.Start.of.Music.Contest.IV.Rookie.Comments.....................................
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 Music Contest IV Rookie Comments - 01 Sep 1996

 Music Contest was a competition hosted by Hornet         Rookie Entries : 61
 Our archive is located at ftp.cdrom.com /pub/demos

==[Contents]===================================================================

           Files
           Articles
             Introduction................................Snowman and GD
           Comments
             m4r-acro (Across the Way)...................River
             m4r-anew (A New Beginning)..................Kapper
             m4r-aqua (Aquamarine).......................Sledgehammer
             m4r-atta (Attack)...........................turrican
             m4r-azul (Azul).............................Garfield
             m4r-best (Peace to Best Circus).............Phatboy
             m4r-bfan (Blue Fantasies)...................It-Alien
             m4r-cast (Oral Castration)..................Grubwerm
             m4r-clou (On a Cloudy Day)..................Aspax
             m4r-coen (Coencentricity)...................Fred
             m4r-cond (Conductor's Wand).................High Dive
             m4r-cont (System Controlled)................Axl
             m4r-craz (Crazzy)...........................Buck
             m4r-cros (Crossing Hearts)..................Saxy
             m4r-danc (Dance Burning Souls)..............Avathar
             m4r-deda (Nodadeda 7).......................DJ Mind
             m4r-dedi (Dedicated)........................Darius
             m4r-dela (De La Moomin Ranch)...............Rekku
             m4r-dise (Disease)..........................Zoner
             m4r-empi (Empire)...........................Dan Abnormal
             m4r-fied (Funkified)........................Flood
             m4r-flas (Flash Counter)....................Kleitus
             m4r-foll (Follow the Flood).................Stein
             m4r-fore (In the MC4 Forest)................Xfyl
             m4r-ggte (GTE)..............................DreamThief
             m4r-gigg (Giggle of Fairies)................Shudder
             m4r-gold (Gold Moon)........................E-Keet
             m4r-hatc (Hatchet at Five)..................Rhythm Greene
             m4r-hope (Lost Hope)........................Dominion
             m4r-hyst (Hysteria).........................Cylus
             m4r-jaun (Jaunt)............................Wolfsong
             m4r-just (Night in Solitude)................TeeCee
             m4r-litt (The Little Machine)...............HigherBeing
             m4r-lock (Locked Up)........................Discus
             m4r-lore (Lore).............................Ionian Mode
             m4r-lost (Lost Without Love)................Smash
             m4r-mday (Melancholy Day)...................Lanmal
             m4r-ofth (Night of Sexy Baby)...............Hector
             m4r-open (Open Spaces)......................Zanka
             m4r-outo (Out of Interspace)................cd
             m4r-rapt (Rapture in D Minor)...............Mordacai X
             m4r-roby (Robyn)............................Mr.Delgato
             m4r-sere (Serenity).........................Ryan
             m4r-solu (System Solution)..................Cybacolt
             m4r-sout (Southern Aurora 1996).............Cosmic Eclipse
             m4r-stee (Steel Connections)................Sigma
             m4r-supe (Supernova)........................Legend
             m4r-take (Take a Second of Me)..............Pedro
             m4r-thes (The Second Coming)................W
             m4r-timb (Timbalada)........................Starf0x
             m4r-time (Time Walk)........................Decker
             m4r-toge (Together).........................Raphiel
             m4r-tomo (This is Tomorrow).................Miss Saigon
             m4r-upri (A New Uprising)...................Integris
             m4r-veng (Vengeance)........................Vastator
             m4r-vict (Victorious).......................Seraphim
             m4r-vuma (Vumaraihei 8).....................Expel
             m4r-wate (The Waterfall)....................Rafael Lagotto
             m4r-weir (Weird Vocal Voices)...............Aphex
             m4r-wind (Into the Wind)....................Sklathill
             m4r-worl (World of Legends).................Heksen

==[Files]======================================================================

 All files listed can be found at:

   ftp.cdrom.com/pub/demos/hornet/mc/mc4/rookie

 Filename.Ext  Size     Author             Title
 ------------  -------  -----------------  -----------------------
 m4r-acro.zip  346,660  River              Across the Way
 m4r-anew.zip   55,803  Kapper             A New Beginning
 m4r-aqua.zip  150,687  Sledgehammer       Aquamarine
 m4r-atta.zip  124,891  turrican           Attack
 m4r-azul.zip  268,351  Garfield           Azul
 m4r-best.zip  306,217  Phatboy            Peace to Best Circus
 m4r-bfan.zip  206,785  It-Alien           Blue Fantasies
 m4r-cast.zip  254,518  Grubwerm           Oral Castration
 m4r-clou.zip  346,096  Aspax              On a Cloudy Day
 m4r-coen.zip  191,270  Fred               Coencentricity
 m4r-cond.zip  361,254  High Dive          Conductor's Wand
 m4r-cont.zip   81,583  Axl                System Controlled
 m4r-craz.zip  386,370  Buck               Crazzy
 m4r-cros.zip  158,207  Saxy               Crossing Hearts
 m4r-danc.zip  373,217  Avathar            Dance Burning Souls
 m4r-deda.zip  226,693  DJ Mind            Nodadeda 7
 m4r-dedi.zip  224,925  Darius             Dedicated
 m4r-dela.zip  544,438  Rekku              De La Moomin Ranch
 m4r-dise.zip  587,848  Zoner              Disease
 m4r-empi.zip  226,226  Dan Abnormal       Empire
 m4r-fied.zip   97,473  Flood              Funkified
 m4r-flas.zip  291,195  Kleitus            Flash Counter
 m4r-foll.zip  828,078  Stein              Follow the Flood
 m4r-fore.zip  296,227  Xfyl               In the MC4 Forest
 m4r-ggte.zip  441,826  DreamThief         GTE
 m4r-gigg.zip  199,086  Shudder            Giggle of Fairies
 m4r-gold.zip  275,366  E-Keet             Gold Moon
 m4r-hatc.zip  206,007  Rhythm Greene      Hatchet at Five
 m4r-hope.zip  120,281  Dominion           Lost Hope
 m4r-hyst.zip  131,198  Cylus              Hysteria
 m4r-jaun.zip  435,658  Wolfsong           Jaunt
 m4r-just.zip  134,182  TeeCee             Night in Solitude
 m4r-litt.zip   99,630  HigherBeing        The Little Machine
 m4r-lock.zip  245,458  Discus             Locked Up
 m4r-lore.zip  194,479  Ionian Mode        Lore
 m4r-lost.zip  329,649  Smash              Lost Without Love
 m4r-mday.zip  117,280  Lanmal             Melancholy Day
 m4r-ofth.zip  366,140  Hector             Night of Sexy Baby
 m4r-open.zip  241,787  Zanka              Open Spaces
 m4r-outo.zip  381,382  cd                 Out of Interspace
 m4r-rapt.zip  185,364  Mordacai X         Rapture in D Minor
 m4r-roby.zip  123,373  Mr.Delgato         Robyn
 m4r-sere.zip   27,838  Ryan               Serenity
 m4r-solu.zip  401,019  Cybacolt           System Solution
 m4r-sout.zip  394,795  Cosmic Eclipse     Southern Aurora 1996
 m4r-stee.zip  318,513  Sigma              Steel Connections
 m4r-supe.zip  528,808  Legend             Supernova
 m4r-take.zip  635,123  Pedro              Take a Second of Me
 m4r-thes.zip  369,081  W                  The Second Coming
 m4r-timb.zip  274,553  Starf0x            Timbalada
 m4r-time.zip  135,159  Decker             Time Walk
 m4r-toge.zip  118,204  Raphiel            Together
 m4r-tomo.zip  182,655  Miss Saigon        This is Tomorrow
 m4r-upri.zip  151,100  Integris           A New Uprising
 m4r-veng.zip  412,322  Vastator           Vengeance
 m4r-vict.zip  470,433  Seraphim           Victorious
 m4r-vuma.zip  406,098  Expel              Vumaraihei 8
 m4r-wate.zip  192,653  Rafael Lagotto     The Waterfall
 m4r-weir.zip  689,569  Aphex              Weird Vocal Voices
 m4r-wind.zip  370,598  Sklathill          Into the Wind
 m4r-worl.zip   53,664  Heksen             World of Legends

