Cryptowen's Sexy Reviewing Thread

[Guest Sprigg]

I'm absolutely terrible at transitions, relying normally on stop-starts and samples.

Transitions can be tricky. I usually spend a good chunk of the revision stage hashing them out. Also I find any sort of transition works best if it's on a beat (or whatever) that sticks around long enough for the listener to go "okay, this part is clearly an ending, we're about to go into something new". Jump straight from one section to the next usually works best for short little interludes, but really, it's something you have to play by ear.

 

Makes sense. Thanks for the advice man

[oyster]

http://soundcloud.com/drewkent/funsong

[Guest Ranky Redlof]

http://soundcloud.com/ranky-redlof/hahawtfbbqtits

still WIP

[Guest Aces]

Oh, wow. This is great, man.

 

 

You made this album in a month?? This is honestly the best shit I've heard in ages

 

Thanks guys! It was indeed made in a month. I set myself a challenge to write a track everyday and much to my surprise I did.

 

Very impressive, some of the tracks seem really well thought out, wish I had this kind of discipline.

 

Thankyou, it really did depend on how I was feeling on a particular day. As for discipline, I hardly have any really most of the time but when I set my mind on something I usually see it through to the end.

[Lucas]

Here's one of my tracks :

 

http://soundcloud.com/antape/happy-but-dont-know-why

 

Downloadable in Flac for a better quality.

 

Nice to comment people's tracks like you do. You must be very patient ^^ and I'm sure musicians "beginners" really appreciate it. I do anyway.

[Cryptowen]

Okay, I think next up is...Arbee.

 

I actually had a bit of trouble coming up with a decent review for this, because I didn't hear much to criticize in it. I enjoyed this album. Kind of thing I would probably pay money for (actually, more than one of the people I've reviewed so far have gone on my "buy something from this person" list, but lately it's been a rare occasion that I actually have money on my Paypal). So, my track by track is probably going to mostly be "here's what this made me think of", but hopefully I'll be able to stick a few constructive things in there...

 

bruit septième - At first I was thinking that the three note motif that carries the track wasn't particularly compelling. Very simple, slightly reminiscent of something from a nursery rhyme. But then I realized that the simplicity of those repeating notes could well be seen as part of the effect - building a peaceful atmosphere contrasted by the ominous bass tone, strange background glitches, & distant percussion (which has the muffled filtering sound I usually like). Two very different vibes, not complex by themselves, that manage to work together because of that.

 

berh / ours - This track expands on the atmosphere of the first. Really, the whole album gives me this strange mixture of...I dunno. It's kind of like melancholy, fear, & peaceful content all at the same time. Again, it's mostly made up of seemingly simple elements (like that faster percussive loop that comes in for most of the track), but the way it's arranged makes one disregard the individual elements & instead focus on the overall atmosphere.

 

fiston bourdon - I think I might be noticing a bit of a trend over these first three tracks. The bass pads get louder (to the point where they dominate this particular track), while the higher melodic elements drift towards the background. The strange plonking percussive noises seem to remain at roughly the same volume on all three, acting as a constant of sorts. This track didn't have the same sort of mood atmospherics as the first two (for me, anyway), instead having more of the traditional alien world feel people associate with ambient electronic music. Very cinematic.

 

terrible toux - This one, to me, is definitely the most outright ominous on the album. The "weirdness" which was previously seen primarily on the subdued percussion has here overtaken the higher pad sounds, replacing the calm note motifs with an odd wavering tone that sounds like it could be coming from some sort of alien patrol craft, while tribal rhythms slowly worm their way in behind it.

 

crique - In a way, this track feels sort of stripped down compared to the others. I think it's the fact the pads are pushed back a bit more here (particularly the usually loud bass end), leaving one to focus for the first time on the various chirps & blips that have been present in every track so far. I like that for the most part these noises don't really sound like anything in particular. They could be from a synth. They could be field recordings of animals. I don't know. And I think that lack of recognition helps with the aural world building. If I was going "yeah, that must be a high resonance square wave with portamento", I'd be taken out of the track a bit.

