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zykO

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Everything posted by zykO

  1. this definetly isn't an orchestral mix - strings and brass an orchestral piece does not make. nothing here changes. the track is precisely as it was in the end as it was in the beginning with all those hits and the total lack of dynamic take vig's advice and get rid of that african drumloop... NO
  2. yeah, the intro nearly killed it for me. it gets a lot more interesting when the flute comes in as it serves a very emotive purpose along with the creeping strings but the intro drags on for too long and the piece doesn't get interesting till much later. orchestration and arrangement from that point on is lacking... things either come and go or they don't go anywhere. you have to bring other instruments and tempo changes in at much more coherent points in a piece - this is just not effective. definetly impressive for a first remix. i don't think my first remix was nearly as sensible as this. it shows at least that you have a sense of musicality. keep it up and you'll be kickin ass. NO
  3. i want to quickly echo dan - there is nothing particularly sparse about this... it would be sparse instrumentation if there was something like one instrument over percussion. not if there's a distinct ensemble of instruments being introduced and playing throughout the piece. the arrangement, orchestration and instrumentation is fantastic. you change things up as you need to and this ends up being extremely dynamic - there are plenty of latin overtones to this and you can feel its drive forward despite the rhythm being awfully cliche. still effective, still engaging. RETURN OF ZORRO YES
  4. this is chaotic and while very interesting, it sounds like a fish out of water... awkward. the source material had a distinct groove to it and it was a fabulous one... i'm all for reinterpretation, believe me and the 5/4 is good in a disconcerting way... but you took that beat and cut it up and while that's great, you could have at least done it in a mildly coherent way. the percussion is nerve-racking... i feel like there is somebody jumping around and hitting shit inside my head. there's a difference between flamboyant percussion and excess syncopation - be a bit more discriminant next time. the breakdown and the ending are probably the track's only saving graces. sorry but this is just too jarring NO
  5. excellent work. you knew the zyko'd love this i love how you bring it in gradually and progressively - that's the way to do it. when it gets into its main groove, its already earned my attention. very effective instrumentation. relaxing, englightening listen as for the issue with the source. what we do here is artistic interpretation and the length of the source is irrelevant, in my mind. this is an instant winner YES
  6. hmm the reason it sounds "punchy" is because he drenched the whole thing in reverb and not so much the lack of compression - for one, this isn't a performed guitar so the compression would be useless in this case so the punchiness is clearly intended. the wah is very reminiscent of my auto-wah; bam. i dig the vibe a lot the arrangement is fantastic - the transitions are all very well-thought out. this is like ninja gaiden meets gerudo valley so while its extremely cliche in that respect, it still does it seamlessly and with enough panache to serve several arrangements over. the guitar parts are very well written and are loads of fun to listen to even if they aren't real YES
  7. honestly, while her voice is beautiful, this track should have remained an instrumental with her voice more fittingly used as ambience rather than lyrically. the sections when she is singing nonlyrically are fantastic and really does bring out the melody of the track... giving it a lot more body on top of that... you have to either bring her voice out more if the error is on the production end or she needs to sing the words more clearly because they seem flat in the mix - this is something i had encountered working with my dear helen (destiny) ... at times, being so adept at singing atmospherically can be a drawback. just simply not sharp enough. beautiful but not sharp enough - the choruses are lost to me, entirely that said, the arrangement is good. i'm honestly in awe at how soothing this is. i love the drums despite them not being particularly impressive but they work so well with the pads and the delayed lead you got going. excellent work on the music, friend. her voice is fantastic... i recently heard some of her work at the chrono compendium and was impressed but this just isn't her most shining moment by any stretch. i do feel that my qualms with the vocals are entirely individual and more or less inconsistent with how i'd personally have produced them. given that, this is quite fantastic and awesome work. definite YES
  8. the structure is lame but expected and shouldn't be used to discredit the track. the production is fantastic and this is quite a groovy little pop song. the bass drop going into the second section is KUDOS this is different from the other mix and again, i can't find any particular reason to say that it doesn't get a yes from me. if this track had vocals on it, that last section would be considerably more accessible even if the vocals did not vary from the first section... but i'm sure you'd see that it isn't senseless for the track to have resolved the way it did. its good. YES
