Excellent piece! I haven't played FFX in a really long time, but I do know that those soft keys just make me want to kiss my fingers and go "mwah." Wonderful playing. Hardly noticed the little tempo flub. Reverb was prominent enough to compliment the piece well, but subtle enough to not feel like I was in an unrealistically large hall.
You're a very talented guy, LSD! Keep on keeping on!
I haven't played the game in far too long either :(
I think I will replay it once I get the time :D
Good thing that the tempo fail isn't too obvious, or distracting. I usually use tons and tons of reverb on the piano, but I felt like this piece doesn't need an exaggerated amount of it; happy to see you share my opinion XD
Thanks a lot for all the compliments and for the review :3!!!
A huge improvement since the last time that I've reviewed a track of yours! I'd like to think I reviewed at least one of yours before at least. You can call me out on it if I'm wrong lol.
Piano is a little plain and dull. It's neat that it's used as a sort of chord stab, but might I suggest layering another synth behind it to brighten it up a tad? I think it could really benefit from a little more brightness and maybe harmonics.
Think you did right with the hats and kick. Some people think that widening on the drums is a big no-no, but those stereo hats during the buildup felt so appropriate for the highs. Nice use of white noise, by the way! I almost didn't catch it. The soft kick is wonderful for the drop. Not really invasive in anyway, but still holding the beat together. It seemed like it was being overshadowed pretty bad by the riser at 1:53 though, or did you do something to it while that was going on?
Pretty solid lead. Definitely fit for a rave theme. Kind of sounded like a funky eastern melody. Me likey! The other buildup leads were very good as well. It's nice that you didn't just use one throughout the mix, something I've been guilty of myself. Keeps the track fresh and doesn't bore the listener.
The 3:16 sample was a bit of a turnoff for me. Felt a bit too dry to be a big part of the mix. I think some subtle reverb and maybe lower the gain on it a smidge so it can gel better with the instruments. Or maybe use a different sample?
That's pretty much all I have to say about that. I like the username change, by the way! I think that a lot of people are going to be under the impression that you combined the words ecstasy and electricity though instead of enoch and electricity. Ciao!
Thx alot for the awesome review Joshua :D.
Lol, yea. I think the last track you reviewed of mine was "Lucky Day" XD. I've improved a lot since then :3.
I do agree with that the piano sounds a bit too plain. It really bothered while making this actually X3. I think I'll look into it, and see if I can add another layer over it.
Really glad that you liked the hats and kicks :D. I feel pretty good about them for a change, because it's the first time I've tried to properly mix a kick and not just boost some basic kicks XD.
It's also the first time I've used more than 4 kick layers (Used 8 different samples).
I was going for a soft kick so really glad you liked it :D.
Glad you liked the lead as well :D.
I know what you mean with the 3:16 sample. I was planning on removing it actually, because it really bugged me. Might use another sample, but I think it would be better if I just remove it. It was just put there in the spur of the moment really X3.
Lol, you're the second person that have told me that my name sounds like ecstasy XD.
A pretty awesome composition! Sorry to hear you getting caught up in life. It's turning out to be a pretty tough summer for me too, man. You, however, still seem to have the time to throw out some good tunes all while servicing your country, so I guess I can't complain all that much lol.
The atmosphere is still felt with the choir and strings backing the piano, but the mix definitely lets you know that it can't achieve the level of depth you get from a recording of the actual instruments. It feels like a very ambitious track that is confined to the subpar capabilities of the keyboard. Imagine the game Gran Turismo on the Atari 2600.
That said, I really like the latter half of the track where the piano is hovering closer to the higher registers and giving the strings the chance to shine more. Made me think of the movie A,I, Don't take offense to that! It just reminded me of the soundtrack, which I actually liked, just so you know. It could sound nothing like the soundtrack and I just happened to remember that movie while I was listening to this. I don't know...
My point is, hold on to this and keep it for when you have access to all your fancy soundfonts. I think this is something that would be worth sitting down in your studio for.
Thanks!
