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Nick's Monthly Composing Challenge's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Mixing | #8 | 3.667 | 3.667 |
| Instrument choice/usage (challenge) | #8 | 3.933 | 3.933 |
| Overall | #10 | 3.700 | 3.700 |
| Composition | #13 | 3.733 | 3.733 |
| Creativity | #16 | 3.467 | 3.467 |
Ranked from 15 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Title
A New Dawn in Treefur Town
Description
The picture made me imagine something like the break of a new dawn. It made me want to make a sunrise song, but I ended up making more of a forest town song, so I combined it into 'a new dawn in Treefur town'! It uses different soundfonts too, which is something I am experimenting with.
Instruments used
The song contains Flute (4), General Percussion (3), Viola (4 - it sounds a bit like violin though...), and Steel Guitar (4) for a total cost of 4+3+4+4 = 15 coins!
Link(s) to your submission
https://on.soundcloud.com/tH9WKVp8jC8BrsLH6
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Comments
I couldn't explain why, but I think the beginning of your melody is splendid (D-C-A-B at bar 3). You develop it superbly well. And that chromaticism from 15! I love it too :)
Once again, I'm amazed by your talent for creating a complete, coherent piece with medium-quality sounds and such a small number of instruments. Your great strength is knowing how to build beautiful melodies with an effective arrangement.
It's great that you've taken the theme and changed the lead instrument. The flute adds something medieval, but there's definitely a country feel. The softer, more melancholy beginning contrasts with the happy, bouncy end. It perfectly illustrates the transition from the end of the night to dawn.
You know I love seeing you at the jam, and I really enjoy our exchanges. What also pleases me is to see our progress. When I hear what you're doing today, I can see how far we've come in the last 18 months. You even take the liberty of changing the signature so brilliantly that we don't even realize it. If I didn't have the score in front of me, I wouldn't have heard it.
I also appreciate creativity and risk-taking. You experiment with rhythmic and melodic changes. I can tell you're having fun when you compose. I also sense that you want to surprise us without taking us by the hand.
You can be proud of your music and your progress.
Wow :O, thank you so much!!
I love the deep explanation, and I secretly high-five myself for you not realizing those signature changes (I was hoping for that!). Because the last section has a mode-change (from minor to major), an instrument-change (well, the strings become pizzicato and become the baseline), and a melody-change, I was afraid that the section would come too much out of the blue, even with my small (and kinda weird) transition before it. Glad it was still enjoyable :)
And, of course, thanks a lot for the compliments :D. I must say, I also really notice our progress since the last 18 months (is it really that long already??). Your last statement, "I can tell you're having fun when you compose", is definitely true - I already loved composing music, but that love started to die a bit when all I could make were bad piano songs. These jams have pushed me further than I ever thought possible, and the great community of these jams, with you shining on top of it, have kept me coming for (apparently) years! While I, back then, didn't even know the difference between a clarinet and an oboe, now I can even add small gimmicks like signature changes that go unnoticed to the common ear!
So, in short, thanks a lot for being here :). I definitely noticed you grow over the years too. I look forward to some more growth, for the both of us. See you in the next one!
Very lovely as always!
This really puts me in a good mood.
I know because of the coin limitations you can’t do this, but some river or birds sounds would complement it really nice.
Thanks a lot :D. I might try that sometime, adding river or bird sounds. I absolutely LOVE the sound of birds and stuff (oh wait, you already know this, because you yourself added these sounds!), so I think it could really boost my songs. Thank you for the suggestion, and I'm glad my song puts you into a good mood!
This sounds like something you would hear in an RPG or Stardew Valley, very peaceful and calming to listen to! I like that every instrument has a defined part to play in the song, it gives it that minimalist feel without being boring :)
Thank you very much! I love minimalist approaches as it doesn't clutter the sheet and my mind as much. A violin is perfect with its pizzicato and legato capabilities :D. I do my best to make the part different enough to not bore, but still make the different parts cohesive - I think I did a decent job here. Thanks again :)
I think this fits with the prompt really well!! The instrumentation give me a sense of peacefully gazing at the sunset/sunrise. I also really liked the pizz strings. I don't know if you know the original 'drawn to life' DS game, but I got similar vibes. :)
I did play one of the Drawn To Life games on the DS actually! But I cannot remember a single song from that game... You have just given me a reason to play it again :D.
Also, I am glad you like it! Thanks :)
A relaxing tune, gives the old school rpg vibe.
Exactly as intended! Well, the relaxing I mean, not the old-school rpg vibe ;). Thanks
I really like the rhythms you use in the second half of this song.
Thanks :D. Given my abundance of 4/4 songs, I have been experimenting with 6/4 and such, and I found this funny rhythm. I desperately wanted it in my song, but it took me the most time to make a solid transition between the two halves of the song!
The vibraslap carried
really nice calm song overall!
Just yesterday I found out that this weird instrument I have been using is called a 'vibraslap'! I am impressed you know it. And thanks for the compliment :D
I played percussion (mostly mallets) in band all throughout middle and high school so I like all the weird auxiliary percussion like vibraslaps, cowbells and woodblocks. My favorite is the flexatone! It’s used in Halloween music a lot.
That's awesome! I cannot play any instrument well; my only connection to music is my composing. I actually dig the cowbells and woodblocks too - I've used woodblocks a lot in the past to mimic clock sounds (works surprisingly well!). Never heard of a flexatone, but I'll definitely check it out :D
Such a nice piece! I really like the texture all of the wooden instruments come together to create, it really fits the title of the music. Great job!
Thanks a lot! Glad you like it :D