Score: 10

"Sublime."

submission: ==(Repairing a Broken Sky)==

date: August 8, 2008

Words cannot speak highly enough of this piece. Generally, I avoid songs that are much more than a few minutes, since they tend to get somewhat stale after that point, but this one manages to remain fresh and, more importantly, enjoyable, even up to the last notes.

Wonderful work!

Score: 8

"Very nice"

submission: (WF1) House Of Mystics preview

date: July 5, 2008

I have but one complaint: that the piece either be longer, or the loop had been better looped.

This makes a good track that can be listened to for a length of time, but the empty air in the beginning makes the loop break a bit. It still loops well, but it feels more like it is something that wasn't supposed to loop.

Regardless, it is very nice!

Score: 7

"Tech"

submission: Escape From Time

date: June 19, 2008

Not quite my cup of tea, so I'll just focus on the technical side of things.

At 0:55, all I can say is, those notes... are painful. If that is how they are supposed to be, well, my apologies, but they do sound wrong.
Throughout the piece, it also sounds a bit like the different layers aren't lined up with each other properly. It has a bit of a drifting feeling. Again though, if that is how it is supposed to be, I offer my apologies at not quite knowing this style of music.

On the purely technical side of it, it sounds good. It seems to have a simple complexity to it. There is plenty to keep one entertained without going over the "too busy" threshold for most people. There will, of course, always be some who complain, but as is said, one cannot please all the people all of the time.

Score: 7

"Firm, soft and bumpy, like a good pair of b- um..."

submission: Maelstrom!

date: June 19, 2008

For being new to writing, you've certainly done well with the Author Comment!

Oh, you meant SONG writing. Well then!

Personally, it feels a little too "bumpy" in places (1:44, for instance), but otherwise, it is pretty good for being a newer piece.

I would like to hear the background a little bit more. I didn't even notice it until the third or fourth loop (except at the soft spot at 0:53 and 1:44, where I thought it was exclusive to those sections, and at the end).

Quite enjoyable, though. I definitely look forward to hearing more by you.

Score: 8

"Almost perfect."

submission: To the End of The World

date: June 19, 2008

I want to give this piece a higher rating, I really do, but the ending...

Such a magnificent piece, even borderline sublime. Even that which seems initially out of place (~1:08ish) becomes a perfectly-cut piece of this song's puzzle.

But the ending... It just...
It dies.

You have such a wonderful build-up through the end of the piece, leading into the ending, but then, the ending just dies.

I want to give it a 5-rank and a 10-star, but I just can't...
It's like being at the doctor's office for a routine check-up, where it turns out that the doctor and all the nursers are voluptuous women (or gorgeous men, depending on one's gender), but when they go to take your temperature, they tell you it has to be done rectally.
The ending just feels like a horrible slap on the face of an otherwise perfect song...

Perfect, otherwise.

Score: 10

"Funny"

submission: The Scariest Song Ever!!!

date: June 19, 2008

The *smack*AHHH at the end still cracks me up a bit, even after about a dozen times through it.

This piece sort of gives me an image of a spy comedy, where the protagonist and the antagonist are facing off against each other, and one of the antagonist's henchmen says or does something stupid, and gets smacked for it.

Or perhaps the protagonist and antagonist are chasing each other in a dark room, and somebody turns on the lights, only for the two of them to find they are standing back to back.

There are so many little comedy bits that come to mind while listening to this. If I had any skills with drawing and flash animation, I would be begging to make a video showing a series of clips using this music as inspiration, but alas! that I've no such skill.

Quite fun :)

Score: 9

"Very nice!"

submission: {-^MP^-} Someday...

date: June 19, 2008

There are a few times when it feels like it is a bit muddy throughout, as if it had too much going on, but better too much than not enough (maybe... depending on how one feels about such things. At least it doesn't get dull), and I'm not quite sure I like the sound (not sure what it is called) at ~2:54/5, but that is just a personal preference.

Really, the only major thing one could mention right now, I think, is the somewhat sudden ending.

Also, I'm not sure the beginning is too slow at all. It gives a nice buildup, without being uninteresting. I rather like it. The whole piece, really, feels like the closing music, while the credits are rolling, after the girl ditches the guy and goes off with a couple of lady-friends to blaze their own trail in life, instead of being a stereotypical housewife.

I can sort of see them pulling away from a gas station, driving down a dusty road as the sun is setting, not a care in the world about what tomorrow brings.

Very nice, indeed!

Score: 8

"Excellent!"

submission: {-^MP^-} Backroom Poker!

date: June 19, 2008

Just a few personal things from my point of view.

The two flat notes that are in the background (first heard at the 0:13 mark) seem to be a bit too loud for the rest of the piece, but make a good addition to it. If they were just a little bit quieter (not too much), I think they would feel better with the rest of the piece.

The opening chord seems a bit out of place at first, until the track starts looping. I'm not sure if that is a bad thing or not, considering it does give a sort of "gunshot" feeling.

The transition around 0:29 feels a bit sudden, and not quite as smooth or well done as the transition is around the 0:39 mark, when the harp-sounding instrument comes back in. Personally, I think if you quickly faded the harp-like instrument into the background at 0:29, instead of simply cutting it, it would work a bit better at that point, avoiding the sudden drop.

As for the poker/wester feel, just about any piece evoking a feeling of back-room poker will also give off an old-west sort of feel, I think. The two just go hand-in-hand so well, after all.

Very nicely done! I look forward to the final piece!

Score: 9

"Magnificent."

submission: Solus- For Schala Remastered

date: June 15, 2008

It's rare that I think game remixes should replace the original track (let's face it, most video game remixes are, well, poor).

But were Chrono Trigger ever remade (again), I would have to say that this sort of a piece would be an excellent piece to, at the very least, use as inspiration for Schala's theme.

She was a character who was destined to death, and while the game's creators gave her a more down-trodden theme, it just didn't capture the full essence of her sacrifice. This piece, I feel, speaks with a more powerful voice, just about who and what she was.

I wasn't sure about the sax at first, but the more I listen to it, the more I feel that it has the perfect sound to compliment the piano for this piece.

Anyway, I've not heard your previous make of this piece, so I can't quite say much about a comparison between the two, but I've only minor complaints about this version, which have already been addressed by others here.

Truly superb.

Score: 7

"Reminiscence."

submission: -BYS- A New Start

date: June 15, 2008

The first measures of this piece remind me of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Later on, I am reminded of the Sky Runner, from Earthbound. In fact, throughout the song, it feels very reminiscent of the Sky Runner theme.

That's not a bad thing, mind you.