Rick Finsta - False Gods:
From the first second on your entry has a lot of positive energy, this fits your overall vocal performance. Guitars and bass have a nice tone and are well recorded, the playing is on point, I couldn’t hear any flaws there, well done! The vocal performance is very convincing and you have an interesting tone in your voice. The overall vibe and feeling is a „standard“ Punk-Rock song, and I mean it in a very positive way. I’m not into Punk-Rock but to my ears your entry sounds very professional from a songwriting and performance point of view. I don’t know why but I instantly had the movie „American Pie“ in my mind. High quality!
I think it’s a pity that the lyrics are barely audible and you forgot to post them, I’m not a native speaker, so I had no chance to understand what the song is about.
I’m not so a fan of the mix tbh, I believe you could’ve done a better job although I’m not familiar with your work (which will hopefully change in the future
).
Punk-Rock and other genres are many times more on the gritty side of mixes from what I’ve heard, but I find your mix a bit too dump overall, especially the clarity of the vocals (the bridge part with distortion being the most obvious). Would love to hear a little more brightness overall. Also, I’m not a fan of hard panned elements, especially if there are only guitars as instrumentation, this makes the stereo field extremely wide and things can get a little isolated in the center. I think the guitars could be a little lower in volume to bring up your vocal performance and to make the lyrics more audible.
Regarding the challenge theme, I don’t have Punk-Rock in mind when thinking about Street Art, but that’s maybe because I’m simply too biased as a Hip Hop fan. I think of graffiti or unconventional crossings like eg. like modern architecture combined with nature/plants etc. But who am I to decide what Street Art means? I think you a really talented in what you are doing.
Although I can’t hear/understand the lyrics I think you did a superb job with your entry. Bravo!
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JeroenZuiderwijk - Wall Of Light:
The intro has a real dark atmosphere, grimey, gangster-like. It reminds heavily of german „underground“ rap acts like „Prinz Pi“, „Frauenarzt“ or „Die Atzen“. The unconventional drum programming and the selection of sounds emphasizes this vibe. The mix with the strings makes the overall vibe more neutral/positive, I think you’ve done a really good job here, I didn’t expect such a mood switch. Those strings give me a feeling of hope and that things will become more positive in the future.
And, what I really like about your entry is that it has a clear structure. Over time I got „familiar“ with your work and this one really stands out to me because everything blends together really nice. From the theme, the song structure itself with a „bridge“ to the drum programming and the sound selection, from what I can recall I believe this is the best entry I heard from you so far. Also, I think you really improved musically.
The mix is clear, everything has its own place, the only thing that I find annoying is the very loud hihat, especially when I listen in mono. It stands out heavily compared to the other elements. Another thing I find a bit disturbing is the string section on the left side and the tiny place it has in the mix, I’m really missing a counterpart on the right side to equalize the energy and focus. The string themselves sound really good and very natural but like I mentioned, I think it’s a pity that they only occupy such a small place in the mix, I personally consider them as the main element and would love to hear them spread out on both sides.
What you could try is to change the pitch up and/or down of the fast roll hihat in order to give it more accents, and maybe even pan the fast rolls slighthly to one side like you can hear in modern Trap songs.
Super nice job, Jeroen! From my point of view you reached the „next level“. Congratulations!
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toadhjo - Approaching/Alive:
Dude, what an amazing piano Intro! WOW! Would absolutely love to sample this for a neo soul/hip hop beat if you give me the permission.
The intro has a strong classical jazzy vibe which I really like and then comes the hard contrast to the more modern pop song.
Very clever what you’ve done with the intro, walking into the song from left to right, awesome detail!
Great sound selection and nice song structure! Did you also play the strummed guitar? I couldn’t find any infos about the used vsts/instruments in your production. That scratch fx is really funny and gives it that little extra. Also very interesting implementation of a slight bitcrusher fx at the end.
The mix is clear, all elements have their own space. The only thing concerning the mix that bothers me a bit is the inconsistency of that percussive element in the right channel, sometimes it’s a bit overwhelming, other times it gets burried too much.
You have a very good understanding/feeling of music theory and chord progressions/melody lines, you showcased that already in other entries I heard from you.
Imo the weakest point in your entry is the vocal performance with some „foul“ notes how I call them. Don’t get me wrong, but there are several moments where you are off-key with a lock of control for propper intonation and/or staying in tune with the rest of the instruments like @ 03:50. I think the lyrics are nice and trying to interpret them I believe they have a deeper meaning. Maybe you can find a vocal coach who can help you with this in your area? You have a great singing voice with a nice character, it would be a shame to not work on this in the future, I can hear a lot of potential!
Another thing I find unfortunate is a missing bass line. Adding a bass guitar or synth and having something that covers the lowest register would have a super nice impact. I justed played with Modo Bass alongside and this is perfect match to my ears. I really think you missed the opportunity to round things up.
Great job, once again you showed your musical talent!
How do we go from there?