Score: 10

"HAHAHAHA"

submission: lost my pants

date: September 30, 2008

BRILLIANT.

Score: 8

"Hey Fucklol!!"

submission: Rucklo - A Better Tomorrow WIP

date: September 27, 2008

So a review with the production-aspect in mind it is. Prepare for a very opinionated review that is more about ideas for improvement than it is about the song itself.

I really don't like the plain, sharp triangle wave sound in the beginning. I think it'd benefit from a little, subtle bit of chorus or unison right before the delay, just to make it sound smoother. Reverb and delay effects tend to sound horrible and unrealistic on plain triangle/square/saw waves. The shaper and filter automation is funky, would be cool to hear that automation stand out a bit more.

Cool throaty bass. Really rough and unpolished sound, but I think it has its own character and should stay like that. Subby and boomy as hell too, I like that. The automation work from 1:40 or so is nothing short of godly. I don't know quite what you did there, but it sounds like there's feedback on the synth- ftw!

That distorted, resonant kinda filtered drum beat at 0:30 or so was WICKED AS FUCK. There are some great variations of that, like that waltzy slow variation at 2:48. Fantastic :) However, the main drums sound a too poppy and high pitched for my taste. I really love dnb tracks (all tracks actually!) with deep, hard drums, so it was kind of a disappointment after that awesome filtered beat. Those little shaker fills are swell too, I didn't notice them upon the first listen.

The piano has a great deep sound, proper amount of reverb and all. The melody sounds like improvisation, musical doodling if you like, no distinct melody or anything (I'll get back to that later). Try to do something more out of it and it will be great. Ooh, comeback of that raw waveform synth. It just played the intro again and faded out, which is fine I guess.

I don't know man- the song has no catchy melody and sort of wanders from one vague theme to another one. It never really had me hooked. I think you should take these ideas and rearrange the track a little, make each part stand out, and first of all give it a more recognisable theme. That's my opinion anyway.

You really have some sweet as hell sounds though, so keep it up! I expect nothing less than awesomeness from the final result ;)

Score: 3

"ooold"

submission: MS - Madness Gun Sounds!

date: September 24, 2008

This is an incredibly old concept alright. Some really really basic drum patterns made with gun sounds. I myself don't think this is more interesting than a drum pattern. The sounds are extremely similar to typical drum sounds anyway, so I can call it a drum pattern if I want to.

If there was ANYTHING else than drums - perhaps some dark bassy melody that fits the dark mood of the Madness series, I dunno - this track could become slightly interesting. So how about you try making a full song out of it?

For now, this song is just another boring "using gun sounds as percussion" track.

Score: 8

"Nice!!"

submission: [Friendly Payback]

date: September 4, 2008

But some of the transitions really make me fall off. Other times they're just too sudden or brutal. I think you need to work a bit more on those buildups, make them have a little of what just went and something to introduce what's new rather than putting in something completely different- err, if you know what I mean by that. I'm not too good at explaining myself. Whatever

The track as a whole appears to be a bit too compressed. The distorted lead might give an illusion of it clipping horribly (which isn't the case). Especially it's obvious when the cymbals kick in, that something's up with the mixing. Try being a little lighter on the mastering and compression devices/units, or just export it at a lower volume if you're going to work more on it.

Actually I love the sound of that distorted lead (guitar?). An overwhelming amount of reverb, I love that :D Distortion is heavy but nice too. Cool synth pad sounds too.

Drums are nice, pack some real punch, but as I said they sound a little too overcompressed. I like the drum patterns as well, complex sounding but not random. Great! The flange effect on the percussion is pretty swell too. I don't think it's everybody's cuppa tea, but I like it lots.

Nice track overall, many cool ideas with lots of potential if you're going to extend it.

Hit me back sometime if you feel like it and have the time :)

Score: 5

"Fair enough"

submission: Uranus--Avarice

date: September 4, 2008

An extremely repetitive little song- pretty much the same melody on the rhodes all over. Same drum pattern as well. The rhodes sound itself is extremely basic, could need a little more reverb just to space it up. Or maybe adding some vintage sounding distortion, making it sound like those classy ol' tracks with lp crackle and lo-fi rotating rhodes- y'know what kind of sound I'm talking about? If not, tough luck :(

Drums sound like some preset "Rock" kit, not really interesting, adds a rhythm, but doesn't really pack a punch. Bass isn't really audible, but sounds at least decent. I think a siney sub bass or other kinda synth bass would fit better.

You seriously need something more, be it new instruments, effects, parts or new melodies, but something more is needed. Cause this track is just the bit too repetitive. Decent starting point though.

Score: 10

"Hey!!"

submission: Moonlit Mechanics

date: September 4, 2008

How come this has such a low score?

I love it. I would not consider this a drum n bass piece though. Ambient is a much more fitting genre, I mean come on, this track has all of it: Mellow sine waves with delay and reverb (which alone could define the ambient genre), Experimental, complex but repetitive drum patterns and loads of SFX as well as reverb. Ambient/Downtempo/Mellow/IDM in a nutshell.

And that is perhaps why I love it. I love everything about this genre, so this song is really satisfying. Lots of variation too, so it keeps me hanging on. Easy to ignore, makes it perfect for listening to while being in bed, and the atmosphere is just right for it to be a soundtrack.

Seriously, I love this piece. This low score is not deserved!
One sweet piece man. Perfect in fact. Keep making tunes like this!

Score: 9

"sweet!"

submission: Last Hours

date: September 4, 2008

Man! That's a detailed sound! Everything is so airy and delicious in the beginning.

