Score: 9

"great song, slightly repetitive, missed the image."

submission: Shipped to War [MAC8]

date: October 28, 2008

This is a great song. Good dynamics, good play of tempos, good repetition on the melodic idea. I didn't know you used East West! Huh, learn something every day. I'm sure those are Double Bass slaps i'm hearing. It does tend to get a bit repetitive to a fault in this second half. Not much is explored in direction here.

Also I did not see the picture at all while I listened to this. The picture is that of a single plane flying in the dawn. There were no other planes about, the plane is not a war plane of any kind *incapable of using a machine gun.

I realize your story is back in the day, but the planes that held the machine guns on their front had a much bulkier front and sturdier wings. I don't expect you to do research on this but suffice to say I personally didn't see this song correspond to the image at all.

But I must say I saw the black and white film of goofy smiling pilots as the film rolled by quickly as they do back then perfectly.

Keep up the good fight and keep em coming!

Score: 7

"WAY too much reverb, great ideas, very relevant."

submission: Solus- Cast Off

date: October 28, 2008

Solus normally I find great idears in your song. But I felt this piano ballad was not one of your best. Though it's far from bad it's also not as original as most of your work. As mentioned I hear a lot of FF. I even hear Balamb Garden melody at 0:24-0:28.

For one Solus, why is there SO MUCH reverb?! I mean yes a bit of reverb and echo makes a song feel nifty but this was overkill sir. It was difficult trying to get the image to click with that much going on. Not going lie to you sir, lost big points for it.

I think a dryer right hand and a much dryer left hand would have made a bigger impact.

Though this song portrays loads of interesting melodic ideas I felt it also didn't have much consistency. Jumping from one idea to another. However each idea was constructed well and it felt full througout, and each segment did flow to the other quite well. There were little in terms of melodic repetition which I think would have made this ballad stand stronger on its feet.

Still stalking you ya bastard, keep up the good fight and keep em coming!

Score: 7

"very creative, somewhat strange imagery."

submission: Trouble in the Cockpit

date: October 28, 2008

Though I really like your idea of telling a story I personally don't quite agree with it. For one your opening segment is very tense. Lots of tension and a strong military presense, minor chords such as at 0:53. I didn't get the joy of flight from that segment at all. That cost you quite a bit of points in my books.

Now the trouble in the cockpit scene I fully clicked with. Awesomely well done segment here, very true to it's story. The rest is subjective of course, I personally thought the next three segments were told very well. I again didn't quite agree with the last segment. Again we've got a very strong military sensation with tension I don't quite believe should be.

All in all Nossinator I felt this song was well crafted, but was fairly far away from the MAC's image. Keep up the good fight and keep em coming!

Score: 7

"Nailed the image, good ideas,some weak connections"

submission: The Joy of Flight

date: October 27, 2008

Now THIS song really nailed the intended image imo. The image was strong. The joy of flight part I felt was a little... mixed feeling for me. One the one hand the chorus and main melodic idea for it was just perfect, whilst the bridges in between lacked a luster, a spirit.

The opening was also an area of debate for me. I thought it would be too tense with it. The starting cello/double basses didn't help much, then the first couple notes of that brass XD. Oh man, but things got really "awe" feeling shortly after which was ideal for the image you wanted.

This was a fairly good interpretation, a bit iffy in some places, but enjoyable all the same!

Keep up the good fight and keep em coming!

Score: 8

"Great sounds, wonderful mix, wrong image?"

submission: SR - Flowe

date: October 27, 2008

Devin I have to be honest, I didn't quite click with the imagery here. The crushed synths at the beginning was a complete confusion area for me. It not only didn't make me think of flying, but it also made me want to play my old SNES games. The great mix of sounds and effects made the piece really chilled out but I just didn't see flight with this in much shape or form. However quite a few judges disagree with me so consider this the opinion of an ignorant fan :3!

The mix and synths are all pro level as pointed out before. I could never even begin to try and critique them, they are far beyond my level. I'm just not seeing flying.

Well made song all the same. Keep up the good fight and keep em coming!

Score: 7

"quite repetitive, bit empty at parts, driving vibe"

submission: Flight in Freedom__RR (MAC 8)

date: October 27, 2008

This song's piano is pretty neat. The song feels a bit empty at the beginning and the piano's progression is a tad slow. It takes a long long time for it to go anywhere and the techno elements feel a bit empty as well. Once 2:30 kicks in things begin to feel a lot more full. Yes it's a very repetitive melody but the reverb here really did it.

I would suggest introducing those bass strings or bass pads at the beginning to make the song sound more full, or play simple and light chords with the piano, my biggest issue here was the empty feeling. Also the piano clips rather drastically at the beginning.

A good track, keep up the good fight and keep em coming!

Score: 8

"Great vibe, steady flow, a bit ancient sounding."

submission: Ship That Time Built--_--

date: October 27, 2008

There's something about this song I really REALLY like. The great soft relaxing feel, sparsely thrown about strums, the great panflute/ocarina woodwind like sound, the easy chill beat.

When I listen to this however I get a very fantasy oriented image. The tubular bells don't help. I get for some reason a large foresty like zeppelin. It's large balloon made from leaves and other various weird fancy looking things.

This is one of my personal favorites in this MAC Jadan. I don't even know what to critique it to be honest, it's perfect mixing/mastering wise, very sound. My strongest and pretty much only complaint is that it just didn't click for me. I should get to listening to the other contestants... but i'm going to sit here for a little while longer. Damn fine work, really, thanks for submitting it.

Keep up the good fight, and keep em coming!

Score: 9

"accomplishes ambient vibe, good mix of sounds."

submission: [EtR] One Day

date: October 24, 2008

You already know what I think on the piece but here it is again a bit more fleshed out.

Firstly, you've gotten that ambient vibe right. It's very spaced out feeling and the sound effects aren't distracting. To boot the shimmering pads also do well in setting up the mood, the funky percussion beat blended back enough to compliment, not detract from the ambiance.

The repetition of the synths is what makes them ambient, and I think you are already aware of this. The fact you use that winding down synth a good deal serves to make it lose it's unique vibe and settle right in there with the mix.

Now one thing I wouldn't have done is cut off that percussion beat. When it disappears for a short period for that xylophone? it somewhat disrupts the flow.

I can see myself working on schoolwork with this in the background for hours so you've accomplished your desired effect. Good work, keep up the good fight and keep em coming!

Score: 10

"That is by far the best demo reel i've heard."

submission: Kevin R. Czarnecki Voice Demo

date: October 15, 2008

aaaa HAHAHAHA!

Damn great. That's one of the best damn demo reels ever! Fav'ed!

I wish my credit rating was strong with the force...

Score: 9

"Great intensity, a bit prolonged of an intro, epic"

submission: Shallow Grave

date: August 14, 2008

There is great intensity in this track, and although it seems most of the judges seem to focus fiercely on the laid back and hopeless sorrow, I couldn't help but feel something else with this song.

My first comment however is, without the visual description this song would not have placed in the contest. It has a sad feeling at the beginning enforced with what could be brutal anger. The description however saved it by forcing the right images at the right time, and make no mistake I loved every second of it.

There was a bit of Pirates sounding influence to me, then again nowadays anybody who says "This song is about pirates!" gets about a dozen "Hans Zimmer would be proud!" reviews.

The glocken is a great introduction to the song, though I felt it dragged on a bit too long. There were definitely some mixing issues, some instruments I felt were a bit too loud, like the trumpet. I can understand it being so brutally powerful when the whole orchestra is playing, but before then, a heavily reverbed quieter trumpet would have added another layer to the piece.

Overall, bloody powerful track, glad I was able to hear it!