109 replies to this topic

[Brandon Strader]

Here is my review. They all suck except the brandon strader track.

I echo these sentiments.

I am flattered, honored, and humbled by these sentiments, but I know you guys don't know which song I did and the end-of-the-month rankings will let me know how people really feel about my song.

[Lucavi00]

Here is my review. They all suck except the brandon strader track.

I echo these sentiments.

I am flattered, honored, and humbled by these sentiments, but I know you guys don't know which song I did and the end-of-the-month rankings will let me know how people really feel about my song.

[Hat]

ohhhh man you got my ramblings in there and everything.

For anyone who wants to know, this is what it was: http://beeradvocate....ofile/741/2870/

It's a coffee bean stout, and it's freaking amazing.

http://beeradvocate....ile/3818/43687/

Heaven. I had the 2010 last year, and the 2011 a couple of weeks ago. Our local sports bar ages them for a year.....

[Omigadrive]

Rolling Through Time. If I'm correct, that's Addictive Drums. The snare is good for the softer rolls and the build-up, but Addictive Drums are really dull in rock and metal settings. They just don't have the right attacks or anything for it, and having to manipulate one's mix around how dull the drums are just makes the rest of the mix have to become just as dull. The arrangement and performance here are phenomenal, but the drum samples are just too lame to be able to develop a decent sound for this kind of thing. Even in the Metal Pak or whatever expansion for Addictive, the toms just sound like blocks. No character whatsoever is given to the pieces.

Song > Drum Samples

That's the idea, but get better goddamn drum samples and it'll be as good as you think it is when you decide it's good enough to submit.

I haven't listened to a single drum sample enough to simply pick it out and really at the end of the day it all comes down to preference.

Personally I kind of agree from using metal foundry once or twice but then I generally prefer the sounds of the basic EZ Drummer rock/pop stuff than most others.

[Brandon Strader]

I hope someday Demonstray joins a band with a drummer who only owns one drum kit (pretty common) and he doesn't particularly like the sound of the snare or toms. I curse you to this eternal torture.

[Pumpkin King]

Okay, I was supposed to go on set for one of my classes today and woke up a bit late. Grr. So I've been listening to these songs and doing reviews (I only reviewed the main entries because I don't want to listen to everything all at once). Here they are though, I may do the alternates later then..

Batman - He Gave Us a Signal
Well it’s a rough recording. The thing that confuses me is the spacing with your instruments. The guitars and everything sound way in the background, but the drums are right in front with little reverb. At least the snare is. It’s pretty loud there. And the bass isn’t as prominent sounding, not too big of a problem on that end though. The instrumentation is pretty good. Has some groovy spots and lots of harmonies (some harmonies are a bit odd though). However the recording is below average to be honest. And it gets to be pretty long for me. Some alteration with the drums would help.

Lufia 2 - Fight For Your Right to Fight
Solid intro. First thing is I was thinking have the leads stand out a bit more. Maybe with some more reverb or an echo? And maybe boost the high ends a bit on the guitar? Just some thoughts. But definitely love the guitar and keyboard harmonies. They sound awesome. Oh, and I love the spot at about 2:50. Reminds me of Dream Theater (In the Presence of Enemies Pt. 1, or Glass Prison breakdown near their crazy instrumental masturbation section, lol). Great song, I would have liked it to be longer.

Mega Man 6 - Centaur Man
Another great intro. I think you could have introduced more instruments MUCH earlier on though. Introduce some strings or the flute a bit earlier, then have it take off with everything playing at once. You should think of it as building it up (step by step, one thing at a time... something like that). Just an idea there. I love the sound here though. The guitar and the flute sound great together. And the bass gives everything such a great feel. It’s comforting. Also, I was thinking you could have kept the xylophones and marimbas in there for certain spots (haha, whatever it was). At least maybe for the ending. But great song… But WAY too short! Ahh, I could think of many ideas to extend the song… but I don’t know the source too well, so I’m sure you were just keeping true to the source.

Mega Man Battle Network – Runment
First thing, it’s lacking power, man! There need to be rhythm guitars! But aside from that, the instrumentation is good for the most part (as far as the playing at least, it was good). The synth sounds that pan left and right can be confusing in the mix, to me at least. But that’s where rhythm guitars would help. And when the pads come in, it sounded like you were on to something. Haha, I was waiting for it and it ended. Good song but I think there are spots that could improve for sure. That’s about it I believe.

