It's all streaming on Youtube. Listen to it. Then, maybe, again. Don't be a jerk. Did you really listen to it at least twice? I mean, at least start the songs twice. Give 'em a chance.
Voting:
I'm doing voting the same way it was done last time. Send me a PM with your top two favorite artists (numbered one and two) IN THE SUBJECT LINE. For instance the subject would be "1.Beatles2.RollingStones." That will make tallying the votes super easy. Every #1 vote gets 2 points, every #2 vote gets 1. Votes get tallied and results will be posted on or around Monday the 21st. Hopefully we'll be able to get more songs and some words of wisdom from the winner(s).
Artists can vote. Artists cannot vote for themselves.
ALSO:
Why not vote for best song? You can feel free to include that in your pm to me for best artist - do it in the same manner, simply put it in the body of the message and not the subject line.
If I left you out I'm sorry. Let me know. If I left out a song it's probably because it went over 10 minutes. Sorry. Additionally, it could be cause i fucked up. Let me know! I'll fix it up and update the post.
Snowbird is good but feels a little repetitive to me. Come to life isnt my thing Crystal Blaze is ok Mikeymoo is very good. I found it quite enjoyable. not a huge fan of the little mermaid, but he sings well. All his other songs are quite good sounding too. Wow... He is seriously talented Will listen to the others later.
Wish youtube didn't compress them all so much... Listening now... Jonnny...? Hahaha Los Chicarrones.. so rad. Mikeymoo is way talented but I think I'd kill myself if I listen too much longer to that song. I'm totally down for Phase, sick track. The chord progression + the melody for Snowbird's first jam is rad, heavy classical influence. Crystal Blaze is awesome musically, vocals are killing me though...
just lsitened through real quick, i really like kayser. Phase is sick, but im kind of biased for electronic music. snowbirds pretty cool. didn't really like crystal/come to life but thats just not my genre preference. mikeymoo sounded pretty sick from what i listened too, but just not my style.
On July 14 2008 09:53 decafchicken wrote: just lsitened through real quick, i really like kayser. Phase is sick, but im kind of biased for electronic music. snowbirds pretty cool. didn't really like crystal/come to life but thats just not my genre preference. mikeymoo sounded pretty sick from what i listened too, but just not my style.
I want phase on my ipod, so i can listen to it while i play sc.
lots of different styles of music, awesome. props to Phase. sounded good, it would be nice to have had more songs though.
mikeymoo sounded good, but i don't really like that style of music so johnny was............ yeah. Snowbird was hit and miss, I liked the first and third song but not so much the fourth. I liked Tals first song, although slightly repetitive it won me over.
The other bands weren't really what i'd listen to(though i listended to them anyway). Crystal Blaze sounded so much like all the other bands of the same genre that I couldn't get into them, although I like that style of music ;x
ByyaAH! Here's a longass review for each of the entries. I listened to most of them like 2-3 times, and there were some great ones, some that needed some work, but I tried to give constructive criticism in any case. MP3 versions would really make a lot of these works sound muuuuucchhhhh better (not just mine ) It's also really, really difficult for me to decide the best artist, and I probably will put it off till the mp3 versions of everything come out.
Come to Life: This is like almost opposite spectrum of what I listen to nowadays, so I really can't comment that much. I think its a pity that you had to go through the youtube audio encoding, because this would probably sound a lot clearer. I'm nervous about the lead singer's voice though. The overall production sounds pretty high-quality though.
Crystal Blaze: Again, I really think it's a pity that your songs suffered the youtube audio encoding, because damn, this quality sounds so professional. I don't mind the vocals, actually, I think they really suit the type of music. I mean, I think the thing that stands out the most are the guitar leads anyway. The vocals kinda back things up. I can see why people would disagree though, it sounds like something from nu-italo or something.
Jens Sunden: Nice cover. Are you singing and playing guitar at the same time when doing that song? I think the main issue is just the recording. Vocals might be a bit loud, but I THINK that youtube's audio encoding has a lot to do with it. I like the way you pronounced a lot of words, made the song seem very smooth. Listen to yourself a little more, and see which parts you can kinda modify, so that the second half doesn't just sound like the first half repeated.
Johnny: PFFTTT, I was hella hyped up from people saying you were on shrooms, but wait until you guys listen to stuff like IDM until you say that lol. The singing was not terribly great..... but it may be the different language that's making me say that. A lot of it reminded me of Flight of the Concordes. lol.
