Review the track(s) above you

[v.lossity]

@Dr. Plague when I said atonal I mean that I cant easily tell that its in a particular key. As for your second track, I like this one a lot better, however I still feel that your lead sometimes does not adhere to a key. This isn't necessarily wrong, and could very well be intentional, dubstep does it all the time. Good stuff though, nice groove.

@Alycs First thing. I am on headphones, so having the kick and all the percussion all on the left side is bothering me to no end! Ah! Easy fix though Yeah, and along the lines of what LFP said, I would like to hear something different to keep the listeners interest. Breakdowns, new voices, big changes on current voices, whatever. Also, I love when the drums speed up around four minutes, Id like to hear more of that. This is a good track, good job

@LFP This track is really good. I really like the groove and the way that when you do a breakdown its never straightforward. Its exciting when you expect the beat to come back in, and it doesnt right away. I love that tension I also like how you broke up the main theme with a few different little slow sections. They were well timed and well done. On the other hand, I feel like you should have changed the theme up or varied it somehow. After 5 and a half minutes of it, it seemed to get a bit old. Maybe swap up some notes, syncopate some rhythms, maybe switch which voices play which part, I dunno. Anyways, this was a great track. I love the bass. Lots of subtlety and movement that kept my attention.

Here is my track. Its my first orchestral track and my second track ever. This is a WIP. All I have done is composing and one quick round of mixing. I haven't ever done mixing on orchestra, so I want to do some reading before I wade too far into that.

Its supposed to be a remix of this song by JWoodony: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1CJgwySlN4

Here is my remix: https://soundcloud.com/v-lossity/iprincesscelestia-wip

I would love all kinds of feedback about this. It is by no means perfect, but I want to get it there

[vladnuke]

@v.lossity: ok, so lotsa strings n' brass, but where's the rest of the band? I'd mix the horns to have a bit more bass, more presence. and at times the strings fall back hard, but they sound like they're getting eaten by the horns, too many elements in the same range.

I'd bring the samples up to the intro, let the whole point come across sooner, rather than wait two minutes to pull it out. Maybe add in more show samples/personal vocals?

Also you kinda lost all the flow of the original, this is more of a reprise than a remix, you lost the drums, which were the best part.

and mixing anything is like mixing anything, let your ears do the work.

turntechGodhead @DJ NTD: your track is pretty boring
turntechGodhead: work on getting more elements in your song and a melody
turntechGodhead: or a rapper
turntechGodhead: i only picked yours because you have john in your profile pic

anyway, here's something im done working on. What can i do better for the next track?
https://soundcloud.com/vladnuke/one-hope-remains-remix

[v.lossity]

@vladnuke Thanks for the feedback! Ill definitely look at the balance and voicings and see if I can get the strings and brass to sit better together. As for the rest of the orchestra, I just dont have plugins for other stuff yet, so i had to work with what I had :/ And you are right it didnt really end up being a remix, but Im okay with that.
As far as your track goes, Id like to hear less of a wall of bass. I like a bass that moves around, rests, and is generally more dynamic. I did like your use of all the laughing samples though Around 2:15 it seemed like that high lead was a bit off of the rest of the song rhythm-wise.

[Dr. Plague]

Okay, first of all, the overall feel of the track is pretty good. The instruments seem to go together fairly well (except for maybe the synth you used for the melody, that seemed a little... 'displaced'... I would have used a sawtooth lead personally). Up until 0.33, I loved the beat you had going as well.

Sawtooth lead. Duly noted. Legitimately, it's stuff like that that I need advice on. Just something as simple as that. Thanks!

After that, it seemed that the piece became a little arrhythmic and atonal. As you were saying that you were aiming for a melody and trying to get away from the atonality, I'm going to focus on that for a little bit. Around 0.35, right after the synth came in, there was a measure that went out of the key signature that had been hinted at in the opening bars.

I unfortunately will have to admit that I have 0 musical theory knowledge. Keys, scales... I've been procrastinating on learning all that, and everything's starting to really pile up against me that I need to learn that.

So what exactly do you mean by that, the measure that went out of key? Was it the extra notes I added to make parts of the lead chords? (Bare with my simplistic wording, haha.)

