WMR (Reviews [week #01]) __ __ __ | \ __ ______/ |_ | | | o \ | | | / o | \ |o | | \| o| |o _/ | o\ []=======| |==| \ |=| |/ | \========[] []=======| |==| \ |=| | |\ \=======[] []=======| |==| \|=| | |=\ \======[] :: | | | \ | | | / / :: :. | | | |\ \| | /| |/ / :: : | | |/\ | \ | |/ | | / : | | / \| |\ | | | | / :. | | / \ | \ | |__| | / .: :: | |/ \| \_| | |/ : :: | /\ | | __| |\ :: []=======| / \ |=| |==| | \==========[] []=======| /| \ |=| |==| | \=========[] []=======| /=| |\ |=| |==| | \========[] |o / | | \ o| |o | | |\ o\(mansooj) |_/ | o | \_| |__/ | o | \__/ |___| |___| (Originally compiled and added on November 11, 1996) (last updated 10.10.97) -----========================================----- -----================================================================----- "The Walls Are Crying" by Brokenheart of Sonic Fusion (16ch IT, 05:27) (sf-walls.zip [71K/98K]) [Ballad] Samples -----------------. Originality -------------. | Technical ---------. | | Composition -----. | | | Overall -. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ==================== Red Death 50- 50 20 -- 35 Rebriffer 45- 45 45 50 50 Peraphon 44+ -- -- -- 50 Shih Tzu 42+ 38 35 29 59 WolfSong 39= 44 40 61 48 Araneus 36- 40 -- 63 30 Fanta C 31+ 32 12 53 28 Mansooj 28= 25 -- 30 35 MING 15= 20 10 30 30 /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Fanta C ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ I'm sitting here, listening to this track thinking two things. Firstly, it's incredibly tiny. Secondly, how on earth am I supposed to tell the author it's dreadful without sounding patronising or insulting? Sometimes this job is plain hard. Hmmm. Over the past week, I've listened to this track quite a few times, not through choice; but simply because it was on the playlist, and I like to listen to my weekly review tracks for a few days before actually finalizing the text. After a week of listening I can safely say that this is not a good module. In its defense, it's not totally terrible--there is promise in the music. The tracking, however, is well below average. Firstly, there are 8 instruments in toto, four of them are percussion, one is an orchestra hit, one a bass and two are synth voices. As you may be able to guess, this combination wouldn't lend itself to a full sound, and it doesn't. The samples themselves are the embodiment of "electronica," and el-cheapo electronica at that. They are poor, for which there is no excuse; there are zillions of excellent samples available for those of us not fortunate enough to be able to produce our own high quality samples. Secondly, the composition is of the cut and paste variety. This, again, just isn't acceptable these days. When there are trackers such as Basehead, WolfSong, Karsten Koch, Ng Pei Sin and others (that could've been a very long list!), who all regularly produce very high quality work, tweaking almost every note, there is no reason why others should not follow their lead in an attempt to raise the quality of tracked music even further. This is a sure way of receiving good reviews. Cutting and pasting the rhythm section is a guaranteed way to get a bad reception. Finally, the music itself, whilst somewhat original, lacks development and progress. The idea of composition is to "grab" the listener and invoke emotions; capture the audience and don't let them go/fall asleep/switch off. This can be achieved by progressing the melody and through certain tricks of the trade that can only be fully mastered through study and practice. Such tricks may include composing and successfully merging two independent melodies rather than the normal one, fine bridge work, harmonizing, tempo swings, articulate percussion play...it's a long list, more succinctly described as "being creative." That, at the end of the day, is what it's all about--creativity. People like and easily recognise creativity because they learn things from it--and people like learning; they like exploring and finding out new things. The composer should offer that opportunity, and a good composer will. On top of that, a good tracker must also be a master of the software to be able to translate the composition from the somewhat random and analogue human domain to the timebased and rigid tracked domain. This is where the tweaking is mandatory. If this process is not understood, one ends up with a result similar to The Walls Are Crying--something mechanical and devoid of life. The world simply will not put up with music that doesn't sound professional. Standards are high and rising. My advice to any new tracker would be to suss the music first. Listen to albums. Listen for the production values, check out great producers. Then emulate them in your tracked work. It is possible. Conclusion: sorry, but it's a poor track. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Mansooj ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ This module's title coupled with what's 'inside' is such an incredibly easy target for a jokester's quip, I simply won't bother.... Read on. No lead in whatsoever. An immediate rough-landing into the basic sequence that defines this tune, no nice intro, no settling in period, nuthin'; quickly, unceremoniously, you are introduced to the track's few, emaciated inhabitants. The 'lead' instruments are a pair of synths, or more correctly, a pair of painfully dull, edging towards offkey voices sounding more like they belong in some cheesy 1989 Amiga 'horror'-style module than in what is expected by the sampletexts to be an emotional tribute. Those same strings often seem lazy-legged, as if they're just too tired to keep absolute strict pace with the prevailing tempo; this doesn't exactly allay their other already troublesome qualities. Granted, I suppose one could entertain the idea that these things could be intentionally reflective of the depression alluded to in the aforementioned sampletexts, but that would likely be giving more credit than is due (and I still doubt many would consider that validation for this result, anyway). Next: the percussion track. So exceedingly lacklustre (bass-snare-bbs+hihat), it actually almost manages to upstage the mediocrity of the synths which drone on an on in their whiny, irritating fashion, themselves dragging through the same phrases over and over again. Okay, let's quickly take stock here: We have a bass drum, a snare, a hihat, a couple similar-sounding synths, a couple other minor instruments so insignificantly used they get factored out for the most part, and...oh yes, a bass guitar. That one's usage packs enough energy to be just a bit less lively than the percussion track. This module also exemplifies the strange tracking concept of "stretching it till it snaps." It's nearly five and a half minutes long, and is, for all intents and purposes, over within the first thirty seconds, the remainder being nothing more than reiterations of essentially the same aspects. I believe it is beyond my imagination to derive what the point of doing this is. All it seems to accomplish, especially in a case like this, is to reinforce the drabness of the tune's basic elements. The composer's chosen nickname, Brokenheart, paired with the apparent motivation for this track seems suspiciously to imply that this may be his first and possibly only track, done up just for one specific purpose. If nothing else, it would help to explain how this piece ended up being the equivalent of a composing textbook chapter entitled "Don't Let This Happen to You!" I doubt a summation in the form of a recommendation is necessary.... /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ WolfSong ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Whew! If this is what it sounds like when the walls are crying, let's keep them happy, shall we? Usually the worse a song is, the more I feel these comments should be directed toward the composer in a helpful way so that it will be a help in improving his/her tracking skills, if that is indeed what they want to do. First, the composition itself isn't very interesting. There's a bass and drum track and a two part violin melody, and virtually nothing else. The drums are a one measure pattern that repeat through the entire song and *never* change; not even for a fill. The bass is a simple sine type sample that's too loud for the mix and very badly looped (so badly that when I got up to get a drink in the other room, I could still hear it looping in the quiet, muffled jumble it had become, being listened to through a few standard house walls). All the notes for the melody are trampled over and cut each other off resulting in a very rough-edged sound. Aside from the fade out at the end, there were practically no effects used at all. The piece is too repetitive and is too long. Now I know by reading the composer's song description that this song *was* indeed inspired (and believe me, after reading it I *hate* saying all these nasty things, but I have to be honest), but it sounds like someone just got bored and threw down a five-minute track. Considering this, I'm guessing we have a tracker in training here. Don't get me wrong, I think it's great! The world needs more good musicians, and for them to get good they have to practice. That's great too, only the practice isn't usually that great to *listen* to. So, to Brokenheart... Keep writing. Keep experimenting. Watch those looping samples. Throw in some character. Go crazy if you want. Keep at it and those walls will be crying in no time. