Score: 7

"Another great dance tune."

submission: Carbon Baby (part 2)

date: June 22, 2008

What I like most about this piece is the energy.

The drum loop is a great one and by holding it back for a few seconds at the start, you help it get jumping straight away.

0:57 is a cool little melody shift.

1:18 drops the tempo drastically and it's kinda hard to keep dancing here. but the payoff is when it picks up - by dropping a bunch of layers, we can find the underlying beat then go wilder than before when it resumes the previous levels of energy.

At the same time, I feel it would have maybe been helped by more of an 'announcement' of the beat being about to be dropped. And maybe one more layer being held onto during that chill?

At 1:41, when the music picks up again, the melody sounds like something I've heard. Something famous, maybe a theme tune...

Anyways, there's more variety in the melodies here than I would have guessed when listening to it in the background last week - only when I got up and danced or sat and listened just now did I appreciate all that's going on.

Suggestions are to vary the beats a bit and also make it longer. Maybe 3-4 minutes? Add more variations of course to keep it interesting throughout that time.

It doesn't loop well enough that we can keep dancing through the fadeout.

Score: 8

"Unique us of glitches. After 4:30, seems retread"

submission: - [This Was Meant To Be] -

date: June 22, 2008

Wonderful music.

Quite a solemn, poignant mood.

The starting sounds are really nicely distorted - I can't make out what you're saying, but it just works really well as starting atmospheric noise that gives way to the solo piano, which is soon joined again.

When the piano and beats come in at 1:30, it's almost beautiful for a moment and when the glitches kick in at 2:00, I can just imagine it saying, "grit your teeth! Now is the time! We've got shit to deal with, but get out and deal with it."

By the time the piano becomes audible again, it's obvious you're using the glitches as an instrument unto themselves - and to great effect.

Deep booming sounds make for good atmosphere.

One criticism I could make is that though the glitches are switched up and sorta meander, the track feels like it needs more variation after the 4:30 mark. Maybe just dropping in a few higher notes with more traditional instruments - like maybe a tinkerbell or a bit of flute - would help make it shine.

The ending (last 10s) is fantastic.

A great tune and one I doubt I'll ever delete, but not quite at the level of the inspiration (though it's nicely different).

I can't wait to hear more from you in this style.

Score: 7

"A brilliant first minute-and-a-half."

submission: Project Part 3 - Omega

date: June 22, 2008

Quite a different style to the other 2.

The more 'realistic' instruments make this sound like a battle-song - something cinematic rather than something you'd hear in a club.

The switches in mood and melody at the 27s, 1minute and 1:15 mark work brilliantly - naturally progressing and keeping it interesting without feeling forced.

The switch at 2:08 into the tune you used at the start of part1 doesn't really fit though - again, I don't like these abrupt switches of yours and the electronic vibe didn't really fit in with the classical melody you had going until then.

Also, from 1:15 to 2:08, I felt like you could have had a tiny bit more progression. Maybe the melody could have meandered, winding down instead of repeating. Maybe some more tinkerbells mirroring the beats that come in at the end...

As I said, I'm not a fan of the last 30s, but the slowing-down effect is cool.

Seems to me though that it might have been stronger had you kept this as a separate piece and had a more fitting ending. It feels forced to fit the others.

Score: 8

"Dance-tastic. Interesting rhythms. Fun."

submission: Project Part 2 - Lambda

date: June 22, 2008

Not as high a tempo or as much energy in here compared to the previous one. Still persuaded me to get up and dance while the song played once through though!

There's a large variety of melodies and moods here, though at points they don't flow so much as switching, sometimes abruptly.

The fast notes from 44s-1:03 sound pretty cool and though the switch

The switch at 1:40 sound slightly disrupting - seems to me you could have done a better switch and not lost the momentum you do by having that pause/cymbal switch.

After 1:40, the music becomes a lot happier, shifting into a major key and that progression works well. You keep enough themes going on that it does sound connected.

You obviously have a big thing with stopping/starting with a cymbal/reverse-cymbal-type noise. Listening to parts 1-3 after one another (having downloaded and lined them up) I think you may have overused the technique.

There's a lot of cool sounds and this is honestly a brilliant tune for dancing to when it's moving along - really interesting rhythms and som uplifting moments at the end - but I'd recommend you try and have your next tune flow more, maybe changing the layers a few at a time rather than trying to do it all at once and ending with an abrupt switch and a moment of silence like you so often have here.

Score: 8

"Dance/move-tastic electronic sounds."

submission: Project Part 1 - Alpha

date: June 22, 2008

This totally switches at 30s! The first 30s doesn't really seem related much...

The opening bass melody sounded like something I'd heard before so I'm glad you got rid of it.