 

cycles - Okay, so we're getting to the point where I start running out of stuff to say about individual tracks, not because these later ones aren't as interesting, but because they continue to build on elements I've mentioned previously. Actually, now that I mention it, this track in particular does seem to mark a return to the feeling of the first two tracks after the slight mutations experienced on 3, 4, & 5. The percussive line is nice, sort of a good representation of the rhythms on the entire album, I think - halfway between an ancient drum circle & the paint shaker at a hardware store.

 

latence - Again, not much to say about this one in particular at this point. The wobbling noises are neat - sounding at times almost like speech, even though I imagine they are in fact electric currents running through a synthesizer circuit.

 

brute sans nom - I felt a strong emotional resonance with this track. It felt like a final, definitive statement on the themes present up until now, which is of course a good thing for a closing track. I was rather moved by it. I think a big part of it was the use of sawtooth synthesizers. Even after decades of seemingly every ridiculous pop song using supersaws for their chords, I still get this special sense of regality when I hear them used like they're used here. Probably the string connection. The way you've got a ton of them layered up here makes each note feel huge, with that alone holding my attention for the entire five minute span. If these aren't actually sawtooth synthesizers but, like, some other synth with effects on it I'll look very silly here

 

 

 

 

So, I think next up is wahrk, unless I dedicate another post to reviewing individual tracks first (which I plan on doing regularly to keep the waiting list manageable).

[Guest arbee]

woah, glad you liked it, man. you're right, you have been able to stick to constructive stuff...

 

thnx about the kind words.

[Guest hahathhat]

poor owen buried in a sea of stuff to review. mad props for wading into this mess

 

edit: i mean that. a rare positive, constructive force in this place.

[funkaholic]

 

 

Funkaholic - You say "two more" in your second post, but the one in the attachment looks the same as the one in the first post. So, I might be missing one here...

 

Strung Sketch - The opening chord progression feels familiar to me. Perhaps that's just something to do with pentatonics. Dunno. In any case the little plonky sound that develops is nice but the chords don't do much for me. I felt things started getting interesting around 0:54. The song could have started right there without the initial chords (stick them in later with something else maybe). Trimming the fat & all that. What I think would have been interesting right before things get loud at 1:08 would have been some sort of slight pause. Personal preference...The odd beat (sounds almost like messed up Super Mario samples) is pretty cool, and the chords do work better when you have them snuck in the background like that. None of the sections that come after that seem bad by themselves, but the track doesn't really feel like it goes anywhere in the last couple of minutes, sticking mostly to the same sonic palette instead of building to some sort of ending. I don't really like doing comparisons but there was one pad (the one at the end) that really reminded me of an Aphex Twin track...Heliospan, maybe? Actually, so does that little percussive sound, now that I think of it. Nothing wrong with that, per say. We've probably all used an overtly Aphexy sound at one point. Maybe that's what you were going for. I know I did it subconsciously for a while until someone pointed it out to me, now I make an effort to avoid that, but again, personal preference.

 

Output 1-2 - Can't say a great deal about this one, given its length. I like it as a beat, & I guess the only thing that really stands out to me in a negative way is the note progression in the second half. It just feels too simple & under-developed to me. Needs some sort of rhythm to meld with the rest, I think, because right now it's basically just dun dun dun dun, dun dun dun dun, dun dun dun dun, dun dun dun dun.

 

Some Other Time - I like all the sounds in this one. The little melodic percussive sounds, the sort of off-beat wobbly synth farts, etc. Maybe the snare is a bit dry compared to the rest but it doesn't draw attention to itself in a bad way. The little drop-off around 0:32 felt kinda too quick to me. Threw me off the rhythm for a second. I think if you had have paused for just a hair longer after that last synth wobble before bringing the blips back in it would have worked better. Maybe. In any case if you were looking to get a few more minutes out of this thing I think you easily could. You have a nice atmospheric base here that you could have a wide variety of slower pads or complex melodic lines laid down over top of it as you continue along.

 

 

 

thanks for the feed back!

 

THATS THE TRACK! i knew i'd ripped off a aphex track by mistake but was thinking it was off saw II, removing that whole section. gonna try what you recomend.

 

no it was my error, uploaded it twice by mistake, yeah your right, yeah was too short and too a early stages to upload. thanks for saying something about it anyway:)

 

thanks:) yeah, i've completely gone off the snare sound and beat, sounds out of place. again, liking the suggestions:)

 

thanks a lot cryptowens!