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Shih Tzu ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Unless I miss my guess, the WMR ID designation "M001" indicates that this is the first module ever reviewed by the WMR. I suppose that's a good thing for the module, since I'm willing to bet that's the only time it was ever in the WMR Top 10. It would be difficult to track a five-and-a-half-minute long techno tune and only use six patterns. No matter how well you did it, eventually it would betray its underlying simplicity and repetitiveness. Carry this method over into the rock ballad genre and you've got real problems. The orchestration itself is not too shabby. The percussion never changes or shows any real spark of innovation, but at least it keeps the beat. The bass isn't fancy, but it succeeds in rounding out the tone while the violins carry the midrange and treble. There is nothing really terrible about the melodies; they fit reasonably well with the chords and they aren't monotonous in themselves. The monotony begins when pattern 5 plays four times, followed by pattern 6 four times, followed by another four cracks at pattern 5, and then maybe two runs of pattern 7 before we go back to pattern 5 a couple of times in preparation for pattern 6 again.... I don't really hate this song. What there is of it is relatively pleasant and it makes okay background music in that the second I turn it on my brain turns it off again. I just think that the composer shouldn't have taken an already underwhelming 45 seconds of music and stretched it out with his magic Order List wand. Writing five minutes of music quite simply requires a lot of hard work and determination. I should know. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Peraphon ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ This song is very much a ballad, imparting definite emotions of conflict, depression, sadness and longing. The song starts off with strings, bass and drums playing. The bass is a little overwhelming and loud, but it seems to fit in reasonably well with the song. The strings say a fair bit, mainly sticking to very lingering notes. A lot of the time, the strings sound a lot like a mournful sigh, and some of that time, the strings sounded a little discordant--a major turn-off. It could also be that this discordance is one of the ways of imparting the feelings of chaos and sadness. The samples used in this song are of a reasonable quality, although some of them need replacing. The strings could have been a lot better, especially since they are the main instrument of the song. The bass sounded reasonably good, although the sample volume could have been reduced a little. There was a bit of fuzziness in most of the samples, but I had to listen really hard to hear it. Some loop point reworking wouldn't go to waste, either, as there were some definite seams. The samples used are, however, highly appropriate to this style of song, although the song ends up sounding a little empty, as the composer has used samples that are either of a high pitch or a low pitch with nothing in the middle of the sound spectrum. Overall, the composer has shown me how depressed he was. Don't listen to this one if you're contemplating suicide...it'll make you do it. Plays well under Cubic 1.7 with the IT loader. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Araneus ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ As the title suggests, this isn't a song about winning the ball game, or finding a new 'significant other.' Yes, in fact, I *can* hear somebody crying in the background to the song, simply because this song seems to be able to accomplish that feat if the listener is in the right mood. A few complaints first, a major component (and problem) of this tune is the strings section. Mod composers should be careful when using this instrument, as the first problem I always hear is that they don't blend very well. Many string samples are recorded such that they have a strict beginning and end, so that the sample sounds rushed. In a song, they sound lifeless, because you can't play a violin like a piano, at an unvarying volume, and expect it to fly with vibrant life. This song makes that same mistake. In fact, all the instruments are generally lifeless because of lack of volume or change in tempo. And don't get me started about the repetition: There are only 10 orders for 37 patterns. Unless you're in a horrible mood, don't listen to this song. It didn't give *me* any good vibes. Of course, when I'm in the mood to throw furniture around, then I'll pull this one out of the archives. I guess I *can* give it some credit because it accomplished what the author inteded to convey--a feeling of sorrow and loss. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Rebriffer ]========----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Ahhh, a two hankie job at last!! You don't know how long it's been between tearjerkers in this modern techno world. As soon as I saw this, I prepared myself for a good old wallow in the slough of despond. I had gotten myself so emotionally charged that I'd even changed into my regulation Wallower's Wear especially for the occasion. Alas, t'was not terbe [That's "to be" for you non-Aliens -Boris]. C'mon, you cry, it had everything going for it! The cryin' walls, a brokenhearted composer and a sample note dedicating the track to 'Shannon'. I honestly don't mean to deny this composer the obvious pain this track is meant to display, but surely he could have made it less of a slog for the rest of us. It's a fairly relentless dirge enlivened only by the incessant whine of mosquitos making whoopee--or at least that is the closest I can come to a description of this tune's greatest problem. The one overriding thought I had was to maim, decimate, tear limb from limb *and* throttle each one of those irritatingly, mind-numbing high string parts. Believe me, Brokenheart, after a few bars those aforementioned terrors set my teeth on edge and never relaxed their grip until the song ended. Not exactly the experience I wanted. For that kind of terror, I'll go visit my dentist. /----------------------------------------------------\ )------------------------========[ MING ]========-------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ The walls are crying...so are my ears. And if I were Pulse (the guy who wrote Impulse Tracker) I'd be crying too. Drums, bass and strings in a ballad kinda song. Doesn't seem like anything to cry over, right? Believe me, I have my reasons. First, to explain my Pulse comment above, let me tell you about Impulse Tracker. In terms of technical finesse and output quality, Impulse Tracker is, shortly, the best tracker available on a PC. (Although FT2 is so closely trailing behind, it doesn't really matter which you use. Let's not start another stupid war of trackers here, shall we?) Knowing that, and then having to listen to something like this, makes you howl with despair. Why didn't Brokenheart use ModEdit or something instead? Then no one would care half as much that it sounds helplessly flat and dull. Second, the composition isn't much to boast about either. Boring drums and a rigid string riff topped by a boring and, from time to time, unharmonic melody. That's the whole thing, and my ears are still crying. This sad piece of a song is not even worth the effort of reading the reviews. Stop immediately. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Red Death ]========----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Chord selection is very lacking; it's obvious that the tracker is very inexperienced as is evidenced by the lack of effects and volume changes, a lack which tends to hurt the song quite a bit. Everything also falls on an even 4 beats, which makes the tune monotonous. I do like the bass sample, but the rest are nothing special, and the overused siner eventually gets annoying. The tune gets more interesting in the middle (order 19, or so), but by then I'm sick of the samples and the repetition. It's loud, repetitive, and a little irritating, but for all that, it's not so bad; the composer just needs some experience, and the tune, some variation. -----================================================================----- "Hold the Line" by Libertine of Simple (14ch XM, 03:30) (holdlin.zip [229K/507K]) [Funk/Jazz] Samples -----------------. Originality -------------. | Technical ---------. | | Composition -----. | | | Overall -. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ==================== Parallax 82+ 85 77 85 77 JuiCe 82+ 70 75 -- 80 Husanak 80+ 85 75 70 80 Shrift 80+ 75 55 70 70 ESP 78+ 80 70 70 65 Red Death 77= 71 74 -- 75 Skullsaw 50- 50 65 40 70 /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Husanak ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Hold The Line = This is AT&T please hold + this tune. (A pleasant sounding woman saying the AT&T thing over the tune.) Well at least that's what I expected. With a smile and my tongue firmly pressed against my cheek, I can say at least it ain't elevator music. Actually, this is a very nice piece of music. In terms of composition, this is an expertly laid out piece of music. Nice simple form intro, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, breakdown, etc. There's a refined chord structure backed by pleasant slap bass samples, a good organ, and some excellent guitar samples. If, however, you're looking for an original piece of music this might not be the tune you're longing to hear. This isn't a style I can say I've heard in a lot of modules but it's not as experimental as most, though. Personally, I enjoy modules which push the envelope a little more than this one did. I was impressed with the composer's dedication to form, however. It's quite obvious he also writes songs without the aid of his trusty computer, perhaps top 40 style rock or jingles. I found the samples to be quite well done. With the possible exception of the brass lead samples. Although I did enjoy some of the brass lead, something about it rubbed me the wrong way. I wouldn't go as far as to say the brass samples didn't work, but they didn't work for me. Well this is a rather clever song, well tracked and well sampled. The only drawbacks I found were the aforementioned brass lead and the composer's unwavering dedication to form. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-------------------------========[ ESP ]========-------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ From the moment it starts to the moment it ends, this track had my head nodding, and definitely not in a sleepy way. This track has the most exciting groove, and one that's impossible not to get into--even in the introduction before the percussion gets going, it's just so eminently danceable. The actual funk is not very apparent in forms other than the groove. This is really a rather clean sounding track, except for the funk-guitar-esque lead line, which is excellently controlled, and fills up the top sound layer very nicely. The other lead sound is somewhat flawed, however, which is what makes this track just good, instead of excellent. The sound is of a synth-horn of some description, and it just doesn't fit in at all, though the technical control of the line is easily up to scratch. The sound is overly dramatic and ill-suited, and is just so out of place as soon as it arrives (actually spoiling the flow and groove momentarily). While I did get used to it after a while, I would have rather it had not been so disruptive in the first place. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Skullsaw ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Hold The Line is a light jazz/rock piece that would make for better movie title music than it does a listening experience--very ignorable. Once again, here is a piece that strives to be funky but fails due to a too rigid drum track. Composers that are trying to emulate this style need to really listen to real drummers and the way they use dynamics. Here, the snare drum is very mechanical, no dynamic variation from note to note, and to me, this sticks out like a sore thumb. Are there good points in this mod? Sure there are. The sample set is very good, especially a hammond organ that handles the chords, an electric bass that, by the way, is tracked so as to sound authentic, and a delicate lead synth. In conclusion, this has some very good ingredients--the samples and tracking--but not much originality or spark. Musically, been there, heard this. /----------------------------------------------------\ )------------------------========[ JuiCe ]========------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ A nice funky intro opens up the song, which then evolves into a mainly conventionally structured progression (intro-bridge-theme-breakdown- bridge-repeat theme). The intro is possibly just a bit too long, and the end comes somewhat abruptly, but that doesn't bring down the quality of the song. What does hurt it a bit, is the main brass theme, which doesn't quite match the beginning mood of the song, but nevertheless, this still is a VERY GOOD song. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Red Death ]========----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ It's not really a jazz tune, and I'm not quite sure how to describe it save to say it's pretty light and has a technoish snare line. It's a little bit repetitive, though the chord and percussion changes do help diminish that problem; and there's nice use of many different instruments. This could be a killer tune with a little more variation; if the lead that started around pattern 23 came in sooner this song would really rock. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Shrift ]========------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ This is a very fine new-age, jazzy piece with good melody layering of synth, brass synth, and bass. Some of the overlayed brass melody sounds cliched, but it mixes so well I couldn't complain. The samples are average, but are chosen well. The drums could have been quieter or maybe just have been better quality, but they sound fine regardless. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Parallax ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ This is a really good, well-tracked song. Not too long and far from being boring; in fact, I could listen to it over and over without getting close to a sense of boredom. This is a fairly unique genre in tracked music, and not an imitation of what you hear on the radio; it's the kind of thing every tracker musician should consider using as a template. -----================================================================----- "Stars" by McBear of Absence (13ch S3M, 02:33) (stars.zip [119K/181K]) [Spacey/Electronic] ! Placed 4th in the Delirium '96 music compo ! Samples -----------------. Originality -------------. | Technical ---------. | | Composition -----. | | | Overall -. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ==================== Rebriffer 90+ 85 75 85 75 Skullsaw 85+ 80 85 80 85 Rowie 78+ 75 75 68 75 Peraphon 70+ -- -- -- -- Nova 59+ 50 45 45 60 Shrift 55+ 60 50 45 50 Klaus Flouride 55= 55 40 25 90 /----------------------------------------------------\ )------------------------========[ Rowie ]========------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ This tune puts you in mind of being in command of the USS Enterprise, cruisin' your way through the galactic void--for a minute and a half. Then, suddenly, you're ambushed by this annoyingly sharp, high pitched synth-string thing which is apparently attempting to create a nice melody, but which only manages to completely destroy the engaging mood already in force. This irritating sample drives the song for the remaining minute, and once over, I was glad it only ran for 2.5 minutes, although I will admit that if not for that horrid sample, I would have been happy with a good 3.5 minutes for a tune in this style. A stronger beat wouldn't have hurt any, either. In an overall sense, this reminds me of something one of the Future Crew musicians might do, albeit with far better results. This one would benefit greatly from a loss of the aforementioned synth-string sample (the samples, as a whole, by the way, are pretty good, if somewhat plain), a simplification of the melody, and a more prominent beat. The strangest thing is that even with its flaws, it still comes up as being a pretty well done track. I won't try to explain it because I don't understand it myself. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Rebriffer ]========----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Trust the Eastern European/Scandinavian composer contingent to keep to the well tracked, well thought out and *original* MOD composing route. This scandalous beauty by McBear is no exception to that rule, and is a worthy addition to any serious MOD collector's playlist. Those fans of the 'classic' MOD style will pay much homage to this McBear hombre, if this track is anything to go by. Not that coding has a lot to do with the charm of the track, its beauty lies in the way the samples propel and embellish the track. Like most 'space-y' tracks, this one starts with all the obligatory audio swirly bits associated with the cosmos n'all. Eventually, it settles into a fairly knockout hip-hop electronic romperoo that is interesting every step of the way. The rhythm, especially, has this quality about it that's hard to define but is indisputably the driving force behind the track. It's light enough to space out on and heavy enough to rave on--at once. A great example of tracking at its cleverest, despite a deceptively simple execution. Highly recommended! /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Skullsaw ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Stars is a refreshing module, a nice diversion from the usual techno and dance styles that permeate the scene. It harkens back to the mid 70's when Jarre, Larry Fast and Kraftwerk ruled the synth game. An effective spacey opening mutates into a bleepy, bloopy dirge with some good synthetic textures and melodic elements. The synth lead makes good use of vibrato and the counterpoint synth has some very tasty portamento. The basic drum kit is present but augmented by assorted bleeps and bloops, a bit like old video game sounds but not at all gimmicky to my ears. This is an all around very good piece of work. A bit short at under three minutes, I actually would've liked to hear more. Overall, a welcome change of pace. /----------------------------------------------------\ )------------------------========[ Nova ]========-------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Great spacey intro complete with, what I interpreted as, comets flying by, leading into a soaring synth which was followed by the main melody. The author does some good work with a synth loop and had a higher pitched "trilling" synth sound over the top working as a focus instrument. However, there isn't much more to this mod. In its simplicity, it's enjoyable, however, the synth loop does get repetitive quickly. The song could have been two or three minutes longer than its 2:34 second runtime, if the author was willing to try some pattern variation with the instruments. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-------------------========[ Klaus Flouride ]========--------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Stars reminded me way too much of the first level of Project X, and since I rank Allister Brimble as one of the best composers on the Amiga, if you're going to imitate his work, you better be good. It's so-so--I wouldn't exactly call it cacophonous, but I was hoping for Brimble and came up empty handed. If I wasn't reminded so much of Project X, my overall rating would've been a good 20 points higher. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Peraphon ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ This spacey-electronic track had me from the beginning. Although it does sound like a blatant Purple Motion rip-off in places (there are some bits that sound almost the same as the music from Second Reality), it's got its own style mixed in to make it a little different. This song does rely a fair bit on repetition, which may distract some. I think it sounds pretty good, though. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Shrift ]========------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ The intro is pretty well textured, and the lead-in is great. What it leads into, however, is simple and repetitive. The soon-accompanying high-string melody overlay sounds like 80% of the melodies by Force-10, and as such, leaves much to be desired. Technically unimaginative, with mostly plain or old samples. Good to listen to once or twice for the setup. -----================================================================----- "Infinite Dreams" by Killer Kid (4ch MOD, 02:51) (vmc1infi.zip [155K/165K]) [Ballad] Samples -----------------. Originality -------------. | Technical ---------. | | Composition -----. | | | Overall -. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ==================== Peraphon 84+ -- -- -- -- Klaus Flouride 77+ 80 60 60 75 Araneus 76+ 68 -- 83 68 Parallax 62= 77 55 70 47 Rebriffer 50- 50 60 45 50 Shrift 45+ 40 35 30 75 WolfSong 44+ 67 41 55 33 /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Shrift ]========------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ I have a great respect for pianos, and I know making any instrument sound real using a tracker is difficult, but I think it would be insulting to call this a piano piece. The melody is forced and arcanely timed, and gives no freedom of motion. When it gets into stacking piano melodies, the constrictive motion of the piece climaxes. The repeating string chords were subtle, but after three minutes, I realized that they were never going to change. Some of the melody flows with the strings very well, but largely does not. Little overall change in melody throughout. The samples are pretty darn funky besides the keyboardish high-end piano sample used largely to carry the melody. In my opinion, Pyrotekn.mod, also by Killer Kid, is a much better piece compositionally. It exemplifies what I like about his composition here, even though that mod is not at all a piano piece. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ WolfSong ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ This is a soft piano piece that deserved a better composition. The song itself is emotional and gentle, accented with high synth strings that bring out the chords. Or perhaps I should say *would* be emotional and gentle. How can a song get from "nice idea" to "BLEAH"? Simple. The samples. The selection in this song is grainy, and the loops are painfully obvious, not to mention slightly out of tune with one another. Add to this some severely choppy and cut off notes, and the result is a song where once is just about enough. My technical score here would have been much lower if it had not been for the fact that this is a four channel .MOD, and that it's quite difficult to track flowing piano pieces under such constraints. Had this song been treated to more tracks, and a bit more care in the tuning and sound, it would have had much greater potential, though, as it is, I wouldn't recommend it. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Araneus ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ I've heard some very impressive piano tunes in my time, from Yanni-style with a whole orchestra in the background to a real piano song that has simply been transcribed into MOD format. Most fall somewhere in between, but this one seems to stand out in a few ways. As a break-up type of song (melancholy flavour), the author uses the perfect set of chords and timing to achieve his/her desired effect. The song generally consists of two channels for the melody of the piano, and the two other channels for the pianic harmony or background synths. My complaints are of a technical nature: although Killer Kid does a wonderful job with the artificial piano (I mean synth), using variable volume and echo reverberation, the background orchestral strings change too quickly and as a result don't blend together that well. Artistically, however, the module hit just the right notes for me. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Rebriffer ]========----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Obviously judging by the composer's nom-de-track, I'd better be careful what I say about this 4 channel MOD. Hold on though, better not...us WMR folks have to show that we are tougher than that . Of course, I could be my usual craven self and laud this to the skies just to make sure that I don't get to see more of my insides than I actually need to.... Why, the puzzled part of your brain asks, is this boy rambling so badly? It probably has more to do with the boredom inspired by the track than any need to protect myself from 'composer rage'. Don't get me wrong, in all its parts it has all the makings of a good MOD. Somehow the putting together process left out a vital element necessary for music of this type. It's actually a bright, well executed piano driven number that *should* have been more interesting than it turned out to be. Oh well....NEXT!!! /----------------------------------------------------\ )-------------------========[ Klaus Flouride ]========--------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Infinite Dreams is one of those slow, sad songs you listen to when you've just broken up with your girlfriend. The work with the strings is nice and very moody, and I can visualize the piano player playing with deliberate intensity. I consider it a really good tune, despite the fact that I personally prefer dance, demo or chip tunes--I suppose there's something significant in that. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Parallax ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ This song would be quite a bit better in a newer format which would provide spare space for the addition of strings and background instruments as well as for panning options. Had it been released 4 years ago, this song would have been worthy of a much higher rating. Even today, I like it primarily because it's the style of music I preferred to write when I was tracking my own modules. -----================================================================----- "Street Trance" by Joker (9ch S3M, 05:56) [Hard Trance] Samples -----------------. Originality -------------. | Technical ---------. | | Composition -----. | | | Overall -. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ==================== Ka'PQat 70= 80 70 60 80 Skullsaw 45+ 40 60 80 35 Mansooj 40- 35 -- 65 40 Shrift 35= 25 25 50 70 Red Death 30- 35 30 -- 25 /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Ka'PQat ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Let me first comment that this piece played much better on headphones than on my stereo speakers. It seems to me that some panning effects could have helped that a great deal. The first few patterns are visually interesting on FastTracker, with great diagonal swaths across the 8 out of 16 tracks which are used here, of triggers for the same nonexistent instrument apparently for smeared/reverbed effect. Since the instrument number has no sample these patterns are silent. Then finally it begins with a grandiose, street-pose voice sample "You are now about witness the *strength* of street night," followed by a muffled car crash heard as if in a dream, then a swaying beat punctuated by the same cheesy reverbed "y-y-yeah" I have heard in other mods. To this one's credit, it makes the best use of that sample I've heard yet. Anyway, so far so bad. The beat, which begins with the "yeah's," is a slow, echoing, swaying and hesitating one, done pretty convincingly, and the rhythm is augmented by a low, warbling pipe-like sample. A single high electric-guitar pluck, with a distortion style that reminds me of early Prince, hangs over this with a lonely air, falls silent, and then picks up with a vaguely middle eastern tune. This part is badly in need of some slide action; as it is, it is a great tune, but sounds really junky with the guitar lacking realistic pitch bend/portamento-to-note, etc. The guitar then picks up speed, matching and adding detail to the swaying beat with a repeating ascending riff that oscillates between octaves. This is where my body began to snake back and forth a bit. Throughout, samples sounding like a cross between groans of distant heavy machinery or semi-quiet el trains passing bridge pylons and low, warbling exotic flute help to create a dark and murky atmosphere. The faster guitar work dissolves into a jungle beat, which is itself (especially on headphones) deliciously like an old movie-musical samba or something played in a cartoon, full of bouncy bass drum and clinks and blocks. This is punctuated by a buzzy bass sound like the motor revving in a very old car-racing video game, that gives an effect of time dilating/contracting. The guitar continues, and at last does some pitch bends, wavering ones on the last notes before the beat breaks and we hear another car crash, with the squealing-tire and clinky crash sounds seeming oddly mismatched and strangely timed. We are treated to the "witness the strength" sample *over* and *over* again, then the rubbery bass comes in again in a driving beat, punctuated by rhythmic female moans. Then the jungle-beat sample is played at a very low and slow speed, accenting the tuned-block percussion elements making one picture a drop of water hitting a surface in slow motion, or other sensual images (moans are still in effect); the "yeah" sample is played once here, gated ("yee- a- ah") with perfect timing. Over this and the throbbing bass drum now used in 3's at intervals, a sample sounding like a foggy, flat, cheap-keyboard oboe meanders stuporously in Latin timing but more Eastern tune, creating the wonderful effect of a malignant industrial interpretation of a slow, elegant rumba with overtones of 70's film noir. The use of silence here in between beats is very effective. Pitch bend is used to bring the jungle beat back up to speed, and a fuzzed synth at 5ths sounding sampled from C+C Music Factory plays as if in a C+C tune, but faster and on the offbeats. One of the dreamlike musical-machinery samples is played over it to oblivion, then the synth fuzz does more of a solo using multiple tracks to create a tunnel-reverb effect. I like the way it comes from underneath after going up. Then the driving, rubber-like bass begins to throb away, with "y-y-y-yeah" over it, finally a good and accurately ironic place for that cheese topping :). Warbling flute/bird-like samples, then the guitar joins on an even more (for me, nostalgia-producing) Prince-like riff with the jungle beat then catching this rising wave, making me feel like one of those cartoon characters that can't stop bouncing part of their body to it, like Bugs Bunny doing Carmen Miranda. Then it breaks off, ending with sped-up and slowed-down echoing versions of the "witness the strength" sample. This piece I feel has