quote:

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Original by lastfuture
one more thing. i have noticed that songs played with the winamp2 plugin sound different than when played with psycle itself, for my song it's a pooplog fm lab which has a totally different noise sound.

so i want to beg you to listen to it in psycle directly.
i for my part have rendered them all to wave and removed them one by one from a winamp playlist to get to my temporary result.

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I ve also noticed this when testing the foobar2000 version, it seems to be the result from the tweaks present in the sourcecode, [JAZ] can confirm or not ?

lastfuture>sorry for this annoying "bugs"

BJohan>thanx for the compliment

It's my 3rd time going through the entries, and I've only got it whittled down to 6... some VERY good stuff. To outline the process I go through, I listen to the songs once through without making any "voting" decisions... but I do get a feel for each song.

In my second run through, I create 2 folders: zGood and zBad (The Z keeps them both at the bottom of my Explorer window). I pick a random song, and if I remember any other song being better than it, or if I don't like the song, I toss it into the bad folder. Usually this whittles the entries down pretty quick... for 6 songs to get through, that I can't immediately choose as better than one another, is actually pretty incredible... 6 songs where an instrument doesn't feel out of place to me... 6 songs with high-quality polished sound. 6 songs which make me go through to check for non-native machines and samples...

And most of the stuff I put in the bad folder, I kind of felt guilty putting them in something marked "Bad" because they clearly aren't.... They just had minor flaws, or a slightly unpolished feel... Definetly a difficult one to judge.

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I thought you beat the inevitability of death to death, just a little bit...

you might need a ZReallyBad folder for mine :-)..

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Death … It’s the only thing we haven’t succeeded in completely vulgarizing.
- Aldous Huxley, Eyeless in Gaza (1936)

strncpy(zVeryBad, "Sadness", 8 );

now now ...we don't want to self-underestimate ourselves without any criticism?

D-503, KarLKoX, go into the corner! Have self confidence, will you!

__________________
--lastfuture

Pro :
----
- Sound Quality in general,
- Some sequences sounds wells,

Con :
----
- No music structuration in mind while tracking, that depends on my feelings,
- No majors melodies, it could be boring,
- I like to create new genre of music, especially weird songs but almost nobody does not like these genre of songs.

knowing one's mistakes is the first step of getting rid of them. still, zVeryBad is a clear understatement IMO... it should rather be zAlmostGoodEnoughButNotQuite....

does windows accept such long names?

anyways, i see silence growing upon the compo. the rate of votes is decreasing, not much happening in this thread. hope there will be a load of voters until the end of the voting, i think 18 votes for 16 submissions is a bit err.. insufficient.

__________________
--lastfuture

a good way to figure out which is best is put them all on your /cd mp3 player and listen to nothing else for a week

18 votes/16 entries. hmm how many members are we? : o

Mmmm good compo,congratulations to all the musicians!!
…but I think there are 2 or 3 tunes I like…

…TAIKA KIM: yes it’s another good work from finland ,I think his sounds are very different than others because the accuracy of every synths make the song really professional and the arrangements are very good!!!
…NOLWENN:wow I’m very impressed by the drum loop work,but I think the song it’s a bit repetitive…anyway I like it!!
…LAST FUTURE:haaaa!!!i remember when I was a beginner with the amiga protracker!!!i love this kind of songs but in this time I want to make dance tune….!(…Mmmm…!!!)… I like this song!!!

…but I’d like to mention..HAZE and RHINO good tunes!!!

!!Sorry for my English!!

#MfM#

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quote:

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Original by alk
18 votes/16 entries. hmm how many members are we? : o

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-yes i agree but for the moment i don't want to vote!!!
....because i'm very confused there are many good tunes and i don't know.....??!!!??!!

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MERRY XMAS to the psyclers all around the world!!!



#MfM#

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Thanks MfM for liking my tune and also for the xmas greetings.

hope you all have had a nice time and got cool presents.

__________________
--lastfuture

i'm quite surprised that at this time no-one voted for Taďka-Kim's song...

maybe it's because of the heavy cpu usage...


edit : there are other songs which have strangely no votes yet

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@ksniod on twitter

maybe u have reason ksn. because Psycle crashes for me when listening Kim's one. I'll have to dl the .mp3 or .ogg.

