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Here my my comments on the songs, sorry if i was a little harsh. My intention is only to help. I tried pointing out what i didn´t like about the songs, but also what i did like. I´m far from being a good musician or a expert in any subject, so my opinions are completely subjective, and comes from a man who loves the screaming sounds of guitars, keep that in mind, please.
If i offended anyone, i am REALLY sorry, as its not my intention. And i would appreciated some honesty critics of my song tune.
Again, take these with a grain of salt, ok ?

About the prizing, how about user status ?
It´s free and visible through the community. I saw this on another forum, and it works. The winner gets a phrase or a image on below his name, something like "2008 Music Champ" or anything to that fact. Its free and visible, it could work. Just a suggestion.

DMEnduro - Sonic Metal Sky
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Have to say, i was fooled by the name of this track.
I was expecting the song o go from chiptune to full blasting guitars at ANY moment, but after a minute, i realized that it wasn´t going to happen.
the song is good, the melody is catchy, and the sounds are cool, a little harsh, but sounds cool, especially the bass, the leads a tad bit overdistorted for MY liking.
Composition wise, this could see some variation, the intro is nice, with the crescendo and break-up, which happens again very shortly, from then on, it´s a little repetitive, which small variations of the same theme. The ending was kinda predictable, but works great. Overall, this is a very enjoyable tune, and well done.

Scott Jackson - WonderBoy at Monster Beach
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Soundwise, this doesn´t sound that much as a tropical island, but i can hear the influence on the melody and bass line.
Tonewise the lead synth is a little too trebly, maybe too much attack on it, i can´t really tell, ´cause i´m not a synth person. The bass sounds really good. But may problem is with the panned percussion, if it was on the center, it would bring soo much more of the mood into play, but panned like it is, it kinda bores and annoys me.
Composition wise, i liked the leads, the bass is kinda of repeting the same two patterns all along the track, and the same goes for the drums. The intro fill for the drums, works nicely, but the end is kinda abrupt. I would like to see more swing in this, like a clean rythym guitar and maybe the lead synth and a sax playing with each other, there´s so much room to go to from this. Maybe i am hearing too much into it. I tend to do that, sorry.
I liked the track, it has a nice mood and groove, but i would like it to see it expanded into something with a little more "sauce" you know ?
And some extra instrumentation + rythym/tempo variations would make this a KILLER track.
As i said, i liked it.

Scott Jackson - Alex Hits The Indian Water
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This is nice, i liked the mood overall. I never heard indian music, i think, so the lack of citara (sitar) is all i can think about. Not analysing that (because i don´t know anything else indian), i think this is nice. I liked the synth bass and the lead piano, the beat is also nice.
It doesn´t stray from the original too much (actually, it´s almost verbatim with the original) which can be nice, but also draws the song predictable. Composition wise, there isn´t much to say, except, well, it follows the original rather well, and i think the fade-out could be replaced by a ending phrase or something.
The sounds are good, especially the drums, i hear some fills that i liked. This is a short rendition of a nice tune, and it´s a real slow-paced smooth song. I liked it. It it took more risks and chances, it could have been great.

Steve Gilissen - Temple Del Sol
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This is a soothing piece. I really don´t remember the source tune, so i can´t tell how much this strives from the original. I liked the melody and the arpeggios on the back, however, it lacks some "meat" in my opinion (i´m not usually a soothing music listener, keep that mind), however, this can really gives me the idea of a Sunshine Temple, especially from the bg synths, and the pad synth that is doing the lead also helps. My only grip with it, is that it loops over quite a few times, with no varition in between each loop. Also, i don´t get the end, maybe it´s just me, but i was like "huh?" and then "ohh", and then "huh?" again. I even re-downloaded the song alone (i got the full zip) to check if it wasn´t a corrupt download.
All in all, a soothing piece, and a easy listener, for sure. Also, very good sounds from this one.

tibone - Snail Bite
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Worst guitar solo ever recorded by mankind. Sorry about that.[/b]

Well heres my two cents worth for the song notes....

DMEnduro - Sonic Metal Sky
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This song is quite nice, but as Tibone said I found that the synths were a little too harsh and this could pose a problem for digital clipping but luckily there weren't any issues. Also with this I felt that it needed some panning just to liven the mix up, it sounds rather mono-ish thus makes the overall mix a little dull for my liking. Hmm 3/5

Scott Jackson - WonderBoy at Monster Beach
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This is my own track, but I like Tibones comments. I would have added sax to the mix and now you say that Tibone I think I will re-work this song, I did actually spend quite a while making this I would have done like 10 takes on the synth solo :P I was thinking of doing a jazz rendition of this theme so please keep an eye on the music forum. Hmm no rating for this one.

