winter contest - GOSSIP

[knockman]

knockman - What an utterly great surprise this track was. The mood, the vocal, the sounds all seemed to suplement one another just perfectly. It's not the first choice of music I'd select for homeplay, but please tell me when the album is due

cheers mystahr, to be honest it's not the first choice of music i myself would select, it's just that's how i sort of sound 'by default' as it were. there's no album due, as such, but i'm aiming to build a body of work over the next 20 years or so, for posthumous release no doubt , i think my songs will have more impact and revelence coming from a pensioner

regards

[freeztar]

So how strict is the 4 min. time limit going to be enforced? No sense in wasting votes if they're going to be dq'd.

But, hey, I was in such a hurry that I didn't name mine properly.

[clueless]

So how strict is the 4 min. time limit going to be enforced?

"not very"

[freeztar]

Maybe...

-10 points for no tag
-10 points for improper naming
-10 points for time limit overstep...

Basically -10 for every infraction.
It would be a hoot! And it would give good incentive for forum conformity.

ok,ok...maybe just -1

Might make phz's life easier.
Then again, it might complicate things.

[freeztar]

So how strict is the 4 min. time limit going to be enforced?

"not very"

Dammit, you mean I have to vote for Sleek now.

[clueless]

So how strict is the 4 min. time limit going to be enforced?

"not very"

Dammit, you mean I have to vote for Sleek now.

you know you want to

[mystahr]

One more batch after this one.....

Garret - In a way I am glad you were tempted by the contest and gift us with a pure Garret tune. Smooth and filled with warmth and care. Great harmonies and just a most wonderful song

MarcJX8P - The opening sounds allready made me want to push up the volume and fully bath in the sounds which I did. Beautiful progression with some great moments. For some reason I am hearing the guitarstab in my mind with a bit more soft crunch and a longer tail, but that's more personal taste. There was a note in the strings at 3,26 that sounded off within the melody as if a wrong note accidentally was hit. A shame though about the sudden faded ending, it's a bit too abrupt I feel. The bass sound btw was a treat though

Mephit Blue - Great poppy and calming rhythm you created where for some reason I felt the harpsichord/guitarish(?)-sound to be a bit weak against the rest. There are some really strong moments in this tune that lifted this tune up high; some great guitaring solo's happening. I don't fully agree though on the balance of the male vocal compared to the female vocal. I personally would have pushed the male vocals a bit more up and the female vocals down and now and then put a long decaying delay on it to spread it more onto the song. All in all this song has got me softly swaying in my chair.

Kovacs - The opening of this gave me a feeling of hearing a band that was too much spread out on a stage as the various sounds felt more to be solo islands rather then forming a band working together. But when the track progresses I must admit that this way of producing it definately has its charm. In a way it has become a very experimental tune somehow. Still the drums and guitar were parts that I would have rather seen working together more. The heavy padding that went on at 1.25 was perhaps a bit too much but I quite liked the sound of what happened there; it put my ears up and certainly got my attention. I absolutely loved the part from 2.20 onwards. Having heard this now a few times this one is certainly growing on me fast.

Grotman - One of the reasons the tagging is so important in the contests is that I had a bit of trouble finding who it was that was playing, but I found it in the end. Okay the song.... even though I felt the drums to be mixed a bit too much too the front (and the left) I very much loved this one. A great build, some excellent vocals, good guitaring and all in all just a top-song. I certainly would love to hear more from you here or in the Café. Welcome to KvR and to the contests

Freeztar - I took a trip on the magical musical tour and definately enjoyed the ride. Loving the various places this track is taking me. I very much like the concept you have created here and your quickly becoming hallmark tropical rhtyhms are a joy to experience. What you did with the heavily FX'd/rhythmic voice between 1 and 2 mins was just awesome. Perhaps the transitions could have been executed a bit more fluently but you certainly ranged quite a few very different musical spots in only just under four minutes.

Herodotus - Pretty much an intriguing track that had an almost hypnotizing effect. The drums definately brought this a lot of forward drive and the slowly growing pad complemented the great feel. I love how you play with the original bell sound from the break at 1.25 although I feel the sound a tad too piercing in the mid-section, some careful eq'ing there would have made this a tad more pleasant to listen to. Although I feel it more to be fault to the compressor probably since it is playing solo there. After 3 mins it is playing solo to, but it is filtered more. The stab at 3.22 I felt a bit too harsh even though structure wise it was good leading to the ending rhtyhmic sequence.

[kovacs]

Kovacs - The opening of this gave me a feeling of hearing a band that was too much spread out on a stage as the various sounds felt more to be solo islands rather then forming a band working together. But when the track progresses I must admit that this way of producing it definately has its charm. In a way it has become a very experimental tune somehow. Still the drums and guitar were parts that I would have rather seen working together more. The heavy padding that went on at 1.25 was perhaps a bit too much but I quite liked the sound of what happened there; it put my ears up and certainly got my attention. I absolutely loved the part from 2.20 onwards. Having heard this now a few times this one is certainly growing on me fast.

Thank you for this in-depth review. Yes, the track has some problems and I will probably need to redo most of it but it is reviews like this that help me find the flaws and work with them.

It was experimental indeed - trying to sound like a hero form the old days yet incorporate new sounds using the keyboard (I'm not a keyboard player at all, guitar is my only instrument).

The sync problems have been commented upon by others too and it is a shame because it happened during mixdown and I did not correct it before submitting it. True to the rules I did not want to change it.

For anyone who is interested, here is a follow-up song that I'm working on. It's called "Moore or less" but could probably be more an "Ode to Goose" (or even an "Elegy for Meg Ryan".)

