Though the intro started out sounding like a cheesy, regular intro to a trance track, I see after a bit that this is a proper, amazingly made track.
Sure enough the intro had a very good build-up to the main course, but the synth was quite cheesy. Then again, the same synth sounded very well later on in the track, working alongside backing synths, bass and the rhythmics. In general, both the synths and samples you used were pretty great.
You really got what you were trying to make here, an uplifting piece of trance. Oftentimes people will just spew out some high-pitched, fast-paced tones and hope it sounds uplifting, but the melody in this one gives off some sort of vibe to me, and it really feels uplifting. Like the happy ending to an adventure.
Rhythmics are a bit repetitive, but they still sound very good. They keep the pace up and they keep the track going. Maybe tune them down just a tad, as they are a bit loud as is, somewhat taking over the track itself.
Really well done, but for an 8-bit track, it's actually a bit simplistic.
I really like the melody in this, it loops just fine, it sounds like this cheerful track that would go well in a simple sidescrolle, as you said, in a winter wonderland of sorts. Your synths are really good, but as I said, there could've been more added to it. 8-bit doesn't necessary mean simple and a bit naked.
Either way, I hear potential, I think you should make some more 8-bit tracks or loops in this style!
I'm not gonna hold back on this one. I really, really enjoyed listening to it. And that's in spite of me thinking the lead synth was rather annoying to start off with.
I love your use of samples from stringed instruments, the rather small amounts of rhythmics, and the variation throughout the track. The bass lifting the track up and the ambient backing synths to flesh out the track as a whole. Some very nice use of volume, I can't remember the English word for it, but I liked it.
The intro was very nice, really set the mood. outro I'm not so sure about, seems like you werent' too clear of how to end it, and ended up with a fade-out after the outro.
A very well-made atmospheric track, with a lot of great parts.
I think one of the most important things in the track is the rhythmics section, which varies and never really uses the more "standard" rhythm loops. The samples aren't the best, but the rhythmics are very well-made.
Second is the ambient noises backing the melody, they give this odd atmospheric feel to the track, somewhat eerie, a bit creepy. This while the melody just brings you along for a pretty scary ride.
I definitely worked hard on this. Apparently it paid off, huh? The ambient noises really make the song, I think, it makes the song truly deep and cave-like. I attempted to make it have extreme depth, like you could get lost in the song if you weren't careful.
This is what I like to hear when it comes to jazz. It's not groundbreaking, but it mixes it up and it has something somewhat new to offer.
The composition is great, it has a proper built up track with nice transitions. Though the drum samples aren't the best, that really doesn't matter too much. The melody is really great, and I do like the rhythmics. A nice intro that builds up to the track properly, but I don't like that the outro is fade-out.
Maybe do some more work with dynamics, I heard some, but not a lot.
I'm glad you enjoyed, and BTW, I know my drum samples suck arse, it plagues me, and there isn't much I can do about it, since Reason doesn't allow VST's...
Also, I felt the progression was quite appropriate to end in fade-out, though mybe that was laziness, lol.
Again, really glad you enjoyed, and thanks again for the review!
Of course it's annoying to get 0-bombed, but all aspiring musicians on NG will be 0-bombed sometime. I find it weak for you to give in and leave, even though I might understand. Scores aren't everything, broseph.
On to the track: Intro is really promising. You've used really good synths and I really like the beats in this piece, drum samples are pretty damn perfect, and there is some variation in the drums.
Main issue for me is the repetitive nature of the track. Though there are buildups and transitions, I wouldn't say it's a very original track. That is, the melody itself is, the track just seem to repeat itself. Not something I look for in a track.
Again, sorry about the 0-bombers, but don't let them get to you. Your score is already better.
Really nicely looped, and in general a pretty good track with some nice samples.
My biggest issue is that I can't find anything to hold onto, and I kept waiting for the track to give me something of that sort. There's not much in the way of structure, though the composition itself isn't very bad. And as I said, samples are really good, the drums are simple, providing support for the strings alongside the midi bass. Then again, I'm not too sure about the midi bass, I don't feel it fits too good with the main melody being played by strings.