Well until that (in my opinion, remember that!) disgusting phased saw lead was introduced that is. It's just so cheesy and thin. Sounds like those tranceleads you hear in generic, amateurish FL trance :(

I know that's a bit harsh, I guess I just have strong negative feelings for that sound. 'cause it certainly becomes more satisfying when coupled with the low pitched one to produce a much fatter sound. So it's not that much of a problem: at 1:42, they combine to provide an aggressive, kind of dissonant and deep melody. Which I love.

All that percussion!! Loving the liquid kind of filtered, breathing percussion sounds. And the main drums really have that perfect mix between packing enough punch and being lightly tapping and complex sounding. Very well done. Rides give it a lot of drive as well.

Like the bass as well, while not being in the front most of the time, the little variations shine through and add flavour to the track. The clean, high saw synth sounds great in the mix, cuts through it like a hot knife through butter, but when brought out alone ('bout 2:24), it sounds not so great. I suggest you keep it when the mix is at its fullest and not to use it so much as a solo instrument.

There only that one little "flaw", otherwise a real nice track, liked it lots. Not groundbreaking though. But nice!! :)

That's all I have to say about this track. A very opinionated review but hopefully you can live with that.

Score: 8

"Oooo, pretty"

submission: Overwhelming Hope

date: September 4, 2008

You're right, it's very short. So of course there's not much to be said.

But I must say you did produce a very nice atmosphere those few seconds it lasted. Almost like that idea of being in a deep dark forest, etc, and you know that cliché imagination. Probably because of that woodwind.

The only thing I want to nitpick on is that perhaps you could use those little bells just once more a bit later in the song, cause when I heard it once, I expected to hear it again before it started over, and I wanted to hear it again, I had a great, raging desire to hear it again!! And so I listened to it several times in a row! Do you have ANY idea how mad that made me?!? >:(

well that's nitpicking alright. It's a great little 0:26 piece of music with no real flaws at all.

But please, make this an intro to something bigger. For my sake. It would make me a very verrrrry happy SBB. Aight?

Score: 7

"Eey, guy"

submission: Fantasie Mystique (NG Cut)

date: August 16, 2008

The first looooong notes from the strings are very very promising.The thin little synth adds a nice, classy feeling as well. It actually made me think it would be an epic masterpiece until I read the description. Oh well, that makes SBB a little disappointed :(

I like the subtle background sounds, which are sadly too much in the background for me. Is there a harp sound back in there? Some flute things perhaps? Feels like something needs to be be more present in the piece.

I like the long cymbal thing introducing a kick, 'tis very effective for that dramatic effect. Later in the piece, the drums sound way muddy and packed though. There's a shitload of different drums going on at the same time, I think some slower, harder drums would give the track much more power than it currently provides.

Now that lead synth, kind of destroys the whole feeling. I don't like the general sound of it, way too much treble. Sounds a lot like keyboard improvising with no real direction at all. Needs a stronger, more memorable melodic theme in my opinion.

The intro with long drawn out string notes and whatnot is great. I expected it to turn into something different. I'm not so sure what it would be about though.

Perhaps it's just not my cup of tea. Or maybe it's due to the low mp3 quality. I still think there are a few general flaws with the piece anyway. I still think this track needs some work (mostly within the last half, the intro is fantastic).

I gave you the 5 anyway, your score appears to be a bit low

Score: 10

"Very well"

submission: The Final Goodbye_JT

date: August 10, 2008

And here's your promised review.

A very subtle introduction that fits the piece very well. The wind sfx provides great atmosphere, but it doesn't really fit into the theme of the song, as you don't hear it much throughout the song. The synth pad is played beautifully, while the sound of it is a bit too raw and unfiltered for my taste. It is a bit misleading as well- I did NOT expect to hear guitar solos when I heard it the first time. I guess that's just a positive surprise!

I love the clean sound of the guitar that is introduced. Very beautiful chords with a fitting rhythmic pattern. The piano has a somewhat similar progression, it's almost like those two instruments play with each other- which they are doing very well. They complete each other in a way. The bass is simply fantastic. While the bassline is very simple, it just sounds great on its own as well as supporting the up and in front instruments in an amazing way. I would love to hear the bass just that little bit louder.

Then, the main attraction of the whole piece is of course the lead guitars- the one introduced at first plays a great melody- I get the impression right from the start that "wow - this guy can play his guitar". I just love how layered it all sounds when more guitar lines are introduced. I'm also loving the little acoustic sounding fills like the one from 2:07.

And the soloing from 2:21 are, well something that is great. I won't say much about it, it speaks for itself put simply.

I'm not so sure about the very drastic change in theme from the middle of the piece at first- but a little into the second part it really feels like the tune is progressing. I really like the drum work in that part. I'd like to hear that part a lot longer though, since reintroducing the intro and latter parts isn't that interesting.

Now the lot of guitar simply jumped out of nowhere at 4:52- no buildup at all or whatever. That is the only thing in the entire song that I think sounds rushed. I love that part either way so it isn't too important. The new solo at the very end of the piece is a mighty sweet addition, adds lots to the climax feeling in the end. Very wonderful.

Seems like you didn't take the time to make an outstanding ending, which is disappointing. It would leave me as a listener with more of a "wow, monster track" feeling if there was a very definite ending with emphasis on powerful percussive elements like you know deep toms and a crash and what not. It is very very called for. What you did is fine too, I guess.

Great stuff. You are apparently a very great songwriter and guitarist, which are two very very good things to be. I think I've only been praising every single aspect of the song to the skies (which is well deserved) in my review, and nothing else, but I don't care, the tune is so damn sweet.