by

Brian Caos
(Caos)

If this wasn't a rookie tune the score would be like, in the 30-45 range, but since Im assuming that the author hasnt been doing this for very long I left the score at what seems appropriate.. First off, the progression is so overused and typical that it literally kills the song itself.. had different, a little more varying/abstract progressions been used, the instrumentation (which for this style was pretty good) and panning (which was OK), the song would be top-notch.. the form was a little repetitive in that a bridge was desperately needed around 2:45 into the song... I really can't say it enough: everything from the drums->bass->melody is unoriginal which brought the score down a lot... Although these comments may seem a little rough, kudos to the author if this truly is "one of their first" since the tracking skill and form in the piece is pushing intermediate levels...

Interesting sample choices. (First thing I noticed.) They're very clear and they all fit together. Nice job in that department--that's often half the battle in writing modules. Technically, this piece isn't bad, either. You make full use of the tracker, though effects are sparse... Still, not bad for a rookie. Artistically, this is an above-average song, too... There are a few problems (like the clap-snare, which is... well... lame), but overall you seem to be an accomplished composer, too. In fact, the only thing I have to complain about is just that I didn't -like- the music... It's a little too repetative, and it's too happy-go-lucky for my tastes... But I can't mark down for that. The opening and ending are weak, too: they don't add much, and don't say anything (the song just kind of starts with the progression, and ends with a little fade). A nice entry from a rookie. I just wish you'd put your efforts into something darker. :)

*File Specs* [Additional vote] ... [Filename]m6r-htbu.xm [Title]Happy to be with you [General comment]A happy tune.... not an original concept but the key-progression is nice. What you should whatch when composing is to tighten up instrumental release-scale, it looks like you have a wide timbre while your instruments hardly fade away. This makes a song sound very synthetic and loose and hardly shows any virtuosity in instrumental arrangements. There are no cut breaks and hardly volume disciplines used. The repetoire is nice, the beat is commercial in my humble opinion but that was rock and roll for somewhat 40 years ago too (i still find rock and roll primitive :)).Your songdepth is okay and your structure is variating.

Hakuna Matata? (: So we have a nice, mellow intro of a song so far. Fascinating changes from major to minor chords. The samples seem to fit in very well so far. Except for one sample that just came in that sounded just a little to powerful on the side of abrasive to fit in with the mood that you are setting so far. When the drums go out, let them go out with a bang. The run down with the tom drums is an excellent idea, but make sure that you accent the fact that the drums are leaving the picture with a crash or a bass drum on the very beginning of the next pattern. All in all this is a nice mood song. Add just a little vibrato to your flute samples and they will sound just a shade more on the side of 'fuller'.

Pretty good in terms of theme, organisation, instrumentation, panning, and memory usage. The "problem" areas lie mostly in volume balancing. The strings are way too loud as they drown out everything else, the piano is too quiet to be playing the lead here. The percussion is barely noticeable. Take any CD of modern dance music and check out a graphic EQ of it and also sample about 20 secs of it in some kind of visual waveform editor like CoolEdit or Sound Forge. You'll notice that the bass instruments are given serious boost as well as the snares/claps. For leads and vocals, they are also given a little bit of a boost to make them stand out. (As a result I didn't even notice you had a bell instrument until the 3rd listening.) Good job!