[Cryptowen]

Been busy the last few days working on audio for somebody's film project (which will probably be taking up most of my weekends in July), so I haven't had a chance to really give Wahrk's EPs a go (well actually I was already familiar with the second one but I need to give it a more in depth listen), so for now here's a few more mini-reviews...

 

The Pod - I'm not really feeling this one, to be honest. Took me a few listens to decide exactly why, but I think part of it is that lead melody. The da-da da-da da-da da one. There's something about note sequences like this, I find - not quite short enough to fade into the overall track atmosphere (like, say, a lot of the individual parts in Aphex Twin songs back in the day), not quite long enough to hold its own as a lead instrument. They tend to end up becoming very repetitive very quickly. To me, anyway. Besides that, there's also that sharp reverb you're using in there. I'm not sure what you were going for with it, but it sort of distracted me from the rest of the track. I did like the little bits where you drop those two elements, like at 0:48. I think those segments have potential for further development....but turn down the hi-hat volume a bit first, maybe.

 

Ranky Redloaf - I really like the acid line in this track. And the part that comes in around 1:35. Actually everything from 1:09 on is quite nice, in my opinion. The only real issue I had with the first minute is that synth loop that goes from 0:18 to 1:07. I felt that it sort of overstayed its welcome, to the point where I started liking the track a lot more as soon as it was gone. The loop itself isn't bad, just very short. I think I'd like it better if it were a more complex loop, or it wasn't the dominant element in that section, or if the section itself was shortened a bit. Other than that, didn't really have any issues. The ending was unexpected, but after a few listens I think it works.

 

Antape - This feels like one of those tracks that holds onto an idea for a short while before dropping it suddenly in favour of something else (doing this a number of times in the span of its 4 minute length). Those kind of tracks can be pretty hit or miss for me, but I think in this case it (mostly) works, because despite the frequent change-ups you maintain one mood/tone, and most of the sections work pretty well on their own. I do think the track would be more memorable if it felt like it was building up to something or making some sort of progression, rather than just moving from one neat little riff to the next. As it stands now I'll probably remember the sound of the synths you used, maybe one or two of the individual elements. But if there was some sort of arc to the track, with all of those parts working together to tell a story, I'd remember everything because it would all end up feeling like one thing. To put it another way, this track is kind of like Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould.

[Guest khrimson]

here's an ep I made

 

http://soundcloud.com/complex-sound-sagacity/sets/khrimson-lost-ep/

[Guest Ranky Redlof]

thanks cryptowen.

[vamos scorcho]

ep [side project] thing i put out a few weeks ago

 

 

 

 

 

http://dodgadi.bandcamp.com/

 

 

yu don't gotta write nothing if u don't want to. it's styled in the sounds of electro and techno from 90s and into the 00s with a mix of minimalist noise avant style shite.

[Cryptowen]

WAHRK TIME

 

'kay, so wahrk has two EPs out. Both are quite short in the runtime department (the ten tracks between them total slightly less than 25 minutes). But they don't feel light because of that. If anything, it sounds like a lot of time was spent boiling each piece down into its most concentrated form. Both EPs make use of similar sonic elements (drum&bass drums, strings, & synths that sound like they came from a 1970s Sci-Fi soundtrack (not because of melodies or "analogueness", but more the general gooey gliding tone that was popular around the time of Tron oh no double brackets)), but feel thematically distinct. I'll get into that as I review the tracks one by one...

 

DELVE

Shadowrunner Phase I: Rush - early impressions with this track is that it may be one of the lesser...impressionable...tracks for me. It's not a bad track, by any means, though. The drums go all over the place, while always remaining a few steps shy of OH GOD CAT GET OFF MY LINNDRUM I'M MAKING A SONG. The only thing that dings it, for me, is that the lead ravey saw synth isn't that memorable. And most of the synth lines on these EPs are. Towards the end, though, you do have that swanky (pirate-esque, almost) guitar that comes in, which is more what I'm talking about.

