August Contest: Gossip

[mellotronaut]

a big hug to James for the nº1 vote!

mell chris

[forw]

Here are some thoughts on the entries and how many points I give them on the I FEEL BEACHY - scale.

1: only concrete ... 5: beach beach beach!!

(which is not supposed to mean good or bad, but how I think the entry meets the beach contest idea. However I will not vote strictly by those numbers..).

laguna rising
cool melody at the beginning. I guess repitition would help for a more listener-friendly structure.
beachy scale: 4,5

mellotronaut
nice chord progression. i like the 2nd part most(1 minute..). dr/voc/guit seem to fall apart a little in terms of rhythmical pulse at 2.00.
4,0

kryptonaut
spoken words bring too much coldness7seriousness in my eyes. nice wild synth melody.
3,3

damon brouss..
well done, but the "epicness" of the piece is not my cup of tea, I 'm afraid.
5,0

bzur
I can see the stars over the ocean!
nice steinway sound, the strings sound like cutted at the end of notes..ah, I see, this is intentional?
4,8

[forw]

sovarozum
I hear waves but the music says something different

however I enjoyed this one. good game music.
2,5

adagiocm
scifi ocean beginning. pretty cool melodies and sounds. beachy? no! yes! hm..in a way..
4,5

beanpole
let's go surfing!
pretty good working composition. too much high frequencies? too much distortion on vocals? don't know what it is..
4,8

nikp2000
guitar sound+fx= awesome!! one of my favorites! great work!
5,0

me109
like an early 80s tune. guitarsound at the end fits 100%. reminds me even of james taylor. love your "authentic" singing.
maybe some desser on voc would be good. some toms seem to have not enough reverb and too busy on some parts, I think.
had to press play once more!8)
4,2

off the wall
maybe a little more "punch" in the mix and reverb on voc would be good?
The guitar boys will be there
Cousin Joey's got the drum
haha, great line!
4,5

jack solum
...and now to s.th. completely different...
interesting.. but some more variation would be great to make the listener stay with the track, I guess.
3,4

mvrasseli
cool rhythm group playing. nice voice but some tweaking on intonation would have lifted that tune alot in my eyes.
4,7

patrick9
I don't understand the combination with the predominant synth sounds, I'm afraid. The guitar sounds good..a more raw version would have been better in my opinion.
4,4

[forw]

evo2slo
fat steven slate playing that kind of groove is a brave decision but it's cool in a way, I think
very original and beautiful melody!
one of my favorites!
4,5

gmoneh
yeah!classical beachy reggae sound!
choice of sounds? Hmm.. I don't know. great ending with 2nd singer.
4,9

dr apostrophex
very enjoyable tune. I would have liked a little more variation.
4,2

mister natural
I like that but it's hard to find any connection to "beach".
2,0

farlukar
feels like it wants to change into binary feel once in a while= intentional?
genious diving effect!! a keeper.
4,8

satyatunes
sounds work together nicely. I think the shaker is too loud and the drums bssshhhh remind me of top gun (sorry, don't want to be harsh). fits the beach-theme-idea very good.
4,9

[Laguna Rising]

laguna rising
cool melody at the beginning. I guess repitition would help for a more listener-friendly structure.
beachy scale: 4,5

Thanks for the kind words, and for writing reviews

Cheers

[nikp2000]

_

laguna rising loose song
loosey goosey like an afternoon on the beach. like the organ patch and groovy skank rythm.

mellotronaut beaches like peaches
nice expressive vocals. like the wah solo

kryptonaut voyeuristic games
great choice of sounds. like the lead synth and violon patches especially. creepy stalker lyrics fit the song's mood

damon brousard lost in silence
moody and introspective. like the air-iness of the opening. i think the percussion is a bit of an intrusion.

bzur beach in winter
lovely piano sets a very nice mood. really nice composition. good job!

sovarozum beach day
welcome and nice first entry! good mix of sounds, but could use a bit more punchiness

adagiocm small stone
a very mysterious beach, eh? i like the phaser, i have an old small stone that i like a lot. what vst did the emulation?