Scott Jackson - Alex Hits The Indian Water
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Again, my own song (now you know my real name)

Steve Gilissen - Temple Del Sol
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I actually enjoyed this quite a lot but I felt it needed something more such as a counter melody working in a contrapuntal fashion. Also some percussive elements would have been nice but with a piece of this nature percussion is quite hard to master. As for the long gap at the end Steve ........(cue Bb)....... Overall I rate this 3/5

tibone - Snail Bite
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Hmm now I am in mixed feelings with this song. For me it wasnt very musical it kinda stayed on the 1 chord and although the ideas were there for me the drums didn't cut the mustard. Tibone some suggestions for this tune would be to perhaps simplify the drums, some of those symbol fills are a little over the top however they do sound cool. Also just watch the time feel on your melody and it also seems the constant under riff isnt in tune, so just nail down that tuning on your guitar. Also you seem to have some ground hum, make sure you keep your audio leads well away from power cables :P Overall I rate this 2.8/5

Thanks all for your efforts.

The end of Temple del Sol was totally unintentional.
Fuckings to FL Studio for recording that.

So are we going to vote this year?

Personally, I'm finding DMEnduro's entry grows on me each time I hear it. The track it's based on is excellent, but rarely heard or covered, which is a factor the other entries failed on. Plus, I'm a sucker for square waves.

Jacko's and SteveSMS's entries were a bit too MIDI-ish if you get my meaning, especially Steve's which repeats about 5 times too many. tibone's entry is totally the opposite direction which makes it tough to listen to, the length's about right though :)

I like DMEnduro - Sonic Metal Sky the most. My reason for this is because it actually sounds like the SMS could reproduce that music/ sound. I know that is not part of the rules or anything but for me I like that style of sound.

Some of the others are nice but remind me of the demo's on a keyboard (samba etc..) overlayed with the notes from the original they are based on. Sorry if that comment offends anyone.

The snail track I am not sure about, It's not really my type of music so difficult to give it much criticism.

Well done to all who entered.

I wish I had the skills to make my own entery, maybe next year.

I agree with Maxim and james costello, DMEnduro's entry is a winner.

For the rest it's a tough choice as I really enjoy listening to the entire package, with the relaxed Ecco-like "Temple Del Sol" (which I like because it's monotonous I think) and "Alex Hits The Indian Water" with its excellent piano and tabla rhythm being highlights.

"Snail Bite" would be a really great track if the actual sound of the instruments wouldn't keep it down - especially the drums sound cheap; but also the rhythm guitar could need more 'omph'. The bass could also be a bit heavier and need some distortion. The guitar solo I like a lot. - I want a re-recorded, remixed and remastered version for the next compo! :-)

"Wonderboy at Monster Beach" suffers from that 'saw' lead, which for my taste is also way too loud. Otherwise the track is good, especially the excellent piano work, but overall still the weakest track of the entire set in my opinion.

To choose between "Temple Del Sol", "Alex Hits The Indian Water" and "Snail Bite" is really hard... Hm, right now I would choose the following:
1. DMEnduro - Sonic Metal Sky
2. Steve Gilissen - Temple Del Sol (with some distance to 1st place because it seems a bit unfinished)
3. tibone - Snail Bite (3rd place for the potential and because I simply can't resist the Snail theme)
4. Scott Jackson - Alex Hits The Indian Water (incredible close to 3rd place)
5. Scott Jackson - WonderBoy at Monster Beach

Judging from the actual production (mix, overall execution), I think that "Sonic Metal Sky" and "Alex Hits The Indian Water" are the best tracks. Very professional work.

- Congrats to all who entered! :-)

Maxim wrote

So are we going to vote this year?

Well I think we should, after all we have entries, no matter how good or bad they are.

Can you PM me your vote guys?
Use 1 to 9 rating (they are ratings, not rank, so you can use a same number for different entries. 1 is best 9 is worse, N/A if not applicable.
Use a subject such as:
" Music Competition 2008 votes "
Note that I will NOT open your PM before I myself have voted, so don't include other information in the message, if you have other infos/requests send them in another PM marked as such.

First of all, thanks for all the comments on my song.
i guess not many people around here likes metal (or metal like) music ?

