Sample Pack Contest VI - Scoring Template Your name/pseudonym: _ - Give scores for ALL the songs except for your own (if you have any.) - Scores are out of 100, where 100 = faultless/perfect, and 0 = totally void of merit/worst song ever. - Do not use fractions. - Commenting on songs is optional. - E-mail as an attachment to daveharris.lunar@gmail.com Some aspects to consider when scoring: - Sound design: ingenuity with and manipulation of the source samples, modification of samples to create new sounds, etc. - Composition: structure, melody, harmony, rhythm, basically how well written you think the song itself is, etc. - Production: mixing/mastering (balance between instruments, overall loudness if it's a factor), stereo field use, frequency spectrum use (good use of EQ), use of effects, etc. - Overall enjoyment: simply how much you like the song. - Anything else you deem important. consider these elements on a case by case basis, as some may be more or less applicable depending on the song. how much you factor each into your scoring is up to you - if you wish, you may set aside a certain number of points for each element if it makes the judging process easier for you, however the total scores are the only thing that will be relevant in score calculations. ________ SCORES: 1999 or 2012: 60/100 A Song for My Cat: 95/100 Akira Yamaoka vs Ken Ishii: 50/100 Alleyway in Chinatown: 40/100 Aqua Aura Pura: 75/100 Aya Hirano's Megaton Punch: 51/100 Bad Tekno: 65/100 Candy Rock Jam: 85/100 Cloudtrip: 77/100 Corruption of the Tune: 25/100 Cyberdemon Boogie: 35/100 DanielDellaCocco: 45/100 Deep Throat Tengoku: 42/100 Doctor Mars: 87/100 Everybody Wants Overcalculated Scientist Orgasms: 68/100 Extra Antler Velvet: 59/100 Gateway to Happiness: 43/100 Go Go Power!: 69/100 Green Grass: 97/100 How to Open a Can of SPC: 46/100 I sneak up and hitcha in the crotch: 70/100 King of the Crypt: 66/100 Legend of Sample Pack Compo: 31/100 Martian Lab at Midnight: 96/100 Medium Zero: N/A Mr. Huffletuff's Kitty Cat Cosmic Escapades: 98/100 No Bananas for Deborah: 61/100 Nobody Wants Overcalculated Scientist Orgasms: 55/100 Omnious Abbey: 58/100 Our Heliocentric Garden: 63/100 PRUNEAU: 62/100 Riding the Duckdragon: 88/100 Seven Proxies: 47/100 Slick Venus: 79/100 Spaz Premium: 20/100 Tarot Pharoah: N/A Ten-Chan Looks Like Joey Wheeler: 18/100 Tertiary Jump: 76/100 The Incredible Cat Mincer: 81/100 Tidal Chamber: 72/100 Trop Glop Flop: N/A TV Surfer: 67/100 U.B. Funky: 37/100 Untitled: 41/100 Way Out - No Way: 49/100 We Hate the 1998 Wave: 52/100 Welcome to SPC 6: 48/100 WHAT THE @#$%!!: 86/100 Whippin' Good: 38/100 WorldJ: 11/100 Zen You Reach Ze State of Completeness: 44/100 ________ COMMENTS: 1999 or 2012 Comments: Kinda a rough start to be honest. Maybe get it out of the way sooner, or place more stuff in there to keep it from being drawn out too long. Once it gets going it's pretty interesting. At times it gets quite sour. At parts like the one at about 1:50, it gets too sour, but the idea is a good one. Just needs finer tuning via EQ to come across less sour. Overall,nice attempt at using some of the harder to use samples, but nonetheless, it needs work at many parts. Good idea though. You do get bonus points for using such hard to use samples like that robot thing. ________ A Song for My Cat Comments: Pretty good use of samples in this one. The song sounds very nice and it uses a wide variety of samples. Definitely not an easy task. The mixing is also pretty nice. I really like what you did with the cat and that voice thing (unless that was just the cat sound twisted soooo much). Very nice work, I have almost nothing I don't like about this song. The only thing I wish is that it was longer cuz it was such a nice trip. ________ Akira Yamaoka vs Ken Ishii Comments: Strange start, but once it gets going it's nice. Has a very fluid sound to it. Mixing is nicely done. I just wish there was more of a melody in this, as it just seems like one of those drum and bass things trying to be also be a techno song. As nice as this is, it's really not my thing. Also 1:25 is just too random for my liking. Good mixing, but I feel you could use more prominent melodies and other stuff to help bring the song to a more noticeable viewpoint, rather than consisting mostly of randomly placed sounds in a rhythmic pattern. ________ Alleyway in Chinatown Comments: A little too quiet in the mixing. Interesting idea though with the cat. But yeah, it really needs a good punch in the mixing to bring it forward. It sounds like you need to adjust the decay on your samples too, because things like the voice probably shouldn't have a sudden end. Also seems a little too repetitive at times. ________ Aqua Aura Pura Comments: Hmm.. You decided to take a daring approach and use the chordal samples and show some balls. Sounds pretty cool, but I wish it had a melody, as that would truely make it great. I can see I'm not the only one who saw a great spot to abuse from Beatnicksanta, haha. If it had a melody in more of the song, I would have given many more points, but I can see why you wouldn't have one. Good use of samples, and good showing us that you had the balls to