Reviews for [dj-Jo] Electric Cove

[Step]

Thru the Sea of Trance, I remember that! :D

I think it's great that you remixed one of your old songs. I do that quite a bit and it usually turns out pretty good! About this song, unfortunately I don't think it's one of your best. It's nice, and I like how you varied it so much from the original while still keeping the same mood, although it still needs work I think.

First things first, I love the atmosphere. It fits so well with the name (or at least the old name, Thru the Sea of Trance) - the piratey melodies and long sweeps remind me a lot of the sea, and the song really does pack a punch like megakill pointed out. Reminiscent of the sea/pirates but still sounds like hardcore Techno.

The song sounds unique too. I'd imagine it's not easy to sound original with Techno songs, although you seem to pull it off nicely. There are some unoriginal sounds (like the supersaws) but you use them uniquely and you use some sounds such as the rim sound which you used in the old version. Some synths are pretty cool.

The melodies are catchy and the transitions are smooth, so I have no complaints there. I particularly like the automation you did on the synths filters, such as towards the end where made a break which led to the climax of the song at the end. Pretty cool stuff!

Now for my main issue with the song. The mixing. The whole song is waaaay too and clips at some points I think. Just taking a glance of the waveform shows that it's loud and all that noise is bound to give someone a headache. To start with, turn the master volume down. I had my volume set to a value which will let me hear any decently loud song just right, but I had to turn it down a notch just to hear this submission.

The EQing needs work. In the busier parts, the sounds engage in an epic noise battle. The kick is trying to drown everything yet the synths are playing as loudly as they can, and all this sounds pretty overbearing. Try and give each sound its own space in the mix, instead of clashing everything together.

So, overall the main problem with this is the mixing I think. With all the floor-shaking kicks and noisy supersaws one has at his disposal to make a song like this, it's easy to fall to the temptation of twisting their volume knobs to high heaven (I know I fell to it many times :3) but remember that a song can have the nicest melodies and coolest sounds, but be totally ruined by a bad mix.

Honestly though, other than that, this song is pretty darn cool, and an interesting take on your original. Nice work!
7/10
5/5 because 0-bombers suck.

-Review Request Club-

[megakill]

Has A Lot Of Potential

This, isn't really what I'd call techno. I'd say this is gearing more towards hardcore, and maybe even gabba around 1:12. Not a problem, but, hey, thought I'd just get that in early so I can shut up about it and move on to the review.

So, this track certainly packs a punch, and delivers it from the very first bar. The lead synth sounds good, fits the whole track perfectly, and doesn't sound too cliché.
The drums are well done, with some sounds that I wouldn't have thought to use thrown in there, just to keep things interesting.
You've used automation well, and for the most part, the levels are pretty good.
I do have to say though, my biggest gripe with this track is the mix. It's okay, but not great, and I feel like it's holding it back.
The section starting at around 0:29 really needs to be mixed again. It just sounds like everything is struggling for position and all clashes together.
It's really just a case of playing with the levels a little and EQ'ing some of the tracks a little better.

I can tell you've tried though, which is the important thing, and hopefully there's enough time before the NAC deadline for you to go back and touch it up a little.

It's sounding good though, and i wish you the best of luck in the competition!

*review Request Club*