Reviews for One night away

[Onefin]

Hey, BlastBeats! I finally found time to drop a review...

I'm inspiring now? :O Wow

One look at those chord progressions, and I'm totally sold XD Listening to the song, the composition is definitely as complex as that description let on! Unique and interesting harmonies fill this piece, and although a few chords sound off and a couple might be improvable (ex: Am in the end of the chorus would probably be better as an A), I was generally impressed by what I heard. Also, that's a lot of diminished chords in the breakdown :O I'm not quite sure what that unknown chord is, but it seems to function like a D#m.

I'd say the big emphasis of this track was story telling... my mind is having trouble painting a good picture (what can I say, I'm not a writer), but its definitely evident that there was heart poured into the piece - some deep emotions definitely went into its design! That, at least, is clear. Good job!

Constructive criticism, huh? My biggest concern is the master here... it's just more sort of "distant" than I would have liked. How do I describe it? It kinda sounds like everything was dampened... every sound is missing a sort of directness, for sure, but I can't quite pinpoint what's causing the issue. Maybe it's the bass? Maybe it's the mid? I can't tell :/

The drums kind of sound like they don't fit... this song is rather ambient in nature, but the drums sound like they were designed for a rock song. Maybe you could have gone for something mellower, maybe involving light bongos and various other, less meaty percussive textures?

Anyway, that's what I've got for you! Thanks for the role of inspiration, you did a good job! Maybe increased variation and a better master would help this track achieve its full potential, but as it stands, the composition is complex and awesome - truly a track worthy of telling its story! 9/10, 5/5 :)

BlastBeats responds:

You are very inspiring! In fact, because of you I dug up a midi keyboard form my attic, which had been gathering dust for the past 3 years, just to experiment with composing. Even though I've never really played piano, I decided to record some parts of this song with it.

I agree some chords aren't my best choice. That's because I've never even bothered to go ham with dem chords :P. I'm proud even though there are some flaws. But I'll take it into account for sure! I love them! I want more :D! I looked up that weird chord in multiple chord libraries, but it wasn't in there, so hence it's unknown.

Yep, full storymode: [on] I might put something about that in the description at some point.

I might do a remaster. I've been comparing this with other songs, and I get what you say. But here again... I know nothing about mastering. Looking at the Maximus in my master, I think I overcompressed the mids, and made the bass too loud.

Drums, my name, ugh... I designed them first. If you'd solo them, they'd sound like great DnB drums! They can do with less compression, though. However, the ‘meaty’ drums were as I intended. I reckon I should have made a different set of drums with more calm sounds in the more ambient parts. I like them, but I might have gotten used to them after relistening parts repeatedly.

I'm full of joy because you actually reviewed! Thank you ever so much for the appreciation and the useful and necessary feedback. I needed this. Nothing feels better than seeing such a review after you struggled so hard, trying to make this. I can't thank you enough :D

[GobSmacked]

Amazed! Keep it up man :D

BlastBeats responds:

Thanks :D

[Noisysundae]

So much better than what I've reviewed last time if you remember me. :)

I might be biased because I love the intro and the part at 2:45 a lot. XD
Before going into others. Let me explain why I love it.
• Good use of velocity of each notes. It really makes the piece more dynamic. Keep this in mind every single time you do something with piano!
• The instruments are not too loud and suit the atmosphere very well.
• I love it!
• etc.

The progressions are great and I like it. However, I think the sound design doesn't go with the mood. That synth doesn't work well when it takes the lead. You can keep that synth in the background like in my favorite parts and let the piano takes all the front. And more importantly, don't push all the velocities to the max. You may raise the volume a bit (as I don't find the piano after the chorus relaxing as it should be), but since the velocity is not equal volume, don't push it to 100%. Doing this is even worse when combined with heavy use of reverb effects.

I'm not an expert on this, but the melodies could have some more works, too. For example, the arpeggio on the piano can be used in the chorus instead of straight chord hits, or used 'em both!