use the samples like windwaker and others which were very harmonic and are not easy to use. Many bonus points for that. ________ Aya Hirano's Megaton Punch Comments: Well, right off I can tell you that the decay is in dire need of work on most of your used samples. Especially the orchestra hits. It's a shame too because the mixing isn't so bad either, but what kills it for this song is all of the sudden ending of samples in the first part. The part at 1:35 and such is pretty nice becuase there aren't too many sudden ending samples there. Good song, but please work on some of those sudden decays. ________ Bad Tekno Comments: Sounds like the song is trying to have sex with itself. I don't know what else to say. Interesting use of samples, but it seems like the song was rushed to hit the 1 min requirement. Definitely made me laugh, but I wish it was longer. ________ Candy Rock Jam Comments: Definitely a weird vibe from this one. The echo on the girl voice was a nice touch. Nice harmonies in this song. A pretty solid song overall. Not much I dislike about it, except maybe a few rough spots in the transition to the mood change for the second half of the song. Great work, just fix that transition up. Also a little too soft in sound in the intro, which may cause some to turn the volume up, only to have to turn it back down once the song gets flowing. ________ Cloudtrip Comments: The bassline was kinda overused for the first part. I'm hoping it will change, but it's looking like it won't. Maybe change it up more because it gets pretty boring pretty fast, and it sorta just drowns out the feel the song could have had. At 1:15 it at least modulates in and the rest finally becomes more noticeable as a result. So yeah, that bassline needs work (especially in the first minute), but the rest seems fine, at least for the most part. The hits are a nice touch. Good use of the Garyoakstimemachine sample. This song oddly reminds me of Zelda 2. Don't ask me why. ________ Corruption of the Tune Comments: Pretty darn rough sounding to be honest. If you are going to use the samples like that, you may want to at least EQ them so that they aren't so filling and rough as a result. So yeah, I'm sorry but I can't really enjoy this song due to how rough it sounds. Also the drumbeat seems to just be a very simple and constantly repeated thing which further adds to the roughness. ________ Cyberdemon Boogie Comments: A little too repetitive with your haromony, bass and percussion. They need some dire changups, and not just the transposing you did. You also lack a transition to the next part at 45 and it sounds like 2 songs crammed in one as a result. The one that goes to the 3rd part is better. This is where I start to like the song. The change back to the first idea was also a better tranasition as well. Just maybe totally change the first part, or even just get rid of it because the song makes more sense actually if you do. ________ DanielDellaCocco Comments: A little on the quiet side in the mixing, and the song sorat just starts right up as if it was already about 1 min in. Also feels pretty short, and could probably use some more ideas to extend itself. The whip is a nice tough, but overall the song seems rushed and could use more variety to help keep it interesting. ________ Deep Throat Tengoku Comments: Another song where the mixing is a little too soft. Needs a good punch. Also has some issues with decay in the harmony and I feel you could have adjusted it to be not as sudden. Pretty weird use of samples. But yeah, the main issue is the decay of the harmony sound, it just creates an overall hard to take in feel to the song. As well as the sounds are pretty odd at times. The girl having.... sounds part didn't really seem to fit IMO. Great idea, but yeah fix that harmony and you'll be off on a better road. ________ Doctor Mars Comments: I knew when I saw this title I was going to get something I liked. Good use of the orch hits. Pretty slick bass too. This song gets a good variety of samples in the short time alloted, and doesn't sound bad either. Good stuff. It's Doctor Mars. He's gotta probe you, and it's mandatory. ________ Everybody Wants Overcalculated Scientist Orgasms Comments: Well, I can tell you that there's too much coming through with that first sound we hear. Maybe EQ it more to push it back some, because it comes foward way too much for my liking. Interesting sound the song has though. I just wish that thing didn't come through so much becuase it's hurting it pretty badly. Good stuff with the vocals. ________ Extra Antler Velvet Comments: Pretty cool sound right off the bat. Very nice bass going on there. Clips quite a bit though, so maybe work on that EQ some more there. Also too short for what it does. Would have had more points if the clipping wasn't so bad. ________ Gateway to Happiness Comments: I'm surpirised that the sample wasn't abused so much in this contest. You know, the beammeup one I submitted. Pretty cool sounds in this song. Seems more like a gateway though hell though. False happiness. A few parts feel like they were drawn out too much, and could have used quicker transitions to the next part. Probably