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[ZackParrish]

This last one is too difficult to fix... I could try but Im not sure how to fix it.

Anyways I think now its better and already uploaded. I put it again so you tell me if I adjusted properly to what you said.

https://soundcloud.com/estudioevergreen/shrink-game-ost

Thanks for the critics!

Now that your panning is worked out I can hear better what I don't like in the notes/chords.  The piano and bass are playing relatively close in the pitch range, and it sounds as though the bass MIGHT be playing the root, but then you have the piano playing pitches lower than the bass(the piano panned to the left).  Try raising the piano part up an octave so the bass and the piano aren't fighting right there.  The bass needs to keep it's spotlight as the BASS, and the piano playing lower or around the same range, kind of hinders it's ability to do so. 

[ZackParrish]

I'm pretty new to music making.  I'm making a song in Sunvox, which is pretty easy to use but has limitations.

I'm trying to make a sort of somber dungeon tune for my Zelda-like game and am trying to go for a SNES type of feel but I'm not really sure how.

https://soundcloud.com/ghostbomb/dungeon-wip-1

Track is pretty muddy, especially when you get into the middle.  Tons of reverb... tsk tsk

The heaviness of the bass in the track was kind of painful, most likely a result of the sample you were using.  I'd run some EQ on the track and try to knock back the bass a bit, probably lessen the low mids as well to keep the track from being muddy... but if you ease up on the reverb/delay some you might not have to.  Reverb is a mix killer if you use it in excessive amounts without really fine tuning it. 

[ilyoung]

No problem. I just appreciate someone taking the time to listen and give me some honest feedback. Thanks for that.

My weakest skill in terms of music production is actually the mixing and making a song sound full and clear. I've been relying on mastering presets and tweaking them slightly, and yes, there was some limiting/compression over the entire mix which you obviously already knew. I'm trying to get better at eq'ing  sounds and cutting areas of soundspace out to make room for every instrument. Also, i'm still very noobish when it comes to properly using compression and knowing when and how much to apply it. All of these technical engineering/mastering aspects are the most difficult for me to grasp, but hopefully i'll get better as long as I keep attempting to create a decent mixed sound.

The idea did start as a doodle but I would definitely make it slightly longer and I can imagine it being used as some background loop for a side scrolling fast paced action game.

Thanks for the feedback/crits again and i'll work on fixing the issues you pointed out.

Sorry to all this took so long, I honestly needed a break from the crit thread... honestly does not feel good giving hard crit that much... once here and there fine, but I was bombarded in a week... stressin' me out.

Okay... ILLYB.

Well, since it's a doodle the fact it doesn't seem to have any real direction isn't really something I can gripe about.  But I will anyway!  The drums, particularly the kick... is like.... hmm... bleeding is the way I like to put it.  It sounds like you ran compression over the whole mix, so your low end is "bleeding" through and overpowering the treb and mid ranges everytime that kick hits.  It's not BAD, especially in comparison to a lot of tracks I've heard with too much compression, but it's enough to bother me.  When you mix things all the frequencies should be balanced so that none of them really overpowers the rest.  When you run too much compression, or even if it's just a limiter, stuff starts to become overpowered.

That's really all I've got ... direction = where are you going with this? what is this for?  etc... and the compression = why?  Did you really need it?   Could you not manually balance the dynamics on each part and just do a good mixing job instead of trying to maximize the volume with compression? 

[creative630]

Here's a song I made recently for a friends game called escape velocity.
I've had a little bit of feedback already but if anyone could give me some advice/criticism that would be rad.

Disclaimer: I am a programmer so making music is kinda new to me (Don't hold back though)

Ryan

[johnfn]

I'm a programmer/musician too!

Alright, you asked me not to hold back...

The two most immediate things I think that you should work on are repetition and beats. The biggest problem with this song as it stands is that it's *very* repetitive. It lasts nearly 6 minutes, but that's mostly because you take a few small ideas and streetttchhh them out. I know it's fun when you're writing music, but trust me: listeners get tired of the same thing much faster than you do! Here's a crazy idea: In the next song you write, make each unique idea that you have only last 8 bars. After 8 bars are up, either switch it up, or add something to it, or filter it somehow, or otherwise add some interesting dynamics. 8 bars is a pretty typical threshold for when a melody starts to sound repetitive.

The other thing I mentioned is beats - I felt like the beats in this song could be a lot more powerful. There are a lot of ways to fix this - drop some filters on them, or switch them out with other beats, or layer some beats on top of each other. Being aware of the problem is half the battle :-)

Of course, there's more than just this, but hopefully that keeps you busy for a little bit!

Anyway, I thought it was pretty good for an early attempt at music. I particularly liked some of the sound design (the bloops and beeps!), and aside from being repetitive, the song structure was pretty good. Keep it up!

Here's a song I made recently for a friends game called escape velocity.
I've had a little bit of feedback already but if anyone could give me some advice/criticism that would be rad.

Disclaimer: I am a programmer so making music is kinda new to me (Don't hold back though)

Ryan

[johnfn]

Zack gave you some good advice, so I'll try to avoid what he said:

Melody-wise I thought that you hit the idea of 'dungeon' pretty well. But I felt like the melody itself was pretty wander-y, especially after the arps show up in the second half. Between the filtered square like sound and the higher pitched warbly thing (I am terrible at describing sounds, sorry), I felt like the melody lacked direction.

