Overall, very good submissions. It's so damn unfair process to try to make a justified order for so different tracks with values in so different aspects. Especially as I feel you're more talented than me.
But ok, here's my comments from a perspective of an old fart who doesn't have a needed competence for modern productions.
I made quick evaluations from the point of view of personal preference on these areas giving 1-5 points to each of them.
- Song: melody, rhythmic choices and progression
- Arrangement
- Other values: performance, mix, sound, recording, personal likings etc,
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CaughtWithCandy: MissingPieces
The opening of this song definitively sounds good.
Energy level and arrangement and vocals go together very well
I like that main double guitar riff (for example 0:46)
The song is developing nicely towards something, but for some reason I feel that "the something" or "the main part" never comes. Around 1:30 my concentration starts to wander. I guess at that moment the promise of the great opening should be redeemed.
I like the mix very much. I feel it's balanced and sonically interesting.
Song: 4
Arrangement: 5
Other values: 4
13
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Green-Dog: trap_and_trigger
Great promising opening
Vocals could come in more boldly. Now it feels that spacious guitars take the focus away from the singer.
1:30 starts the chorus, absolutely great, maybe the best part of this competition. That's effective and weird!
Nice abrupt ending. It works fine with lyrics.
I like the spacious sound, but overall I feel the sound field is too distant. Maybe some element in some part of the song could be closer to listener in sound field. It would create more 3d feeling and emphasize the space created by guitars and drums. For example I might try to bring the chorus vox closer to listener with stronger stereo effect. Or verse vox could be closer, and chorus vox big and wild in the room.
Otherwise I feel the mix is great
Song: 5
Arrangement: 5
Other values: 4
14
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TrojakEW: Brand_New_World
Opening sounds like a record. Great coherent arrangement. It's like a music track to some Disney's jungle movie's scene. You certainly know your tools and your stuff. I've nothing to add on that area.
That rhythmical part is very interesting. Like a punch of animals creating together some sort jungle message.
But that said, I'm missing the main melody line. As if the instruments are improvising around the main theme that was presented in some other scene of the movie. Or maybe the main melody line is too complicated.
So, I feel that I would like to watch the scene again, but no melody is left in my memory. Maybe that's the way it should happen with film music, but - as you may have noticed from my comments in this forum - personally I emphasize (maybe too much) the importance of melody line.
Song: 3
Arrangement: 5
Other values: 4
12
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DocJon: EverythingWillBeAlright
Definitively a perfect 80's disco. You surely have a skill for songs with positive and naive mood. Love it.
Opening simple but perfect.
Very catchy verses.
PreChorus could have been more different from verse. Maybe a stronger change in arrangement. But those "hey" shouts come in perfectly.
Chorus ok, but I waited it to be a bit stronger.
Bass line and sound very 80's
Guitar riffs just right in place
Mixing is quite coherent. Balances were fine all through. But what the mixing lacks are well thought transitions from song part to another. Something that would stress the opening of a new part. Something that marks a change in an energy level. For example a slightly different snare sound to prechorus etc.
Song: 5
Arrangement: 4
Other values: 4
13
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J I L L I A M/RichardWatashi: Deprivator
This one was difficult for me. Hard to locate it. As always, you really challenge the listener.
Very strong but simple main idea. I like that unexpected syncopated melodic emphasis points. Combined with that pumping synth, it's simple and scary. It goes quite deeply on the emotional level. I get lots of images in my head. I'm in cellar, tight to my chair, nobody hears me... Strong stuff.
But I think the song needs to have also different parts, so that musically it can come back to that weird and strong main idea. It could be some "nice memory" or "hope lurking" somewhere, and then go back to that scary part. So musically I'm looking for the "now-it-starts-again" -experience. You should certainly develop this. You have a weird gem here, and it deserves to be taken to the next level.
Mix is not optimal yet, it lacks both the hi and low end. Maybe with purpose.
Song: 4
Arrangement: 4
Other values: 3
11
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gruskada: ParallelFor
Very good opening. Cool arrangement.
