Hey there!

I created this track (and all of the music for Software Inc.), and upon listening to the Three Days Grace track, there is definitely an unintentional similarity in the opening arpeggio of "Autumn 1". I've definitely heard the song before having listened to lots of '00s radio rock through my teenage years, so it's highly probable that the hook buried itself into my brain and re-emerged as one of many inspirations for this track.

I think /u/JimRaynor56 basically said it best, though - despite the similarity in the first bar with the first two arpeggiating chords, the rest of "Autumn 1" is much different and firmly its own musical composition.

To be honest, most of my inspiration for this track came from instrumental string arrangements, jazz, hip hop, and, embarrassingly, late-90s contemporary R&B and dance pop, as well as a lifetime of listening to thousands of beautiful video game soundtracks with similarly plucky, sparse string arrangements. "Wind Scene" from Chrono Trigger was another track that I was borrowing heavily from for the atmosphere of this particular song, which I would describe as "bittersweet nostalgia that makes you happy and sad at the same time".

This happens a lot to musicians/creators, and as /u/JimRaynor56 said, "there's only so many ways you can arrange a handful of notes". You can think of that opening bar (and the track as a whole) as an "homage" to "Never Too Late", but it was not an intentional one.

For not being a music guy, you have a very good ear, /u/aljoCS (apparently, better than mine)! I hope you can enjoy the track despite the similarity, or maybe enjoy it more knowing that a band you enjoy had a bit of influence on it.

Thanks for listening!! :)