==[Articles]===================================================================

=-----------------------------------------------------------------------------=

 :: "Introduction"
 :: Snowman / Hornet - r3cgm@cdrom.com
 :: GD / Hornet - gd@ftp.cdrom.com

 Believe it or not, comment processing was the most time consuming part of
 putting the final results together.  We started with a 300k raw ASCII text
 file containing a jumbled bunch of disorganized, misspelled, and poorly
 written comments.  14 hours hours were needed to organized, reformat, spell
 check, grammar check, and remove defamatory material.  Enjoy!  :)

==[Comments]===================================================================

 _____m4r-acro (Across the Way) by River

   ..........

 Too slow for me, nice speed change though, Melodic, consistent theme
 throughout song.

   ..........

 When you want to play a note, and then the same note with the same instrument
 in the same channel just after it, make sure that that instrument has got a
 big attack or decay.  If it doesn't have that, it ends up sounding like a
 badly-looped sample, instead of a second hit of the same sample.

 Some of your notes just clipped to a different note which sometimes gave the
 song a forced-amount-of-channels sound.  Alternatively use some more
 portamentos.

 I absolutely HATE those cymbals which have a slight attack before the decay.
 They sound like waves crashing on the beach instead of a cymbal crash.

   ..........

 Nice tune.

   ..........

 Some notes turned out a little sour, sometimes too loud.

 Crash cymbal sounds empty when played alone.  Nice theme.

   ..........

 Nice melody.  Samples are not very good though.  Tuning is really messed up
 in some, especially when they go out of range, which creates some balance
 problems.  Good form and movement through piece, but I didn't feel that the
 percussion supported what the other instruments were doing very often.

 _____m4r-anew (A New Beginning) by Kapper

   ..........

 Dull intro, jumpy tempo change, nice melody, smooth ending.  Lead could be
 sharper (louder).

   ..........

 Not too bad, but the drums weren't very well done.  They often "clipped" from
 the one sample to the other.  Before the snare finished playing, you flicked
 back to a bassdrum.  That sometimes has a nice effect, but in this case it
 didn't.

 Also the drums were quite boring.  The intro was a bit long, almost like an
 attempt to show off your skill in chord theory.  :)  And the change from the
 intro to the main tune wasn't great.  You should have gradually sped it up
 from 125bpm to 150bpm instead of jumping from speed 6 to 5.

   ..........

 Intro is boring.  Middle part of song is nice; ending a bit weak.

   ..........

 Beginning seemed a bit long.  The chords lasted far too long, where the main
 body could have come in.  Good main theme.  Transition from beginning to main
 part was too quick, same for the main body to end.

   ..........

 Intro is boring, and the trasition to the main part of the song is very
 awkward.  Leads and counterleads are good.  More variety in the drum/bass/
 chords would have been nice.  Fadeouts on the ends of lead lines are too
 fast.

 _____m4r-aqua (Aquamarine) by Sledgehammer

   ..........

 Quick start, nice beat.  Vibratos are too deep.  Decent groove.  Nice
 transitions. The piano "overlaps".  End fade is too fast.

   ..........

 Yet another boring but nice demo song.  If you make a demo tune, make sure
 it's got something EXTRA to make it stand out from the others.

 I absolutely HATE those cymbals which have a slight attack before the decay.
 They sound like waves crashing on the beach instead of a cymbal crash.

   ..........

 Nice tune, but too repetitive to be really enjoyable.  Ending is a bit
 abrupt.

   ..........

 Good blend of samples.  Ending a little abrupt.  Good chord progression.

   ..........

 Great groove.  Drum accomaniment very cool.  Samples and leads are well
 balanced.  Only thing I would change is add more variety to the parts to
 contrast the different sections, and maybe a full texture change in your
 bridge.

 _____m4r-atta (Attack) by turrican

   ..........

 Nice bassline.  Nice effects with mood.  Lack of direction.  Nice intro,
 speed change good, offkey after tempo change (?).

   ..........

 Good techno, but it missed a melody.  Okay, perhaps you were trying trance,
 but then the bassdrum and percussion should've been a bit more prominent.  I
 liked the power breakdown between order 12 and 14!  Most of your samples had
 little clicks at the beginning.  Chop that off before you use them in a tune
 next time!