Yeah, it sucks pretty much to have to spend most of my time in southern finland in a war training camp -_-
You're having a though summer too? It's pretty odd, but almost everyone I've talked to seems to have a lot to do this specific summer o.O Weird...
I have like 30 old pieces or so that are recorded but have not been uploaded to Newgrounds :p
I don't think I'll upload all of them, but at least many.
If this piece was ever orchestrated it would indeed sound much better, with real instruments and everything! At the time though, recording things on my piano and transferring them to audacity with an RCA (AUX) cable was the only way I could record music XD
I usually try to vary the registers between both low middle and high in my songs, so they don't get too monotone. I actually don't remember whether I've seen A.I. or not. If I have seen it, it was long ago :p Maybe I should take a listen to the soundtrack :)
I do intend to do something with this composition in the far away future. I like the composition enough for that :D
Thanks a lot for the review, Joshua!
Wonderful little loop! Krichotomy actually outlined all of little criticisms I had for the piece, such as the blip at the end of the loop and the need for the tambourine to a little more subtle, but I'm not so sure about the overcompression. Not very good at spotting that stuff out myself unless it's blatantly obvious the artist went overboard with it.
I guess it's all about keeping a nice level of dynamic range in the mix. The bit with the layered vocals has a bunch of instruments playing short notes, which is giving off a slightly chaotic feeling. Usually when I think of overcompression though, I think of the volume constantly hovering between -1 to 0 dbs and everything being brickwalled into the center.
Ah well, never said I was an expert in this stuff! All I know is is that it sounds awesome, but just needs a few minor tweaks. Sorry I can't be more in depth on dynamic range. I only know the very basics, and I understand it's a very intricate subject.
This one seems to be a little more experimental than your usual stuff, yet still clings on to a lot of your orthodox techniques.
You start off with a filtered intro, which is all well and good, but I think I'm hearing some unintentional clicking from one of the instruments. It may be an effect from one of the instruments having a very short or no release. That's one of the more common causes anyway.
Okay, I got to ask about the bass because it's just amazing to hear on both headsets and monitors. Do you widen the low ends out a bit or something? It almost seems to wrap around the kick perfectly. Maybe I'm just bad at EQ lol. The drums and percussion, but the way, are quite nice. Very groovy while being somewhat minimal and nonintrusive.
Your lead at 1:03 sounds good, but it doesn't feel like it completely gels with the rest of the mix well. I'm thinking the reverb and delay are at fault for making it a little too muddy and kind of flailing around the stereo without a purpose. Sorry I can't offer an exact solution for this one. It just feels like the reverb and delay could use a little tweaking.
The melodies at 1:49 are interesting, if not a little off-putting. Was getting some progressive vibes during this part. Mostly on the fence about this section of the track.
I actually enjoyed the new lead at 2:35, but I think the reason why it doesn't come in as smoothly is because of the weird melody preceding it. It was a good part, just felt a little goofy at first.
Those were just some areas I thought I'd highlight. Been a while since I reviewed something of yours, so I thought I'd give this one a spin and throw in a couple of my pennies. Had some strange elements, but it was still a very cool track. Rock on!
Great little chill piece here! Stabs feel a little cheesy at first, but I started to warm up to them after a while. Loved the lead synth, but was a little iffy on those quick melody fills. They seemed a little too much like a plain old saw wave. Maybe you can throw some modulating effects on them to keep them interesting? Drums are nice and tight with the rest of the track, and I'm really liking the wide percussion outside of the rest of the instruments.
Felt like a pretty standard house demo with some kinks that could be worked out on, but what you've got right now still sounds pretty nice. I can dig it!
wow thank you for the big review.
i definitely agree that this is very plain sounding, like u said, the stabs are cheesy, and the saw sounding lead is very basic. its not actually a saw it i did modulate the low pass filter but yes it does still sound basic. perhaps i'll slap a filter on it or something or just double it with another synth. and tanx for noticing the auto-panned shaker lol.
anyway, thanks for the feedback and glad u can dig it kind stranger.