This time is being really hard to vote for me.......

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Am i going to be the same next year???? Will i use Psycle next years?? :rolleyes:

the votes are strange indeed ... i think some with many votes haven't deserved it while others with few votes surely would

for crashing and such... i have no more problems listening to them... i rendered them all to wav anyway

__________________
--lastfuture

oh, Kim's one is really good. Though i've not voted it. Incredible that is has 0 votes.

btw., how is it possible (or why) render to wav works perfectly and when listening psycle crash???

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Am i going to be the same next year???? Will i use Psycle next years?? :rolleyes:

Funny, RENDERING to wav made it crash for me, but recording playback, turning off my speakers and watching the simpsons while I wait, gave me something I could listen to...

And yes, Kim's song is good, but not the best IMHO... it is very well produced, but stylistically it was not my thing. The crying sound at the beginning was a little piercing to my ears, and at the end (around 8:58 ) there seemed to be a little too much resonance feedback causing a very hollow, wet sound. Although I think that it fits the song itself, it was enough for me to slide it over to my zBad folder after my third or 4th listening, but it was DEFINETLY one of those songs that made me feel REALLY guilty about putting it in a folder called bad, because the middle of the tune (about 7 minutes worth) is gold... The CPU usage may have been a factor, but not intentionally...I tried to keep that seperate from my decision as much as possible...

If I could give a most surprising entry, I'd gave to say Aymes' Ice Stations.... I'm usually not a huge fan of chip-like tunes, but this one was wonderful... The song is upbeat, and well balanced. It has chip-style synths, but none of the leads really jump into the realm of screechy, and none of the bass or drums really sound like someone farting in a can... After a few listens I was hearing past the chip-ness...which I think is what makes a good chip tune - but ultimately it was the lack of realistic sounding instruments that made me choose otherwise...

For most interesting genre to be applied to psycle, I'd have to say Haze's track won... I'm not sure what this is, because it's got a jazzy lead, a bassline that reminds me of funk at times, while still holding on to it's electronic roots, and pop sensibility... I'm sure I've heard stuff like this before, but I can't place it in one genre... Ultimately though, the reason it didn't get my vote was that it was slightly repetitive sounding, and the flaws of the snare are evident at the beginning of the tune. there's a funny little pitch to it that tends to blend in to the song once the rest of the instruments kick in. (See how picky I had to get to find a winner? )

I'd love to mention more about all the entries, including the reasons I voted against some of the other really good tunes, and why I voted the way I did... But I don't feel like testing the boundaries of the message board regarding post length... 16 songs to comment on is a lot, and I'm finding myself listening to the songs I mentioned in here about 3 or 4 times over in order to remember what I liked and disliked about them. There's just not enough time to put it all down in words...

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I thought you beat the inevitability of death to death, just a little bit...

Over-all impressions for compo #4

We all could take a lesson from lastfuture about dynamics and orchestration. He did a fantastic job, and he richly deserves my first place vote, even though the top three positions were all very strong contenders for the number one spot. Hell, I'd say the top six contenders would be hard to choose between if I were any less geeky. Taika-Kim shows us what psycle's effects can do, and I show off what it can do without bogging down the CPU...

The array of disparate styles is impressive, and strong showings from a lot of different genres probably made judging a little tough for those of us with strong style preferences. I was particularly impressed with Reb909's style choice.

All in all I'd say this compo probably produced the best tracks to date, but I must say that all of us need to keep working. None of us scored perfectly in more than one category, though some of you came very close. Keep psycling. Merry Christmas, Happy Newyear, and all that jazz.

I just want to emphasize that, while these songs are rated highest to lowest, there were no bad entries in this contest. Nothing I heard made me want to turn it of and tell the creator to give up, because he just plain sucks at making music. I am very impressed with the level of skill and talent that turns up to enter the psycledelic contests. To those who scored lower than others, I want you to know that I consider top40 radio to be "average" and on my current scale of 0-45, most of the top 40 radio hits currently winning Grammy's would have earned between 20 and 30 points on my scale. Hold your heads high. You should all be proud.