very creatively put together various sounds to make a generally cohesive, murky atmosphere that does picture the city at night, with extremely sharp artistic statements that perk the ear along the way, and that it shows evidence of great musical talent. However, that does not stop it from being quite annoying in many places. At one point there is a total break in the sound that doesn't sound intentional. It looks like a lot of work went into it, but also that the artist may have listened to it and worked on it too much in one streak, causing some misjudgments of which samples, in their repetitions, would enhance the trance, and which ones would just be grating. Some elements of it are very original and refreshing, some I have heard dozens of times (some I don't mind, and some I do, such as the repeating speech sample and the C+C Music Factory-like sound). I don't know if the artist has something against effects or what; for the most part, sounds were very skillfully combined without them, and a lot of different sounds were cajoled out of each sample, but still many parts just beg for some panning to uncover some buried treasures you can't hear without straining. Volume adjustment would do wonders too, like softening down the guitar in some places where it sounds strident and doesn't fit with the rest. In short, I think this is a fixer-upper, a faulty expression of some great musical ideas. I have quite a bit of sympathy for that, because I have some of my own earlier mods that sound kinda awful unless you tweak the player *just* so, and would be a tedious task to fix because I'd have to replace effects I created using multiple tracks with more simple and streamlined commands that I hadn't learned how to use back then, probably having to listen and modify *over* and *over* again to get the same effect more cleanly. And unlike mine, I think Street Trance would show dramatic improvement without all that much adjustment. I also think it is worth a download. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Skullsaw ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Street Trance gets my vote for the mod with the most grating and annoying lead sample. The first couple of minutes are dominated by a piercing sound that sounds like a pig being pushed through a funnel. Boy oh boy, this thing is loaded with odd samples. At one point the main instrument is some synth playing backwards. There's a real neat loop that methinks might be from the Who's Magic Bus with its various claves and such. Some unintelligible vocal bites are sprinkled here and there. Overall, the samples are pretty crummy sounding with aliasing and distortion. Musically I don't know what to think. There's nothing I like more in music and mods than originality, innovation and experimentation. Street Trance has all three. It runs the gamut from electronica to hardcore to pure noize collage. It also doesn't work. It all seems a bit confused as if too many ideas were tossed into a blender to see what pours out. The overall sound quality deters from the music, too raspy and grating. I don't like it, I don't hate it. I think I'm a bit like the music itself, a little confused. Still, all in all, it's an interesting listening experience. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Mansooj ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ This is a rather unusual module in that there appears to be zero melody involved, but even so, it yields the impression of being intricate and as if in motion. I didn't detect anything in here that I hadn't heard before, in terms of effects and sample usage, but I have to admit that, at least from my point of view, this was a rather original effort. In the final analysis, being one that generally dislikes hardcore, discordant and otherwise non-melodic music, this is worthy of some credit...I'm just not sure how much. I think fans of hard trance and other such hardcore styles may take to this one a lot more willingly than most. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Shrift ]========------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ This module struck me as being a joke. The arrangement is so completely unstructured that either it is a joke, or the tracker has almost no experience. Regardless, I thought the music was largely unapplied and chunky. The samples were great, and if nothing else, I'm gonna rip several of them for my own future efforts. The text-intro might have been neat if a) it had music playing during it, and b) the music had as much effort put into it. Some of the experimental bits could have sounded quite interesting and original had any imagination been put into the arrangement of those bits. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Red Death ]========----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Not a horribly original tune. Under normal conditions I couldn't have withstood anything beyond 2 minutes of this song, and in fact, I didn't...couldn't...finish it. However, even without having been able to weather it all the way through, I did find that sample 11, the electric guitar/siner, doesn't sound good at all, that the looped percussion tracks aren't impressive in any way, and was left wondering what the 3 empty patterns at the beginning were for. -----================================================================----- "(Messing With) Motifs" by Mick Rippon (21ch IT, 03:24) (k_motif.zip [601K/705K]) [Funk/Light Rock] (electro rock funk whap dang booyie) Samples -----------------. Originality -------------. | Technical ---------. | | Composition -----. | | | Overall -. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ==================== Klaus Flouride 90+ 90 93 85 92 Rebriffer 90+ 90 85 80 85 MING 85+ 78 80 90 88 Mansooj 82+ 85 -- 85 90 ChroMix 81= 80 -- 80 89 Fanta C 79+ 84 84 86 90 /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Mansooj ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ For some odd reason, this comes up as one of those few modules for which I couldn't form many opinions about after the first listen. As I played and replayed, I came to realize that it may be because the module seems to have little apparent depth but a lot of flavor. Those terms aren't quite as contradictory as they may seem. The image I get is one of a lot of internal variety without being overt enough to be noticed much unless you're paying close attention. As with strange software glitches, it's hard to tell whether this is a bug or a feature. Essentially, Motifs travels from one moderate-pace segment featuring a strong--as in relatively loud (mostly the bass drum)--percussion sequence and electro-guitar riffs to a quieter piano-laced sequence where the guitar becomes decidedly more funkish, as well as more subdued--and roundabout again; entering and leaving the stage via a brief run of ethereal synths. The composition is sharply done, with all instruments playing nicely off one another to create a tasty, full sound which still manages to retain a rather 'wide' feel. That is to say, the note density, while not thick, seems thicker when listening than would seem likely after examination--a sort of audio illusion. Inspecting the sample box, one can only say they're tight and clean and well-suited to this endeavor...and so that's all I'll say. The style is rather unusual in that I can't quite figure out if it's more rockish than funky or vice versa because these two core elements are intertwined so smoothly. I suppose this distinction is irrelevant to most, so I won't dwell on it. Suffice to say that this should appeal to both those with a penchant for funk with a soft-edge as well as those who like light rock with a bit of subtle spice thrown in to give it a nudge in an uncommon direction. Mick Rippon's a clever character and this is but one of his sparklers--I would suggest you avail yourself of this and any of many others he has produced. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Fanta C ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Humans are funny old things; sometimes I just can't work it out. For example, take this track, Motifs. All my instincts are telling me it's a good track and that there is nothing at all wrong with it. And yet, me, myself, I...'we' don't like it. Weird. Really, this is a pretty good track. I guess the reason 'we' don't like it is that I've played it too many times? It's been in my collection quite a while, and it is a little repetitive; after a while I guess I've just become bored with it? What you get is a modern, futuristic, very electronic kind of sound wrapped around a boppy and simple tune. Really, it's great for a few listens, but then you realize it's just 'too' synthetic, 'too' simple, just 'too' everything! But then judging from its title, maybe it should be. Oh what a quandary! It is, however, a good example of the trackers' art, kudos to Mr. Rippon. Volume is controlled nicely, effects are used intelligently and the instrument set matches the 'tune' perfectly. Personally, I now realize I hate it, but that's just me. It is a good, possibly a very good, MOD. