After Birth

Hi all! Long time no see!! I uploaded a lot on to youtube so feel free to look at the list and such, but I'll focus one that I did after my youtube uploading frenzy haha. Let's just say I got very deep with a friend and this was the fruit of that convo. We talked about life and happiness and how maybe some people will only find happiness when they die. This song is mean to represent those final moment before you die where you can truly say "I am happy".

After Birth

Heya Kevin!

Just took a listen to this and was pleasantly impressed by it. You've got a good handle on the JRPG style of music, and you have a good melodic sense too, which is valuable. I'm not sure that I was quite feeling the imagery that you describe (it's really active for death-time reminiscing), but I did get a sense of peace and build toward a positive resolution of some sort, so close enough.

I'm hesitant to tell you that I don't like the production very much because it adheres to the sound of a JRPG track's production guidelines pretty perfectly, I just find that it suffers extensively in the realism department as a result, which is a matter of taste. The gated synth percussion that you bring in right at the end is an excellent touch, by the way. The last comment I have is that the ending feels weak. You spend nearly 4 minutes building and then all we get is a sort of drop-off...I think it would benefit from just a bit of a swell or something so that it at least goes out with a sigh and not just an abrupt "okay, we're done here, move along" kind of fade. Hopefully you get what I mean.

Overall, great work. It's repetitive, but it's a pleasing and melodic bit of JRPG-style fare and I enjoyed listening to it! :)

Heya Kevin!

Just took a listen to this and was pleasantly impressed by it. You've got a good handle on the JRPG style of music, and you have a good melodic sense too, which is valuable. I'm not sure that I was quite feeling the imagery that you describe (it's really active for death-time reminiscing), but I did get a sense of peace and build toward a positive resolution of some sort, so close enough.

I'm hesitant to tell you that I don't like the production very much because it adheres to the sound of a JRPG track's production guidelines pretty perfectly, I just find that it suffers extensively in the realism department as a result, which is a matter of taste. The gated synth percussion that you bring in right at the end is an excellent touch, by the way. The last comment I have is that the ending feels weak. You spend nearly 4 minutes building and then all we get is a sort of drop-off...I think it would benefit from just a bit of a swell or something so that it at least goes out with a sigh and not just an abrupt "okay, we're done here, move along" kind of fade. Hopefully you get what I mean.

Overall, great work. It's repetitive, but it's a pleasing and melodic bit of JRPG-style fare and I enjoyed listening to it! :)

Heyyyyyy :) Thanks for the feedback.

@ I'm not sure that I was quite feeling the imagery that you describe - I know what you mean, but I know that with a visual medium like the one I had in my head it would work well...hopefully haha.

@ I'm hesitant to tell you that I don't like the production very much - That's fine that's fine haha! Each has their own as you mentioned yourself

@ Ending - That was my concern too, I guess I am still listening to it and if another idea comes into my head on how to finish it better then I will change it hehe. Thanks again!

Kevin

I love the sound of the guitar. What is it?

Happy, yes.

Dying happy? Only James T Kirk died happy. :lol: I can't think of anyone else.

The ending could use something more, but overall a very pleasant listen.

Nice work.

Ron

Kevin

I love the sound of the guitar. What is it?

Happy, yes.

Dying happy? Only James T Kirk died happy. :lol: I can't think of anyone else.

The ending could use something more, but overall a very pleasant listen.

Nice work.

Ron

Heyyyy thanks, and thanks so much for you help trying to upload this song haha. It's a 12 string guitar.

I instantly got the Final Fantasy feel from this.

Besides that, this sounds incredibly peaceful.

The violin felt very appropiate too.

Good job.

This is honestly the best thing I've heard all day, on this site, on the radio, out of everything I've heard today. I love it!

For a piece, its quite high quality, lovely guitar, and the violin too.

Wonderful slow build up, leading to the finale, and then dying away. I can see a picture of someone running for all their life, and finally passing away at the end, happy at all they have done. Although, you could end a little later, this is a good composition that I'm starting to love, and it grows on me every time I listen to it :)

Heyyyy That's really nice to know. Thanks guys :)

I absolutely love the beginning, it is gorgeous and peaceful. I could hear this as music in a town of a video game. Very, very enjoyable! I love the integration of the acoustic guitar into your orchestration, it never tires the ear, and it glues together the rest of the orchestration. I love the rhythmic use of the clarinet and .. violin or viola, I can't tell. Excellent!! It is interesting to find that the higher voices are holding notes, like a pad, while the clarinet caries the melody. I also love how you slowly add more instruments as the piece progresses. The polyphony is much appreciated.Excellent job!

