Fellow music makers, thanks for sharing your tracks and I hope you also enjoyed the challenge. I've tried to be as nuanced as I can with giving feedback in this limited time, and don't forget: it's just my opinion, so I don't expect you to agree with everything, but hopefully you find it helpful in some way.
alphageeks
At around 1:00 I’m starting to miss a melody / lead. The harmony has been established at that point. So even though you change the texture and energy throughout, it still feels a bit incomplete to me. In therms of arrangement, I feel the contrasts could be even bigger by having less instruments playing at the same time. The breakdown at 0:33 for example, could perhaps start with only the trance synth, with the rest gradually coming in.
juhu
You’ve really made this chord progression your own and made it feel like a piece, not just harmony. The B part around 2:00 really makes a nice contrast at just the right time. It seems like you’ve given yourself a tight framework instrumentation-wise and focused on the composition. On that part I could only suggest perhaps even more contrast, for example: to have a different instrument than the strings be the lead for a while.
I read and can hear that you put quite some effort in making the strings sound as human as possible, but I doubt that this VST can sound very realistic in this open context though. Spitfire had some good (free) string libraries that might work well for you.
efemgie
Bold to have that cheeky hook / melody come in at 1:00. It feel simple, too simple? Or maybe just right for this genre, which is more about the energy, danceability, trance like. The chords work well for this genre.
Production: I know it has to feel big and the reverbs are definitely helping, but they’re also cluttering the mix / grooviness a bit. You could try ducking / sidechaining the verbs rhythmically (on the kick or quarter note) to create some space.
That track flows well energy wise. You could increase the impact of the drops by increasing the contrast even more. For example: before the drop around 4:00, the synths are already at max brightness, bigness and loudness. Even just a simple LPF before the drop, could make the impact much bigger (as you have done earlier in the track In hear now).
APi_ZZ
Interesting instrumentation, but it still feels like just a chord progression. Around 1:40 the piece does get a nice lift. A melody what I miss in this piece. I guess you felt a bit the same since you also made a version with vocals. That one feels make complete to me as a composition.
Marc Fey
At around 1:30 I started thinking, where are we going with this piece? So the drums and bass around 2:00 feel like welcome change. But only change in texture / sound. Perhaps the synth melody that starts around 3:00 could already come in with the beat, to keep it moving.
It seems like most of the melodies are played a bit in front of the beat (especially on the 8th notes). You could try nudging the thing back around 20-30ms, and see if it feel more laidback. The melodic synths feel slightly out of tune. It does give it some vibe, but it’s really on the edge for me.
Being a guitarist, I’m slightly allergic to vst guitars, but this Ac guitar sounded fairly convincing to me, a bit like a harpsichord at times, but in a pleasant way
EatMe
Nice bass, it grooves nicely.
Maybe it can build a bit more slowly. It seems like you you’ve given quite a bit away from the start.
With genres like this, I feel that dynamics in energy are very important. It didn’t feel like it ever reached a climax. Introducing some drops is what I would suggest.
EsteveCorbera
The arpeggiated bells sound (in the intro) very nice and mysterious. To me they are the most interesting part of the intro, so perhaps they could be a bit louder.
The piano melody is very much on the beat. Perhaps try to vary the rhythm of it.
Soni2Music
I find the flute melody are a very cool and playful choice, but also a bit out tune with the rest. This is just a guess, but I would think it’s about 20-30 cents too low.
Nice melody sound around 1:00. All the notes land on the beat, it would be nice to have some rhythmic variation.
That nasty bass sound really works well around 1:07 when some other elements disappear. Overall I think that parts and dynamics flow really nice into each other!
Strange
Yeah, a real song! The whole composition and structure feel very solid and I dig the groovy drum part. The other instruments and vocals do seem to be a bit rushed at times. I might feel even more groovy and relaxed if you (partly) nudge them back 20ms or so. Especially the doubled vocals in the chorus would benefit from be tighter imo, considering the lyrics
The room verb and velocity on the snare seem a bit aggressive compared to the rest. A softer, dryer (Steely Dan or Vulfpeck) drum mix might blend well. Good stuff!
Mellow Browne
Nice groovy interaction between the drums and the arp. In the section following around 0:40, the kick, bass and piano seem a bit too much on top of each other in comparison. I love all the sounds and general viibe, but a do miss a melody or hook in the parts when there’s no arp. And perhaps throw in a breakdown about halfway through.
Slap bass around feels like a cool and welcome change.
Since mix in the beat genre is so important, I’ll share a few of my (way too detailed) thoughts on it:
I feel like the kick has too much transient. Some tape saturation or fast attack compression could help tame those peaks (or maybe just reducing the kick with 1-2dB). Some extra sub could also give it some extra hiphop vibe.
The snare doesn’t need the reverb imo, or at least softer / duller. Redbone - Childish Gambino might be a good reference. Those drums also have a lot less highs I hear now.
Chasey24
Beautiful, epic melody that works really well with these chords.
At 0:33 it does seem like the F in the melody wants to be an E instead. You do play that F later when you go up an octave. That octave up, is really effective when the drums come inI also dig the the sound of the acoustic strum guitar there.
When the cleaner, (surf) guitar comes in, I noticed that many elements are playing the 16th note groove: Hihat, snare, acoustic guitar, marimbas, some bell sounds. There it starts to clutter it up a little bit, partly because it’s not extremely tight. Changing the snare to ghost notes except sfor the 2 and 4, might already give a lot of space.
When the drums comes back in around 2:50 with a fill, the 1 didn’t fully fulfill my expectations, because the melody and ac guitar enter later. It’s of course difficult to change the melody, so my suggestion is to ‘swallow the 1’, so the band doesn’t play the 1, but enters one the 2 with a snare and crash; the melody stays unaltered.
Very good structure and dynamics imo. Well done!
VCA-089
Cool build of the intro. Solid, explosive and confident production and themes!
0:50 The melody could be a bit more in the foreground for my taste.
1:42 This second theme / progression made me smile; very video gamey, a bit tongue in cheek (at least to me). Being a guitarist, I do noticed that the guitars are virtual, but for this production I think it works well. It makes it feel lighter, less aggressive to me. I’m happy that you “misunderstood the rules” like you said, and changed the progression quite drastically. It really lifts the track up because of it, so I won’t punish you for it score wise.
2:40 this breakdown makes the already cool sound design shine
Nice structure and dynamics throughout, awesome!
ThomC
Wow, cinematic indeed!! This would work perfectly for an adventure film I think.
Very sophisticated use of themes, orchestration and dynamics. It left me wanting more, even after the second time. That’s a good sign, but I do feel like there is more ground to be explored with what you made. I wanna watch the full movie
The only suggestion I can think of is the following: Perhaps it could use more bass elements at times; like pizzicato double bass or something.
Hats off to you!
