That was a long song. I thought with the very drawn out intro that there would be some epic walls of sounds somewhere but it's mostly these extremely minimal chiptune themes in a very airy mix. Not sure if I like that- gets a biiit tiring with no major change in sound, ever. The thing at 3:45 was a welcome digression from the chiptune theme though- but it doesn't last all that long haha. The 4:18 part was funny too. Those are probably my favourite parts. The others, ehhhhh I mean I get the idea but they're either not all that memorable or just oddly dissonant. There's a long weird note progression that doesn't seem to have any direction or even make any sense, it's somewhere around the seventh minute. The transitions that occur are a bit weiiird- the parts don't sound lthat much like they're parts of the same song. But of course this is a remix of three different songs and idk how else you would remix it since I haven't heard the original.
To be completely honest I barely had the stamina to listen through it once (even though it's an easy listen, thanks to the very light mix). I would have preferred 3 different songs with more solid structure. Here it appears to be quite random. But you did do a solid job creating a consistent theme with a set of recognizable instruments, that is for sure.
And also, respect to you for passing the 10 minute mark on a song. Which is quite an achievement in itself. Great effort.
well i have passed it before with 12 minutes so thats 2 achievements i guess?
not sure what you mean by theres no major change in sound because it changes up ALOT. if you scroll through the song there won't be 2 parts that sound the same.
my goal with this song was to make it just smoothly go from one part to another and overall maintain a relaxed, ambient chiptune feeling, not too many high parts but not too many low parts, y'know? definatly something you don't see often :P i think most of what turns people off with this song is the length, most people have the attention span of a rock lol.
thanks for the review :) i would suggest you check out bit.trip VOID so you can see just how much i changed it up from the orignal, you might be suprised
I love the popping synth sound. I've never heard anything quite like the thing at 0:44, I'm not sure why I like that part so much but I think it's the mix and the super simple delay on that synth that does it.
Anyway drums were a bit loud maybe and the piano sounds like a generic generic. But nice tune nonetheless.
Yeah, the piano does sound a bit like a generic generic i suppose ;p
And the popping synth.. i made that with Wasp XT with a stereo enhancer, reverb, filter, fl blood overdrive and a tiny tiny tiny bit of distortion. Oh, and it's a Sine, of course.
Good point on the drums :)
Thanks for the review!
just had a quick listen and I won't do a big review but I was just so unexpectedly impressed by the incredibly elegant implied rhythm change at 2:38. The three seconds before that I thought it was in 6/8, turns out it was dotted 16th notes in 18/8!! Very aweseome.
...but it only raises my score from 5 to 7... the sounds are just really crude, totally dry and bland, and it sounds very much like an unfinished product. Needs a whole bunch of work in the production/mixing (and possibly composition too) department
Lucky enough I have until the 20th, will work on that. If I do a major fix, which will probably happen, I'll send you a PM so I can see if you like it any more. Thank you for taking the time to review my song, I really appreciate it.
The part until :16 is, soundwise, my favourite thing I have heard from you. Solid, tight. Love the hipassed drums thing and the very well timed stop right before :16. Want more of it. Want a big breather part with more of it. Love it.
But the part after that sounds a bit, well anticlimatic (or just quieter). Probably because there isn't any loud impact kind of percussion (i.e a cymbal or a loud burst of reverberated noise or something). IDK. I just think that, since you went with such an epic intro and quite heavy drums, it could have some more drive (drive is a pretty useless word to describe music but it's the best thing I can think of atm, hopefully you'll understand what I'm trying to say here, otherwise, disregard my advice.).
And I don't know about the lead sound here really. It's a bit loud, a bit too upfront, a bit too dry compared to the rest of the mix, and I think it would sound better without the detuning/chorusing thing (or maybe it's a really crude reverb haha)
I like the synthy thing with a bit of portamento that goes on with a very straight pattern in the background. Really enjoy that kinda sound and it fits perfectly in airy vg type music like this. I imagine I would jizz my acid-loving ears out if you went and automated the filter cutoff and resonance of it, put some distortion on it or duplicated it and transposed the copy one octave lower to use it ass a bassline; which really never happens. Oh well.
The descending phrase at 1:27 is brilliant. Very in tune with the genre. So is the 0:47 thing, to a lesser extent but a very nice touch.
The thing at 0:48 is also a really nice sound that I love.
The note at 1:35 would make a cooler leading tone if it was B instead of Bb imo
And, hmm... now this is just something I'm noticing while I actually scroll through the tune to see if I can catch something I didn't notice on the first listen, but the melody doesn't have all that much variation, so it gets a bit tiring after listening to the same melodic phrase the 10th time. But this really doesn't matter too much in a 3 minute song. I really do like the melody though.