Hey Kevin,

You know I'm a fan of yours. I still have your Sky Cannon in my library. So, when I saw you posted this piece, I was quite eager to hear it. One thing I should mention, we (Reviewers, Moderators, Admins, etc) are now encouraging members to submit the gear they are using when rendering their recordings and more generally what they're using when creating their works. Hopefully you'll go back and edit your post to include the gear you're using on this piece.

I thought this piece was great (it wasn't Sky Cannon, though, which I'll discuss here in a moment). The combination of orchestral timbre with your guitar sample (which is a great sample, where did you get it?) really made the piece magical. I do have to comment that the repetition was a bit more exposed than your previous work. I think what is different this time around is that none of the repetition is creating the kind of temporal effect you were able to achieve with the cannon.

I should clarify that when I refer to temporal effect, I'm talking about the way you made your work seem "timeless". This work didn't have that, and I think when we're talking about ethereal subject matter (i.e. After Birth being a metaphor for your last moment of happiness being that moment when you die, and so forth) I have this expectation for time to -end- when we die.

So, maybe you can bring out the temporal impact of your previous work in this piece, if you so choose. I really like your material overall, I just missed that aspect of your music that I experienced in your previous work and hope you'll bring that back. Great work. Like I've said before, I'm a big fan and look forward to your next piece.

-AA

Hey Kevin,

You know I'm a fan of yours. I still have your Sky Cannon in my library. So, when I saw you posted this piece, I was quite eager to hear it. One thing I should mention, we (Reviewers, Moderators, Admins, etc) are now encouraging members to submit the gear they are using when rendering their recordings and more generally what they're using when creating their works. Hopefully you'll go back and edit your post to include the gear you're using on this piece.

I thought this piece was great (it wasn't Sky Cannon, though, which I'll discuss here in a moment). The combination of orchestral timbre with your guitar sample (which is a great sample, where did you get it?) really made the piece magical. I do have to comment that the repetition was a bit more exposed than your previous work. I think what is different this time around is that none of the repetition is creating the kind of temporal effect you were able to achieve with the cannon.

I should clarify that when I refer to temporal effect, I'm talking about the way you made your work seem "timeless". This work didn't have that, and I think when we're talking about ethereal subject matter (i.e. After Birth being a metaphor for your last moment of happiness being that moment when you die, and so forth) I have this expectation for time to -end- when we die.

So, maybe you can bring out the temporal impact of your previous work in this piece, if you so choose. I really like your material overall, I just missed that aspect of your music that I experienced in your previous work and hope you'll bring that back. Great work. Like I've said before, I'm a big fan and look forward to your next piece.

-AA

Thanks so much for your time and support. And thank you for your honest review. It's interesting that you are reffering it to Sky Cannon, it's not a bad thing at all, just interesting haha. I guess I did use minimalist techniques in both pieces, so it's funny how you tracked these 2 down hahahah. I do see your points too, (that you made). I feel I won't change the piece but I will obviously try and do my best for the future.

Hello there! you might remember me from Kongregate. Very nice theme you have going on here. I love the guitar lick. The strange synthy percussion effect you used during the climax was really interesting. I really liked the last part of it a lot.

I really like:

1. How long you held my attention (till the end of the piece :)). Sometimes pieces that are based off a single ostinato don't get developed well enough and become boring. You DO NOT have this problem.
   
2. How full the texture feels with just a guitar, cello (or is it viola?), and synth pad
   
3. How well the cello and the synth fit together.
   

In short, awesome.

Originally, I thought that 3:15 got a little too busy, but now I hear the nice little pan effect you put on that new instrument and it's fun hearing it bounce from one speaker to the next on top of the gorgeous writing underneath.

Good ending. Nothing fancy, but nice and simple.

As for how well you represent someone's dying moments, I totally get a sense of the happiness, and the synth pad contributes to the other-worldly feeling of life-after-death.

When I think of the scene you're trying to portray, however, it's a lot more peaceful to me. The freshest example in my head is from Battlestar Galactica where the person is on a ferry, crossing a river, and she sees her family waiting for her on the other side. Everything's pretty calm and relaxing as the character feels the spray of the water against her face.

An even simpler analogy is that life is a pursuit of happiness. Always reaching for it, never quite getting it. Death is the end of that pursuit. You're finally happy and there's nothing left to do.

Here's my suggestion. Make your ending more like a coda where it's another section that's just a little bit slower. That way, you can keep all your great writing you had from before and still contribute to that "happy, at rest" feel you're going for.

Excellent work, Kevin!

-John

I very much enjoyed listening to this. It definitely put me in a good mood. There is a certain warmth to your orchestration that just evoked wonderful emotions from me. The meld of the different voices...just right. I can't say anything bad about it. Very nicely done.

hey , impressive piece!

the guitar sounds awesome! how did you get it? is it live recording?

also the harmony is fantastic . very professional and the violin solo is awesome!!

Dude awesome piece! keep it up!