0:00-Nice start, very ominous and sets up the theme well
0:17-Awesome wobbles, allowing you to vary the theme without actually taking away from its melody, so it's still recognisable, but recognisably different at the same time. Think the drums could have been a little louder, but that's not much of a deal
0:48-I'm in two minds about this section. On its own, it's pretty cool and has a dark almost industrial feel to it. But in the context of what precedes and follows, it doesn't have quite as much cohesion as it could; the transition in was quite abrupt and the transition out just confused me further...
1:12-Same again...but even more so. For about 8 seconds you totally lose me, it doesn't bear even half the relation to the rest of the track as it could have done, there has got to be an easier way to get back into the main theme, you know? xD I don't know, this part just felt like the weakest section of the track.
1:38-Nice return of the melody with that additional countermelody coming in. Wouldn't have minded seeing a little more of that.
In general, you've got some good ideas laid out, but structurally this could use some work, especially at that bridge area. Has definite potential though, so keep it up.
0:00-Drums provided a cool introduction; the cymbal sound felt a little repetitive after a while, but not overtly so
0:08-Awesome first riff, loved the little scratch at around 0:18 and the change in drums at 0:14, sets up the song nicely
0:28-Seemed a little weaker than the preceding section, the first time I heard this section the bass and rhythm guitar didn't seem all that coherent. Cool drums, though.
0:55-Loved how the guitars both had part of a melody to play on top of one another, the texture here works well.
1:23-Nice break; unexpected, but awesome. Cool change in melody, awesome drum work again.
1:37-Really love how the structure keeps changing, but you keep managing to have this cohesion between everything. No transition is overtly abrupt, and you never get this real sense of verse-chorus-verse-chorus. Even if it is there, the structure feels unique
2:04-Nice change again; drum work's really kinda excellent in this, a definite high point of the track how you keep changing the beat up a little.
2:17-Cool solo sections; was in two minds bout sparsity of drums given how frentic they were, but it does work.
2:34-Cool reverb on the guitar, though it muddies the fast notes a little
The ending itself I think could have been better? I could almost see what you were going for, but it just didn't quite work given the song that preceded it. Good work in all, though.
0:00-Intro works well, really love how bassy the drum is here, the boominess of it kinda carries the first few seconds of the track by itself.
0:11-Cool synth, but drums seem to get turned down in volume a little unnecessarily.
0:28-The addition of the second synth here was really subtle; this is the first kinda vague indication that this'll turn into a more recogniseable techno song, as as sixflab said, the start is somewhat ambient.
0:50-The automations on this synth were cool, but I think the mixing here needed a second look as it felt at around 0:58-1:06 that the lead synth was waaay more prominent than anything else, and that kind of made it feel isolated, whereas you kind of want it to meld with the rest of the texture a little more.
1:08-The break, while effective, is a somewhat abrupt transition into the more techno-sounding beat.
1:38-Nice countermelody, cool automations again; when you do have these automations on the synths, they do work really well, so kudos for that.
1:49-Cool change, but again I think the lead synth is too in the foreground, to the point where you can't quite hear everything else. Like how frantic the drums are in the background are, though.
2:14-Again, cool second melody, but it's again very isolated, though this remedies a little at 2:35 with it being fleshed out a little more with more pad-like synths.
In general, you've got a good track, but the mixing needs a second look, definitely. Could also perhaps use some more variety; not melodically, but structurally. You've got one transition from ambient to techno, but not much besides, so consider putting a few more in.
Invariably this review will look incredibly tiny next to the epic constructive-crit might of Steph's...but a review's a review, so I hope this is helpful anyway. ;D
0:00-Really nice introduction. All the automations on the synths give this sense of evolution that's kind of alluded to in the title, and so the introduction is perhaps one of the highlights of the track for the sheer production value of it.
0:24-Guitar's cool when it comes in; feels a little weaker on the shorter notes, but still carries the lead melody well and settles this mellow feel to the track. The automated synths kind of take a backseat which is a bit of a shame, but the lead is nice enough for it not to be a problem.
0:58-Transition was nice and smooth, though theretofor this you've had pretty much the same drum beat, so could have used a change up to beef up the variety all that much more; drum beats are a pretty core thing, and changing naught but it can completely change the feel of a phrase, so I think you would have benefitted from changing it here, or perhaps later on.
Melodies are cool, but there's not one main theme, so to speak, that sticks out to you. Which is fine, but the track could be showcased a lot more if it had that hook. What you had worked and worked well, but could have been more phrase-oriented.