The computer sound at 55s as you bring in more melody sounds cool and it would have been cool if you'd made more usage of that theme of wierd square-wave-type-things. I like how it actually foreshadows the melody that comes in at the end. Still, more sounds of computers freaking out (maybe as a quiet sound in the bg) would have perhaps been cool.

My favourite aspect of this is simply the energetic mood here. I could totally dance to this - in fact I did get up and dance for 3 minutes - and though some parts are pretty challenging to keep up with, this is the kind of thing I'd love to hear played in a club.

Score: 5

"Gets annoying quickly..."

submission: Old School Battle

date: June 22, 2008

The timing sounds a bit odd. I mean, it sounds like you start with 2 bars of the low-pitch tune, then 2 bars of the high-pitch tune, THREE bars of the low-pitch, 2 bars high-pitch. The sorta 'macro-free time' sounded a bit odd at first, but I guess it does sorta keep it interesting and stop our head wrapping around it as quickly as it would were everything in the normal multiples of 2.

A definite 'retro RPG' feel here, the high and low-pitched sections are too different to avoid being grating on the ears - thanks to the change and the general tonal qualities, it's not something I'm sure I'd want to use for anything.

At the same time, it's astonishing how much of a mood can be evoked so quickly and your piece does loop perfectly.

Score: 9

"Beautiful song, summing up ice."

submission: ==(Ice Desert called Earth)==

date: June 22, 2008

The high pitched triangle-ish notes really work well to illustrate the icy wintery feeling, as does the the general high pitch of the melody.

The opening sounds remind of wind. The sound as a whole reminds me of DKC's ice-level music. When the beats started, it reminded me of the rider starting in Skaijo's 'A Taste of Snow'. The whole thing brings to mind the icy feel you wanted, but I don't sense the desolation you mention in your comments - rather I imagine beasts flying into the sky, flowers growing, maybe spring has sprung and water is starting to flow.

Maybe it's a desolate place that magic has frozen for hundreds of years? An adventurer finally destroys the dark magic responsible and rushes in. The ground shakes. Sheets of ice fall from the walls. The villagers, market-goers, and courting couples wake, not realising the passage of time...

Nah.

My only criticism is that it doesn't loop. Something this good deserves to be listened to for longer, without obvious starts/ends cutting into the experience. And usable in thematically linked games.

Do you plan to ever try (or have you tried) your hand at loops or shorter songs?

Score: 9

"Perfect Galaga recreation. 7s perfect loop."

submission: Galaga Main Theme

date: June 22, 2008

Brings back memories!

This is like a perfect recreation of the classic tune! The tonal quality of the instruments, the timing... everything seems perfect! I'm not sure if the original had the background 'twinkles', but they work well. The background stuff really adds to it.

Only criticism - maybe have a TINY bit more resonance to the main melody?

Score: 6

"Varying electro-tempo could work for music-stomp"

submission: .:Lost In Her Eyes:.

date: June 22, 2008

Simple but effective melody. My main beef is that you just don't play with it enough - you could have really introduced more layers, forced it into the bg whilst something new takes stage for a moment, generally played with it to make it more engaging.

At 0:55, it sounds like it wants more than just a couple of notes in the melody switching - maybe a beat switch too?

The cool bit around 1:30-1:46 could do more to keep the tempo going. Maybe quiet but rapid beats, rising in volume, then doubling in BPM before everything kicks in again. Its a cliche'd technique, but it does work.

2:22 similarly sounds like too much of a 'stop' and doesn't really feel natural - more like you've fallen over whilst running than you stopping for a moment to look at something before carrying on. Hope you know what I mean.

I liked the various filters/instruments you used for the main melody - the one at 0:55ish sounded cool.

Similarly, the qualities of the piano, snare/cymbal, drums and electronic tones all work well together.

I just hoped for a tad more variation mainly and/or a better 'maintenance of energy'.

Score: 4

"Not a loop but not enough meat for a short song."

submission: Example I - Dream

date: June 22, 2008

The first 22s of this sounds repetitive, after which you bring the melody loop into the bass and it works well as a background bit.

I like the melody you've got going from 22-42s. From 42s onwards is just an ending.

It's an interesting sound - as Coop says, 8-bit goes medieval (though it sounds slightly more authentic than some old chip sounds, maybe).

However, I feel that given its short overall length, the amount of the piece that's taken up by the intro and the ending leaves little room for any meat. It sorta begins, carries on for a phrase, then ends without creating much of a mood.

The tune sounds like you could have looped it, so that may have been an idea. Even though you call it a loop, it definitely sounds to me like it ends then starts again - a loop shouldn't have an obvious start/end.