***This is a NGUAC first round review. Forgive if it is short, there are a hundred songs to get through!! Further rounds will be MUCH more in detail on your review!!***
THIS. IS. FANTASTIC. love your sounds. Love your ambiance. Love the quality of your reverb. Your overall room. well done!
oh hey trunotfalls
yeah i definitely don't mind i've gotten my fair share of feedback from ngadm anyway
HELL YEA DUDE!
If yoou ever come or move to colorado, ill drum for you. Youre a good writer. mmm
Thanks a bunch guy! I'll keep it in mind if I find myself down there.
Hello PolarTrance! Nice to see you AGAIN in the (NGUAC-amole) Competition!! This is my official KNOCK-OUT round review!!!
Well first off your overall score was a 6.9! ALMOST a 7, and that was pretty good for me! I judged pretty specifically this round. Dont let that fool you. Your melodies were very good and catchy, you have a good ear for melodies, take advantage of that, OFTEN.
NOW let's break down your score!
PRODUCTION/MIXING (30)
In the Category of Clarity, I scored you a 6/10. This was due to a few things. During your climaxes, when more was going on, your snare/clap sounded non-existent to me. In trance it doesn't necessarily need to be prominent, but it does need to be there if you have it, and it needs to simply be interpreted, rather than in your face like dubstep. USUALLY. For yours, I could not hear it in peak moments, until the voices were variated and it left room for it. You should look to do some eq sidechaining or look into other techniques to make your snare/clap pop more during peak moments. It could be as simple as using a different clap/snare during these moments.
In quality, I gave you a 5/10, I scored you this because I really felt like you couldve used more lush sounds. Especially with your drums, it sounded very very very generic. Maybe that is unique of trance, but I just find it to not work. Especially with your lush layering of voices in your leads and backround sounds. Such good layering intent. Even though your ideas of layering WE'RE LUSH, they conflicted to much together, there were in the same range, and that couldve been fixed with some further attention to your sound design.
In effects I gave you a solid 8/10. Your effects were solid. Great techniques used with automation, great idea of when to use certain effects for transitions, just simply solid. They simply couldve used more umph in the mixing process sometimes! I especially loved your intro in this aspect.
COMPOSITION
You did SOLID in this category. With a complexity score of 7/10, transitions witha solid 9/10, and your form was a solid 7/10. Complexity, you had the same ideas repeated over and over just variated as to what is going on the same time in different points. I really wanted to hear you change it up, use a different chord progression for even just a second, to take the ears to another place. this just simply wasnt accomplished. Maybe that is a side effect of the genre, but it doesnt have to be!!! BUT YOUR MELODIES WERE CATCHY AF. You are a great trance composer, I just want to hear you break the genre a bit, especially in a competition!
Transtions. SOLID. NEAR PERFECT. YOU HAVE A GOOD MIND FOR TRANSITIONS. KEEP THAT UP.
AND FORM. Solid, typical Trance format. which you did great, great energy throughout. Again, I simply really wanted to hear you change it up. it was so constant throughout. 7 is great though, believe me!
For instrumentation, I gave you a 10/15. This was really due to once agtain, I did not like the way a lot of your voices worked together. I loved your typical trance plucks and arps and melodies, but the sound design could have been better on that melody. and the layered pads you had were also a little out there. A lot of it worked together. Your bass voice was great, but together, alot of these voices just sounded too different. It's all about synergy for me.
General Effect got a 9/15 for me. The mixing issues, with the melody being being way too much prominent for me, some of the tambours of voices just really not working for me, and it being so repetitive with i would say only two or three solid variations on the song other than just cutting everything but drums and bass out, it needed more for me. More variation.
and finally originality. a good 7/10. This was definitely a good approach on trance. A little typical though. I really wanted to see you do more, I know you can.
Please dont take any of these criticsms personally, as I am one person, with my own set of experiences, training, ears, and views. We have three judges for a reason. But rather, I would love to see you improve on these aspects, me personally, and i would most definitely want to see you again in the competition next year, lets see what you can create next year.
Keep up the music Polar!