I'd like some crunchy drums in there to give the piece some more cohesiveness. It's only a minute, so I'm not sure if you're going to expand it, but if you are going to, that's probably a good place to start.

Anyway, I liked the feel of the piece, so the next step is to tighten it up!

I'm pretty new to music making.  I'm making a song in Sunvox, which is pretty easy to use but has limitations.

I'm trying to make a sort of somber dungeon tune for my Zelda-like game and am trying to go for a SNES type of feel but I'm not really sure how.

https://soundcloud.com/ghostbomb/dungeon-wip-1

[johnfn]

The good stuff: Liked the piano, piece has a good feel to it.

My biggest suggestion/criticism is that the bass and the rest of the piece don't go together. I saw Zack say something like "the chords are messed up" which is accurate but you didn't know how to fix it. The easiest way to fix it would be to fix your bass notes so that they harmonize with the rest of the song. Sometimes they do (0:20 is good) and sometimes they don't (0:10; most other places). Mess around with them until they sound satisfying, like they do at :20.

Normally I build a song around bass notes, or I design a song with bass and melody at the same time, so I don't have this problem, but fixing your song in this way will probably be instructive for you as well.

Anyways I think now its better and already uploaded. I put it again so you tell me if I adjusted properly to what you said.

https://soundcloud.com/estudioevergreen/shrink-game-ost

Thanks for the critics!

[johnfn]

And finally: my song!

[creative630]

Thanks for the advice Johnfn :D

[Daniel Pellicer]

https://soundcloud.com/estudioevergreen/silence

[petertos]

Hey this is a nice idea (the thread)! 
I'm preparing my soundcloud page, it will be ready in a couple months. Until then, happy harsh criticism!

[H0pe86]

Hi guys! I've composed this track for a Pirate game à la Monkey Island.
Please could you give me some suggestion or feedback please? Thanks 

https://soundcloud.com/suondream86/croco-island

[ZackParrish]

Sorry about the lack of activity from myself, been quite busy lately and haven't really had a chance to sit down and listen to anything. 

Thanks for picking up the slack, John. o_o

[proudmom]

 

http://soundcloud.com/susanbalmar/malle-yue/s-l118D

[MattZ2007]

So I went through and gave some feedback on all of the pieces on the last page, most of them I could only give small criticisms- if that.  I was looking pretty hard to find things, but I really liked all of them, you guys are great.

Here's mine, I remixed and remastered one of my old pieces and it came out pretty good I hope.  I was going for a sort of 'Fighting the Spirit' from "Tales of Symphonia".

https://soundcloud.com/matt-pirtle/obelisk-rusted-monstrosity

[petertos]

Hi all,

my SoundCloud is up. I'm having fun uploading stuff to it, it's gonna be mostly orchestral or videogame music. What do you think of my latest song?

https://soundcloud.com/pedro-alonso-pablos/ancient-land

PS: I will be following you or your friends soon on Soundcloud, as long as I login later

[Audiosprite]

Hi all,

my SoundCloud is up. I'm having fun uploading stuff to it, it's gonna be mostly orchestral or videogame music. What do you think of my latest song?

https://soundcloud.com/pedro-alonso-pablos/ancient-land

PS: I will be following you or your friends soon on Soundcloud, as long as I login later

Cool tunes dude. I would suggest sending most of the tracks through a single reverb. It'll help glue the tracks, make it sound less MIDI-ish, and give the listener a better perspective on where all the instruments are supposed to be. If any of these samples with pre-cooked verb have dry versions, use those.

Myself, I spent the last 24 hours doing this tune, inspired by the ice caverns of Zelda: OOT and Final Fantasy IX. I'd love to know what you guys think.

https://soundcloud.com/audiosprite/ice-cavern

[petertos]

Cool tunes dude. I would suggest sending most of the tracks through a single reverb. It'll help glue the tracks, make it sound less MIDI-ish, and give the listener a better perspective on where all the instruments are supposed to be. If any of these samples with pre-cooked verb have dry versions, use those.

Myself, I spent the last 24 hours doing this tune, inspired by the ice caverns of Zelda: OOT and Final Fantasy IX. I'd love to know what you guys think.

https://soundcloud.com/audiosprite/ice-cavern

Hi Audiosprite, I've listened to the track and I think it's fine unless it's going to be in front of the game. I mean, it's great for atmosphere/background/ambient (I suppose that was what you were looking for when made), I can remember the experience but can't remember the melody. In case you were looking for a more recognizable melody I would link the notes by putting them a little closer to each other. Other than this, fine.

[MattZ2007]

Hi all,

my SoundCloud is up. I'm having fun uploading stuff to it, it's gonna be mostly orchestral or videogame music. What do you think of my latest song?

https://soundcloud.com/pedro-alonso-pablos/ancient-land

PS: I will be following you or your friends soon on Soundcloud, as long as I login later

I like it, and agree with the previous idea of a single reverb to equalize things a bit better.  Dealing with the orchestration, from a technical aspect, that flute in the beginning is too low.  If you were ever to get this performed you could run into problems.  Other than that I like your ideas and how you went about it, it built right and had a clear melody to it.  Good job!

[petertos]

I've uploaded a new song, trying to build my portfolio on SoundCloud. It will be dedicated to free-to-use music.

This time it is a piano-relaxing song:
http://soundcloud.com/pedro-alonso-pablos/sweet-piano