It's so hard to compare these pieces because they took such different approaches to the task.
Mozex
It's neat but expressionless (see my note below). The piece also doesn't feel like it concludes, it just runs out of notes and stops. A better ending cadence (Perfect Authentic, because we're talking Bach) would bring more closure. In fact, you had that, but then there were a couple notes after that made me expect something more. I don't have all that much to say; it's a piano piece but the recording doesn't quite sell me on it, and for better or worse the recording/performance quality is a big focus of SWC.
Clueless
The swells from the get-go are really cool. Once the rhythm is established at 0:54 it's pretty nice, and the timbral variety you have is really nice. I must voice my inevitable tranisition comment though; the split between the first and second half is a little awkward. From there though, the return to a stuttered/glitch rhythm is really good. Ending is a litle sudden but from the reverb tail it seems intentional.
I'm just missing a clear melody to bind the whole thing together. I don't doubt there's one there but I can't hear it so I can't get it stuck in my head.
A Future In Noise
I really like this one even though it lacks some expression. I can hear some dynamics, but not phrasing. With a real ensemble this would be quite lovely. The ending rit. gives it a good sense of closure, but some timing variation throughout could add more interest to the render (see my note below) Production wise, (although that isn't really the goal I'm guessing) the treble instruments get in the way of each other's frequencies, especially towards the end when the volume picks up. maybe a little EQ could help, or just more attention to octave ranges.
Canese
Neat concept, and your production is pretty solid. The vocals don't quite work for me (except the wails @ 1:00; love those). I'm not sure there's much else to say. Good job.
Maybe would have liked some more obivous Bach harmonies throughout, but you still used it so I won't fault you for that.
Functionform
I like the Mellotron & organ, gives an interesting tone to the piece and is a valid excuse for "expressionless" MIDI. the ending tag is nice, probably my favorite part of the whole thing. All in all I like the piece and the harmonies worked really well. I just wish I could percieve and overall meaning, a reason for why there are four repeats of very similar content. Feels like a hymn but it needs some words to vary the verses IMO.
Also, some slight timing changes to vary the phrases could help give a little more emotion to the performance (see below).
SimaGT
Really neat right from the start. Would have liked more expression on those strings though, to match the swells and such in the beginning. Maybe it's just the slow tempo, but the groove feels a little loose to me, like it was performed live and not quite cleaned up. It gets better once the tremolo keys & sub line really kicks in though. Transitions are really good IMO. Bach comes across well and while it maybe lacks some final sense of "polish" to the mix it still has me bobbing my head. Well done!
MarkS
The frequent changes of key center throw me off a bit, but the individual motifs you have are really nice. I'm not the biggest fan of all the pumping that happens, but it does add a bit of timbral interest. speaking of, I love the various sounds and FX you used, they fit together well, with the possible exception of that delay pop that sometimes gets in the way of the rhythmic flow and stops abruptly.
I also wished the whole song would end more gradually, and maybe start with a small fade in to the "wind." Generally you should have a little bit of silence at the very start and end of the track. The atmosphere is almost there but little production thing stop me from being able to fully immesre myself into the track.
General note to everyone re: expressive MIDI-- One excellent (free) tool for adding expression to MIDI is
Director Musices. The UI isn't great but it allows you to make phrases in your MIDI and it will add volume and time expression to your piece.
I used it to "humanize" a pipe organ solo I did for the One Synth challenge in January. I needed to do some cleanup after exporting but it got a lot of emotion out of some grid-perfect MIDI.
Finally, the votes.
► Show Spoiler
7- SimaGT
6- Canese
5- A Future in Noise
4- Clueless
3- FunctionForm
2- MarkS
1- Mozex
How do we go from there?
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