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Rebriffer ]========----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ It's always a pleasure reviewing Mick Rippon tracks because this composer is a personal favorite. Mr. Rippon has been making the very best in guitar based MODs for a good many years and it shows in every single note he produces. This isn't the guitar based cacophony that often surrounds such 'metal' guitar based tracks, this here is some classy schmutter and deserves a lot more than a cursory listen. Wonderfully placed and crystal clear samples vie with the most wide open mix you'll find this side of Finland; and the music...ay...ay...ay. I know that this description doesn't go far enough in the review stakes, but it's often the reaction I get to his stuff. Underneath the coding tricks and samples lies a really sharp ear and a well placed sense of balance that is essential for this style of music--which is a kind of funky-ish 'early MOD' feel brought right up to date by using Impulse Tracker to render it. A true master of the genre...and a collectible collectible. /----------------------------------------------------\ )------------------------========[ MING ]========-------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ As long as I've been into this mod thing, the name Mick Rippon has been a trademark for innovation and quality mods. (Messing with) Motifs is just that, an innovative quality piece. With some people, you just know what to expect. It's a deep, modstyle light rock/jazz tune with a good drive, but maybe a sound that's a little bit too mushy. On the other hand, it's also too vague and floaty to be really fantastic; you can never get a grip on the melodies and numerous improvisations--they slip through your fingers like running water. But it's probably the composer's intention to make a song you either have to concentrate very hard on, or just accept as a great piece of muzak with a little bit of a twist. Technically it's just great. The tracker's features have been skillfully used, and the samples are clear and well chosen. Yet somehow it still gets mushy...but that's another mystery I don't care to investigate. Very good song. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ ChroMix ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Nice piece! Very smoothe and expressive. It's been a while since I've heard a Kosmic release, and this song really supports that band's past success. It starts off with a really soft and smooth chord section, and then opens up with some vibey bass and percussion, followed by a rather nice lead. It's actually a bit reminiscent of some of the old-skool mods I used to listen to, only it uses over 20 tracks instead of 4. :) Very well done, though. I most liked the panning job he did on this piece; that really ended up making the song sound really fun and made it ever so slightly more absorbing. It's not spectacular, and won't be going on my all-time favorites list, but still, a good song nonetheless. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-------------------========[ Klaus Flouride ]========--------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Motifs is KLF, but it's not from Khyron. =( But seriously, it's a great mod worthy of being released by Kosmic. Like many KLF tunes, it's heavy on the beat, and since it's been executed well and I happen to like a tune with a heavy beat, I like it a lot. This mod managed to make me jump around my apartment in a semi-tired stupor/dance. KLF tunes very rarely disappoint me, and this mod was in no danger of doing that. -----================================================================----- "PsychoPet's Night Out" by Phanatik (4ch S3M, 01:37) (psycho.zip [177K/262K]) [Funk] ! Placed 1st in the Summit '96 music compo ! Samples -----------------. Originality -------------. | Technical ---------. | | Composition -----. | | | Overall -. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ==================== MING 89+ 93 80 80 85 Klaus Flouride 86= 81 82 92 85 Fanta C 84+ 83 87 82 76 Skullsaw 70= 75 70 70 55 Mansooj 58= 50 -- 35 70 ESP 55+ 40 60 70 60 /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Skullsaw ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ A tidy little funk outing this PsychoPet's Night Out is. The standout here is the up front funked out popping bass that is programmed with a real awareness of what a bass player can and cannot do, very well done. Next in prominence is the drumming which uses a bit too many embellishments as far as ghosted notes goes; just too busy for my tastes. Some tasty wah-wah guitar adds spice to assorted horn splats and an organ workout. The overall sound is a bit gritty. The horns are okay when played at the right sample rate, but when they're stretched past their limit, like in this mod, they sound pretty shabby. PPNO is a funky hornfest along the lines of Tower Of Power that shows some very competent arranging skills and a knowledge of how different instruments are played and arranged in the real world. It's a bit short at under two minutes, but that's ok as it's loaded with content. The thing that holds this mod back are the samples that are just pushed too far beyond their limit. Still, a good effort. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Fanta C ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Oooh, too funky by far I'd say. Within the confines of a short, 4 track(!) S3M, this track manages to do pretty well for itself and has a really great title to boot. I'm a bit of a walkover when it comes to funk--slap basses, waah guitars, Hammond keyboards--you get the drift? Dunno why, I just like it. Maybe because it's a bit hard to get the bass right? Maybe I just like the sound. Maybe it's because learning slap on a fretless bass was just about the hardest thing I've ever done, and I still sound like crap. Anyway, if you like a bit of in "yer face" funk then this would be worth the download. It's tiny and sounds good given its meagre requirements. It even has its own little atmosphere; a manic laugh sample, in particular, works very well. Problems? Well none really, my only criticism (if I really had to) would be that the percussion is a bit of a let down: a bit...mushy, maybe. Very good track, though. I'm happy. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-------------------------========[ ESP ]========-------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ This is some serious funk; it's one of the few tracks around labelled as funk which has a genuinely funky (dirty) sound. Its main attraction is how fast and frenetic it is, but unfortunately, in the course of being made like this, it's come out sounding uncontrolled and messy, and the groove became very elusive. Part of the problem is the almost total lack of volume control: during complex sequences, when the track is firing on all cylinders, the individual elements in it get lost, drowned out by the other elements because they are all the same volume. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-------------------========[ Klaus Flouride ]========--------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ PsychoPet's Night Out is *incredibly* funky and something I'd expect to hear in a demo by Lemon., as it sounds like a Facet tune. I really hated this tune at first, but it did grow on me quite a bit--especially due to how the horns and the electric piano mingled in and out with the bass and the wah-ing guitar. I've always had a hard time judging originality with funk since there's so much latitude within the genre--you can make your own rules it seems--but this one does seem very original to me. /----------------------------------------------------\ )------------------------========[ MING ]========-------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Four channels Full of Funk. A Fast Fun Fistful of Funk Flushing Forward to Fabricate Fabulously Funny Funkjazz Fusion. Flickery sounds Flunking around Fast and Fanatic in this Full-Featured Funky Fabric. Fortunately, Failures in Farbication are Few (Fluffy Feeling and timing Faults Found, but Far From Fearsome), and the Fictional Festivity Feeling Fits in Fantastically. Finally, the Fellow Phrantic can Feel Fine and Flattered. For this Funk is Formally Full of Fine Flow and Fast Funny Funkjazz of Fabulous quality. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Mansooj ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ This is basically a standard funk tune without a lot of internal variety. The overuse of percussion rolls made the tune seem like it couldn't quite get out of its own way. Although sounding fairly intricate within the scope of this style, the energy level and the basic lack of real variety, made the rather short length of this tune a blessing. Overall it was decent, but unspectacular. -----================================================================----- "Hard Night" by Grgy of NeDeBo (16ch XM, 05:23) (ned-hard.zip [358K/723K]) [Dance] Samples -----------------. Originality -------------. | Technical ---------. | | Composition -----. | | | Overall -. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ==================== Klaus Flouride 96+ 95 96 90 94 Peraphon 83+ -- -- -- -- Capt Ahab 75+ 77 32 43 87 Rebriffer 70+ 70 50 60 70 JuiCe 70= 77 65 26 70 Araneus 65= 75 -- 60 -- Parallax 61= 70 62 40 70 Shrift 60= 65 40 25 55 /----------------------------------------------------\ )------------------------========[ JuiCe ]========------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ This is a very well composed song. The author certainly has skill in tracking, but the slow-dancepop style has been sooooooo overused in the last few years that one can't help but hate any song in that style. This is not the high-energy thumpin' euro type of dance, it is the more melodic, laidback kind of dance, very much like Ace of Base. The vocals that would probably carry the theme if this were a real record were effectively replaced with a piano. All in all, technically very well done, but also VERY cheesy and unoriginal. Figure my personal rating is about 15 points lower than that given. Consider the given score to be more accurate if you like this type of style. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Rebriffer ]========----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Now what does this beginning sound like? Give me a minute, I'll get it.... OK, the closest I can come is to the 70's one hit wonders The Buggles (they of Video Killed The Radio Star fame) and I can even detect hints of that very track in here. Productionwise, this has to be the biz, and it is. The sounds, track layout and mix are faultless, but they're let down by the limited structure of the arrangement and the virtual absence of coding. Ok, there's a nice key change and all that, but is that enough? Speaking as a long term fan of late 70's/early 80's electronic music, I found this track very appealing. There again, I found groups like OMD, Ultravox and the rest very appealing too, but only for a very short period of time. No matter, if you like the genre, this is as good as it gets... /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Shrift ]========------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ This lost some points for amateurish tracking, but generally was a nice light and dancy keyboard piece. The "me too" 4-chord change got tiring immediately, and is dated from the early 80's. At least then they had the courtesy to do something neat with a chord change that is harmonically obvious and beginner. This guy is not at all deaf to harmony, and I'd love to hear more from him, but I'll wait until he gets more comfortable with tracking, and maybe takes a music theory course. Catchy melody. