Re: Pop / New Age - When Winter Froze

dgolding · Post by **dgolding** » Mon Apr 02, 2007 6:14 pm

I'm a great fan of Enya, Clannad etc. It definitely has an Enya-type feel to it. It starts off very nicely, but after that, to me, it seemed to lack musical highlights, or accents. It built steadily, but to my ears, it was crying out for some pizzicato strings or something similar, to back up the pads, hold the interest and put some definition in the overall sound.I'm not even sure if I'm describing what I mean with any clarity, but around 1:30 I wanted to hear something on the 1/4 bar to re-enforce the sound. Maybe later on a key change would help too.Apart from that, I think if you could strengthen the hook a little, you'd have a very nice song on your hands. Love the piano, btw.As always, take my comments for what they are - the opinions of a musician so successful that he is a full time website designer.

mazz · Post by **mazz** » Mon Apr 02, 2007 6:51 pm

Very nice. The filtered drums that come in at 3:34 need to come in a minute earlier. The arrangement can start to build in the second verse. Since this is a repetitive piece, IMO there needs to be something a little bit more and/or different in each repetition. The return to the intro at 4:41 works well, it gives a nice gentle way to end.The melody is always descending which is OK but I think you can reverse the direction of the last notes of phrases every once in a while. I wonder how the word "soul" would sound if you went up on that note, particularly since you change the chord so nicely there. The melody is 85% there but a few choice note changes could make it "goosebumpy" (technical term )I would consider adding some breathy flute pads at some point. That will heighten the effect of being out on the Irish steppes (whatever they call them there) in the foggy night.You may consider cutting a couple of repetitions but that's just another idea.A great sense of longing in this piece. Due to the repetitive nature, the arrangement will make or break it, a very well crafted build will keep the listener all the way to the end. Pull out those Enya albums and listen closely to how she and her producer do it. You couldn't find a better template for this piece than hers.Looking forward to hearing the final. This deserves your intense attention.Mazz

dgolding · Post by **dgolding** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 2:10 am

LOL, I wish

dgolding · Post by **dgolding** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 3:54 pm

This is sounding a lot better to my ears. I really like this song. It builds very nicely. In fact, it could stand to build a bit more, maybe some timpani and more BV's stabbing away. I'm very envious of your voice, its sounding great. Sadly, I even speak out of tune. Very nice work, the song deserves some success, even if it isn't for the listing you wrote it for. Best of luck with it.

mazz · Post by **mazz** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 4:18 pm

Much improved! The sound is more refined, the vocal is more the focal point and when the lead instrument comes in in the middle, it steps right in to the sonic space left by the vocal, just like it should, IMO.I still advocate building earlier in the piece. The intro is twice as long as it needs to be, IMO. Bring in the big drum sound 1 time earlier, I think it will have a better chance of keeping the listener all the way to the end, because they should hear the whole thing.Mazz