1:57-REALLY subtle transition to bring the lead guitar back into some precedence, really nice way to end the track.
If I was to say this was lacking anything, I'd say sectional variations. You have some lovely transitions, but they're relatively incremental. If you had a break into a newer, different-sounding section it would make the track pop out a lot more, giving it more colour. However as it stands, it's a pretty solid track with some nice sounds. THe kind of thing you could probably listen to for a good long while without complaint.
Hey thanks for the review. Here is what I have to say. My song structure is a lot different then most persons. I don't shift my beats around a whole lot because I find that it interrupts the flow of my entire song, you gotta let it flow dude.Sectional variations do not exist, its not like there is a guide out there that says all music must have sectional variety! Variety is nice but I find that it only works on longer songs.
0:00-Nice sounding guitar-riff. Was a little confused when bass came in, but it all fit together in a kinda quirky way. Set the song up as unique.
0:24-Wasn't expecting vocals, but it was a nice surprise (Might be an idea to post the lyrics in the AC, just so people can look through them if they have trouble understanding you).
The way the instruments worked around the vocals was really interesting; the drums kind of took the role a guitar normally would in supporting the vocals; given the vague pitchlessness of the vox, this works really well, especially with the kind of sporadic injections of bass, and later keyboard; they were quite abrupt and unexpected, but fit in with the texture well for it.
The chorus where you go into the more clean vocals was nice and generally in tune; some of the lines felt a little squashed and thus slightly out of time (such as "some sort of correction") but generally was well done.
1:26-Nice keyboard solo; wouldn't have minded it being longer to beef up the variety
1:45-Guitar and vocals clash slightly melodically; sometimes the vocals match the guitar note-for-note, and when it doesn't it gets a little muddy, at least to me and my speakers.
2:07-The slightlyclashy keyboard worked nicely, especially with the light harmonic change; again, wouldn't have minded seeing more of that for variation's sake.
The drums were perhaps the highlight in this, they were definitely thought out well. The lyrics you did have were quite interesting sounding and the delivery was cool in the way you spaced the lines out. Maybe think about varying the track a little more with longer solos or more harmony changes, but in general it's a pretty solid track. Keep it up.
Thanks for the review, it was very well constructed and organized. There are a lot of small things I could change to improve this track, but at the same time it's been so well received... I almost don't know what I can come up with to top this.
0:11-Liked the string intro, sets up a nice atmosphere, but the synth that comes in here feels very weird. Could definitely use some delay on it to add atmosphere...or just a different synth...itlacks depth, which is definitely something you don't want from a lead synth.
0:25-Nice subtle introduction of the drums, love how they fade in. It's a very simple but highly effective way to give a lot of build. However...
0:35-COuld have been a WAY bigger climax than it was. You had a nice dark melody, well-chosen synth, frentic drum beat...but nothing to support that. Drums aren't enough to support that synth, you needed the strings or some ambience or pad synths just to flesh the texture out and give the synth something to sink into. As it stands it stands as a lost opportunity to have a really HUGE section here.
1:01-Abrupt transition, but what it's playing sounds alright enough. Lead could use some more delay, again...it's a quickanddirty way to add to the depth and atmosphere of the track, so it's always worth considering if the lead doesn't have much of a natural sustain.
1:26-Abrupt transition, again. The fact this is just a repetition also doesn't help, could have definitely changed it up a little, either melodically or with some new synths, etc...variety is the spice of life, as they say.
1:48-Drum solo was a nice idea, you had a nice set of ideas here, and the way you partially incorporated the synth worked well.
2:13-Abrupt trans, but almost works after the drum solo.
You've got a lot of good material here, but I think the transitions could do with being a lot smoother. If nothing else, look at that 0:35 section and think about adding more to it, because it has the easy potential to be a really epic section if you put more in it.
THANKS!!! i really aprecciate the indepth review, sadly i wont improve on any of this because its the final :3, i really agree with evrything u said, this was sorta rushed cause theres alot of traffic on friday nights and i really dont got that many good vsts
STEPHAN! I'm expecting very good things from this track, given the epicness that tends to be your little creations. ;D
0:04-Nice piano; quite fast paced and giving that upbeat feel from the get go. The cymbal cresc. intro I'm a little in two minds about; it has a cohesion with the one at 0:23, but felt a little odd as a way to start the track, in my head.
