by

Milan Acumen
(Acumen)

*File Specs* [Filename]m6r-ncom.xxx[Title][Total playing time]3:18 *Musical Values* [Creativity]Build of structure , transitions and breaks are fair, but the general songconcept is dragging and boring, i have listened to this song two times and after that i started to gain troubles keep listening to it and judging at the same time....[Story] Sad and empty.[Structure]Like i said:sections, transitions, breaks and sfx-grade is good, a more variable motive or either more motives would have made this song enjoyable for more times.[Harmony]Reasonable, there is harmony on musical level, i had some troubles on width level and some depths could have been arranged a bit better, no real serious flaws however.[Realness/Fantasy factors]Quite chippy lead i should say and quite dragging using it all the time as main lead. *Technical Values* [Instruments]Fair enough.[Samples]Drum sequences? a few sequences even!, it is mostly not nessesary to use drum sequences, today or tomorrow you have to be capable of arranging your own rythem and percussionlines without needing to use trademark ripps.Most of the other samples seem allright to me. [Arrangements]Arrangements are good, just whatch your stereo mixing a bit and things will sort out for you sooner or later [Use of...]N/A [Sample Quality]Sample quality is good, no loop flaws, no serious notch flaws, however your lead sounded a bit out of tune in comparance to the rest of the sample-set. *Sounding Techniques* [Depth]You show dept in your chordlines and your environment chording effects, yet you put your lead on a so dull monaural foreground...[Width]Your lead is not too well balanced out in width aspects either... if you just checked it out before you released it... for a rookie song this is quite a good tune which shows aspects of skill and knowledge in techniques, lacks are shown on musical skill-level and on balancing. [Headphones]These dull leads man...[Speakers]Okay.

Overall this is quite a good song with an effective tone and some catchy melodies. There are a few improvements which could be made however. The introductory chords sound a little too muffled and dull and perhaps different samples could have been used here. The repetition of the same chord progression throughout the entire song gets a bit much too...a bridge part with different melody/structure would have helped here. The other point is the use of drum loop samples for rythmn. While not a bad thing in this case since it does help make a more polished sound, using individual samples makes it easier to add variation to the rythmn.

- loops.. ack! - learn to use the instruments in the future, and you could save having to load samples 1 AND 18 - nice tune, but standard style - need variation in your progressions, chorus is good but could be better too - again loops!! chop 'em up in Sound forge or something then resquence in new exciting ways!!, or the old way :] -

This is a commonly worked style (but no worse for it) and well executed. There is a clear theme and interludes giving the song good structure which is lacking in many rookie entries. I especially like the transitions at orders 15 and 25. Your technique is good, although you have been generous with channels (I have a tendancy to do the same!)- keep in mind that Gravis UltraSound users can only hear 32 channels. The samples are of good quality and are used well. The drumloops are nice, although restricting the freedom in the rhythm - It is difficult to achieve a good sounding drumbeat without use of drumloops but the result can be much more effective. I find that complex panning is often overused, but in thiss song it is appropriate, with interesting background effects. The orchestration is generally fine. The tune is good and appropriate but a little repetitive - perhaps some fills in the melodic line and some more effect work could have lifted the interest. But well done overall!

Originality: This tune is NOT very original. You repeat the patterns too much, you have a boring progression, and no key-change or mood change. And inst.4 gets on my nerves. Form: The song hase the same mood throughout, and you don't 'explore' the music. It needs more variations. Technique: You use little effects(that I hear, anyway) The panning doesn't keep up. Samples: You've got 5 drumloops, when you shouldn't have even 1. And I've heard all the other samples a dusin times before. Overall Appeal: The tunes is really 'lazy'. It has many glaring errors troughout. You should have used a little more effort.

Somewhat creative tune, but it used drumloops excessively. The song is based a little too much on pattern 2. Good panning and volume, but the song uses too many channels. Samples are decent, sounding the best in areas like order 28.

The song was great I liked the way the song flowed the samples were done well also.

Very nice work here whoever you are. Orchestration was well thought out, except the lead sample which was a little too 'flat/deflated' and needed some spicing up. Also constant use throughout the tune ruins the feel. It was a little to bland for the rest of the tune. The samples were very clear and crisp. You've got a good groove here, and you keep it interesting with nice textures provided by samples, and tracking. Nice to see that everything is not always going all the time, and that you've given a break to the listener now and again. Be careful about repetitiveness though. Your main theme could have been improved by a key change or something, just to give it a nicer feel. I was a bit disappointed about the use of Extended Samples (ie Loops) for the drum track, yes, there were some singleton samples here, but the majority was drum loops which get tiring to listen to very quickly, unless offsets were used to give a bit of variety to the loop. Next year with more practice try entering intermediate.