Eino Keskitalo

Good stuff, I enjoyed it. As always, I'm impressed by your use of tempo changes. I also dig the time signature changes. I agree with Spakku that the intro should be quieter. The next part with the industrial percussion loop (probably not technically a loop) is begging for some higher-quality samples thrown in, it's pretty lofi, which is fine in itself, but could use additional something with more presence. I feel the sound quality could be improved throughout the track, but that point especially caught my ear. --Eino

Sounds pretty good, I like the track - can't check out the source but sounds like it's pretty nice. Arrangement is a bit 'boxy', it changes every four bars exactly - well not exactly, but what I mean is it seems like it's made out of four bar boxes. It could use some more sort of "lead-ins" to introduce instruments. This is apparent in the beginning, later on you have some nice fills which are much like what I mean. So I guess you're going to work on those anyway. Some "boxyness" can of course be a good thing and make an effective arrangement. Just reporting my observation. Another thing I noticed the synth that comes in at 00:47 doesn't sound so good when the lowest note is played, it sounds like the low pass filter is a bit too tight or that specific note is suddenly lofi-ed. Looking forward to updates, I like this! --Eino

I think it's possible, it just involves a lot of work, trying out a lot of stuff without too much discrimination first and then looking at it later (possible a lot later) so you can see what really works out and what doesn't. Or so I think. I've just listened some tracks of mine that I did about ten years ago, it's pretty fun, you really can tell now what worked and what was lacking. I don't think you necessarily have to wait quite that long to tell. Yeah, I considered the new synth to be a bass, but I notice it's not really in the bass territory. I guess. Anyway, that was what I was referring to. Yeah, the kick is too loud, it even distorts. The new fast bass drum bits sound a bit overpowering now, that might be just because it's loud. Nice fill at 1:52! The hihat problem doesn't bother me as much now, although the open hi-hat sound kind of lack "click". Maybe you can mix in a quiet closed hi-hat hit. That might work. Bass is often a pretty simple part, it's main purpose is to tie the rhythm together with the harmony and melody. It can be sparse (and often should, rather than busy), so you could start by having the bass play the same as the main synth octave lower, but not all the notes, just pick the ones that feel like carry the tune / are enough. I think. --Eino

Fun and uplifting! The uplifting and the less happy sections are very nicely woven together. I'm not in love with those bell-like sounds, but I don't seem to get an allergic reaction to cheese either. That part that starts just before the halfway point is really cool. --Eino

Started working yesterday, by figuring out how to play the arpeggios on guitar. I think I got halfway through, hope there's a lot of repeats in the last half. I have most of tomorrow for the rest of the work, I'll try to produce something. --Eino

Very nice sound, intresting combination of tunes. Might indeed be problematic for this site, but nice work nonetheless. The high lead that comes in at 00:17 is still piercing, I had to turn it down on another set of headphones because it hurt, and on these it's still uncomfortable. Melody and background chords don't fit together at 00:25 and 00:28. --Eino

I think the story is not silly at all, actually. It definitely fits Sonic. Having a story in mind is probably a good device to make intresting structures for a piece of music. I don't think I've ever tried that. Into the mMiddle part. At least the first note of the wailing background synth clashes with the melody. From 00:36, the bass and synth still seem to be playing in different keys, although now the synth sounds more fitting to the idea of the part. Try to change the notes in the bassline to match the synth, something like a half an octave lower. Often when I've had similar trouble with the bassline or two lines not going well together, I've found I've had to transpose it quite a lot to find the right range. 01:04 it gets more cacophonic. Good things I find that the sound of the background synth fits very well. The synth and the bass start playing together instead of separately, it's an effective change in intensity. Again, I'd try to match the synth and the bass by transposing the bass. Rhythmically speaking, I really like how the section ends from 01:18 onwards. It conveys the sense of urgency and time running out nicely, and then there's a sense of relief as we get out of the water. The final part is now much better mixed than previously. The lead sounds pretty nice. The section is begging for a bassline. Also what I said about the hihat before still stands. I realize there's some sort of a open hihat sound there but it's so quiet and different from the closed hihat sound it doesn't keep it from sounding kind of stuttering. --Eino

