Step's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Ablixa]

This is an NGADM Round 2 review.

--

Damn, this is amazing. What instantly hit me is that this has some of the best production value from the whole round. I mean sure, it sounds heavily brickwalled, but thankfully it's not tiring to listen to at all, even at high volumes. Your bass is phenomenal. I really enjoyed listening to the bassline. You give it a lot of space in a mix that's pretty full-up already, so it's astoundingly clear. Really, I could spend all day praising your mix. Everything's clear, full of depth, and a pleasure to listen to. Great sound effects in general too, like the 2:28 filter automation, the really wet reverb at the end and of course, the main melody which is a stretched snare from all things. By the way, 0:22's low rumble is awesome. Really deep and sounds great.

The composition on the whole is very good. Rhythmically, this track is excellent. The way you highlighted the rhythm of the vocal sound with the snare at the beginning, all the while having that stretched snare going insane and the bass providing another solid rhythmic factor... it was all a blast to listen to and everything worked together like clockwork. The transitions are very impressive, no doubt due to your masterful control over sound and incredible production value. Highlights would be 1:03, 1:42, 2:28, and your progression to the ending, where you gradually removed elements and then just doused everything else in reverb. Also, cool idea to introduce that harsh pad at 2:10 and then have it sidechained when the drums come in afterwards.

The main issue is - yep, you guessed right - the repetition. I know that this genre has heavy focus on repetition, but once it starts to get monotonous to listen to, then it becomes a problem. The stretched snare at the beginning got a bit repetitive, but the real culprit would be the melody on the square lead at 2:30. You repeat it plenty of times - it's a long melody with plenty of subtle pitch-bends and stutters, but unfortunately it's monotonous because it retains almost the same rhythm every bar, and it's repeated multiple times such that it gets pretty predictable. Also, while the ending was fantastic, the intro was a bit bland. Given the amazing sound design elements you have scattered throughout the track, I expected better.

Overall, extremely impressive work. I'm not docking that many marks for the repetition because it wasn't too grave at all and the fact that this is 4 minutes and 13 seconds of pure ear-candy kind of does make up for it.

Score: 9.4/10

garlagan responds:

Step, how do you do it? This review is extremely helpful and detailed. I'm so amazed it's not even funny. Thanks a lot mate. I really appreciate it.
Just like the other one you left on the previous round, I've probably read this one more than 20 times now (yep I like your reviews).
I agree with the things you pointed out. I have to work on them. The strange thing is, I also knew this track's 'mistakes' but i'm always late at starting my tunes. I should learn somehow not to procrastinate so much, and my whole life would be better lol.
Cheers Step <3

[In the end]

This is an NGADM Round 2 review.

--

Considering the issues you had, I expected a much worse track than this. This is actually quite fantastic. Alright sure, it's not as good as your Round 1 track (which I've decided has one of the best main themes of all of Round 1, by the way), but man, this track really has its moments. First and foremost, it hardly sounds like an improvisation; your chord changes are great (did you think of those spontaneously or did you have them in mind before you hit the record button?) and the melodies are gorgeous. I love your simple approach in the intro; it sounds beautiful, and as you slowly make everything sound more busy I was genuinely captivated and interested to hear what happens next. Then, at the very end, you introduce a jazzy, upbeat section with even more fantastic composition.

Considering the track is mostly piano, with a bit of strings, bass and drums at the end (and some super subtle strings in the first half), there's hardly a reason to give you lots of credit for the mixing, but nevertheless, it was a clear and very dynamic mix, and the instruments you use sound good. I love your piano sound so much - it's a real piano and not a sample right? Whatever the case, it sounds bright, well-balanced and expressive. All the other sounds were fine too - bass needs more presence, but otherwise, I enjoyed hearing your other instruments and how well they worked with the piano. Props on going the extra mile and adding more instrumentation to this track; most people just play it safe by having a piano playing for the whole track, but you added more instruments which made for a more satisfying listen.