Maybe instead of trying to just go with it, set up a key you're going to stay in, and then make sure you stay within that range for the most part. Otherwise, it ends up sounding very atonal and disjointed. However, if you want to go for that feel, then there are some more rules you have to follow, one of which is to stick to few key rhythmic themes.

Nope, haha, wasn't going for that feel at all. That's just my lack of knowledge showing through. :P

I felt that you had a pretty good introduction theme going around 0.40, but if you're trying to make a piece with a distinctive feel, you might want to add either one or more themes in that line. (One way to do this quickly is take the individual measures and switch them around; so 1-2-3-4 becomes 4-2-3-1) Just giving a few more variations on a theme can do wonders for a piece. (I noticed the variation at 3.00 and loved it, if you could have added something like that earlier, it would have been great)

Wait, what exact variation are you talking about? Is it the Buzzsaw (I only know how to really describe it with its name, haha; it's a preset that I kind of messed around with) lead there?

And for switching around the measures, you mean for the lead, yeah?

Next, I thought this piece had an amazing drop around 1.54, but I felt the one at 1.00 was a little lacking, and the bass was really wet. It just needed something extra to make it sound less like "noise" and more like an actual bassline. Maybe adjust the wet-dry on the preset or add a separate instrument.

My reasoning for that (and I'm not trying to argue with your advice or anything; I really do appreciate everything) is that I just figured the first drop is always supposed to be less intense than the following ones.

And yeah, that was the first real growl bass I ever made (in Sytrus). It wasn't what I was going for, but I liked the sound and figured it sounded enough like some kind of demonic bark to constitute basing the theme of the song around it, and thus I arrived at "Cerberus".

To be honest, I just can't get growl basses in Sytrus right. I need to work on practicing that a lot more before I implement them in songs, I suppose. :P

On whole though, I thought that the song was quite good; it has a few issues, but is defiantly well on its way to a nice piece.

For the sake of taking my dad's advice and not hanging on to something and being wishy-washy about it (my words, not his), I'm basically done with this track. I just need to take the lessons from it and improve on my technique for future songs.

That being said, of course, I, again, appreciate everything you helped with. Thanks loads. :D

And here's my track. I would love critique and reviews, as I've been teaching myself for almost half a year and would like some input.
https://soundcloud.com/alycs/the-hour-of-twilight

Oh shit, LMMS, huh? I started with LMMS but it wasn't quite simple enough for me to just pick up, which is why I moved to FLS. I'm looking forward to going back to it someday. :D

Anyway, the actually important things:

Well, first, why do you have all the percussion panned to the left? It's an interesting effect for an intro, I'd say, but for the whole song, it makes it feel a little... disjointed? I mean, yeah, in metal, you'd have one guitar in one ear, the other in the other, some older forms of metal and rock even having bass guitar panned more to one ear and the single lead guitar in the other... but I've never heard drums like that.

Otherwise, I can't really find anything to complain about... everything fit together fantastically. This isn't really a genre I can comment on, honestly. My tastes fall in more of the EDM ranges, if you hadn't already gathered. :P But, keeping that in mind, it held my interest, which is saying a lot more than it sounds.

Okay first of all I'd recommend to either use different instances of your song and EQ them individually, or use velocities to get some more prominent notes in there, it's hard to hear at some parts and adding velocities etc would give some more variation, make it more living.
Overall I'd say it's very repetitive, the same kind of melody and sound feels like its repeated over and over again, I can hear that you put in some variation in there, but it simply isn't enough.
I'd advice you to look up on some song structuring, analyze your favorite song 'how is it structured', look up tutorials etc.

I'm tempted to use my inexperience as a crutch for the repetitiveness, but I know better than that. Duly noted, and especially the (heh, repeated) advice to learn music theory. That's advice I can't go on ignoring~.

(And most of my favorite songs are metal, which is structured so differently from most electronica... It kills me trying to balance my influences.)

Thanks for the advice, though, I definitely appreciate it. :)

Oh and here's mine :3
http://soundcloud.com/lfp-music/deadlocked-1

Ooh, I like so far. I'm not sure if I agree with the contrast between the growls and the melodic lead, but that's just a personal preference, so yeah.

