Feedback wanted for university - I'll return the favour!

[psynpose]

Hi guys, I wonder if any of you could help me slightly. I'm four weeks away from finishing my 'commercial' music degree at the university of westminster. For my final project I'm doing 6 cds with 3 tracks on each - 1 breaks, 1 psytrance, 1 chillout, 1 piano, 1 electronica, 1 dance/electro. For part of the module we need to obtain feedback from industry professionals and people in the scene. Could any of you possibly provide me with any kind of feedback on the following tracks? Such as marketability, production, etc. I would be *extremely grateful* and happily return the favour with anything I might be able to help you with. The reason I've been a bit slack recently on the feedback front is because I've had so much to do on this project - ironic really!

Cheers guys!

http://psynposemusic.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/mp3/Psynpose%20Music%20-%20shining.mp3 - psy

http://psynposemusic.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/mp3/beat%20bizarre%20mix.mp3 - psy

http://psynposemusic.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/mp3/Fabrix%20mix.mp3 - psybreaks?

http://psynposemusic.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/mp3/breakbeat%20guitar%20final%20mix.mp3 - breaks

http://psynposemusic.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/mp3/orbiting.mp3 - nice dance / electro track

Pete

[blay]

i see the second link has beat bizarre in the url...

is this their track or yours?

cheers

blay

[psynpose]

Thanks for replying, it's my track, it's inspired by beat bizarre.
What do you think of the tracks?

Cheers

Pete

[Hollowcell]

I downloaded one while on the work cable the other day psypose, but haven't had a chance to listen yet. Will let you know in a few days. :D

[jasedee]

I did download a track...but havent had a chance to give it a good listen and apply some constructive criticism. Sorry.....will try and do it asap.

I went to your site too.....The China thing looks interesting. I am organising a trip to Tibet with a friend to record street performers, monks, and soundscapes. We are starting off in Nepal, then into Tibet, then perhaps into Northern India.

[Hollowcell]

OK, now listening to the break beat track (break guitar).

Not bad at all.

Beats - Good punch and stereo seperation. Maybe would have liked the high end to shine trough a little more - a gated verb or something would do wonders. Cool.

Bass - like the structure of the bass for sure. A little dirtier for my tastes please - personal preference of course.

Synths - Some nice sounds for sure. Like the sweaps adn FX the most.

Guitar loops - All cool. Fit well.

All in all a nice track mate. :D

[Fasttracker]

I like the Fabrix track , it has kind of a prodigy feel to it ( just my opinion)
all the sounds fit just right in the song , nice synth sounds.
I also like the sound of beat bizzare , i can definatly hear that playing in a club , but it's totally not my style , i kinda hate that sort of music sorry but it sounds great.
Greetz...

[BlakeLight]

On Fabrix... its got good production values... you put all the sounds together well, it sounded really good on my speakers. It has the makings of something that could start out as a good start, but there isnt enough contrast in the music to keep me listening. In other words, the initial idea is cool, but Id recommend spicing it up more dramatically, not only switching the tempo up, syncopations and such, but also changing the chords that underlie the music... it seemed to stay in the same key for the entire song (which translates into audience boredom, unless they are tranced out, and even in that case... and even then, its better to appeal to an audience that is sober and coherant, cause thats how most people are when they listen to music anyways [excluding in club settings that is] Adding vocals onto it would be HUGE... vocals are a big reason why people identify with songs.

So, my take, good production value, but it loses my ear because the chords / key never change enough for me to want to keep listening to it. A good example of commericially viable techno is the Crystal Method's Tweekend... take what they do on Over the Line... they have vocoded vocals which iterate a pretty simple hook (over the line) and they change up their harmonies and the general color of the tones. But, in my opinion, they could make it even MORE commerically successful by adding a powerful and Coherent set of vocals (ie, people hear it, and want to sing along with it... noone really wants to sing DJ samples (Go!... Go!... or Do it! Do it!... ya know what I mean)) People want to sing songs about love... or sadness... or breakups... or politics... or ecstacy... etc.

You got the basic idea down, but that idea only works for about 30 seconds... add other melodic lines on top... steer into different keys of music (a good inspiration for how to structure songs is the Beatles, they perfected the 3:30 pop song format) And make techno with pop. You'll make a mint of cash, and you'll have BlakeLight to thank for the advice... heck, once I get my tracks done, I'll show ya if you like. Anyways, like the production values... change the key / sounds more often... add vocals... and you'll get something that more people will like than simply your Drum n Bass crowd.

If you got any questions, Id love to hear back from ya! Peace :)

-BlakeLight

[psynpose]

Hey guys I really appreciate this feedback it will really help me blag a first in my degree! And when I use the first to generate large amounts of cash, won't forget you 8). Where can I hear your music? I'm starting up a little company as part of my degree, you can see the link in my signature, so if you need anything doing, give me a call or a mail.

Cheers

Pete

[BlakeLight]

hey Pete... I just put up this little link on myspace... it has two tracks of me improvising that you can stream off of it, the site also has a little limited info about me and my band.

www.myspace.com/blakelighttragic

[psynpose]

Hi man, I like your improv, it will be fat with a full band! But make sure you utilise all your skills, it's easy with synths in a band to slip into just doing a few tweaks, (which is what I've found myself doing before) whereas when you set it all up properly you can do some awe inspiring things!

Cheers man

Pete