Neat track! Has a very wide feel to it. Loved the panned synth at :45. Not the most exciting melodies, but they're structured very well and keep the flow going smoothly. My only big issue with this is that it seems a little too brickwall for me. Maybe you can go a little easy on the compression or use a multiband so it doesn't affect the tail end of the notes as much? Cheerio!
Lovin it, dude! Can't wait to see where this one goes. Really digging the four successive hits on the left hand thing (you can probably tell I don't really know a lot about composition lol). Only little thing that I think could've been brushed on in this was the hammers on some parts of the piano, which seemed like they were hitting a little too hard. I'm thinking a little notch EQ would do the trick.
Nothing much else to say about this one. It's pretty great, and I will be looking forward to the finished work!
Thanks Joshua! :'D
I think I know what you mean about the left hand, It's pretty often used in orchestral arrangements (or so I've noticed). Don't worry; I know next to nothing about music theory o.O
The piano should definitely be EQ'ed, as I haven't even done that yet :p
(I secretly figured that if I left it like this, people would give me good tips on how to EQ it, muahahahahahahahahhaha >:D).
I hope the finished work won't be disappointing, whenever it is done XD
It's a nice sound that could really go in a number of directions. The first thing that came to my head was a little guitar solo reprieve, where all the other instruments lighten up and the percussion is a little more spacious.
Or maybe you could make the mood even more tense by stacking some harder percussion (bass drum, taikos, etc.) and some dramatic brass with a little dissonance.
Honestly though, I was getting more of a desert vibe from this than a rainforest. The dry guitar and the flute melody (which could be interpreted as a ney, a popular Middle Eastern instrument) kind of give an impression that I don't think you're really going for. I believe the percussion is the key essential to distinguishing a piece as "jungle" music. I would look more into bongos, wave drums, rainmakers, vibraslaps, and maracas to establish a foundation for a sort of rainforesty theme. Hope I provided some help, and good luck on your track!
Wow! Thank you for your input, JoshuaHughes! It's very much appreciated, and I will definitely take it into consideration as I work on this more. The flute is actually the Indian Bansuri, so you were almost spot-on...and it actually makes sense that you pictured more of a desert theme...I didn't think about that at the time. LOL Maybe I will make this a 'desert' theme, then! You've just given a plethora of ideas to work with, and it helps tons. Thanks again!
Hello again! Still rocking out with just the camera, I'm guessing? The quality of work still sounds great for what it is, but there's still that small fuzz most cameras pick up that slightly erodes a tracks condition.
I don't know if that needed to be pointed out, and it doesn't make too much of a negative impact on a cover song for me, since I perceive most cover songs to be tributes to the original artist and aren't necessarily geared towards self-promotion. As long as everything is discernible in the recording, all those fancy mixers and whatnot start to become a little less valuable.
With that said, it wouldn't hurt to get some equipment if you're into pleasing an audience and wanting to provide the listener the most enjoyable experience through your work. The high strings on the guitar sometimes get a little "snappy", especially during your bridge. The easiest way to amend this in your circumstance would be to just record yourself slightly further away. You'll lose a little volume, but everybody has an external volume control, so no worries!
The vocal work is great and very similar to Cobaine's. Not sure if that was what you were going for or not, you just sound a lot like the dude lol.
Really liking your Nirvana covers, man. You should reeeeallly invest in a mic or something though. I'm thinking you could really throw down some top notch stuff here if you got a basic studio.
I know. I'm broke as a joke right now. I have some money but it's tied up in investments at the moment. Maybe someday I'll make some more legit studio songs. Exactly as you said, the fancy mixers and whatnot are less valuable during a cover song. That is true. Paying homage. Just a little reminder that people remember the music. It was more than Kurt Cobain's personal life. It was that Nirvana sold so many records. The songs on Nevermind are still incredible by today's standards.
Joined on 12/5/10
To Zanarkand (Piano Cover) 
Rainbow Stream 
Dreams of Darkness 
Tsukikanade (月奏) 
The Signalist 
Light House 
System Shock 
Raining Tears (WIP) 
Breed - Nirvana cover 
