by

Bryan Haquisaq
(Haquisaq)

There are soooo many latino fiesta style entries this year. At least it seems like there's alot. Anyway, this piece caught my attention right away with the opening, but nothing really is outstanding after that. The instruments don't live with each other, and they need a social life, so get them to meet each other, so they can sing in harmony. The drumming/percussion is very well done for the style, except it sounds a bit weird because you play one of them like a snare, a bit unrealistic. The brass samples need to be better, and more noticed. Good piece overall.

Wow, you don't hear much of this type of music on the scene. Good percussion, great rhythm and beat, carried well... that lead trumpet has GOT to go tho. Also, it would be nice if you had changed the bass progression before pattern 40... cool song overall tho. Fiesta!

Fascinating use of the drum set. Well lead into the muted trumpets. Still, the opening trumpets would have sounded better louder - then lowered back to the medium volume used in most of the song. Still, this congo song is very captivating and well tracked. I must also commend you on your trumpet skills. Very nice. But it would have been more impressive if they were (and easily could be) tracked instead of simply sampled. Still this song is amazingly captivating. Maybe it's just the magic of the congos :) But even with so much repetition, it never lost my interest.

Samples: The bass sounds inexcusably out of tune due to bad looping and it hurts the song badly. The brass lacked dynamics and could've used an envelope but the hits were good. Effects: Didn't see that many, and there was a bare minimum of instrument features in use. Composition: Some. Good lead-in on the bass except for the tuning. Subtlety: Not really top-class. Shaker (and the rest of the percussion, to a lesser extent) sounded a bit mechanical. Too-wide panning. Totally inhuman glissandos on the brass. Balance: Well-balanced ensemble, except the brass needed to be louder. Maybe just a bit too heavy on the bass end. Strong points: Different, active. Weak points: Crowded. Could improve: Don't play so many notes so close together at once, and try cutting potentially dissonant notes when you start new ones.

Latin dance, brasses nice style. I gaves some refreshness to whole sound. This guy knows that surround sound can put pathetic to song.

If I didn't know any better, I would be running for the nearest dance floor, brushing my shoes, and Salsa dancing like there is no tomorrow. You managed to hit a soft spot for me since I love music for dancing. There are other qualities to this song that would take away from it, but this style has not been tried very much in the tracker scene and I'm glad that it finally came out. Either I'm totally out of the loop, or things are just messed up, but I'll say it again: this is most definitely an original composition. Not a whole lot of music in the scene that I can put a finger on that would let this style of music burst forth. The song flows relatively well. However, it doesn't seem to go anywhere. Taking that one step further, it doesn't necessarily need to go anywhere for the purpose of this style. Conventional rules can be chucked out the window and a little originality is in order. It flows well. This song is also tracked very well. Panning is used decently without going nuts and it accomplishes the feel. Percussion isn't abrasive or not there at all, but right on in the mix. The samples, however, is where I start to notice some weird qualities. They are extremely muddy-sounding. Sometimes it's nice to not have crystal-clear samples, but these are way down there. If I had to come up with a single critisizm for this song, it would be the quality of the samples. Again, they don't need to be crystal clear, but some clarity would be required.

m6i-neof.it - Neofiesta ------------------------ Overall: The song comes with a latin rythm and mood. I alwys imagine a latin lover on a dancefloor when listening to this song. Originality: Actually I have not heard this kind of music in the tracked scene. So for originalty this one gets high points. Form: Very nice break are tracked into this song. But the lead melody goes under in the rest of the song. The lead sample somehow vanished among the other intruments and the dominating bass. Perhaps a different lead sound would have been better. Very nice if the progression of harmony throughout the song, which keeps the listener paying attention. The latin rythm was tracked nicely. Technique: Panning is used much in this song. It do not like the load bass and the silent lead sound, this must have been exactly the opposite. Sample: Somehow the samples remind me of the standard roland patch set. But they are well choosen for this kind of song. Point: 80

I liked the idea that was attempted, but I think it could have come out a bit better. The samples sounded too artificial and got annoying after a while, but it was interesting to listen to. Very nice bassline and percussion though.

The rhythm is too loud compared to the leads and horns. You've got this one bongo-like hit at the start of every measure that just really gets annoying--it's too loud and too invaried. Have you ever heard of the drummer called Buddy Rich? A lot of people consider him the best drummer of all time. But most professionals here his name and say "technically superior, but not a real musician". The rhtyhm in this song (which, I assume, is what got you to round two) reminds me of Buddy Rich. The complexity of the beat is admirable. But there are two major flaws: 1) it gets repeated endlessly, and 2) it gets repeated endlessly. :) Fancy tracking, but it would have been -really- impressive if you had put variation in there. The horns are well-written if a tad dry. Okay, to the scores. Your originality is slightly above average: it would have been much lower, but not many people would dare enter latin music in MC6, and that warrants a boost in originality. Form was the lowest score (below average), since the only variation in the whole song is the little key change around pattern 40. Your technique was pretty damn good. Like I said, fancy tracking. :) And samples were just as impressive--well chosen, well used. Overall, this song was certainly above average, but nothing to write home about.

Wosh !! I'm really impressed by such a work. This song sure deserves the first place. I like the bresilian style song. Maybe there is a lack of speed break but anyway, it's got a hapiness mood that goes through you when you listen to the music. You know how to use many channels and mix them together and that's quite difficult. Regarding your samples, they are just perfect (especially the piano & percussion) although one ot two reminds me Purple Motion 'Lolipop' thing (but if i remember well, it was a fast compo with given samples to everybody, so....)