[Blindzoom]

Originally Posted by Gario

MOD REVIEW

Tinker with that synth, clean up the soundscape in the early part of the track and submit this bad boy - I think you'll do just fine on the panel this time around.

Loved it, nice work!

Thanks Gario, i'll try my best!

Originally Posted by ambient

Ok, I know the main issue with this track - it's the mastering and EQ. Man, this track sounds like a recording of a live performance by a 90's German techno band at a stadium played on a tired cassette tape. I love it, and it's fun to listen to, and it reminds me of my misspent youth, but mastering has a long way to go before this is on par with OCR standards. I like the stereo effects, but you drown everything in reverb. So dial back on reverb a little bit, I think you have too much of it on every instrument, or are you applying it to the entire track?

At 0:47 you have a nice pump going when the kick comes in. However, I would recommend sidechaining the hoover synth that comes in at 1:06, it doesn't have to be much more, just a little bit more, so that the mix continues to pump.

The clap/snare at 1:45 is poor. You need something way better there. It is weak and cheesy. And from this point on you have some good ideas, but it all just is so mushed together and drowned in reverb.

I am actually surprised by this, but your piano section sounds better and clearer than the rest of the mix. That is not to say that the piano sounds good - it sounds way mechanical, but fits the genre and would be passable if the rest of the mastering is up to par.

My recommendation - turn down all the reverb knobs, take off all the EQing you might have done, turn down all the volumes. Then start bringing the volumes up, little by little, but don't overdo it. Then, start adding reverb, also very gently. If that is starting to sound right, then tweak your EQ, which shouldn't really require that much work. "Smiley face" EQ over the entire mix should suffice to start with. And replace that snare/clap.

Finally, the arrangement. It is more or less straight forward, and I think the long intro and the final section that are devoid of the main melody will work against you when you submit. I would recommend adding the main theme (possibly via the piano) from 3:38 to 4:03.

Best of luck and I can't wait for an update!

Btw, it looks like you are using Reason. If you want, PM me and maybe I can give you a more hands-on advice.

Well, thanks a lot for your advice, i'll try to follow what you say and clean up all reverbs (yes, i've used a lot of them, but not over the entire track, but in lot of instruments)and see what happens.
However, i'll surely pm you for some more support.
Now, back to work!