March Contest: Gossip

[GMoneh]

GMoneh - Road to Nowhere
Very good song. Cool progression, bassline, and melody. Like the double time muted picks towards the end. I didn't really care for the drums though, I think a more natural sounding kit would fit better with the other instrumentation. Not crazy about the fade-out at the end either… but still an excellent track.
.

Thanks for your constructive comments. I am also not happy with the fade out, because it occurs earlier than I wanted in order to comply with the 3 minutes time limit. The version in my soundcloud account also fades out, but it goes for about 20 seconds longer, giving the song a little more finality, in my opinion. For any one that wants to keep my song after the contest is over, I would suggest to grab that version instead (just not use it for your voting on the contest).

[evo2slo]

Thanks, evo2slo. The guitar on this one is actually a saz/bağlama (with a broken body and six strings instead of seven).

Not familiar with that instrument and had to look it up. I guess the round shape helps give it that strong resonator-like sound. You play it really well, but a broken body and six strings... did you swing it around in a bar fight or something?!

[JJBiener]

I wasn't able to finish this in time, but I liked how it came out. So I am posting it for comments. Here is a thread for it.

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=4874520

[Doc Jon]

Great month, tough choices

InboxZero - ante oculos circum inspice
I liked this one a lot, thought it suited the theme well and managed to develop in a minimalist way as the piece progressed, nicely produced

Interferon - Dreaming on the Couch
I did like this, just outside my top 10, good choice of sounds, I would have liked just a little bit more going on as the track progressed which I think wouldn't have detracted from the hypnotic theme

folderol - Hours and Hours
Nice gentle piece, really great until about 1:30 then some sounds were introduced which I didn't think fitted quite so well and prevented a hypnotic feel to the second half of the track

Patrick9 - Hypno
Great track, reminded me of a theme to a horror film, nice instrumentation, I thought the cello fitted well, just outside top 10

Mister Natural - Conversation with Dali
Difficult one for me, some truly excellent sections in the first half, particularly the Imogen Heap-ish bit at 0:45, but the second half left me feeling less fulfilled and the final minute didn't work so well. Congrats on great choice of sounds throughout

Emerald Tablet - Deeper
Great vocal, too loud in the mix however, would have liked some more psychedelic style processing to soften it up a bit. Liked the drum sounds. The ending as mentioned before is too abrupt

Bjulin - Special Lullaby
Brilliant track, posed a bit of a problem for me deciding whether this was truly hypnotic, but it won me over with the superb drum sounds, chopped vocal and excellent production, and it kept me listening right to the end so it must have captivated me somehow. Well done!

kryptonaut - Altered State
Instant favourite, probably the track which most encompassed the hypnotic feel for me this month, great recording quality too

Jerru - Seduction of Hypnotica
Standout track for me this month - winner by a mile from first listen. Truly hypnotic, some excellent instrumentation and playing, all excellently produced. Touches of Floyd abound, a really well contained and complete piece of music. Top marks to you!

nikp2000 - mim
Hypnotic, yes, repetitive, yes, didn't feel the choice of sounds was as good as it could have been, however, which just held it back

mrblitz ft. formware - Prayer Wheel 12
Another problem track for me this month, great idea but not hypnotic in this form to my way of thinking, liked it though!

Farlukar - Credulity
Some good ideas in this but not hypnotic for me, rather the mains hum set me on edge - having spent months trying to remove it from my audio set up last year it seemed to have returned to torment me!

yevster - Hypnotherapy
Great music let down by the drums which seemed out of place in the track and detracted from the overall feel of the piece, shame cos the music part was really good

offthewall - Watch the Watch
Didn't work for me I'm afraid, not hypnotic for me either, sorry

bzur - Mesmerized
Another great track, raises the recurring question yet again this month of whether hypnotic is in the eye of the creator or the listener, but the piano hook and overall instrumentation kept me glued to the end so it must have done it for me, lovely well produced piece

forw - No Lighttt
Interesting track, loved the ambient background sounds, didn't really know exactly what to make of it although I'm impressed by the approach and arrangement. I suspect it is better than I realise

beanpole - Look Into My Eyes
Hypnotic New Order style opening gave way to a vocal which didn't work for me I'm afraid

