by

Jonathan monk
(monk)

I wonder if it is more than mere coincidence that almost everything that was declared as a compositional "no-no" by the MC6 Organizers, was used in this piece. 1) drum loops should be used sparingly - this piece not only used loops quite heavily, they were off-speed so they completely ruined what was decent about the song... 2) samples? uhmm.. I heard at least 1 sample from "Inside-out" (by PM) which I know has been overused by everyone, myself included.. of course, its only like 5 years old :). 3) arpeggiating triads in the most common progression on the planet is not something I would expect from a competition tune, let a piece that's on an "intermediate" level.. even changes, such as at time 00:57, when the "progression" is just repeated a few steps lower did nothing to impress me.. As for positive notes, the structure/form of the tune was relatively stable and clean.. I hate to be harsh but all in all, this is not the kind of tune I would expect from anyone on an intermediate tracking level, and especially not from anyone who can read the basic 'guidelines' from MC6 organizers as far as competition entries are concerned...

I gave you a high 'form' rating because your tune is one extra-gorgeous tune. I marked you down in the 'sample' because the sample 6 - arpeggios- has very low-budget-casio feeling.

There's WAY too much hard-panning (panning channels full-left/right) in this song. It switches key at random points. The melody's quite pretty at times, granted, but the general sound of the song is very jumbled and cluttered. The chord structure seems to have little variety. The drum loop isn't in time with the song; there's a discernible hitch at the end of it when it starts again. Most of the time, it's like all the partys of this song are fighting with each other to be heard. You really need to work on your mixing. On the positive side, your samples all seem to be tuned well.

Well, I dunno, personally I find the whole song do sound kinda cheesy, kinda lame, kinda dull. I think that it is the samples; like the really mushy synth. So make sure to avoid that in the future.

Intro builds up way too quickly; eccentric chord progression. Cymbals overrused. From order 4, the lead in channels 6 and 7 is (deliberately) out of time in places which ruins it somewhat. Order 14, channels 15 and 16 - the Lizardking drum loop sounds out of place, out of time, and is doubled up for some strange reason (yes, just make the sample louder to increase its volume with ALT-M in Impulse Tracker, instead of wasting yet another channel if you're panning it centrally). The chord progression in a lot of the piece consists entirely of transpositions which just makes the tune sound stale and without flow. Things I like: your panning, your ear (the notes all seem to be in tune) and your mixing. Things I don't like: your chord progressions, your choice for some samples, and your desire to keep elements of the tune going on throughout the piece (the lead from the intro) even when they become old and need shutting up. Average, but develop your tunes more - try to avoid being so overjoyed with a musical idea you've found that you repeat it - granted, in varied form - through the rest of your track.