Easter is right around the corner. This is the time of year when Christians (including myself) commemorate the crucifixion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crucifixion_of_Jesus) and resurrection (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resurrection_of_Jesus) of Christ, the central event in the history of Christianity. It is also the time of year when many neo-pagans celebrate the vernal equinox (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vernal_equinox) (on March 21 this year), and the renewal of life after a long winter. From the (ancient) pagan traditions we get the Easter bunny and Easter eggs, and even the name Easter.
So, with that in mind, and taking a page from Calin Leafshade's recent "anxiety descending" tune contest, I would like you to write a piece of music that expresses deep despair, and then great joy.
Rules, rules, rules....
- You may write any genre of music, using any instrumentation you can think of.
- Your piece must be at least one minute long.
- Your piece must start with a feeling of despair, and end with a feeling of great joy. Whether it suddenly or gradually changes is up to you.
- Your entry must be posted here by Tuesday, April 6, 12am Alaska Time (GMT-0900).
Since I will be out of town during Easter weekend and busy this coming weekend, I will likely not be able to make any trophies this month (and probably a good thing too considering my complete lack of art skills). If some other kind soul would care to make some that reflect the theme, I would be more than happy to use them.
Good luck!
http://spectrum.agsarchives.com/music/dream.mp3
Quote from: Le Woltaire on Sat 27/03/2010 10:24:47
http://spectrum.agsarchives.com/music/dream.mp3
Damn you- just DAMN YOU TO HELL for setting the bar high...
Here is my Quick attempt
I am not exactly the best at music. But I like to test out what I can do. :P
The Hell In Heaven
(http://www.fileupyours.com/files/277534/The%20Hell%20in%20Heaven.mp3/)
Least I gave it a cool name 8)
edit2: oh whatever, here it is anyway http://www.mediafire.com/?imjjzzc35ng
and a youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdPWL3RS_dc
Well, here's my half-arsed submission: Hope & Despair (http://www.mediafire.com/?mnidynilwg1) (Newgrounds link (http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/322864)).
All instrumentation played by Guitar Pro, but composed by me. The song should be named Despair and then Hope, but meh, it sounded better this way :P. The song plays on that well-abused heavy metal dichotomy of ballad/uber-fast which I've been thoroughly making use of lately.
I don't think the song suits the whole Easter thing... (well, unless you can picture Jesus riding into battle wielding a huge axe, in which case, AWESOME)
PS: Kabukibear's song reminds me of A Warm Place by Nine Inch Nails. Which is a good thing, I suppose...
Created something too... I called it Light always wins.
I think it came out pretty well, you download it here: http://www.mediafire.com/?llm3yfyfywn
Or watch in Newgrounds: http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/322889
Great, thanks for all the wonderful entries!
Here are my thoughts on each, followed by the winners....
Le Woltaire:
+ Great musical content in the first section
+ Nicely orchestrated (although could use more detail)
- The (rather subjective) emotions that the music suggested to me were more abject terror followed by relief, rather than despair and joy
- The "joy" section could use more development
Danman:
+ Much of the "joy" section was quite soothing
- I could not make heads or tails of the "despair" section -- the synthesized sound used was rather annoying and it seemed like quasi-random notes on a scale
- Seemed somewhat incoherent, switching from one thing to the next without any connection
Kabukibear:
+ Lovely, flowing music
+ Appropriate instrumentation
- The violin sample didn't sound much like a real violin (but then, I'm picky because I play violin :) )
- I didn't sense a change in mood -- it seemed rather melancholy throughout
ShiverMeSideways:
+ Nice guitar slides and effects
+ The "despair" part seemed to capture the mood pretty well
+ Nice contrast and changes between sections
- The samples don't sound very realistic, and the notes are precisely evenly spaced
- The "hope" part sounded heroic, but not really joyful (to my ears)
TheRoger:
+ Captured both "despair" and "joy" pretty well
+ Kept the musical interest going with frequent coherent changes
- Too heavy on the drums to my ears, especially in the "joy" section -- they need more variety, although keeping the same basic rhythm makes sense
- The joint between the two sections is too sudden
- Notes are exactly the same length, and samples are not convincing
Well, it was a tough decision because of the very different character of the entries, but here goes....
- The bronze goes to ShiverMeSideways!
- The silver goes to Kabukibear!
- And the gold goes to Le Woltaire!
Thanks for participating!
Thanks for the kind words, Viking, and congratulations to Le Woltaire! :)
Good compo, everyone!
Yeah got to agree. The despair part was quite hard for me. I tried to make it a scary sounding beginning.
@Le Woltaire you always win it is unfair ;D .
Anyway everyone's attempts were quite good if you ask me.
But I enjoyed making that track and I will keep participating in this competitions it will improve my music a lot.