Jacko : i like the drums to not be just "a supporting instrument", which is why i try to vary every fill and beat. But i will try to simplify them a bit, and see how that sounds with the rest. About the very, very, very simple harmony, i simple couldn´t figure out more chords that would not sound bad in it. Sorry about that.

Christuserloeser : About the drum samples, it´s all i´ve got. I understand what you meant, and i agree with you, nothing replaces a real drummer, but unfortunately, that´s the best i can do, with the samples i have. However, i like my rhythm guitar tone :), i don´t like to put too much bass on it. It ends up sounding muddy. The bass is something i am still taming, will try to make it heavier and better. Thanks for the input. Glad you liked the solo, it was quite rushed. I will probably remaster the song, i will want your opinions then.

About voting, i will need to register ? just for that ? :)

Please read my edited post above on rating (I originally made a mistake using a 1-5 scale, the traditional scale we used is 1-9 and they are ratings, not ranks).

Wow, thanks for the awesome comments guys!

DMEnduro wrote

Wow, thanks for the awesome comments guys!

Heres my comment:

DMEnduro do we release the version of your song that I made some edits to? trust me folks the version is even better... DMEnduro was too scared to use it in the competition as I had edited it, but I said I would take no credits and the song remains fully his..

In the end I don't care who wins, were all in this together and I enjoy doing this as it gives me something to do. One thing I will do is take everyones awesome comments and re-work my songs to a better state.

Also Steve, if you work out a nice ending for your tune that would be cool, hehe :)

Thanks All

Took me a while to realise these were up on the site already so figured I'd listen and say what I thought.

DMEnduro - Sonic Metal Sky
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I have to admit Maxim is quite right that this song grows on you the more you listen. Unfortunately I am not familier with the source material, I could not recall this song in the Sonic series. I quite like the almost military-like march of the drums on this track, they keep the song moving but are subtle enough not to overpower the rest of the track. The lead melody sometimes gets a little muddled with the bassline, when it doesn't work it gets a little droney, but when it does work it sounds great.

Scott Jackson - WonderBoy at Monster Beach
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I really really like this cover, I think the extra effort Jacko has spent fine-tuning this piece shows. It may be a little slower tempo than the source material but the mix of other instruments achieves a balance that makes the mellowed out track work. Everytime I listen the music transports me to some distant island sipping coolers by the beachside.. great work!

Scott Jackson - Alex Hits The Indian Water
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Ahh.. the good old underwater theme, which is at times almost as iconic as the main theme (and secretely I've always liked the former better). Overall this is a very classic cover, but the piano part unfortunately lets it down. It sounds like the piano was detuned a little but not in a nice way it sounds a little sickly, it is also is a little too dry, adding a little reverb would do wonders.

Steve Gilissen - Temple Del Sol
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Once again since I was never really into the RPG side of the SMS so I'm not that familier with the songs from Y's, but that doesn't make this track any less great. The xylophone is quaint and melodic with a nice symphony laid over the top. The only problem as others have stated is that the tune gets repetitive very quickly. Although I'm not a big guitar fan myself I think a nice sweeping epic from an electric guitar kicking in about midway would have lifted this track to a whole new level.

tibone - Snail Bite
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There is no doubting that little snail game ditty is a catchy one. tobine tries his own take on this tune with a metal flavour but it doesn't quite seem to workout. Although its traditional for metal to be racy the song feels a little rushed, especially when comparing it to the much more laid back original (he is a snail after all..). There is also a fundamental element that seems to be missing from this tune, I'm only going by ear but I'm pretty certain the original actually has 2 distinct melody parts (think dueling banjos), whereas in tobines interpretation its pretty much a guitar solo.

Ok, thats it I am spilling open the can of worms, I can't resist.

Here is a reworked version of DMEnduro's tune, download it or else
http://adelaideconcertband.org.au/work/sonic_metal_sky.mp3

For the best effect either pop some headphones on and listen to it, or just turn the speakers up really damn loud, press play and let it grow on you.

I have listened to this countless times and I can't tell you how much I enjoy it. This song goes to show that simple is more :)

I have to admit that is a significant improvement.

I don't know why but some parts of the song remind me of Metric - Monster Hospital

djbass wrote

I have to admit that is a significant improvement.

I don't know why but some parts of the song remind me of Metric - Monster Hospital

Wow DJBass thats quite an interesting use of a phaser, but yes it sounds real reminiscent of DMs tne, hehe.

You heard DJ its a significant improvement, quick everyone download it!