Liqih - hypnopipes
Great track, really nice busy drum track - but not really hypnotic for me as a result, which kept it out of my top 10

knockman - murmur
One of several psychedelic tracks this month, this one has points written all over it, really enjoyed it, I'm impressed how you carried off what was clearly quite a tricky vocal performance

Laguna Rising - Winter of the Senses
Highly innovative piece which just didn't quite hypnotise me, rather left me feeling a little unsettled! The combination of sounds and instruments in the second half just seemed too overpowering

rachMiel - hypnotiQue
Hypnotic yes. Original, yes. Do I like it? Not sure, but it has certainly widened my horizons!

evo2slo - Paint the Water Clear
Another excellent psychedelic offering this month. Great hypnotic track, perhaps recorded a bit too 'hot' for my taste, and too much reverb as mentioned elsewhere, but a great track nonetheless. Excellent vocal btw

Vulcandj - Sands of Time
Great guitar work, good tones, nice insistent beat, just outside my top 10

oddbod - The Waiting Room
Simply sublime. Incredible combination of tones and textures, beautifully constructed

rockstarnot - elchemisti
Geat track, just not really hypnotic for me I'm afraid

slartibartfast - Hip No Sis
Excellent piece, great synth sounds, really hypnotic, points for sure

Peterhud - Brainwave
I did like this, didn't completely grab me but I did think it was hypnotic. Honourable mention

GMoneh - Road to Nowhere
Another great track that just didn't fit the hypnotic theme for me, a shame cos this is a really nice piece

satYatunes - LightPath
Aaargh, top track, killer piano hook and great instrumentation. This gave me the most trouble this month, I liked it so much and yet there's just no way I would describe it as hypnotic. Extra special honourable mention, just no points, sorry!

D.H. Miltz - Disconnect is Not a Noun
Brilliant and mad at the same time, the more I listened to it the more it grew on me, sounds like it was constructed with whatever you found in the understairs cupboard that could be used to make a noise

Thanks to everyone for the votes and comments

Jon

[satYatunes]

Some personal opinions on the tracks this month. Just jotted down these comments while listening to the tracks on headphone.

inboxzero - First of all, it did not play in the KVR thread, not sure why, so I had to go to your soundcloud page to listen to it. I am glad that I did. Very nice texture and layering of sounds. However, I would say mixing could have been little better. There is too much frequency overlapping towards end of the song.

Interferon - Excellent pads and drums.

Folderol - Nice track with beautiful melody, love that choir sounds towards the end.

Patrick9 - Did not play in the thread, but downloaded alright. Loved it. Works for me as hypnotic.

Mister Natural - Love the part where cellos, etc. stops and then guitar comes in. Pretty good.

Emerald Tablet - Good vocals and I love that bass. Ends abruptly. IMHO, the vocals are little louder in the mix.

Bjulin - The melody that comes in at 1:47 is fantastic. The arp that plays throughout sounds kinda harsh or agressive. All the sounds in the mix are so crystal clear, excellent mixing and composition.

Kryptonaut - Nice guitars. Some variation would have been great.

Doc Jon - Excellent vocals. The rain sound at the end sounds very digitalish. Solid track though.

Jerru - I was not sure which one was hypnotizing me the cover or the song . Awesome guitar playing, the vocals sit nicely with the mix. If it was female vocals it would have complemented the album cover very much

nikp2000 - Very nice amalgamation of arps. Pretty close to the theme.

mrblitz - Nice track, a little break at some point in the track would have been better. Did not work for me as Hypnotic though.

Farlukar - Another track which comes close to the theme. The bells could have been little softer though. Nevertheless, nice.

Yevster - Absolutely fantastic as a track but not hypnotic for me.

Offthewall - Beautiful track and lyrics. Also watched the video, amazing but I would not describe it as hypnotic.