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Parallax ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Generally speaking, adding piano to a true dance song is not really a good idea. If you play this song after silencing the piano and placing the bass pot at the end, it should sound like any other dance song. Anyone who spends a lot of time in dance bars, listening to Corona and friends, should be able to make quite a hit by remixing this song with non-acoustic samples. Krystall would be good for this job. ;-) /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Peraphon ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ The melodic dance songs have been pretty thick over the last couple of years for sure, with good ones and bad ones. This one is way cool. I really like the addition of the piano as it makes it a heck of a lot better than your average club dance pop. It's not high-energy club dance (my favorite variety), but it's nice nonetheless. I'll be adding this one to the collection, for sure. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Araneus ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ This technoish song sounded good the first time I heard it, reminding me of The Real McCoy. The tune might be considered a little simplistic and repetitive these days, but music of this type remains successful in the commercial music scene, so why not as a MOD? Successful or not, I wouldn't be able to listen to it more than once a week probably...the chord changes are just too common. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Capt Ahab ]========----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ This is a very cool dance MOD, and one that works rather well. The only problem here is that I pick up some dissonance from the background piano; but even so, that same piano sound gains some points for originality in part because most dance tunes don't use piano samples in the first place, and because in the rare cases they do, the piano samples don't have long sustains as they do here. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-------------------========[ Klaus Flouride ]========--------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ I was seriously impressed, by the technically superior interplay between the melody, bass, and percussion which was complex enough in some parts to give it the sound of a "real" song (some of the patterns remind me a lot of Depeche Mode). The high rating was clinched when my next-door neighbor walked in and asked me for the name of "that new dance CD" I was playing. Get it now! -----================================================================----- "Solar Eclipse" by Cosmic Eclipse (12ch XM, 02:43) (SolarEclipse.lha [475K/613K]) [Atmospheric/Spacey] Samples -----------------. Originality -------------. | Technical ---------. | | Composition -----. | | | Overall -. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ==================== Skullsaw 90= 90 85 80 85 MING 85= 98 80 80 85 WolfSong 84+ 88 70 79 75 Araneus 80+ 87 -- 84 85 Mysterium 80+ 75 50 80 40 Mansooj 78+ 75 -- 75 70 Rebriffer 70+ 50 55 70 65 /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ WolfSong ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Beautiful! This might as well be a theme to a space film. It almost reminded me of some of the music in the Star Trek series of movies. Or perhaps it was just the use of a couple of Leonard Nimoy sounding samples (though Cosmic swears in the description that they *didn't* come from Star Trek). I love the chords used in this piece! Very majestic and deep. Almost classical in nature. The composer uses a wonderful selection of synth and orchestral instruments that are arranged and timed almost perfectly for the feel of the song. The composition is very strong, but almost seems delicate, as though one note out of place would bring the whole thing crashing down. It's that fragility that allows the song to deliver, in places, a feeling of tranquility such that I've never heard in a module before. VERY nice work. My favorite part of the song is during the intro when a hush falls over the song and a pizzicato rises, playing the most beautiful chords. Well, that takes care of the song and the sounds...what about the tracking? Well...no one is perfect. I did find a few things lacking in the technical area. One of the things that I felt most disturbed the flow of the song was that after the intro, the chord changes were not smooth at all, particularly in the strings. You would expect one to fade smoothly into silence while another rises to take its place, but that wasn't the case. One simply cut off the one before it. While that doesn't sound like much of a big deal, it does make it very hard to forget that the song IS tracked and that is the thing that really keeps it from taking itself, and you, off into the stars. My only other real complaint is that some of the samples could have been of higher quality. The selection was wonderful, but the actual *sound* of some of the instruments was a bit rough. Well, it's pretty obvious whether this song gets a thumbs up or down from me. I like it quite a bit. If you like orchestral, new age, atmospheric or spacey sounding music, this song's for you. Hell, go get it even if you don't. You'll probably still like it. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Mansooj ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Solar Eclipse by Cosmic Eclipse...big stretch on the title, eh? ;) Trivialities aside, this is a very nice, well-focused, story-telling dreamy-orchestral track reminiscent of many movie or game music pieces. Given the title, we're to expect the music to build in our mind's eye an image of the majesty and awe of a solar eclipse and its progression. I would have to say that the composer managed to do this fairly well. The approach relates a growing sense of wonderment, while at totality the tone changes to a mix of awe and reverence (very nice, this part). After a bit of this, the tone of the music lightens, as does the sky. Of course, as if to poke us out of our reverie, someone drops in to tell us--again--that this was a solar eclipse...gosh, thanks. That really broke the tension, and did so for no apparent reason; we were told at the beginning what was about to happen, I don't think anyone needs to be told twice. Most of the instruments are 16-bit which can't hurt (though it does bloat the size somewhat) and each is fairly clean; plenty of the usual suspects in the form of timpani, dreamy-synths, strings, bell-tones, waves, plucks, etc. all working to form an appropriately dramatic atmosphere. One specific problem, though: I did hear a worrisome amount of seaming in the string loops throughout the song. Playing this on an Amiga, it could be the replayers don't handle certain special looping commands well, and that PC players may have special filters to clean up this sort of thing, so consider this a potential non-problem unless you're on an Amiga. In summation, this is a nice piece of music with a decently-conveyed storyline built in--not at all surprising for an orchestral piece, though. CE did a creditable job, with this one, and I expect there's even better to come. /----------------------------------------------------\ )------------------------========[ MING ]========-------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Solar Eclipse.... A song that is based upon some orchestral samples, heavenly, utopian synths and a goofy voice saying (guess what...) "solar eclipse." A song where adherence to style borders is brutally neglected--melodic synth-music a la Jarre is mixed with movie theme kinda music and classic orcestral from the 18th century, creating an interesting romantic fusion ballad. A song that even if it sounds great, never seems to get anywhere--and it still had me glued to my chair, all ears perked from the first to the last second. A song so painstakingly beautiful it should be framed and hung in the Louvre. Though a little lacking in power at times, it is, soundwise and technically, perfectly put together. There may be some bluntness in the putting-the-notes-together that is more clearly discovered in such a delicate piece as this, but any bad timing or discordance is only momentary, and does not destroy the tune in any way. The single negative aspect is the stupid voice that blurts out "solar eclipse" now and then. If it weren't for that, I could regard this as something beyond excellent--a point reached only by those modules that make my toes curl. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Rebriffer ]========----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Any tracker who greets Homer J Simpson, Mr Bean and Mr Blobby all in a few brief sample notes has got to have a lot going for them. Solar Eclipse begins with a vocal sample the composer insists isn't from Star Trek, but it's certainly Spock in all his nasal wonderfulness. The tune is pretty much what you would expect from the title, typical space-y fodder. I don't mean to damn this track with faint praise because what's there is good. The samples are clear enough to count and are suprisingly clean. The mix is well spaced with enough room in there to give a good impression of the 'space anthem' genre. You could well imagine this track as theme music to some sub-Star Trek clone, and if that is what the composer was aiming for then they most surely hit the target. Having said that, this reviewer is just tired of hearing yet another of these tracks. In summary then, although I'm getting more than weary of the whole 'space' genre, that shouldn't make any difference to you. If you happen to like all things Star Trekkish then this should be beamed aboard immediately. