AIM 2024 Judge Review

I was listening to the little WIPs you were posting in the NG Audio Pub Discord and was looking forward to listening to the final entry. Going for a jazzy piece with rain ambience is quite evocative of the art inspiration. That 5/4 pattern feels almost waltz-like and it does a great job at evoking the feeling of taking a walk down some quiet streets at night.

The mixing on most of the instruments seem fine to me for the most part. I particularly like the way the ambience sits as a pleasant background layer - noticeable but feeling like it works within the context of the piece. The one thing that bothered me was that the flugalhorn solo was quite loud compared to the rest of the instruments doing solos. It really took me by surprise the first time listening to it. Composition-wise, I love the atmosphere and chords especially from the piano, and I wish there were some more moments where the piano gets to shine or present some quieter moments, perhaps even some improv, during the middle portion of the piece. This entry is short (and I understand it was quite close to the deadline) and I think there are more opportunities here for some additional sections, particularly with the piano.

What really stood out to me in this entry was the use of an actual soloist for the flugalhorn. Was that solo mostly improv, and how many takes did the soloist do? (just curious) The horn itself sounds amazing, just too loud in the mix as mentioned before, and I really love the final section where it plays alongside the xylophone and guitar. There was something about it that felt a little more distinct over using a sax solo for a jazzy piece - I love sax solos too but I really love what was done here in terms of the instrument choice. Overall, this was a comforting and pleasant listen that does a great job at conveying the atmosphere of nighttime, in the rain while walking down a sidewalk.

I love the horns that play in this but it all has a nice and qwerky sound some great jazz sound here great stuff

~X~

Thank you for using my artwork, it turned out absolutely amazing!

Very solid work! I like the mixing quite a bit, the kick under the bassline is solid for the lows (only complaint is the bassline itself could be slightly SLIGHTLY more prominent imo but this is personal preference) and the keys have just the right amount of upper-midrange to lay a solid background foundation at all times.

But I also dig the composition and arrangement! Very jazz, very chill.

Never heard such a punchy and dubstep-py jazz drum set before, but I quite like it. Well composed song, really good mixing, the random crescendo in the middle is a nice switch up, the solos are solid af, and it reminds me a lot of "Take Five" for... well the reason is obvious lol

I will say though that the key changes sound pretty random at times without a clear lead from the melody, but that's the only thing really. Well done