   ..........

 Nice tune, I enjoyed listening to it.  However, the pitch changes at the end
 don't sit well with me.

   ...........

 Good beginning.  Took too long to get to the end though, and the middle was
 too long without enough variation.

   ..........

 I think the song lacks a forward momentum or aggressiveness as the title
 "attack" seems to imply.  Samples are good quality, but the balance could
 use some adjustment.

 _____m4r-azul (Azul) by Garfield

   ..........

 Nice beginning.  Cool beat.  String chords could flow more.  Your lead is
 monotonous until pattern 0F, then its really nice.  Nice format and lots of
 direction.

   ..........

 Yet another boring but nice demo song.  It was nice background music, but the
 lead sounded the same as every other demo tune around.  Be creative, try
 something new!

   ..........

 A bit simplistic in places.  Hmm, isn't that guitar sample a bit familiar?
 An enjoyable tune though.

   ..........

 Good overall.  Beginning sounded a little Metallica nostalgic tho.

   ..........

 Some samples you used don't seem to belong in this song.  Song seems to lack
 a form because the various lead lines are not related and don't recurr (other
 than that eighth note thing).  Also the chord progression needs a little more
 spice.  Good technical tracking though.

 _____m4r-best (Peace to Best Circus) by Phatboy

   ..........

 Jumbled parts.  Lack of direction.  Off key.  My favorite part was the weird
 instrument (sax? kazoo?).  Intensely weird.  :)

   ..........

 One problem: you used a bit too much surround sound.  Surround sounds great
 if you just use it in 1 or 2 channels - then it'll stand out.  But don't make
 the whole tune in surround.

   ..........

 What can I say?  Weird tune, although some parts sound nice.  The song's too
 long and overuses surround sound.

   ..........

 Crazy song.  Makes me want to go slit my wrists and learn to play accordian
 at the same time.  The theme seemed a little incoherant.

   ..........

 Sample quality poor.  No tonal considerations, however I did detect some
 thematic movement.  Drums are pretty funky throughout.  The song doesn't
 really flow, and some of your attempts at complex-meter and "free" harmony
 don't really come off very good.

 _____m4r-bfan (Blue Fantasies) by It-Alien

   ..........

 Cool rez.  Some off-tune parts.  Lots of change but no direction.  Some nice
 harmonies.

   ..........

 One bit which could've been improved upon was the change between the piano
 dreamy part back to the envelope sweeps.  It didn't meld over nicely.  Also,
 the bassdrum could've been a bit louder.  People often play bassdrums too
 low or too high which makes them sound bad.  Yours was too high.

   ..........

 Not a half bad tune.

   ..........

 Samples weren't quite that high quality.  A lot of the song seemed incoherent
 where you couldn't hear what was going on because of the rez drowning out the
 rest of the sound.

   ..........

 Great drums throughout.  Your saw-lead sounds very buzzy (modulated too
 much), which created many balance problems.  Also the piano/string sample
 went out of its "good" range at times.  I really liked the "mellower"
 sections and think the piece would have flowed better if you just took out
 the "techno" stuff.  As it is its pretty good, but the sections don't seem to
 blend together.  Maybe you needed to incorporate more recurring themes/leads
 throughout the piece.

 _____m4r-cast (Oral Castration) by Grubwerm

   ..........

 Nice intro.  Lacks originality.  No melody.  Abrupt ending.

   ..........

 It was depressing and loud.  Perfect industrial actually.  :)  But seriously,
 it could've done with a lead or main melody, rather than confusing the
 listener with quick changes of sound and so on.

   ..........

 The samples get annoying pretty fast. Song lacks some depth in parts.

   ..........

 No leads, and no bass/chord progression.  It leaves the listener very little
 to grasp on to.  Drums are ok, but they seem to just keep repeating.  There's
 nothing special to listen to.  Sample quality low, form was ok.

 _____m4r-clou (On a Cloudy Day) by Aspax

   ..........

 Bassdrum could be better.  Nice chords.  Lack of melody.  Ending needs
 improvement.

   ..........

 Don't go for cliche, invent an original style.  Also, for some reason all
 your instruments were very quiet.

   ..........

 The chords in the begining don't blend nicely with everything else. There is
 no reason this tune should use 32 channels.

   ..........

 Same theme repeats too often.  Too many channels.  This song could have been
 done in less to preserve sound quality.

   ..........

 Good themes, good transitions, but stick to a theme.  Ending was too weak.
 Too abrupt.

   ..........

 Good samples.  Attention to details/nuance was great!  Good form/flow (that
 triple meter thing in the middle was nice).  Although your phrasing/dynamics was good
 I think you could have made the piece better by having some sort of build and
 climax.  As it is, it was nice a mellow, but it seemed very static.

 _____m4r-coen (Coencentricity) by Fred

   ..........

 Good transition.  Nice melodies.  Lack of direction.  Fades at end are
 abrupt.

   ..........

 A nice tune.  The end wasn't all that good, it came too suddenly.

   ..........

 Impressive tune.

   ..........

 Very good samples and cool chords.  The first and second sections don't seem
 to relate well, and the transition to the end thing is awkward.  The piece
 ends too abruptly.  Maybe if you had a return to the first theme that would
 solve both of these problems.  Drum fills needed more spice, and could have
 helped the accompaniment phrase better by leading into the next phrase more
 fluidly.

 _____m4r-cond (Conductor's Wand) by High Dive

   ..........

 Monotonous chords.  Piano overlaps.  Nice lead once it finally comes in.
 Strange but nice ending.

   ..........

 Great stuff!  Sort of doom-style spooky ambience.  The only bad bit was the
 lead in the middle.

   ..........

 The volume is way too high.  Repetitive, yet enjoyable to listen to. The
 ending is weak.

   ..........

 Same recurring theme with very little variation.  Very noisy.

   ..........

 Really cool/different piece.  Snare sample was very low quality.  Would have
 been much better if you had orchestrated the parts instead of all piano.
 Also that piano sample got a little overloaded.  Technical tracking aspects
 could be impoved as well.

 _____m4r-cont (System Controlled) by Axl

   ..........