  9. brilliant arrangement. one of those times when i don't especially like the source material but am sort of won over through intelligent arranging and presentation. christian's right... bass line is pretty fucking sexy, indeed. i don't like the production on it because it doesn't have any bite at all for most of the beginning and is drowned out but focusing on it brings my attention to its intricacies. then as you get later on into the piece, the bass takes on more of a role and appears to become the lead but its just not prominent enough.. the leads are fantastic... kunal, my friend, you are magnificently talented and i love to listen to your work. you vary it up a lot... you have at least 4 or 5 different lead instruments throughout the thing and they give a distinct world feel to them - the accordian, cello and that crystally synth lead are SECKS goin interchanging with the introductinos of such distinctly different melodies. smart stuff. having mentioned that, i have some qualms with the general tone of the piece, though. i am personally a huge fan of world jazz and particualrly al dimeola (whom i hear a lot in this piece) but this is mellow almost to a fault. not quite and its soothing deliberation is appreciated but it sort of dilly dally's in terms of dynamic and doesn't grab me at all. granted, that is the calling card of this sort of work so it doesn't bury it but just pointing out what i would have liked to have heard. again, the instrumentation and arrangement are brilliant. the static works for me... but then again, duh; would you expect me of all people not to have enjoyed that transition? the ending is very pink floyd but you probably knew that going in the original section turns me on. and you get a big happy YES
  10. this is particularly stylish - very ansari-esque work, indeed. the arrangement is fantastic - keeps things fresh as its constantly changing the melody up. the beatz are fresh and the tempo change was bingo interesting thing. the strings save the lead and its funny considering how weak the strings are but its one of those cases where the combination sounds great whereas on their own, they appear to lack quality. i really don't like that glassy lead honestly because it sounds very frail and would have left the mix sounding kinda empty but the strings somehow give the piece a boost by presenting a very nice atmosphere for the lead to sit in. that said, this track is definetly an atmospheric and laid back track that reminds me plenty of mcvaffe's work as well as wingy. consider this dug. good shit. YES
  11. incoherent at best. not sure where you're going half the time and while i am of the nature to assume intent, i can't put my finger on it and that's kinda scary, all things considered... very wonky sounding. not sure if its the verb or as jesse points out, the unquantized bass which makes it sound awful and unconvincing. NO
  12. hahahahahahaha i wanted to just leave HAHAHAHAHAHHA and YES but i guess i should justify it somewhat. hmm vocals. rock on, man. hahaha. the lyrics are so cool and i love that one line in particular: Totally oblivious to what will be you rock. YES
  13. this goes nowhere. it has very little attention to detail as far as i can see and the interpretation is hardly even that if the issue was only its arrangement or only the minimal attention to EQ, i'd have more to say but as it is... its too much on the potential side and very little on the manifestation side. NO
  14. confusing. there are moments i am in love and others i'm cringing and recoiling in terror. want to echo the comment about the texture. its quite magnificent... atmospheric and as danny said, lush. so in that regard, you've instrumented it well but there are some serious issues. those strings are too imposing... the attack is just killing me. this is also very very loud. like i said earlier, i like the instrumentation and how the guitar parts are complimentary and subtle but the strings and some unresolving harmonies make this a very uncomfortable listen NO
  15. the groove bias is unavoidable... this grooves out really mellow; plenty of good shit goin on with it once it picks up. reminds me of early moby work, very sleak and groovy. drums are DUG (good use of distortion.. not overkill), the piano is key, the bass is subtle and bumps if you want it to and not against your will. the interpretation is essentially as good as the source and while that was sparse, clocking in at 3:24 also ensures that it does not get old. i'm all about that white noise addition, it gives it a decidedly spacey, i've-just-intercepted-a-radio-wave-and-ate-it feel. transporting, calming and SCORE YES
  16. ugh. the drums are awful. the guitar playing is very weak considering the other stuff on your site. either way, the fact that this arrangement doesn't go anywhere doesn't help your cause you still have good fingers and i can tell but your arrangement lacks across the board. the way you chain the sections doesn't bother me as much as the total lack of coherence between each section. and then there's the drums. i don't even know where to begin with them. i lost interest about half way through this mix and couldn't convince myself to listen on. that is a bad sign. i skipped ahead to some nifty lead playing but the drums, lack of meat and overall emptyness in this mix was still killing it sorry but NO.