beanpole can't wait for summer
great summer anthem. really like the acoustic guitar's tone in the intro

me109 exit 6
great vocal performance and a really good compostion. production and instrumentation are all top notch. great job!

offthewall beach party
loose and wild. i wanna go to that party! great reto surf-punk groove.

jack solium enfants
sounds like a sepia-tinged home movie from a long ago vacation.

mvrasseli rolling waves
summery and light. nice vocals and catchy melody. good job!

pat9 summertime smile
i like the string touches and the way the sax sneaks in there. . good summery composition.

evo2slo ocean foam
clever skewed reggae beat. good vocals and playing. good job!

gmoneh sand between toes
bright and breezy reggae, snappy and happy. like the organ patch

dr.ax shitpops
shitty indeed, but in a good, breezy poppy shitty way.

mr natural where is lisa
this one kinda grows on you. from the 'wipeout' guitar to the trippy psychodelic mid section, you just don't know which way it will turn next.

farlukar carcharadon
flows like a lazy afternoon on the beach. that dive into the water was a bit disconcerting though.

forw makali beach
lovely little song, but the vocals are a bit buried in the mix.

satyatunes mixed emotions
good composition and good arrangement. wistful and reflective, sets a nice mood.

nick

_

[adagiocm]

adagiocm small stone
a very mysterious beach, eh? i like the phaser, i have an old small stone that i like a lot. what vst did the emulation?

Thanks Nick. It is Reaktor, with Hugo Portillo's Eminent-V 310 Strings Ensemble (available in the NI user library). It includes a great Small Stone emulator. I like the phaser sound a lot, so I have the Small Stone saved as a separate effect ensemble too, and it sounds great on any source of strings.

[farlukar]

that dive into the water was a bit disconcerting though.

Mission accomplished

[mellotronaut]

mellotronaut beaches like peaches
nice expressive vocals. like the wah solo

i like the wah solo too. thank you for the review(s)!

mellotronaut
nice chord progression. i like the 2nd part most(1 minute..). dr/voc/guit seem to fall apart a little in terms of rhythmical pulse at 2.00.

i have to look into it, when i'll be home. thank you very much for the review(s)!

[robogone]

Didn't get time to do what I wanted to do this month. I had some ideas but there were some things that I needed time for as I intended (in addition to guitar, bass, drums and keyboard) vocals and live sax, both of which would probably have taken a lot longer than the time I had.

Anyway, listened through to everything and cast my votes.

[GMoneh]

gmoneh sand between toes
bright and breezy reggae, snappy and happy. like the organ patch

Thanks, nik, that's what I was going for. Thanks for the review and the vote.

gmoneh
yeah!classical beachy reggae sound!
choice of sounds? Hmm.. I don't know. great ending with 2nd singer.
4,9

Thanks for the review and the vote, forw. Hmmm... you're the second reviewer (after kryptonaut) who mention my instrumentation as a problem... would you guys elaborate on what you don't like, for my own education?

[robogone]

Hmmm... you're the second reviewer (after kryptonaut) who mention my instrumentation as a problem... would you guys elaborate on what you don't like, for my own education?

I don't normally comment on anyone's track to the extent that I'll criticize in any way, just whether I like it or not. But as you asked I'll let you know what I thought - the bass guitar and drums sounded wrong to me - like they were intended for an entirely different genre of music, no reggae or any other type of Carribean music. Might just be me on that one, but it didn't have the right sound to it at all.

Hope that helps in some way.

[sovarozum]

sovarozum beachday surf race
Some nice sounds you've used here, reminiscent of TD in places. I felt at times the surf sound could have been turned down a bit to let the music shine through some more - I liked what I was hearing!

Thanks! I appreciate you checking it out! I'm a pretty avid TD fan, so this compliment made my morning!

[Laguna Rising]

laguna rising loose song
loosey goosey like an afternoon on the beach. like the organ patch and groovy skank rythm.

Thanks ! very good reviews, right to the point

Cheers

[Laguna Rising]

Oh, and thanks for the votes offthewall and robojam !