I really appreciate it Jacko :) I was aware of some of the issues, and I probably wasn't 100% happy with it as it was released, but I did want to enter something that I could call my own work. If there is one thing I would further improve on, it's the drums. I had fun with it though. Thanks again, guys.

After listening to the underwater theme Jacko i think you may be right that its just how you interpreted the notes that probably makes it sound a little off.

Heres what I came up with:

Quote

G G-F F-Eb Eb-Eb-D-Eb-Eb-D
F F-Eb Eb-D D-G-G-F-Eb
D-C-Bb
G G-F F-Eb Eb-Eb-D-Eb-Eb-D
F F-Eb Eb-D D-G-G-F-Eb
Bb-C-D
Eb-D-C-D-Eb-D-F-Eb-D-D-C
D-C-Bb-C-D-G-G-F-Eb
Bb-C-D
Eb-D-C-D-Eb-D-F-Eb-D-D-C
D-C-Bb-C-D-G-G-F-Eb
D-C-Bb

Please forgive my inability to scribe music :P

Thats the same as me, just a semi tone up. For some reason I always hear SMS music a semi tone too low. Although then again the PSG would not play strictly in tune and each chip would vary in tuning a little bit.

So, how many votes do we already have ?

Are we gonna name the winner tune this year ?

It's a problem I have got very few votes.

Bock, I realize you had short time to build the engine, therefore I could assist you guys on that.

If you could handle me the last year´s script for customization it would be nice.

Only one thing: do you keep users from voting several times based on their IP solely ? Cause I thought you could have 2 options: restricting votes only for registered nicknames (and in this way get less votes) OR letting everyone vote with that restriction (IP).

Anyway, I don´t remember how it was last year so please tell.

Niloct.

Voting restricted by IP is a bad idea. People wishing to cheat the vote can easily change their IP, and innocent people may have the same IP (eg. family members) and be restricted from voting.

We could implement something via the existing forum poll functionality. For example, create one post per entry and give the same 9 voting levels in each. It would also allow individual discussion of the entries, but also make it difficult to discuss them all together.

There doesn't seem to be a rating-based poll mod, but there is a interesting one here:

http://www.masquilier.org/libre/phpbb/

that implements Concordet voting, which is quite clever and fair, but complicated to implement. Unfortunately it's also unavailable, I've contacted the author about it.

Maxim wrote

Voting restricted by IP is a bad idea. People wishing to cheat the vote can easily change their IP, and innocent people may have the same IP (eg. family members) and be restricted from voting.

If you´re gonna restrict vote per login (again I don´t remember if this was the case last year) then we´re gonna get a lot fewer votes.

Maxim wrote

We could implement something via the existing forum poll functionality. For example, create one post per entry and give the same 9 voting levels in each. It would also allow individual discussion of the entries, but also make it difficult to discuss them all together.
.

Why don´t we simply refactor last year´s script, modify the database and let everything run for a week as usual ?

