Score: 10

"Great!"

submission: Sacrifice

date: October 10, 2008

Hey, what synth are you using for the female vocals? They sound amazingly authentic... almost recorded.

Thanks,
Sycross.

Score: 10

"HOLY ****"

submission: Entering the Stronghold

date: September 28, 2008

The instruments in this song sound so realistic... it's incredible...

What are you using to synthesize this? Or is this recorded?

The music itself is spectacular also, but the synth quality is really worth mentioning.

Please let me know what you're using.

~Sycross

Score: 10

"Great."

submission: Stop Motion Symphony

date: September 19, 2008

Lol, well, I listened to this song a couple times without being aware of the video, then a year later a friend randomly linked me to the video... and I was like... this sounds oddly familiar. So I went to check your page and I was about to post something along the lines of "THIS NOOB STOLE YOUR SONGS LULZ," but then I read your comments. XD. Turns out it was the other way around...

Your version is definitely better though...

Keep up the awesome work.
~Sycross.

Score: 9

"Well developed."

submission: Sorrow Knows Many Names

date: August 27, 2008

Hey, nice to hear another song from you! This is definitely an improvement from your last song. The presence of chords helps a lot. I really like the repetitions/patterns you use in the background during this song. I also enjoyed the contrast between the low bass and the high melody. Adds an interesting effect.

There were definitely a couple mishaps in the middle part, but I don't blame you for that, there's no way I could play this nearly as well. But perhaps recording separate sections individually would make this easier to get right? Like instead of going through the entire song, record a section until it's perfect, record the next sections, and then link them together?

You also mentioned that the recording quality was not very good, and I would have to agree. Something sounds a little off about the sound, although I'm not sure what. I think the notes might sound a little too "crisp" or something. Oddly enough, the recorded piano sounds more unnatural to me than synthesized piano. I think that this song could blow me away if I were standing next to you playing it, but the quality takes something away from this. Maybe I'm just being picky, but I really felt that the piano could have came through better (I know good mics are expensive, so I understand that there's not much you can do).

Besides these points, I feel that this is a very strong piece in general. I liked the trills, the melody, the chord progressions. The different sections made the song fit very well with the title, although at 2:26 I actually thought the song had ended because it was such a long rest with no noise at all. Perhaps if you held down the notes all the way until you went into the faster section it would alleviate this disjointedness. (Although I like the effect you were going for).

And about disjointedness... I feel like some sustain pedal during this song would have added a lot. It would add a seam that connected all the notes so that the song would sound much smoother. Just my two cents.

Now, I'm no music expert, so probably not all of my constructive criticism is valid and/or deserved. Please don't let my comments discourage you. Overall, I thought the piece was great! I was just letting you know how I thought you could make it even better.

Again, I look forward to more music from you. Next time, however, please send me a PM if you want to get a review faster. I rarely check the responses to my news posts, and that's why it took me 4 days to listen to this.

On a side note, you also mentioned that you were interested in more music from me. Well, I've recently uploaded a new piece "When the Fighting Stops" so please check it out if you have time. Thanks.

~Sycross

Score: 10

"remixes..."

submission: In The End (Reeeeeemix)

date: August 18, 2008

Normally they are exactly the same song with different instrumentation.... for these songs, I vote very low...

However, this song is more of an original song than just a rip-off. You added an entirely new melody of your own and really made the song sound original. If you started this song half-way through you wouldn't be able to even tell it was "In The End" which is great because it shows that you put work into this and didn't just create an arrangement.

You have just enough variety to keep this song interesting. The melody does tend to repeat a lot, but because of the fast pace and the background elements, it does not sound very repetitive at all. This is something that I have yet to master... :).

Overall 5/5, 10/10. Great song.

~Sycross.

Score: 10

"Amazing"

submission: .:=Phoenix Chronicles - Ep6=:.

date: August 14, 2008

This is the kind of music is aspire to write. Can't think of any constructive criticism, so I'm just letting you know I loved the song! What VSTs are you using?

~Sycross

Score: 10

"..."

submission: Tears of Remorse

date: August 1, 2008

Pieces like this make me wonder if I still have a chance at the MAC8... This is amazing. I know what it feels like to be stuck on a piece of music and not know what to add... I have at least 6 half-written songs waiting to be finished, but I don't know how I'm gonna do it. Anyway, glad you managed to put this together, although most of your pieces probably could have fit the bill for MAC8. Good luck. :)

Score: 10

"Nice"

submission: .:-{The Approaching Storm}-:.

date: August 1, 2008

As usual, this is a great piece... No real complaints here, other than the fact that I thought the drums might have been a little too loud in some parts of the song, but it does help add a militaristic feel.

Hmm, feel bad leaving you such a short review. All of your review are GINORMOUS. lol. Anyway, good work.

~Sycross

Score: 9

"Cool."

submission: Simple Serenade

date: July 31, 2008

I like it. Quiet and simple. However, I was kind of expecting vocals to come in some time during the song, and I think it would have added a lot. Not to say that guitar isn't an awesome instrument, but I think it's hard for any single instrument (other than piano) to fill up a song with sound and make it seem "full" so to speak. Anyway, great work and an awesome first submission! I look forward to more songs coming from you.

Score: 10

"Holy Crap..."

submission: Reasoner- I'm Still Here

date: July 31, 2008

This is really good. Music in no way has to be complex in order to be deep and meaningful, in fact often the opposite is true. If you have something that you think is a part of you, don't try and force yourself to write other things, just go with what you feel! I am almost certain this is going to be one of the top 4 in the MAC8 competition... Lol, I don't think my work can compare to this. Good luck!