- Eric



Lastfuture - Reincarnate

4 Structure
5 Dynamics
4 Rhythm
4 Melody
4 Harmonic Progression
4 Style
4 Technical Production
4 Atmosphere
4 Over-all impression
37/45

Comments:
Very nicely done. The only perfect score for dynamics. A LOT of us could learn from this track. Take a listen and pay attention to the way the over-all loudness of the song changes over time. This song also has the best arrangement work by far.

The percussion was well placed and fairly well mixed, but IMO, some of it sounded a little dry, and could have used a little more sparkle and dynamic flair. I would have run it through a modulated filter and done some panning tricks and a little delay, but perhaps that's just me...

My only other criticism is that this song could have used some non-tonal ambient effects. Some well-placed sound effects would have changed both the atmosphere and over-all impression scores to fives, for a dramatic showing of 39/45.


Rhino - Train Track

4 Structure
4 Dynamics
4 Rhythm
4 Melody
4 Harmonic Progression
4 Style
4 Technical Production
4 Atmosphere
4 Over-all impression
36/45

Comments:
This is my kind of music. Very nicely done. As you can see, high marks in every category. All you're missing is some icing on the cake. A few non-tonal sound effects to add just a little more flavor and this beautiful song could become a dilvie favorite. Missed the perfect dynamics score because some of the notes could have used a little more expression tuning (0Cxx, or some volume tweaking), especially in terms of matching the excitement of the harmonic progressions (for instance, the vibrasynth in pattern 16). Still, very strong showing. Excellent work!


Alk - Dawn on Europa

4 Structure
4 Dynamics
3 Rhythm
4 Melody
4 Harmonic Progression
4 Style
3 Technical Production
4 Atmosphere
4 Over-all impression
34/45

Comments:
Great style, great melody, over-all, a job very well done.


Taika-Kim - Talvenkulma

3 Structure
3 Dynamics
4 Rhythm
4 Melody
3 Harmonic Progression
4 Style
4 Technical Production
5 Atmosphere
4 Over-all impression
34/45

Comments:
Whatever computer you're using, I want one! My CPU just couldn't take all those effects. I'm rendering to wave on this one. Here's hoping it comes out all-right. Just a suggestion to save CPU power: I see a whole lot of chorous, reverb, and delay plugins. Generally, these are the types of plugins that you can share between a lot of different instruments. It's possible to control the levels of each effect individually for each instrument once you master your signal path. Check out my primer on the psycle tips board.

Entrants, make a note -- the only perfect score for Atmosphere. See if you can figure out why.

I honestly thought about docking production points for wasting resources that you didn't need to waste, but you did a really good job otherwise, and I couldn't bring myself to judge on anything other than the quality of the song itself.

The song itself gets very high marks for nearly everything. It would have scored higher, but it didn't seem to progress harmonically. It just repeated itself almost endlessly, but it did it so beautifully, I couldn't dock points for it. Unfortunately, I couldn't add points for it either. Today's pop listeners just can't wait five minutes for a song to start moving.

If this song had moved and progressed better, and made better use of dynimcs, it could have achieved a perfect score. Still, a very strong showing, regardless. I imagine this will take favorite for several listeners.

BTW, what was the length limit on the contest? Just asking... A minute and a half or so could be trimmed off the beginning of this song for the better, I believe.


more reviews follow...

__________________
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http://www.dilvie.com

Aymes - Ice Station

4 Structure
4 Dynamics
3 Rhythm
4 Melody
4 Harmonic Progression
4 Style
3 Technical Production
3 Atmosphere
4 Over-all impression
33/45

Comments:
A very cheery, nostalgic entry with great harmonic progression and structure. Docked on production primarily because there was WAY too much bassy reverb on the percussion, which dragged the tone down considerably. A high pass filter on the drum signals going into the reverb could have improved the score by a point. Little details can make a big difference in a contest with so many quality entries.


