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Post by pokemoneinstein on Feb 20, 2011 20:58:05 GMT -5
Previous Rounds: (I'll be converting the x% results into suggestions soon) Round 1: SuperiorLarxene - 95% Round 2: lala19357 - 97% Round 3: LugiaDialga - 93% Round 4: pokemoneinstein - 83% Round 5: hnturs12 - 93% Round 6: Dasgust - 92% Round 7: tobinus - 93% Round 8: Pokeneon7 - 85% Round 9: xxseenyweeny - 90% Round 10 (1): REGIROCK - Try to make OCs, Try non-techno arrangements Round 10: (2): SonicWave1000 - Try making more OCs, Try more genres than DnB, Electronica, etc. Round 11: TheGuitahHeroe - Work on a bit more instrument variety, Try branching into main-series Pokémon games when remixing Round 12: WherewolfTherewolf - Try to look around the internet for fuller samples to use Round 13: almightyarceus - Work on better EQ (try to make instruments blend together as a whole piece better), work in more various genres Current Nominations:flameheadshero - 24 xtremethomas - 25 MeanGreenLuigi - 4 AMTRAX - 20 cat333pokemon - 13 pokemonmastertriplex - 9 utuber6061 - 13 YannickJason - 25 Lieutinant Potato - 2 Executive Ray - 7 DoubleJoe7 - 6 sircombeestudios - 1 WitchChao - 3
This week on the stands: Zach! Composition: 9/10Nobody's perfect. You are great at composing things. Especially the fact that most of your remixes aren't done by MIDI. I have heard a few incorrect notes, though. Instrumentation: 7/10You choose instruments very well. I would like to see a bit of variation, though. Often you'll choose one instrument for a track, and that's it. Varying up the lead can help a lot, too. Sound Quality: 8/10Your samples aren't great. I don't like the strings at all. BUT you've got great understanding of chords and stuff, so that bumped you up a lot. Often I'll find myself not caring about the samples because the music is just good. Other times, they just really stick out to me, though. Enjoyability: 8/10I'd like it if you looped your songs more often. They're very nice but the often end soon. I also really like your style of simplicity. Like the beginning of "Moonsong," or your Pallet Town remix. I really like those. Overall: 31/40
Suggestions for Improvement:You've got a good variety of genres, I really think what you benefit you the most right now is switching up the lead instruments (SOMETIMES! Not always) and really trying to pick out those incorrect notes. I heard a few in the Luigi's Mansion theme, for example, that could have been corrected. Overall, I like your work a lot.
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Post by AMTRAX on Feb 22, 2011 15:04:28 GMT -5
Your music is very hit and miss with me. You are good, but sometimes your choice of instrumentation bugs me. You use some very odd soundfonts, but that's not the only part. Some of the instruments just don't seem to fit in with the rest of the pieces. Sometimes the drum track feels out of place with the music. It will be an orchestral piece and suddenly there will be this odd techno drum that, instead of making me smile, makes me say "wut?" Sometimes the music is good, but I would use a different drum track, and sometimes the drums are perfect, but the music sounds odd or erratic. Some of your melodies seem random. They go one way and will flow nicely, then it will transition into a different melody and the transition isn't always that smooth. I like your stuff, but I wouldn't put it on my ipod, or even listen to it more than once. Keep writing. Keep looking for your style.
75/100
Oh yeah nominations Yannick- 2 xtremethomas-2 me- 1
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Post by almightyarceus on Feb 22, 2011 20:33:32 GMT -5
Composition: 6.5/10 Hm...I'm not sure.....something about it just doesn't appeal to me. I completely agree with amtrax that your OC's have some very...well, random melodies at times. I mean, you stay in key and stuff, which is the first step (and THANK YOU for that by the way; with perfect pitch you get really bothered when someone tries to meld two keys together) but the actual rhythms don't really flow together. It sounds like your throwing a continuous stream of notes in there for most of your melodies; use rests! Use whole notes! Use chords! Those are by far more effective than a constant run of eighth notes. This brings me to my next point..... Instrumentation/Sound Quality: 5/10 I disagree with the instrumentation you choose for most of your songs. It's by far too simple, and you pick rather contrasting instruments in a lot of them. Take for example, the birthday tribute to tobinus (featured on this channel.) Correct me if I'm wrong, amtrax, but it seems you pulled most of what you talked about from this song (or at least, it fit the best.) You start with that stream of notes, which is cool for a while, until you realize that most of them are the same rhythm, and are basically jumping around the 1,3,5 (and 7) of the chord. The way you arrange them is kind of random sounding, but more than that, your remixes lack FULLNESS. I'm going to use this term as it is what comes to mind; there is no fullness in your music; there is no depth to it. It is essentially a bass line, notes of the scale, and a drum beat (I will get into that problem in a second.) There's hardly any actual full chordal structure, and limited octave fluxuation. The instruments you use are stale and have little depth; they are quite short cut and in my opinion bland. Now to the drums: frankly, they usually don't fit the song in the least. The drums picked for your most recent were random, and completely disturbed the feel of the song. Try obtaining better soundfonts to increase quality. Enjoyability/Potential: 10/10. Yeesh, that last part sounded pretty harsh didn't it? Just know I don't mean to be mean; I want to help you get to the best of your abilities and reach your fullest potential. This is why I rated this section a full 10, and put in potential there with enjoyability. Your remixes aren't bad; they could just be WAAAAY better. You have so much potential it's crazy. Just use new instruments and practice with new rhythms/chords and you'll be fine Noms: xtremethomas +2 cat333 +1 utuber +1
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Post by AMTRAX on Feb 22, 2011 21:44:57 GMT -5
arceus: Well I was being general (talking about each of the pieces problems), but that one is probably the best example, yes. I listened to most of his music before reviewing.
