Reviews for Recharge {Dj-Abbic}

[steampianist]

Hey ok so first let me get to the good points of this song your production is great and that section 2:08 was very cool. i like the melody you did there and of course this blast of energy this song radiates and i like how each section is variated a bit. that is smart. it creates contrast

I really liked that chill mid section but for some reason and i dont know what is up with me while listening to this but i cant seem to enjoy those energetic parts. maybe it could have been better if the "chill section" was a little longer and that way when it builds up to those really energetic section it will be more effective and more in your face

And to be honest i find it not that catchy. but hey this is just my very "explicitly-explicit-opnionated-possibly-bordering-on-bias-opinion" :P

but seriously though overall its not a bad piece of work. your production is tight and its quite enjoyable. i just simply think it can be better

6.5/10

DjAbbic responds:

I have a feeling that the fact you didn't enjoy the energetic parts is something I would be unable to fix. I personally think that it would harm the momentum I had going in this if I had dragged out the chill parts. If it were anything else I probably would've let the chill part go on for a bit longer but I just felt that it wouldn't suit this song in particular.

Nothing against your opinion though, I'm glad you liked my production as it has been my focus for the past year or two. I'll have to work on composition some time in the future it seems :).

Thanks a lot for the review! I really appreciate the feedback.

[TaintedLogic]

Ooo...very catchy and cool! I love the breaks right off the bat! It's extremely engaging, and it really makes me want to get up and dance. :D I love how you oscillate between energetic and chill, and that melody at :46 is cool. You really create a lot of space for contrast for yourself, and it's very smooth-flowing and well-structured. That melody at 1:47 also really got my attention. The melodic and harmonic content is just excellent, and it always has an excellent sense of direction about it! Nice job with the part at 2:11 as well. The breaks at 2:49 are awesome. You really went all-out with this one and took huge risks, and they all paid off! The mixing is fantastic, and I even really liked how you ended it with that sort of ominous melody. Submissions like this are easy to score: not only am I giving you a 9.5/10, I'm also instantly fav'ing and DL'ing this (the only time I've INSTANTLY done that for any track in this competition). Keep up the excellent work, Djabbic. I do believe that you, sir, have just landed yourself a spot in the final round of this competition! >:D

9.5/10

DjAbbic responds:

That comment about creating space for contrast is quite interesting, as my brother always complains that he enjoys the chill parts but can't enjoy the energetic parts :D.

It's good to hear you liked the melody, as that was the main part of the song which propelled me to finishing it within 10 hours. The ending is also something that I quite like, as it is something I've never tried before, but I guess it worked out in the end.

Glad to hear you liked it so much :D. I'll try my best to top this for the next round.

[Lockyn]

Holy hot damn. We've got a kicker here.

Nice and succinct intro. Classic, good, tried-and-true layering of basses and synths, love your syncopation up till :30. The almost toybox playful high plucks at :31 contrast so nicely with the hard basses you had right before, and I love that pulsing bass you layer here. The build up here with the snare, usual fair but works out well. Simple melodies push your driving bassline on, and I really like that you kept the melody fairly simple throughout - it can be easy to get lost trying to give it too much variety.

Around 1:00, the square riser is really nicely done. I feel like I hear hihats at this part but they're not really brought out? I'm not exactly sure but if you did put hihats I feel like they should have been either EQ'd better in the mix or compressed to be brought out more, it would have been a nice variation in the kick-snare four on the floor pattern (electro/complextro can get repetitive in this manner so it's always nice to have variation when we can, it's a problem I have in my own production).

At 2:07, the quiet part starts again, and jeez, this might sound nitpicky, but I feel the drum pattern you used here with the claps and hihat just didn't fit your piece. You've got a high energy, fast moving bassline with heavy hitting drums, and that little clap rhythm killed my mood for a bit honestly. If you had a light bass drum to go along with the pattern to make a short almost dnb like pattern it would have filled out nicer with the rest of the piece but this is just my 2 cents on this.

At 2:29, when it picks up again, I really like that extra measure you left after the repeat drop for the bass to swell - that was a sick move. Then holy hot damn the bass hits. I love your bass work here. Nicely mixed, tight and controlled - I never felt overwhelmed but it was varied enough to have that complextro feel, so great work here. The little screech pitch bend in the bass was awesome.

Here's one thing I should mention: I recognize your kick and snare samples *wink wink*. You know what I'm talking about. You used them really well though, and they were nicely placed in your mixdown. I'd try finding more variety as you grow as a producer though, people out there recognize familiar samples, and many think they're "amateur" or "unprofessional" to use even though that has nothing to do with it. Just a friendly suggestion! If you need help finding samples to use or synthing your own, shoot me a PM.

All in all dude, you killed it. Love the track and I hope you continue this way. You earned yourself a follow and a favorite! Cheers.

5/5
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NGAUC Knock-out Round Review

DjAbbic responds:

I really wanted to respond to these earlier but they were so awesomely detailed I could barely find the time :p.

I'm glad you liked the intro. At the beginning I was thinking of making that syncopation a main part of the track, but I thought it wouldn't be enough to qualify as a 'drop' so I made it a part of the intro instead.

You're right about the hihats. I did try to bring them out, but I think (and this is probably due to my sample choice) that they didn't fit into the mix too well when they were brought out, so I left them as part of the background. It's great that you pointed this out though, because next time I'll know that if something doesn't fit into the mix, it's probably the sample itself that needs to be changed, not the EQ'ing.

Now that you mention it, I also feel like that drum pattern at the break doesn't fit too well, although I think that would've been impossible for me to notice by myself :P. I'm not too experienced with DnB either so I guess I'd just have to consider this a fault.

Glad you liked the complextro. It's always the hardest part to make if you want it to flow properly. The screech pitch bend bass is my favourite part of it too :D.

As for the samples, I'm quite surprised you were able to recognise them (as far as the snare goes anyway). I put some compression and distortion on the kick drum, and I put some EQ and reverb on the LAYERED snare samples so I'm quite impressed that you were able to recognise them :p. I occasionally go on free sample hunting sprees though, so hopefully this problem won't be there in the future :).

Thanks heaps for such a detailed review. Like I said earlier, I was wanting to respond to this sooner but a worthy reply would take a lot longer than the time I had previously :p.

Glad you enjoyed this!

[Cacola]

Sorry for the late review, but...
This is seriously one of the best house songs I've ever heard, it has everything I love about the genre.
I have no idea why an EDM label hasn't picked you up yet, cause this is fucking amazing!
Awesome synth work.
Awesome melody.
Awesome drop.
This is just an awesome song.
(Also, how's the collab going? Are you still working on it? It's fine if you ran out of ideas and wanna stop)

DjAbbic responds:

Wow you warmed my heart with that review. Thanks a lot :D.

I'll send a pm about the collab.

[larrynachos]

I'm totally fucked.

You're gonna crush me. This is too good >A<

DjAbbic responds:

Well I'm not in your group I believe, so that's not going to happen. Not like it was going to happen in the first place :p.