 

Shadowrunner Phase II: Downtown - this one tones the drums down a few more notches (while still keeping the energy maintained), while introducing a casual wandering sort of synth. Like most of the tracks here, the synth makes this one for me. The breakcore is well done, but the melodies are what give each piece a distinct character, which is what I felt was missing on the first half of the opening track.

 

Polygon City - I guess I'll take a moment here to talk about my interpretation of this EP's theme. To me it seems very reminiscent of high energy video game soundtracks from the late 80s/early 90s. Stuff like Megaman (maybe I'm just thinking this because I first heard your music on that Megaman Renaissance album). However, unlike a stereotypical chiptune track which gets all nostalgic with bitcrushed square waves & noise beats, you use synths that sound like Switched on Bach & production/beats that sound like an early 00s rave....well actually, the synth in this track kinda does sound like Nintendo so that's why I used it as a springboard for this.

 

Firefly - probably the most out & out "dramatic" sounding track on the EP. It can be hard to pull off a dramatic tune at that sort of tempo & not have it sound goofy, but I think you succeeded here. Mostly. I did, for the first time, find myself a bit distracted by the drums. While they did tie the track in with the other four, they struck me as possibly a hair or two too energetic for the type of track this started off as. Maybe. I'm probably nitpicking here.

 

Nicholas J. Cumberbund - Wondering who Nicholas J. Cumberbund was, I Googled the name, but all of initial results were for this track, so the mystery remains. Anyway, this track makes for a pretty good closer, particularly that arp you mess around with for the last 90 seconds or so. Very hypnotic. Makes me wonder what a Wahrk EP with no dnb would sound like (although I do like the dnb). Not too much else to say, I guess....on to the next one then

 

METAMATERIA

Red Carpet - from the start, this EP is clearly different than Delve. The drums nearly as pounding, & the synth have taken on a more regal feel. This track, for example, sounds like it could be the soundtrack to some monarch doing things of a kingly nature. And then it turns into a cellphone ringtone at the end.

 

Elemental - the pad strikes me as very familiar, somehow, even though I can't really place it at the moment. Maybe it's just a familiar chord progression. But that use of pads is another thing that, I think, differentiates this EP from the first. The drums here don't sound quite as dnb to me. More like IDM, I think, with the use of pitching. And the use of violin/cello is quite nice (is that someone playing, a sample from somewhere, or something else entirely?).

 

Ayodin Skirmish - this track gets back more into Delve's higher energy feel, but still keeps the melodies to the front a bit more. Which is good, because that first descending synth has been stuck in my head for a while now. The track does lose a bit of steam after the cool guitar solo, though, almost like it doesn't know exactly how to end. Not too big an issue, though, given that everything before & after moves at such a brisk pace.

 

Rabbits and Wolves - this track takes an unexpected turn about one minute in, when the clean airy synths are joined by a wobbly acid bass. I didn't really see that coming, but it works pretty well I think. Also, I think here you have one of the more interesting drum parts, to me, balancing nicely between the really fast breakcore stuff & the slightly quieter pitched stuff.

 

Swamp King - starts with a rare use of non-synth/drum machine noise, then build into something that seems downright downtempo compared to most of what I've heard so far. And then the fast drums come in, but they don't feel unwelcome. What's most interesting to me, though, is the fluteish melody that comes in around 1:50, and then the bass synth solo that carries the EP to its conclusion. Nothing overly big & elaborate, but really you don't want big & elaborate when you've done five tracks in 12 minutes.

 

So, that's about all I've got to say, I think. I liked both EPs. Probably I'd want a few breather tracks if I was going to listen to a full album like this, but at this length it seems like a nice self contained little burst of energy.

 

I believe next is Tamas, who with any luck I'll be able to review by Thursday. Maybe.

[wahrk]

 

 

WAHRK TIME

 

'kay, so wahrk has two EPs out. Both are quite short in the runtime department (the ten tracks between them total slightly less than 25 minutes). But they don't feel light because of that. If anything, it sounds like a lot of time was spent boiling each piece down into its most concentrated form. Both EPs make use of similar sonic elements (drum&bass drums, strings, & synths that sound like they came from a 1970s Sci-Fi soundtrack (not because of melodies or "analogueness", but more the general gooey gliding tone that was popular around the time of Tron oh no double brackets)), but feel thematically distinct. I'll get into that as I review the tracks one by one...

