NGADM Finals! 

Hello Newgrounders! 

I hope you're all doing fine! 

The NGADM finals results came in, wrapping up 2024 edition!

I'll share a little bit of my thoughts in this news post for those interested! 

Here's a brief summary of each rounds, in my perspective :

- Round 0 (Auditions) I didn't make it through the auditions out of 257 entries at first, with the piece "Hopeful Innocence". I was saddened a little bit, but I had big problems that had to be addressed before I could hope for any odds to go further against so many good musicians with high production quality! Sorry to anyone who may have heard my first uploads before I update them with better sound quality, it was horrible! Despite not making the auditions at first, I was still on the bench in case some other participants drop from it, and enough did for me to get back in for the next round! A little bit of luck here! The old and bad version is no more on NG, because I care about keeping your ears healthy! ^^

- Round 1 (Of 64) I didn't make it due to some mixing issues once again, with the piece "Struggle". I was quite defeated at first because I did try to fix my mix since the last round, but I think I made things worst! The struggle was real! For those who may not know, piano comes with a wide range of dynamics and frequencies and it's quite a challenge to make it sound good on lots of different devices without messing it up. What may sound okay in my headphones might sound harsh in a set of speakers, but not too bad on another one, or even break car's -cheap- speakers (Yes it happened!) But I guess it's the cost of learning how to mix properly! It's a whole subject in itself that I won't dive into here! My average score was still quite good despite the production problems so it helped keep balance with the disappointment. I really had to improve my sound quality though! This time I've put lots of focus on this and seek out for help from judges, who helped a lot to achieve better results! In the end, some places freed up like in the last round, which gave access to the next step! A little bit of luck there! 

- Round 2 (Of 16), This time I was up against @NatahDN with his piece "Overclocked Chip". 

I felt like my odds were quite slim with my piece "Equivocal", because @NatahDN did score 96% the round before! If I'm not mistaken it's the highest of all rounds. I was pretty sure I was dropping from the contest at this point, but then results came in, I was unequivocally very pleasantly surprised to score the highest this time and get to the next round! For the first time I though I may have a chance at getting through more rounds, it helped boost my morale for the next one as well! 

Finally the bad mix was not anymore dragging me down, and the composition itself was appreciated beyond my expectations too! It made me quite happy :) 

- Round 3 (Of 8), Opponent : @LucidShadowDreamer An extremely skilled composer who can achieve superb and engaging music in so many ways, including orchestral, electronic, or piano solo, and who can produce from calm and etheral, to epic and grandiose compositions. I didn't know what to expect from him, but knew I had to craft something that could compete against a wide range of very high quality compositions! My first thought knowing I was facing LSD was : "This is probably where my NGADM journey ends!" But I was in a better mood, and was lucky enough to find the inspiration to compose "Windy" quite soon during the 2 weeks period, which gave more time than usual to work on the final result. It made me very happy learning it scored the highest of this round, especially since I consider it the favorite composition I've ever made! :D It's a romantic freeflowing piece that I composed mostly while being in a meditative state of mind. It's often when managing to get in my subconscious that I compose what I consider the most meaningful, or mindful pieces. It was up against "Not A Lone Battle", an orchestral piece that could fit in a AAA game boss fight! A completely different style, but once again a high quality production that made me doubt until the results came in.  

- Round 4 (Of 4), Opponent : @CloakedSoup Another extremely skilled composer who masters the art of orchestral music very well, presenting a piece that could fit in a Harry Potter movie alongside other professional tracks, against my piece "Fate", which is built on 2 ideas that I merged together, going from a pop ballad to a more freeflowing romantic style. I had a hard time coming up with something that I found satisfying during this round and was facing a very high quality production in "Malleus Maleficarum"! This is where I had to face my fate, and drop from the NGADM, but still with the honor of making it up to the semi finals! Having no expectations from the start, there was no disappointment in getting out at this point! Congrats on your placement as a Halloween submission as well!!  

Round 5 (Bronze), Opponent : @trixelbit Excellent at crafting intricate and lively video games music, but also an artist who can sing and produce interesting pop songs that I would consider worthy of being played on radio! There was no submission from him for this round so I got to win the 3rd by default with "Autumn Carnival Waltz", a bit more structured and tight than what I created in the past couple rounds. To my surprise it scored the highest of the final round! I am quite amazed by that and will wear it as a badge of honor :D I'll leave here a song from another round that I found very interesting! : "Life Anew". 

Special mention for the finalists (Listen to the podcast to know who wins!) :

@Icantpronoucethis :

@CloakedSoup :

Congratulations to all musicians making it up to the podium, or simply passed the auditions! It's already an accomplishment! Remember that I was not making it through the auditions at first, so keep up no matter what, for the passion of it before anything else! 

This event brings a lot more than what may appear at first. 

It removed lots of the self doubts I had about sharing my compositions, it helped get a better sound quality, learn new mixing tricks (Thanks @Everratic for the tip about side EQ on the reverb! It's now something valuable in my toolset! And special mention for @50Steaks who helped guide me through correcting some mixing issues), meet other incredibly talented and skilled musicians, get enough feedbacks to get a good idea how my music is appreciated and how I can improve, discover new music, get in touch with awesome people who are like minded and share the same passions. 

At first I was getting into this contest to get a feel of how my music is perceived since I plan on releasing it more widely at some point in a not too distant future! 

Now I get out of this contest with more confidence to continue on this path than ever. 

I will now polish the pieces I composed for the NGADM and include improved versions into an EP or album later that will also include exclusive material. 

For those who want to follow along, well... I guess hit the follow button to stay updated! :) 

If you feel like supporting me feel free to do so, I would be extremely grateful! 

And one last thing, I now feel confident enough to propose to anyone who would need piano composition for their project, you can send me a DM or email (solacitude0@gmail.com) and we can figure out the details! Same if anyone have questions or comments, feel free to contact me!

Thank you to everyone responsible for the NGADM, our host @AED-4 and all the judges, it's been an awesome experience!