Judge feedback

Judge feedback is anonymous.

• As a more orchestrally-oriented composer, I confess that I was somewhat nervous about critiquing this submission given the genre choice, however, upon listening to it, I was quite glad that I did. I think the strong texture work is very admirable, with the use of synth throughout providing some really nice sonic palettes. The percussion often feels like it has this sort of hypnotic feel that really adds that extra layer of interest— this is a skill I struggle with so I always like to hear it! Across the span of the 9 tracks, I found that each individually brought something new, tonally, to the full set which was appreciated— on a track to track basis there was certainly a lot of variety and I thought each track’s overall tone and style was nicely contrasted with the whole. Each felt like it could be implemented in a specific and unique way. Despite this, and while I am consistently impressed with the texture combinations overall, I do think there are opportunities to vary them *within the span of a track* more frequently. For example, at times I found myself growing a little tired of quarter-note kick drum plopping away in the background of “Hildegard Vision” (what a great track title, by the way)— to the extent possible, it might be worth looking into that layer (and others) to see if there are some rhythmic or textural figures that keep the same feel while mixing it up a bit. Having a bar every four measures in the kick drum, for example, that throws in a dotted rhythm or some other slightly different pattern can do a lot to avoid fatigue and add interest to the track. Never do exactly the same thing twice if you can avoid it! Subtle changes in pattern loops can make a big difference and allow you to hold onto that ambient feeling across a long span of time. (This critique is something that I had to learn too— a lot of my early work doesn’t vary enough across repetitions and it is something that I’ve had to consistently put in effort to avoid.) “Knocking Down Heaven’s Door” definitely feels to me like it varies itself more consistently than some of the other tracks— I’d focus on getting that level of interest and variation into all of the tracks— remember, you have to justify the time your track takes up by making sure that all of it is doing something interesting throughout. As far as meeting the theme is concerned, I think that this the most difficult area for me to hear in the submission. When listening to the music, I confess that I am not seeing a connection to the art or the text overall, as skillfully as I might otherwise have found some elements. I would encourage you to attempt to more directly connect to the theme when it is presented in a contest— I think you might find more success in future jams and competitions, which would be great! Overall, it is really fun to hear something that is full of so much textural work— I’m sure some of the other judges who have much more experience and work portfolios in this area will have a lot more valuable feedback than I do, nevertheless I was glad that I came across your work!