june contest ... GOSSIP

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OK - time for some subjective reviews. As griels was so keen for feedback on his track, I have started from the last entry, and am working backwards through the list.

freeztar - Keep It Bumpin'
Smooth - not quite the dance track I was expecting from the title. Well put together - I like the percussive sounds particularly, but it is hard to imagine a major label getting excited about this.

whyterabbyt - alabaster
Pretty good for 3 hours work - mildly Eastern sounding in a way. I like the distorted, but varying drone sound, but the track does need a little more variation - even in 2 minutes.

vurt - Like I Care
Great kick sound, but very bass heavy in the mix, and the vocal is unfortunately a little muffled and low in volume, which makes it hard to understand. Full marks for trying something different to your usual stuff.

eljorno/Audiom Dream - Time to Advance
Soundtrack stuff. Also a little heavy in the bass end - could use a remix/EQ, but this shows you have true compositional skills. Not sure about a major label being interested - but movie producers may be.

Markleford - Broken
This is indeed raw. Distinctive, and likely to be picked up by one of the indie labels, I suspect. Great wall of sound - some of the vocals were a little too distorted for my taste, but this is a great track.

_niko_ - Sign Me
Great rock piece. Great vocals and guitar work. The drums could have used a little more presence, but other than that, hard to fault. One for the shortlist for sure.

nikp2000 - KVR Star
A well constructed piece. Not sure that the vocoded vocals worked, for me, though. But as a "pop" piece it works well. Shortlisted.

knoob - TheKube
Great poppy instrumental piece, although possibly a little bland and electronic for major label instrumental. This track should get you a contract for backing music for corporate videos though :)

griels - Crazy Every Time
Crikey - rap with melody, jazz chords and a decent musical backing. Love the feel to this piece. Sounds as though you were taking it seriously until half way through - the nonsense rap is humorous, but detracts feom the piece as a whole. Love the falsetto - adds a unique and distinctive touch to the track. Shortlisted.

liqih - Here Comes the Bass
The bass and drums work really well together here - the reverb on the snare/kick gives the whole track a great groove. Catchy lead line - and good to see that you didn't waste too much effort on the lyrics :) . Still, if it worked for Seargent Slick, it might work for you also. Great track.

sp0rk/Splynter - Arrival
Well mixed and created track. I could well imagine this as being used in a role-playing type video game. Very well done indeed. Have major labels got involved in this industry (yet?)

damstraversaz - hora
Welcome! Lovely, serene track, which in any other month would probably rate very highly indeed, but given the theme of this month's comp, it is hard to see a major label being interested in this style of music. But I would like to hear more of your stuff.

PawPawPatch - The Making of Ricky Krews
I have no idea who Ricky Krews is, and unfortunately this track doesn't inspire me to be interested enough to find out. The vocoded vocals are almost completely unintelligible - it is just as well you provided the lyrics. Musically, it is very well put together, although somewhat repetitive. I like the bass, particularly - just a pity about the vocals.

1-2-Many - Deal with It!
Great track. Great lyrics and vocals - you owe your bro a big favour. One of the "poppy-est" tracks so far, and the arrangement/mix/production is excellent. Shortlisted.

aieda_cin - tiholasciato
Lovely, pensive track, with a good changeup around half-way through. I found the lyrics hard to understand, but the vocals give the whole track a lovely ethereal feel. Not sure about the ending, though - sounded rather as though you ran out of ideas. But, overall, pretty damn good.
Time is an illusion - lunchtime doubly so.

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slartibartfast wrote: griels - Crazy Every Time
Crikey - rap with melody, jazz chords and a decent musical backing. Love the feel to this piece. Sounds as though you were taking it seriously until half way through - the nonsense rap is humorous, but detracts feom the piece as a whole. Love the falsetto - adds a unique and distinctive touch to the track. Shortlisted.
Wow, thanks... :D I took that falsetto track so many times but could never quite avoid yodelling... The rap was a single take if you hadn't guessed, and in retrospect I wish I'd retaken it with slightly more meaningful words... Still, some folks seemed to dig it :hihi:

Listened again to yours just now.. I like the song but the drum timing detracts from the feel to me... However a catchy tune with good use of synth hooks.

Just listened through again and made a rough shortlist of my favourites... Will vote/comment soon...
Music with dinner is an insult both to the cook and the violinist.

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My shortlist is down to 27 tracks...
Rakkervoksen

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slartibartfast wrote: knoob - TheKube
Great poppy instrumental piece, although possibly a little bland and electronic for major label instrumental. This track should get you a contract for backing music for corporate videos though :)

[
Thanks. I wish i had someone to sing the song because wasn't my intention to be just an instrumental piece. I don't really understand what you mean by corporate videos; my english's a bit rusty, you know.

Also want to thank to Hovmod for his review.

:)

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knoob wrote:I don't really understand what you mean by corporate videos; my english's a bit rusty, you know.

Also want to thank to Hovmod for his review.

:)
Cheers.

Here's a corporate video I did the music to. It was more that a year ago. I'm not that happy with it now, but I got PAID! 8)
It's a rather big windows media video file, 50 MB or so, but if you're on DSL it shouldn't break your system...
Rakkervoksen

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griels wrote: Listened again to yours just now.. I like the song but the drum timing detracts from the feel to me... However a catchy tune with good use of synth hooks.
Thanks for the feedback - you're the second person to mention the drums (Damn! :shrug: ) Glad you seemed to like it, though. Cheers.
Time is an illusion - lunchtime doubly so.

