Nice song. You sing quite well. Better than me (though that doesn't say much). The guitars are played very good. I think I'd like the drums louder and with more processing, and the bass a bit deeper, the other instruments a bit brighter and with some more reverb, to make the song shine more. It's very well written and structured. Nice mood.
Reviews for "Empty"
DivoFST responds:
Thanks for the review SourJovis :D
im not a singer thats for sure, but i do have a lot of fun singing :D
The drums louder i can see that working, not sure if bringing the higher frequencies and adding even more more reverb would help thought..only trying xD
Moment I heard that piano, I knew this would be a great song. I like the whole thing. The singing is great as well. However, drums are kind of drowned out by the rest of the instruments. That jazzy guitar solo though kicks ass. That's kind of how I play when I'm tuned to Eb, and doing soft stuff. I love the solo, man! Bass sounds really good as well! Though I can tell it is a synth bass. (Or is it? I don't want to make too quick of an assumption and say it is. It SOUNDS synth :P) But overall, I love this song. The piano and guitar blend very well too.
I figured since you were cool enough to review my NGADM submission, I'd return the favor. Good song man! And good luck! I hope that you pass to Round 2. We should collab someday maybe. I'm planning to write a ballad kind of like this. You should do some piano! Maybe vocals too! :)
DivoFST responds:
Thanks for the review Metallica!
Yes it is a Synth bass xD
Im really happy people still return the favor, thats how being helpful works xD
I would love to collab with you :)
I love the piano piece, really a driving factor in this song. The guitar, which takes over as the song progresses, does a great job of keeping the mood. (Which is pretty dark in my opinion).
The progression in the chorus reminds me a bit of John Murphy's compositions. Which is a great thing.
The percussion is very well written. Often basic is the best way to go and it doesn't, at any stage, take over the song.
The lead guitar is beautiful!
As mentioned in one of the previous reviews, I think you could have added more "power" to the vocals at a later stage. (But you already know this). Just to make it more "epic".
Overall, great song and good luck for the competition!
DivoFST responds:
Thanks for the review Titan!
Yes, the mood is quite dark, im happy i was able to give that feeling :)
John Murphy, i didnt knew his name but i certainly know his work...28 days later has amazing music and i also discover im like him "He is a self-taught multi-instrumental musician" minus the talent xD
I will definitely look into how to make my vocals have more presence and sound more powerful from here on!
- NGADM Round 1 Review -
What I like most about your music is its progression. Your melodies and bass, along with the drums just go very nicely together. And your lyrics are great; you have this knack for creating a fitting mood in your songs to accompany them well! Your intro and ending are both good (especially the ending line, and how you let that fade way ), and your instruments are just used very well.
What could use some work though is your vocals – they are very slow and draggy, even if it's intentional, it keeps the song rather flat, and the dynamic change is almost none. Your mixing is not weak in terms of balance, but the song could benefit from some better mastering.
Score: 8.6
DivoFST responds:
Thanks for the review and high score alternativesolution! :D
Yup, i only started using compressors recently and i think that would have helped a lot dumb me! xD
I love the emotion and ballad-like vibe. The lyrics are very vivid and imaginative; I applaud you for that. It has a good sense of climax about it. I think the vocals weren't perfectly in tune all the time...but it doesn't detract from my enjoyment of the piece that much. I like the guitar solo at around 2:00 a lot. You did a good job with the harmonic/melodic content, and I think it's well-structured and smooth-flowing, which is good. I liked the ending a lot. It's very dark, somber, and mournful. In fact, the entire piece is like that! I see no problems with the mixing and mastering, and the balance was rather good. I think that, besides the intonation, the vocals actually did a great job of conveying the rueful mood and emotion of the piece. I applaud you for this, though. You took a big risk with this one, especially with the vocals, and I think it paid off overall. Keep it up, man! ;)
8.5/10
DivoFST responds:
Thanks for the kind words TheDoor6 :D
The piece was originally made for NGADM 2013 and i was aware that i had neither the mixing and composing skills nor the high quality samples to compete with most of the names in there, so i took it to vocals and guitar where i could stand out as more unique. (i lost anyways xD)
The vocals failed a bit specially in mixing :S But i guess your view on the song is not wrong at all, from a certain perspective it does transpire lack of confidence in the world we live on just like the lyrics!
A thousand thanks to you once again and i will try not to disappoint!