I'm probably gonna have to steal Alycs's words and say that your growl sounds a little too wet, too, though not in the same way he was describing mine, I think. It just sounds... idk, like if it was an actual animal growling, like it had its mouth full? Shit, I don't know if that's even the right way of describing it.

I do like the growls, though. Very similar to Seamless's stuff (but I'm not calling you unoriginal!), which is all amazing.

[Xane]

I suppose now I'll ask people to check out a track I actually did put a melody in (or, at least, that should have a melody...).

https://soundcloud.com/plaguedr/cerberus?in=plaguedr/sets/fls-3

The lead in your track doesn't seem to "fit" into the whole atmosphere. The groove of the track is nice, but I personally feel your gruff synths could be a bit more powerful. I'm not exactly sure what you're going for here, so that could be intentional; but if it were me, I'd at least bump up the volume of the synths in the overall mix.

Now, if you don't mind, here's a little remix I did I'd love to get some constructive criticism on.
https://soundcloud.com/xane-music/callum-j-parker-ft-alana-lilly

[ChromeDash]

Xane:
when the vocals come in, there is a chord progression that has four changes. The forth implied chord doesn't seem to follow the tonality of the vocal melody, and causes an unappealing dissonance. The pad you use is nice and full. The chorus, for lack of a better word, cause I don't really know a lot about this musical style, is really nice as far as structure and punch.

Dr. Plague:
That transition was neat! Needs more low end, I think. More bassy, more kicky. It's a pretty crazy track. The watery sounds and effects are kind of distracting to me. That transition at 3:42 was nice too, but I still think you should get a sub that copies the bass part in terms of panning and cutoff.


Now, here's something of mine that I made a few weeks ago. I posted it in another solo thread, but I want some good feedback on it, so please tell me what you think, either there or here.

https://soundcloud.com/chrome_dash/that-wall-instrumental

The thumbnail's not showing up. Wat do!?

[Xane]

ChromeDash: Thanks for the review of my remix. I thought my chords didn't really go with the vocals, but I was a bit rushed with the whole project. I'll go and redo it and make sure it fits the vocal melody.
Yes, what you're referring to is a chorus.

As for your track, it had be bouncing in my chair and swaying from side-to-side (I'm listening and swaying as I write this.) It would be a big help if the vocals were on the track, so we could get a full idea of what you're making; but I really like the instrumental! I want to hear the full track!

[Paianni]

Here's a Trance/House number I just finished (haven't learnt the difference between those two genres) . The SoundCloud description is below should anyone need it for reference (or even to comment about).

"After a year and a half of development, I've finally released this track. I intended it to be a Rainbow Dash piece but at the last minute I decided that the atmosphere was just a bit too much for her, so the theme is now Panzer Dragoon."

Unfortunately SoundCloud has really butchered the sound quality of the drums, but the rest of it is how I intended.

http://soundcloud.com/paspie/making-an-impression-final

[v.lossity]

@Paspie you forgot to review a track before posting yours

[Paianni]

@Paspie you forgot to review a track before posting yours

Except that there wasn't any tracks on the post above mine, so there.

EDIT: Actually, I do have a few comments about Xane's track, which I played a little of just out of interest. Personally, I found it conforming it a little too much to what is expected of the genre, with very little originally I could make out. Maybe I should listen to the whole thing though.

[Alycs]

@XANE - Galaxy Remix:
I really liked this piece. As Chrome said, it the fourth chord (sounds maybe like a 7dim?) doesn't quite fit being played twice. Rather than just cutting it out, it actually would have been really nice if (supposing it is a 7dim) you perhaps played one arpeggio and then followed it up with a Perfect 5, this way you can make a faux Dom7-PerfectDom-Tonic Progression. Other than that one gripe, I thought the song was excellent, the pads were nice and full, and you did a good job with filling all the Frequencies.
(Final Note: The bridge's instrumentals could maybe use a different instrument in the back to fill it and distinguish its 'bridgy-ness')


