Score: 8
"Evolving? Maybe..."
date: February 23, 2008
As I don't hear anything different about your style in the beginning. But we'll see.
Once again, your song is distorting... it might just be mixed/EQed/mastered for something other than headphones, but considering that most people are going to be listening to this on headphones or speakers rather than a 5.1 sound system, I'd be posting the appropriate mix/EQ/master. ;)
The bass isn't on the offbeat, which is a bit of evolution there, now that I think about it, and definitely good. :D No complaints... you manage to make room for its bassiness right next to the kick with only a little distortion on the side, which is good compared to your other stuff I've reviewed. :P Sad thing is, it stays on the same note for the most part, until you change it up, and once you do, the song distorts more. :\
The kick sounds pretty standard, it's a bit boring and there's nothing to make it interesting. Not even a transition here or there. :\ Thankfully you introduce a great ride pattern on top of it later on (though it's REALLY late in the song D:) which makes the kick less boring. Nice! :D Hihats are good, no complaints, though by now haven't you considered making more complex hihat lines, rather than simple ones and loops? ;) Interesting claps you have there, I don't think they fit... they're a little bit loud for my taste, too. Crashes are standard and a bit of a bore... and you do the 1, 2, 3, 4 crash pattern on lots of your transitions. Come on... there are better ways to build energy than that! You just have to look for them! ;D Reverse crash is fine, good job there. FX is nice, though there isn't much of it... more would make the song a lot more interesting, you know. ;) And, finally, your vocals... which are good, though rather short, and play more a role of FX than actual vocals.
Synths are all great. Your pikes are well-chosen, the saws (a throwback to Departure? XD) fit... I've just got two complaints. One, the song would be WAAAAY better if it were more melodic - give the bass more freedom to play an actual bassline, rather than one note in a pattern. :P This is actually remix material by my standards, and I'd give making a melodic version of this song a shot... sadly I've got a whole bunch of WIPs going already so it might have to wait. :\ Second... they all REEK of Nexus. They may or may not all be Nexus, but I feel like I've heard all of them before, which isn't good...
Structure is questionable. There aren't any easily found highs or lows in the song, as you keep the drums going throughout almost the whole thing. This hurts diversity, and makes the entire song sound pretty much the same throughout. See what I'm saying?
As for sound quality, this might be mastered for something other than my crappy Apple headphones, but I'll give you my thoughts anyway. :P First off, nothing is too quiet, which is great. The kick and the bass distort each other, especially when the bass plays something other than the home tone of the key you're in. There's a constant rumbling in the low bass, which is a bit of a bother, and the delay of the saws sometimes causes a bit of distortion in the treble area.
Overall, it's good, and you've definitely improved, though there's still improving to be done. ;) I'll give this a 4/5, and an 8/10... you came SO close to getting me to download this one, but you'll have to try harder... ;D Good job with this, hope this review helps. Also - I've got a demo render of a WIP of mine that I've linked to on the front of my userpage that could use some comments, care to give it a look? :P Thanks a lot, and keep up the great work! :)
February 23, 2008
Author's Response:
You and your long reviews =]. Thanks!