0:16-Cool change in harmony; was worried the entire theme would just be six seconds long and repeated over and over, so it's nice to see you still have a good grasp on melody.
0:25-Nice drum beat with the light strings in the background...however, the drums themselves felt a little flat, for me. You had a nice bit of cymbal work throughout, but the bass kick felt a little dull and the toms in general were quite lacking when they were around. Of course, toms are a sure fire way to make a track feel heavier, so maybe you made the right decision in keeping it cymbal-heavy. But definitely the insertion of toms in a few places would have helped beef up the variations a lot more.
0:45-Feels like you definitely could have done more with the transition, it ends quite sharply...but what it goes into is cool, so by 3 seconds after it you're forgiven. ;D
0:58-Nice entry of the strings, could have done with being a touch louder, but what it's playing is nice. piano and strings have that inherent quality of working together well.
1:16-When lower strings come in as well...those lower strings by 1:25 start muddying everything else up a bit; definitely look at those levels, because it is a little...weird? At least when I was listening to it I found these thick lower chords taking grander precedence over everything else, though that could just be me and my crappy hearing.
1:37-Nice repeat of theme, love the superhigh chords you have every so often just giving that extra feel of aspiration to the track. It also loops back to the start quite well, so more plus points for that.
What can I say. You certainly know what you're doing with this whole writing thing ;D Shame you're in a bit of a rut with just managing to churn WIPs out as opposed to fuller songs, but as WIPs go I certainly wouldn't mind NG being populated with a few more of this caliber. Keep it up, as always.
Haha I was doing the RRC update, and when I came to check this Audio request, it was only 2 minutes after you posted this review. If I came more than 2 minutes earlier it would have been less points for you xP.
"STEPHAN! I'm expecting very good things from this track, given the epicness that tends to be your little creations. ;D"
Thank you :D.
"0:04-Nice piano; quite fast paced and giving that upbeat feel from the get go. The cymbal cresc. intro I'm a little in two minds about; it has a cohesion with the one at 0:23, but felt a little odd as a way to start the track, in my head."
I tend to start a lot of my songs with a cymbal crescendo. It seems better than starting it immediately, but to each his own I suppose. Maybe I could make the cymbal crescendo a little shorter?
"0:16-Cool change in harmony; was worried the entire theme would just be six seconds long and repeated over and over, so it's nice to see you still have a good grasp on melody."
Great, thanks :).
"0:25-Nice drum beat with the light strings in the background...however, the drums themselves felt a little flat, for me."
Flat is exactly the word for them :(.
"You had a nice bit of cymbal work throughout, but the bass kick felt a little dull and the toms in general were quite lacking when they were around. Of course, toms are a sure fire way to make a track feel heavier, so maybe you made the right decision in keeping it cymbal-heavy. But definitely the insertion of toms in a few places would have helped beef up the variations a lot more."
I'm thinking of changing all drum samples except some of the cymbals and maybe the snare, and obviously making the drums less repetitive. I tend to naturally add drums to every song I do, and in this one I was unsure of what would fit, but I was adamant about adding drums, so I just HAD to add something :P. Still, I shouldn't keep to the mentality of every song needing drums.
"0:45-Feels like you definitely could have done more with the transition, it ends quite sharply"
Haha thanks for being the first person to actually agree with me about that transition. I'll probably try and make a more melodic and less abrupt transition.
"...but what it goes into is cool, so by 3 seconds after it you're forgiven. ;D"
Yay xD.
"0:58-Nice entry of the strings, could have done with being a touch louder, but what it's playing is nice. piano and strings have that inherent quality of working together well."
Louder, got it.
"1:16-When lower strings come in as well...those lower strings by 1:25 start muddying everything else up a bit; definitely look at those levels, because it is a little...weird? At least when I was listening to it I found these thick lower chords taking grander precedence over everything else, though that could just be me and my crappy hearing."
You, crappy hearing? I'm deaf from one ear. If there's anyone with crappy hearing it's me :P. I agree with you about it muddying up the mix although for some reason I like those heavy string chords :3.
"1:37-Nice repeat of theme, love the superhigh chords you have every so often just giving that extra feel of aspiration to the track. It also loops back to the start quite well, so more plus points for that."
Looping was unintentional, although that's cool I guess :P.
"What can I say. You certainly know what you're doing with this whole writing thing ;D Shame you're in a bit of a rut with just managing to churn WIPs out as opposed to fuller songs, but as WIPs go I certainly wouldn't mind NG being populated with a few more of this caliber. Keep it up, as always."
