HoboKa: +++|+++|+|+++| (10) just64helpin: ++| (2) xGx: ++|+|+|+|+|+| (7) Ubernym: ++|+++|+|+|+| (8) Blue.Nocturne: ++|+|+|+++|+|+++|+|+++| (15) quia: +|+| (2) Ross Birdsall: ++|+|+| (4) Nario: (0) Zephyr Tread: ++|+|+++|+++|+| (10) ------- Abadoss ------- First place: HoboKa Honorable mentions: Blue.Nocturne and Zephyr Tread ------- Psychog13 (xGx) ++ ------- HoboKa - This was a nice piece, well for a vampire disco-tech. Very nice start with the sounds and the pipe organ/choir. The percussion sounded really nice, but it mainly comprised of 2 short loops with a few fills. Could of added to them maybe? The bassline sounded awsome but i thought that the first time it appeared at 1:16 it was maybe too loud over the main spooky pipe organ where as in the rest of the song it was drawn back a bit and the pipe organ got louder, not really sure if it worked as well as it could. I really liked the breathy/pad build up noise at 1:55 I think it sounded very nice. I liked the piece dude, im sorry I cant really be more contructive in my thoughts though, i am trying. just64helpin - Not sure the bouncy bassline really worked at the start for spookiness. at 1:04 the song takes a turn around though and really creates an atmosphere which I really liked. Quite alien sounding and a sence of uncertainty added a nice touch of suspence to the piece I just feel that you should of went somewhere with it :( Good stuff though :) Ubernym - This piano piece captures an eeriee atmosphere perfectly I think, great suspence in the quite parts and when its gets going you can almost feel fear. Cant offer any constructive crititisim to this though Blue.Nocturne - Wow, this piece.... wow. Captures a very childish, playful ghosty house with perfection. Loved the strings at 0.34 and that backing noise that accompaied them. Tried hard not to assosate this piece with such things as 'Harry Potter' as the piece moved on. It seemed to lean towards more of a fantasy and magical direction in places rather than a possibly scary/haunted place but more of somewhere filled with wonder and awe. I cant critisice the piece at all though cause its just so good. Possibly a winner but at the very least, definatly deserving of an honor. p.s. what is that program?! sounds totally awsome. quia - This piece had some pretty epic parts that I really liked and some very awsome sounds that were very cheesy (which is a good thing). I speak of the falling strings at 0:35, and 0:56. the lead noise at 1:10 was in a word, awsome. The lightning strike at 0:58 was nice and the laughing at 1:35 was amasing/amusing, nicely added. Loved the build up near the end at 1:52 but wasnt too found of how it ended. I had a few little personal dislikes with this piece. The bassline at 0.25 seemed to break the eerieness until 0:40, thought it was a bit much just for that short moment. Wasn't at all found of the hard snare drum before 1:00 was too strong, I think it would of worked better if it came in quietly in short rollls or somthing? I thought however after that point the percussion writing was flawless though. Closed hi-hat sound level maybe a touch too high though? Either way miles better than mine and definatly, in my opinion, worthy of honors! Ross Birdsall - I can't even think of how much time and effort you must of put into your piece. The very first 20 seconds started really well with a slow spooky build up which felt like a sence of 'not knowing what was around every corner'. After that It suddenly become very busy and there are lots of things happening but is this really the atmosphere of fear/terror/uncertainty or an epic escape/chase scene? It felt like you were aiming to make peoples heart race through-out from start to finsh, a never ending feeling of needing to move with this piece of endless suspence. The energy I felt from listening to this was just fantastic however I really liked it just didnt think it fit the scene too well. Could of fit to many things but the purcussion (gongs/toms/woodblocks/cowbells) made me think of a dark tribal temple with an indianna jones boulder escape or a savage horde of cannibals chasing you with spears It was very well written though dude im not critisising it for its writing at all, just the overall atmosphere it made me feel. Doesnt feel like haunted house Sorry if that seems harsh. At the end of the day its a very good piece. Nario - I felt like there was an endless waiting game, a great sorrow, deep depression. I wanted to cry it was pulling my heart strings so strongly but personally I didnt see a haunted house in there. I think you captured a great feeling, just the wrong one for the brief. Cant say anything bad about the piece for its composition it was really good, But Im sorry dude if overall this seems really negative. Zephyr Tread - ...quite possibly on an alien planet? What i mean by that is the lead sounds sounded a bit sci-fi but thats ok because it works, to a certain degree. What I think brought the writing down was the drums, i