -- but that voice... I mean, it's entertaining, but in all the wrong ways! And at 04:20 you forgot what key you were in? Anyway, the main thing about this piece is that it seems compromised in too many aspects. Some parts seem to 'be there' because you needed a bridge or a 'door' to the following part(s). Compromising is a no-no this time around, which I thought I pointed out quite obsessively in my starting post of this competition.
The guitar solo is to my liking, although it's a bit too long. Then that voice again... it just keeps bugging the hell out of me, lol. 04:44 to the end is my favourite part.
This composition achieves 3 and a half Noirs out of 7.