 Instruments are low, staticy, and undeterminable. Jumbled parts.  Lack of
 direction.  Abrupt ending.

   ..........

 Original, but i didn't really like the sound.  Some of the change-overs were
 bad.  One minute there are 11 channels playing, then all of a sudden there's
 only 3 playing.  Also, most of the tune was in a major key which was
 puzzling.

   ..........

 Sample quality poor and instruments don't seem to blend very well.  The piece
 seems to lack direction or any unifying feature.  With such a sparse texture
 throughout the piece you definately needed more stuff going on, and needed
 more variation.

 _____m4r-craz (Crazzy) by Buck

   ..........

 Musically an interesting concept.  There are many parts which are pretty
 good, but many which are not so good.  Fits the style well.  Could use better
 stereo balancing, meaning it would be better if all the notes weren't panned
 to the center.

   ..........

 No real substance to the tune.

 _____m4r-cros (Crossing Hearts) by Saxy

   ..........

 Samples are of poor quality.  Musically dischordant.  Does not fit its style.
 Notes cut off in odd ways.

   ..........

 Good tune, but there's room for improvement.

   ..........

 Nice try to track an epic soundtrack, but that chime sample was irritating.
 More than 15 patterns using it?  There were some bad samples.

   ..........

 This song reminds me of old style western movies.  The bell sample is really
 hurting.  End is trunked too fast.

   ..........

 Some good ideas, but poor samples and mixing.

 _____m4r-danc (Dance Burning Souls) by Avathar

   ..........

 Don't use the same sample and note in several channels.

   ..........

 Too many instruments at very loud volume.  Bad use of violins.  No relevant
 effects were used.

   ..........

 Very repetitive.  Nearly same chords of first few channels throughout.

 _____m4r-deda (Nodadeda 7) by DJ Mind

   ..........

 Not bad.  The introduction kind of drags along though, and there isn't
 anything really special about it.  Good use of echos and stereo balancing.
 This is the first time I ever complained about a song being too short.  :)

 Pretty good use of samples.

   ..........

 Very cool tune.  Some cool samples as well.

   ..........

 Nice tune, try to use some stereo panning.

   ..........

 Good samples and techniques.

   ..........

 Interesting tune.  Didn't demonstrate advanced musical skill, but well put-
 together.  Very repetitive.

 _____m4r-dedi (Dedicated) by Darius

   ..........

 The shifts between musical themes are a bit abrupt.  Also ends abruptly.

   ..........

 I really like this happy tune.

   ..........

 Almost no effects were used.  Nice melodies.

   ..........

 Nice melodies, but poor mixing.  Samples taken from the MC3 veteran winner?

 _____m4r-dela (De La Moomin Ranch) by Rekku

   ..........

 Samples don't fit together.  Not put together very well.  However, the fact
 that the composer was able to make the drumtrack sound like an extended
 sample without actually using them means that the composer knows how to use
 effects.

 Little bit long and repetitive.  Doesn't help that the song has no clear
 ending.

   ..........

 This tune is way too short.

   ..........

 Bad bassline: just one note?  Several samples seem untuned.

   ..........

 Really cacophonic tune.

   ..........

 Interesting groove, but some dissonant parts, particularly the lead.

 _____m4r-dise (Disease) by Zoner

   ..........

 Nice!  Creative, original use of samples.  The rhythm in the intro bit is a
 bit discordant.  Not everything needs a panning envelope.

   ..........

 A good tune, well thought out and put together.  Good selection of samples.

   ..........

 The introduction was nice, but in the second part, the guitar lead seems
 untuned and too loud.

   ..........

 Nice intro theme.  Very good samples and many tempo changes.  Volumes in the
 central theme should be lowered especially on echo channels.

   ..........

 Nice guitar at beginning, but distorted guitar samples were rather poor.

 _____m4r-empi (Empire) by Dan Abnormal

   ..........

 The entire melody is in an extended sample.

   ..........

 Not many improvements or techniques are done.

   ..........

 Simple and repetitive.

 _____m4r-fied (Funkified) by Flood

   ..........

 Mediocre.  Make use of the volume column.  Nice premise for a melody, but
 poorly executed.  Could use a better chord progression as well.

   ..........

 Interesting samples.  This is an average tune that needs more work.

   ..........

 Nice melodies.

   ..........

 Author should experiment more with tracker effects.

   ..........

 Good tune, but drums were rather mechanical.

 _____m4r-flas (Flash Counter) by Kleitus

   ..........

 Nicely done overall.  Good stereo balancing, good though terribly overused
 samples.  Piano sounds extremely unnatural.  Individual notes are just cut
 off.

   ..........

 A cool tune.

   ..........

 Good techniques.  The piano part seems strange.  Choose a better piano
 sample.  Nice tune.

   ..........

 Nice song.  Samples are very good.  There are too many instruments.

   ..........

 Nice tune, and nice leads.  Watch your mixing at some points, the synths
 were a bit loud.

 _____m4r-foll (Follow the Flood) by Stein

   ..........

 When the rules say "songs must be under 1,000,000 bytes" does not mean
 that it has to be exactly 999,999 bytes.

 Why did you set the samples to 16 bits when they were 8 bits to begin with?

 Poor melody and harmony.

   ..........

 Good tune with variations.

   ..........

 The bassline seems untuned in some patterns.

   ..........

 Tempo is difficult to follow in many patterns.  For a song like this a
 variation on tempo should be better.  It's too mechanical.

 _____m4r-fore (In the MC4 Forest) by Xfyl

   ..........

 Pretty nice.  Good samples.  The piano later in the song is pretty poorly
 done and just thrown in for the purpose of more variety.  It's a bit
 repetitive and tedious at times.  Basically, this is a song which starts out
 very well but then slowly degrades in quality.

   ..........

 Cool percussion, good samples.  No bass?

   ..........

 First time I listened this song, it reminded me of Deep Forest.  Then I
 realized many samples was taken from them.  Instruments should be joined with
 a different criteria.  Good world music, though.

   ..........

 Watch that excessive vibrato.

 _____m4r-ggte (GTE) by DreamThief

   ..........

 Bunch of randomly-thrown-together .WAV files.  Could have at least trimmed
 out the .WAV file headers.

   ..........