The best choice to go on this piece will be liquid DnB imo because of its BPM. Ambient is usually very slow or doesn't contain any percussion at all. So, rule No.1 of DnB, make the drums stand out, but not in-your-face. Instruments in this piece obstruct them and make them too soft, especially in lower mids to bass. give the volume on those to your drums. Not the hihats, though.

That's all of it. I might be missing something, but this was all I can think of and write. If there's anything wrong with this review, correct it as you like. I know I'm not good at criticizing things, but don't judge my grammer plz. :P

BlastBeats responds:

Luckiest R4R review ever! And yes I remember you too!

The part you liked the most, is the part I started this project off with! Hence it's the part I listened to the most, and tweaked the most. I'm really glad you liked that.

Your ears are good. My velocities were 100%. Like... how did you hear that? It's a good point. I'll take it into account (because I can't live without my piano). I made that supersaw lead to get force some call and response in this one. I don't really know what to do with it. It reminded me of the Lost Cosmonaut series, where I made the majority of my music for. Biased by nostalgia? I dunno...

An arp in the chorus. That seems like an awesome idea. I have some time before the deadline of the NGAUC. If I get it working, why not? I'm learning music theory, so I intend to improve my melodies too.

Good point, I shall change the genre name. Last time I made DnB, my drums were too loud, so I didn't want to do that this time. Now they're too soft. Mixing is tedious!

There is nothing wrong with this review at all! I cannot but appreciate it. It's in-depth and very helpful. Thanks a ton! And I will judge your grammar: No errors detected

[PixelEaterMusic]

Wow, really nice track! The melodies were fantastic and I liked the combination of piano with ambient sounds! The quiet part halfway through the track was interesting, it kinda reset the pace of the song. I'm no expert, but it does sound like you mixed everything nicely. However, the synth that comes in at around 1:20 and 3:45 seemed just a touch out of place, but it still sounded great. 4.5/5!

BlastBeats responds:

In my head that synth fitted very nicely. But I paid so much attention to the mix right from the beginning, that I maybe have looped the chorus so many times, that I got used to it. I still wouldn't really know what to do with it. I'm into that transition where the piano takes the lead, which sounds like a relief. Since my goal was to make fast paced ambient with punchy drums, I'm happy to read your review. It makes me feel like I didn't mess this one up :D

[TaintedLogic]

I like the pensive mood at the beginning. The piece has a lot of bass and reverb that give it a great sense of atmosphere. The strings and piano mesh really well together, and it’s very melodic throughout. Sometimes I thought your melodies were a little overly convoluted, such as the piano one that ends at around 2:00. I love how you created some breathing room for the piece at 2:15. That section contributed a lot to the structural variety and space for contrast and climax you’ve provided here. The section before the second “emotional height” of the piece was a bit drawn-out, meaning there wasn’t much of a sense of direction within the phrase from 2:44 to 3:32 or so. Overall, I thought the mixing and mastering was really clean and you used the entire frequency range really well. You’ve kept a full texture throughout, and you’ve clearly thought through the harmonic direction of the piece very well. Perhaps you could’ve used some more interesting or unique sound design, but in general I think your instruments fit the mood they convey. This is impressive work. My nitpicks here don’t amount to much. If anything, I might caution you against making your melodies quite so intricate, as after a while it can detract from their memorability. Solid effort, though. Keep it up, man! ;D

8.75/10

BlastBeats responds:

I've never read, that was so well structured. I agree with everything you said. I have to say that this was more to pracise music theory than sound design. I did sound design in my first NGAUC entry. However, what you say about the melody hits me a bit. I know memorable melodies are a thing in modern music, but I think it'd be weird not to look further than those. There is a lot of interesting harmonies you can work with (but I'll try not to go too far from becoming memorable next time)! Nevertheless, I'm incredibly happy that this piece received some love. And I really appreciate the review.