mean the clicking metronome was an awsome touch, it added suspence to the spooky and unknowingness that the lead brought but the kit playing a straight rock beat really killed any atmostphere your strange intruments created. Because of that im kind of 50/50 on this one. I think without the kit this is a fantastic piece, im especically a big fan of the reversed strings that start at 1:36, now that is some scary stuff that i didnt notice was used in anyother piece and sounds fantastic so well done on that. Yet again sorry if this seems negative, i like the piece but cant put what other things I like about the piece into words. Either way a good bash! First place: Ubernym Honorable mentions: Blue.Nocturne and quia ------- Bundeslang ------- Hoboka - Weird beginning, I don't like the first section. I like the beat which comes in at 0:47. After a while (around 1:30) there's too much in the song, too many samples. I don't like the noisy background around 2:10. The song ends noisy as well. Still, I like the lead. Just64helpin - The song is very calm, done by the synthetic sampling. The song is a bit short, not much happends, the song is a long built up. xGx - Good start, it's very dark. I like the ghost vocals you've added. The song is a bit short, but I like what you have done. I miss an ending. Ubernym - Piano starts playing, on a nice way. It's the only thing in the song, I don't like the louder notes around 1:55, but it adds something. I like the way you variates between those parts. The ending is a bit direct. Blue Nocturne - Nice start, I like the background very much. The song's continuing very nice, I like the balance. The part around 1:30 is excellent. quia - I like the start, I like the beat which comes in at 0:50 but not the way how it comes in. There are some weird 'silence parts' in the song, like around 1:07. I don't like those. Ross Birdsall - Very calm beginning, I don't like it very much. I like the section after it, it's really exiting and promesing. I like the 'change' at 1:59, the variation is good. The ending is too different from that part. Nario - The piano is playing on a nice way, but there are some 'errors' in the song. The song misses some addition to it, and a real ending. Zephyr Threat - I hate that lead in the beginning, very irritating. I like the part after that is over, there's a nice balance in that part. The bass comes in at a nice way. The ending has some horrible samples as well. First place: Blue Nocturne Honorable mentions: xGx and Ross Bridsall ------- jars ------- HoboKa - Stayed the most on topic imo without falling prey to the classical theme. xGx - The only one to correctly set the mood of the classic theme. First place: HoboKa Honorable mentions: xGx ------- 4MalletCapricorn (Ross Birdsall) ++ ------- HoboKa - I generally enjoyed your piece quite a lot, and your storyline made me laugh. I think your drumbeat could've been a little more creative though, and not been so redundant. just64helpin - I think you achieved your goals very well, and I think you wrote an excellent piece, however I suppose from a piece about a haunted mansion I was listening for a slightly more energetic part, a fearful, adrenaline kinda thing. You did create a lot of suspense however. xGx - I love the sound effects used in your piece, the laughter and the thunder and everything. The balance of the low synth part with the high piano voice was excellent, it gave me chills! I think I would've enjoyed some more texture change somewhere in the piece though there was some already. Ubernym - Chopin's Ghost, great concept! I really liked your melody, I could very easily picture a giant dusty room with a grand piano playing itself... I really liked the texture change in the middle section, but I feel like I sort of lost sight of the spooky feel just a little bit there. Blue.Nocturne - I really liked your piece, you captured your storyline perfectly with the music. quia - Good piece, I liked the suspense you created, It created anxiety, a good thing for a haunted house piece! There were pats that sounded very random though, which might be what you were going for, and that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Nario - A good piece, I liked the progression, however I would've enjoyed some more texture change. I'm not really sure what else to say. Good writing! Zephyr Tread - When I began listening to your piece I was dubious, but I soon found my head nodding to the beat, and for the rest of the day I couldn't get your song out of my head! When listening to it, I found that you captured the haunted theme very well, and It gave me goosebumps! Excellent! First place: Zephyr Tread Honorable mentions: Blue.Nocturne, Ubernym, xGx, and HoboKa ------- Zephyr Tread ++ ------- HoboKa - Not a musical intro, but haunting none the less, I think your organ lines could use a little work mainly from a melodic point of view. I like the processing you put on the drums, I love the harsh synth, goes really well