@Chrome - That Wall:
I really loved the rhythm and a theme-melody of this song. It, too, had be swaying back and forth in my seat (still is, as I'm playing it again). Critques: It could have used another, completely different melody set that could have been interchanged with the one you already had to make it sound a little more varied. Also, I loved how you did the piano! It actually sounded like something you would play on piano; not monothemeatic, but with "two hands"; however, I feel like it could have been continued as an undertone for the entire song (softly, only slightly noticeable, but still there). That way it could have tied all the parts that were a little more disjointed together so they didn't sound randomized. Overall, though, I loved this piece, and could listen to it over and over.
(Final Note: The end "cuts" and doesn't allow the sounds to fade out, but that's a quick fix with something like audacity, though)

@Paspie - Final Impression:
This is really repetitive, even for a trance song. You really need to get another drum beat going so you can swap them out and break the sameness. I found the pad and drum rhythm really catchy at the beginning, but after almost a minute before a noticeable change, the catchiness had faded away.

A good rule of thumb for making music (even trace, though not as much so) is that every 16 bars, there has to be a noticeable change in the music. The guitar helped change it in a few places, but it was so soft that it almost could have been lost. I think I hear a harp in the background behind the pad, but again, I'm straining to hear it. Trance music doesn't make you work, it puts you in a trance. Changes are gradual but easily distinguished. Just try working with what you already and see how you can vary it so its not so repetitive. It has the definite potential to be an amazing song, but as it is, it needs some marked work on structure.

------
Here is a reworked version of a song I put in a Solo Thread a few days ago. I got some comments that really helped me edit it (and I fixed the fact that I had apparently accidentally boosted my vocals to +10dB before exporting. Oops)

https://soundcloud.com/alycs/hit-the-floor

[MisterJayBrown]

Hey, Alycs. I'm new to review, but after reading that one thread that said how to give feedback, I figure why not help someone out, eh? So I want to start off with saying that this song isn't the type of genre I would normally listen to, so bare with me if I sound like a complete idiot.

I did like the melody of the song, it's quite fitting to what I've heard of FO:E (I haven't read it, leaving me as unqualified as ever to review). The talking at the beginning is an interesting way to lead in to a song, albeit not one that I particularly like. I suggest that if you keep it like that (and I know that's part of the song's theme), that you maybe make a music video, as that's what it sounds like. Also in regards to the beginning, the white noise, which also appears throughout the song. I'm assuming the static is there for a good reason, but I can't figure it out. If it's there to separate the different song melodies, I might suggest making it more noticeable, as you can hear the song over it. That being said, I know that I would prefer the song if you had a different transition method. It sounds out of place to me, is all.

Another thing is the lightning. It's incredibly loud in comparison to the rest of the song, so much that you can't hear the song over it. Maybe turn that down a bit, as your song does have a nice flow. I also suggest making a lot of the vocals louder throughout the song. The ones at the beginning only need a tiny amount of boost, whereas the ones throughout are barely audible in comparison to the song. I'd give feedback on the lyrics, but I really can't make them out.

In addition to these, your song sounds...flat, I suppose. I'm not sure if you possibly have more sounds going than I can hear, but much of the song sounds as though only one or two synths are making noise at some points. Those and the drums, at least. And while this fits with the glitchiness kind of idea of the song, the incredibly loud noise at 2:50 really caught me off-guard. I'm not sure if you meant it to be so surprising or anything of the sort, but that's what it is.

The interruption at 3:12-ish is kind of nice, in all honesty. It contrasts with the rest of the song quite a bit, but in such a way that it reminds you that this panicky dystopia is also a sad one. But the lead starting at 3:55 seems like it's too loud, as it's almost teasing to hear the vocals in the background, and even the drums are a bit obscured.

All in all, those are pretty insignificant problems. Your song's got a nice melody, and has a lot of upsides to it. I just suggest working on some of these problems a bit as well as asking someone that's a bit better versed in the works of dubstep and FO:E.

