neither holy, nor roman, nor empire
Author Comments
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I wanted to make another track again, since my last upload was from March. I started to compose this piece somewhere in the beginning of May, and I filled it in, bit by bit, until I found a satisfying composition. However, unfortunately I fell very ill this month, just before I was about to finish the piece (and GOD, was it fucking frustrating!), so when I recovered, I steered all my might into finishing this track. I hope this track was worth all of it.
A little more information about the track itself. I thought a crossover between FL Studio and GarageBand was a cool idea, so I produced the harmonic sections and drum sequences in GarageBand, and the basslines and such in FL Studio. I wanted to create a some sort of pounding acid house vibe with this track. The question is of course if it worked well. Let me know down there in the comments.
The alarm is a sample of the Greek Emergency Alarm.
BPM: 140
Genre: Techno/Acid House
Instruments: Pads, Basslines, Leads, Saws, Plucks, SFX, Samples, Risers, Arpeggio's, Drum Sequencers, Bass Drops, Chronimum, Acid Bass
Tone: F Major
Bitrate: 320 kbps
Sample Rate: 44 100 Hz
Update: Check out these new visuals that I made: CLICK HERE
BlighterProductions responds:
I don’t really know what you mean here, but thanks for the reply anyways, haha.
Great amazing and original song well done
Hmm .. it's a very good song, I like the punchy style.
The percussion is classic and sounds good, in terms of leads it is varied
The melodies contrast, now:
In what I was listening I realized that there is a certain drop in volume, maybe it is due to a phase cancellation by the bass and the kick, be careful when mixing the bass and the kick,
Both should go "mono" if you want to move the mid and high frequencies of a bass I recommend using Maximus, a stock plugin in FL Studio
I like the song, good job, (◕ᴗ◕✿)
BlighterProductions responds:
Thanks for the tip. I will try to take the mixing part into account.
Glad you liked the song further on. I hope I can surprise my viewers some more in the future.
Hello! This is a review for the NGUAC competition.
I've gone over one or two general categories of issues specific to your song, and one section of things I think also deserve complimenting. I prefer being very direct with my critique, none of it is meant to offend. Thank you for your understanding!
Constructive Criticism:
- Alrighty! I have two issues perfectly primed for fixing up, and I think you'll do fine on them. First things first, some of your sections sound like they have good basic ideas but they're also REALLY rough. You have a wonderful sense of development and progression through this track, but think of things like transitions. At 1:01 for example, the bass just... comes in with no 'fanfare' at all (also 3:40 where everything dies out without really snapping back in properly). Even a reverse kick to lead into it would have been something to improve it. Otherwise, the chord progression is okay but generally a little odd for the dark tone you have through this piece, and there are MANY times where some extra drum and bass fills would have broken up the more monotonous sequences of steady repeating rhythms. One system I like to use is to organize four-measure hypermeasures into drum sequences of ABAC, where the first and third measures are the same, but there are small fills on B and C which are different. You can expand this into ABACABAD, or larger following the same kind of formula to add consistent variation.
- No getting around it... a lot of the harmonic instruments above the bass just kinda... flop. They're very flat and honestly generic by comparison to the entire rest of the track, causing a dissonance not unlike the chord progressions. Some of the plucks are okay, but in general with this dark tone, your instruments need more IMPACT. Here's a song which has a similar tone, though it's much faster: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEbWiv6SMt4 Especially in the section focused more on the synth starting at 4:28 (and later at 5:13 with more of an arpeggio), it has IMPACT to the sound along with the bass underneath, and variation (as mentioned in the other point of criticism) to keep things engaging. This song is drum & bass, but this should show how much of a difference instrument tone can make.
Compliments to the Composer:
- Holy atmosphere, man. So I know I just got done bashing your synth design, but the BASS design and atmosphere like in the section starting around 0:30, as well as the build starting at 3:25... that stuff is *so* good, and I desperately want the track to be more focused on it. The clicks coming in around 4:45 as well as in the first section... also very excellent for building tension. I firmly believe if this track leaned harder into its atmosphere and dark bass focus, it would be extremely tasteful. Just do be careful with reverb in atmosphere though, it can fill things up a tad *too* much at times!
Final score: 7
BlighterProductions responds:
Hello SkyeWint. First of all, thank you very much for your review. I like people the most when they're direct, and outspoken. I read your multiple times to fully understand it, and I have a few things to remark if that's alright.
The first thing is that I tried expanding my musical area with this. Besides only a very small handful of tracks I made, it is mostly ambient that I make (you can find more melody and welcoming sounds in those tracks), and almost everything I did in this track was completely intentional.
Indeed, instead of a fanfare or a whirlwind movement into the next section at 1:00, I wanted to keep the energy back for just a little bit longer. I did that because people who have listened to a lot of music may predict there to be a full impact drop. I wanted to be more unpredictable with this track. In order not to sound too 'generic'.
The second thing is that I wanted that rougher sound. I just recently got into Aphex Twin's music (he does many different styles under the IDM genre), and I was so moved by both his ambient and acid works, that I began liking the rougher sound more. Let's say Aphex Twin grew on me as one of my favorite artists right now.
I like seeing different perspectives of people, and I love how you wrote the review in great detail, going over the overall composition and over some timestamps. Telling what could be improved and what I did well, and such.
I'm also very glad with the postive parts about this track. Your compliment about the atmosphere and basslines really motivates me. I know it would be a good idea to capitalize on that, but I just feel like I shouldn't. I feel like I need more variety in my stuff.
Anyways, thanks for the rating and comment. It's a pleasure being in the NGUAC again.
Good stuff! This track somehow reminds me of the music one would hear in a Timesplitters game or other fast-paced shooters from that era.
I can hear you've been going for a quality > quantity type of workflow as of late, which is a good thing. There are lots of small details in the overall mix that really add to the atmosphere.
If I were to be nitpicky, I'd say the attack on the kick drum is a bit too much "in your face". Increasing the attack a little bit (that is: making the slope less steep) might give it slightly more room to "breathe". Other than that, I don't think I can add much to DKPUser3678's review.
Looking forward to part 2!
BlighterProductions responds:
Love your review, together with DKP’s review. Thanks a lot for the compliments. I can’t wait to hear your projects when they come to Newgrounds.
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