 Just a bunch of samples.

   ..........

 A total nonsense song.  Samples are not very good, and they are accosted in a
 bad way.  Not one tracker effect was used.

   ..........

 Play this for your friends, but don't enter it here.

 _____m4r-gigg (Giggle of Fairies) by Shudder

   ..........

 Good selection of samples.  Original concept, nice composition.  The chords
 are always the same.

   ..........

 Nice, calm song with a perfect intro, but it is too monotonous.

   ..........

 I was impressed by the original style of the tune.  The nice, pretty lead was
 tracked well.  Here are some flaws that I noticed in the song.  In the
 future, do more work on stereo panning and volume to help the mixing of the
 tune.  The percussion samples could have been better as well.  Even though
 there were some flaws with this song, it stuck out from the rest.  Good try
 at composing an original style and making it work.

 _____m4r-gold (Gold Moon) by E-Keet

   ..........

 It has different movements, but each one is repetitive.  Too long.

   ..........

 Nothing special about it.  Pure average tune.

   ..........

 There were some nice style changes in the song which helped the song flow
 well.  However, try to be a bit less repetitive in sections so the song
 doesn't drag as much.  One final problem with this song concerned tracking
 technique, specifically on the lead instruments.  In the future, try
 experimenting with some of the effects available.  Your leads sounded abrupt
 when it could have sounded more smooth with some portas.

 _____m4r-hatc (Hatchet at Five) by Rhythm Greene

   ..........

 Clear sound despite the poor samples.  Good intro and melody.  After the
 intro, it lacks a main melody.  The main chords are repeated too much.

   ..........

 Good Samples, well tracked, but something is missing.

   ..........

 Nice piano song.

   ..........

 This song flowed well, and maintained for the most part a good structure.
 The main flaw in this song is the use of excessive repetition.  The re-
 establishment of the main theme in order 37 was nice but if you do this try
 to add a change to the old theme.  Even a basic key change can do wonders.
 Effects could have been used better.

 _____m4r-hope (Lost Hope) by Dominion

   ..........

 The chords are repeated from the beginning to the end with no variation.  It
 has no melody at all.

   ..........

 Too monotonous.

   ..........

 Your song repeats itself too much.

   ..........

 This tune showed a basic ear for music but overall it was poor structurally
 and quality wise.  The first problem I noticed concerned the poor quality of
 samples.  The repetitious nature of this song didn't help much either.  When
 tracking a song, complexity isn't necessary, but for the most part, some sort
 of change is necessary otherwise the song drags.  This song could have been
 spiced up possibly with the use of a nice lead instrument.

 Basic chords and a drumbeat simply doesn't cut it.  Don't get discouraged
 though.  Study some modules that you like for structure and tracking
 technique.  Keep at it.

 _____m4r-hyst (Hysteria) by Cylus

   ..........

 This song consists basically of rhythm and has a weak melody.  Bad quality
 of samples.

   ..........

 Weak mainstream dance tune.

   ..........

 The song lacks quality samples and good tracking technique.  Try spending
 more time in the future selecting your sample set.

 _____m4r-jaun (Jaunt) by Wolfsong

   ..........

 Good set of samples.  Nice melody and good rhythm change.

   ..........

 Impressive!

   ..........

 This tune is a very solid entry in the rookie compo.  Out of all the rookie
 entries that I judged, this song easily had the best formed intro.  The
 intro showed me a couple things.  It was a sign of good musical structure
 which lasted throughout most of the tune.  It also showed me that this
 composer had a better skill with the effect aspect of tracking that most of
 the entries in rookie were lacking of.  Besides the good quality of samples,
 there were some nice changes in the tune which showed some musical and
 tracking competence.

 Here are some of the flaws in this tune.  It seemed that the tune wasn't
 polished very well.  There could have been some extra work done on volume to
 help the mixing.  The song played throughout in mono, which isn't bad, but it
 shows the composer didn't take advantage of panning commands.

 The ending wasn't that great either with a simple uninspiring fadeout.  Even
 though there are some flaws in this tune, they're not terrible.

 _____m4r-just (Night in Solitude) by TeeCee

   ..........

 A bit slow and it lacks a main melody.  Weak ending.

   ..........

 Nice, calm tune with a strange middle part.

   ..........

 The different parts of your song are not very well assembled at all.

   ..........

 This song interested me in several ways.  Stylewise, it was pretty original.
 For the most part, a slow mellow tune with some nice samples.  For a rookie,
 the tracking was pretty good.  Some more polishing could have been done on
 this tune, particularly with panning.  The major flaw of this song was the
 lack of solid transitions.   The song is divided into parts, which is fine,
 but try making them fit a bit better together.  I also noticed some decent
 work on the percussion with some heavy retrigs on the snares for variety.
 Overall, this song had it's ups and downs but it's a solid work for a rookie.

 _____m4r-litt (The Little Machine) by HigherBeing

   ..........

 It has two very differentiated movements though the change is smooth.  The
 first part could have been a bit shorter and the second could have been
 longer.  Good quality of samples.  Nice end.

   ..........

 Musically, everything was ok in this song.  But certain aspects of this song
 surpressed the overall final quality of this piece.  The first part lasted a
 bit too long.  Try to work on transitions in the future as there wasn't one
 in this song between the first and second parts.  As a result of the lack of
 transition, the second part seemed out of place.  Also, try to spend more
 time selecting a higher quality sample set.

 _____m4r-lock (Locked Up) by Discus

   ..........

 The main part is too repetitive.  Nice intro, but the end is not very
 original.

   ..........

 Interesting melody, but always the same.

   ..........

 Many of the ending patterns are almost the same but overall, the song is a
 good composition.

   ..........

 This tune started out with a nice intro.  The nice intro didn't lead into the
 second part very well due to the lack of transition.  The samples were pretty
 good with the exception of sample 5, the most important sample of the song,
 which held the progressions.  Some extra work on volume could have helped the
 mixing.  A better ending than a fadeout would have helped.  Also, repetition
 was the downfall of this song as nothing was done to spice the song up.  It's
 nice to do some key changes, but if you only do a key change with the same
 exact patterns, it doesn't help the flow of the song at all.  Quality wise,
 the song was decent, but repetition brought it to mediocrity.