Oookay, progress, good. Structurally, I think your idea with the intro, then a more serious part, then to the original source is very good. The serious part sounds suspenseful. Waiting for bad stuff to happen. The main problem with the middle part is that it is now pretty dissonant. First thing I noticed was that the new stuff added is probably in a different key than the synth in the previous version, which you've left unchanged, I think. They should match somehow, while avoiding losing the connection between the parts. Some dissonance can be good (well I personally often like dissonant stuff), and helps to create an intense atmosphere. This part just needs more work. I don't really get the beginning of the middle part with the added melody, those loud "di-dings" and the background wail - it doesn't mesh tonally. (Soundwise the instruments do sound ok together.) Another gripe is that in the final part the main synth is way too loud compared to the backing. What I liked are the added sound effects, the 8-bit splash at the end of the intro is quite perfect. --Eino

I definitely like the source, already got an idea for an arrangement. Yeah, images are from a wrong game. This is a bit older game than Morrowind. No biggie of course. --Eino

What a fun source. The approach you have is very uplifting, so this really has potential. The backing guitar at the start needs more crunch to it. In the next part it's in the same frequency range with the lead, messing it up. You should definitely tweak the sounds to make the guitars and the sequenced backings to fit together better. You definitely can play, but this needs more work. The later section does sound clearer, where you don't have the distorted rhythm guitar playing in the background. But the lead(s) are still way noisy and full of high frequencies, and sound separate from the rest of the track. When there are two guitars playing, it's difficult to tell them from each other, and they sound entangled. --Eino

I like this piece a lot. It's got a great mood to it. It's also not just a single unchanging mood from start to finish, I like the chord change around 2:00, and the modulation towards the end is very effective. I think Roz is correct in thinking that the drums make it feel more repetitive than it is. Perhaps experiment with different approaches - you can enhance the different sections of the tune greatly by varying your beat and percussion in them. The rhythm track is definitely where you should focus, the piece stands to gain the most from that area. I kinda like how minimalistic the percussion is right now. You could try to do a similarly subtle percussion track, but with a lot more variance. Also you could experiment by doing really huge, booming and loud beats for it. The right rhythm track might be somewhere in between or a combination of different stuff. There certainly are a lot of possibilities. Another (minor) thing that came to mind was that you could perhaps try to start with the ambience, let it play a bit before the first melody comes in. Probably just a few seconds, not like 30 seconds or anything. Might be worth trying if it fits. --Eino

Great round everyone! I had wonderful time. Again thanks to Rexy for running the competition and kudos to Bundeslang for picking up the task. After just two participations I can echo the sentiment from Nutritious, this competition is a great place to grow. And also have some fun. I got a lot of great feedback and constructive criticism from you guys in your votes. I got quite a confidence boost actually. Also a few pointers where I could improve. Thank you! --Eino

I think there's a definite improvement on the sound quality. If I'm hearing correctly, the guitars sound less muddy. I didn't have a problem with them before, and now they sound very good to me. Drums feel better as well, especially kick and snare. Some other drum sounds don't sound great. The china/ride-bell (?) on the left is especially lo-fi - I actually like that sound itself, but it doesn't fit very well to the rest of the track. I feel the hi-hat is too loud and hogs up too much attention, but on the other hand it might be right for the genre. I think I've been similarly irked by the hi-hat in some commercial heavy rock/metal songs before. Can someone else confirm if it's too loud? I do like the way you use pedal hi-hat in the "weird noise" part. Lastly, when the crash cymbal hits happen in close proximity to each other, it's very obvious it's the same sample playing again. Another similar sounding crash sample might work. The guitar on the outro sounds fairly quiet. I didn't mention before that I like the intro quite a bit. The whole structure and pacing of the piece is very good. What a fine arrangement. I really enjoyed listening again. hope this was of help, --Eino

My vote is in. Man, that took some time. --Eino

I'm glad to see some Star Control action. I'm not sure if this offers a lot of variety from the original - sound quality and the dry 90's tracker feel certainly make me feel like this doesn't deviate enough. It certainly captures the Umgah spirit, though! Nice Mycon cameo too. I like the dirty/flanging synth sounds you have in the 6/4 section. The low-quality drum samples might work better alongside some better quality samples, using the bad drums as spice. I in general like the idea and use of sound effects (you do some pretty nice stuff manipulating them), but it doesn't carry the whole piece yet. I'd love to hear you work on this more, as there definitely is potential! --Eino