Dub3000 - Pixel

3 Structure
3 Dynamics
4 Rhythm
4 Melody
4 Harmonic Progression
4 Style
3 Technical Production
3 Atmosphere
4 Over-all impression
32/45

Comments:
The only reason I held off giving the harmonic progression a five instead of a four was because better leading tones could have been used in a couple of spots. The harmonic progression was very creative -- the best so far. Fantastic stuff. I'm VERY impressed.

Sadly, this tune couldn't win because it is OBVIOUSLY unfinished, but I love it so much that I would really like to hear the finished piece when it's done. As a matter of fact, I'd probably even like to re-mix it when it's done. Great work.

Technically, it needs a little work... some of the sounds need to pop out of the mix a little bit better. A little more shimmer would have scored you an extra point. Still, a very good showing for a piece that isn't even complete.


Reb909 - Sexy Style

3 Structure
2 Dynamics
4 Rhythm
3 Melody
4 Harmonic Progression
4 Style
4 Technical Production
4 Atmosphere
4 Over-all impression
32/45

Comments:
Simply beautiful. Three complaints: Too short, no dynamics, and a little too much swimming in delay.


MfM - #fly#

4 Structure
4 Dynamics
3 Rhythm
4 Melody
3 Harmonic Progression
3 Style
3 Technical Production
3 Atmosphere
4 Over-all impression
31/45

Comments:
Help me! Drowning in freeverb! Actually, the production is quite good, but there is way too much reverb on the snare. Try running the snare signal through a high-pass before you send it to the reverb chamber of death.

I really enjoyed this song, but I really wanted to hear a little more variation -- especially in terms of orchestration... I would have loved to hear some different instruments take over the lead theme and play with it a bit. A key change would have been fantastic. This song is really good, but it could have been great, and as long as it isn't, I can't give it the top marks it should get.


Dilvie - The Misadventures of the Purple Sine

3 Structure
4 Dynamics
3 Rhythm
4 Melody
3 Harmonic Progression
3 Style
3 Technical Production
3 Atmosphere
4 Over-all impression
30/45

Comments:
I like the effects in this piece, and the interplay between the different parts. I should have used a bass sound that differed more significantly from the texture of the rest of the song. It would have added a lot to the over-all sound of the piece. I also should have done a lot more harmonic variation and playing with the primary theme to extend the life of the piece. As it is, it's great for a few listens, but it starts to get old quickly.

I'd say this song shows off what psycle is capable in terms of signal processing. I had a lot of fun exploring what I could do with the native effects -- and so far I'm not finding a whole lot of barriers. Who needs VST's?


still more to come ...

__________________
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http://www.dilvie.com

KarLKoX - Sadness

3 Structure
3 Dynamics
3 Rhythm
3 Melody
2 Harmonic Progression
2 Style
3 Technical Production
4 Atmosphere
3 Over-all impression
28/45

Comments:
FastVerb got replaced with the dummy plugin. Aren't we all using the official release for these compos? Sorry if it hurts your production score, Karl, but I can't see a way around this. If I replaced the reverb with a reverb I set up, it wouldn't be your production I'd be scoring.

It took me a minute to get into this track, but once I did, I really liked it. The rhythm could have been more creative, and there could have been some better use of dynamics. I also would have liked to have heard some more harmonic progression, but maybe that's just my classical background speaking.


Ploppy - 2babyhands

3 Structure
2 Dynamics
2 Rhythm
4 Melody
3 Harmonic Progression
4 Style
3 Technical Production
4 Atmosphere
3 Over-all impression
28/45

Comments:

I really like the percussion sounds and the synth work, but the chord progression is too common and you never actually went anywhere with it. I kept expecting it to do something interesting, and it just never happenned. This song would drive me bonkers after just a few listens, which is a real shame, because I love the style, and this really could have been a contender. It sounds to me like it was primarily a case of writer's block that did you in.


Liquidboy - The World Between Worlds

2 Structure
3 Dynamics
3 Rhythm
3 Melody
3 Harmonic Progression
4 Style
2 Technical Production
4 Atmosphere
3 Over-all impression
27/45

Comments:
If I was scoring titles, this would have got points for that. The intro is really cool, but as the song moves on, things start to happen that sound a lot like you've just openned up some machines and used the random values feature. There are clicks that don't sound pleasant at all. Most of the sounds are cool, but those clicks are simply annoying, and could have been avoided.