 _____m4r-lore (Lore) by Ionian Mode

   ..........

 The drums are the same all the time and in general the song is repetitive.

   ..........

 Well tracked tune.

   ..........

 It started with a decent intro, although the choice of sample quality could
 have been better.  Each part was a bit too long and made the song drag a bit.
 The tracking on the lead could have been better, but it was pretty solid for
 a rookie.  The major problem with this song concerned the mixing in this
 song.  Try to do more work with volume mixing in future songs.

 _____m4r-lost (Lost Without Love) by Smash

   ..........

 Good guitar samples, though they are always the same, too repetitive. The
 melody (when there is one), is  completely out of tune.

   ..........

 Decent guitar song with a bad lead.

   ..........

 Good guitar samples a la Jogeir, but that's almost the only good tracking
 in your song.  The drum track is quite good though.

   ..........

 Nothing really was solid in this song besides the decent quality of samples.
 No real progression was made out of the extended guitar sample, which got old
 very fast.  The lead guitar was cacophonous and tracked poorly.  Try working
 more on musical and tracking technique without the aid of extended samples.

 _____m4r-mday (Melancholy Day) by Lanmal

   ..........

 Bad quality of samples.  Slow development.  In general, it is out of tune,
 especially the end.

   ..........

 There really weren't any bright parts at all in this tune.  The samples were
 pretty bad, some were offkey.  Although this composer seemed to use many
 effects, the effects were used poorly.

   ..........

 Intro is too "flat".  Looped sample is clicking.  Percussion seems random.
 Saxophone melody is random notes.  Guitar sample is out of tune.

 _____m4r-ofth (Night of Sexy Baby) by Hector

   ..........

 Nice techno.  Some scratchy samples.

   ..........

 Nice build, but cacophonic in parts and also somehow maladjusted volume.

   ..........

 Not bad.

   ..........

 Good beat.  Strange introduction.  Lead and vocal samples out of place.

   ..........

 This is a fairly decent entry overall.  The piano chords are somewhat catchy.
 What drags this tune down, however, is the repetition.  The chord progression
 remains the same throughout the whole piece, and it gets boring quickly.
 Technical tracking skill is average, not exceptional.  The leads are
 passable, better in some parts than others.  The bells and the flute lead
 got annoying very quickly.  Not only was the actual melody simplistic and
 sort of boring, but it was repeated too much.

 The transitions were decent, though an occasional change in the chord
 progression would have been nice.  Still, the song managed to flow fairly
 well, despite a bit of monotony.  Overuse of voice samples, as they really
 did little for the song except clutter it up.  You have some potential, just
 be sure to work a bit more on keeping the listener's interest with some more
 variety.

 _____m4r-open (Open Spaces) by Zanka

   ..........

 A fair attempt at a relaxing, mellow piece.  However, mediocre tracking
 technique and poor samples bring this song down a bit.  The flute sample is
 decent, but not used well at all in the intro.

 Sample 1 is solow quality that I can barely make out what it's supposed to
 be.  I can't understand why you would choose a sample like this to be played
 throughout almost the whole tune.  The song itself isn't all that bad,
 however.  The progressions give the song sort of an eerie, mysterious
 feeling, and sample 7 is used well with these chords.

 The piano melody is somewhat pretty, though simplistic.  The percussion,
 while not remarkable, is effectively used.   This song develops fairly well,
 better than many other rookie tunes, and has a bit of variety which is always
 nice to hear.  Not a bad piece of work, but I would recommend working on your
 sample sets in the future.

   ..........

 Great sample mix.  Nice ambient feel.

   ..........

 Atmospheric and harmonic.

   ..........

 Good composition.

   ..........

 Intro is too long and boring, and the sample attack is irritating.  But the
 midsection is very nice and has an original sound.  Excellent ending.

 _____m4r-outo (Out of Interspace) by cd

   ..........

 Awkward bass.  Repetitive.  Last orders don't play.

   ..........

 Different.  Cool style.  Also original in samples, but the overall impression
 gets somewhat ruined by the monotony.

   ..........

 Groovy.  Not enough variation.

   ..........

 Cool, funky, and catchy.  Very original and fun to listen to.  A bit strange,
 however.

   ..........

 This entry is one of the better sounding rookies.  Unfortunately, it is
 repetitive.  The samples are nice and fairly unique.  This song shows some
 definite tracking technique, which is missed in most other rookie entries.

 What keeps this tune back, however, is the lack of development.  You seem to
 be a capable tracker, but perhaps not enough effort was put into this piece.
 Work on adding more variety to your music, and keep up the high quality.

 _____m4r-rapt (Rapture in D Minor) by Mordacai X

   ..........

 Bass needs to be much stronger.  Needs a good transition away from constant
 building to be a "great" song.
   ..........

 Nice chords, and some good varations in the solo, but too little variation.
   ..........

 Metallic sounding, gets monotonous.  Ordinary.

   ..........

 Somewhat original for a mod, but poor instrument control.  Too long.  Doesn't
 seem to move anywhere.

   ..........

 A decent classical/orchestral entry, but with notable flaws that make it a
 bit hard to enjoy.  The samples are of a very low quality overall, ruining
 any attempt at a realistic sound.

 Considering that the piano and string instruments are really the focal point
 of the entire piece, it would have been much to your advantage to find some
 higher quality samples.

 There is occasional dissonance and off-key notes.  There is also a bit too
 much repetition for my liking.  The percussion consists only of some barely
 audible kettle drums which add little to the overall sound.

 I suggest putting much more effort into assembling your sample set in the
 future.  Also try to avoid dissonance (clashing notes).

 _____m4r-roby (Robyn) by Mr.Delgato

   ..........

 Weak beginning, but really picks up.  Nice integration of different
 instruments.

   ..........

 Somewhat unoriginal, composer should learn to use the sample offset effect on
 strings.  Also, when using the same sample with the same frequency on several
 channels simultaneously, it causes some of the sound to be cancelled out.

   ..........

 Sounds too mechanical.  Poorly done ending.

   ..........

 Nice chords, and some good instruments, but too many cut notes.  Tempo seems
 strange sometimes.  Song is too long.

   ..........

 Bad tracking, and even worse samples.  This tune has some nice parts
 musically (I liked the intro), but the whole piece is killed by poor samples.

