by

Kristian pianoman
(pianoman)

Old samples, panning that looks like an old stereo s3m has been loaded and fiddled with. You're not a Purple Motion fan, by any chance? perhaps partial to a track named "Aquaphobia"? No, you *didn't* hide those samples too well, did you? :) Okay, lets ignore that for now. The melody is decent. That panning needs to be addressed - these days, there's just no excuse for hard-panning a track like this. This track definitely has a strong PM influence, so it's not gonna win any originality awards anytime soon. Ending on that shrill synth lead isn't good form. However, the bassline, melody and percussion do seem well executed. Like I said, tho, too PM-like. You need to try to develop your own style.

This song captures the future crew era demo music sound well. The introduction is very good immediately catching your attention. It has good variation throughout. The transitions between parts are done well. One problem is that some of the higher pitched string instruments sound a bit out of tune, vibrato might have been able to be used to alleviate this. Another problem is the ending which just does a boring fade out. One other slight problem the overall image is just a tad muddy. A wider frequency range on the instruments or perhaps more fixed instead of variable panning might be able to fix it.

Nice use of synths in this traditional synthy tune. This song has some nice climaxing and good funky base. However, the left-right-left-right panning takes away a lot from the piece. Also, the slow-down at order 26-31 is much needed, but it would be nice to see some more creativity in this part.

Originality - Yep, it's original all right. Sounds like New Wave or for a cool futuristic video game. Form - I like it. The beginning starts up pretty quick. The string backgrounds are really great, as well as the bassline and the drums. Hey! The whole thing is cool. It's relaxing in some parts, yet stimulating in other parts. The quicker sounding melodies might go good with a "Megaman(R)" Techno world :). I can't come up anything that detracts from it. Technique - Masterful. Are you sure you're not a Veteran in disguise? :) Panning, Volumes, (heck) _Everything_ is superb. Sample Quality - Very very good. I wish I could make samples like these :). Overall - This song does not disappoint me at all. It is really cool. I will probably comtinue to listen to this even after the competition.

Correct me if I am wrong, but it seems like you are a big fan of Skaven's, and rest assured, there are a plenty of those. Still, there is no point in not using volume envelopes or NNAs. The panning is too wild in my opinion. Happily, you even managed to put something of your own in there. Use of sampled chords must take down your score, but not very much since you still manage some voicing with them. Some good mood changes, but the parts are too irrelevant. To evolve into a veteran, you must be less a clone and more yourself.