Bzur - Mind-blowing sample vocal use and piano. Somewhat close to the theme if not entirely.

Forw - The pic has an added effect to the ambiance created by your song. Started off good but did not capture the attention later on.

Beanpole - Nice drum, nice arp and nice pads and nice vocals. The high-pitched vocals sounds odd though. Not hypnotic for me.

Liqih - Good beat.

Knockman - Very nice chanting.

Laguna Rising - Personally did not like the choice of sounds used in the track, hence did not work for me as hypnotic.

Rachmiel - Hypnotique, it is. That's all I can say.

Evo2slo - I love the lyrics and the composition. IMHO, I think too much reverb is on every sound here

Vulcandj - Wow love the guitars especially at the beginning.

oddbod - Another track close to the theme.

Rockstar_not - Like it but not hypnotic for me

Slartibartfast - Yes, this does it. Number 1 track for me as far as theme goes.

Peterhud - Close to the theme. I love it.

Gmoneh - Not particularly hypnotic but I like the track on different level

D H Miltz - This does it for me.

[slartibartfast]

Thanks to all those who took time to make comments on the tracks. I know that I find all feedback valuable, and this feedback is what drives me to enter the KVR monthly contest (when I can!). Votes are nice, but feedback (good or bad) is better.

pljones: Thanks for the good suggestion. To be honest I have enough trouble making just the music, let alone trying for visuals as well. Can you make do with a lava lamp ?

folderol: Thanks for noticing. I did submit a track last April, but real life has definitely been intruding on my time for music over the last few years.

evo2slo: I know what you mean about the arp (even though it wasn't actually an arp - it was manually played throughout) - I will tweak this in the next version to make it a little less intrusive and repetitive. (And while I am at it fix up the mix - definitely way too much low frequency in this one)

Doc Jon: Thanks for your very kind comments (and the vote!)

satYatunes: Thank you to you too (and your No. 1 vote )

[satYatunes]

satYatunes - LightPath
Aaargh, top track, killer piano hook and great instrumentation. This gave me the most trouble this month, I liked it so much and yet there's just no way I would describe it as hypnotic. Extra special honourable mention, just no points, sorry!

Thanks for the review. Points or not, does not matter but reviews are helpful and valuable.

[Jerru]

Comments about comments....

Jerru - Seduction of Hypnotica
Excellent song. That bassline just kills me it's so good. Guitars are fantastic. Beautifully layered and played. Nice tasteful synth work as well. The sounds of the whispers detracted from the song for me. Perhaps if they were pitched down an octave, to be more ominous. That's just a tiny little nitpick on an amazing track.

Evo, thanks for mentioning the bass line. I played this for a friend recently.
He agreed with you and that's all he wanted to talk about.....for 20 minutes

As for the whispering, I was going more for the seductive, Svengali type
character versus the Freddie Krueger nightmare scenario

If it was female vocals it would have complemented the album cover very much

I agree 1,000%. I actually had a female lined up to perform that part.
But sadly, she backed out at the last moment. Just pretend that the whisper
is directed TO the lady on the album cover

Jerru - Seduction of Hypnotica
Standout track for me this month - winner by a mile from first listen. Truly hypnotic, some excellent instrumentation and playing, all excellently produced. Touches of Floyd abound, a really well contained and complete piece of music. Top marks to you!

Well, I'm going to wear this as a proud Badge of Honor. Heartfelt thanks for those
kind words. Right back atcha for your effort this month!

As usual, thanks to all for your support!
Jerry

[D.H. Miltz]

Thanks, evo2slo. The guitar on this one is actually a saz/bağlama (with a broken body and six strings instead of seven).

Not familiar with that instrument and had to look it up. :oops: I guess the round shape helps give it that strong resonator-like sound. You play it really well, but a broken body and six strings... did you swing it around in a bar fight or something?! :lol:

Thanks. No bar fighting here. The body was broken on the trip from Turkey (my sister brought it from there) and then made worse by my hanging the thing in a corner with an outside wall. One string was strung wrong, wrapped around another string, so I took it off. Thanks to my skill at tuning this contraption, it's now down to five strings.