Now for my currently unfinished track. I know that the thread-starting post says to avoid these, but y'know how it goes. Just so you know, I have plans to add a guitar in there, a replacement for that pathetic trumpet you hear later on in the song, probably a better drum-noise-thing to lead into the chorus (trumpet part). Also, gonna have some vocals. Y'know, eventually. If you want an idea of my planned final project, think Fire & Neon meets The Limousines.

https://soundcloud.com/misterjaybrown/wip-physical-intruments

[Xane]

@XANE - Galaxy Remix:
I really liked this piece. As Chrome said, it the fourth chord (sounds maybe like a 7dim?) doesn't quite fit being played twice. Rather than just cutting it out, it actually would have been really nice if (supposing it is a 7dim) you perhaps played one arpeggio and then followed it up with a Perfect 5, this way you can make a faux Dom7-PerfectDom-Tonic Progression. Other than that one gripe, I thought the song was excellent, the pads were nice and full, and you did a good job with filling all the Frequencies.
(Final Note: The bridge's instrumentals could maybe use a different instrument in the back to fill it and distinguish its 'bridgy-ness')

I do all of my chords by ear, so I have NO idea what you just said. Maybe I should actually learn some music theory before I make more and more stuff. ._.

Anyway, thanks for the criticism! I agree, the fourth chord doesn't sound quite right. If I hadn't released it already, I'd go back and change it. Eh, live and learn. I'm really glad that my pads sound good! This was my first attempt at making any sort of patch in Sylenth1.

I'll be back to review your track later!

[PONC]

MisterJayBrown:

Your track is so f'ing adorable.
The melody is really friendly, I just feel happy listening to it Imagining how awesome this will be all done makes me shiver with excitement! I can't wait until you finish it and get better tracks & percussion! It seems like you already know what's wrong with your track, so I don't really need to critique it more than what you already know. 'Cause there's nothing else to say about it so early in production :L
Anywho
Here's my track. Will obtain vocals soon as well as some remastering in time.
For some reason soundcloud makes this track sound really really wet. #idungeddit
https://soundcloud.com/poncpony/hip-hop-instrumental

[vladnuke]

Ponc: Real trap yo. Hard hitten the streets. Yeah, I can see this working well with a rapper, def got all the elements of a rap beat. Shits kewl.

mr.jaybrown: All the instruments sound plastic and fake, like an old computer game. Everything has that perfect cut sequencer vibe.

alycs: Why are the vocals so quiet, I really can't hear them. The thunder kinda drowns out the rest of the tracks at times. the reecy sounding bass is too goddamn loud, like holy shit every time that comes on it's piercing. This doesn't sound mixed at all.

http://soundcloud.com/vladnuke/murder-cove

This is something that I made for an album.

I'm probz gonna put it on mah youtube too.

[Mondogreen]

Vladnuke: That was a pretty intense switchup! Not really my cup of tea as far as genres go, but it's really well done.

Here's a track I started this morning for about an hour....

https://soundcloud.com/djmon/2-pac-changes-mondogreens-work

[Stakeout Punch]

@Vladnuke Woah that one transition caught me completely off guard, nice! I didn't expect so many genre ideas in one song. The only thing that bugged me was how repetitive the voice sampling was at about one minute into the song. It also felt like you were trying to put it in another time signature. Overall though, great job working it in, I can't use vocal samples worth shit.

@Mondogreen I actually watched that pop up on my SC feed earlier. I like the general feel of the track but I think that drop needs 100% more growling bass and a little more sub. I had to go back and listen again just to make sure my amp wasn't screwing with me again. But hey, it fits the chilled feel of that song, maybe that was what you were going for. Awesome, solid track.


Here's my track up for review. I spent a lot of time redoing most of the plugins as LMMS never seems to render how it plays back. I also learned a ridiculous amount about mixing and stuffz after I started trying to mix it, so I redid all that stuff as well. I think it's pretty good for being made exclusively with freeware.
https://soundcloud.com/evanhroberts/bad-apple-touhou-stakeout

[DJZiran]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBskk7piDbU
https://soundcloud.com/#ziranmusic/ive- ... -way-ziran
I have no idea how to post but great tracks everyone I did see them and how can I comment on them, sorry I'm new to this site

[Freewave]

Just check out the tracks above you, write out what you thought worked and what didn't, and THEN post your own. You still need to review the track(s) above you as you skipped that most important step.

[Alycs]

Wall of text cometh


PONC: While I don't particularly like or listen to much trap or its derivative genre's, this seemed to be pretty good. It had a good flow and rythm, but seemed really repetitive (you can only hear "Dear Princess Celestia" so many times before it starts getting a little painful). Seems like it needs 'something' to break it up. Trap is characterized by its half time beat, but maybe to break it up, through in a triplet somewhere to add some variety; or maybe after the half-dozen "Dear Princess Celestia" finish it up with some other quote. It doesn't really matter what it is, but it really needs something done- without the rap lyrics over it, it gets boring really fast.