Moore or less [about 5 megs, 160kps]

[mystahr]

Finally a Demi



Will listen to this later after finishing the reviews

[Marc JX8P]

MarcJX8P[/b] - The opening sounds allready made me want to push up the volume and fully bath in the sounds which I did. Beautiful progression with some great moments. For some reason I am hearing the guitarstab in my mind with a bit more soft crunch and a longer tail, but that's more personal taste. There was a note in the strings at 3,26 that sounded off within the melody as if a wrong note accidentally was hit. A shame though about the sudden faded ending, it's a bit too abrupt I feel. The bass sound btw was a treat though

Thanks, Mystahr! You're perhaps right on that guitar thing but I find it kind of hard to get a good sustain sound (maybe one of the guitarists can give me some help with this ). I'm using a VST program called GreenAmp which does have a nice sound but I'm still looking for a cool feedback kind of sound... There is indeed a part at the end where it sounds a bit off-key: I tend to compose by playing parts and then rearranging them. For the end, I took the string part from the start and the chord sequence from the middle and I liked how they matched up. There was the one dissonant chord, but I found it rather interesting so I decided to leave it in. And you're totally right about the ending. Had I known it was ok to do about 10 seconds more I'd have the song end more naturally. As it is, it feels a bit cheap (I'm not a huge fan of fade-outs...). Still, I am planning to give the song a proper ending and maybe even extend it after the competition is over.

And while I'm posting: thanks also to Koorby, Kovacs and Sttjelle for your kind words and the fact that you put me in your top ten!

[mystahr]

And the final batch..... As said if I forgot one please say so.....

HansM - I must admit that this one the first time round felt a bit mechanic and a tad too much programmed in the sense that the piano for instance lacks that human touch. I mean I get the sense of too much quantizing and too little 'sloppy handjobs'. I do love however how this is produced as it sounds quite swell. In essence this is quite nice, but I would love to hear your key-playing progress as I do hear good ideas in this.

Nikp2000 - I guess in progress from Hans' track this is what I mean with the more 'sloppy handjobs'. This feels so very natural and I must say that guitar sounds wonderful in here. Cool blues with a touch of pop and jazz with a great wink towards a calypso kind of feel. This is something I would place with a 60's or 70's TV series somehow. I guess though the most missing part in this is a standup bass which imo would have lifted this greatly. Even though I feel that the lower notes of the guitar and the flute could be eq'ed better (some frequencies in there that I feel needed cutting down a bit for a smoother sound). Also I personally would have appreciated it if the guitar and flute when they play together to have played different sequences for a more lively tune.

Sleek Month - About the only thing left for me to say on this one: stupendously great tune where I loved the vocal treatments. If there should be a nit then it would only be how the electric at 3.30 feels to come in too loud and present compared to the rest of the tune.

Koorby - I don't know; this has your usual skill of piano play and a pretty good production, but for some reason I felt the piano so contained within just one octave too much throughout and one very oft used particular note (don't ask me which as couldn't tell, mostly the first note of a sequence). I am missing the playful excursions and rarely hear the piano progress to some high note sequences. Perhaps it is just me or perhaps I am putting a bit too high expectations on this, but it's how this comes across to me. Still that doesn't really make it a bad tune at all.

Softegg - For some reason this makes me think of evenasense (or however you write that). I hear quite a bit of potential in Christina's voice although I feel it needs more practice and maturing. She has quite a range, but I do feel her strength to lie more in the lower notes and that singular high note in the chorus feels a bit off. There is some sort of organish sound that I feel clashes way too much with the guitar. I feel it would have helped if you'd have panned these sounds to either side. Right now they muddify too much creating a bit of an eerie sound at times.

Patrick9 - What a surprisingly great song from you. This so much makes me think of Billy Idol the way your vocals sound. I do feel however that in the rush you perhaps could have paid a bit more attention to trying to get the vocals a bit more dryer. For some reason I am not too keen on some of the FX you have put on the vox. Especially since the feedback of those FX seem to clash a lot with the drums which at times push the brilliance of that to an almost mumbling drum. The deadline may have been reached but I feel or hope that you will continue a bit more on this. Great potential here.

Second Skin - Even though out of competition still worthy of a review. But man what a great drive in this; very soulful and progressive. If I'd come across this on vinyl back in the DJ-years It'd surely have found a way into my collection. Allready quite fine a production with a wonderful warm low end. I'd be careful though in adding more to this unless you create some breathing room for a guitar. As it is I allready think it is quite full and rich and I loved the sound of it

And now for the most horrible part of the contest; deducting it to ten only ......

I wonder how Peel would tackle this

[mystahr]

For anyone who is interested, here is a follow-up song that I'm working on. It's called "Moore or less" but could probably be more an "Ode to Goose" (or even an "Elegy for Meg Ryan".) Wink

Moore or less [about 5 megs, 160kps]

For some reason I personally would have loved to hear that opening guitar with a bit smoother and warmer punch. At times there are a few frequencies that jump out a bit too much I feel, but some good eq'ing will take care of that. Once the bass comes in I feel that the fullness of this is more where this track should be.

I couldn't really comment on the guitar itself, but more on how it comes across here, but why not post this in the Café and perhaps get some more feedback of the more guitar-knowledgables.

Quite a good track though

[kovacs]

For anyone who is interested, here is a follow-up song that I'm working on.

Quite a good track though

Thanks a lot Mystahr. I'll post it in the cafe when I find the time to work some more with the sounds.

[M'Snah]

...

[kovacs]

HansM, the quote in your sig is not entirely correct:

"Times flies like an arrow, fruit flies like bananas"

It should read:
Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
...and the quote is from Groucho Marx.