~~~~~~Hello secantwave! This an official Knock-out round review!~~~~~~
First off i actually have to say I really enjoyed listening to your piece. It scored a 9/10 for originality and 12/15 for general effect. Basically I was going "wow what is he doing I love it." the whole time. Very very original and great stretch to go out of the box and do the 5/4 timing. THe chord progression you chose was also very unique and strange to the ear which I actually tend to enjoy if done well.
Now that being said, I want you to know that I scored this round pretty intensely compared to the others. That does not mean your song was bad, it just means due to individual point on my criteria, there were things I felt could have simply been better!
MIXING;
You scored a solid 9/10 for clarity. The overall balance of your voices was near perfect, I only felt that certain nuances and variations you brought in could have been more present! The quality category I gave you a 5/10. A 5 does not mean horrible, it means just above average for me. i liked what you did with your sounds, the little plucks sounded great and gave it a nice tambour, I just felt that all of your sounds sounded very..simple? The way you wrote this piece couldve had more intent if the sounds themselves were focused on more. And maybe they were! I actually really liked what you did with the resampling of sounds on this, however I docked you in this category a bit also due to how quiet it was. That is something that you should focus on. There's no need to give a full master on your songs! But it was simply something I looked for!
And finally I gave you a 5/10 on effects as I felt this needed some effects in your transitions, and some of the effects you used were such a drastic difference to the tambour in the rest of the piece. In my own opinion!
COMPOSITION
in the category of complexity, I looked for what you did harmonically, how you threw nuance in, and the variations you did, and how well you pulled them off. I gave you a 6/10 in Complexity. I docked you in this category, due to it simply having two sections, repeated multiple times, with only slight variations each time, and the whole time you had the same chord progression. This can become redundant. I would've loved to hear something different with those prominent plucks. As well as hear something that is more of a focal point other than the plucks more often. The section at 0:56 was great, great variation, but it happened only a few times, and the same both times. 1:12 was great too but much too short, the energy felt a little off there to me. the other main point was the 5/4 timing seemed very staggered. It could have felt more smooth, rather than every single 5th beat feeling like a studder.
Transitions I gave you a solid 8/10. Your transitions were solid and this was a struggle point in my scoring for a lot of people in the tryout round. I loved every single transition, the effects and mood changes there were great. Loved them. And actually your transitions were different every time. This was the biggest reason that the whole piece was tied together for me. it wasnt a perfect score due to the 5/4 time still being studdered, and a few effects seeming out of place, particularly the way you changed the 8bit-sounding drums at 1:07. This was a little jarring to my ears, and really treble-y.
and finally in composition, form. I gave you a 4 here. This was also due to it being a simple two part form. repeated, with slight variation. The energy could have gone in so many different places. Your clarity of intent was great! but these all docked you quite a bit, and I wanted to hear more. More variations. do more with this awesome sound of yours and sell it! I also docked you in this category, due to the ending. Some songs really can and should end suddenly I think, but with yours, your sounds were so calm, and relaxing, that I would've loved to hear simply the main pluck as an ending, even if everything cuts out suddenly. The style of this piece seemed very unnatural to me to end so abrubtly.
And finally instrumentation. This seemed a little wonky to me. You had these great melodic voices, nice MOOG-y sounds, and your drums were straight 8-bit sounds to me. I would've loved to here some resampled loops or drum sounds, tweaked to create a more complete vibe. I scored you a 9/15 in this category. The drums really threw it for me. and those super treble-y variated drums around the 1:12 mark were a little too much as well. This was an important category that I payed a lot of attention to.
Please do not take any of these scorings personally. After all that is why we have three judges! Different views and experiences and training bring different outlooks! I think you could make something really really great with your sound if you focus on a few points of progress. If you have any further questions, please let me know.
And one last thing, I really really enjoyed this piece, general effect and originality were very important and I loved listening to this. :)
I hope I wasn't too harsh!!! DX
Love your lyrics. Love your mind. Love the chord variations you threw in, the Trombone was a NICE touch. Really about the only things I have to say about this piece, is I can't hear the snare at all, ONLY on drum fills, could've used some more particular eq'ing and mastering, but other than that, WELL done. ;)
Thanks so much for the kind words and the feedback! I've never had people comment on my lyrics before but I feel like I'm getting to a point where I'm starting to be able to reach people with the words ( a whole new emotionally threatening territory for me!) as well as the music. This isn't the first time I've heard someone comment about low snare volume on one of my tracks though - rest assured I'll work on pumping it up in the future.