I like your attitude: "The biggest limitation I put on myself was not using guitar at all." So you did this without your stronger tools. But in this month's submission it can be also heard, that you're a bit uncertain with your moves. Now the production lacks bolder and stronger ideas that I've heard in your submission before. It can be heard in performance that you're skating on a thin ice.
Melody lines are a bit unclear or vague to me. Maybe there's a great melody line there, but those synths don't deliver the musical idea properly to me yet. If your performance had had singing and lyrics, situation might change immediately. But as this is instrumental, there should be stronger or clearer hooks in melody line. As the song finishes I remember only the cool main groove, but not at all the melody.
As you're skilled guitarist it might have been a good idea to play those melody lines with guitar, and then convert them to midi for synth. Or trick what I use quite often: I sing the melody ("de-dee-dee"), convert it to midi, and then I use the timing and velocity from that (but I always have to make lots of pitch correction moves).
1:06 bands playing is a bit jammed. From the start to that point drummer did his job very well, but in that point he loses the grip. Also, somehow those toms come from totally different world. Otherwise the drums are very organic, but toms are over-synthetic when compare to otherwise natural sound of drums.
If you plan to develop this, listening Toto's "Africa" might give you some ideas.
Song: 2
Arrangement: 4
Other values: 2
8
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GmfSongs: ShadowToAStone
As a song this is great. Not much melody here, but in this case it don't bother me. With human voice and lyrics I feel it don't necesessrily need to have more complicated lines. Vocal parts manages to keep the focus in them the way they are now.
Main part is just built around two chords (?). Cool! Overall feeling brings to my mind the band "Eels", which I like very much.
I like the minimalistic arrangement. I end up listening the song and forget to analyze it. I guess that's the way it should be.
Instrumental part brings nice variation, it takes me some other place, but after that I'm disappointed as the songs goes back to the same stuff with the same sound as earlier. I expect to hear something new with vocal lines: instrumental part brought in something new to the scene, and hero on the stage should react to it.
Mix is not optimal yet. If I were to mix this, I would take guidance from some Eels' song to make it sound polished but still lo-fi in a correct way.
Low end is now uncontrolled. Kick is too loose. Snare sound feels wrong to me.
Some dynamic changes are maybe too big (1:55). Actually the frequency balance is better around here than in vocal parts but loudness change was probably too big.
Song: 4
Arrangement: 4
Other values: 3
11
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becsei_gyorgy: SOS_Space_Cowboy
Very cinematic modern sounding opening.
Beat comes in: Cool rhythm. Very promising start.
But when the melody starts, it takes me to Boney M style 70's disco. Somehow it distracts me as it doesn't match the opening.
You've great talent, but this time not so much points from me. I try to elaborate.
Overall, the more I listen, the more song starts to feel a bit incoherent. I can hear that you have a great skills for music and nuances, but this time it feels to me that you tried too much, and lost the focus from a big picture. You created lots of nice and very well done ideas, but somehow they don't make up together a solid one song.
As the songs goes on I'm having difficulties to differentiate parts from each other in my memory. Maybe there's happening too much all the time on the effect side, so catchy lines underneath are masked. Or maybe the melody lines are not strong enough but are overshadowed by well done effects and tricks. It's hard for me to pinpoint the problem that I'm hearing.
Maybe if you had clear vocal line here, then applied all your tricks in relation to that, I guess all those problems might disappear, and this could be a winner. I mentioned the Boney M. If you listen it, there's lot of small nuances and tricks, but they never distract from the main melody line, which comes through perfectly all the time.
Song: 3
Arrangement: 3
Other values: 4
10
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► Show Spoiler
01 10pts Green-Dog trap_and_trigger
02 9pts DocJon EverythingWillBeAlright
03 8pts CaughtWithCandy MissingPieces
04 7pts TrojakEW Brand_New_World
05 6pts GmfSongs ShadowToAStone
06 5pts J I L L I A M/RichardWatashi Deprivator
07 4pts becsei_gyorgy SOS_Space_Cowboy
08 3pts gruskada ParallelFor
)
How do we go from there?