JHolmes

The introduction build is very well balanced.

I don't know if it's my speakers (I'm on travel at the moment, so my setup isn't optimal), but the bass sounds a bit quieter than I would expect it. If it's not just me, you might want to fill the bassline out a little bit more.

It has a sort of Apoptygma Berzerk sound at first that I really enjoyed. It moves off in a totally different direction after a few minutes with that bell thing, which I wasn't a huge fan of. It seems very... choppy?

Anyway... great sound, particularly at the beginning. A little more on the bass and a something to add some body in the middle and this track would be perfect to me. Thanks for uploading.

That intro just grabbed me and pulled me right in. Absolutely perfect. The first piano part is gorgeous. Great job.

I have nothing to add but "thanks for posting."

I really enjoyed listening to this track; thanks for posting it. I enjoy the bright sound you coax out of your guitars. I have a friend with a Koa wood guitar that produces a similar sound, and I love nothing more than sitting back, listening to him jam, and occasionally trying to fit something in on the keys or bass. What sort of guitars are you recording with?

I hadn't noticed your name on the featured list since the last time I saw Ska Skank come up. I like this one more; something in the vocals in the second half of this song resonates better with me, I guess.

I listened a bunch of times, since you asked for tweaks, and I finally found a small, possibly constructive something to bring to the table. I think the horns that come in at ~1:10 could be brought forward a little bit more. It might just be the way my speakers are positioned/balanced, but I sort of lose the lower part of the sax(?) on that part.

I enjoyed listening to this track. Thanks for posting it.

I feel like it's missing measures here or there in the intro before the arpeggio comes in, as well as something when the other instruments enter in again. I think it's as simple as just repeating the first two measures again before that first instrument comes in, and then making the 4/8/16 measure marks in each 16 bar group make sense with the instruments.

Btw, what program did you write the song in?

EDIT: Wow, my comment looks really disjointed when I read it through again. What I meant was... the first four bass hit things should happen eight times instead of four? You develop a new instrument coming in at measure 12, when typically it would come in at 16.

I'm blown away. I love the funky guitar, the piano, the everything. Brilliant.

The ocean sounds at the beginning are a great touch, and that flute is gorgeous. I liked it more and more with every time you brought it in. I loved the runs you were doing with it by the end; they fit very well.

I'm not huge on the horn you used, particularly the first time you brought it in. It might work better if you record it playing a bit louder and mix it down instead of trying to play it quietly? It came off a bit separated and a bit too... I don't know, staccato? It doesn't quite have as much expression as the flute, and I feel like it might just a really simple fix to bring it out more.

The end effects caught me off guard, but I liked them. Great track.

That was a clever take on the contest; I thoroughly enjoyed listening to it. My compliments to the lady.

I really enjoyed the beats you chose. The eclectic mix of sets combined with the really clean bass thumps and the light scratching keeps the song interesting. It ends too soon! I wanted to keep listening... I'd love it if you finished the track out.

If you're looking to get reviews, I think the best method is to just review other people's work. I'm sure I'm not the only member who tracks back and listens to the songs reviewers have posted. The more insightful/thought out your reviews, the greater chance you'll have of getting some lovin' back from people.

EDIT: I was sort of responding to the thing you said to bear about needing to promote your music. Didn't mean to sound preachy or anything like that. My bad.

I'm impressed; I can usually only make sytrus do synth strings and trance beeps, and they usually feel very transparent. I really like your voice selection.

I like the slower tempo, but salkizar's probably right saying speed it up if you want to mix it with anything.

Are you going to add a vocal track to it and/or a high pitched lead? If you're looking to mess around with this, I can imagine some really driving square-ish leads to turn this into an anthem, if you want to take it that way.

Outro has a real sudden skip at like 5 minutes in that was jarring. Other than that kinda click thing, I have no complaints. Great track.

Nothing but crazy amounts of respect for you man. Alright, maybe a teensy bit of jealousy too. I can't imagine being able to play the saxophone so well (the key change... how did you manage to keep such a high note so steady? Absolutely incredible), let alone improv something so magnificent.

Thank you for posting.

It sounds fine to me, but my right speaker *is* farther from my head than my left...

In all seriousness though, you can equalize the left and right channels by panning your main output if you want to be lazy, or by rendering a right only, left only, and stereo and then combining them in your favorite program. There's a good thread somewhere in the forums about how to master.

Fun song. I'll have to come back when it's not 5 am so I can blast it without fear of waking everyone up. Thanks for posting.

I really enjoyed listening to this song. It's very full for a song that seems so empty. I'm going to give it a few more listens and see what I can learn from it.

Also, that little intro sample sound is great.