Stunning. I don't have much to say honestly. I love your musical mind. I love your instrumentation and tone of all of the voices. I love the key you used, some kind of mode right? I'm curious to know the harmonic structure of this, what mode you used. Mostly the main melody part, with the little sextuplet part. The part right at 2:14.
THe only thing is there seemed to be a little clipping? Might be my system, It's beautifully balanced. I just love this so much. listened to it like 6 times.
In terms of modes: d minor (natural), some chromatic tones in there, goes to Bb maj for "chorus".
Harmonic structure: I wrote a progression with the melody, then just made the accompaniment do pads to try and mask it. There are some parts (2nd "verse", soloists + piano arpeggios) where the harmony/accompaniment is more clearer.
The clipping might be the subtle pops/tears in the audio? I noticed that, but hoped it wouldn't be super obvious. It's really noticeable in towards the end on the big crescendo with the cymbals. It's a byproduct of one of the audio plugins I'm using.
Congratz on making it to the next round of the NGAUC!
I have judged your entry and I will be judging your KNockout round piece.
First off you scored well above my average scores, most people scored around a 6, where you scored a 7.25 which is very good. You got a 7 in the general category, an 8 in composition which is hard to achieve with my scoring, a 6 in mixing, and yet another 8 in originality.
The 7 for general is simply the overall quality, effect, and enjoyment of the piece was very good. I score a 5 as "just alright" 6 is pretty good, 7 is very good, 8 is fantastic, 9 is amazing, and 10 is very very very rare and basically perfect.
The 8 in composition is because you had masterful chords, fun melodies, fun to listen to sound design, really cool chords progressions, great form and great transitions. I dont have anything bad to say about any of that honestly. I love your sense of progression and harmony. It was really really fun to listen to. Keep that up seriously you are very strong at all of it. The reasons you didnt score higher in composition was because I couldve used instrumentation that sounded a little more crisp and clean and professional. I also wouldve appreciated a little more nuance in your percussion. Not that I expect you to write like a pro, but that wouldve gotten you a 9 or ten. :P
In mixing you got a 6.
This was because the drums were always balanced way way way too low. Especially for any edm genre that should be a focus for you. You should take advantage of slight sidechaining in your kick, and you should eq your voices to get the tone of your snare to pop a little more. i.e. leave the frequencies around the tone of your snare (the lower more poppy sound) more clear. cut the frequencies around there just a bit. Other than that your voices and bells and stuff were all balanced very well!
You got an 8 in originality because this piece is simply awesome. 8 is a huge compliment from me very few people got 8's. I could simply just use some better sounds, but you write so well it almost didnt even matter.
Good luck in the knock out round can;t wait to hear what you make for us!!!
Thanks for the tips! The percussion mixing makes a lot of sense. I'll have to keep that in mind for my next electronic track. Looking forward to the knockout round.
Congratz on making it to the knockout round of the NGAUC!!!
I will be judging you future entry a I have judged this one!
First of I wanted to say that I thoroughly Enjoyed your song. I Really Enjoyed the main distorted bass voice you used. I gave a you a 6 score in the general category, which essentially means its was pretty good overall. This is only a blunt "to the script" way of putting it I actually really really enjoyed this. There were ssome parts where the voices were clashing over all and it just slightly messed with the overall quality of this piece, for example from 1:43 on until that newly introduced lead goes away around 3:00, it was just very jarring to my ears. That was what brought you down from a 7 in the general category, which wouldve meant "very good."
I scored you a 7 in composition because the over form of your song was very good for a trance song. You had great transitions with good automation and great impact moments. I really liked all of your transitions which was a key struggle element in a lot of the songs I judged. Well done there! That being said, I really could've used a little more nuance in the grand scheme of voices. Maybe some nice little risers or more work with percussion. Also the voices you chose for the cymbals and snare seemed very basic to me and I didnt enjoy those too much. But I didnt plan on giving you a large dock of points for that one fact.