Vladnuke: Damn boy... Seriously, that was what was left in my head after I listened to this. If I could sum up this song in only a single phrase, it would be "Everything happens so much"; both in the good and bad.

Okay, that aside, lets get down to business: the opening is chill as the 9th circle of hell- one thing I could say is that the snare is a little loud, not to much, but a little. Then, during the transition at 30sec, I felt the talking-bass like instrument could be a little louder. As it is, the drums mask it quite a lot. At the droppish part in the 50's, I felt that a second drum pattern thrown in just once would have done wonders.

Suddenly, speedcore, here we fucking go. Literally the only two things I could possibly criticize here is the chromatic scales you threw in don't really go with the rest of the song, but seeing as this entire song is literally turning itself around more than a revolving door, this point is slightly moot. The other thing is that I felt that you could have perhaps brought a drum rhythm from earlier back to add some diversity to the beat.
And that's it, those are the only things I could suggest. I really like this song, and I felt that it was overall quite good. The only thing that could use changing is to vary the drums.

Mondogreen: Again, this song is done well enough that there isn't much left for me to criticize. The only things I can think of now is that pan-flute sounds a little hollow, and needs something behind it. Maybe put a light pad behind them to add some support. Also, the drums hit a little too hard. Try making them fade in a little more if you can. Also, the bass in the 1:30 area is so low and soft that it really doesn't stand out. Other than those few things, I felt the entire thing was amazing. The entire section after the rapping came in was stellar, and even the bass problems could be easily justified. Good job.

@stakeout: This is a really nice rendition of Bad Apple. A few parts were really quiet (0:45-1:25), but this could really be a thing of LMMS being a terrible rendering program for producing what you were hearing. As you seemed to stay with the Bad Apple song almost exclusively, there isn't much to criticize music wise, but I felt that at some points the drums got a little loud, mostly the high-hats and snares. Also, some of the instruments are clicking, especially the xylophone and the instrument that comes in at 0:23. Other than those few things, I think this is a pretty good cover of the original song, especially for LMMS.

@Ziran: Its not a "bad" remix, but it feels kinda sloppy. Like sure there are some nice instruments and drum beats (really liked the in instruments in the section starting at 0:58) but overall it seemed like every other remix I've heard. Lots of audio cuts and splicing and breakbeat-drums. Also, the bright and high synths really clashed with the over-all feel of the song. Its just so... "yay lets go eat rainbows" when the original is "wow life sucks". Overall, its done quite well, but its so "normal" and contradictory that I can't give it a stellar review. Try doing something more to the song than just cutting and splicing. Really, you never know what just leaving a section completely intact over some remixed instruments can do.
---------------

Okay, and here is my "song". This isn't really going to be the finished thing, right now its just a test of the instrument set and pre-mixing. As it is now, its a instrumental cover of "Closer to the Edge" by 30STM. I'm already going to be changing the melody for the final song, but I could use help with mixing advice and how the instruments and drum rythms sound. I use LMMS, which is REALLY bad at rendering what it plays back.

http://soundcloud.com/alycs/closer_to_the_edge
(may be still uploading)

[Nine Volt]

Alrighty, time to throw down some reviews and hopefully get some on mine (hopefully they'll continue to the next page as well instead of the 2nd poster just reviewing the first poster on that page's song).

Mondogreen:
One thing I noticed right off the bat is that that flute thing is a tad too quiet compared to the beat. Might be just me but the rapping sounds too dark for the track. Both are nice in their own respects, but the instrumentals sound too upbeat, almost like an end credits type deal following a big victory or something. The drop needs to be bassier. Yeah there's a nice sub already there, but beef that shit up! Compress, boost the input gain on your sidechain if you have one, light compression with a big input gain if not. Maybe boost more around 50hz and get it real nice and bassy. Other than that it's sounding pretty good.

Stakeout:
Well, I'm impressed with the mastering to say the least, considering the DAW used
Can't say I'm familiar with the original, Touhou's not really my thing. Around 1:00 there seems to be a bit of crackling, unless that was intended. Honestly there's not really much more I can say, it's a generally well produced song, sounds nice.