could just chop out half of this song and it would actually work better as a result. Quantity is not as important as some may think, and it's a problem you usually only see in techno or trance. Basically, just get to the next idea sooner, or else you risk boring the listener. Most parts of this song just feel so forced. Starts to clip pretty badly around 6 mins. ________ Go Go Power! Comments: Power Rangers? Sounds like Power Rangers are on crack, and trying to fight some sorta boss, but having a hard time, and the boss is kicking them right in the groin. Pretty cool vibe the song has. The shaky feeling parts remind me of Final Fantasy 7. Good stuff. Maybe change up the percussion some more though. As well as the bassline. ________ Green Grass Comments: Haha. The choppy sounds this has are pretty funny. Reminds me of Paper Mario in how they do that. Once it fully kicks in, this is pretty hardcore. Really like the jazzy feel. The bass is just so fun. Great work. ________ How to Open a Can of SPC Comments: Maybe a better start would be a good idea, cuz yeah, that sound is pretty harsh on the ears. Maybe just get rid of the first 25 seconds in-fact. If we forget how it started, it's not so bad of a song. Some pretty cool ideas, but again, that intro reall hurts it, as well as it just has an overall blank feel to it. The one part that came before about 1:20 was pushed too long for a transition. ________ I sneak up and hitcha in the crotch Comments: Just like a true coward, this song hits you right in the groin. Pretty cool noises it makes though. All in all, it's a moderate song. Really cool harmonies, and melodies. ________ King of the Crypt Comments: The wave sound comes throught a little too much for my liking. Seems to drown out the other sounds by quite a bit as well. Also rather repetitive. Maybe tone down the repetition, or at least push back the wave sound so it isn's so penetrating. What you have at 1:20 or so when that sound goes away, that is what you should have focused on. Not a bad song, but does need some work in order for me to enjoy it (mainly the penetrating wave sound). ________ Legend of Sample Pack Compo Comments: The sound you use in the beginning clips. Pretty nice stuff though. Just wish that clipping wasn't so present from the first sound introduced. Much like the other very long song here, this one suffers the same issues with me. It just feels like it's simply trying to be longer just because, but could have been shorter and gotten across ideas much faster. The song overall has a long drawn out feeling to it. Once again I must stress that quantity is not the top priority in music, and is in-fact, one of the lowest priorities (to a degree). Don't abuse it, or else you'll get a song that just forces itself to be there. Also abuses reptition way too much. ________ Martian Lab at Midnight Comments: Haha. Martian labs. Pretty cool song here. Very nice bassline. Haha at the circus sound with the voices. Very good use of samples, and very solid production. Good stuff. I really liked this one. ________ Medium Zero Comments: My own song ________ Mr. Huffletuff's Kitty Cat Cosmic Escapades Comments: Really good mixing here. I really like how solid this sounds. I also like the harmonics this song has. The hits are also very nicely done. Great work on this song, it's quite solid. ________ No Bananas for Deborah Comments: Slight clipping in this song. Probably from samples though. The bananas voice seems out of place and the decays that occur during it's usage seem odd and things conflict as a result. An interesting song, but doesn't seem to have a notiecable melody. ________ Nobody Wants Overcalculated Scientist Orgasms Comments: Clips right off the bat with that harmonic sample you use. Might want to work on that so it doesn't do that. Once the song gets going it's not as bad because it's drowned out by the garyoakstimemachine sample. Overall, as nice as this song is, it seems to need work on some of the harmonic sounds, as they punch through a little too much, especially garyoakstimemachine the first time it's used. ________ Omnious Abbey Comments: Sounds like I'm going to an abandoned church. The flapping sound is interesting. Don't really like the held out high pitched sound though. Might want to have that fade in and out as it's pretty bothersome. Ok, at 1 min, this song sounds like it just threw in an entirely different song. You could have split both of them up and then had each one as it's own entry. The secong song was a better idea than the first one. ________ Our Heliocentric Garden Comments: Interesting harmony sound here. Pretty good mood this song gives. The voices kinda ruin it though with how random they are. I think you could have just done without them. They seem like they are there just to show that you used other samples. ________ PRUNEAU Comments: Rather quiet in the mixing. Interesting sounds though. Pretty cool rhythm going on once it gets going. Weird song, but a good weird. Just needs a good punch in the mixing to bring everything forward. ________ Riding the Duckdragon Comments: I don't know what a duckdragon is... But it seems like it's quite the acid trip. Pretty hyper song