. Take my rating as view of the ordinary and unaware person. I do like music and I do like creating some weird stuff that can be hardly called music. Since english is also not my native language I have problem to understand lyrics in song so included lyrics help.1. MOA22 "Stay Good"
2. donkey tugger "Hopeless Case"
3. CeZar "You"
4.Thelace43 "Rainy Days"
5. ollyaudio "Heavenly Ocean"
6. MarkS "Darkness & Light"
6. MarkS "Darkness & Light"
Well I get the idead of track, kind of but it sound too artificiall. No expressions and selected instruments get repetitive quickly without added dynamics. At 1:50 when piano start it getting weird. Maybe this was what you want but for me it is not. This part is off beat and hard to listen. It looks like track have three parts. Intro till piano starts is first, then piano part and then last part that is similar to intro only with added another instrument. Yes it is really gets repetitive. Mix and overall sound needs more work. Better instrument placing on stage. It now sound more like instrument is only in center or on both sides. There are some resonant frequencies especially that synth voice and reverse synth. I also missing some sparkle in high and some softness in low.
5. ollyaudio "Heavenly Ocean"
Yup this tracks sound more heavenly then it should. Even there are some parts that can take you closer to the chosen SWC theme, track sounds more like it is over and there is no illness anymore. For instrumental track I would like to hear more changes in composition. Regarding mix, well beat/drums are all in center without added space. It just mono while rest of instruments are almost everywhere. Similar to MarkS track so that instrument is just mono in center or on both sides.
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This and comment bellow is for all next four tracks. These are on different levels and it is hard for me to judge them. Actually I'm afraid to say something bad about them. Also rating starting from here is very difficult since those tracks are somewhat "similar" in style. I do normally not listen to that type of music since I do prefer instrumental tracks so I can use my imagination to "paint" the rest of "story". Like comparing book with movie. Movie will give you exact definition about everything and leave you almost no place for imagination. No offense it just those are simply not my cup of tea. Singing also distracts my attention from music. So I will only tell what I - mere human think about those tracks.
4.Thelace43 "Rainy Days"
Music itself have rather happy feeling. I miss some anxiety here. Lyrics won't change this happy feeling.
3. CeZar "You"
So I like music in this one more but again theme is ... more like lost love and not Dark Corners of the Mind.
2. donkey tugger "Hopeless Case"
Regarding music and composition this one is best. It is nicelly evolve from beginning till the "climax" and again "fade out" nicely. I do not like voice so much. I'm not talking about voice itself like color but about intonation in same parts like for example in 2:25. Theme is too neutral and I miss some "war" between light and darkness or between sanity and madness.
1. MOA22 "Stay Good"
It is first because of overall feel. Musically it is one track that is the closest one to the choosed theme .
I always judge feel of the track based on music itself and lyrics are just cherry on a cake that add little more to theme. So if the cake if not the right cake cherry doesn't help. All those four tracks are nice with nice mix and mastering but ... hate me all you want, they are too common. Nothing that you can't hear anywhere else. I need to be shocked or taken away from reality. Of course if any of you are making music only because you enjoy the process of making like me, then it doesn't matter since those are really really really really nice tracks and I can only envy silently in the corner.
The winners podium consists of:
I also found people vote based on some personal feeling. What I mean is when you comment track with some critics and suggestion you can see then in vote how much this affect points given by that person. They always try to return the favor by giving you lovest score. I always score track based on production quallity as whole and even I don't like certain style it doesn't affect my vote. I also suggest to all participants to forget about points and prize. Those challenges are best way to improve your skills and acquire the best prize ever - knowledge.