Also, for those interested, I updated my post a while back with more details about how I came up with my piece, and what plugins I used.
canese - In sepia swell
guitar reminds me of a smooth jazz album I have, so it's pretty on point for the style in my opinion. It's a bit big and carries a lot of eneregy for the chill side of the style but it's very well produced and enjoyable to listen to.
Square - Finding my Footing
love the funky groove from the get-go! it's a bit aggressive but lofi for sure. The transition between the beginning and the dub section might be my favorite part, it's soothing and lets the listener breathe for a moment.
The dub section is also cool, sounds good, but feels completely unnecessary for the piece. I know that the switch was intentional but I think the song would be better as strictly one or the other, unless you could very clearly tie the melody from one into the other.
Double Tap - Plugin Boutique
Love the mood in this one - you did a good job of making it optimistic feeling. I love the brush sample - it works nicely in the flow of your song. The piece is smooth and I really like the overall package.
I guess it could use a more distinct hook but it's fine without.
Olli H - LoFi Feeling
I found it really pleasant - cleanly composed music that's also decently chill. It's fairly smooth and enjoyable, not much else to say. You captured the aesthetic pretty well.
becsei_gyorgy - Faces Of Love
The lofi sound is there for sure. Instrumentation is really nice and the production fits pretty well - violin is a neat choice. Composition is a bit bold/assertive compared to my stance on the lofi genre but it works well.
The Corinthians sample is novel but detracts from the calm mood for me. I think the song would have been fine without it though.
Mellow Browne - Like a Friend
I like the drum processing, although the prominence of that ride bell gets annoying rather quick - I'd suggest bringing it down in volume. Bass groove is awesome! My biggest complaint is the mix - that bell is so loud it covers over the vocals and makes them harder to understand.
TrojakEW - Lone Wanderer
That trumpet tone gets fairly grating after a while, but I see where you're going with it. Maybe just a bit more expression so it isn't the same flat straight-mute tone would be nice.
As soon as the drums cut, I lose any connection to the hip-hop style, unfortunately. The ending is beautiful but does not fit the brief at all, in my opinion. As you somewhat stated, it feels like a piece that you tried to force into the lofi style, and I don't think that teh lofi style does any justice to your piece, nor your piece to the style.
gruskada - TTL
that hard panned snare is quite distracting to me, but I like the boldness of the choice. The overall mood is very nice and smooth, which is greatly appreciated. The melodies felt a bit "noodly" as though you improvised them all as live takes. They sound nice but as a whole I can't really find a memorable motif or theme.
Shea - My Lofi Sky
The intro is spot-on with what I was expecting for lo-fi. I lovely. I feel like the snare is a touch loud but the overall mood is excellent. Production feels good for the genre, and even the bigger sections like the ending still feel nicely rooted in the lofi groove.
Also glad I'm not the only one who used bird sounds.
FunctionForm - This Too Shall Pass
nice groove, and I like the variations in the second section. Clean production, flows pretty well. I imagine the changes might be a bit distracting if I was trying to study by it, but I won't hold that against you; I find all music distracting when I'm trying to be productive.
Blang - Gloomy
Love the intro - the piano progression is great for the style. Really, everything feels good. Nice job with the sampling and production, it really comes through well. The vocals are present but not distracting which is hard for lofi.
I just wish it kept going longer! really nice tune.
Also, you did a good job of transforming the original samples into a new piece.
GMoneh - Anxiety
I'm missing some expression on that piano, almost every note in the melody feels really loud. Maybe it's just too loud in the mix as a whole. Some of the percussion hits are off-beat in a way that feels more sloppy than intentional, and that throws me out of the listening headspace. Aside from those, it feels a little too energetic and crowded the lo-fi hip hop style - to me, lo-fi hip hop is a fairly minimal and calm genre.
I like where you were going with this piece, but it feels too big to be lo-fi and too repetitive for something I'd want to listen to often outside the genre
VCA-089
I like the 808 kit here, it helps keep it closer to a hip-hop feel through out. I feel like the field recording samples might be a little excessive and distracting, although I like the thought. Maybe if they were more sparse and not all clustered in the middle section. I love the outro!
now for the hard part
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