The issues here are probably things you already know about. The transition to the upbeat part was rough and unexpected. A more thoughtful approach to that final section would have made more sense. The left-hand accompaniment from around 0:46 till 1:30 was a bit dull/bland. The track lacks a structure, and mostly progresses from melody to melody before bringing in that final section. The outro could use a little work. It makes the track feel unfinished, and even though this isn't the most polished and developed track out there, I was hoping for more of a conclusion. Lastly, the track is a little on the short side.

Still, what the heck, this is a lovely submission. The tracks you work hard on are brilliant, and even the ones that may have been a bit rushed are great. Nice work, can't wait to hear more of your music. P.S. Do you plan on making that track you had planned for this round anyway? pleasesayyespleasesayyespleasesayyes.

Score: 8.3/10

BlazingDragon responds:

One of the best themes of round one? Aww, shucks! :')

I don't clearly remember if the beginning was a cold improvisation or if I had warmed up and played around with chord ideas for a few minutes. Probably the latter. Either way, those are chords that I use very often. There are certain things in here are are kind of signature for me. Pedal tones for building drama. Borrowed chords, especially the minor iv. Melodramatic use of the iii to IV progression which you don't hear too often these days. Of course, I also used those secondary dominants that I love so much to create chromatically moving inner parts. <3

The piano sound I use is most definitely not real. I wish I had a grand piano to play on and the knowledge of how to correctly mic it! I think that for this track I used the piano sound that comes in EW Goliath. I'm now using Alicia's Keys and The Giant from Komplete 9 which I like even better. I do play everything on an 88-key weighted MIDI controller. I think that the realism comes from the natural velocities and timings of an actual pianist as opposed to using a mouse to input rigid blocks of notes.

As for making the track I originally planned, I feel like it has been doomed to never be produced. I haven't touched it in forever and I have fallen out of touch with the drummer and bass player who do so much to make it great. :/ Maybe it'll come to fruition sometime in the next year or two, but I really can't say. It's definitely not high priority.

Thank you for the WONDERFUL review, and my apologies for taking so long to respond! Thank you for all your hard work on this contest. :)

[inside the machine]

This is an NGADM Round 2 review.

--

Oh hell yes. This is fantastic. The sounds you've chosen are just excellent. The lead synth has a spacey texture to it that I just love, and yet most of the time it seemingly forgets all its trippy and spacey qualities and plays the groovy and energetic solos with the badassery of an amazing lead guitar player. Your pad and bass elements are highly fitting, giving this a very deep sound and doing wonders to the atmosphere. Your drums are, as usual, punchy, varied, and absolutely fantastic. And then you mix all those sounds so well! Everything has its own space in the mix, and the production is lovely. Of course, I also turned the volume up to the high amount just to hear how clean your low end is, and I was not surprised to hear that it is as always spick-and-span. You are the unofficial master of clean low ends.

The composition is great too. I don't think anyone can help but smile once they've heard the main riff that instantly plays during your wonderfully understated intro that doesn't waste any time to introduce the track. The track only gets better from there, with a huge variety of melodies and excellent progression between them. I love the moments where your synth just trails off into the low or high register like 1:20 and 1:36. Despite not being very tonally cohesive, it somehow gives your melodies a great tinge of excitement and energy. One little detail I appreciated was how you repeated 2:25's melody at 4:01 except quicker and developing it even more. I laughed at you mentioning that you might've worked extra hard on your transitions because SkyeWintrest is judging. Good thing he's so picky about transitions though because in turn your track has fantastic transitions from beginning to end.

Regarding any issues... well, what can I say? This track has all of the good qualities of your previous one and then some. Not only that, but it improved over all of the bad qualities of the previous one. The compression is tighter and more fitting during the harder-hitting parts (and yet still loose enough for dynamic variation), the intro is great, the piano fits this time... hell, even the reverse cymbal is just the right loudness. Perhaps 2:08 - 2:24's section was a bit unnecessary since it didn't really offer much to the track (apart from the badass transition to the next part which you could've implemented into the part before it). Also, the fade-out ending! It fits for this kind of song, but just barely. I can't help but feel that if you had a more finished ending with the same "boom factor" that your previous track's ending had, then it would've worked better.

Really though, this is absolutely fantastic. Jam-packed with detail, variation, and sweet production to boot. Brilliant job.

