Score: 9

"Hmm, this must be your MAC entry, huh?"

submission: _-={An Endless Desert}=-_

date: November 15, 2007

Considering how you've submitted it under Ambient... :P I can't say I agree with your genre choice, though - it sounds like any other classical piece, with a lot of extra reverb. It's definitely closer to ambience than a lot of your other songs, though...

I really like your melodywork, as well as the instruments used, at the section that begins at around 0:52! :D Quite uplifting, in a sense, though I can also hear desperation, and a bit of stubbornness - as if the guy walking through the desert somehow KNOWS sooner or later he's going to get somewhere, and he's not going to stop until he does. Interesting. :)

The panflute at the very end was a bit dramatic, but that's probably just my taste in music speaking. I'm also hearing a loop, and though it's a bit cut-off sounding, it actually sounds pretty good! :D Were you being absent-minded or something again when you submitted this as a song? :P

The image of the desert is great - it's not quite perfect, but it's a small difference anyway! To make it stronger I would probably have made a bit more use of the low ranges of the piano, like you did in the beginning of the song, while EQing it so it doesn't make the song sound muddy that way. Did you experiment with those reverbed-sounding strings in the background, too? Maybe removing them would add to the empty, wasteland feeling - but maybe it would make the song sound TOO empty. I have no idea. :P

As for your story... well, I don't have time right now (I'm at school right now... shhh :P) but when I do I'll get back to you in a PM. ;) Great work with this, I'm looking forward to hearing more! :)

Score: 10

"Definitely an improvement, right from the start!"

submission: A World's Rigors

date: November 10, 2007

Either you've found new resources that are a lot better, or you've found new techniques to use those resources you've already got, because this definitely sounds a lot more like high-quality soundtrack music than what I was expecting. No offense. :P
For the most part, the composition is very good, though in places it wanders too much with that bell-like instrument. (I don't like that instrument very much, either... a bit strong for my tastes.) The highlight is more the harmonies than anything else compositionwise - they're amazing, and some parts I'd just love to have repeating over and over and over, but I'm too lazy to scroll up to the NG player to do it. :P

I'd have to say that the percussion in this song is a bit weak, or at least in my opinion it is... mostly it's either drowned out by instruments playing the same rhythms as it is, (is there some mid-to-low-range drum in there?) or by instruments overpowering it (the hihat-like instrument, for example). In every other case, though, it's good.

Not much else to say, I think I've covered everything already. :P Great that you're finding the time and motivation to make more full songs worth submitting like this, keep it up! 5/5, a download, and a 10/10, just because I'm so impressed by this. ;D

Score: 9

"Ah, it's this one! :D"

submission: Purple Heart

date: November 2, 2007

Why'd you name it Purple Heart, though? "Stand, Fight" was just fine. :\ Oh well.

The atmosphere in this song is great! Everything contributes to the same awesome atmosphere that is hardly ever pulled off as well as this. :D

The composition is a bit shaky in a few cases but is overall very nice. Same goes for your sample choices. I'd have saved that sample for the later end of the song, though...

The clarity is amazing! The only complaint I have is that slayer guitar of yours waaaaaay in the background where nobody can hear it. You could have made it a bit louder, couldn't you? Or at least you could have EQed it so the frequencies of the guitar you wanted to hear would stand out just a little bit more... I can hardly hear it and I don't think that sort of guitar is supposed to play that quiet of a part. :\

Overall, also a very nice song, too! 5/5 on this song - and I forgot to vote 5/5 on the last one, so I'm going to right after I finish this review. :P Keep up the great work.

Score: 9

"YOU!"

submission: The Human Genome

date: November 2, 2007

YOU SUBMITTED THIS SONG! BUT YOU DIDN'T TELL ME! EVEN THOUGH I LIKED IT!

>:(

But I'll review it anyway, just because I submitted a song earlier this week that needs reviewing too. *teh hint hint* If I feel like it I'll listen to and possibly review the other song.

So I suppose this is one of your favorite genres? Because you've definitely been putting a lot of effort into it. :D The synths are great - especially that erratic, trebley one. ;D The arped one is also pretty neat, and I have no complaints about your composition. It's all a really great song. :D

Your drums are probably the only problem - the samples you've chosen are very crackly... you might want to EQ the very highest frequencies out of them to minimize that crackly effect. They're the only thing that's keeping you from getting a perfect 10/10. :'(

Otherwise, though, this is a pretty awesome song! :D You'd better submit the finished version seperately, so I can review it too. >:) Keep it up, this is definitely one of your best.

Score: 9

"Oh, this is that one you put on sbb.xbrav.com..."

submission: ==(Horizon)==

date: November 2, 2007

I was wondering where that one was going, I liked it. :P

That sliding-down synth at 0:16ish sounds SO typical of you, SBB... XD

Oh! What's that?! A trance-ish bassline? :O Ha! XD It actually works quite well, and it inspired a pwnsome epic trance bassline for me as well. I'll be listening to this song as I get it down on FL Studio... >:) Oh, look, it's gating now! It works too, but I liked it more before. :(

Your drums were brought in nicely, and are fitting. I think a few trance kicks would actually have fit better. Maybe not a loud and bassy ones like I use... I've heard and experimented with other types, and some of them would definitely fit into this song. No complaints about hihats and snares.

