Score: 9

"Cheerful, light, and fun!"

submission: Tour de Afterlife (Orchestra)

date: April 8, 2009

A fun piece for certain, and you have a lot of great ideas here!

I'd recommend trying to line up parts a bit better- sometimes entrances felt offer and was a bit disconcerting. That said, the melodies were wonderful, as were their harmonies. A charming arrangement, and well done.

Keep up the great work camman!
9/10
5/5
If you have the time, I'd love your thoughts on my latest piece, ST Suspence!

Score: 9

"Fast worker!"

submission: Dj_tonic - The Strength Within

date: April 8, 2009

You are a fast worker! I really enjoyed the piano sprinkled throughout (I'm a sucker for a piano). The gradual entrance of the synth was very smooth, so I was never startled by a new addition to the piece.

I felt as though the beat wasn't quite as strong as it could've been- I'd experiment with emphasizing the 2 and 4. It is a bit cliche, but for a good reason. An alternative would be to emphasize just 2 or just 4. It'd give it a much slower feel, but you may find it to be a nice addition. Worth a try, at least!

Keep up the great work!
5/5

If you have time, I'd love to hear your ideas about my latest track, ST Suspense!

Score: 9

"SolusLunes!"

submission: Solus- Ninth Garden

date: April 8, 2009

Hey, long time no review! Beautiful choice of instruments. I love the harp in the background throughout, it helps keep the piece together without large gaps. I really like the use of colorful chords- it creates a mystical, serene sound.

I'd try extending the final chord out a bit, and have it fade out more gradually. Other than that, all I can suggest is that you keep experimenting with new sounds because it's creating some beautiful music!

Score: 8

"Nice start-"

submission: [DX] Fight

date: April 8, 2009

This is a great start to a rock piece. The progression is simple, yet catchy. It feels a little barren, however. It sounds like it could use some vocals over the riffs, or even a rhythm guitar part. If you add that you'll have a dynamite piece!

Keep up the good work!

If you have the time, I'd love to hear your opinion on my latest piece, ST Suspense!

Score: 9

"Great Imagination!"

submission: Batman's Pain

date: April 8, 2009

I see a lot of ideas throughout the piece, which is great! There are a few places where it sounds like you have some clashing notes. One instance is right at the beginning at 0:16, where the bass resolves but the upper voices dont. I'd recommend delaying the bass resolution to help keep things nice and smooth. The trumpet lines also have a few clashing notes, but overall things are sounding very good.

I loved the dissonance at 1:17! I hear a little Zimmer inspiration sprinkled throughout, which makes for an interesting twist to the classic Batman theme. Great job!

If you have the time, I'd love it if you could give me your thoughts on my latest track!

Score: 10

"Bravo!"

submission: Morning Adventure

date: April 6, 2009

Much more musically interesting than most of your other works. You have an amazing imagination, and your ability to handle the orchestra is great.

2:13- Staccato articulation felt a bit too abrupt in the Clarinet- I'd try considering making that first staccato instance slightly less short. Also, more pizzicato during that quiet section could work wonders. I think I hear it in the cellos, but I'd consider trying to have one of the violin sections pizzing the staccato points for added emphasis. Nothing really I can complain about, all just little preference things!

A suggestion- to help heighten the piece, I'd consider a key change. 4:13 would be a perfect spot for it- a classic modulation is moving up a half step, but you could get much more creative and use a number of different changes there. You'd probably want to find a way back to the original key for the ending, but that's all part of the adventure :)

Again, all preference things. I would look into modulation though, regardless of whether you use it here. It is a wonderful tool to have in your arsenal!

Keep up the wonderful work Denny!

Score: 10

"Nice Work!"

submission: Chorale in D Minor - Jeff Heim

date: March 4, 2009

Loved the soprano melody- at 0:08! One of the most lyrical chorales I've heard (you always have been great with voice leading work!) You should try turning your Chorale into a brass quartet- I've found that four part chorales sounds pretty nice in a standard brass quartet setting.

5/5!

Score: 9

"Strong ideas!"

submission: _-={Lords of Legend}=-_

date: March 4, 2009

The ideas here are very strong, and it is clear the emotion you are trying to bring through. LadyArsenic sounds wonderful as always, great job!

The piece sounds very cluttered, though. You're relying too much on block chords for parts and aren't paying attention to how each individual note moves. Also- I'd brush up on inversions and the different strength each has. Throughout the vocals at the beginning everything was in an inversion, which made the orchestration sound pretty unstable. Bring in a Double Bass or Tuba to carry the root of the chords (your D minor chords are extremely important- the bass should try and play D during these moments to provide a firm foundation for the piece whenever possible), and eliminate one or two of the middle brass voices and your arrangement will sound much, much clearer!

Remember to try and spread out the notes across the register of the orchestra to keep the piece sounding full, and uncluttered. Keep up the good work!

Score: 9

"Very busy music, nice job!"

submission: _-={A Dark Cut}=-_

date: October 19, 2008

It's been a while since I left you a review, so I figured I'd drop by and leave my 2 cents! :)

There's a lot going on in here, which is nice to hear. You still need to watch out for clashing notes, though. One really noticeable example is at 0:58- 1:00, where you have the 7th of the scale (te) in the voilins, and the #7th (ti) of the scale in the french horn playing at the same time (which results in a minor second interval). This is VERY dissonant sounding, I'm pretty sure it's not what you want in this setting. I'd recommend modifying the voilin part to play ti instead of te, which will give it more push into the resolution at 1:00.

I'm pretty sure these dissonances are a result of sloppy editing. I know you've got a very good ear, so they probably weren't intentional. I think what happens is when you copy and paste parts, you push through and forget to make modifications to a copied part when it's needed. What I'd do is start isolating parts and play them together. For instance, mute ALL percussion, and start to play melodic parts together. If you play just the violins and french horn at 0:58 for example, I'm sure you'll hear that big dissonance, because nothing will be able to cover it up.

Keep it up Chuck, it's great to see you experimenting with different sounds and instrument combinations!

Score: 9

"Very great production quality"

submission: Entering the Stronghold

date: October 17, 2008

The production quality of this is top-notch. You've got a fine mastery of your mixes. Kudos!

I'd try to expand your chordal variety- the majority of the piece is i VI vii, which starts to get old after a few reps. It's really easy to get sucked into that tried and true progression that works on the masses, but you won't improve yourself by using it.

All in all, an excellently mastered track. Great job!