by

Ian Grumpchkin
(Grumpchkin)

This tune would have been promising given more experience, and less guess work. Panning is all over the place no clear logical motive behind it. Chords are roughly composed. Use of bass sample for melody is not a good idea. Maybe an octave lower perhaps. The one redeeming feature of this piece is it's change! There is sufficient tempo and rhythm change to suggest that this composer given some experience and a better ear, will do quite well in the future. The chord progressions were relatively structured , more to the minor 12 bar blues than anything (ie Amin, Dmin Amin, E7, Dmin, Amin). So the composer has some musical background? I think also that this tune could have used another lead besides the piano. I'm supprised at the small number of samples used here! Although this is good that the composer doesn't over burden the tune with samples, it does feel a little empty. Big plus for effort as no one part of this song sounds like it is repeating!

The idea for this song was ok, but it didn't much help this song, because your technique wasn't very good. The drums, especially the bassdrum, were awful. I didn't like them at all. The bassmelodies could've been better and more complicated. They were too simple, and the bass was in too big part in this song. You should have used more pannings, and more samples in the song. You can't make a very good song with only 5 samples...

Well at least the composer tried to use the stereo "feature". It's not complex but not bad at all. The music "flow" isn't always as I expected (a little illogical). The piano sample is very noisy. Note that some samples really need a 16bit resolution, and others don't need 'em at all. Sorry for this VERY short comment but I just realised that the actual deadline is at Sun 10/8 00:00 GMT instead of Sun 10/8 24:00 GMT! I'm terrible sorry.

You got me there, the guitar pluck in the beginning didn't exactly drag me into the tune, but then the drumbeat and pianoline dragged me into the it, and I must confess that I was pleasantly surprised by the final result. Admitedly there are a few flaws (like when it's changing between parts, not as smooth as I'd have wanted to), but you definitely should try to use a nice rimshot inbetween and this tune absolutely screams for duel between the piano and a harmonica. Still, good job :)

Some nice ideas with panning and rythm. The sound, however, is too hollow. As it is, harmony works well enough in this limited mix. You seem to know your limits and not try too much, which is quite good, in fact. I think this song would be better if you used some pad samples in the background. Also try to track your piano with some volume variance, like you already do with the drums. This song even has some kind of structure, even if the main melody is a bit unclear. Worthy effort.