Hmm, your toms in that transition are a bit loud. Try to make them a bit quieter, or at least EQ the toms so the frequencies you want to be hearing are louder, and the ones you don't are quieter, so that way it's easier on the ears.

Nice use of piano, and of chimes. Not much to add about them, though.

Overall, an awesome song! :D 5/5, and a download once I get home. :P Care to stop by my page sometime and review my latest? Thanks a lot and keep up the great work. :)

Score: 9

"I like this! :D"

submission: [GF]SmalltownBoy[GF]

date: November 2, 2007

It's very high-quality music, you definitely know what you're doing! Let's see whether or not I've got any criticism for it...

None up to about a minute and a half into the song, great job! :D But at that point, I hear a guitar... is it just me or have I heard a guitar like that before? Just a random thought, I might be wrong. But, guitar choice aside, it's definitely well-used.

I'd have to say that the buildups are definitely a bit lacking, like navij11 did, so that probably means you really need to work on them now, huh? ;D You could also have made them a bit more rewarding - more powerful climaxes and the like, as I wasn't really feeling it for them. ;)

I also hear very recognizable VEC sounds, and while that's not very often a problem with the casual trance listener, it probably will be with your fellow trance makers. ;) Try to disguise them a bit, you probably know how and were just being lazy... :P

You know, the "weird dist synth" as referred to in the other review, I actually find to be an awesome creative touch. I always like to hear things like that in trance songs, so great job there. :D

Not quite one of your best - you can do better - but it's still pretty good! Keep at it, I can't wait for your next submission. >:)

One other thing - care to stop by my page sometime and review my latest? The .flp file corrupted and I didn't have a backup, resulting in an edit of an old render being submitted, but I still think it's decent and worth a review sometime. (It hasn't gotten one yet. ._.)Thanks a lot, and keep up the great work. :D

Score: 7

"Fine. >:("

submission: Utopia (Original Mix)

date: October 24, 2007

If you want me to review this one, that works too. :P Let's see what I think of this song...

Is it just me or do you introduce your songs like that a LOT? A pad or something, then the kick fades in.

Has it become a HABIT of yours to put that bass on the offbeat?! XD I won't bother you much about it after this but you really should try something else sometime.

Quality is, again, a problem... there's distortion everywhere, again. It's a mix of too many things overall in the song, and too many things in the same frequencies. Low-to-mid is my guess. Maybe if you listened to other artists with good quality, you would get some ideas? Or you could look into some more advanced techniques... not like I have, anyway. :P Try limiting your synths, too - maybe as an experiment try to make a song with only three or four good synths. For example, a lead, a bass, and something in the middle, i.e. an arp or pad. It just might come out pretty good. ;)

For some reason I'm thinking the composition and energy levels just don't go that well together - if this song had less energy to it - maybe a slower beat - and the clarity was much better, THEN they would... I don't mean this as actual criticism, though. :P Just my opinion.

The way those crashes are used on the transitions - one on each beat of the last measure before the transition - I've heard that about as often as I've heard the bass on the offbeat. More, actually. It should be easy for you to figure out the rest of what I'm going to say, I'm sure you can and it's less work on my fingers, typing. ;D

Overall... I can't really give it much more than a 7. :\ For the rating, it deserves a 4 more than it deserves a 3, though, so hooray for rounding up. ;D It's good, but there's definitely a lot of room for improvement. So keep at it, you're bound to make something awesome sooner or later. :D

Score: 7

"I'll comment on some other things now..."

submission: Miracle - (DXS) Remix 2

date: October 11, 2007

This review might be as long as the last one, it might not be, I have no idea. :P We'll see.

I see you've got VEC! :) Definitely Volume 2, I hear samples from that one, I can't remember if any of those are from Volume 1 or not. So you have more resources to make better songs - all you need to do now is learn how to use them well - which is no easy task, considering there is no "best" way to use a resource. Just give it some time - those awesome ideas will come soon enough, with enough experience.

Another major concern is your mixing - it's becoming an issue now, I see. Don't worry, I had more than a few songs with... less than perfect quality. XD One song of mine's especially famous for it, but... if you're interested, bring it up in a PM sometime. :P The main problem is your kick - I can understand trying to get it to sound bassy, and stand out among the rest of the song. But how about you don't go about it by simply raising the volume next time? ;D Fruity Parametric EQ 2 is a perfect tool for this sort of thing - play around it and you'll see what I mean. Distortion and clipping is the thing you least want when perfecting the mixing of a song - so if you're listening to it, whether on FL Studio or on an .mp3 render, and you hear any distortion/clipping, do whatever it takes to fix it. ;) Tweak with the individual volume knobs, or drag down the master volume - and then amp up the .mp3 render in a program like Audacity. Once you've finished that (and ONLY once you have), you could put a Fruity Parametric EQ 2 on the Master channel, and tweak with that until the song's overall easier on the ears.