Score: 9.5/10

johnfn responds:

Man I'm super psyched that you liked it so much! You even caught the 2:25->4:01, which is something I sneaked in wondering if anyone would notice! Also, holy smokes, your review length doubled from last time. Must be because of 1/2 the number of submissions! I tremble in fear in anticipation of your round 3 review ;-)

Phew, it's going to be tough to improve upon this song for the next round... Still trying to think out a strategy :-) I will definitely be thinking about arrangement more for next time, since that's something I still struggle with (and you called me out with the 2:08 thing).

And finally, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for all the work you do with these reviews! I know that this must take a TON of time, and I (and everyone else in NGADM I'm sure) am MASSIVELY appreciative.

P.S. Want to know the secret of how I do my bass? I actually use an electric bass! I know right, seems crazy that an acoustic instrument could fit into such an electronic song, but it actually works pretty well eh?

[When a Good Man Goes to War ~P]

This is an NGADM Round 2 review.

--

Now that's more like what I was hoping to get from you. Your Round 1 track was short and lacked much of a wow-factor, but here we have a fully-developed, 5-minute-and-half ballad with a lovely mixture of moods and a fantastic structure. High dynamics incoming indeed; there's a lot to commend in the dynamics of this track. Similar to Veneox's style of composition, you're able to tell a story by giving the track a clear direction but still varying the moods and emotions that the track conveys, which is a very pleasant difference from your dynamically-flat Round 1 submission. What also helps the dynamics is that you have so many different instruments, and they're high-quality and sound great.

The composition is, as expected, solid. Your leitmotif (the one that's played by the pipes at the beginning) was just the same four-bar melody repeated various times, which was a bit of a shame (I would've musicgasmed if with each repetition you introduced harmonic layers from different instruments) but really it's a great melody, and when you introduce it again later on in the track it succeeds in giving the track some great structural meaning. I feel like you excel more at the softer sections, because the captivating piano and guitar solos, and delicate woodwind passages, were where your composition shined the most (especially that piano section at the end).

The production, while quite good on the whole, was a bit lacking. Maybe that's why your composition shined more in the softer sections, because needless to say it's harder to mix when you have a lot of instruments playing in a louder section. When the guitar came in, I felt like it was a bit of a weak attempt at portraying anger/vengeance, since it's really hard to make a guitar sound good when it's a VST. If you brought in a real guitar player, the idea of adding a guitar among all those ethnic and orchestral instruments would've worked better, and even then I still question the use of a guitar in such an instrument setting. The track in general could do with some more mastering and levelling, so I can feel the power of the percussion and the depth of your background instruments. Props on making everything sound clear though.

Production quality is the biggest issue in this track. Composition, structure, dynamics, transitions, etc... are all beautiful. Keep it up!

Score: 8.5/10

Phyrnna responds:

I'm glad you enjoyed the ballad nature of this track. I was indeed trying to vary it up a bit. Whereas usually I'm writing tracks that are focused on just conveying one mood/imagery for games, I decided to make one that stands on its own and tells a story by itself.

I still feel like my best works are with softer pieces. >.>; It's where I started and feel most at home. I need to work on that. xD

Production I had a lot of trouble with this one, trying to get the.... 24 or so instruments to all fit in properly with each other, especially during the louder sections where they get very crowded. Needless to say I think the mix probably took a hit from it.

And the electric guitar... T.T So much that I want to do with it but the VST lacks in what it can do and I can only barely play anything. D: I'll figure it out....

Thanks for the review! :D

[FD - Moontears]

This is an NGADM Round 2 review.

--

I was looking forward to hearing your Round 2 track, and I am sure as hell not disappointed. I'm going to start with the obvious atmosphere praise. You have such an incredible atmosphere, and while I personally would've preferred some more melodic elements in the intro (this is entirely personal preference, may I add), you've expertly crafted an atmosphere that depicts all of the moods and themes you mentioned in the author's comments with mathematical precision. What I was also very impressed with was the amount of detail you put into the piece. It doesn't seem like it at first, but there's a hell of a lot of subtle elements in play here. Once I turned the volume up I was engulfed in the atmosphere and was able to hear these miniscule details, like the static noise or what sounds like whispering/muttering in the 0:55 section.

