by

Fabrice heatseeker
(heatseeker)

The artist did a nice job creating a moody atmosphere, but I felt that it was missing something that could have taken the song to the edge. About a minute and a half into the song I was expecting a change that never came. The song basically faded in and faded out without ever peaking. The artist did a good job of getting my attention, but once the song kept going I found it hard to stay focused with it. (kinda of like a person lecturing in monotone) Perhaps at Order 12 a more pronounced beat could have helped and a slight thown in lead could have aided the artist's effort to develop a solid theme.

Another cheesy string intro. :\ Too bad, 'cause I like the phasing string and the beat is most excellent (!)... And the bass is sleek... very cool. You use one string sample as a kind of "bleepie" (you only play the first half a second of the sample, off in the last few channels), and it sounds slightly flat, and don't add much... It might have worked better with a seperate sample. The lead is most awesome, though. I love the rhythm of it (slow, uncomplicated--works with the piece), and the sample is unique and well-suited to the style. This song is a nice mix between ambient and energetic. Great samples ('cept those flat bleepies), good quality (the verb on that rim shot is a bit too wet, though)... everything's soft and works well... The right samples are 16-bit, too, which is a rare thing nowadays... You might have accomplished the same song in a few less channels, with some work, but all in all, I think this song is worth it. Decent track.

you have studio sound, not studio talent. definitely a veteran composition quality, but doesn't really catch me as anything new or original. form: okay.. but nothing to write home about. it didn't really catch my attention. it needed more of a "hook". the leads weren't well planned out or different. technique: breakbeats were stock and standard. i prefer them cut-up and original. they weren't. hard panning was a little hard on the ears. samples were nicely done. your selection was good, and clear sounding. i especially liked the bass and chord layers. i liked the stereo panned snare. your breakbeat was typical, but at least it wasn't just one repeating loop.

Ahh, the last song I have to rate. Ok here goes... The pads sound nice, but I can hear some noise (maybe distortion?). When the drums come in it becomes pretty much unnoticeable. I like the low filtered sound. Now at order 12 the song is still using the same chords but is building (probably just reaching the climax of the song now). There's some dissonance at orders 16 and 17 which seems to resolve, and it comes back again at orders 23 and 24. For form I can't rate you real high since the song doesn't change much most of the way through. Technical use of the samples is nothing spectacular here, but you did have a nice mix going throughout. The samples are not especially noteworthy. I have trouble rating the originality category, but I like the feel here and I haven't heard many songs that sound like this so I'll rate you well in originality.

Closing part near the end, where most everything drops off was a nice counterbalance with the volume difference from the rest of the song. This song sounds like it took lessons from the radio, in that the beat and guitars seem to follow my view of the current alternative radio....Solid veteran effort, but lacking enough change and variance to put it at or near the top of my list.