The general theme is very consistent with a very logical and pleasant mix of sound, and although I'm not sure it I think the title fits entirely (mostly because I don't think of huge blocky graphics when I hear the polished synth mix in the background), it does convey a very flying-around-in-a-video-game-like feeling.
Now the only thing that prevents me from raising the volume here is the lead sound, which gets reeaallly unpleasant at higher volumes. It must be right in the human voice range or something, and also as I mentioned earlier it's too loud. Thing is I really like the array of ear candy synths in the background, and I totally want to bring the volume up to feel the punch from the drums
btw, for having one working ear, you are pretty amazing at making full use of the stereo field. I would probably use a lot of stereo delays as well in a song like this but you are of course in a different situation.
But yeah well sorry for just putting these paragraphs in semi-random positions in the review, I've grown accustomed to just writing a paragraph about each thing I want to point out about your songs and very often that becomes mostly criticism or my own personal ideas, but do know that the review score is probably a better representation of how much I enjoyed the tune than the review itself is. It's a very solid song. (buuuut if you ARE ever going to change anything about the tune, do something about the lead sound yeah?)
Wow man thanks! As usual I really appreciate the massive reviews, you're probably the one person who wrote the most characters on my songs and I'm grateful for that, so yeah, thanks :3.
Now let the quote-respond commence...
"The part until :16 is, soundwise, my favourite thing I have heard from you."
Actually I think this song probably has one of my best intros, maybe around as good as Racing Through Eternity's or Spacewalk's intro. I wish I was as good at making intros for orchestral songs though.
"But the part after that sounds a bit, well anticlimatic (or just quieter)."
I know exactly what you're talking about. In fact I had initially made it have a large crash and move right on to the melody which now plays at 0:48 instead (without the progressive intro from 0:16 - 0:48).
I changed it to how it is now intentionally. The thing is, on my way back from my GCSE exams, my friend's dad takes my friend and I back home. I've noticed that he seems to like those really crappy mainstream songs with autotuned vocals, hip-hop-style drum beats and repetitive melodic lines, because he plays them on the radio all the time, which in turn made me listen to a lot of mainstream trance in the car.
I heard a lot of transitions similar to the one at 0:16, where the song builds up, and then when it reaches the limit of the buildup, everything goes silent and the song then continues normally, rather than with any epic impacts/hits. As much as I find those types of songs boring, I always wanted to try that transition out in one of my songs. I knew some people wouldn't like it though :3.
"And I don't know about the lead sound here really."
Yeah that's a chorus on it. To be honest I wasn't sure about the lead sound either - in fact I only had it as temporary until I found a better sound, but I couldn't so I stuck with it, even though it really doesn't do the song justice.
"I like the synthy thing with a bit of portamento that goes on with a very straight pattern in the background."
Thanks. That sound is pretty important in the song, because without it the whole track sounds pretty empty, especially at the beginning. I'd try out your suggestions for it but I know that if I do I'll mess it up due to my extreme incompetence in producing music *sob*.
"The descending phrase at 1:27 is brilliant. Very in tune with the genre."
Lol I was so proud of that part when I finished it, haha. I mean literally, my brother opened the door to come in right when I finished that part and out of nowhere I told him "I'm a genius aren't I?". I was obviously exaggerating but yeah, you always get those particular sections in songs which you're really proud of :P.
"The thing at 0:48 is also a really nice sound that I love."
Thanks!
"The note at 1:35 would make a cooler leading tone if it was B instead of Bb imo"
Noted.
"the melody doesn't have all that much variation"
True. This time I focused more on changing the background elements and adding new sounds/subtle changes rather than varying the actual melody. Which is why I have so many patterns in a 3 minute song and the melody still sounds repetitive.
"I'm not sure it I think the title fits entirely"
I know, I couldn't think of a decent name for this song. It's funny that you mentioned that this has a flying-around feeling, because I had the exact same thought when I finished it. I thought of naming it 'Sky High' or 'The Sky's the Limit' but those names are so cheesy they make my eyes water.
"btw, for having one working ear, you are pretty amazing at making full use of the stereo field."
I really wish I knew what I was doing though :(.
"But yeah well sorry for just putting these paragraphs in semi-random positions"
Nah I think I prefer it like that, to be honest.
"do something about the lead sound yeah?"
I'll try, but I'll probably fail miserably. I can't find anything which fits...
"Keep that good work right up, now do jazz."
Jazz?
Hm... only when you make a song with no ambient, funky or trippy elements whatsoever :3.