with the filtering. I really like the song right up to the 2:10 section, the semi-random organ mixed with a muddle of other sounds just gets confusing and loses a bit of musical edge, I would have been fine if it cut off right at 2:10. I also found the extra cymbal hit at the end rather odd. just64helpin - I like the beginning, it's very mellow, but still creepy, it reminds me a lot of the monkey island series. Just enough melody line to keep going, the phone and piano are a nice touch. I would have preferred that this were more an intro to a larger song, but hey, this is just a small scale internet competition right? Overall, nice Job. xGx - Good heartpounding atmosphere in the start, and the piano drops in very nicely. I'm not sure where you got the laughing but they're good samples. A very creepy song, but a tad bit short. Nice job. Ubernym - Very nice Dynamics, very interesting song aswell. It has a good melody that fits the theme and is nicely written. Good Job. Blue.Nocturne - Really like what you've done for this whole thing, this wouldn't normally be very haunting, but the ambience adds that effect. I don't have a lot to say, but I really like the change around 1:20. What orchestral samples/soundfonts do you use? They're really nice. Good job. quia - Lots going on at most times which is good, it could have been a little more structured around the beat that you sometimes have going. I like the synth you use in the second half. I feel the song could of had a little more direction as well. Ross Birdsall - Nice story, and good attempt at musical imagery. I like the change at 2:00, it represents the story part well. Overall I think the song could have been a little creepier. Interesting choice of instruments aswell. Nice dramatic ending. Nario - Interesting to see 2 piano remixes this time round, its a nice song and it sounds good and flows well, but could probably be a little bit more elaborate or have some sort of accompanient. Also, a somewhat unfinished sounding ending, but nice job on the composition. First place: Blue.Nocturne Honorable mentions: Ross Birdsall, Ubernym, and xGx ------- Anonymous ++ ------- First place: Zephyr Tread Honorable mentions: Blue.Nocturne and Ubernym ------- Ubernym ++ ------- Blue.Nocturne - I especially enjoyed your piece, it felt very reminiscent of the classic RPGs of the 16 bit era, which is AWESOME. First place: Blue.Nocturne Honorable mentions: xGx ------- Blue.Nocturne ++ ------- HoboKa - I'm really impressed with you this time. The beginning was very interesting and set the mood completely. Your style helps you a lot in this type of genre, and the middle part set the atmosphere quite well. Although, toward the end it was getting a tad repetitive, I would hope to see more progression in future songs. You tend to be repetitive. just64helpin - Seems too much of a haunted cavern because of the dropping noises in the background. The synths are pretty cool and I like how it is light and dense at the same time. If it was more haunted house oriented, it would have had a much better chance. xGx - There was a strange pop at the beginning, but I can let that go. This would go great with a movie, but is really bland by itself. This one was the best in terms of creating a scary atmosphere, but without visual aid it's a bit weak. Although I found your sound effect placement completely brilliant and perfect for a scary scene. Ubernym - I like how it is live piano, but I feel it lacks power being solely piano. There were good parts, especially toward the end, but also some parts seem to be in discord. It does a creepy touch being that way, but it seemed a bit too much. quia - I really like the overall creativeness of this piece. It has hints of a Castlevania type of song and it fits it quite well. In terms of synth creativeness, this one takes the cake. It was random, but random done right, at least for the most part. It could have been stronger, but it was very entertaining. Ross Birdsall - I feel it is a very interesting interpretation, but it's a bit too off the wall in my opinion. Haunted marching bands are quite odd... Certainly this is the most unique out of all the entries, very nice ideas throughout the piece. Nario - Very emotional and a great job with the piano work. There were some odd glitches occasionally, but other than that, great job with the overall tone. It would have done much better if it was more haunted house oriented, it seemed like a more generic sad moment. Zephyr Tread - I love the portamento effects at the beginning, although I would have liked the high EQ to be set lower, since the pitch sorta hurt. It really captured the mood of a haunted house and it kept my interest. The reverse piano at the end got a little bit annoying, because of the initial "ping" of piano, when reversed, it makes it sound draggy when played. Overall though, well done both thematically and in terms of keeping interest. First place: HoboKa Honorable mentions: quia and Zephyr Tread