 The strings are too loud, and downright horrible quality.  The piano is only
 slightly better.  The percussion is decent, but the bass and snare drums are
 barely audible.

 The form of this song is okay, at least it progresses a bit.  You seem to
 have a concept of what a song should be, at least, though the ending was
 lacking.  Overall, this piece is fair.  You have to work on your sample sets
 if you want your music to improve.  Also work on using volume and other
 effects.  The melodies of this tune are often drowned out by the harsh
 strings.

 _____m4r-sere (Serenity) by Ryan

   ..........

 Nice chip start for 7 patterns, but overall shows almost no effort.

   ..........

 Noisy.  The samples don't fit very well.

   ..........

 Too short, and seems to be missing something.

   ..........

 Was this entry a 5-minute job?  It doesn't seem like much effort was put into
 this one.  When the tune started out, I thought the riff was at least
 somewhat promising.  However, it got annoying after it was repeated so many
 times.

 There are some seriously harsh arpeggio chords.  Let me suggest not using
 arpeggio unless you know what you're doing.  The "percussion" was passable in
 the first part but very lacking in the second part.

 I get the impression that this tune was a serious rush job.  You'll never
 develop as a musician unless you put some more time and effort into your
 work.

 _____m4r-solu (System Solution) by Cybacolt

   ..........

 Many samples are out of place.  Song doesn't have a very memorable theme.
 Too long.

   ..........

 Obvious rip of a drumtrack from Enigma.  Uninteresting solo.

   ..........

 Industrial style is a nice break from the norm, but the song doesn't have
 much of a groove.

   ..........

 Original sound, but lacks direction.  Spooky.

   ..........

 A song of this style has to be fairly high quality to be effective, but this
 entry doesn't quite make it.  With the exception of some decent percussion
 and use of sound effects, this song is definitely lacking.  The flute lead
 is rarely on key and seems untuned.  I'm not sure what to think of this tune,
 as it's definitely unique and sounds nice at times.

 Definitely the best parts of this tune come from order 1B to the end.  The
 most important advice I could give you is to avoid dissonant leads.  Good
 luck in your attempts at tracking.

 _____m4r-sout (Southern Aurora 1996) by Cosmic Eclipse

   ..........

 Great beginning, but main theme not as good.  Overall the song is
 underdeveloped.

   ..........

 Well organized, excellent use of samples, spine-shaking progression in both
 solo and chords.  Brilliant.

   ..........

 Suitable intro, nice sound.  Very good overall.

   ..........

 Dynamite.  Captivating, uplifting, and beautiful.  A true masterpiece.  If
 only it were longer!

   ..........

 Now this is an impressive piece of work!  I fell absolutely in love with this
 tune at first listen.  One of the few rookie songs with a true air of
 professionalism.  Excellent tracking technique, great samples (and the
 instruments work well together. A great sample set, which is often lacking in
 most rookie songs), beautiful progressions, with a nice mellow style.

 This tune really has no bad spots.  And talk about a unique ending!  Just
 when I thought you were running out of good ideas, too.  I was totally blown
 away by hearing this piece from a rookie entrant.

 My only nitpick is the percussion in the first section.  A bit more of a
 touch with the volume would've been better, soften it a bit and perhaps add
 some echo.  In the second half of the piece, however, it sounds fine.

 I look forward to hearing many more of your tunes in the future.  Keep up the
 great work.

 _____m4r-stee (Steel Connections) by Sigma

   ..........

 Some notes sound out of place but overall outstanding.

   ..........

 Obviously very inspired by Lizardking, since both style and samples are taken
 from him.  Nevertheless, the song is nice and has a good "flow" to it.

   ..........

 Cheesy, but it earns a high mark..

   ..........

 Pure energy and fun.  Very inspired.  Not terribly original, however (I hear
 some Purple Motion in there).

   ..........

 Good use of volume slides on your chords, very catchy melodies with nice
 porta and vibrato.  Not a bad use of sound effects either.  Percussion could
 have been touched up a bit, but at least the samples are high quality for the
 most part.

 Echoes cluttered the song at times, at they weren't quite as quiet as they
 should be.  Nice ending.  Keep up the nice tracking.

 _____m4r-supe (Supernova) by Legend

   ..........

 Bass is repetitive.  Overall, a fair song.

   ..........

 Traditional quasi-techno.

   ..........

 The beat matching is slightly off in the drum loops.

   ..........

 Ominous.  Cool, but drums are too violent.

   ..........

 Nice samples, except for the piano.  Good drumloops.  This piece is a bit on
 the repetitive side, but had enough variety to keep me interested.

 The low point of this song is the piano.  The sample is low-quality, isn't
 used particularly well, and the piano parts add little to this piece.
 The mixing of this piece is better than average.  Overall, a good-quality
 techno track.

 _____m4r-take (Take a Second of Me) by Pedro

   ..........

 Middle interlude is weak but main theme before and after are well done.  Nice
 bass sample.

   ..........

 Overwhelming.

   ..........

 Very atmospheric.  Nice.  Poor intro, though.

   ..........

  Interesting and subtle, but a bit slow.  Not captivating.

   ..........

 A nice rookie entry, this tune has quite a few things going for it.  The
 percussion is very well done, and your chord progressions are mellow and
 relaxing.  Not much of a melody throughout most of the piece, but that works
 for a tune of this style.  When you do work in a lead, it usually comes off
 sounding quite smooth, as in pattern 16 (one of the better parts of this
 song).

 The broken chords with the piano are another plus.

 Although this song has a bit more variety than many rookie entries, it
 develops very little, making it a bit boring.

 _____m4r-thes (The Second Coming) by W

   ..........

 No harmony between different instruments and poor song development.

   ..........

 The build of this song was poor.  Your instruments are bad.  The song is too
 repetitive.

   ..........

 Poor chord progression, but interesting beat.  Not too interesting, though.
   ..........

 This entry consists of mediocre and very repetitive percussion, occasional
 dissonant chords, and annoying sound effects.  This piece occasionally
 manages some decent sound, but always sinks back into sub-mediocrity.  Use of
 the techno blip sample (18) in orders 55 (and following) is decent.

