by

Alex Akuma Pan
(Akuma Pan)

While being a complete song with a definite intro, ending, and all the stuff in the middle, there's nothing particularly stellar about the song, so I'll have to give you an solid "average" score. The samples you picked are nice and clean, the panning controls are about average, and the melody is about average---not catchy but not annoying. What would it take to boost the score? I can think of: 1) use more "odd" instruments (use maybe a phased tine piano instead of your straight electric piano?), 2) pop in a catchy melody and use it over and over again tweaking it a little each iteration, 3) adding in vocals or off-beat samples to fill out the background, 4) play more of the theme of the song to the song title (sorry, but I didn't feel any fear in this song), 5) take advantage of key changes or more interesting chord structures (you seem to only cycle between 3 chords all the time), 6) vary the volume intensity of your instruments (everything seems to have a flat volume. Not bad but not great. Cool.

Nice, catchy chiptune-like intro, little repetitive. Too much high frequen- cies later on. Weak basses. Sounds squeaky and void. Chords are good but their pannings/transitions aren't good, I'd recommend some porta/volume work- arounds. Simple drumline, annoying background tracks. The title (not scored, but mentioned) have no connection with the tune - the atmosphere wasn't created. Outro is... eh, smacked a little. Samples are good and nearly in-tune. Overally - too repetitive and hollow (due to hi freq.).

This song is a great case study in module mediocrity. Let me explain. As a composer, you definitely show promise, here. There are a few great musical ideas here... I love the way the melodies overlap and layer themselves--they form a great texture. But there are three things that really hurt this song. And these are three very common problems, so I'll cover them in some deapth, here. First (and most notable): samples. You've got the right idea in choosing the samples that you did... They're all synthesized, and you make no pretense that any of the instruments should be accoustic. This was wise. But there's two minor problems with the samples. They're generic, for one. Overused, even. The first sample (the piano) sounds like it's straight out of SimCity. It's sounds like FM-synthesis. You need a richer sample, there. Sample 10 (the ghosty string) is -way- too common. Go to MAZ's Sound Tools and buy his CD, and replace those two samples. Okay, the second problem with the samples is that they don't blend very well. This is a problem that's harder to put your finger on, but the basic idea is to process all of your samples in some way--just once, and not heavily... But just enough to make them all sound like they're from the same source. Adding something like a "warm room" reverb (at a very low level) is a great way to accomplish this. Equalizing all of your samples is another. It adds some consistency to the song. Alright, then, second major problem with the song is the rhythm. The focus of this song is definitely melodic, yes, but the rhythm you build later in the song just doesn't add much. It's too bland. Too predictable. Some suggestions: loose the clap. For one, I hate claps. I don't clap to songs, and I don't expect a song to clap for me. It's a silly thing to use as a snare. This is a nice electronic piece, you should have kept with the theme and used some kind of noise-snare... Maybe a generic 303 sample, if you want to keep it simple, but I'd like to hear something almost industrial as the snare... A distant metalic tap. And it shouldn't always hit on the 2 and 4 beats (rather generic). Lastly, and I'm almost sick of saying this because SO many people did it but... DON'T use a snare creschendo! ;) It says "I'M A DANCE TUNE! HATE ME!". Don't do that to your song. Sticking with the electronic nature of this piece, I would go with a string for the build, or, as a last resort, a reverse cymbal. So, arr you ready for the final problem with the song? Hope so. This is the SINGLE most common problem with music in the scene today, and with most music in general, actually: ONE THEME. Let's say that again: "ONE THEME". Very bad. "Fear" (which, by the way, doesn't seem like an appropriate title, but who cares?) is based on one pattern, almost. (Around pattern 13 you start using a little chord-tapping that's fresh, but that doesn't count for much.) I mean that cool introductory theme is used almost through the entire song. And those cool synthy tines, too. And the chord progression. And the 'lead' (which you even repeat with a second instrument). All of this screams "COPY/PASTE", which is a hard habit to get out of, but it's the key to great music. To improve "Fear", you should develop a radically different theme, and have it intermingle with this one. Let the two forces tug and push at each other, giving and taking, and developing some real music. Alright, enough of that. I have one more thing to say: "Tangerine Dream". I'm not sure if you listen to this group often or at all, but this song sounds like it came from TaDream's studios (but was scraped for the above problems). In fact, I'd go so far as to say this sound like late-eighties TaDream. Like it was from a ghost album printed right before "Melrose" and "Lily on the Beach". I love TaDream. Consequently, I really enjoyed this song. If you don't listen to Tangerine Dream, go out right now and buy everything they released (especially the two albums mentioned here). I think you'll find their music is like your own. There's one difference, though, and that's what I've already mentioned: they intermingle themes. I can't think of any song they've written that didn't have two distinct themes (if it was any good). :) One strength you do seem to have that TaDream does, too, is flow. You make -excellent- use of new hihat lines... Using subtle rhythm to move the song along and break it up into sections. That's a wonderful skill, and you should really focus on it. Anyway. That's it. Keep at it. (I hope this comment was longer than Beek's!!!) :D