Author	Message
tibone Guest	Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 7:32 pm
tibone Guest	Here my my comments on the songs, sorry if i was a little harsh. My intention is only to help. I tried pointing out what i didn´t like about the songs, but also what i did like. I´m far from being a good musician or a expert in any subject, so my opinions are completely subjective, and comes from a man who loves the screaming sounds of guitars, keep that in mind, please. If i offended anyone, i am REALLY sorry, as its not my intention. And i would appreciated some honesty critics of my song tune. Again, take these with a grain of salt, ok ? About the prizing, how about user status ? It´s free and visible through the community. I saw this on another forum, and it works. The winner gets a phrase or a image on below his name, something like "2008 Music Champ" or anything to that fact. Its free and visible, it could work. Just a suggestion. DMEnduro - Sonic Metal Sky --------------------------------------------------------- Have to say, i was fooled by the name of this track. I was expecting the song o go from chiptune to full blasting guitars at ANY moment, but after a minute, i realized that it wasn´t going to happen. the song is good, the melody is catchy, and the sounds are cool, a little harsh, but sounds cool, especially the bass, the leads a tad bit overdistorted for MY liking. Composition wise, this could see some variation, the intro is nice, with the crescendo and break-up, which happens again very shortly, from then on, it´s a little repetitive, which small variations of the same theme. The ending was kinda predictable, but works great. Overall, this is a very enjoyable tune, and well done. Scott Jackson - WonderBoy at Monster Beach ----------------------------------------------------------- Soundwise, this doesn´t sound that much as a tropical island, but i can hear the influence on the melody and bass line. Tonewise the lead synth is a little too trebly, maybe too much attack on it, i can´t really tell, ´cause i´m not a synth person. The bass sounds really good. But may problem is with the panned percussion, if it was on the center, it would bring soo much more of the mood into play, but panned like it is, it kinda bores and annoys me. Composition wise, i liked the leads, the bass is kinda of repeting the same two patterns all along the track, and the same goes for the drums. The intro fill for the drums, works nicely, but the end is kinda abrupt. I would like to see more swing in this, like a clean rythym guitar and maybe the lead synth and a sax playing with each other, there´s so much room to go to from this. Maybe i am hearing too much into it. I tend to do that, sorry. I liked the track, it has a nice mood and groove, but i would like it to see it expanded into something with a little more "sauce" you know ? And some extra instrumentation + rythym/tempo variations would make this a KILLER track. As i said, i liked it. Scott Jackson - Alex Hits The Indian Water ------------------------------------------------------------ This is nice, i liked the mood overall. I never heard indian music, i think, so the lack of citara (sitar) is all i can think about. Not analysing that (because i don´t know anything else indian), i think this is nice. I liked the synth bass and the lead piano, the beat is also nice. It doesn´t stray from the original too much (actually, it´s almost verbatim with the original) which can be nice, but also draws the song predictable. Composition wise, there isn´t much to say, except, well, it follows the original rather well, and i think the fade-out could be replaced by a ending phrase or something. The sounds are good, especially the drums, i hear some fills that i liked. This is a short rendition of a nice tune, and it´s a real slow-paced smooth song. I liked it. It it took more risks and chances, it could have been great. Steve Gilissen - Temple Del Sol ---------------------------------------------------------- This is a soothing piece. I really don´t remember the source tune, so i can´t tell how much this strives from the original. I liked the melody and the arpeggios on the back, however, it lacks some "meat" in my opinion (i´m not usually a soothing music listener, keep that mind), however, this can really gives me the idea of a Sunshine Temple, especially from the bg synths, and the pad synth that is doing the lead also helps. My only grip with it, is that it loops over quite a few times, with no varition in between each loop. Also, i don´t get the end, maybe it´s just me, but i was like "huh?" and then "ohh", and then "huh?" again. I even re-downloaded the song alone (i got the full zip) to check if it wasn´t a corrupt download. All in all, a soothing piece, and a easy listener, for sure. Also, very good sounds from this one. tibone - Snail Bite ---------------------------------------------------------- Worst guitar solo ever recorded by mankind. Sorry about that.[/b]

Jacko Joined: 01 Feb 2004 Posts: 1464 Location: Sunny ol Tamworth, New England NSW AU	Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 11:21 pm
	Well heres my two cents worth for the song notes.... DMEnduro - Sonic Metal Sky --------------------------------------------------------- This song is quite nice, but as Tibone said I found that the synths were a little too harsh and this could pose a problem for digital clipping but luckily there weren't any issues. Also with this I felt that it needed some panning just to liven the mix up, it sounds rather mono-ish thus makes the overall mix a little dull for my liking. Hmm 3/5 Scott Jackson - WonderBoy at Monster Beach ----------------------------------------------------------- This is my own track, but I like Tibones comments. I would have added sax to the mix and now you say that Tibone I think I will re-work this song, I did actually spend quite a while making this I would have done like 10 takes on the synth solo :P I was thinking of doing a jazz rendition of this theme so please keep an eye on the music forum. Hmm no rating for this one. Scott Jackson - Alex Hits The Indian Water ------------------------------------------------------------ Again, my own song (now you know my real name) Steve Gilissen - Temple Del Sol ---------------------------------------------------------- I actually enjoyed this quite a lot but I felt it needed something more such as a counter melody working in a contrapuntal fashion. Also some percussive elements would have been nice but with a piece of this nature percussion is quite hard to master. As for the long gap at the end Steve ........(cue Bb)....... Overall I rate this 3/5 tibone - Snail Bite ---------------------------------------------------------- Hmm now I am in mixed feelings with this song. For me it wasnt very musical it kinda stayed on the 1 chord and although the ideas were there for me the drums didn't cut the mustard. Tibone some suggestions for this tune would be to perhaps simplify the drums, some of those symbol fills are a little over the top however they do sound cool. Also just watch the time feel on your melody and it also seems the constant under riff isnt in tune, so just nail down that tuning on your guitar. Also you seem to have some ground hum, make sure you keep your audio leads well away from power cables :P Overall I rate this 2.8/5 Thanks all for your efforts.