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Post by almightyarceus on Feb 22, 2011 23:39:56 GMT -5
arceus: Well I was being general (talking about each of the pieces problems), but that one is probably the best example, yes. I listened to most of his music before reviewing. a mi tambien, but like you said, that piece is like the best example. This is an overall review, after all.
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Post by YannickJason on Feb 23, 2011 0:34:26 GMT -5
From what I've heard, and know you have a great Sense of composition, but like what has been said more than once, it lacks varying instrumentation. You sometimes have a great song, but in most cases it hit and miss with me. Variation is key. To add to the lack of instruments, you're music seems to jump from point to point without any sort of build-up. The notes seem fine in the beginning, but it seems like you don't know where to go with it afterward. Try to work on that (I myself use to do that ). When going for Pokémon styled themes, try to think of what the regular ones sound like, and then add your own touch. Keep the bass lines especially in mind. I do like your work, nonetheless. I think also, you should try to get a wider taste in genres when you compose. The more different kinds of music you can master, the batter! It will help you a lot. Overall score I'd say about 6/10. Noms: amtrax - 3 Executive Ray - 2 WithChao - 1
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Post by OverpoweredSocks on Feb 23, 2011 1:29:25 GMT -5
Thanks for all of the reviews guys ! I will try to get better soundfonts, but I has some questions about how to improve upon the suggestions please! For getting a better knack for instrument choices, how do you recommend I should get better? Listen and create more music in general? I'll try to ask others to listen and ask for advice about anything sticking out? For the fullness-lacking-ness, do you mean I should just add like a string section for chords? I understand about using only the 1,3,5,and 7, so I'll change that up more...As for the randomness, do you have any other examples of mine ya could point out where? Or like...is there anything in particular that makes it stand out as random? And thanks again for helpin' !
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Post by AMTRAX on Feb 23, 2011 2:09:34 GMT -5
Listen and create more music in general, try to ask others to listen and ask for advice about anything sticking out. That and bone up on music theory. I still don't fully understand music theory, but I did study it in high school marching band, when I started writing music. As for fullness, it's more than just strings. Use some bass, maybe some harmonies, and some rhythms under the melody. Some of your stuff is Melody, Baritone, Drums. It needs a bit more umph. Sometimes a good bass line can make a simple song into a piece that someone can listen to when they read or go for a run. If you give the people something interesting to listen to, they will listen to it. Trust me. There are several people on this forum whose music has a definite place on my exercise playlist. It doesn't need to be a super catchy piece, but add some more complexity into your pieces (and focus on building melodic lines). As for soundfonts, I reccommend FluidR3 GM.SF2 . It has some great sounds, an incredible choir, and a shmorgasboard of drum kits (several basic kits, rock kits, beefy snares, subtle snares, beefy bass, subtle bass, and a great orchestral battery set). 32MbGMStereo.sf2 is also a good one. It sounds a bit more synthetic than Fluid, but it has a super powerful drum kit. Here's an song I arranged that has some of both soundfonts (as well as a garageband guitar and a garritan orchestra vst). The drums are from 32mbgmStereo and the choir is from Fluid. There might be more from fluid, but it's a decent example of what you can do. and this one is ALL Fluid Hope I could be of assistance.
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flameheadshero
Trainer
Spirits are always with you. Bwahahahaha!
Posts: 240
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Post by flameheadshero on Feb 26, 2011 15:07:28 GMT -5
Zach! I'll try to avoid things other people have said, since i mostly agree with Amtrax and AA...I'll add a few other things instead.
Composition: 42/50 -I really enjoy the melodies in most of your original pieces. However, I think they get a little repetitive sometimes. Try thinking of making sections within your songs with different or altered melodies from the main melody. Your composition skills are quite good, I can tell that you have a lot of great ideas but sometimes they are hindered by the instrumentation. Sometimes the drum beats you choose are very mechanical to the point of being off setting to the other instruments. I really like how you build up your songs from start to finish; you're very good at making sure things don't flatline.
Sound Quality: 18/25 -Some of your songs are very loud, and they sound like they are pushing their limits sometimes.
Creativity: 22/25 -As far as originals go, you have a very original style especially with chords and melodies. As for remixes, they are very similar to the originals and I can't hear your style in them. Personally, I think you should focus more on originals anyway, I'd like to hear more originals than remixes. (It seems like that's what you already do anyway.)
Overall: 82%, which isn't bad at all. It's about average and I think you have a lot of potential. Just keep composing! I'm looking forward to some new stuff from you!
Noms: -Xtremethomas +4 -Amtrax +1
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Post by pokemoneinstein on Feb 26, 2011 16:32:16 GMT -5
Only one more day to rate, everybody!
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Post by Dasgust on Feb 27, 2011 12:18:37 GMT -5
I really like your original compositions, but sometimes some of the instruments are too loud/overpowering and you'd need better samples. I like your instrumentation, but bass would be very nice addition to many songs. Keep it up! ;)
84%
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Post by pokemoneinstein on Feb 28, 2011 7:25:39 GMT -5
Well that wraps up Round 14! Stay tuned for the next one!
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