The composition is beautiful. Melodically and harmonically, this track really excels. Your melody has a fantastic progression and is played on a very solid foundation of suitable chords and, of course, the dreariness and bleakness of your atmosphere. I like your idea of introducing low strings before bringing in the high strings; not only did the low strings help deepen the soundscape, but they made your introduction of high, emotional strings amidst a synthy, drone-like ambience sound more sensible. There's also nothing wrong with the production of this track. Everything's clear, and sounds amazing, especially those strings.

I would've liked some more textural changes in the part with the high strings. The texture over there is relatively unchanging, which feels like a disappointingly "safe" way to handle that section when before you used so many experimental and unique sounds that added to the atmosphere. That section also seems to be lacking slightly in low end. I would've liked the accompanying string chords to be deeper/bassier, or maybe some kind of atmospheric rumbling sound or bass synth to really cover up the full range of the mix. This is a slight issue, because that section is suitably deep, and if you introduce a low-end rumble, your timpani roll will lose a bit of its effect, so it's something I'm torn about. Speaking of the timpani roll, it's a bit abrupt; you could've let it ring out a little more. Lastly, I felt that when you finally do introduce the high strings, it was a tad bit abrupt; I would've liked a more subtle approach, where the high strings are kind of edged in smoothly.

Overall, that was an incredible listen, despite a few issues in the string section WHICH WAS BEAUTIFUL REGARDLESS. It's an improvement over your Round 1 track, and really provided the experience I was hoping to get from you.

Score: 8.8/10

ForgottenDawn responds:

Thank you Step, that was a great review and I absolutely agree with the points stated about the climatic part of Moontears. To be perfectly honest it was quite intimidating to handle for me at first since I felt like having indeed a great potential, especially considering the emotional value of a track like this, and in the end I chose to stuck my axe to a tree instead of cutting it down completely with the risk of ruining the wood if you know what I mean by that metaphor. I'm still sort of learning the dynamics in a mix, how to not leave audible "gaps" between the sounds without letting them sound either too sparse or, on the contrary, too intrusive. To share I guess, and keep up your insightful reviewing style.

[The Last Prince]

This is an NGADM Round 2 review.

--

There are some pretty great ideas here. You have a wonderful intro. It's soft, and sets the mood beautifully. When the low strings come in during the intro, I feel like the intro started to spiral down in quality because it started to get a bit bland and boring, but before that you have a great piano sound that creates a wonderful atmosphere. 1:17's percussive elements are subtle and very effective. What I really like at that point is how you build up and introduce some heart-pumping staccato strings, die down again, and do the same thing later on. It's an interesting structural approach that works very well.

In general, structure-wise, you have a pretty interesting structure. You saved the climax for the very end, but still added plenty of dynamics beforehand. Unfortunately, saving the climax for the end and making it so short and detached from the rest of the track transition-wise is a bit of a dissapointment, so there's room for more development in this track from where you left off. The transitions in general are pretty smooth! 0:25's strings should be far more subtle, a nice drum fill before 1:17 would've been awesome, 1:52 came off as a bit abrupt and let's face it, the transition to 2:46's part was lame, but otherwise, everything else is smooth.

Your composition has some good aspects and bad aspects. In the softer sections you have far more interesting melodic material. In the climax at the end you basically just repeated the same short riff many times over, which is similar to what you did in your Round 1 track during the climactic sections. Could be something to work on in your future tracks. I feel like your buildups could have been more pronounced. As I said above, I love how you build up the staccato strings halfway through the track, but I didn't quite feel the increase in intensity I was hoping for. The buildup to the climax at the end could've been far better too. Lastly, despite such a fantastic intro, your ending is a pretty average "unfinished" ending you usually find in trailers, which didn't do the track justice, I feel.

Deadlines can be tough, especially when you get technical issues or you simply don't manage to get inspired in time. I know you can do much much better, but still, you've certainly got good ideas here and hopefully my review will help when/if you revisit them! Good job.

