5 has a killer groove. I feel like my melody kinda ruined it lol. The kinda track you would play right before a hardhitter.

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Howdy, just had a chance to listen to all these tunes and put down some of my thoughts. I haven't read other peoples comments yet since it would probably have influenced my own thinking to some degree, so apologies if anything has already been said. I'll read through the rest of the thread now.. Good work to everyone involved!

Track 1: Enjoyed it, felt the buildups and rythym. Nice spatial effects and production. Didn't quite feel the bass had enough presence, or perhaps sounded a bit lost down low in the mixdown, but it didn't detract much from an otherwise impressive tune. It follows a well known format obviously and wouldn't exactly score huge points for originality but regardless it's done very well so it works for me.

Track 2: Nice piano and strings, the bassline sat reasonably well in the mix and carried good rythym. The vocal chopping was interesting. I think the main buildup needed more percussive elements rather than just dropping the groove straight back in again.

Track 3: Had a decent groove to it, didn't dislike much about it. I felt like the tune didn't quite grab me on the whole, although it did in parts. A solid effort, I liked the resonant rythmic sounding effect behind the piano at ~2.58, that was clever.

Track 4: Some parts work but a few elements aren't quite synced up or in time enough to hold it all together. Definitely better to attempt something and learn from it than not to attempt it though

Track 5: Wasn't initially grabbed but I found myself getting into the groove a couple of minutes in and enjoying the slightly darker progressive mood. (After listening again it is when a little bit of the melody and a few other elements start creeping in approaching 2 mins that it starts working for me, would benefit from some hints of those elements a bit earlier perhaps). The breakdown lost me a bit, feels like the tune wanders around too much for my liking. The mechanics of the groove are well done though overall I liked this one.

Track 6: This tune captured my attention early, I like the bass groove and I like the energy of this style, although the mixdown felt a bit flat to my ears. The breakdown built and dropped nicely but I felt it needed a new element at that point to stand up, carry the energy forward and keep the listener interested. Good tune though.

After listening to them all again Track 1 is definitely my favourite, I really enjoyed listening to this tune. It kept my attention the whole way through, twice.. and above all I could feel the melody which is the most important aspect of music appreciation for me.

Very keen to find out who wrote what.. some people will have my attention in the forums from here on

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the only problem with 1 is that I have no idea what material he used and I will need some clarification as even someone like me trained in noticing motives does not see any of the prerequisite material being used. He did mention that it used one option so I I trust him and will wait his write up. Good track tho.

My fav track although I don't think he will win is 3. The way he fused both the piano and the trance version and just the overall detail was rather cool. Mix just needs a little work but I really liked that one. Definitely the best incorporation of the material. Its hard to compare as they are all different.

Overall I was a little disappointed that people actually used the midis verbatim. I suppose the chord progression was rather intricate but the piano was never really meant to be an actual part, just a rough sketch of a chord progression and melody. And i was also disappointed nobody picked option 3 which was rather catchy but I suppose it wasn't minor enough. I did kinda say i would explain them more which I didnt so I suppose it is a bit my fault but i've been rather busy.

But yes good work. Most are releasable with a few mix tweaks and what not ,so good luck. And you might win some duckets from the contest. The process might take a bit so hang on.

I will probably do another one in the spring but a little more organized. I mean of all the shit remix competitions with crap melodies, at least I provide stuff that is good and you can release it by yourself unlike those remix contests where they don't want to front an advance fee and they are looking for some sucker to provide the remix with a royalty cut of like 1/8.

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Last edited by Looney4Clooney on Nov-11-2010 at 02:59

quote:

Originally posted by Mad for Brad I will probably do another one in the spring but a little more organized. I mean of all the shit remix competitions with crap melodies, at least I provide stuff that is good and you can release it by yourself unlike those remix contests where they don't want to front an advance fee and they are looking for some sucker to provide the remix with a royalty cut of like 1/8.

This, i prefer it without cash, just doing something, cash wasn't an extra motivation at least for me as i knew from the beginning that i wouldn't win, in a few months maybe i am at a best level but don't think so.

if i had known that you let us keep the rights, i would have entered, not kidding. looking forward to the next one. thanks for being generous to people heh. there are a lot of people running labels and steal from artists.

1 has a really nice groove and has the possibility to be an excellent balearic type summer tune, but it's sort of too polished. i miss a bit of roughness

2 sounds a like a punchier re-vision of lange's remix of sakin's version of protect your mind/bravehart but with a twist. the chopped up vocals are a nice touch, not a fan of the twinkly lead

3 i think this is how ferry corsten would sound if he wanted to take a stab at the lvee/mike type bonzai progressive trance sound. i tries so hard, i want to like this but this falls a bit short.

4 ugh, this is just a mess. the dynamics are just fucked all over, the bassline sounds like it wants to go faster than the master tempo and the lead is way to loud and doesn't really fit the track. it sounds all mental coming out of the break in a really bad way. and after that it's unlistenable. oh and it's waay to long for it's own good.

5. nice groove and good amount of effects and sounds in the background. it builds really well, and the use of really long pads is great. the only bad thing i think it that there was no real need for that open hi-hat groove in the build, you should have just kicked it in after the break. i really like this, handles the melodic aspect incredibly and those long strings are a delight. i just think they end a little too abrupt.

6. i like this aswell, as far as epic trance goes, i always had a soft spot for this kind of tracks. there is also a good amount of melodic programming in this aswell. however, break is too long, which would have passed 10 years ago but nowadays, i'd probably get in and take it out


edit. i know i realized why i mention ferry corsten in two of the tracks. there is a chord passage that sounds like a small bit from ligaya

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I'd hate to be a snob, and don't want to be picking on rodri, but why does track 4 have 3 votes even though we clearly know it needs some work?

I wouldn't worry about it and I don't want people to start whining and trashing each other. Like I said, the results aren't going to decide who wins.

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old stuff from days gone by (2001-2004)
Mad For Brad's gay little contest

Just got listening to these... track 2 is the pick of the bunch even tho that piano-y thing annoys me - decent production and feel
track 5 would have been my fav but for the part from about 2 mins to 6 mins, kinda ruined it for me, sorry

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so you just made a contest for the heck of it ? Are you that desperate for friends . Queer.

^^^ lol.

quote:

Originally posted by Mad for Brad 5 has a killer groove. I feel like my melody kinda ruined it lol. The kinda track you would play right before a hardhitter.

Nah I think he took your melody and expanded on it beautifully

I'd love to have heard the process behind writing those extra harmonies so I could get some tips myself.

quote:

Originally posted by Mad for Brad Overall I was a little disappointed that people actually used the midis verbatim. I suppose the chord progression was rather intricate but the piano was never really meant to be an actual part, just a rough sketch of a chord progression and melody. And i was also disappointed nobody picked option 3 which was rather catchy but I suppose it wasn't minor enough. I did kinda say i would explain them more which I didnt so I suppose it is a bit my fault but i've been rather busy. I will probably do another one in the spring but a little more organized. I mean of all the shit remix competitions with crap melodies, at least I provide stuff that is good and you can release it by yourself unlike those remix contests where they don't want to front an advance fee and they are looking for some sucker to provide the remix with a royalty cut of like 1/8.

Would you mind explaining them a bit anyway? I'm curious as to your thoughts...

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I was not expecting such verbatim quotation. I mean the melody given was just a sketch and I was hoping people would do something cool with it. I mean i'm not bothered or anything. It is a catchy diddy which If i still did EDM would use but this is almost as good.