 

DELVE

Shadowrunner Phase I: Rush - early impressions with this track is that it may be one of the lesser...impressionable...tracks for me. It's not a bad track, by any means, though. The drums go all over the place, while always remaining a few steps shy of OH GOD CAT GET OFF MY LINNDRUM I'M MAKING A SONG. The only thing that dings it, for me, is that the lead ravey saw synth isn't that memorable. And most of the synth lines on these EPs are. Towards the end, though, you do have that swanky (pirate-esque, almost) guitar that comes in, which is more what I'm talking about.

 

Shadowrunner Phase II: Downtown - this one tones the drums down a few more notches (while still keeping the energy maintained), while introducing a casual wandering sort of synth. Like most of the tracks here, the synth makes this one for me. The breakcore is well done, but the melodies are what give each piece a distinct character, which is what I felt was missing on the first half of the opening track.

 

Polygon City - I guess I'll take a moment here to talk about my interpretation of this EP's theme. To me it seems very reminiscent of high energy video game soundtracks from the late 80s/early 90s. Stuff like Megaman (maybe I'm just thinking this because I first heard your music on that Megaman Renaissance album). However, unlike a stereotypical chiptune track which gets all nostalgic with bitcrushed square waves & noise beats, you use synths that sound like Switched on Bach & production/beats that sound like an early 00s rave....well actually, the synth in this track kinda does sound like Nintendo so that's why I used it as a springboard for this.

 

Firefly - probably the most out & out "dramatic" sounding track on the EP. It can be hard to pull off a dramatic tune at that sort of tempo & not have it sound goofy, but I think you succeeded here. Mostly. I did, for the first time, find myself a bit distracted by the drums. While they did tie the track in with the other four, they struck me as possibly a hair or two too energetic for the type of track this started off as. Maybe. I'm probably nitpicking here.

 

Nicholas J. Cumberbund - Wondering who Nicholas J. Cumberbund was, I Googled the name, but all of initial results were for this track, so the mystery remains. Anyway, this track makes for a pretty good closer, particularly that arp you mess around with for the last 90 seconds or so. Very hypnotic. Makes me wonder what a Wahrk EP with no dnb would sound like (although I do like the dnb). Not too much else to say, I guess....on to the next one then

 

METAMATERIA

Red Carpet - from the start, this EP is clearly different than Delve. The drums nearly as pounding, & the synth have taken on a more regal feel. This track, for example, sounds like it could be the soundtrack to some monarch doing things of a kingly nature. And then it turns into a cellphone ringtone at the end.

 

Elemental - the pad strikes me as very familiar, somehow, even though I can't really place it at the moment. Maybe it's just a familiar chord progression. But that use of pads is another thing that, I think, differentiates this EP from the first. The drums here don't sound quite as dnb to me. More like IDM, I think, with the use of pitching. And the use of violin/cello is quite nice (is that someone playing, a sample from somewhere, or something else entirely?).

 

Ayodin Skirmish - this track gets back more into Delve's higher energy feel, but still keeps the melodies to the front a bit more. Which is good, because that first descending synth has been stuck in my head for a while now. The track does lose a bit of steam after the cool guitar solo, though, almost like it doesn't know exactly how to end. Not too big an issue, though, given that everything before & after moves at such a brisk pace.

 

Rabbits and Wolves - this track takes an unexpected turn about one minute in, when the clean airy synths are joined by a wobbly acid bass. I didn't really see that coming, but it works pretty well I think. Also, I think here you have one of the more interesting drum parts, to me, balancing nicely between the really fast breakcore stuff & the slightly quieter pitched stuff.

 

Swamp King - starts with a rare use of non-synth/drum machine noise, then build into something that seems downright downtempo compared to most of what I've heard so far. And then the fast drums come in, but they don't feel unwelcome. What's most interesting to me, though, is the fluteish melody that comes in around 1:50, and then the bass synth solo that carries the EP to its conclusion. Nothing overly big & elaborate, but really you don't want big & elaborate when you've done five tracks in 12 minutes.

 

So, that's about all I've got to say, I think. I liked both EPs. Probably I'd want a few breather tracks if I was going to listen to a full album like this, but at this length it seems like a nice self contained little burst of energy.