Beautiful. I really enjoyed listening to it. I like the swells in the string that crescendo then cut back. I really like the splash cymbals in the build.

You seem to have a long block of silence at the end of the song, from about 2:20 onward. It's about to just go batshit crazy awesome then cuts out, leaving me sad and without the awesome music that was playing... also, when was the last time anyone used the word "awesome"? It's a good word, but I think it died in the early 90s.

I love the downtemp/chillout genre, and this song is a great example of why. The build around four minutes in with the xylophone(metallophone? marimba?) that plunks every other measure on the upbeat, teasing with the idea of taking off then letting the strings swell in... absolutely gorgeous.

I have a downtemp/ambient playlist I play when it gets late at night that could use some fleshing out with this sort of soft, chill piece. I wish you'd let us download it.

I can't count the number of times I've listened to this track since first hearing MrE's mix. I mean... damn man, this song is perfect. I just wanted to stop by and say thanks for not only posting it but for allowing us to download. It's in a few of my playlists.

On a slightly different note... there's an electronica jam band called Sound Tribe Sector my brother got me started on with a similar guitar chillout sound. If you haven't heard of them, they're worth giving a listen.

You have really good control of your voice. I definitely enjoyed listening to your vocals.

The rock beat on the drums fits well. It could use a few fills added in, if you find yourself working on the track again. Other than that, no complaints on the rhythm.

It seems a bit boomy somewhere in the bass range, although that might just be my speakers. Actually, it probably is my speakers. Scratch that.

It's a little on the short side if you're going for the radio-hit-single length. I only mention it because I liked the track, but it ended before I could even finish the first pass through writing my review, so I had to move my mouse *all* the way to my other monitor and hit the play button again three or four times.

Great track.

EDIT: If you still have the source, just throw in a VST that does frequency analysis in there (Blue Cat has a free one that's wonderful) and figure out where it's a little too loud and put a notch filter (I think that's what it's called? it's the inverse of a band-pass and really narrow) in, or just mess with your EQ.

I don't have anything in the way of constructive criticism. Just wanted to drop in and say I love this track. The harmonica and flute in the middle breakdown made my day. Thanks for posting.

The chopped sample that ping pongs at the beginning was a bit too much for me. I got into it a bit later in the song, but it still feels a little strange.

I love the bouncing piano/harpsichord sounding thing. I would like to hear a quieter version of it being played at the same time an octave down (and maybe a clean piano later on? just a thought) to fill out the song, since it seems a bit empty. Similarly, a slow strings in the lower registers would add a lot to making the song sound more full.

If you end up developing the song further, you might want to try out putting a heavier synth lead onto that melody and gating the hell out of it on a build and leaving it long and full on the lull.

That's my opinion on what I'd do with it if it was my track; feel free to ignore it and do your own thing :-D. All in all, I enjoyed the song.

I didn't realize Clint Mansell did the soundtrack in The Fountain. I'll have to watch it again. I think the last film with his music I saw was Requiem for a Dream, and although I loved the music, there's no way I'm watching that film another time; too damn depressing. I'll have to watch the Fountain again.

This track has a great sound to it. The panning sounds great on speakers, which is usually pretty difficult to accomplish (or at least I can't do it), so mad props on that.

The percussive clicks (woodblocks?) might sound better with a bit of reverb/delay on them. Or they might not... but if you're looking to keep working on the track, it could be something to consider.

Very relaxed sound. The vocoded synth sounds like a really chill pad, and the reverb/echo on the synth noises works to keep that up.

My only complaint is the drop at ~2:00 and and the other places you use that drum loop. It sounds a bit... cut short? If you move the first half of the bass/tom part back a beat/halfbar/full bar, it might not feel so rushed. In this sort of slow piece, it might build the song with more energy to have it dump the rhythm for a beat/two/four after the drop and leave the upbeat completely empty or just a single bass hit. Instead of bum-bum-badumdoom[snare roll], bum-bum baduhbumbum... and then crash in on the downbeat.

... if that makes any sense. I haven't slept since yesterday, so maybe I'm just crazy.

I tried counting, but it's been a long weekend and I can't count that fast.

EDIT: I read your reply to another reviewew. Oh god, your time signature is whack. You could always write it in... [does some quick math]... 109/40? Hmm...

Great song, btw.

I would dance to this in a club. Who am I kidding, I'm dancing to this at my computer.

Very pretty song. The vocals are great, but seem a bit heavy on the reverb on the male voice. It sounds like you recorded it in a huge room, standing on one side with the mic on the other. The guitar is perfect; I particularly like the picking part at ~1:30.

What are you looking to do with the bass? I imagine a very subtle strings coming in at a build toward the end, but that's just me.