 This song is too long.  Even at a fast tempo, 71 orders (hex) of this is
 overkill.  Except for some decent panning and offset work, the use of effects
 is sparse.  Even some more volume work would have been welcome, as this piece
 is often confused.

 _____m4r-timb (Timbalada) by Starf0x

   ..........

 Enjoyable.

   ..........

 Brazilian sound.  Drumloops were used, but they are very well arranged, it's
 rare to see this.  Overall, a good song.
   ..........

 Original tune.  Could've used a nicer and more dominant lead though.

   ..........

 Not all samples are in tune.  Nice saxophone with brass background.  Bass
 sample is played too high in sections.

 _____m4r-time (Time Walk) by Decker

   ..........

 Too plain.

   ..........

 The author tried to show knowledge of effects, but forgot the harmony.

   ..........

 This piece doesn't seem to flow very nicely.  It seems to have been thrown
 together without very much knowledge of tracking or music.

   ..........

 Intro is "predictable."  Samples are cut-off when new samples are played (low
 synth/string sample) and this breaks the continuity of sound that seems to be
 intended.  Piano part is well done, but timing is off in some sections.
 Percussion needs work.  Song contains no real structure and has no direction.

 _____m4r-toge (Together) by Raphiel

   ..........

 Sounds like a soundtrack.  String sample is too soft.

   ..........

 This song has impact.  Some patterns are good, but some are not.  Strange
 breakdowns.

   ..........

 A nice change of pace from most of the entries.  The percussion doesn't
 always seem to go well with the tune itself.

   ..........

 Slide down in intro is over-done.  Song has almost an "808 state" feel after
 the intro.  Loud punchy bass drum is too dominant in the mix.  Song is too
 slow to develop and repeats too much.  Section transitions are rough.  Not
 enough varying concepts are presented in this piece to hold one's interest.

 _____m4r-tomo (This is Tomorrow) by Miss Saigon

   ..........

 Interesting composition, but without enough variation.

   ..........

 Sweet melody, but song needs more rhythm.

   ..........

 Overall, a good tune.  It has a nice repetitive piano and horn melody.  It
 could've used more variance though.

   ..........

 Well arranged introduction..  Percussion needs work.  Lead sample works nicely
 for this musical concept.  Background arpeggios are nice.  Song displays
 strong compositional and musical arrangement skills.

 _____m4r-upri (A New Uprising) by Integris

   ..........

 Rosy and sunny.  However, piano proceeds pointlessly.

   ..........

 Not an entirely bad tune, although the piano doesn't seem like the best
 choice instrument for the lead with the background percussion and strings.

   ..........

 Drums used poorly.  Piano arrangement could be better.  Cymbals overused.
 Piano samples always played at their default volume sound poor and
 monotonous.  Vary the volume to provide a more realistic sound.

 _____m4r-veng (Vengeance) by Vastator

   ..........

 Good tune.  Some repeated patterns, but nice melody and effects.  Overall, a
 good job.

   ..........

 Nice laid back classical tune.  Flows nicely, and it's got nice samples,
 however it grows rather repetitive.

   ..........

 This song shows some compositional skill.  Using the Hxx effect to de-tune a
 sample is sloppy.  Sound effects such as rain, thunder, and sirens are
 overused and too dominant in the mix.  This piece could be improved with
 more smoothly-executed section changes, and more distinct sections.

 _____m4r-vict (Victorious) by Seraphim

   ..........

 Vicious act with good composition.

   ..........

 Good rock base, but the solo is poor.  Funny intro.

   ..........

 The intro held some promise, although it was quickly shot when the guitar
 started playing the repetitive melody.  The drums didn't seem to go at all
 with the random guitar playing.  They should've reflected the tune more.

   ..........

 Extended lead guitar samples used poorly.  Lead guitar does not match the
 background guitars.  Arrangement is sloppy.  Song is too repetitive.

 _____m4r-vuma (Vumaraihei 8) by Expel

   ..........

 Strange drums.  Strange voices.  Strange effects.  Overall, strange music.

   ..........

 Almost sounds C-64'ish, with random voice samples.  At times not very ear
 pleasing, and rather repetitive.

   ..........

 Transitions between sections are too rough.  Samples are generally of poor
 quality.  Song structure is too loose and does not provide direction.

 _____m4r-wate (The Waterfall) by Rafael Lagotto

   ..........

 Not good, not bad.  Colorful ending.

   ..........

 The song starts poor and become better.  The author should pay more
 attention to sample tunnings.

   ..........

 An average tune.  It could've done without the repeated metallic swooshing
 at the beginning.  It needed a stronger lead melody to it as well.

   ..........

 Creschendo cymbals used poorly.  Crash cymbals overused.  Lead melody in
 first section is nice but repeated too frequently without noticeable
 variation.  Piano section near the end is well done.

 _____m4r-weir (Weird Vocal Voices) by Aphex

   ..........

 Poor progression at the beginning (adding a new instrument each pattern to
 the beat), however it improves slightly in the middle.

   ..........

 "Weird" is right!  Song is repetitive and has no distinct sections.  This
 makes it hard to follow, and hard to stay interested.

 _____m4r-wind (Into the Wind) by Sklathill

   ..........

 Somewhat attractive at beginning. Unimpressive samples.

   ..........

 Interesting melody, but the samples should be better.

   ..........

 Good tune.  Nice strings at the beginning, and it progresses nicely.  Some
 instruments sounded scratchy though.

   ..........

 Nice development in the introduction.  Snare sample seems "muffled".  Try
 selecting a better sample or playing it at a higher pitch.  Song lacks
 distinct sections which makes it hard to follow.

 _____m4r-worl (World of Legends) by Heksen

   ..........

 Too many repeating notes.  Somewhat interesting variation.

   ..........

 Too much repeatition, but well done.

   ..........

 Repetitive, repetitive, repetitive.  Needed nicer variances in the beat and
 lead melody.  Some parts sounded nice though.

   ..........

 Song is too repetitive.  Percussion is fairly well done.  Snare drum seems
 too "dry".  Are you using Qxx on the snare?  Check the settings for that
 effect so each re-trigger is a lower volume to provide a less mechanical
 feeling.

.......................................End.of.Music.Contest.IV.Rookie.Comments.