  17. BAM right off the bat, the strings are killing me. already, every review is jumping all over those strings... i understand if there's little you can do about it. same boat, son, same boat. the drums come in and the track picks up a pulse and a direction, the distortion creeps in and BAM metallica. the woodwind lead melody is beautiful but a) the sample (like most of your other ones) is dry and Iris' theme has always bothered me because of how close to Terminator it sounds and i just cannot get 20 some odd years of arnold worship out of my head for the purposes of an OCR review =) however, the arrangement is just too repetitive. its that T2 theme and variation on it but no real transfiguration or movement by the track. that isn't to say that it doesn't vary because you do change the section up every little bit but conceptually, the track is same from beginning to finish and while that isn't particularly a bad thing, it does become extremely noticeable after a while. i think larry said it best. you are ambitious for attempting arrangements that do not hold the guitar as their focus but you still got a ways to go in terms of getting that same effective dynamic control as you can with your guitar (hence why i've not even bothered with it hehe). having said that, the guitar saves most of it because now i'm forced to focus on it and the excellent playing... i personally thought it was very enjoyable but what i like and what is suited for the site are not always the same thing. vary it up a bit like harmony suggested... maybe a key change. i wish i could just sit here and tell you "PLAY MORE WITH YOUR SAMPLES~! BETTER SAMPLES!" but i'd be babbling out my ass. but i'm sure you know what you need to do RESUB (NO)
  18. i'm glad about two things: the trouble i went through to be able to play SIDs and how well DHS busts eurobeat. i thoroughly enjoyed this track. while it takes a while to get into new source material, it varies enough before that to keep my interest. the beat may be inspired by enigma but mentioning it probably wasn't necessary as the loop is a rather standard one. the instrumentation is spot on. i personally think there is a perfect amount of reverb on this track. doesn't soak it but its wet enough to slip through your fingers still in that ethereal sense you like some music to from time to time. very beautiful sound. gorgeous interpretation. this is an instant favorite. next time i need to relax, i'm putting this one on. reverberating YES
  19. i had to overlook the source material as its quite awful and it takes so much away from this remix as a result. the music itself is very displeasing to me. the interpretation is quite nice, though. its just unfortunate that the source material makes no sense to me. if the guitar was a bit more subdued, this beat would be prime for a rap on top of it for a more proper "rolan deep" as it stands right now, its just the awkward combination of an odd source material, Fruity loops guitar and a lot of good ideas. i dig the trumpet stabs. they don't bug me as they are a standard in a lot of beats but to put hits in and keep it chill; impressive. as for the birdcussion.. relax, fellas - it isn't everyday we hear rhythmic bird chirps... so the connection is not irrelevant as gray said though inappropriate. however, when all is said and done and i remove my bias against the source material, this is an excellently chill track and loads of good vibes. YES
  20. hmm. i'm going to work very hard not to let my personal relationship with this theme interfere here... but i have to start off by saying that the first introduction of the windfish theme in the intro seems a little forced compositionally... as though the piece was not quite willing to accept the melody but was forced to. another thing that irks me is that the section from 1:20 (starting with the hit) lasting through the gentle breakdown at 1:40 is reminiscent of what i could have sworn was a previously arranged version of the windfish theme. but its probably just my imagination the rest of the arrangement is fantastic. of course the production quality is top notch and i've come to expect this of nixdorux. the move into a jazz interpretation was key. reminds me a lot of al dimeola's work on World Sinfonia. very nice i approve all in all, a good piece and while it goes a lot into french impressionist tones through stretches of it (sounds a bit schiz like michael said), i still think it goes to show a solid understanding of musicality. YES
  21. hahahaha this is as liberal as the donkey's ass. i don't hear enough here to give any substantial credit of arrangement... the clips rock. have shit to do with anything but whatever, this whole submission is retarded sorry buddy, fine little bit here but nothing for our site NO
  22. i thought i was in for a long evening when it started (i didn't really like the intro... not sure why but it sounded tacky) but once the groove kicked in, the whole track seemed to gain charisma. now looking back on the intro, i think it was quite fitting - had a very retro feel to it. what's good: the arrangement is entertaining... it doesn't vary conceptually at all but it changes up on the listener enough times to keep attention. i agree with zircon about the production. too much reverb on the synths... you stuffed as much as you could under the 6mb limit and it shows in the general lack of punchyness the breakdown around the 4 minute mark and on is very key. could have possibly saved the track for me and kept my attention from dwelling on the production. i don't see enough here to NO it. its a solid track and a very nice listen. dug. YES
  23. here we go again. the intro and outtro reminds me a lot of philip glass and that's a good thing; this section easily makes up my favorite part of the piece... unfortunately, i lose interest during the rest of the main melody. something about the strings just doesn't sit well with me. the hit at around 1:40 ought to hit a lot more credibly than that. i think what is going on here is a case of poor energy. the concept of the arrangement is fine (though i personally don't think the pace of the first half is fitting for the theme being arranged) but its like saying you have a fully functioning body yet no heart. the second half is a very good idea but needs more of a pulse in it since its so upbeat... right now its lacking drive and motion (its as static as the first part and should be distinctly more intense). then it drops back out at 4:50 and the end is again as good as the beginning. honestly, i would have focused on this to base my arrangement around. you do have a lot of good things going on in those sections. but the strings and woodwinds kill whatever was going on. i know i review in a very disorienting, jarring fashion but i also think in this way. i apologize if my analysis jumps around and doesn't serve a more practical purpose but you would do good to take my advice on its lack of dynamic and energy as it would turn this otherwise bland arrangement into a monster. i'd hate to suggest that you have to work on this AGAIN but its either that or NO
  24. hahah too whacky for most? try the zyko i dig. the organ work is phenomenally distracting (which, from where i'm sitting, is a good thing) but the groove beneath it is stellar with fantastic percussion. when i'm listening to this, i feel uneasy and happy to be so and that is odd. very dissonant, very smart and very fun. the accompaniment to the lead is fantastic and REALLY is trackery. i acknowledge the concern about its length and amount of arrangement... but in its defense, being a 3 minute track does not mean its short (perhaps too short because we want more mazedude) and the arrangement achieves what its set out to the ending. umm. no, i don't think it works. fades are awesome when used for the right reasons and this just isn't how i'd end it. but this is his track and is ended precisely as it ought to be. right. its good. YES
  25. yes, i'd say so. nothing is done here - ideas an OCR does not make. incidentally...
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