In case you're wondering about your points for melody and harmonic progression, 3 is the nominal level for all of my scoring. I didn't dock you because they didn't really apply much to your piece. I really enjoyed some of the ambient sounds you created, but nothing struck me as terribly original. These are all sounds I've heard before, and while the presentation was nice, it wasn't genius.

For future reference, you could have scored a lot higher if you'd been much more creative with the effects processing and created a more lively soundscape.


Nolwenn - Tribal Sex

2 Structure
1 Dynamics
4 Rhythm
2 Melody
2 Harmonic Progression
4 Style
4 Technical Production
3 Atmosphere
4 Over-all impression
26/45

Comments:
Help! Drowning in reverb! It's fairly cool, but just a little bit over the top, perhaps. I really like some of the percussion sounds. Good stuff. I really disliked the complete lack of anything remotely resembling dynamics. High marks on technical production, but only because the sounds were creative and the the presence was effective. Over-all, this is not a song I will listen to more than twice, but it's not a bad attempt, either. Keep it up. Don't be afraid to experiment a little more with notes, even if you use them mainly as effects and ambience (as is common in hard-hitting dance styles).


Andyk - Different Forest

3 Structure
2 Dynamics
3 Rhythm
3 Melody
3 Harmonic Progression
2 Style
3 Technical Production
3 Atmosphere
3 Over-all impression
25/45

Comments:
This song did a fairly good job setting up an atmosphere at the beginning, but it quickly lost my attention before anything terribly interesting happened in the harmonic progression. By the time things got interesting, I didn't care about the song anymore. For future reference, some of the production problems I noticed were that there was way too much reverb used on some of the lead parts, the kick had a bit too much resonance for the style of the piece, and the structure lacked dynamic movement.

Dynamic movement is very important -- there should be parts of the song that are loud, and parts that are more quiet. Give the listener a break from the droning chords now and then. Change things up. Do something to break the monotony. Over-all, the song is a worthy entry for a beginner. Keep practicing, and you're sure to make waves in the future.


D-503 - Halajaba'88

2 Structure
3 Dynamics
2 Rhythm
4 Melody
3 Harmonic Progression
3 Style
2 Technical Production
2 Atmosphere
3 Over-all impression
24/45

Comments:
There was no technical production to speak of. Where are the effects? The whole mix was far too dry for the style of the piece. Every second of the song left me thinking, "so much wasted potential! This song just isn't finished!"

Admit it, D-503 -- you submitted a WIP. Finish it and enter it next time, and I'll improve my ratings. I know you can do better than this.


Haze - Hungry

2 Structure
2 Dynamics
2 Rhythm
3 Melody
3 Harmonic Progression
4 Style
3 Technical Production
3 Atmosphere
3 Over-all impression
24/45

Comments:
This song could have scored much higher if it had better dynamics. Unfortunately, it maintained a near-peaking sound level the entire time. Dynamics are important, guys -- probably the most important part of music production. All your good style, melody, arpegios and chord progressions go to waste if the song puts me to sleep.

Speaking of chord progressions, the chords in patterns 09, 0B, and 0E could have been a little bit better. When you're building your chords, remember to choose every note carefully. You have the backing chords DFA, BDG, CEG (spelled backwards in your pattern). That's great. Those notes would normally sound fine on their own, but in the context of your song, it would probably sound better if you changed that second chord to CDG (yes, a major second, I know it's dissonant, but it's resolved in the next chord change).

It's a better choice for a couple reasons: First, the instrument you're using there contains very loud harmonics that act like chord tones in your song, so you have to take those into account, and the chord that's created when you mix in the melody line with your original chords doesn't sound pretty. Second, using CDG actually creates a good sounding dissonance that gets resolved nicely when the next chord comes along, and the new chord (CDG) has two common tones with CEG, so the chord change is smoother. Try it out. I think you'll find that it changes an awkward passage into a pleasant one.

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