Battle of the beatz 2007 - IV: reviews by hydrophonic

really fragmented break at the intro, into a still-fragmented break, i love that kind of effect, where you find yourself swirling around, looking for the downbeat. pretty crunchy break featured for the intro, that pad is pretty menacing, though i feel it could use some more effects, perhaps phaser or flanger. i'm bracing myself for a real crusher, especially w/ this long siren effect. nice vocal sample, though i might hi pass it and throw some more reverb on it.
ooh, that reece is dirty as hell. some seriously good stuff here, you made VERY nice use of syncopation and repetition to throw the listener off. when it finally starts rolling along again, it's a welcome return from the syncopation. this feels like it was intended more for the dancefloor as a darker, ambient type tune, than a brutal heavy metal type tune. i think more of that filthy bass would certainly be welcome.
yeah man, well done overall. some pretty unique ideas in this piece. there are not many elements to it, and yet you manage to not sound samey. production is pretty tight, as is that

nice airy pad at the outset w/ liquidy, housey vibe, no doubt. well done on vibes, liking the scratches. i don't have a proper rig at my computer, but that sub sounds warm as hell. yeah, those scratches are cool as hell dude, especially when capped off by that stab and followed up with those incidental type noises. can't underestimate the importance they have in establishing a proper vibe.
takes a turn for the electro trance stylee around 2:00. i kind of fell this section could be a little stronger, funkier. it is certianly an interesting addition to the track and works, but could be strengthened. yeah, back to the first vibe, which is nice and airy. i've heard that 'nuff drum and bass sample in several tunes at this point, a reggae sample makes sense to me the way you used it, but maybe another, less rinsed sample add more to the track.
your break has nice flow throughout, although it would benefit from some more obvious 16th notes from time to time. especially like it paired w/ the ride cymbal and/or tamb, though.
outro nice and clean, this is a great tune overall, nice job. and peeps, let's start being more careful about leaving our names off of the tracks!!! it didn't affect my voting at all, but in the interest of fairness...
nice production from the outset in this one, gearing up for a moody type roller. really like the jazz elements in this one, some nice tweaks to those samples. minimalist sort of vibe coming in at the first drop. makes me think the drums could use a bit more reverb, especially when most of the leads drop out and it's just the bass and atmospheric type noises.
drop at 2:50 was kind of unexpected, i'm digging that movie sample, whatever it is. it's nice to hear an overall unsettling vibe that's not just another techstep tune. i will say that the tune really starts to fell a bit repetitious, but that sort of comes with this minimalistic territory.
overall sets up a nice theme and accomplishes it well.

okay, we're opening w/ ocean waves, which has been done before. here comes the filtered break, and into the "pre drop." sounding pretty meodic thus far. this tune sounds polished enough. i can't say that by 2:30 i've gotten into where this tune is coming from, sounds like a new agey type space exploration layered up with a break. kind of reminds me of something you'd hear on that radio show echoes.
that said, the production values here are really good, and clearly some thought was put into the composition. the tune sort of roll from one theme to another, so there seems to be constant change.
one thing it seems to be missing is a sub. i can her a bassline, but the sub could really be warmed up, maybe just a touch of overdrive on it for saturation. of course, with this type of sound, the bass usually isn't the focus so much as the synths themselves, so i guess just take it for what it's worth.
overall pretty good tune, like i said not really my style, but for what it is, it seems well executed enough.
starting off w/ that female vocal, there's an amen edit. hope something comes in to make the drums a bit punchier...oh, there we go. okay, real paddy type sound, though when that vocal sample says "yeah" it's off-key by about 5 or 6 semitones.
i recognize that vocal sample from a few good looking tunes. i'm not sure i like the inclusion of that pitched-up think(?) vocal at around 3:00. otherwise, the tune develops kind of nicely, relies somewhat heavily on the synths though imo.
can't help but feeling this tune has an old skool vibe between the vocal, the think, and the pads, like glo circa 98 or 99. overall production is pretty tight, pads and synths are interesting and well thought out from a chord structure standpoint, but the older style elements . at 8:08, the runtime is a bit long for this tune, i'm wondering how much variation there's going to be in the rest of the tune.
not a bad tune overall, certainly well conceived and reasonably well executed, if a bit dated.
nice lush strings @ intro, interesting bassline, like that little chromatic run in there. expecting some funk here or something. i suppose the intro could be a little more varied, as it does start getting repetitive.
break is nicely filtered on its intro, but from there could use some serious attention to eq. there's really not that much presence at all, it needs to be layered up with some single hits or another break(s).
those vocals are quite nice, a little christina aguilera...are you serious?!?!? no, it really sounds cool though. it would be nice to hear them more. what program do you use to write and mix? it sounds like you're not getting enough power out of the mix. need more bass presence, deffo more breaks presence...this would be fun as hell to remix...i know this isn't the forum to ask about remixes, but could i have a crack at this?

okay, off the bat i would say layer another snare under that 808, with some reverb for a more polished sound, maybe another break or 3 to fatten up the drums. also, try to vary your bassline a little more, as it starts to get samey. variation doesn't have to be in the pitch of the note...even bending timbre, or some nasty fliter sweeps would add a lot here.
i like the chord structure of the song, though it would benefit from some more edits without a doubt. vocal samples in a tune like this sound better when effected imo w/ things like delay, so you'd have a vast improvement right there.
this tune seems like it's pretty well thought out out, though the execution could be much stronger. keep at it!
not sure where this is going from the outset, but it's making me spaz out even before the drop.
alright, this sounds pretty amateurish. several things to work on: finding higher quality samples is key! get really familiar w/ the daw or hardware you use to produce. some clipping here at parts, so make sure to read up on working a good mixdown. i recognize some of these as fruity loops type sounds and breaks, it's usually a good idea to steer clear of those.
keep at it

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