Reviews for Descent (MSB)

[Back-From-Purgatory]

NGADM 2 and stuff.

That vocal synth... orgasmic. Dunno how you do it, but this was absolutely fantastic, and it was nice to see you take on another genre instead of sticking to any particular one. And once again, I was greatly impressed, it had good flow, didn't really feel repetitive at all, and everything I thought worked together nicely. And I was very fond of that angry bass synth, I love stuff like that. As well as the little touches like a quick synth slide/drop between bars. And I have to mention the vocal synth again... cause it was just that awesome.

Really the only thing I would've liked to see is a section that took the song in a new direction briefly. While it's not overly repetitive, it does carry the same theme throughout the song without too much change, and while it works well for what it is, variety is always nice.

Awesome tune, vocal synth and the "angry" bass was orgasmic, keep it up! 9/10.

GrantBowtie responds:

Thanks man - I appreciate the detailed review!

[skylerskinner]

What can I say man? This is amazing for a single person in such little time. This has a great flow and I can really get into it. I'm no music critic, but I can really appreciate the intricacies within the sound and the skill this took. Great job man, and I hope to hear more!

GrantBowtie responds:

Thanks man - glad you liked it!

[Step]

This is an NGADM Round 2 Review.

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Dude, you're really aiming to impress for this competition. Every track of yours has pristine production, great sounds... it's all so well-made. It's hard finding anything wrong with them.

What I think I liked most about this track is the fact that despite having its generic elements in it, such as the very very typical beat, the transition from 1:33 - 1:48, some typical sounds like that house pad thing that first shows up in the background at 1:04, etc... you use them right and execute them very skilfully. You make them work really well like they're supposed to.

On top of that, despite all these clearly mainstream and generic elements, this still offers a fairly unique listening experience. Unlike most people who use these generic elements simply because they're uncreative and want to add something to their track which they know will sound decent, you actually do creative stuff with this track, and so it ends up sounding pretty unique!

You've also got great production, as is the case in both your Round 1 and your audition piece. There was one aspect of the production I didn't quite like but I'll mention that later on. Basically your production is brilliant. Everything is so clear and each sound is mixed very well. This is seriously a professional-quality mix, I swear. You put in tonnes of pretty small details here and there that make this track just ear-candy to listen to, such as all those occasional breaks and that little disco-like hit at 2:08/2:16. Great sounds too, and on a smaller note, you've got a good intro and outro too!

My primary issue with this track is most likely personal preference but anyway... There just seems to be too much over-compression man. This seems mastered to be thrown on the radio or something, rather than for actual listening, since it's brickwalled nastily. Sure, there are no audible clipping noises or compression issues (which is the mark of brilliant mastering skills) but despite that everything is so over-compressed and loud that I've got to turn my volume down just to hear this track at the right volume. More than that, it makes everything just blare out so much, especially the lead synths (which could be where BrokenDeck is coming from on the lead synth being too present). It just makes this pretty tiring to listen to after a while.

Overall, I'm very impressed with this. I docked half a point for the over-compression which was most likely intentional anyway, and even then it's probably just me. This is profession-quality music and I can't wait to hear what you cook up for Round 3!

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SCORE:
9.5/10

GrantBowtie responds:

Wow thank you so much for such an in-depth review and it's so awesome that you liked it so much!

[BrokenDeck]

I love your usage of vox in this song, and your production values are top notch. I dont have anything to nitpick about this actually. I really like it.
However, the lead synth was a tad too present.

GrantBowtie responds:

Haha well my excuse is that I threw this together in the last minute for the contest. But I'm glad you like

[SkyeWint]

Here is your personal review for round 2 of the NGADM! Keep in mind, this review will be harsher than the round 1 review! I will be poking at songs more in each consecutive round, because it will naturally be more difficult to advance.

The Good:
-You seem to really like 'talking' instruments. They do sound very cool.
-The instrument you're using to make chords before the rise sounds like the same one you used in your round 1 song. I like it. You might want to change things up though in future songs.
-2:08 random hit. lol
-The ending is one of the better ones this round, I like it a lot more than the one in your round 1 song.

The Not-So-Good:
-The initial electronic hits in the first 4 seconds seem off-key. Could be because they're percussive, but it does throw me for a minute.
-The first bass sounds at 0:20 don't sound very good to me.
-At about 1:35, the rise there sounds very off-key.
-There's a constant chord that doesn't go away from about 2:11 onwards which gets annoying because it just doesn't stop.
-Might want to change up your drumbeat a bit. Going away from mainstream beats every once in awhile is a good thing.
-The bass toward the end is pretty annoying.

Overall: This is indeed a 'decent' piece of house work with a lot of dubsteppy elements from your other song. I've noticed that you're using a lot of the same instruments for similar things. You might want to try experimenting a bit more and trying different things with the resources available to you. Try using the 'talking' synth for chords, maybe, or make something with a smoother synth. I'll give this a 8.5/10.