SteveSMS Joined: 04 Sep 2005 Posts: 220	Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2008 2:23 pm
SteveSMS Joined: 04 Sep 2005 Posts: 220	The end of Temple del Sol was totally unintentional. Fuckings to FL Studio for recording that.

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14745 Location: London	Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 2:11 pm
	So are we going to vote this year? Personally, I'm finding DMEnduro's entry grows on me each time I hear it. The track it's based on is excellent, but rarely heard or covered, which is a factor the other entries failed on. Plus, I'm a sucker for square waves. Jacko's and SteveSMS's entries were a bit too MIDI-ish if you get my meaning, especially Steve's which repeats about 5 times too many. tibone's entry is totally the opposite direction which makes it tough to listen to, the length's about right though :)

james costello Joined: 17 Dec 2005 Posts: 537 Location: England	Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 2:35 pm
	I like DMEnduro - Sonic Metal Sky the most. My reason for this is because it actually sounds like the SMS could reproduce that music/ sound. I know that is not part of the rules or anything but for me I like that style of sound. Some of the others are nice but remind me of the demo's on a keyboard (samba etc..) overlayed with the notes from the original they are based on. Sorry if that comment offends anyone. The snail track I am not sure about, It's not really my type of music so difficult to give it much criticism. Well done to all who entered. I wish I had the skills to make my own entery, maybe next year.

Christuserloeser Joined: 26 Dec 2004 Posts: 295 Location: Pangea	Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 2:54 pm
	I agree with Maxim and james costello, DMEnduro's entry is a winner. For the rest it's a tough choice as I really enjoy listening to the entire package, with the relaxed Ecco-like "Temple Del Sol" (which I like because it's monotonous I think) and "Alex Hits The Indian Water" with its excellent piano and tabla rhythm being highlights. "Snail Bite" would be a really great track if the actual sound of the instruments wouldn't keep it down - especially the drums sound cheap; but also the rhythm guitar could need more 'omph'. The bass could also be a bit heavier and need some distortion. The guitar solo I like a lot. - I want a re-recorded, remixed and remastered version for the next compo! :-) "Wonderboy at Monster Beach" suffers from that 'saw' lead, which for my taste is also way too loud. Otherwise the track is good, especially the excellent piano work, but overall still the weakest track of the entire set in my opinion. To choose between "Temple Del Sol", "Alex Hits The Indian Water" and "Snail Bite" is really hard... Hm, right now I would choose the following: 1. DMEnduro - Sonic Metal Sky 2. Steve Gilissen - Temple Del Sol (with some distance to 1st place because it seems a bit unfinished) 3. tibone - Snail Bite (3rd place for the potential and because I simply can't resist the Snail theme) 4. Scott Jackson - Alex Hits The Indian Water (incredible close to 3rd place) 5. Scott Jackson - WonderBoy at Monster Beach Judging from the actual production (mix, overall execution), I think that "Sonic Metal Sky" and "Alex Hits The Indian Water" are the best tracks. Very professional work. - Congrats to all who entered! :-)

Niloct Joined: 25 Dec 2005 Posts: 607 Location: São Paulo - Brazil	Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 3:27 pm
	Maxim wrote So are we going to vote this year? Well I think we should, after all we have entries, no matter how good or bad they are.

Bock Site Admin Joined: 08 Jul 2001 Posts: 8652 Location: Paris, France	Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 6:35 pm Last edited by Bock on Wed Apr 02, 2008 10:10 pm; edited 1 time in total
	Can you PM me your vote guys? Use 1 to 9 rating (they are ratings, not rank, so you can use a same number for different entries. 1 is best 9 is worse, N/A if not applicable. Use a subject such as: " Music Competition 2008 votes " Note that I will NOT open your PM before I myself have voted, so don't include other information in the message, if you have other infos/requests send them in another PM marked as such.

tibone Guest	Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 7:03 pm
tibone Guest	First of all, thanks for all the comments on my song. i guess not many people around here likes metal (or metal like) music ? Jacko : i like the drums to not be just "a supporting instrument", which is why i try to vary every fill and beat. But i will try to simplify them a bit, and see how that sounds with the rest. About the very, very, very simple harmony, i simple couldn´t figure out more chords that would not sound bad in it. Sorry about that. Christuserloeser : About the drum samples, it´s all i´ve got. I understand what you meant, and i agree with you, nothing replaces a real drummer, but unfortunately, that´s the best i can do, with the samples i have. However, i like my rhythm guitar tone :), i don´t like to put too much bass on it. It ends up sounding muddy. The bass is something i am still taming, will try to make it heavier and better. Thanks for the input. Glad you liked the solo, it was quite rushed. I will probably remaster the song, i will want your opinions then. About voting, i will need to register ? just for that ? :)

Bock Site Admin Joined: 08 Jul 2001 Posts: 8652 Location: Paris, France	Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 10:11 pm
	Please read my edited post above on rating (I originally made a mistake using a 1-5 scale, the traditional scale we used is 1-9 and they are ratings, not ranks).