Kayser/Meisingset: I never listen to this genre, but man, I swear this sounded so professional. Not too many instruments playing at the same time, but just proof that keeping the sound clean and clear pays off. I noticed a lot of little leads in the backgrounds that the piano and other guitars got, and I think those were spot-on in keeping the song different and interesting throughout. Only thing that I might pick at is that, there were a couple key changes that threw me off when I first listened to it.
Los Chicharronesz: HEHE, I loved thiss...... for like the first minute. And then all that stood out were the rhodes playing the main melody lol. Maybe some balance issues in the bass, but it sounded like a live recording, so thats always difficult.
Mikeymoo: They're not 100% my thing, but they were really nice sounding songs. They were put together really well. Acapella is really, really difficult because its only vocals, so any little mistakes will stand out more than usual. Was it all done live? or were a lot of parts recorded separately and then sampled? There were some tiny intonation issues, but nothing that would mess up the song.
I really, really like the second song. It flowed extremely well. There might be a spot that you might want to touch up, just right before the explosion part, and gotta watch the high notes. But it was still my favorite of the 3.
Motiva: What comes out of you seems really, really experimental. I like how you're experimenting with different sythesizers and everything, but you gotta play around with layering different effects a lot more. You've got some nice ideas though. Do you have any producers that especially influence you?
Phase: =]
Snowbird: Thats so awesome, there is so much inspiration from all differeng genres in the songs that you sent. The first couple really sounded like some of the soundtrack that I heard during a Las Vegas show, so yea, props. I want to try to nitpick something out, but I can't really do it, so great job.
Star Track: Well, everything sounds pretty good, quality-wise. You have a synth bank that is of superb quality. 1st song was a little too much for me. 2nd song was better, but I think you gotta just watch out for making your production smoother. Certain melodies pop out of nowhere, but i supose it sounds ok if you aren't really listening to it with a musically strict mindset, and instead letting it run in the back of your head. For the 3rd song, I don't think that choir lead in the beginning and the middle added anything to the song. In fact, I think it detracted from the song. I liked your 4th song most, as the transition between the two different percussion lines kept things interesting in the high-end, where you didn't have much going on. Pity that the rest of the song constantly got washed out with every kick drum. You'll have to watch the levels, to make sure that they're decently balanced, or make sure you use a multiband compressor at the highest channel, and EQ everything perfectly.
Tal: I don't play guitar, but that sounded like massive skills to be able to play that. Some mistakes here and there, but yea, its gotta be difficult. The only other thing is that sometimes I think you confuse the listener with your rhythm because you would be pretty free with it, and not give clear enough signals through accented notes or whatnot to say oh, this is the downbeat, or at least, this is what the rhythm is going like now. Still, it sounds really difficult, and props to that.
I really agree that MP3 versions would kick ass too. It's really good that you can listen to streams from youtube but if you want to listen to the contrasts and dynamics in the songs, the quality isn't good enough. I know that this would require even more work for choboPEon who has already put much effort into this, so I understand if he doesn't want to do that.
Anyways, will give my own feedback as soon as I find the time to listen through all the songs.
mmm wow my stuff sounds weird on youtube... Damn shitty production.
My music isn't on the level of a lot of the entry's but my stuff is alittle better with higher quality. So MP3s would be great.
@Phase Yea, I haven't been making music very long, and I tend to stray away from genre constraints as much as possible. Hmm I guess if I had any influences in the music I turned in it would prolly be Mr. Oizo more than anything else. Maybe a touch of Infected Mushroom, but I'm not a big fan of most electronica... I mainly listen to technical death metal, fusion jazz, and gangsta rap. lol.
Did some listening, here's my comments for the stuff I've listened to so far.
Come to life I've never been able to get into this style of singing or music at all, but your stuff sounds professional- is very tight, and the backing vocals throughout work pretty well.
Crystal blaze Really good, melodic power metal stuff, nicely put together, and I think the vocals fit it. The lyrics are a bit hard to deal with for me, but that’s how I feel about all power metal. With all that nice guitar work maybe the choruses need to be a little bigger/more catchy.
Jens Sunden. Nice cover, and I don’t even like deathcab. Your voice has a really appealing quality.
Jonnny
Like the 1st song, nice sound. The papa roach cover's quite funny, not sure about the singing, is it meant to be ironic? Sounds like it, but its hard to tell with the language. Particularly near the end it grates a bit. I didn't like golden fruit - vocals are obviously not meant to be serious, but still are painful.