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griels wrote:Yeah, this is just the preamble... Hold out for the battle live on Sky Premier at 10PM GMT, sucka.. Charges may apply according to your TV provider. :cool:
who's gonna bring the roll of lino?

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More subjective reviews - this time from Page 3.

Diek - undercover
Finally got your entry. Welcome to another first timer. Some nicely varying resonant synth sounds in here, but unfortunately, the whole track sounds like an intro to something we never quite get to. You clearly have good soundsmithing skills, but try working on getting more development/variety into 2 minutes.

Patrick9 - Sunshine
Like the lyrics, and the vocals, but there seems to be some resonant high frequencies in there that annoy the hell out of me, and distract me from the track overall. The chorusing effect is probably rather overdone also. Could have worked on a more psychedelic track, but seems a little out of place on this.

sttjelle - Sunday
You are indeed talented. A fantastic sounding voice, and excellently produced. The vocoded vocal chords could have been cheesy, but they sit perfectly in the context of this song. There are some interesting chord progressions in the bridge, but the chord progression in the verse is predictable enought to provide solidity so that you can get away with it. The only minor quibble is the fade out ending. Top track!

astanine - baby
Bring back the 80's! Top example of a pop tune remeniscent of this era. Might be a bit passe for major label interest today - but stranger things have been known to happen. This one is also one for the shortlist.

odavy/Oliver Davy - I can Hear Her (Sellout Mix)
Nice to see that you too didn't spend too much time agonising over lyrics :) . This is a well put together track demonstrating excellent musicianship. But somehow it seems a little bland. You have a great singing voice - would have liked to hear you make more effective use of it.

rockstar_not - Loser
You should sing more often - great voice. Obviously heartfelt performance. Not sure that the "hook" line - "Loser come to me" is likely to be commercially successful, though (except with losers :) ). Technically, can't fault the track production-wise, just not sure about the lyrical content.

Gregjazz - Four Flavors Of Guitar
Can't help feeling that this track needed a vocal over the top of it. Highly competent guitarwork. The mix seems a little muddy, and low in volume in comparison with other tracks this month?

Shane Sanders - Tower of Babel
This is a very interesting track, but doubtful major label material. Belongs more in the soundtrack/ambient mould. Some very interesting sounds in here - I like the percussion, and the lead string melody is unusual, but works effectively. Liked the vocal pads also.

Glooper - Hometown
Not my favourite style of music, but well executed. The doubled vocals work well, but I'm not sure about the introduction of the guitar part way through - I'd have been tempted to try something a little more in keeping with the remainder of the track. Good effort to meet the requirements of this month's theme.

eman8ions - Waves break below me
Nice bit of electronica. The bass solo in the centre of the track breaks it up nicely, but the tone is a little uninteresting - this section would have been better with a more interesting or modulated patch. Other than that, a very pleasant track indeed, albeit stylistically not necessarily major label material IMHO

kovacs - Rocktronica
Curious and unusual combination of rock guitar and electronic sounds - the solos don't quite work for me, however - especially the highly effected ones. You have certainly achieved something unusual and different with this track.

Barnadine - Love Strikes
This is a great sounding and catchy track. The lyrics are interesting, but I'm not sure what they mean - love the "jenny" verse, though. But I think there is enough in here to make a major label pay attention.

Lady J - Mr. Right(Now)
Very slick production. The fadeout ending makes me suspicious that this track may not have been made specifically for this competition, but if I ignore this (and the carryings on in an earlier part of this forum), this track reminds me of why I don't listen to most commercial radio - in other words, it is bound to be something major labels would be very interested in. All it is lacking is that killer "hook" that people remember and sing after they have heard the track the first time - this track is missing anything memorably singable (IMHO).

respirator - Biggest Hit
This is a good track, that is well put together, with just the right amount of overcompressed pumping :) . The "hook" is a little weak, but the verses, lyrically and vocally are excellent.

mchlwlsn - Jongleur
This has a great groove to it, and some fine piano playing. Guitar was a tad over-chorused for my taste. As with a number of tracks this month, it is hard to see this style being of interest to major labels, but it is an extremely well executed track.
Time is an illusion - lunchtime doubly so.

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Hey guys! Thanks for the votes! :) I really do appreciate them. I worked very hard on that entry. As hard as I work to get a record deal. ;)

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Lady J wrote:I worked very hard on that entry.
I do have to say that the production is leaps and bounds beyond your previous efforts, which had been plagued by horrid mixes for some reason or other.

- m
Markleford's band, The James Rocket: http://www.TheJamesRocket.com/
Markleford's tracks: http://www.markleford.com/music/
Markleford's free MFX, DXi2, DR-008 modules: http://www.TenCrazy.com/

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Markleford wrote:
Lady J wrote:I worked very hard on that entry.
I do have to say that the production is leaps and bounds beyond your previous efforts, which had been plagued by horrid mixes for some reason or other.

- m
Monitors. I finally learned my M1Actives. Before that I used to monitor with headphones and home stereo speakers.

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Lady J, where can I hear the song again?

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Chase wrote:Lady J, where can I hear the song again?

On Markleford's page:
http://www.markleford.com/kvr/serve.jsp?page=kvr0506

Or direct link

http://www.the-backups.com/0506-Lady-J--MrRightNow.mp3

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nice. Who's the singer?

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Chase wrote:nice. Who's the singer?
Me.

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