Score: 7.6/10

TitanMusic responds:

Thanks a lot for the review.
My songs have dropped in quality over the last few weeks and I am honestly quite happy I got knocked out. I don't have enough time at the moment and I feel I am just releasing tracks that aren't good enough just for the sake of the competition.
It's interesting to contrast yours and SkyeWintrest's reviews.
Thank you for taking the time to give such an in depth review, it is much appreciated.
I don't think the song is worthy of the 7.6 you awarded but I do agree that there are some pretty cool ideas in this song that I should and will work on.
Thanks again!

[GM - Dragon Of The South]

This is an NGADM Round 2 review.

--

Wow, my god. This is so much better than your previous song. Round 1's track may have been a bit uninspired, but this is not the case here. Almost everything sounds much more inspired and well-thought-out. The melodies are great. You showcase the aggression of your guitar tone but at the same time you do indeed put in some dynamics and very solid composition. There is one section that just took me aback because of how good it was, though, and that would be 3:12. I love it; you approach it so well. I would approach it with some over-the-top buildup but all you use is a little ascending riff to introduce that section, and despite such a subtle and understated technique, you still make that part sound positively massive and awe-inspiring. What follows is a build-down to the ending which was very well-executed.

...but screw that, everything was well-executed, and that definitely includes the production. For the third time since NGMT, you continue to surprise me with your incredibly tight production value, and that's only complemented by your technical prowess with your guitar. Your mix is meaty and bassy, and as usual you make good use of compression, without using too much of it that your track becomes a block of loud audio. Your drums are also pretty much flawless. Something that's certainly to be commended is the kick, which has astounding clarity that I would not expect in a track with guitars that are so heavy on the lower end.

I'm finding it problematic to pinpoint any issues with this track. I feel your intro (up till 0:54) felt disjointed from the rest of the track, and this is jarringly apparent if the track loops. After listening to the ending and moving back to the beginning, it's like I'm hearing a totally different song, since you don't really repeat any elements from that intro anywhere else. Also, the first half of your track is a tad bit flat in terms of melodic content (not as much of a problem as it was in your Round 1 track). I felt like the second half of your track was far more of an effective showcase of your compositional skill.

You've created a very mighty and enjoyable track, with suitable dynamics and fantastic production. Truly brilliant work; I'm extremely impressed with this.

Score: 9.3/10

InYourDreams responds:

Thank you Step! as allways, I'm so happy to read your review :D... Makes me feel, that I'm approaching production the right way.
I worked harder on this song than on my submission for the first round and I think it was worth it. I hope I can keep working that way.
I'm loving music more than ever! :)

[Evolution]

This is an NGADM Round 2 review.

--

As with many of the other tracks this round, this is an improvement over your Round 1 submission, which is so great to hear, because it means you genuinely put effort into delivering better and better content every round, and take the judges' tips/pointers into consideration. Here we have another long, fleshed-out and generally well-structured metal track, but this time with a somewhat more mellow and reflective pace than your Round 1 track. The guitar-playing, while being a bit rhythmically off at times (could be fixed with some simple audio file slicing), was great, and I absolutely love your quieter parts especially. I think you really excel at softer parts in your metal tracks.

That's not to say the heavier parts are bad though! You've got a great-sounding guitar and much nicer drums than in this track's predecessor. Yes I agree with the other reviewers that the kick and snare may stand out too much, but I'm still feeling some good oomph from the drums that do the track justice. The mixing is a definite improvement; still needs some work though. The track is noticeably empty during the heavier parts, and lacks the fullness of a tighter mix. Some of the elements in the track, such as the high strings towards the end, feel a bit unfitting; they're dry and don't blend well with the guitar; I'm not saying remove them, but work on integrating them more. They somewhat taint what would have been a perfectly-executed ending.

Now that the production issues are ironed out, onto the composition issues. Your composition is, as usual, solid, but I felt like the heavier parts lacked an identity; it's as if they were hovering between sounding heavy and sounding emotional, but not quite managing to touch any one of them. To try and be constructive, I'll link to a metal track that I feel nails that "heavy but emotional" vibe - the Cabal Online Desert Scream theme (http://goo.gl/kDLWHz). I advise listening to the whole track (because it's awesome) but the part I'm talking about comes in at 1:16. Finally, some transitions need work - some of the pauses worked, but others (4:17 for instance) felt a bit arbitrary. In addition, 4:43 was a buildup to nothing, and felt really anticlimactic.

