Official AIM Review!

Feeling a lot of good rhythmic sense going on here. I will say that it's veeery samey throughout and that's kinda hampering my enjoyment. Transitions for the most part have been done well.

As mentioned, it really does sound like someone just won't answer their phone, and that's kind of unnerving me.

I do like the bit at 3:21. Interesting decision.

I feel like if you had more than a phone app to do your work on, this piece would turn out a lot more varied. You've already shown with your textures at 4:30 that you're not afraid to push the limits of what your software can do.

Overall, fairly interesting piece, but long track that could have really benefited from more melodic content and variation. Transitions were formulaic but that was a plus, considering I didn't really know what to expect, given some rather avant-garde decisionmaking throughout.

Thanks for turning out to this year's competition!

That ringing tone in the background... sounds like a telephone that someone just won't answer. XD After a while I think that part's really getting on my nerves... and the beat overall: very monotone. Same thing all over. The beat skips a bit, but little variation otherwise. The breaks come in, with a little bit of build-up before them, but they don't shift things around so much as break them up, and then something new starts. I feel the transitions and monotony are the big things to improve on here. Would be great if it could flow together without really taking a break every time a change is made. You do drop an instrument occasionally, or shift the beat a bit, or add in some build-up, but it's still very structured/expected progression, with a lot of the same between changes. I like the beginning and end but... overall not a huge fan. Maybe it's the melody too, or the choice of instruments. It has an ominous tone, and a punch, but is also just very repetitive and loud. Could imagine this in a fight scene though, boss level, Red Baron type... but as is not really getting into the groove.

-cd-

---Official AIM review---

I like the riff at the beginning in the piano. The piece throws you right into the middle of the action a bit without a proper intro. The synth bass at the beginning also sounds like a generic Moog synth. You may have gone a little overboard with the reverb, too, especially on the drums. The progression is pretty slow during the first minute, and then the chords at 1:00 sound really dissonant. Most of the second minute is quite repetitive from there, and then you have a build-up at 1:53 that doesn’t really lead anywhere. You have some amusing rhythmic elements at around 2:10, but overall I think the call-and-response that starts at 1:54 gets quite worn out. You use that main riff way too much, and overall the harmonic framework of the piece lacks creativity. I was also rather confused by the transition at 3:17. Sounds like a very different piece all of a sudden. The part at 3:40 was probably my favorite of the piece. Still sounds a bit square and generic with the sound design, but at least it’s more melodic than the rest of the piece. Sounds like you tried to make up for the excessive repetition of the first half of the piece by trying out a lot of different directions in the second half. The result is a rather wonky structure that’s not really effective at creating an overarching narrative for the piece. I think you should try consolidating some of your ideas here. That said, I was impressed by how loud the mix was, even if you could stand to improve some of the reverb issues. You have a lot of good ideas here, but I think you could organize and build on them a lot more effectively. The lack of melodic content was probably my biggest problem with the piece. I’m getting the sense that you rushed making this one a bit because I recall that the previous piece I reviewed of yours was a lot better. Still a lot of potential here, though. Keep at it, man!

5.5/10