DMEnduro Joined: 27 Apr 2005 Posts: 420 Location: Australia	Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2008 7:12 am
	Wow, thanks for the awesome comments guys!

Jacko Joined: 01 Feb 2004 Posts: 1464 Location: Sunny ol Tamworth, New England NSW AU	Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2008 11:47 am
	DMEnduro wrote Wow, thanks for the awesome comments guys! Heres my comment: DMEnduro do we release the version of your song that I made some edits to? trust me folks the version is even better... DMEnduro was too scared to use it in the competition as I had edited it, but I said I would take no credits and the song remains fully his.. In the end I don't care who wins, were all in this together and I enjoy doing this as it gives me something to do. One thing I will do is take everyones awesome comments and re-work my songs to a better state. Also Steve, if you work out a nice ending for your tune that would be cool, hehe :) Thanks All

thatawesomeguy Joined: 25 Jul 2007 Posts: 731 Location: Melbourne, Australia	Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2008 12:27 pm
	Took me a while to realise these were up on the site already so figured I'd listen and say what I thought. DMEnduro - Sonic Metal Sky --------------------------------------------------------- I have to admit Maxim is quite right that this song grows on you the more you listen. Unfortunately I am not familier with the source material, I could not recall this song in the Sonic series. I quite like the almost military-like march of the drums on this track, they keep the song moving but are subtle enough not to overpower the rest of the track. The lead melody sometimes gets a little muddled with the bassline, when it doesn't work it gets a little droney, but when it does work it sounds great. Scott Jackson - WonderBoy at Monster Beach ----------------------------------------------------------- I really really like this cover, I think the extra effort Jacko has spent fine-tuning this piece shows. It may be a little slower tempo than the source material but the mix of other instruments achieves a balance that makes the mellowed out track work. Everytime I listen the music transports me to some distant island sipping coolers by the beachside.. great work! Scott Jackson - Alex Hits The Indian Water ------------------------------------------------------------ Ahh.. the good old underwater theme, which is at times almost as iconic as the main theme (and secretely I've always liked the former better). Overall this is a very classic cover, but the piano part unfortunately lets it down. It sounds like the piano was detuned a little but not in a nice way it sounds a little sickly, it is also is a little too dry, adding a little reverb would do wonders. Steve Gilissen - Temple Del Sol ---------------------------------------------------------- Once again since I was never really into the RPG side of the SMS so I'm not that familier with the songs from Y's, but that doesn't make this track any less great. The xylophone is quaint and melodic with a nice symphony laid over the top. The only problem as others have stated is that the tune gets repetitive very quickly. Although I'm not a big guitar fan myself I think a nice sweeping epic from an electric guitar kicking in about midway would have lifted this track to a whole new level. tibone - Snail Bite ---------------------------------------------------------- There is no doubting that little snail game ditty is a catchy one. tobine tries his own take on this tune with a metal flavour but it doesn't quite seem to workout. Although its traditional for metal to be racy the song feels a little rushed, especially when comparing it to the much more laid back original (he is a snail after all..). There is also a fundamental element that seems to be missing from this tune, I'm only going by ear but I'm pretty certain the original actually has 2 distinct melody parts (think dueling banjos), whereas in tobines interpretation its pretty much a guitar solo.

Jacko Joined: 01 Feb 2004 Posts: 1464 Location: Sunny ol Tamworth, New England NSW AU	Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2008 12:50 pm
	Ok, thats it I am spilling open the can of worms, I can't resist. Here is a reworked version of DMEnduro's tune, download it or else http://adelaideconcertband.org.au/work/sonic_metal_sky.mp3 For the best effect either pop some headphones on and listen to it, or just turn the speakers up really damn loud, press play and let it grow on you. I have listened to this countless times and I can't tell you how much I enjoy it. This song goes to show that simple is more :)

thatawesomeguy Joined: 25 Jul 2007 Posts: 731 Location: Melbourne, Australia	Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2008 2:36 pm
	I have to admit that is a significant improvement. I don't know why but some parts of the song remind me of Metric - Monster Hospital

Jacko Joined: 01 Feb 2004 Posts: 1464 Location: Sunny ol Tamworth, New England NSW AU	Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2008 8:55 pm
	djbass wrote I have to admit that is a significant improvement. I don't know why but some parts of the song remind me of Metric - Monster Hospital Wow DJBass thats quite an interesting use of a phaser, but yes it sounds real reminiscent of DMs tne, hehe. You heard DJ its a significant improvement, quick everyone download it!