I'm trying to keep with the spirit of the original metroid, which used a bass as kind of the action of the whole thing, with the long synths producing the melody and harmony. I'm not sure what else I could throw at it and still make it sound good, yet similar to the original.
I feel something common with all your tracks is that the composition is very well written. That, and the track always feels grand, royal or something like so.
I'm not a huge fan of your drum samples, nor the midi-like melodic line, nor the electric guitar sound which is a tad cheesy. I'd really like to see you go out and get some really good sample packs, because they could lift your compositions to a whole nother level.
That said, the composition of your track really makes all that negative stuff I just said void. It's all put together so well, the bass, the rhythmics, the melodic lines, you have multiple layers of synths to flesh it out, which I'm a big fan off. It does sound a bit off-key at times, and I'm no fan of fade-outs at the end.
The reason it's /generally/ compositionally well-written is because I've studied music and composition for over six years with one of the best teachers in the state, and in several other states nearby - so that /could/ have something to do with it.
I also like making songs full, deep, and have a feeling of "this is a strong song", not just the ones that, while cool, have no real depth. Admittedly, I also like a feeling of "grand-ness" in my songs. Especially songs like this.
I know, I know, my samples aren't good. I've only been using the defaults. I should probably get more, but they don't sound overly bad... to me, they sound like drums. Having custom samples doesn't necessarily make a song better, it may make the drum samples unique, but so what? I'll try to get some better samples to make you happy though (especially since I'm sure a lot more people will be happier because of that too).
The midi-like melodic line... That was a soundfont violin, I'll probably use a violin sample from Reason with my next song that features a violin, as they're higher quality. The FLS strings were less fitting than the violin in the soundfont. I admit that the electric guitar sound wasn't the best either, but it was better than the default in FLS, again... I also note that this was intended to be a tribute to KH, and the soundtracks for that were also almost all midi for the first few games (if I remember right).
I try to make all the bits of my songs fit. I also don't try to make every single part in the same key, because the parts that aren't in the same key can still sound good. Depends on whether there is (A) a transition, or (B) whether it's not in another KIND of key. There's more than just classical major/minor keys, but jazz keys as well that sound quite good while putting in tritones.
I do use quite a few instruments and layer them all together, partially because having many things like that going at once lets people focus on different things each time they listen, and not listen to the same thing as much, or listen repeatedly to the same thing because there always seems to be more.
Aaaaand, the final thing. This fades out because it is a loop track, I have the beginning of the loop start at about 0:23, halfway through that second. it plays from there again at about 2:32. I have it fade out because I wasn't intending it to have an ending - it's probably going to be in a game I'm doing the soundtrack for (not the one for the RRC, sorry :P).
Thanks for the review! (Yay for making replies about four times larger than the review, too!)
Not a bad track, but a bit too high-pitched for me.
I get that the track is supposed to be cheerful and just like this, high-pitched, and it's not bad. However, it could do with some heavier bass, as right now the bass is somewhat superficial, it's not deep or heavy-hitting.
Other than that the synths are really nice, love the backing synths, always nice to have a couple layers in a track so it never feels shallow. It was however, extremely repetitive. More variety is a must, both the melody and the rhythmics were just repeating themselves throughout.
I got rid of a lot of the bass because it made it sound muddy. Too much is in this song which just distorted the lower ends of the track. I think it was around the 40-50hz range, but I had to do a cut moreso for the lower ranges because of the muddyness. I wanted to have the melody itself pop out which did it's job.
Yeah, it is repetitive, but I tweaked the synth itself a bit to make it not that repetitive. If you listen more carefully to how the synth fluctuates, it doesn't stay the same throughout the song. It changed a lot which is what I loved about it so I kept it. However the main melody to itself did stay the same, but I wasn't intending this to be a full length track, more just something people could listen to and enjoy.
I'm trying to find the right kinda simplicity with overall melodic enjoyment. :P I'm still pokin' at what I can do, but so far this was moreso a test to see if it works. And it seems it does to a degree, which is what I was hoping for. The next thing I come out with will be different than this though no doubt.
Uplifting Trance - Faliya