you got here. Ending doesn't work for me though. ________ Seven Proxies Comments: Very quiet. Needs a huge facelift in mixing. Pretty nice harmony and bassline the song has though. Has a classic feel to it. Sadly though, it doesn't seem to do much or go many places as I would have wanted it to. And some parts are just too blank or too strange. ________ Slick Venus Comments: Pretty weird vibe, but it's a cool sound. Myabe don't repeat those voices so much, as they kinda get annoying. Other than that, it's pretty cool stuff. Ending could have been better. ________ Spaz Premium Comments: Kinda hard to take in with the way it trades of in the panning. Seems kinda blank overall, and needs more in there to make any sense. It's just drums and bass. ________ Tarot Pharoah Comments: My own song. ________ Ten-Chan Looks Like Joey Wheeler Comments: You got clipping here, and no, I'm not talking about the stuff you did on purpose, which also has a rather rough sound because it's too choppy. Overall, I just can't get down to this. Too choppy and too random, and no harmonies, basslines, or melodies. ________ Tertiary Jump Comments: Well, at least you used one of the harder to use samples. Good hits in there too. I also like the bassline. Kinda wish there was more of a melody going on, but it works either way. ________ The Incredible Cat Mincer Comments: Mince those cats up. Actually, just set it to DICE and you are all good. Anyway, pretty interesting song. Cat seems to be quite the popular sample to abuse. Haha, I love what you did with the hits you do in this. Sadly though, at times this song feels a little too random, but it's only at a few times. Overall a nice decent song, with good uses of the samples. Ending made me laugh. ________ Tidal Chamber Comments: Pretty cool sound, but I feel it needs to get to the point much sooner than it does. Feel rather drawn out, and doesn't really go anywhere any time soon. Would probably work as BGM for some water cavern though. ________ Trop Glop Flop Comments: My own song. ________ TV Surfer Comments: Hahaha. Interesting use of the whip sample. Song is kinda quiet though. A little too staticy when the "bagel" sound comes in. Overall, it seems like some of the song can be taken out so that the entire thing makes more sense, as parts tend to repeat a little too much for my liking. Good ideas, but they were overused and could have finished sooner. ________ U.B. Funky Comments: Too quiet in the mixing here. Bring everything forward. A little too repeitive as well. It does has a cool vibe, but the repetition kills it pretty quickly. ________ Untitled Comments: No title? Interesting song. But a little too drawn out and needs to get across ideas sooner. Could use less repetition at points where it overuses it. The later half was a better idea than the first half of the song. ________ Way Out - No Way Comments: For some reason I feel blank and just don't know what to say about this song. Kinda wish it did more than waht it does. For such a short song, it feels rather drawn out. ________ We Hate the 1998 Wave Comments: Pretty dark start. I like the mood the song has. Challenging use of the robot thing sample. But sadly, the higher pitches just don't blend well. Song lacks an interesting melody for the most part. Some parts are just too weird with that robot thing. ________ Welcome to SPC 6 Comments: Bassline clips, but is otherwise nice sounding. Cool percussion as well. But, the song is clearly being drawn and held out so that it can extend it's time, as well as there is no clear melody going on. Put a melody in there, and it would get probably 2X the score. Ending doesn't work for me. ________ WHAT THE @#$%!! Comments: Well, the title pretty much explains it. Good hits. Nice creepy atmosphere actually. Very movie horror type of stuff. Really love the deep hits. ________ Whippin' Good Comments: I have a feeling this is going to get annoying very fast. Good idea, but yeah, don't overuse things so much. Also, a lot of the sounds can use a good punch to bring them forward. Too repeptive to enjoy much of this song sadly. Good ideas, but you repeat way to much, or hold out way too long at other parts. Take out the repetition durring your parts and get to the next idea sooner, and you'll be golden. Decays need work at 3:20 and onward. Sudden decays can be hard on the ears when you overdo it. ________ WorldJ Comments: Sounds pretty random with no real rhythm. Maybe tighten up the rhythm and add some syncopation in there and the song will probably make sense at that point, but sadly as it stands, the rhythm is just way too random to be enjoyable and as a result I can't give many points. ________ Zen You Reach Ze State of Completeness Comments: Interesting use of the bass sample. Pretty cool harmony as well. I just wish the bassline didn't repeat as much as it does. I also wish there was a noticeable melody in the song instead of just holding out and bringing it in way later. Common trick used to increas song length, but overall not a good idea in my book. Also, your melody used in the later part of the song is pretty hard to listen to, and would need some work to not sound so piercing. ________