Doc Jon and satYatunes, thank you for the reviews.

[kryptonaut]

Very many thanks to everyone who provided reviews, they are really valuable, and the time it takes to do them is much appreciated.

For anyone who is curious about the structure of 'Altered State', there were basically four threads running through it, with different loop lengths:

The bass had two lines offset by half a beat, and repeated every two beats.

There was one guitar track that repeated every 3 beats, one that repeated every 5 beats, and one that repeated twice every 7 beats.

The 3, 5 and 7-beat tracks each had two variants that were swapped in and out from time to time, to try to stop the thing feeling too repetitive.

The 3 and 5-beat tracks were augmented with some guitar 'body sounds' to add a bit of interest.

The bell sounded every 7 repeats of the 5-beat loop. I had originally intended the bell to announce a variation in the loops but it didn't end up quite like that.

Thanks to all who voted for it!

[kryptonaut]

Here are my reviews - hopefully better late than never! They are basically tidied-up versions of the notes I made when voting, so they may well repeat things that others have already pointed out - if so, my apologies.

So, in alphabetical order:

beanpole - Look Into My Eyes
I really liked the slightly discordant effect that starts happening around 0:35, which somehow reminded me of a Tibetan horn. The talkbox is a nice effect, but I think it was maybe a touch overused here. The rhythm is quite insistent which I guess could be classed as hypnotic, but I would have prefered it to be a bit lower in the mix.

Bjulin - Special Lullaby
The mysterious vocal snatches in this track are strangely catchy, and kept going through my mind afterwards even though I couldn't work out what they were. There are some nice sounds in this track, which I can only describe as rubbery chewy noises, and the mix is very nice. I found it a bit too energetic to be really hypnotic, though.

bzur - Mesmerized
This is nice - I don't know if it was deliberate but when I first started listening I thought of Richard Wright's piano playing, and as the track unfolded I heard more and more Floyd-like sounds (which is a good thing!)

DHMiltz - Disconnect Is Not a Noun
Some appealing sounds here, with a somewhat oriental feel to the track. The glitchy clock-like sounds at the start are interesting. It's a nice piece, which has kept growing on me as I've listened to it more.

Doc Jon - While I Was Sleeping
The ticking clock is a nice idea. The rain-on-a-conservatory-roof effect is a bit too much I think, especially on headphones, but I *really* loved the piano playing and other instrumentation, which I thought was beautiful. As for the whispers - not so keen on those, but it's a personal thing I think, feels a bit like my space is being invaded! I'd like to hear the instrumental part developed into a new track.

Emerald Tablet - Deeper
As expected, a very polished track! Catchy song too. If I was being picky, I'd say that the kick in the first half was perhaps a bit syncopated and quite loud, which prevented me from sinking into the track as much as the theme required. But this is definitely a piece I enjoyed listening to, several times.

evo2slo - Paint The Water Clear
Well, this is a very well-composed and performed song. I got more of a psychedelic feel from it though, rather than hypnotic? And as others have said, maybe a touch too much reverb.

Farlukar - Credulity
Interesting idea to use mains hum. I found the chimes to be a bit insistent though, bordering on uncomfortable to listen to. Actually I think I would have liked to have heard more of the mains hum!

folderol - Hours And Hours
Nicely put together, a mellow track which made me think of Christmas/winter time for some reason, but it didn't really feel particularly hypnotic to me. As others have mentioned, the metronomic rhythm was perhaps a little prominent.

forw - noLighttt
Very original, mysterious and slightly disturbing, but definitely a track that drew me into its own world. I wish I knew what it meant! But then again, maybe its mystery is what makes it hypnotic.

GMoneh - Road To Nowhere
This is a well-made synth-rock/pop piece, good to listen to, but I'm afraid I didn't really find it particularly hypnotic.

InboxZero - Ante Oculos Circum Inspice
The synth sound that came in after 45 seconds or so reminded me of Tubeway Army (a good thing!) The kind of reverse-stuttered noise effects are nice, but seem in a rather different space (when listening on headphones) which prevented me from entering a hypnotic trance I like the insistent bass/sub-bass.

