Hi all,
Crispy - "Subject 77"
When I heard this I realise how bad my track is! This point goes for all the other tracks really
Anyway, I think this track is interesting all the way through, constantly using variations in rhythm, tone and arrangement. The mix is clean and I like the way that you've used some sounds completely dry with very aggressive use of effects in a controlled way. I don't ever get tired of that distorted bass tone.
APi_ZZ - "Scrambled Sambles"
Really enjoyed it, so much creativity and skill. I found the diversion at 0:44 a little jarring but it's great once you get into it. Some of the long held synth tones I find a bit fatiguing at times, I think there's a high tone held from around 0:50 for a minute and then continuing onto other high notes and really it's fine as a composition, but maybe it can be made smoother in the mix with EQ or modern adaptive EQ type plugins. Apart from these small points though, I loved it.
msgsaltsweet - "Tomato EP"
The drum track in general is brilliant. It's a hypnotic track, I can put this on and then work or I could imagine it in a club also. The sounds at 5:12 for the 3rd section I find a little too out there and perhaps the mix around that section has an issue with a few mid and frequencies becoming a bit insistent. At 6:56 the change reminds me of Aphex Twin, that disorientating sense. I particularly like the section around 8:00 when the bass line hits the new beat. I think perhaps the snare sound that we hear a lot from 10:09 and also in the first section of the track is a bit much to hear with that regularity? Maybe it could be a touch less abrasive sounding. I'm sure this is exactly what you wanted. Anyway great track.
JeroenZuiderwijk - "What's In a Name"
I think this is a well composed musical track which is a great achievement when you are confined with sounds. Love those aggressive drum sounds. I feel maybe the synths are just a touch too high vs the beat, but could be a matter of taste only.
VCA-089 - "Meds"
Lovely track, this is first one where I am genuinely a bit thrown by how much you've done with the audio provided, it's like you have created virtually anything. Well done. I think the mix is good but sounds a tiny bit muddy at times, maybe the drum reverbs are the problem? I'm not sure.
EsteveCorbera - "Ritmes Experimentals"
Really interesting track, in terms of harmonic ideas I think this is the most experimental of all the ones for this round. It's like you've thrown away all the rulebooks and just gone for it. It makes for a quite unsettling track, but I commend you for it.
1ktone - "Information"
Made me smile, great ideas here. I like the courage to make a minimalist track. I think the concept works very well, to have a sense of overload of relatively meaningless information brought to us with all the bleeps and the robotic feel of the drums. Then to have the chorus which gives us relief that when we leave the house and step into the light, everything's ok. It does leave me with the feeling that everything is very far from ok in fact, but at least we had a moment of escaping partially. nice work
Mellow Browne - "From Nothing to Something"
I really enjoyed the swirling opening and interesting effects. Then into that fat beat, so good. Just needs a rapper on there
I give you the win for how nice that beat is. All the sounds feed into it perfectly and how it comes to life at 2:14 is amazing.
So naming a top 5, I will go
1. Mellow Browne - "From Nothing to Something"
2. APi_ZZ - "Scrambled Sambles"
3. Crispy - "Subject 77"
4. msgsaltsweet - Tomato EP
5. VCA-089 - "Meds"
For my own experience, it was rewarding for me to make something the way I wanted the sounds to be after entering a lot of mixing competitions where I was relatively confined. I personally love ambient music and a lot of murky tones. My process was to start with the pad chord sequence - the C Am G F and then put this down an octave and it already felt like the world I wanted, so then I went through all the other sounds in the folders and decided whether or not they were welcome. I think I am missing many of the skills I need to do this kind of track properly and listening back I think it's quite a lazy creation in that there are too many parts just looped and nowhere near enough interesting things happening.
The part I liked doing the most was the drum beat, with the idea of a smashing printer making such an abrasive snare sound giving me a lot of satisfaction. However I needed to do more with those sounds having spent the time creating them. A lot of the other aspects of the track were a bit basic in hindsight, the idea was I wanted to leave a certain amount of the sound unprocessed so that you could hear clearly the wrapping paper really close up. I imagined in the volcanic scene this could be the smoke.
Well done to everyone, you are a very talented bunch and I loved listening to all your creations.
How do we go from there?