The two songs you've submitted both have very nice and thick mixes (maybe the other one moreso than this one) from all the fat synths and ear candy that you fill the mix with. They're very pleasant to listen to and don't have any of the over the top synths or sounds that most songs here suffer from. i'd say it's more mature in that sense. Looking forwards to hearing what else you can come up with in the future so I went and followed you on Soundcloud (the name's JonathanGjertsen, just fyi). So keep up the good work!
I mean I'm sure the song is awesome and all but the quality is being molested by the fact that you're submitting a 128kbps version. Submit a 320kbps version and we're talking.
You really make that melody sound huge and awesome with that thick arrangement with the choirs on top. If you put a deep bass (maybe even like a sine sub even though that's clearly not at all in the classical domain) on that you may or may not be able to blow my ears with awesome.
And the part after that and also the transition with the little tempo change and all and that quite common harp/flute combo sound as well as the fact that you speed right UP into the main melody afterwards, yeah that thing, I was pretty damn impressed by that. I dunno the part well it sounds logical and thought through but still that part was just beautiful. If you get what I mean.
The piano sound is really nice. Sounds like you lowpassed the deeper notes or something, I imagine it would sound nice if you just hammered them deep notes at least during the solo parts, maybe not during the more busy melody parts though.
I agree with mr hamster cakes that it's pretty emotional at times. I liked that melody for its emotionalness and you carried that over very well here, while also adding a contrasting, tranquil feel with the flute/harp thing, and then a nice kind of sophisticated atmosphere with the piano after that. The piano and especially the bass notes during that part remind me of Erik Satie whose piano thing I like a lot for the record. If you want some tips on what to listen to for awesome melodies and inspiration.
Still I have to admit I was a bit bummed that you didn't include the other half of that part, you know from 3:50? Because that's what I was looking forward to the whole time. So I'll remove a star for that. Still, what you did is awesome! I love it and I'm honored.
"You really make that melody sound huge and awesome"
I'd say the same for your review :3.
"with that thick arrangement with the choirs on top. If you put a deep bass (maybe even like a sine sub even though that's clearly not at all in the classical domain) on that you may or may not be able to blow my ears with awesome."
Well a double bass is in the classical domain and in fact in one of my earlier versions (I think it was the older version you listened to) my double bass was quite bassey. I turned its bass down later on but maybe I should turn it up a bit again and see if that works out and blows your ears with awesome.
"And the part after that and also the transition with the little tempo change and all and that quite common harp/flute combo sound as well as the fact that you speed right UP into the main melody afterwards, yeah that thing, I was pretty damn impressed by that. I dunno the part well it sounds logical and thought through but still that part was just beautiful. If you get what I mean."
Glad you liked the flute part. I think I'm almost as proud of that part as I am of the rest of the sections of the song put together :P.
Actually I did a very similarly structured tempo change in Legend too. I should vary my Orchestral song structures more...
"The piano sound is really nice. Sounds like you lowpassed the deeper notes or something, I imagine it would sound nice if you just hammered them deep notes at least during the solo parts, maybe not during the more busy melody parts though."
Yeah I did lowpass the deeper notes and I'm pretty much amazed at how you managed to notice such a subtlety...
"I agree with mr hamster cakes that it's pretty emotional at times."
Cool. You know, I think you and Mr. Hamster Cakes are the first two people to describe something I made (or rather, something I remixed) as beautiful/emotional. Mostly I just aim at making my songs sound cool rather than emotional which is why a lot of the time I get confused why some people always associate music with emotion if you get what I mean. But I guess I'm just weird like that, and like I said below, emotional works for me too I guess.
"I liked that melody for its emotionalness and you carried that over very well here, while also adding a contrasting, tranquil feel with the flute/harp thing, and then a nice kind of sophisticated atmosphere with the piano after that."
Yep, that's just me trying to vary the moods in the song. One of the reasons why I find a good number of electronic songs boring is because they never change mood/atmosphere.
"The piano and especially the bass notes during that part remind me of Erik Satie whose piano thing I like a lot for the record. If you want some tips on what to listen to for awesome melodies and inspiration."
Never heard of Erik Satie but a quick listen to his song "Gnossienne No. 1" makes me glad you told me about him.
"Still I have to admit I was a bit bummed that you didn't include the other half of that part, you know from 3:50? Because that's what I was looking forward to the whole time. So I'll remove a star for that."
Crap I was actually going to add that part right after the second repetition of the piano solo where the strings come in and use it to gradually increase the tempo and build up to the last section. I had actually written it all down in the piano roll in a pattern and I was about to use it but I didn't like the transition so I scrapped it.
Maybe I'll add it now that you mentioned it.
"Still, what you did is awesome! I love it and I'm honored."
Glad you like it. Thanks for the massive review, man.
-ganon95- Bit.trip Part3- VOID 
