Sanctuary Anyway, 1:00 leads naturally into 1:05, and then the resolution was maybe a bit too subtle? Like, the G# is a bit loud and the G at 1:06 is very silent. Nothing crucial though. The snare drum at 1:06 has the same issue as the belltree by the way.
Then a calmer part with very nice djembes and tiny little flute embellishments here and there. Not really too much to say about this particular part except that it's sweet, and it leads very naturally into the "verse" part at 1:28 (still loving the slowdown at 1:24 - makes everything so much more epic than if you just kept a mechanical tempo). The melody in that verse is pretty powerful and clear, and extremely memorable from 1:30 to 1:37. Then at 1:38 there's some variation that makes me forget what the theme originally was. Eh. Oh and did I point out that the staccato strings sound incredible? Complements the melody perfectly. As do the harder percussion parts.
Yet another slow part after that - the transition is amazing in its smoothness - as for the new crescendo at 1:59, you can look at the second paragraph again - but now I'm impressed by how you manage to pull of the same kind of thing in a rather different way. And that you even got the idea - who would think of putting a tiny crescendo there? I know I would just have continued going on with the calm part until it's time for a busier part again. And then I notice that the harp is back and everything is wonderful and the part from 2:04-2:10 (especially 2:10) makes the harmony-lover in me puke rainbows.
New relatively suspenseful part until 2:27 - refer to second paragraph. The full stop at 2:27 is especially nice- very playful. Then a slow build up begins. At 2:44 the shakers really give it some nice drive (and I like how they kinda stop at 2:57 to indicate that there's a change in intensity). There is a lot I appreciate about this part but I feel a lot of what I would say has already been said in previous paragraphs. Well, maybe I should point out the distant staccato strings because those are very nice here.
Okay, 3:00. I can't really remember what it's called but the thing you're doing for 15 seconds there, that thing sounds so god damn professional man. Like, you are teasing me with your masterfulness. Not only are the strings and harp working together nicely but there's some percussion that indicates each point where the intensity drops. Then you introduce the whole orchestra for a brief moment at 3:15 and as I've said a few times, that is awesome. I think it's my second favorite thing about this track, after the fact that there's so many subtle details both in the sound and in the playing style. And the violin with a bit of tremolo on it, just like the mandolin in the earlier part, is another impressive detail.
Then at about 3:20 it's mostly outro stuff- the tune goes full circle by reverting to the atmosphere it had in the intro, and the piano repeats what the harp was doing in the and ends it all with an awesome resolution at 3:50. Love the distant little sound effects at that moment too. And the piano sound is great! Rounded and soft, just like I like it. And again at 3:40 you are teasing me with your masterfulness.. I was expecting the final resolution to be there.
There is exactly one kind of major thing about this that I could complain about - with the long slow buildup from the middle of the track I was expecting another "verse" like the one from 1:07 to 1:25 approximately but that never happened, which was kinda disappointing. Well, not THAT disappointing. Cause you keep impressing me with new exciting parts, it's just that they're calmer than I expected.
Karco -- Aurora -- 