I gave you a "5" in mixing. In most edm genres I included sound design in this category. I included sound design in the composition category because i really really enjoyed that bass you made and the way you used it. You're mixing however was just ok. The kick needs to be way more powerful for this genre and that could've been solved with some simple sidechaining. the cymbals also came across a little over balanced for me, but thats just my taste, and it may have been jsut because I didnt like the voice. The part in the middle from 1:43 to 3:00 as well docked you in this category. The main lead you brought in conflicts way to much with all those juicy frequencies in your awesome bass voice. And it just completely over shadows the entire mix here. I like the notes you wrote for the voice, I just dont think it blended with the song at all.
And finally I gave you a "7" overall in originality because simply put, it was very original. It wasnt ground breaking the way you did a trance sonmg, it pretty much fit the typical trance form, but the style and the way you used that awesome bass voice just simply took the cake for you.
Congratz again and good luck in the Knockout round!!!
Thank you! I'll do my best to give you a song worth judging on the KO round!
Hello ILG924!!
I have judged this piece as a tryout to the NGAUC and will be judging your next piece along will all of the others! Congrats on making it to the knockout round!
Your piece overall was pretty good! Well done!
I gave it a 4 for "general" due to it lacking a bit of overall depth. It seems to have the same chord progression throughout, and the more electronic style drums seemed not to fit due to your intro not having very many electronic flavors or voices at all. The drums are about the only thing. And they have the same pattern throughout the whole piece, with no variation.
I scored it a 5 for "composition" for multiple reasons. Within Composition, I included instrumentation, dynamics, melody, and form. (among others but these were the primary focus points) The instrumentation was good overall, save for the electronic drums. They had a high frequency cut-off the entire song with no variation. In my opinion, in order to "sell" the idea of those drums, you needed to include more electronic elements. This could have been executed very well if done right. On a dynamic front, there didnt seem to be much dynamic variation within each separate voice. You did well at layering many voices to simulate a climax, but there could have been more automation within seperate voices to create more emotion. Your melody was changed often and many times. You had very many variations on your melody within your chord structure, but your chord structure was almost always the same. Your form was a little weird as well. it was fine honestly, but each new section, was almost completely different. Your small clmix moment at around 2:04 was very good, and I loved how you brought it back down, then went back to it, introducing some tambourine-like percussion for more energy, however you ended the piece immediately after this small climax. You almost always want your climax around 2/3 into your piece, then simmer back down to a smooth ending, thinning out the amount of instruments you have.
I honestly don't know why I scored you a 5 in "mixing" as that would apply to the balance of voices in your song rather than more complicated mixing techniques used in an EDM song. I must have had a reason but for the life of me I cant think of why. I apologize for that. Listening back at it now I wouldve given you a 6 or 7 in that category. LUCKILY YOU MADE IT IN!!! (trying not to show me deep regret behind my sweaty clammy smile)
I gave you a 6 in "Originality" because I actually enjoyed your piece in that aspect. It had very well written melodies and great intent and great energy. I simply think it couldve stood out a bit more in the "video game music" genre.
Overall, I think you needed to focus more on changing up the pace and energy of your piece. It was very stoic with the constant and consistent drum pattern, and I really wouldve loved to hear a flute/oboe duet or something. All in all I enjoyed your piece, but I may have judged it a little too seriously being from a strong orchestral background. Dont be discouraged by your score. There were many "low" scores on my part but that was due to what I considered "just ok" or "great" or AMAZING or PERFECT. there were many a song that scored much lower than you.
All that being said you should be very proud of this piece. Especially your melodies which I must highlight again, they were spectacular. Just try to execute the changes a little better ;)
Good luck in the rest of the competition my friend! I look forward to hearing what you make for us!
That's a lot of good advice, and I'm glad I can recognize and agree with all the points that need work! I actually didn't notice it was the same chord progression throughout. I haven't studied much when it comes to music theory so I just mainly focus on melody, which is why I choose to write music in the video game music genre. I'll be sure to focus more on drum variation and different chord progressions in my next song.
Thanks for the review, it's very helpful!
“Those who dance are considered insane by those who cannot hear the music.” ― George Carlin
Age 30, Male
Metropolitan University of Den
Joined on 4/21/12
Peaks 
Zelda - Lost woods remix 2017 
Mad, Mad, Mad 
Walk 
Glide Reflection 
Road To Happiness 
I Need A Kick 
Power Onion 
Starlit Road 
