Hello guys, im new to this site and thought I would ask for your opinion on an electronica song I made. Im open to all constructive criticism, and I really appreciate any thoughts you have at all. Please leave some feedback!
Thanks

Baas - Sparked Life

Question:
What do you think of my song?

Choices:
Great, really liked it!
It was Ok, I guess
Needs lots of work, pretty bad.
Could be good if some things were fixed up.
Hopeless

 

Hi Baas, welcome to the forum.

As with any loop-based music, the loops have to be rock-solid. Repetitious music is actually some of the most deceptively hard music to create. The problem is that repetition does a serious number on loops which are wound so tight. Your song has a rather simplified bass groove that easily loses my interest after a few bars. The inclusion of filter frequency manipulation doesn't add much, in fact it is mostly an electronic cliche now that should be used sparingly. As you add layers in your track it doesn't seem to reach any sort of cohesion. Then we return to the same bass groove. Taking a track like Four Tet's "Unspoken" as a sort of exemplar, he knows exactly how long to stretch each loop. That he has an ear for building sonic layers up to a stirring conclusion, all while riding a simplistic but addictive beat, for nearly 10 minutes is impressive. Good luck with your future efforts.

It was a pretty long song considering the loopiness. But I liked what was there. Maybe give the drums a larger role in the song?

flat, boring, predictable.

quote:

flat, boring, predictable.

He said he was open to a constructive critic......

I think what people are trying to say, is even though it's got a good rhythem and a catchy melody, the electronic music genre is just oversaturated with things that sound exactly the same to us over time.

If you want your music to be accepted:

1. Make it short and sweet so it ends before people can get bored of it.

2. Map out your song and rearrange anything that looks remotely structured or patterened.

3. Add vocals. Even if they are retarded lyrics. Distort it so you can't hear the words if you want.

4. Do something extremely different that you think will completely ruin the song (add a panpipe solo, replace the drums with the sound of a grizzly bear... anything), and then redo everything else in the song so it makes it work.

I'm not saying that your song is bad. It's really good, dancey, and it's obvious you spent a lot of time on it. But if you want your music to get noticed in the electronic music scene you will need to do something really crazy.

quote:

Originally posted by Tweedy's party time lounge:

quote:

flat, boring, predictable.

He said he was open to a constructive critic......

Ooh, sorry. Let me rephrase just in case I hurt Tweed's sensitive feelings. I found the track to be sonically drab, aurally dull, and uninspiring in every way.

Like Shadrach says, isn't the genre already incredibly over-saturated with exactly this type of lifeless music?

quote:

Originally posted by hudson:
Ooh, sorry. Let me rephrase just in case I hurt Tweed's sensitive feelings. I found the track to be sonically drab, aurally dull, and uninspiring in every way.

Like Shadrach says, isn't the genre already incredibly over-saturated with exactly this type of lifeless music?

At least Shadrach tried to be constructive, where you just decided to be an asshole (yet again). I mean, the guy actually created something, had the balls to post it here and ask for people's constructive criticism. He at least deserves an intelligent f***ing response if you're going to comment. Just a hunch, but I'm guessing you've never created anything in your entire life.

Maybe I'm wrong but generally I try not to tell someone their music sucks. I don't know, I think that constructive criticism is awesome and can be very helpful, but if you are going to use terms like boring, dull, or predictable, it would be nice to actually explain why. When someone asks me my opinion on something, I give an honest answer. I just consider it a common courtesy to be polite when 'reviewing' another's work because I would hope to be 'reviewed' with the same respect.

Eric and I were posting at the same time, but I agree with him.

quote:

Originally posted by EricG75:
He at least deserves an intelligent f***ing response if you're going to comment.

Then by all means eric the almighty, give the guy an "intelligent" critique, if you can. For me, I gave him what I consider to be a fitting critique of his creation.

I'm not gonna spend half an hour writing some detailed critique of his song because it's simply not worthy of anything more than what I gave him, which btw, was constructive.

I mean seriously, he creates some generic looped out electronic track that we've heard a million times before and he expects us to critique it Pitchfork style? I don't think so.

And don't you worry about me eric, I create plenty. My creations would blow your mind.

quote:

flat, boring, predictable.

So, let's see, your 'review' involves one sentence composed with vague adjectives? Impressive.

quote:

Ooh, sorry. Let me rephrase just in case I hurt Tweed's sensitive feelings. I found the track to be sonically drab, aurally dull, and uninspiring in every way.

Like Shadrach says, isn't the genre already incredibly over-saturated with exactly this type of lifeless music?

Look, you don't have to like what he made, just try and be constructive. CouldBAnyone provided a great response while you give us three adjectives.

The guy didn't ask for a Pitchfork style review, he just wanted our opinion on it. Take it easy man.

quote:

My creations would blow your mind.

...

quote:

Originally posted by /\/\1X3:
So, let's see, your 'review' involves one sentence composed with vague adjectives?

That's right. Short and sweet. Sometimes that's the best way. And those adjectives weren't vague, they were precise. They fit perfectly what I wanted to convey.

If Baas is lucky, the attention that I have drawn to this thread will lead to more exposure to his music. That's the best I can do for him.

Unfortunately, the three adjectives you chose are synonymous...

quote:

Originally posted by /\/\1X3:
Unfortunately, the three adjectives you chose are synonymous...

Either grab a dictionary or a thesaurus or go back to grade 5 for a better education. Those adjectives are not synonymous.

Baas isn't worthy to lick the ground that Boards of Canada walks on.

So at what point does Hudson get his IP address banned?

His contributions are beyond pathetic.

PS - Hudson, if your creations are so mind blowing, why not unleash them on the world?

...

I thought it was pretty boring. Might be better if you added some vocals.

quote:

Originally posted by hudson:
Baas isn't worthy to lick the ground that Boards of Canada walks on.

You're skating on thin ice again, hudson.

As for my review of Baas' music, I don't think I'm really qualified. I'm not a huge fan of electronic music. However, there are plenty of Electronica fans here who can, and have given a "constructive" review of Baas' music.

I am happy to give a "hudson-style" constructive review of your posts in the Metacritic forums, though: They're stupid, pointless, and uninspiring.

But THEY ARE fuckin' funny.