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Skullsaw ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ There's a lot of detail in this arrangement, so much so that I kept coming back to it, and each time found more and more detail. Starting with the Leonard Nimoy sample (from the Simpsons Monorail episode or In Search Of...) to the excellent timpani programming, the composer took great care with his samples and orchestration. Tubular bells, pizzicato strings and a mellotron-like string part gives this mod a lot of tonal color variation. Melodically, I found quite a bit of originality using some tried and true progressions with occasional harmonic surprises for turn arounds. I also like the deft use of suspended fourths. To the composer's credit, the tune ends exactly when it should, when the music seems to dictate it. This is, perhaps, the best example of this genre I've heard in the mod world. Great orchestration, arrangement, samples and composition add up to a hearty thumbs up. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Araneus ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Wow, this is quite a nice piece. If you like orchestral stuff, take a listen to this one. It bears a resemblance to the Star Trek - The Next Generation theme song. This is one of the more realistic orchestral pieces I've come across, featuring very nice instrumental transitions, especially in the strings. Percussion samples (timpani?) are great. The song leaves you feeling good about the world (well, at least, that's how I felt!). If this were a movie, this is how it would go: The hero is looking for some hidden treasure deep beneath the sea. Beauty surrounds him. He peers through the planks of the rotting vessel, catching a glimpse of ancient coins. He searches through the coins and finds a precious gem. He surfaces with the gem, glimmering in the dying rays of the sunset. The only negative comment I have about this module is that a few pattern transitions are not smooth enough. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Mysterium ]========----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Solar Eclipse is a short, but enjoyable piece, overall. As I listen to it, I am whisked away on a voyage through space. I literally felt like I was riding the solar winds, passing through space dust and nebulae: a thoroughly surreal experience. The arrangement and feel are great, but the sample quality takes away drastically from the mood the tune creates. The emotion of the music moved and pacified me; and for a brief moment, I was lost in the realm of dreams and fantasy. But then I would notice small technical omissions. For instance, an improved utilization of panning would greatly add to the rich atmosphere of the melody, and better volume optimizations for its various, static-filled instruments (such as a "gong" that appears intermittently) would not disturb the element of the music. In the end, though, the passion of the music enthralled me, and I was taken off on a trek through the universe with this song as my guide. -----================================================================----- "Insatia" by Sidewinder (4ch MOD, 04:09) (insatia.lha [753K/999K]) [Dance/Techno] Samples -----------------. Originality -------------. | Technical ---------. | | Composition -----. | | | Overall -. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ==================== JuiCe 74+ 60 85 -- 93 CCerberus 70+ 70 46 40 20 Red Death 68= 55 40 -- 55 Rebriffer 61- 45 40 60 50 Raul 60+ 67 58 75 54 Peraphon 60+ -- -- -- -- Mansooj 45= 50 -- 40 25 Klaus Flouride 43+ 85 90 75 25 /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Rebriffer ]========----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ A MOD originating from San Antonio, TX as the voice informs us at the beginning, is full of sound and fury, although what it's got to be so mad about isn't immediately obvious. It's a pleasant track right enough, but is that going to enough for it to eventually become a downloadable favourite? I'm afraid the answer has to be no for this reviewer. It's doubly unfortunate because Sidewinder has actually managed to put together some interesting sounds and patterns to go into a track, and then failed to make the same track work properly. I'll put this down to the composer's lack of knowledge, and that shows up strongest in the breaks between patterns. What makes the best MODs work is the seamless way tracker composers create each pattern so that it blends easily into the next. There are noticeable breaks in this track and some violent clashes of patterns, and I am convinced it was not the creator's intention. Having said that, I am not putting the track down. The musical content is really quite interesting, if a little repetitive. Maybe a remix would fix the problems, and would certainly help the track to deliver on its initial promise. /----------------------------------------------------\ )------------------------========[ JuiCe ]========------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ This is not "just another dance tune"--as most other Sidewinder songs, it has a characteristic signature, which brings it out from amongst the mass of unoriginal, boring dance songs. It also shows a slight house influence, mostly in the bassline. The samples are almost perfect, mostly due to the fact that this is obviously a conversion of a song made on professional studio gear. And it shows, both in sonic quality, and in file size (whole sequences sampled from studio gear). There are live crowd samples used, and they're not just a gimmick, or an ego-trip--this is a well-known way to fill out the sonic spectrum, and it works very well in this song, too. The only major gripe with this song is the ending, which is abrupt and strange, and sounds unfinished. The song is also a bit repetitive, but that's okay for dance/club music. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Peraphon ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ This is the first Sidewinder module I've heard, and overall, I'd have to say it's not too bad. Part of what holds it back is the fact that it's rather repetitive, however, to soften the negative implication of that, it should be expected in a way, since that is a signature of most techno. I have to say that I don't think it justifies it's 970K size, but at least it does manage to be catchy enough to pay for a temporary place on my extremely limited hard drive. The samples, and indeed the music as a whole is nothing more than slabs seemingly sampled from a CD and thrown together into a module format. It isn't exactly what I'd call composing, but at least it's mixed well. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ CCerberus ]========----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ I have mixed feelings about this module. Though I like the sound of it, and I have ALWAYS enjoyed modules which have crowd noises in them (the idea of a crowd cheering to a mod is cool to me) I was VERY disappointed to discover that nearly all of the samples in this song are the long "stolen off my CD" type. That is, the actual module has little musical composition in it--the riffs and so forth are contained in the lengthy samples. I personally hate it, and can't understand the point of a module like that. Under the circumstances, I felt compelled to give the module a very low score for sample quality, though the song MUSICALLY is nice. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-------------------========[ Klaus Flouride ]========--------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ I found Insatia very disappointing for a Sidewinder tune, in part because I expected the samples to loop properly and not show any audible gaps. It would be a nice tune if it did *not* have those annoying gaps in between samples. As for the ending sound at the end of the song...what *is* that?? If this wasn't a Sidewinder tune, I'd be less harsh, but the man has a recording contract--that puts him up there with Chris Huelsbeck and Bjorne Lynne, and this mod is definitely not something I'd consider worthy of a contemporary of Mr. Huelsbeck. /----------------------------------------------------\ )------------------------========[ Raul ]========-------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Downloading a 4-channel module that weighs in at close to 1 meg always gives me a bad feeling--and in this case it was justified. Half the channels are used to play a single large sample which was divided into pieces and played end to end. These two channels comprise the main theme of the song, while the remaining pair of channels don't offer much support. Taken together this doesn't sound too bad, but I think the author could have gotten the same effect without having to use the sample-chopping approach (hence the low score for the samples rating). /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Red Death ]========----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ This tune is too repetitive for my tastes, and that repetition is one of the main things that keeps it from being a winner in my estimation. I'm not sure if the occasional breaks between patterns belong there, but they certainly don't help the flow any. On the flipside, the changes of lead instruments here and there did help temper the ill effects created elsewhere, and of the lead instruments used, I particularly liked the "chopped" flute. Overall it's pretty well done, and it qualifies as a good groove, but to be honest, this just isn't my favorite style of music. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Mansooj ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ This was much too repetitive and singleminded from begin to end, and it makes me wonder just what the people were cheering about. This really boils down to a ton of linked/looped samples. Perhaps the composer laid down the loops himself to extend the effects of four channels, but in places the syncing was slightly off and the overall effect was somewhat unfulfilling. -----================================================================-----