by

Joakim Maim
(Maim)

Not really much to this song and nothing really fits in. The drum loop comes and goes without a purpose never to return. The strings are nice enough but there is nothign backing them and no lead to enhance them untill the end. A song can't be just srtings and a drumbeat or else the listener will get bored. The panning was annoying instead of enhancing. Samples were ok, you just need to work on some kind of goal for a song, it just can't sit there and drone which is what the piece ended up doing. It was short so that aspect was good, at least you it didn't pretend it was something it wasn't. The title is a bit obscure nd pointless as well.

Wow-from the samples I was expecting minimal tune. One thing to watch is volume balance--the chords were WAY too loud and the panning was a bit rough for my headphones... The rhythm would have worked better if the hihat sample was quieter...trying to play the same note as the loop's hihat would have worked if you wanted to break up the loop with some synchopation. Oh, and NEVER EVER put just a channel full of C-4 or C-5 hihats! That sounds so boring to most people. Spice it up with volume fluctuations, offset commands, (Oxx) and echo. Also it helps to pan your hihats--either realistically (as in the open and closed hihat come from the same place and don't play simultaneously) or synthetically (more popular in techno genres--to have them panned to opposite sides). The chords were nice but it's better to put the eighth on the lower note (like this: A-4 C-5 E-5 A-5), not like you had it (A-4 C-5 E-5 E-6). (Octaves changed.) It seemed that the tune needed depth...a nice thumping synthbass might have worked.

Well, two 4-chord chord progressions, two drum lines, a few samples, a thing that can hardly be identified as "melody", what shall I say... This is definitely not enough to make a song of it, and it's even more definitely not enough to also release this. Better exercise tracking a LONG time before sending another tune of yours out into this cold, hard world. Please.

Monotony and simplicity, that's what you meant, OK, but that kind of song should be longer than 2,5 minutes. Have you run out of ideas? There's so much to do! Adding a bassline and a solo for example. Anyway, I liked it (especially the strings), but it's too short, too short!

pleasant to listen to, strings blend well, percussion is somewhat interesting. a bit repetitive, but overall nice.

[originality:] Not easy to judge the originality of this tune. It was pretty bare. If anything, this tune seemed inspired for its chord progression but not much else. [form:] The big fat chords have promise, but shadow the tiny, repetitive percussion that underlies it. Much work is needed in this tune in controlling those chords - they are out of control! (volume is too loud; panning is TOO even; changes are abrupt). The drum loop at the beginning half is weak and doesn't really fit the mood the strings are trying to convey. The percussion in the second half is very mechanical and repetitive, forcing the listener to ignore the percussion and focus on the strings, which are bubbling slightly on the surface with potential, waiting for more experience to help unleash it. With a lot of work, this tune can turn into something really cool. [technique:] Not a lot going into the overall style here; the strings are too loud, abrupt, and repetitive. (this has crippled the style of the piece) (see above) [sample quality:] Good strings. The perc loop is grainy and distant. The bass drum in second part of the tune is dwarfed by the huge strings and sharp, overzealous hihats.