Alycs:
Again, not familiar with the original. That high pitched lead sounds a bit weak near the beginning. There's a few cymbal fills in the second part that sound too loud in comparison to the rest of the track. Also not really liking the fact that the second part is essentially the first with some cymbal fills and different drums. The fadeout at the end is kinda sloppy too, the lead kinda just warbles slightly and dies, I think it would've sounded better if you automated the release and put it pretty high to fade out at the end. The lead-in to the end was nice though, resolved the track well.

Not reviewing Ziran's track because didn't follow proper thread rules.

Now my track:
https://dl.dropbox.com/s/modmie1685tn2o ... RPFRw&dl=1

My WIP remix of Stay Strong by The Ocular Invisible & NegaNote, for their little contest thingy. Honestly I only listened to the original once before deciding to remix it, I find it helps me to make the remix more my own if I don't really know what the original sounds like. Of course, I knew a 170 BPM song remixed into house would already sound very different, but still. I think this one came out/is coming out rather nicely if I do say so myself.

[Stakeout Punch]

Around 1:00 there seems to be a bit of crackling, unless that was intended.

Yep, intended. I made the sound by accident, but decided to make it into a loop and glitch it.

Then I corrected the tempo and away I went!

Will EDIT and review ^^^^ tracks when I'm not supposed to be sleeping.

[ArisingFlame]

Seeing as this is my first post, I'll do my best to make it a good one.

First... @stakeout poni:
LOVING the tempo swoop in the beginning. The way every instrument is brought in definitely peaks my interest. The father the song gets, the more it captivates my attention. Oooh! Those high synths are awesome! The bassline you have going is awesomely complex, but at the same time, not too complex.
Now I'm about 3:00 in. Quite enjoying the way you brought the levels down.
Ah! Loving the 3:40 bass. It's got me moving in my chair for sure.
The 6:30 tempo change caught me off guard, but in a very good way. Beautiful transitioning I'd say. The outro just ties it all up quite nicely.
Overall, I'd give it 4.5 out of 5. Mainly for length, but at the same time, the length fit it. Confusing, I know.

@Alycs:
First, I'd have to say like not too much attention was paid to the beat in the point of mastering. It feels.... distant (for lack of a better word). But I can't really say much. I'm horrible when it comes to creating beats.
The whole thing feels like it is missing complexity. It's the little pieces that go a long way (at least, for me it is). It needs more substance/subtle changes/ect.
Overall I'd give it a 3 out of 5 (Considering you did say it was a work in progress)

@Nine Volt:
Haven't heard the original, so this is going purely going off of your version.
Love the intro. It builds anticipation for me.
The cut into a higher energy point at ~1:30 is awesome. Great way to bring it up quickly. It sounds like everything is leveled beautifully. Gorgeous outro as well! I honestly have zero gripes about this at all.
Overall, I give it a 4.8 out of 5



So.... This is my first MLP related song. As soon as I saw the finale, I knew I had to do something with this song. I've spent the last 2 1/2 hours (minus the time spent listening to and reviewing tracks) working on this with my brother. His first time working on a song and I'd have to say he did awesome.

https://soundcloud.com/t-jayson/ive-got-to-find-a-way-808-mix

[vladnuke]

@ArisingFlame

The begining with the electro bass, is a bit too plain, I'd just add a little more in there, like pads and stuff. The vocals are good, just a teeny bit too loud and reverb-y. Like, really telling against the rest of the track, since no other instrument uses reverb (or at least, that much reverb). You gotta rememeber, the band doesn't live in a vaccum away from the singer, that'd be deadly, they wouldn't be able to breathe, so if you gotta have reverb, you're gonna want it in various amounts on other instruments. Just blend well and don't use way too much, and I'd have to say here you used a bit too much on Twilight. The piano sounds a bit too compressed, perhaps if you found some better samples for that (maybe some EQ and compression masking might help there), same thing with the bass and kick, moreso with the kick, kick has a bit too much muddy mid range which should be relegated to the bass and toned back. The bass could be a little clearer.

I don't have any songs right now.

[TheMalenEst]

http://soundcloud.com/themalenest/friends-original-song