Mega Man X3 - Gravity Beetle
Put some reverb or echo on the lead guitar! First thing that came to mind. I love stereo echos (ping pong delays). Try that out if you could, I love it for my keyboard leads. And the harmonies were great (haha, once again… I’ll be saying this for a lot of the songs… they really are). I think though the keyboard lead was a bit thick for the one section though. It just sounded louder than the guitar that was panned left. Maybe try that keyboard lead an octave higher? Other than that, eh… again a bit short, man. Longer!

Mass Effect 3 - Leaving Earth
Serious intro… the piano makes it sound very epic. Same of course with the brass and the strings. Though I think it could have been maybe a bit shorter (the intro). Just my thought. I really like the sound of the rhythm guitars. Another thought: I was thinking that the harmonies by the piano could have been replaced with some keyboard harmonies. And where are the leads? Definitely could use some guitar/keyboard soloing. I’d love to play to this on the keys, it sounds so good. Seriously, I really like the sound. And an abrupt ending. It could have easily ended how it started. Have the epic pianos end the piece. I think that’d work really well. Great song, just missing some needed lead solos.

Portal - Still Alive
I think that the vocals are too loud (they sound great though). Everything else seems far into the background. The bass is a bit louder, especially on the low end. But everything is pretty solid with the instruments. I got confused at that one point where you took off the reverb on the vocals. Then after her line, it seemed like the reverb was boosted a bit. Maybe it wasn’t, but that part was odd.

Portal, Portal 2, Cave Story - I Survive!
Some solid rhythm guitars. Though the tone gets to me sometimes. Is it double tracked? I just can’t tell since if it is, it seems like maybe the same thing is panned to the left, and then on the right… which results in it sounding like its centered. The vocals… thanks, I could use some screams and growls, haha. The mixing sounded pretty good for the most part. There weren’t too many standing out moments in the song for me though.

River Stay Away From My Door - River Stay Away From My Door
Hmm… haha I don’t know what to say here. Why did you censor some parts? Interrresting. Lol.

Streets of Rage - Starlight Embracing City Streets
Ahh… very ethereal intro. Nice changeup with the style here. Very pleasant. I do think that there may be too much reverb. The mixing though is pretty good, with that aside. But I mean, reverb is something I sometimes overuse, too. But ehh… it’s not that big of a deal to me. Good song, almost felt like an intermission between these songs, haha.

X-Men VS Street Fighter - Gambit's Theme
Everything seems pretty solid from the beginning. Good leads… but I think you should try panning the harmonies a bit more (for those spots when you have both of the guitar leads playing together). And every time the song slows down, I think the drums should also slow down. Have the cymbals play 2x slower. That’s a thought. Other than that, I’d say don’t be afraid to add more to the song. It was pretty much the same thing that looped over and over. But again, it sounded good and solid fo sho.

Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Skyward Sword - Fragments of Time v.1
I love a good piano piece. I like how you implemented different and iconic songs from different games and made them work as one song. It worked really well. Really well played.

Zelda: Ocarina of Time - Rolling Through Time
Solid sounding. Very nice. I love that this is upbeat. It makes me feel good, haha. One thing, I love the harmonies... But I think there are too many of them. A weird thing to say… But that’s what I felt. Nice drums, it sounded like the orchestral percussion at that one point could have used some more dynamics though. After that is a very nice breakdown. So soothing. And I love the battle music... More harmonies, but really great harmonies. I was going to say I didn’t like how the battle music was introduced (typical stop and start transitions). But I liked it, it makes this sound like a story. And lastly… why the fade out? I don’t think there needed to be one. Nevertheless, some seriously solid mixing. Great.


I'll get to voting in a bit. I'll have to relisten to them when I am voting. Good job guys.

[Eric Dude]

HOLY SHIT CENTAUR MAN!!!!!!!!!!!

[Garpocalypse]

My reviews, best taken with a bowl of salt.

Batman- He gave us a signal
Good effort. 15 minutes is very ambitious but I think taking some time to work on quick 1 or 2 minute mixes would help you figure out your own mixing techniques a bit better. Taming a 15 min track and keeping it interesting throughout is no small challenge. As for the mix, the bass sticks out, in a bad way. Also the way the audio clips drastically change the sound of the mix bothered me a little. Figuring out ways to get rid of those seams and keeping things glued together to make it sound organic would have helped. +rep for ambition.