Glad to see you've taken this up again. It's fun and lighthearted, and the drums part sounds quite playful, it's a good idea. I'm not completely convinced by it yet, it doesn't sound ready. The part sounds quite free form, I feel like it lose how to follow it at some point.. You should probably give a bit more "anchor points" if you know what I mean? I'm having a real hard time figuring out what it is that doesn't work for me in there, I usually like at least a certain degree of free form stuff like that. The drums have a machine-like feel, you should try to experiment with different velocities in drums hits in a part. It's pretty promising though, I like the interplay feel that is between the synth and the drums. The idea really fits the source well. By the time you get to the source part, the synth sound is getting to my ears. See if you can make it less bright for that part, for variety - it's stealing the focus from the lead. The beat is lacking a hihat hit after the snare, which creates a "stop-go" feel, like there were little pauses in the momentum of the piece. The effect is quite neat when you add the crash later on (the expectation it creates is fulfilled), but I'm not sure if it serves a purpose earlier. It's a very interesting effect in any case. --Eino

Good arranging, lots and lots of energy. I really enjoy listening to this! I checked out the demo of MM9 yesterday. Good stuff. So this was great to hear now. You really do that fast section in Concrete Man justice. Hair-rising stuff. Improving the drum sound would do a lot for this piece. I agree also that the guitar isn't as pristine sounding as it could be, but I'm not as much bothered by that. Getting better drum instruments would be money well spent. Good stuff, looking forwards to hearing more! --Eino

I'm in - great song from a great soundtrack to a great game. It's rather special for me so I'll not miss this opportunity. And for the occassion too. --Eino

I missed the voting deadline, but I'll say I enjoyed both pieces very much! Both were refreshing takes, plenty of cohesive reinterpretation went on, and I thought both were pretty succesful. If the entry quantity was low in the competition, quality sure wasn't! --Eino

Sounding very good, especially the sections that are not as aggressive, very beautiful! I like the louder stuff too, nice xylophone doubling there. Piano, too. Those parts have trouble with the strings sounding rather mechanical, non-natural. I feel a similar problem with the snare and xylophone there. It's not ruining it, but if you could work on that getting it sound more natural and dynamic, it would be great. The concluding part doesn't have that problem as much. As an arrangement I don't think it's too aggressive, I think it's a sound/sample-use problem. Trying to slow it down just a bit *might* be better with the samples you have, but I'm not an expert there.. I liked this a lot, keep working on it! --Eino

I agree with Roz on all points. Sounds fantastic! Also, true about those lazerz. Nice touch! I feel there is room for more prominent melody/lead type thing(s) in the arrangement. Very promising stuff! --Eino

A fine mix! The clean guitar being out of tune takes it down a notch, took a bit of getting used to. It would probably sound really good if it was in tune. The guitar-riff sounds that come after the first lead, actually emerging from behind it, sound really good. That's a cool moment specifically. I like the outro too. --Eino

Wow, a second place! I'm honoured. Thanks to all the voters, it was very nice to read all of your comments. Congratulations to Hylian Lemon, you made a fine piece of music that deserved the win! I'm curious what music you will pick for us. This was a nice experience for me, so I'm definitely planning to participate again. Also thanks to setokaibarocket - yours was a fun entry! By the way, you would have overtaken me if you had voted - I have to assume you'd have chosen Dream Drifting for the first place. Finally a lot of thanks to Rexy for organizing.. hmm, why did this turn into an awards speech? cheers! --Eino

Cool project. Got a nice chiplead sound going on. I like Ripples of Time the most so far, I'll say more about that a bit later. Last-minute Essence of Lime comments: Enjoyable track overall, my second favourite from these four. Keyboard strings sound a little - just a little - exposed right in the beginning (the very first chord). They sound fine later on. The brass sounds very nice in the intro, which amends the situation. I was thinking you could fade the first chord in from maybe 66% to 100%.. that might divert the attention to the brass. Or it might not work at all. In any case, it's not a big tweak! There's a lot going on, so a little extra breathing space before the final part (begins at 02:52) would in my opinion do the whole good. I was thinking maybe a bar's worth of drums only, that sort of thing. Other than those two quite minor things, the track is sold and enjoyable. Good work so far! --Eino

Mix submitted. I haven't been very active in making music with a computer for some years. Compos such as this is a great opportunity to "force" myself back into it, learning to use tools such as Cubase and different plugins. Deadlines are great to have. --Eino