Keep working on your mixing, be mindful of transitioning and work more on atmosphere-building in the heavier parts, but man, other than that, this is a good improvement (even if my measly 0.3 upgrade from your previous score may indicate otherwise) and you should be proud of it!

Score: 8/10

Metallica1136 responds:

Yeah, after reading the reviews I recieved for Round 1, I definitely knew some work had to be done, and some improvements had to be made. Yeah, I'm working on keeping my songs's timing better. Yeah, the kick and snare are a little loud, but I'd much rather hear drums too loud than too soft. :P Yeah, I do agree about the emptiness. I need to work on making my tracks sound thicker, and fuller. Yeah, the strings do feel a bit misplaced with the guitar. Like you said, it doesn't seem to blend in with the guitar.

Thanks for your review man! I'll be sure to keep all those things in mind!

[Lazy Island Daze]

This is an NGADM Round 2 review.

--

You have some good ideas here. Just like in SourJovis' track, you've set a great mood (even though your tracks' mood is very different from his!), and this fits very well with the name. Your style of composition and instrumentation are fitting for the mood you want to set. Your production isn't that bad either (although since when has it been bad?). I like that this time your low end is more pronounced. The bass sounds great, and fits really well with the rhythm of the track that's set by the percussion. Great transitions, by the way; I very much enjoyed your introduction of percussion. Other than some quick notes on the bagpipe, there was no indication that the track was about to turn into a more upbeat direction, but its abruptness was very well-executed and it worked well.

Unfortunately, I feel like this track is a bit of a disappointment. While you have a great mood, unlike SourJovis you don't really develop it that much. This is very samey, not only in mood and atmosphere but even the drums themselves are very repetitive, with only two two-bar beats playing most of the time. When you introduce a nice shaker rhythm a little over halfway, it's a nice change, but short-lived. Stylistically, the drums have the right rhythm but more use of congas/bongos would've been great. Regarding melody, you have some solid ideas but most of the time you've got fairly simple scalic passages which feel a tad bit uninspired.

I have some complaints regarding your instruments. Your use of bagpipes was interesting but sadly they got somewhat overbearing since they're basically playing in the background all the time. 1:48's island mallet fit wonderfully with the theme but due to its inaccurate pitch in the low register it was a bit hard to make out its melody. I would've liked to hear some more interaction between different instruments, because most of the time you've just got bagpipes, a guitar and a bass in the background, and then instruments take turns in the foreground to play melodies, which felt like wasted potential. Adding more instruments playing together contrapuntally, for example, would make the track retain interest and perhaps fix the fact that this track is lacking in variety.

I feel as though this is not quite the standard of music I expect to hear from you I'm afraid! You've got good ideas, but maybe writer's block or the deadline gave you a bit of a disadvantage, I don't know. Still, just because it doesn't reach the bar you've set for yourself in terms of quality, it doesn't mean this is a bad track. Pretty good work overall!

Score: 7.5/10

acmeDyne responds:

I need to read through all your reviews because you are awesome at reviewing and I could learn a lot from them.
This is definitely not my best work. I ditched my original idea because I want to take my time finishing it (potentially my best piece ever and I just couldn't bear to upload it half-baked). I'm glad SourJovis won because his track is definitely better.
Thanks for putting together another great contest this year!

[Ling Kano's Fighting Show]

This is an NGADM Round 2 review.

--

I'm just instantly going to start this review by telling you that if there was one thing you did right in this track, it's the mood. You've set the mood absolutely perfectly. Your pacing feels just right for a "fighting show" kind of idea, and you use highly suitable instrumentation to give this a retro and classic sound, which to me is reminiscent of something you'd hear in Japanese-styled animated show. Thankfully, the mood is NOT the only thing you did right in this track. Your instruments work beautifully together. The drums in particular are a great driving force, but know their place as a background element without disrupting the piece.