Lufia 2- Fight for your right to fight
I really enjoyed the playing on this one. Mix was fantastic. Do you give mixing lessons? As awesome as the whole track was i think the slowdown at the end was a little awkward. If i can give one dig. I think this mix would have benefitted from a quick and sudden ending. One of my top 3 for the month.

Mega Man 6- Centaur Man
Favorite part was the fretless bass. nailed. Very clean mix.

Mega Man Battle Network- Runment
I really like the synths surrounding the guitar. Kind of an eric johnson vibe for the first part. It sounds to me like you had a great idea but couldn't get it to the minimum for time. Hence the pads at the end. I would have liked to hear an entire new section maybe based off of the tangerine dream vibe that got set up through those pads but what's there is short and sweet.

Mega Man X3 Gravity Beetle
Fun piece, but that guitar is begging for a little processing. Especially that last 30 seconds. If the guitar had gone wide at the end in some way it would have hit. hard. maybe a little gliss/hammer on up to that first note too. I enjoyed this.

Mass Effect 3- Leaving Earth
This one brought out the voter in me. Really Really good. I just wish the guitar entrance was backed with the reaper foghorn. I consider it a lost opportunity to use one of my favorite sound fx in modern gaming. If you got time, DETAILS! I want to know as much as possible about this one.

Portal Still Alive- Vocals were too loud but i can see why you'd want them up front. She sounds great. +rep for snappleman reference.

Portal - I survive
2:33 should have been most of the piece. Loved it but it didn't last long enough. If your goal was to frusterate the listener mission accomplished. I liked the contrast in the vocals. heavy and dark mix.

River Stay Away from my door
what?

Streets of Rage- Starlight Embracing City Streets
I'm sorry i didn't show much love to this at the listening party. No really, don't read the log just take my word for it. I listened to it a few more times after the party and i really liked the flute. Calm yet intimate. Plus i could better appreciate the nighttime city vibe to it. Just one tip, there are too many lights in the city, you can't see any stars at night!

Xmen Gambits Theme
Get's down to business, a little too fast. I think the smallest intro, like maybe reversing that guitar entrance to, forgive my choice of words, "suck" the listener into the song would have been great. As it is it's a punch in the face, which was probably intended. Great track otherwise.

Zelda Skyward Sword- Fragments
Nice and expressive playing. Wish there was more i could say as i listen to it.

Zelda Skyward Sword- Rolling

Epic. I know that word gets overused but i think it still applies. My only beef is 04:56. and the fadeout. Even though it was setup and seems to work i think it takes a little too long. I would have liked to keep hearing that ending riff a few more times. By the time i got my lighter it was fading out.

[Demonstray]

I hope someday Demonstray joins a band with a drummer who only owns one drum kit (pretty common) and he doesn't particularly like the sound of the snare or toms. I curse you to this eternal torture.

Unfortunately for your dream here, drummers know what sound they're going for when they get drums. As such, they won't ever mismatch terrible drums with awesome music like people always, ALWAYS do with Metal Foundry. See, only four people have made Metal Foundry sound decent, and the rest sound like grumusic because everyone picks the same pieces and production which never once sounds good. For the love of actual good sound and not "They sound good because they're called metal foundry and everything Toontrack says goes because I'm a massive tool", please swap out the DAMN SNARE AND TOMS FOR ONES THAT DON'T SUUUUUUUUUCK. There are SO MANY TO CHOOSE FROM, especially when you consider X-Drums allowing you to fit in pieces of the other expansions and kits you have. Just swap it out with the default Avatar snare and tom series, and be done with it. It's the Avatar KICK that I have a problem with, not the rest, you'll be forgiven for using the rest. For fuck's sake, if you have a CHOICE from a library of snare sample collections and you pick one of the worst ones...forfeit your solo musician card.

I'm sorry, I shouldn't rant like this about what people think sounds good. The point here is that...it doesn't. Good day.

Also, voted. Really awesome month, everyone did really well. Even I consider a couple of drum choices a minor nitpick, so I haven't let them sway my voting. Quite a lot of Good hovering towards Incredible for me!

[Omigadrive]

I hope someday Demonstray joins a band with a drummer who only owns one drum kit (pretty common) and he doesn't particularly like the sound of the snare or toms. I curse you to this eternal torture.