4: Sing my stuff too starts quite fun, isn't that riff from a metallica song? Fade to black? Sounds good. Again the vocals put me off a bit, but I liked the guitar playing.
Kayser / Meisingset Like phase, says, sounds super-professional, if not my style. I can imagine hearing this on the radio.
Los Chicharronesz Weird but fun…the mix is kind of muddy, but still good. I wish you guys had put more songs up.
Mikeymoo
Skullcrusher mountain is a fantastic idea for a song, and really well done, great delivery. So far my favourite song. The other two songs are also really good- acappella's hard to do. Do you study music?
Skullcrusher mountain is a fantastic idea for a song, and really well done, great delivery. So far my favourite song. The other two songs are also really good- acappella's hard to do. Do you study music?
Looking forward to hearing the rest.
Does acapella have a grade? I thought it was pretty difficult upon listening to it againm on my 'are they actaully doing anything difficult' listening. Skullcrusher was amusing
noooooo wait for the full quality mp3s before you listen to the 'are they actually doing anything difficult' listening.
well, i say that, cos i think mine sounds really crappy right now. a lot of dynamic filtering that i did really got messed up by the encoding. i know others probably think the same.
okay - zipped the file with all the music is 115mb. i'm going to extend the voting - anyone recommend the best place to upload this for free and in public?
Finally listened to the rest of the songs- comments ahoy:
Motiva: I liked the lighthearted style of your stuff, but over 9 minutes I found it too repetitive for me. I can imagine playing an old school game to it though.
Phase: I don't really like electronic music of that style- I can't really get into it. Having said that, I still think starlight is a good atmospheric piece, and will definitely listen again when we get mp3's.
Snowbird: Because all the pieces are so short, it seems like I'm hearing a series of fragments, but I really all the fragments- lots of really fluid and pleasant playing -are you playing all the different instruments, or are these your bands recordings? The 'epic' section at 5:09-5:30 is really cool. I also like the singing- some really nice vocal harmonies.
Startrack: The beeps in track one were a bit much for me, and I couldn't really get into the other tracks- but I think thats just me and electronic music rather than anything you've done wrong.
Overall I guess i'm extremely biased towards the non-electronic music acts- mikeymoo and snowbird are my favourites so far- but I'll wait for mp3's before voting.
In reply to people's comments on my stuff, I think you are right that I need to tighten up Day 1 (maybe give it a good name too ), particuarly in the middle section, it sounds confusing. It does sound better at higher quality, but not enough to warrant no change. Cheers for the comments!
Skullcrusher mountain is a fantastic idea for a song, and really well done, great delivery. So far my favourite song. The other two songs are also really good- acappella's hard to do. Do you study music?
Looking forward to hearing the rest.
Does acapella have a grade? I thought it was pretty difficult upon listening to it againm on my 'are they actaully doing anything difficult' listening. Skullcrusher was amusing
Bumping and replying.
With a cappella, I find that when you listen to something and then have that lightbulb moment "oh hey there's no real instruments!" that's good a cappella. Listen for what we like to call 'blending'. For instance, in my 3rd track, try to count the number of people oohing. Good a cappella will make it sound like one person. Unless you have a good idea for harmony. Then it should sound like identical triplets singing different notes.
Also, listening to the quality of the lead voice is also important to a cappella. Without a strong lead, the whole rest will fall apart.
Take my word for it that a cappella is very difficult. It's one of the only types of music that can't improvise, just based on the tightness and wording choices, etc.
If you're asking "are they doing anything difficult", then it's probably relatively good, because we're taking something difficult and making it sound easy.
However, if you want top of the line a cappella to compare stuff to:
This is perhaps one of my favourite videos. EDIT: song starts at around 2:40. But the talking intro is hilarious. Keep in mind this was 8 years ago. The group is dramatically better now.
just saw this thread : ( I'm a TL lurker for the most part, but lately I joined iccup and see this thread, so maybe I can stop lurking?.. I already have a 10m song prepared if you do another comp : )
*i usually try record real drums too but i dont have a complete set anymore... credits are: dan liss(ashane) - dirty elec guitars and production, andre(pingo) is playing bass and violin, and I played the clean/acoustic guitars/trumpets.
EPT
johnny was............ yeah. Snowbird was hit and miss, I liked the first and third song but not so much the fourth. I liked Tals first song, although slightly repetitive it won me over. 
) It's also really, really difficult for me to decide the best artist, and I probably will put it off till the mp3 versions of everything come out.