DMEnduro Joined: 27 Apr 2005 Posts: 420 Location: Australia	Posted: Fri Apr 04, 2008 10:19 am
	I really appreciate it Jacko :) I was aware of some of the issues, and I probably wasn't 100% happy with it as it was released, but I did want to enter something that I could call my own work. If there is one thing I would further improve on, it's the drums. I had fun with it though. Thanks again, guys.

thatawesomeguy Joined: 25 Jul 2007 Posts: 731 Location: Melbourne, Australia	Posted: Fri Apr 04, 2008 5:14 pm
	After listening to the underwater theme Jacko i think you may be right that its just how you interpreted the notes that probably makes it sound a little off. Heres what I came up with: Quote G G-F F-Eb Eb-Eb-D-Eb-Eb-D F F-Eb Eb-D D-G-G-F-Eb D-C-Bb G G-F F-Eb Eb-Eb-D-Eb-Eb-D F F-Eb Eb-D D-G-G-F-Eb Bb-C-D Eb-D-C-D-Eb-D-F-Eb-D-D-C D-C-Bb-C-D-G-G-F-Eb Bb-C-D Eb-D-C-D-Eb-D-F-Eb-D-D-C D-C-Bb-C-D-G-G-F-Eb D-C-Bb Please forgive my inability to scribe music :P

Jacko Joined: 01 Feb 2004 Posts: 1464 Location: Sunny ol Tamworth, New England NSW AU	Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2008 1:49 am
	Thats the same as me, just a semi tone up. For some reason I always hear SMS music a semi tone too low. Although then again the PSG would not play strictly in tune and each chip would vary in tuning a little bit.

Niloct Joined: 25 Dec 2005 Posts: 607 Location: São Paulo - Brazil	Votes Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 4:31 pm
	So, how many votes do we already have ? Are we gonna name the winner tune this year ?

Bock Site Admin Joined: 08 Jul 2001 Posts: 8652 Location: Paris, France	Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 4:35 pm
	It's a problem I have got very few votes.

Niloct Joined: 25 Dec 2005 Posts: 607 Location: São Paulo - Brazil	Vote engine Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 5:32 pm
	Bock, I realize you had short time to build the engine, therefore I could assist you guys on that. If you could handle me the last year´s script for customization it would be nice. Only one thing: do you keep users from voting several times based on their IP solely ? Cause I thought you could have 2 options: restricting votes only for registered nicknames (and in this way get less votes) OR letting everyone vote with that restriction (IP). Anyway, I don´t remember how it was last year so please tell. Niloct.

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14745 Location: London	Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 8:44 am
	Voting restricted by IP is a bad idea. People wishing to cheat the vote can easily change their IP, and innocent people may have the same IP (eg. family members) and be restricted from voting. We could implement something via the existing forum poll functionality. For example, create one post per entry and give the same 9 voting levels in each. It would also allow individual discussion of the entries, but also make it difficult to discuss them all together. There doesn't seem to be a rating-based poll mod, but there is a interesting one here: http://www.masquilier.org/libre/phpbb/ that implements Concordet voting, which is quite clever and fair, but complicated to implement. Unfortunately it's also unavailable, I've contacted the author about it.

Niloct Joined: 25 Dec 2005 Posts: 607 Location: São Paulo - Brazil	Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 10:25 pm
	Maxim wrote Voting restricted by IP is a bad idea. People wishing to cheat the vote can easily change their IP, and innocent people may have the same IP (eg. family members) and be restricted from voting. If you´re gonna restrict vote per login (again I don´t remember if this was the case last year) then we´re gonna get a lot fewer votes. Maxim wrote We could implement something via the existing forum poll functionality. For example, create one post per entry and give the same 9 voting levels in each. It would also allow individual discussion of the entries, but also make it difficult to discuss them all together. . Why don´t we simply refactor last year´s script, modify the database and let everything run for a week as usual ?

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