Unfortunately for your dream here, drummers know what sound they're going for when they get drums. As such, they won't ever mismatch terrible drums with awesome music like people always, ALWAYS do with Metal Foundry. See, only four people have made Metal Foundry sound decent, and the rest sound like grumusic because everyone picks the same pieces and production which never once sounds good. For the love of actual good sound and not "They sound good because they're called metal foundry and everything Toontrack says goes because I'm a massive tool", please swap out the DAMN SNARE AND TOMS FOR ONES THAT DON'T SUUUUUUUUUCK. There are SO MANY TO CHOOSE FROM, especially when you consider X-Drums allowing you to fit in pieces of the other expansions and kits you have. Just swap it out with the default Avatar snare and tom series, and be done with it. It's the Avatar KICK that I have a problem with, not the rest, you'll be forgiven for using the rest. For fuck's sake, if you have a CHOICE from a library of snare sample collections and you pick one of the worst ones...forfeit your solo musician card.

I'm sorry, I shouldn't rant like this about what people think sounds good. The point here is that...it doesn't. Good day.

Also, voted. Really awesome month, everyone did really well. Even I consider a couple of drum choices a minor nitpick, so I haven't let them sway my voting. Quite a lot of Good hovering towards Incredible for me!

... really dude? You're far too passionate about this hahaha.

[Bonkers]

I hope someday Demonstray joins a band with a drummer who only owns one drum kit (pretty common) and he doesn't particularly like the sound of the snare or toms. I curse you to this eternal torture.

Unfortunately for your dream here, drummers know what sound they're going for when they get drums. As such, they won't ever mismatch terrible drums with awesome music like people always, ALWAYS do with Metal Foundry. See, only four people have made Metal Foundry sound decent, and the rest sound like grumusic because everyone picks the same pieces and production which never once sounds good. For the love of actual good sound and not "They sound good because they're called metal foundry and everything Toontrack says goes because I'm a massive tool", please swap out the DAMN SNARE AND TOMS FOR ONES THAT DON'T SUUUUUUUUUCK. There are SO MANY TO CHOOSE FROM, especially when you consider X-Drums allowing you to fit in pieces of the other expansions and kits you have. Just swap it out with the default Avatar snare and tom series, and be done with it. It's the Avatar KICK that I have a problem with, not the rest, you'll be forgiven for using the rest. For fuck's sake, if you have a CHOICE from a library of snare sample collections and you pick one of the worst ones...forfeit your solo musician card.

I'm sorry, I shouldn't rant like this about what people think sounds good. The point here is that...it doesn't. Good day.

Also, voted. Really awesome month, everyone did really well. Even I consider a couple of drum choices a minor nitpick, so I haven't let them sway my voting. Quite a lot of Good hovering towards Incredible for me!

Ahahahah I love you dude. XD

[jett]

wow, batman is quite simply 14 minutes of unadulterated awfulness.

[carelessnurse214]

So I've got a few minutes to listen to some musics...

Batman Signal - I liked the voice sampling oddly enough. Don't normally like such things but they were tasteful here and a bit of a nostalgia trip.
I also really dug the Advantage style sound, but your timing was a bit shakey in places, ok in others, but elements of bad timing consistently found through out. I used to have the same hit/miss timing and would recommend practicing with a metronome..
The drum tone was different, which I enjoyed. However, I really didn't like the kick. (listening, while typing this, just got to 5:30)... Oh, snap, it goes on!
I dig the new song at around 5:45! The kick sounds better now. The guitar tone feels like it's EQ'd a bit much on the high end.
I really like the bass. 11:40 - (it goes on!) This part sounds great, but the sampling started to feel excessive a few minutes ago.
Meh, I'd say this was a tall order (long song) and the timing issues seem less prominent at the middle.

Lufia 2 Fight - I really like this. All of the tones/eq sound great. Really tasteful use of keyboard/synth. Not familiar with the original piece, but the solos sound awesome! Made me smile and forget about my headache for 3 and half minutes.

Mega Man 6 Centaur Man - Not familiar with the ost but I like what I hear and am blown away by the quality, diversity of instruments, and diverse range this track goes through. Excellent work on all instruments (real flute?!) This is now on my playlist forever.

Mega Man Battle Network Runment - Also don't know the ost, but the synth/keys remind me of the pre-N64 era games in a good way. The weird slow part worked well as an outro but it felt like it was missing something. The drums didn't feel organic for some reason but otherwise sounded good.

Mega Man X3 Gravity Beetle - Lots of backing midi on this one. I liked the secondary melody tone/performance but not the rhythmy stuff. The guitar sounds great and the song itself is good overall. I liked the pre 1:07 build a lot, but otherwise the drums were really simple.