I don't know about your synth and drum choice/usage in this song. Some choices are definitely better, some... well, they're weird. Don't go with synths that are TOO erratic, detuned, etc. Same goes for drums. This kind of song does better with cleaner-sounding synths and drums, at least in my opinion. ;) Just a thought here.

That bass is still on the offbeat, see the review for the other song...

You know what would help you a lot? If you listen to music of the genre you're trying to make, by professionals or at least people better than you - and OFTEN - you'll definitely get a lot better, a lot faster, compared to listening to one genre and making another. It worked quite well for me - it's been less than a year since I started and people say I improve fast. :P</ego>

Not a bad song, but I THINK you could do much better. :P Don't get me wrong, though, there's definitely improvement! As always, send me a PM or respond to this review if you have any questions. :) Oh, and I'm still waiting for an original song. ;D Keep it up.

Score: 8

"Heh, I remember my first song... :D"

submission: Miracle - (DXS) Remix

date: October 10, 2007

It was... well, you could go listen to it for yourself. XD But this easily beats it, by far. That means... well, as SBB said, you have a lot of potential. :)

I've got lots of things to say about this song... I'm not going to go easy on you just because you're a beginner. >:)

Firstly, and most importantly, your drums - they came with FL Studio, correct? Well, get out there and invest in some better ones - if you want to get anywhere in music making, avoid those FL Studio drums like the plague. I'll send you a PM with a few options right after I finish reviewing this song. As far as the usage of your samples, everything seems to be fine - next time, though, I wouldn't reccomend a closed hihat for the offbeat. Go with an open hihat instead - generally they sound a lot better on the offbeat. What you could do with closed hihats is either go the lazy way, and have it play 16th notes next to the rest of the percussion - which works, but this other way I'm about to mention is a lot better. See, you also have the option of creating a closed hihat line with multiple samples, or going even more advanced and making sure it sounds good with the open hihat, too - I'm hardly there myself, though. ;D

The bass is decent, though not amazing - you've let it sit on the offbeat, which can work out to be quite catchy sometimes - unfortunately, it's a very unoriginal thing to do. Next time, try arping it - I reccomend doing it manually on the piano roll, but the built-in arpeggiator FL Studio gives you (click on the channel button of a synth in the step sequencer, go to the last tab, and find the arpeggiator) could give you some ideas. Listen to other songs and see what they do with the bass, that could give you some ideas, too.

Your synths overall are good, but sound quite plain. Next time, play around with the FX FL Studio gives you - The Fruity Filter, Fruity Flangus, Fruity Fast Dist, and Fruity Parametric EQ 2 are some of my favorites. :) Done right, your synths will sound completely different and a LOT more original... but only if you practice, of course. ;) Another option is to invest in some new synths - for example, Nexus (go to http://www.refx.net) is an awesome VSTi I use all the time - it's easy to use and the synths (though it can have drums, too! :D) are very high-quality. ;) Just a few thoughts.

The composition... well, it's a remix, so I can't really credit you for any of it. Again, like SBB said, make an original song next - I want to see how it turns out. >:)

Overall a nice start! It's your first song so I won't give you too low of a score. ;) Most of the stuff I mentioned in this review is pretty advanced, so don't try to figure it ALL out while making your next song. Just go a little bit at a time. ;) If you don't understand something in this review, or have a question, feel free to PM me. Looking forward to your next! :D

Score: 9

"I thought I may as well review this song..."

submission: Distant Memories

date: September 30, 2007

I mean you've been reviewing my stuff but it's been so long since I stopped by to review yours. I've been listening to it all and rating it, yes, but I suppose I owe you a review. :P

Not much to comment on in the beginning. Unique intro. ;D The actual kick, once it comes in, is rather heavy though I like that clap sample. :) The acid synth is awesome too, what did you use? This 'Junox' thing I see in the song description, maybe? :P

I like your melodywork and harmonizing, and the synths you use (more Junox? :P) especially as the song progresses. Also your transitions - you know, with the filter (lowpass, right?) and the drums, it's quite well-done. :D Also I'd like to mention diversity - though the song is, what, nearly 8 minutes long? It hardly ever becomes boring. :D

I felt the mixing and mastering could have been a bit better in this song. I hear a lot of synths at similar frequencies and that arped saw in the climax a little more than halfway through makes the song quite fuzzy. You could have chosen a cleaner synth there, I think. :\ The kick is there, and noticeable without too much effort, but I don't hear it as well as I'd like to. It's not clean, and out there, like I like to hear it in most trance songs.

That aside, though, this is a very well-done trance song, also done in the style I enjoy the most. :D Downloaded, 5/5, and 9/10. Keep up the great work, I'd really like to hear more like this! I also hope you find this review among the 39+ others... :P