KgZ

I lost my shit at "This Place Blows." Well played.

Timaeus baby you don't need to defend yourself, relax guy =)

@timaeus, KingTiger: Unfortunately, us musicians also have to miraculously be mind readers. So for everyone else watching at home and bring this full circle; I believe it's the producer's own fault if a person doesn't like a track or doesn't listen in full length. Hence why I usually give 30 seconds or so of buffer because this is my honest reaction as a listener, and not as a producer.

@timaeus, if I put a wobble in my track, I willingly chose that sound to accompany my vision. It's my responsibility because not only did I have full control over what sound I want, but I'm also aware of the consequences that people might perceive because of it. Edit: kingtiger I'm with you.

Music is music. If they're biased and don't like the genre, it's still my fault. I'm expressing a vision or story through sound, genre means nothing to me. So yes, it's still my fault.

Yeah. Completely. People are going to dislike certain music, even irrationally. Write music that's true to yourself, and hopefully can be targeted at an intended audience to enjoy.

Analogies aren't going to get any where because we could go all day with comparisons that prove our opinion. An intro has a huge impression. Some are long, some are short, some don't even exist. How it is executed to the listener varies greatly. But, in most cases intros exist to build or create tension to something greater. And it's the producer's job to stay focused and make sure the listener will stay interested until the best parts. Don't blame the audience for disliking the song. That doesn't mean the song is good or bad. However, It is always, always, always the producer or composer's fault. No matter what.

If I'm looking to impress people for judgement, that very first moment is the most important thing in world. I better damn make sure that the intro is awesome. I don't really see an excuse. If the intro of a song is boring and doesn't get interesting until a minute into the track, you should start at the minute in. I believe there's no point in having an intro if you don't make good use of it.

As a disclaimer, I hope nobody is taking my opinions to heart. To me this is healthy discussion and I'm thoroughly enjoying everyone's thoughts on this topic.

I will happily listen to a song completely if someone wants my feedback or thoughts. But this isn't how I choose votes. We're not directly helping people, we're casting our honest opinions of what we like the most.

Honestly, I do it out of respect if you can believe it. I want to treat every song I listen to with my sincere thoughts and reaction, as they would with mine. I can be easy for me to say, "so many good songs," and lump them all in a category of recognizing and appreciating that these artists put effort and time into it. But can I honestly say I enjoy them, to the point of wanting to listen again? It can be truly difficult being honest with yourself sometimes.

That's the beauty of competition. We all come from different backgrounds, with different skill sets and different methods for composition and production. If feel like a weaker player, I want to step my ass up so I can take the "better" guys down. It's not undermining, it's having the motivation and drive to win. My placement result would feel so much more rewarding. EDIT: 30 seconds is a damn long time. If this wasn't a contest and I'm listening to just music for fun, it's probably realistically around 10-15 seconds of buffer. A good track can hook you in immediately, or draw your attention long enough to see where it goes.

My voting is based off good music, not integration. The arrangement is implied, not analyzed.

So far it's been pretty clear to me what tracks are my top 3 (usually 4 tracks I like and then I pick an order). I'm pretty cut throat in my review process though. If the song doesn't interest me in the first 30 seconds or so, I'm moving on to the new track. As for team survey, nobody yet has gone into another's session or handed them files.

Generally I find that harmonic exciters are used to balance between different mixes of other tracks (aka mastering's original purpose). But, If you have Ozone Advanced, the greatest thing ever is harmonic exciter mid/side. If I'm feeling special I'll raise the side of mid freqs and mid highs if I want a fat, wide as hell mix.

You sly context changing dog.

A strong production makes that arrangement all the more better Thanks for listening

That's because you're a composer. Of course each of us participants care about arrangement because we know to look for it. But, the majority of people who are going to appreciate this contest and listen to our music are not composers/producers. They're not going to normally catch *insert obscure melodic motif* from 1:37 to 1:38. In their minds, they're going to listen to our music as, "Oh cool! A different interpretation of one of my favorite songs." On my own personal note, I believe that a naturally good song has all the factors of strong production, arrangement, and vision. They need to go hand and hand. That's pretty obvious. However, a strong production (final sound) is the end all be all. You need to have that. You can vote/enjoy any song you want- that's totally cool. I'm bringing this up to raise awareness that the overall attitude of this contest is about encouragement of creative ideas in every facet possible.

That seems a bit narrow minded don't you think? They're not mutually exclusive. A well polished production and arrangement will fall into place by sounding good naturally. I strongly recommend that you re-examine the end result or goal you're accomplishing in this contest. The people listening to this music who aren't musicians aren't going to care about "breakdowns". They aren't going to care about the details you put in the arrangement. If the production is terrible, it doesn't matter. Ultimately, they care that it sounds good. If the production is good, then they'll appreciate the arrangement if they already know the sources. As the leader of this contest, you should encourage participants in this contest to explore creative direction without pressure of what's appropriate and what isn't.

Disagree completely. It's shouldn't matter how the person uses the source material, so long as it sounds good. Who cares if it sounds like two separate remixes on a cohesive or arrangement standpoint? Different effects of how you arrange or produce provoke different emotions for the listener. As long as you have a focused vision of what you want to express, you're good to go. Ever been to a live DJ set? It's absolutely cool as hell when a DJ flips between one song and another back and forth.

Agree. When I listen to the songs, I'm not thinking about arrangement or how you combined the songs. Simply, I want to enjoy good music and quality production. As a producer/composer, you need to be able to write music with what tools are at your disposal. General Midi instruments don't fly in a serious production. If you don't have any good sounding midi acoustic instruments, don't use them- make an electronic song.

Hey so my PM sending is having an issue. I'm not getting an error, but when I send it goes straight to the email sent folder, except it shows that no email was ever sent. Any thoughts?

My turn this week. I'm not holding back.

1.) Chill Man: Megaman 10 2.) Solar Man: Megaman 10 3.) Fire Man: Megaman 1 4.) Cold Man: Megaman and Bass 5.) Tornado Man: Megaman 9

I really liked this as the song progressed. I admit I was a bit reluctant at first, the intro took a bit to pick up for me. I was liking the little details you put into the track, it made it that much more interesting.