Windy

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Windy

Author Comments

Composition made for the NGADM 2024.

Thank you for the front page!

12-10-2024 This piece passed through the round of 8!

I'm very glad by the reception it's getting, thanks to everyone for the encouragements!

❤❤❤

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KapsxBgzip

2025-08-22 01:12:59

it's really Better

NahuPyrope

2025-08-04 05:59:36

This is absolutely incredible, one of the pieces that blew me away, piano compositions always have a place in my heart that nothing else could ever fill.

The way you paced this song was beautiful, the use of dynamics on your playing really shows your skill over the instrument, the only things I would consider saying that I would've liked to see more is to emphasize those dynamics even more, you're hitting the keys with very consistent force, but sometimes a quieter, more emotionally charged section could hit REALLY hard, 3:20 is a good example of that, if you kept building on that while not going so hard the finale could've hit much harder.

There's something about the mix that doesn't sit right with me, I think it's something in the lower mid register that sounds a bit off, but I can't quite pinpoint it.

Solacitude responds:

Thank you very much for the review and good words! I'm glad you appreciated this composition :)

I agree that I could've used more contrasting sections especially since it's a 5 minutes long piece. Making more room for softer and delicate sections would've been a good idea! I kind of like the finale building up like this, but I totally see how it could've been built beautifully using softer dynamics as well! If not for the finale, at least really exploit that in the middle of the piece.

The mix is not as good as it could be, I could improve on that if I use this library again! Nowadays I use new, more modern libraries on my newer pieces. The one used for Windy is older and a little bit harder to tame properly, but I may revisit these compositions at some point and update the mix quality.

GittingsAndLouis

2024-11-11 19:54:06

I can't believe it. Classical that isn't yet another Phillip Glass wannabe or Nintendo soundtrack. And on Newgrounds of all places? Good work. Keep going.

Everratic

2024-10-16 14:34:07

NGADM Round 3 Review

The composition is heartfelt and beautiful. It feels like it’s stream-of-consciousness style, taking the listener on a journey through one’s thoughts and struggles. I admire your ability to compose for piano in a way that deeply resonates with human emotions; it’s not an easy feat. It also seems that you’re not afraid to show yourself through your music, which makes it much more interesting to listen to. The composition style reminds me of great composers like Chopin and Liszt while being distinct enough to be recognized as your work.

You did an excellent job at varying the themes and creating distinct sections. I do think you can go even further with utilizing the full piano register and timbral and dynamic ranges; sometimes it helps to slightly exaggerate shifts in texture and tone. The composition feels a little too tonally consistent over the five-minute duration for my taste.

I have a comment on the mix, but it’s a bit tricky because I don’t know what your mic set up is and how you already EQd them, so take this with a grain of salt. I sense that one of the closer mics might have a bit too much frequency content between 350 to 1k, and a slight cut might help the reverb and higher register notes shine more. But otherwise, the mix is really solid! I particularly enjoy the soft-blur texture of some of the lower dynamic left-hand arpeggios.

It's remarkable how far you’ve come after some setbacks and how much you’ve improved in a short time! Good luck with the rest of the contest!

Solacitude responds:

Most parts included in the final mix come from moments that I happened to be recording while reaching a kind of meditative state of mind. It's how I manage to create the most authentic mindful musical expressions that I can. It's not always what is wanted, but most of the times when I'm "in the zone" I tend to play in a romantic style. I also think the more I manage to connect to the subconscious, the more the music produced can connect with people listening. I'm really glad when it does! I know that I'm far from Chopin and Liszt level, but they are composers that I really like and they sure have an influence on how I play. Romantic music influenced my style a lot. I'm quite flattered that this piece reminds you of them!

It was in my thoughts that 5 minutes of C# might be too much, but then also thought that the chromatic elements would compensate, creating a little disturbance in the perceived root, and alternating between C#min natural to harmonic, and quick pass through C#Maj. I recorded some variations with more than accidental key changes as well as higher register that I didn't keep in the final mix. I was feeling like I was losing consistency, the darker vibe, so I kept them out. Maybe in a future version, adding a "Takeoff" chapter so the wind is put to good use instead of just blowing out things, we could fly gracefully into it! Would also maybe make it sound more like an actual rhapsody. :)

I get what you say for the mix. I didn't update yet, but I've cut a bit in this range on the close mic, and added a bit of lower freq, making some tests. It was the first upload with this piano sound so I'm very glad you appreciate the mix quality! It was making me a tiny bit anxious haha!

Getting to the round of 4, and the appreciation of what I create, it's way beyond my expectations! I was getting into these contests pretty much to get feedbacks and improve where I can, not thinking about the podium at all. It was not in my thoughts all along, but now that we're there! I own nothing that is proposed in the prize pool, so I'm quite happy about that!! Added to all the positives that already came out of it. It's convincing my inner voice more and more, that distributing my music is worth it! This inner voice can be stubborn, perfectionist, doubtful. It feels good when it gets tamed a little bit.

It's been quite an adventure since the beginning! I'm very glad of the results so far! You also helped a lot with your tips to get back on the boat! Thank you again!! :D

Spadezer

2024-10-09 20:28:11

I don't like how good the composition is

There's too many notes. There's chords everywhere, tons of sustain pedal, there's no way I could recreate without clicking a bunch of MIDI notes in place, and yet it spews of emotion. I feel so inferior needing to comment on this, and you make me sick. I'm assuming you had to record your playing because that would be so much work (in one session) to click in every note, and from what I can tell it sounds flawless. So you know what, I'm going to remove some score out of production out of spite.

I'm joking with my last sentence. For real, it feels wrong to nitpick because there isn't a way I could compete, or in a way relate, with this within a similar style. The only real things I don't like is that I had to turn up my volume compared to other songs since you haven't normalized your song file to what NG can output, and there are sections like 1:48 that the left hand is playing louder than the right had so it makes it more difficult to listen to the melody. The production also sounds like recorded electric piano as compared to something like Francesco Parrino on Youtube. I can't put my finger on what it is, but your song (compared to a recording studio recording) is lacking the richness in the bass. Video I used for reference down below.

Well done, this is a great piece. It's upsetting, but well done lol.

Solacitude responds:

Sorry for that! I'll try to do worst next time :D
I really like your humorous way of putting it hahaha!
It's obviously a little bit full of notes. There was in my mind, an extremely skilled composer in @LucidShadowDreamer I pushed my limits on some aspects, maybe it shows a little bit. I tried to compose something that could give a chance to get to the next round as piano solo against a wide range of either piano composition styles, orchestral music, or electronic. LSD is extremely good in all these categories so I had to level up my game a bit! :) I left a plateau recently in my learning journey so this contest it testing where I'll plateau next, and it makes it 10x more exciting to me!! I'm very glad you appreciated the composition like this! Among everything I ever composed, Windy is my favorite. I'm also extremely happy by the way you consider it, and how it's received!

The flawlessness that you perceive, is made of hundreds of littles flaws.
I would also not be able to compose this by placing notes!
It has to be felt phrases played on the keys.

Thanks for the constructive review! I already made a couple corrections on the mix and it sounds a bit better. I'll update it in the next days. The loudness I went with loudnesspenalty.com but you're right! I should consider NG average loudness instead. I'll take that into consideration, maybe crank up the maximizer or readjust the mics volumes.

I used a Steinway grand library on this one. Maybe the lack of bass gave this effect of electric piano. No library can be equal to real piano recording though, but I try to get it as close to the real thing as possible, the real acoustic piano is always better :) Maybe one day I'll have a Steinway! I'm a long way from there though, gonna have to keep on with libraries.

Thank you very much for the tips and the kind words!