Mass Effect 3 Leaving Earth - The piano/guitar/strings sound great (I really like the guitar tone a lot), but didn't like the synth sound starting at 1:05. It reminded me of blade runner and mass effect a lot but just felt out of place for me. Still, I really love this song and appreciated the speed up at around 3 mins.

Portal Still Alive - Finally, a song I'm familiar with. I like the vibe I love the vocals! The organ and the guitar seem a little buried in the mix, and the vocals are slightly too loud in places but this is a fantastic piece!

Portal, Portal 2, Cave Story I Survive! - The (drum)rhythm is awesome, the vocals are awesome in some places, slightly off in others (the chorus?) It sounds like you're intentional hitting the notes you're hitting but you're off by a half step or so. You're combining a lot of things I like. I love the cave story main theme part and the transition to/from. I've got mixed feelings on the drum quality but like pretty much everything else. Nice arrangement.

River Stay Away From My Door - I don't get it.

Streets of Rage Starlight Embracing City Streets - Excellent tone and mix on everything. Sweet instrumentation. I hate the style of your beat (the clapping), but it was pulled off well, so I can't really complain. Not familiar with the OST but it feels like the soundtrack to a hip-hop kung fu film I'd get tricked into seeing.

X-Men VS Street Fighter Gambit's Theme - Awesome guitar work/tone. Maybe a bit too much reverb in the beginning but otherwise great. The drums feel inorganic but I like the beat. The bass is great. Kind of sad there wasn't a mind crushing guitar solo anywhere and it just seemed to loop the song 3 times in a row, but it sounded good enough where I enjoyed all 3... (still listening)... 3 AND A HALF times through the song.

Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Skyward Sword Fragments of Time v.1: Nice arrangement, good performance. My only complaint is that the transition from the A section to the B section of lost woods was jarring and felt kind of like a mistake. Still, an awesome piece.


Zelda: Ocarina of Time Rolling Through Time - o_o Mind rocked!

Nice month all!

[FoxxDragon]

I'm no musician, so I won't give reviews, but I will say: damn, this month was amazing.
Figures you guys went all out on a month where I barely did much for the banner. pff...

Anyway though: with a few exceptions, I was floored by most of the stuff here. Good diversity too.
I also know you you are, singers, mr. fadeout, and I'm preeeeettty sure I know that zelda piano track. That give me chills, it was so good. Then immediately followed by the other incredible Zelda track.

AMAZING job, you guys!

Batman: Don't make a 14 minute song if it sounds that rough. It's better to focus on making a quality 3 minute one, than something that long and unpolished. HOWEVER! I like your sampling.

Oh yeah.. I was laughing at "now you're a hero", and thought to myself "you know, these lyrics are much too clever to be added in.. I bet the real game does this.."
So I found it.
you guys should play it if you never have: http://www.kongregat...o-burn-the-rope

[Demonstray]

I hope someday Demonstray joins a band with a drummer who only owns one drum kit (pretty common) and he doesn't particularly like the sound of the snare or toms. I curse you to this eternal torture.

Unfortunately for your dream here, drummers know what sound they're going for when they get drums. As such, they won't ever mismatch terrible drums with awesome music like people always, ALWAYS do with Metal Foundry. See, only four people have made Metal Foundry sound decent, and the rest sound like grumusic because everyone picks the same pieces and production which never once sounds good. For the love of actual good sound and not "They sound good because they're called metal foundry and everything Toontrack says goes because I'm a massive tool", please swap out the DAMN SNARE AND TOMS FOR ONES THAT DON'T SUUUUUUUUUCK. There are SO MANY TO CHOOSE FROM, especially when you consider X-Drums allowing you to fit in pieces of the other expansions and kits you have. Just swap it out with the default Avatar snare and tom series, and be done with it. It's the Avatar KICK that I have a problem with, not the rest, you'll be forgiven for using the rest. For fuck's sake, if you have a CHOICE from a library of snare sample collections and you pick one of the worst ones...forfeit your solo musician card.

I'm sorry, I shouldn't rant like this about what people think sounds good. The point here is that...it doesn't. Good day.

Also, voted. Really awesome month, everyone did really well. Even I consider a couple of drum choices a minor nitpick, so I haven't let them sway my voting. Quite a lot of Good hovering towards Incredible for me!

... really dude? You're far too passionate about this hahaha.

Yep, I'm pretty passionate about trying to sound good. I wish some of you shared my vision.