 

I believe next is Tamas, who with any luck I'll be able to review by Thursday. Maybe.

 

 

I've never had my guitar-playing called pirate-esque. XD Awesome.

 

I've always been very influenced by video game music 'cause I grew up playing a lot of video games. I embrace it, but not to a degree where I'd call my stuff chiptunes. I sometimes say "chiptunes-y" though. Also, the video game studio I'm part of just got back on its feet.

 

A lot of my tracks get named by typing in the first thing that comes to mind when I first save them. I sometimes change them later, but I often don't. Nicholas J. Cumberbund is one of the silly odd ones that remained. I use the name for a character in some of the Tephra games I run. Also, Ayodin Skirmish is named for one of the Tephra adventures a friend of mine ran. Ayodins are an aquatic race in the game. Minor Movements, a track of mine off the Karakasa Vs CSS comp (that will probably be on my next release with some changes) is named after a cantrip from the old version of the game's book. Some of my best friends are the developers, so I'm around it a lot.

 

Red Carpet is indeed meant to be a fanfare.

 

The pad synth in Elemental is from my absolute favorite VST, SQ8L. It is by far the inspiring VST synth out there for me, and I yearn for an SQ80 of my own some day. I'm pretty sure it's on every track on Metamateria and probably in one or two of the delve tracks. The strings are a simple sample-based string instrument that I meticulously sequenced.

 

But yeah, for a bit of perspective, Metamateria came first in its entirety and was simply rehashed and re-whatevered to be re-released recently. Elemental is actually the first legitimate electronic track I ever finished.

 

Anyway, thanks a bunch. It's always cool to hear what other people think. I've got another few tracks finished and more in the works. You'll probably hear another couple of releases in the next year.

[Cryptowen]

The pad synth in Elemental is from my absolute favorite VST, SQ8L.

Interesting...I might have to check that one out

 

I definitely wouldn't call your stuff chiptune (Polygon City was the closest & it was still miles away), but I can hear a gamey influence for sure.

[Cryptowen]

Tamas Time

 

So, there are seven tracks here, but they are mixed together & sound very much like one long track, so that's how I'm going to review it. Also, I didn't really have a chance to watch the video version (busy busy etc), so I'll be coming at it from a purely auditory point of view.

 

What struck me, after listening to this track(s) for the first time, was there wasn't much in the way of hooks to pull me in. The beat throughout most of the 16 minute piece seems to be a simple boomtish type of thing, not really changing much. Nothing wrong with that (it does its job of carrying the momentum well enough), but in the case of a simple familiar beat one naturally looks elsewhere for defining elements. Which is where we hit a snag.

 

There does seem to be constant development in the note progression, some of it even sounds potential interesting, but the way in which it is presented does not grab my attention. I think part of it is technical - the main synth is mixed in such a way (and at times rather heavily LP filtered) that it often ends up getting lost in the mix when it should really stand out as the main dude in the track. Also, it mostly sticks to one rather regular sounding synth patch throughout, which makes for a lack of contrasts. Whenever a new element does take over for a bit (such as the ambientish bit at the start of track 3 or the 303-sounding synth used on track 6), it does grab my attention, but there aren't really many obvious moments like that.

 

The other issue I had has more to do with composition. Like I said, there is constant melodic development, but it all seems to be happening at a very fast, unrelenting pace. If one really focuses, it's clear that there is stuff going on, but otherwise it just sounds like a whole buncha notes going really fast. I think that's mostly to do with a lack of melodic rhythm. Pacing can go a long way towards making a melodic line memorable - think of how someone with no ear for music can, for example, go "dadada dada DA, da" & have it be recognizable as the Mario music (this doesn't work quite as well in text form). That's because a melody's beat can sometimes be just as important as (if not more than) the notes themselves. The constant note waterfall, combined with a lack of clear motifs, makes for a tune that's fairly difficult to get familiar with.

 

Anyway, I think all of those things I mentioned take away a lot of the dramatic for the track might have had. Like I said, when I pay close attention to the melody, there does seem to be a lot of stuff going on that should be really dynamic sounding. It's just snuffed by a few relatively minor issues.