Interferon - Dreaming On The Couch
This is a nice soundscapey track that washes over you very pleasantly, but I was left feeling I wanted a little bit more to happen somewhere. Not sure what, though!

Jerru - Seduction of Hypnotica
I really like the instrumentation and playing on this track, very accomplished. I wasn't so keen on the whispering though, I think I'd have prefered the song without it to be honest.

knockman - Murmur
I had read the lyrics before hearing the song and wondered what it was all about, but then I played it and it all fell into place! Focusing on the sounds of the words rather than the meaning - nice! Were you channeling George Harrison when you recorded this? Very good, my firm favourite this month.

LagunaRising - Winter Of The Senses
This reminded me of something but I can't work out what, which is very frustrating! It's quirky, and enjoyable for that, but not sure I found it hypnotic. The accordion is a nice touch.

Liqih - hypnopipes
Interesting dub effects, but I didn't quite get hypnotised by this one. Nice to listen to though, you can't help getting sucked into that rhythm!

MisterNatural - Conversation with Dali
Good ideas here, but they seemed to jump from one to another rather abruptly - maybe that was intentional, given the title and Dali's peculiar conversational
style? I think to be hypnotic the transitions might have been a bit smoother
though.

MrBlitz - Prayer Wheel 12
Ah, that 5/4 thing is interesting! Good to listen to, but maybe a bit too 'in yer face' to be hypnotic!

nikp2000 - mim
Insistent but not overbearing percussive and bass sounds, with some well-chosen synth sounds sprinkled on top, glued together with some echoey guitar. Nice!

oddbod - The Waiting Room
Looking at the waveform envelope for this track I could see it was going to be something different, and I wasn't disappointed! Very nice vocal effects, tasteful synth arps, deep bass - and that brilliant harmonica is just perfect. Excellent track!

offthewall - Watch The Watch
Nice guitar work, and charming lyrics, but I couldn't quite obey them and let my thoughts... go. Although the nice psychedelic effects on the countdown at the end almost did it!

Patrick9 - Hypno
I thought this was perhaps a bit more melancholy than hypnotic, but it drew me in

Peterhud - Brainwave
I like the way this moves from section to section, with some nice rhythmic ideas. There is a high-pitched ringing/jingly bell sound which is a bit insistent to my ears, and I think I would have liked a simpler and more even bass line to glue it into a more hypnotic whole.

rachMiel - hypnotiQue
Eerie, spooky effects, on top of a pulse-like rhythm. Enjoyably creepy soundscape, good to sink into - although I hate to think what would happen if it was actually used to hypnotise somebody

rockstarnot - elchemisti
There are some nice sounds going on, reverbed crunchy effects, driving rhythm, and some atonal bits here and there. Maybe it's just my ears, but I found the ring-mod/aliasy sound throughout the track a bit distracting, and altogether there's perhaps a bit much happening to be hypnotic.

satYatunes - LightPath
I liked the reverby piano intro, and the arpeggios on top, but I wasn't so sure about the more poppy sections in the middle and end. I liked the simple piano ending though!

slartibartfast - Hip No Sis
Ommm... nice swirliness, sub-bass, vocal aahs. Yes, definitely hypnotic! Liked this one a lot.

VulcanDJ - Sands of Time
Great guitar sound, with a nice middle-eastern feel both in the melody and percussion. Liked those guitar harmonies!

yevster - Hypnotherapy
Spookiness and sadness. Rather a short track, but good stuff nonetheless. The section at 1:07 reminded me so much of a snippet from 'Seven Stones' by Genesis that I couldn't hear it as anything else - it's a nice section but it caught me out every time I heard it. Good work.

[D.H. Miltz]

Thanks for posting those, kryptonaut.

[slartibartfast]

Thanks, kryptonaut - glad you enjoyed my submission.

[Mister Natural]

thanks for everyone's comments on my submission this month.