Battle of the beats 2006 - VI: reviews by mabus

You Are Virus by Ruffian: wow, this should be signed!

Submitted by mabus on Tue, 2006-10-31 02:57.

wow, this should be signed! great noisia style beats there, mixdown sounds great too very clear but still very loud. the breakdown works great, really builds tension in the song with the 4/4 kick. i dont know what else to add it all sounds up to release standard to me. well done.

Have some Fun by Royalston: great production, that beat

Submitted by mabus on Tue, 2006-10-31 02:12.

great production, that beat is tight. good progression bringing in the different sounds, nice transition into the breakdown, sounds great! love the second drop, sounds great around the 4:10 mark.

Anzor by hksystems: intro works very nicely into

Submitted by mabus on Tue, 2006-10-31 01:57.

intro works very nicely into the bassline. production sounds good, everything well separated, fitting together nicely, bass just at the right level.

i think there is too much time between the different ideas it could be shortened a little, ie between the first time the guitar type noises come in, and the main theme at roughly 4:00, to hear that sooner would have been cool. its rocking though from that point on Smiling good work dude.

Underground by Dj Shiver: once the drop comes its

Submitted by mabus on Tue, 2006-10-31 02:46.

once the drop comes its great, but the leadup to it didnt really work for me, sounded a bit disjointed. the vocal sample and lead need some separation as they clash a bit. drums sounding nice, the song has an overall good structure the breakdowns drops etc come in at all the right places. maybe some half time beats in the breakdown would sound good? just an idea. nice work.

shores of the unknown by synrgy: the moment this track starts

Submitted by mabus on Tue, 2006-10-31 02:04.

the moment this track starts you know its going to be heavy. and it doesn't disappoint. a good dark track without trying too hard to be super dark, i did get a little bored of that beat, would have liked to maybe hear some different breaks chucked in really distorted just randomly. when you had some double kicks in there, that really worked well i though, makes you feel like you are getting kicked in the stomach Sticking out tongue and i also wanted to hear more of that square wave you tease us with .. nice work though, heavy stuff.

by : interesting track, like the

Submitted by mabus on Tue, 2006-10-31 02:16.

interesting track, like the sample it suits the track. to my ears maybe the pad sounds is a little loud or needs a bit more reverb. like the chilled out bassline, hits in the right places. not sure if i like this one or not, would be a great opener to a set, has a euphoric feel to it.

Overdose by Golem: overall the mix sounds like

Submitted by mabus on Tue, 2006-10-31 02:51.

overall the mix sounds like its lacking a little high end, but that doesnt detract from the tune. nice beat and those vocal samples are great. the change in beats is good, just enough of it not to get cliched. near the end of the tune i did start to get a bit bored, buts more of a personal thing. good work bro.

against all odds by djobscure: everything sounds a little

Submitted by mabus on Tue, 2006-10-31 02:36.

everything sounds a little bit too distorted at the start. but later on it sounds right, great groove when your bass is running. would be a good dancefloor tune, i can see it working well with an mc over the top. the different sections work well together, that louder snare can get a bit annoying though after a while.

demon rising by waves power: intro builds very nicely,

Submitted by mabus on Tue, 2006-10-31 01:49.

intro builds very nicely, once the proper beat comes in it works well. kind of has that kooky space chilled vibe Smiling nice atmospherics. enough variation in the drums to keep its listenable. once the main lead came in i didnt find it as interesting, thought that maybe keeping that same vibe as in the intro throughout would help. the piano keys work well. nice fx in main breakdown section.

Translation Protection by ptah: i like the drum programming,

Submitted by mabus on Tue, 2006-10-31 02:41.

i like the drum programming, the atmospherics are good, except that pad you have droning in the background, it would sound better imo if you had it playing some different stuff, or if it didn't play so often. the bass is really nice too.

Dirt Bike by Contayjen: nice intro, production

Submitted by mabus on Tue, 2006-10-31 01:43.

nice intro, production sounds tight, lots of space for kick and snare.

using some interesting sounds there, not to my personal taste but it's got a good structure to it and rolls well, should keep peoples attention long enough. like the ending, would have liked to heard more of that in other parts of the track.

In The Morning by DJ Scape: like the intro, but dont

Submitted by mabus on Tue, 2006-10-31 02:28.

like the intro, but dont like the snare, maybe a crisper one would work better, it sounds a bit muffled, less reverb too. the actual song has a really good structure and vibe too it, could work well with a female vocalist singing some verses over the top on the bits with the pads in the background.

Souls R us by DMJ: that sure is one weird intro

Submitted by mabus on Tue, 2006-10-31 02:29.

that sure is one weird intro Smiling sounded like a different track there for a while. some more on eq and kick would help them stand out more in the mix as they seem to get a bit lost once you have everything firing. transitions between sections are a little to obvious, although maybe thats the point. i like the crash/kicks in the breakdown, that snare needs to be bigger i feel for it to really have the impact. some really interesting ideas throughout the song though.