About the review

Title: No Way Back
Listen online: 
 
 download add to playlist
Artist: aGp
Genre: Electronica: Trance
Reviewed by: sectorseven on July 24, 2008 (All reviews by sectorseven)

Review Feedback: 
aGp gave sectorseven positive feedback for this review.

Agree		 
Disagree

Review

 Agree with this review?  
Have an opinion and want to be known for it? Share your opinion directly with the musican and start earning your Reviewer Reputation by reviewing this song.


1Overall Description
Take the song, take the photo and make a video clip.
The intro took me to a trip down the river, it was long. The intro and the river, until the first open ocean kick at around 04:30.
 
2Creativity Description
It takes courage to make such a long intro part. I think it was good, but perhaps not suitable for all occasions.
Percussions creativity score: 2/5 - A standard kick-hat pattern
Leads creativity score: 3.5/5 - Nice piano tunes, nice lead filter sweeps.
Background sounds score: 4/5 - In addition to the intro, it was nice to hear some background sounds here and there throughout the song.
 
3Artistic License Description
The song is as long as it can get. Any longer and it may have been too much.
That said, I was surprised to notice that these 10 minutes passed pretty quickly.
Although the combination of samples works nicely, two points are quite noticable:
1. The drumkit feels too familiar. Kicks are without a punch, claps are a bit overused and the hihat work did not necessarily contribute to the song.
2. The selection of lead instruments and piano is excellent. The only thing that feels a little missing, is some delay and reverb effects. More on that later.
 
4Arrangement Description
When you listen to a 10 minutes song and don't get tired, that's when you know the arrangement works.
The minimal percussions in the intro could have been magnified a bit.
The transition between the different parts of the song is smooth and silky. A job well done on the arrangement aspect.
 
5Sound Quality Description
This part is lacking a little. It seems to be a common syndrome with home musicians / trackers - we want to make music, not engineer the sound right?
Well, here are my points for consideration:
1. Completely replace the drum kit. The kick does not have a punch, the cymbal is too dominant which could be good if it was used in some more variations. The claps make the entire drumkit sound a bit cheap. If not replace the claps, maybe some velocity variations?.

2. There seem to be no use of reverb or delay effects. The piano screams "ECHO ME!" and the leads want reverb. The thing is that the lead work and piano work are quite nice but I am sure this song will be at a whole new level with some more work on the effects aspect.

3. The entire mix sounds a bit centered and under-equalized. I would spend some time in the mixer area, and pan some elements to the left or right a little. I would also spend some time in equalizing individual tracks as well as the master track. I am missing some mid ranges on the leads and I feel there are some muddy parts in the kick and bass that need to be polished.

Equalization, panning separation and effects can make wonders on this track.
 
6Does it work as a piece of music Description
Absolutely works as a solid track.
It may be interesting to see a "radio edit" of this track, that will be no more than 3-4 minutes long, or a "club edit" that will have a much shorter and/or punchier intro, suitable for the dance floor.
 
Comments

There are no comments yet. Be the first person to comment.