The first few seconds of this song are excellent. This is a great chord progression, and it is backed up well by the bass (yes! sufficient volume on the bass.. very nice) The intro hihats are perfect.. but might do better with a bit more variation with its rhythm.. You also might want to back up each new bass note with a bass drum. Later on in what still seems the intro, you add another instrument (order 5, channel 13).. This is good (since it adds variation) but could use a little bit of echo. Also, very excellent use of the piano in channel 14. I only notice that it is there when I mute it (that's a good thing :). The very nice melody you've had going on channel 1 is not so good anymore (by order 8 or so) -- needs more variation! In order 8 you mix in nice sounding pads (channels 15 and 16) .. but this creates a problem.. The bass is now a bit drowned out, and doesn't sound as powerful or reenforcing as it once did in earlier orders. Perhaps you could a) turn down the volume of the pads and anything else that is not 'bassy' or b) turn up the bass.. When Order 12 comes around and you take out the hihats, this produces a nice effect.. But this fades as you throw in a synth riff and take out the original channel-1 melody in order 14. I was expecting a break into something with a bit more groove, with the hihats returning (and hopefully more, regarding drums), an actual bassline (not just a bunch of one-note bass sustains) and an exciting melody. But now that you've thrown in this, interest begins to fade in the song.. Is this WHOLE song an intro? Order 15, you start fading in the drums again, only to reveal a repetative and somewhat boring drumline. Shortly after, you return with the same original melody from what I thought was the intro (channel 1) but use a different sample (acid sweep-like). The mixing is decent, however the bass still could use a bit of boosting. I don't know how many times now I've expected some sort of major climax to approach and hit me.. But each time I've been let down. At least a key change would break its repetitiveness.. In the intro you use the same two chords over and over again, and in the next section, you use the same three chords over and over again, and then go back to the two-chord repetition. Blegh! Watch cliches. Snare crescendos (order 17). These are used so often in these dancey, technoish songs. Don't give in to the ease of using such an overused transition. Your drum / open hihat drum pattern leaves much to be desired and, it could also benefit from the use of a few simple drum fills at the end of every pattern or so. As for panning, you make nice use of Impulse Tracker's panning envelopes, but this isn't the kind of panning that makes en excellent song. I don't know if the lack of 'real' panning was not used out of fear, or out of lack of knowledge, but aside from the panning envelopes used on a few instruments, the tune might as well be mono! Listen to a few songs to get a feel for how your panning should be. Obviously you don't want something like the bass all the way on the left channel, but you have to pan! Pan a bass drum a little to the right, and put the cymbals a little on the left. As for pads, you could pan them all over the place but make sure they 'balance' out, or, if you wish, pan them a bit to the one side and put things like the riff on pattern 16, channels 18 & 19 to the opposite side of the pads. These are all simple panning suggestions that I've seen used (and used myself) in many songs.. Before the conclusion, I'd like to say this: The melody at the very end is GREAT! .. BUT .. it appears at the end, and fades out! This is extremely annoying because of the fact that 1) it is such a great melody, and 2) you could've put this in earlier.. Throughout the piece I've wanted some sort of break away from its repetitiveness, but never. When I heard this, I was writing comments and didn't know that in Impulse Tracker, it was the ending, and when I realized that it was the end, not too long after, I couldn't help but wonder why you didn't throw it in earlier. And it's a shame. The song by itself has several nice aspects, and uses some nice tracker techniques: Pattern 23, channel 4, nice strings with volume stutter.. Could use a bit of echo, especially seeing that you have quite a few previousy used but now empty channels. Also, nice use of mixing the shaker and the hihat in the intro to produce that hihat effect. However, the lack of variation and originality doesn't help your song all that much. The mixing was decent (the bass could've been louder at times, as I previously mentioned). The samples were of nice quality (nice reverb on the open hihat and snare), although I think I've seen some of these samples before. The thing is, this song could be really excellent without even writing a whole new section for it (or adding an amazing melody layered over a groovy phat bassline).. It could benefit from some simple variation. Subtle to grand, from the hihat riffs to a key change. I'm not sure if you spent a great deal of time here, as these repetition problems begin to show more and with each listen.

Nice build-up. Catchy repetition. Cookie-cutter beat (very standard). Your climaxes could be more powerful. Try building up tension more and then releasing it with power. The change right at the end caught my interest and could have been worked into the song earlier if you had wanted to. Simply trim the earlier idea down (it needs this anyway, more compact, more streamlined, more to-the-point). Samples are OK. The song overall seemed too slow for this idea . The beat seemed like it wanted to be around 135-140 bpm. Would have been more natural (and would have allowed more room for for song eg. that last idea). Overall nice melodic idea that loses impetus because it is used too much. Song needs another idea, more speed, more power (more contrast between climaxes and lows). Not too bad.