The way you structured the piece is excellent. While this feels dynamically flat for the first half (which, for this track, isn't such a bad thing), at 1:20 you introduce a dynamic change, which, albeit being a bit abrupt, led well to the next section which was a pretty badass buildup. The listener is treated to some excellent interplay with the song's various elements, and once we get to 2:20 the song really comes together into a phenomenal climactic section which gives such an awesome lasting impression. Your composition has never really been bad and over here is no exception. You've got a catchy (although occasionally tiresome) main guitar riff, but your composition's strength lies in the 2:20 section. My favourite part about your composition is how you highlight the foreground melody with a drum roll like at 2:33 and at the very end. Great idea.

I like this a whole lot more than your Round 1 submission, but unfortunately I still have production-related complaints with it. There's something off about your mix/master which I can't quite put my finger on. I hate saying comments like this because it makes me sound so unprofessional, but I really can't tell you for sure what's wrong with it. It might be a bit too much compression, or it might just be too much EQing. What I mean by that is, some of your elements sound a bit thin, as if they've been stripped too much of their frequencies during EQing (like the instrument at 1:20). Maybe your mids could do with a bit more volume. What I can say for sure, though, is that 0:17's drums sound incredibly thin and lacking in power. Also, the mix can get a bit cluttered, mainly towards the end. Some simple levelling could fix this.

Anyway, whether your Round 1 track was a success or not, this was. You've got such a great mood and likeable composition that I'm willing to set the production issues aside and give you a good score.

Score: 8.3/10

SourJovis responds:

Glad you liked this song better. I still like the previous one as much as this. The production didn't go nearly as smooth in this one as in the previous round. But overall I'm not too unhappy with this song. In retrospect I understand why people like this one better. The other song had too many unusual things that the listeners who didn't share my thought process (every listener beside me) wouldn't understand. It also had things that didn't bother me much but I should've known others would dislike. Such as the sampled guitars and vocoder. Though I intended to use live guitars and vocals that wouldn't require vocoding.

I too like the melody at 1:20 that returns at 2:20 best. Catchy melodies are my strong point. Perhaps I should've made two more melodies like that, to make this song a string of catchy melodies, instead of one big build up for one short main melody. Unfortunately only this melody came to mind. The rest was just drag and dropping of notes by the book. Did you notice the main melody is the only part that has chord progression? The rest of the song is just one Gm chord. I almost wanted to make a song that was entirely with one chord. Thought that would be funny. But then I thought, it'd be too boring. It really should have a catchy melody to have some right to exist.

So you don't like my mix and master, but you can't say why? What a help you are. No I agree. I had the exact same thing while making this. That's why I couldn't make it any better. I really had a hard time mixing it. If I had to change one instrument from right to left to make one part sound better. I had to reverse the panning of all of the other instruments as well to compensate and make the other parts still sound good. The song quickly got cluttered so I had to make the individual instruments sound thinner. I also left out a lot of instruments that sounded quite good by themselves, but just sounded too messy with the other instruments. It can't really be too compressed I think. I had a style in mind that usually has a lot of compression and I wanted to put distortion on the track to make it sound old, but in the end I didn't do it. It barely has compression now, and no distortion. Perhaps it's something else, or it’s the compression and the distortion on the individual instruments. The drums for example have a lot of compression. The drum kit at 0:17 probably sounds weak because it's not very loud, so it doesn't drown out the other instruments later in the song. It doesn't have a lot of bass frequency boost either, because most of the low comes from the synth kick and the base guitar, and I didn't want the bas tones to become muddy. Perhaps I should've layered that drum fill with the base guitar, to make it sound more powerful. I think the drum kit could use some more bass frequency boost then it has now. The tape strings (at 1:20) could use more low yes. It wasn't originally intended as a solo instrument, but as lead for the end of the song. I didn't use it there because it became too cluttered, and I liked the high strings better. With less other instruments to get in the way I should give it a wider spectrum.

I also noticed my songs often sound soft or thin compared to other louder songs. This is easily remedied by increasing the volume. I often think the louder songs sound too loud in the middle. I think my songs sound fuller and more lively than many of the louder ones when you just adapt the volume of the individual songs to a volume pleasant to the ear. That's because I try to use frequencies across the entire spectrum and leave in a lot of dynamic. At least that's what I think. I could be doing it wrong.