 

 

 

Next up, I believe, is Aces, who seems to have a pretty big playlist, so it might take a bit to go through, but feedback from others in this thread make it sound like it should be pretty good stuff.

[Boxus]

finally finished this :sup: http://boxus.bandcamp.com/album/severance

[Dan C]

I feel like i've been ignored. </3

[Cryptowen]

I feel like i've been ignored. </3

Nah man, I'm just still on page 2 for full EP/album reviews. The ones I've done out of order were because they just posted one or two tracks & could be reviewed quickly. I believe right now the waiting list is, in order:

 

Aces

Magnetandsteel

Friend of Magnetandsteel (might be pushed back a bit)

Dan C

Hahathhat

Hautle

Modey

Jonas

khrimson

Vamos

Boxus

 

If I'm missing anyone from that list let me know.

[Dan C]

I just wanted some attention that's all!

[Cryptowen]

Just an update - I'm still working on Aces' review. Will probably be a few more days still because he's got two or three disks worth of material here, or as we in the music industry call it, a whole shitload. But it's all interesting stuff so I feel it worth my time to give every track multiple listens.

 

If I don't get it done soon I might jump ahead to a few of the shorter EPs people have posted and then come back to it, but we'll see.

[kaini]

interested in your opinion of this and also this.

 

both individual tracks, btw.

[Guest Tamas]

Tamas Time

 

So, there are seven tracks here, but they are mixed together & sound very much like one long track, so that's how I'm going to review it. Also, I didn't really have a chance to watch the video version (busy busy etc), so I'll be coming at it from a purely auditory point of view.

 

What struck me, after listening to this track(s) for the first time, was there wasn't much in the way of hooks to pull me in. The beat throughout most of the 16 minute piece seems to be a simple boomtish type of thing, not really changing much. Nothing wrong with that (it does its job of carrying the momentum well enough), but in the case of a simple familiar beat one naturally looks elsewhere for defining elements. Which is where we hit a snag.

 

There does seem to be constant development in the note progression, some of it even sounds potential interesting, but the way in which it is presented does not grab my attention. I think part of it is technical - the main synth is mixed in such a way (and at times rather heavily LP filtered) that it often ends up getting lost in the mix when it should really stand out as the main dude in the track. Also, it mostly sticks to one rather regular sounding synth patch throughout, which makes for a lack of contrasts. Whenever a new element does take over for a bit (such as the ambientish bit at the start of track 3 or the 303-sounding synth used on track 6), it does grab my attention, but there aren't really many obvious moments like that.

 

The other issue I had has more to do with composition. Like I said, there is constant melodic development, but it all seems to be happening at a very fast, unrelenting pace. If one really focuses, it's clear that there is stuff going on, but otherwise it just sounds like a whole buncha notes going really fast. I think that's mostly to do with a lack of melodic rhythm. Pacing can go a long way towards making a melodic line memorable - think of how someone with no ear for music can, for example, go "dadada dada DA, da" & have it be recognizable as the Mario music (this doesn't work quite as well in text form). That's because a melody's beat can sometimes be just as important as (if not more than) the notes themselves. The constant note waterfall, combined with a lack of clear motifs, makes for a tune that's fairly difficult to get familiar with.

 

Anyway, I think all of those things I mentioned take away a lot of the dramatic for the track might have had. Like I said, when I pay close attention to the melody, there does seem to be a lot of stuff going on that should be really dynamic sounding. It's just snuffed by a few relatively minor issues.

 

 

 

Next up, I believe, is Aces, who seems to have a pretty big playlist, so it might take a bit to go through, but feedback from others in this thread make it sound like it should be pretty good stuff.

 

Cool thanks for the indepth criticism! It's so appreciated, is there anything of your's that you'd want looked at? I agree with a lot of what you said, especially since it's so fast paced... I've thought about making a version without percussion, and slowing down the really fast parts, maybe one day I'll re-release this as an ambient album. =D

[Cryptowen]

is there anything of your's that you'd want looked at?

I've only released a few tracks since my last album, which was a year ago & doesn't really sound much like the stuff I'm working on now, but it's always cool when people check out my SC page, recent tracks or not...

 

Anyway, still have a lot of things going on keeping me busy from this thread, but I pinky swear I'll have something up tomorrow.