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!

Today, Sept 22nd 2024, is Madness day! In the recent weeks, some good news came along the way, it helped the mood, to get more inspired as well. First, I crafted a couple pieces for Madness Day! I tried to infuse them with a touch of madness :

I placed 6th in the NGUAC contest! It was very nice participating, thank you very much to @TaintedLogic for organizing it, and everyone involved! Also thanks to @Everratic and @50steaks they really helped me a lot to pin point where I had issues in my mix, so I can upload music that sounds better! I'm very grateful for your contribution, it sure has something to do with this placement!! And also a lot to do with getting back into the NGADM Now facing @LucidShadowDreamer which is awesome! The piece that caused all of this :

Now no matter the outcome, I'm very happy with getting to where I am now already! With everything that is gained outside of the participation itself ; Meeting very good people and musicians, getting feedback to improve on weaknesses, discovering skilled musicians, getting a feel of where we stand musically, if we craft something that resonates with others the same kind of way it does for us...

I was mentioned in The Tank Tribune Thank you very much for the mention, what a honor!

I tend to write sometimes too much, but will close it here, with what's coming next?

First I will compose something for the NGADM.

And I will continue to work towards distributing some pieces more widely.

(There is a LOT of things to take into consideration! More than I thought, but learning a lot, getting there!)

The reception of my music is truly beyond any of my expectations, it helps me a lot to gain the confidence required to put some of my music out there more widely! I'm only on Newgrounds for now, but it will change in the future.

I'll always publish stuff here no matter what though! Probably music that will be unique to Newgrounds.

For those who like my piano styles, and want to follow along, well... hit the follow button to get updated! :)

Thank you very much to everyone passing by! I hope you find something enjoyable, or relatable in my music.

Peace! ❤❤❤

Solacitude

2 months ago

I posted my first piano pieces, "Scale Of Time" and "Goodbyes", a short improvisational loop and piece just to test the waters, seeking for feedbacks. I love playing music, BUT would it be appreciated enough by others to be worth a try at distributing it more widely?

At first I was thinking about using these two pieces as entry into NGUAC and NGADM. I was not expecting much, but it was received quite well, better than anticipated despite low count of listeners. I'm very often doubtful of how others might receive my music no matter how I'm feeling about it while playing or how I appreciate the end result. I think it's very common for artists this feeling of inadequacy, thinking of a thousand ways the piece could be different, better.

"Art is never finished, only abandoned" makes a lot of sense! I have to keep in mind "Do it for yourself no matter what, without expectations, for the love of music, always to satisfy your own senses, not the other ones'" And if it happens that people connect through your music, then it is an authentic connection, without pretentions, because the creation was not meant to please, just to be real... Oh well ok enough of this armchair psychologist thingy! 

After some considerations, realizing that the previous pieces might not be long or consistent enough to be on par with the quality of other contestants' entries, I decided to record something longer, a bit more complex and lively for the contests with "Hopeful Innocence".

This is where I had to face reality that my sound quality was no there yet. I failed to enter the NGADM due to poor production score, caused by a low sound quality. It was too thin, lacking low frequencies, had not enough reverb. Shout out to @AED-4 for the constructive feedback! One step at a time, towards the best sound I can get out of my mixing process.

Now I added more of a room effect with amplified reverb, I reworked panning/stereo imaging, tuned EQ and compression on each 4 mics, added low frequencies for a fuller sound, I think the mix is better than it was in the past versions. If anyone notice anything, good or bad, feel free to comment or send me a DM! 

Positive news on the other side, first I was accepted into the NGUAC!

Being in the Underdog bracket surely helped a little bit facilitate the process. But I'm in!

I recently worked on a piece with 13/8 time signature, "Struggle" for the 13 8 contest and the NGUAC knockout round. Results pending! To my greatest surprise this piece was front paged! Thank you very much to whoever thought of giving it such spotlight, I'm very grateful!

It was received quite well but now with a lot more listeners, it truly helps dissipate doubts I have about sharing my music. I've always been playing just for me as a kind of therapy, to feel better, to find solace. Based on positive comments from relatives first, I thought I should give a try at publishing more widely. NewGrounds is a wonderful community of artists, that is currently helping me greatly to build the confidence I need for the next steps I envision : Distributing an EP or album including new and old material through Bandcamp/streaming platforms, seek for sync opportunities and continue to post stuff exclusive to NewGrounds, add YT/TikTok shorts at some point. 

Thank you NewGrounds, and @TomFulp who became my 9th fan! What an Honor! And everyone who passed by, first scouting me, commenting, giving feedback, voting on my pieces, or adding me as favorite.

It's all little bricks building up in me the will to push further and expand on my musical journey.

Peace

Solacitude

A little bit about me

For the past 20 years I've been playing piano and keyboard, on and off, sometimes months without it 😥

First 2 years I had piano lessons, 45 minutes/week during high school seasons, and was in the school's orchestra for 5 years.

Then I continued to learn theory by myself and not getting back into sight reading, only improvisation as a therapy for my mind.

I don't know how to describe it, it's a feeling I can't get otherwise, that channels what I feel to the tip of my fingers, and it acts as a kind of liberation of the mind, anxiety turns off, the world disappears, I'm alone in the Universe and find solace... To me this is what music is all about.

Maybe I'm not alone in my solacitude. If you relate, or like my music, then let's get "alone" together!

I don't play music for anything other than make me feel better.

I'm not an academic, I lack in many aspects, but I try to achieve musicality, with relatively simple melodies and harmonies.

Many people told me that I should share it because it made them feel good listening to it.

I thought it would be worth to share.

Cheers! 🥰