Well, as I said to sixflab, it's basically because I don't have time to finish songs, not because I can't figure out what to do with them, although I'll try and submit full songs more :P. Anyway, I'm really glad you think of me as a somewhat good musician, and thanks a LOT for the awesome review. Your reviews are definitely among the ones I look forward to the most when requesting to the RRC. THANKS AGAIN! :D
Man you got 0-bombed hard, which is a shame, 'cause it's quite a nice laid-back song. This track definitely is so underserving of the low score, so expect some 5-bombing on my part.
Straight away you set up the mood of the piece with the pitch-bends in the melody. Feels like the kind of thing you'd hear in a jam session; just that unassuming coolness that you can get from something simple but effective. The change in pace at 0;16 was nice; the palm muting's really clear and defined, but still light enough to fit with the mood of the track.
For something that's loosely improvised, you certainly do have a pretty decent structure to the track; there's the chorus theme that keeps coming back, there's a clear progression between the phrases, nice variation in the harmony...I'd say easily, the different harmonic changes throughout the different phrases is a highlight of the piece, because you have these fractionally darker and lighter sections, while still generally keeping that mellow mood.
That being said, I think by the end I was finding it to drag a little, wouldn't have minded it straying perhaps into another more varied section...but in general, I'd say you should 'fuck about' with your acoustic more, because you've made some pretty nice sounds here. Keep it up.
It's always an idea to have the lyrics in the author comments, because some of your wording here is a little hard to decipher and so it might be tricky for some people to work out what you're saying. But anyway, onto the song:
0:04-Like how the song starts almost introductionlessly. The drums and bass work well together, however both come in quite abruptly, which is a little odd. Having some kind of bass drop into the beat or drum fill would have helped a lot.
The recording quality of the voice is noticeably subpar, however. You can hear a lot of the breathing and plosions of your voice, which are quite distracting and don't help the grand quest to work out what you're saying. The tone of your voice as well needs a bit more of a kick to it, because you sound kind of...bored, in places? Though that might have been due to the aforementioned recording problems.
0:43-Nice change to the chorus with the lead guitar, and slight change in the bass line. The bass line, while good, is a little simplistic, and as theretofor it's the only melodic instrument save the vocals, you could have embarked on a more ambitious bass line.
1:02-Here onwards sounded really cool, guitar-wise. Definite highlight of the track. You had a lot of them going on and a lot that came in and out which made a really nice instrumental section for about 40 seconds. To the point that when the vocals come back in I think that that mix works a lot better than what preceded it.
The guitars work brilliantly. If nothing else, think about rerecording the vocals, because the instrument work especially past that minute mark works just fine. Keep it up.
0:00 Nice start; quite warm and aspirational. Most of the instruments felt quite in the foreground and started quite strongly; you could have maybe thoughout about having had them at more of a distance to get a grander sense of depth to them.
0:17-The violin was a touch too strong, but the chords underneath worked very well; quite celestial-sounding. One thing I did notice was that everything kind of moves together; one of the first pieces of advice I was ever given about writing for strings is that you shouldn't write "football charts"; insofar as you should avoid just solidly using long sustained notes. Adding a few countermelodies to the violin part can be very effective, as at least by personal tastes I find the viola/cello much more beautiful-sounding a lead instrument than the violin. And that's coming from a violinist :P
0:46-One of the suspensions felt a little odd, like some of the notes didn't quite mix together.
0:53-Here to about 0:57 felt like the start of a kind of main theme? I think were this piece longer you could have had more of a central melodic theme to it and developed it more, but as it is the length and speed it is I thought its placement here was quite effective and led into the new section nicely.
1:25-Am guessing this is the start of the corruption section? Definitely has some despair and sadness in it, but I was almost expecting it to be more harsh and dramatic; it definitely lost its light a little bit, but you could have delved a lot darker, given that man's corruption is a pretty...harrowing thing, on human scale.
2:01-Tierce de picardie here felt way too abrupt, I think it would have worked better if you led into it a little more, because here it felt like my computer skipped a few seconds or something.
It's got some nice emotion and atmosphere to it, but I think it could use a little more mastering just to work out the depth, and maybe some more variations to dynamic just to emphasise the emotions you're evoking here. Nice work overall, though.
Not much to say...I like writing music, hoping to improve a lot on that front. I like reviewing things, as I'm far too opinionated not to. I'm amazingly awkward as a person. But all in all, I mean well. (:
Metroid Dubstep