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Cooth's Comments |
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Title: I FEEL GOOD!!! Filename: feelaxi.xm |
Posted Sun 14th Jul 2002
Rated 6 / 10 |
| A classic guitar starts this track and it lasts in the background until the song ends. It just changes the chords, but apart from that it is the same all 2 mins and 45 secs. It is accompanied by simple bassline and drums. What the title says must have been true when Axi wrote this song, as it sounds really happy and cheerful. It is lively and rhythmic. It doesn't have any melody, just the guitar in the background I've mentioned and some other guitar samples, but they don't play anything except filling the rhythm. All that makes the tune sound very repetitive. Well, it is not a song I would listen to very long or often, but it's so positive, that I'm glad I could hear it. A happy guitar tune that makes me feel good as well, but musically it is nothing extravagant. It's not a complex song, just 8 samples (but all of the 16bit). Apart from the portamento we hear from the very beginning, not many effects are here. But it's okay, I just think this tune would undoubtedly benefit from at least one, simple melody. | |
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Title: flashback-options2 Filename: flash7.mod |
Posted Sat 13th Jul 2002
Rated 9 / 10 |
| Wow, as I heared the first sounds of the tune the title screen of Flashback stood before my very eyes like real... Yeah, music keeps all the atmosphere of the past days... I loved this music when I played Flashback on Amiga, I love it now as well. It resembles music from from movies, with that lovely horn, and the drums! Used in the game at the title screen, it fully did its job, inviting to a great adventure. Great mood, superb melody, good everything. This tune dates back to 1992. Well, 4 channels... And it had to fit a disk together with some game data... Such restrictions had to have some negative influence on the quality. You can hear that this piece is tracked, but so what, it is still a great and effective technical work! | |
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Title: AG-BACK TO FANTASIES Filename: fantasies-mpt.xm |
Posted Sat 13th Jul 2002
Rated 7 / 10 |
| This is a remix of a song Out of Fantasy by Tan To Hashi - That's what Space Walk says. I haven't heard the original, so I'll just say what I think about how this one falls into my ears, avoiding the matter of the composition. So here we go. Accompanied by a nice synth percussion, there are strings playing the melodies, some other synths added to the background from time to time... And a bassline that is the same all the time. The drums don't change either; they just break sometimes, or there is a fill-in, but not very sophisticated. This song is very listenable, but I guess a considerable part of the glory should go to the original... Well, here I can just say that it sounds fairly well. A few warm words to say about the samples. There is a mixture of 8 and 16 bit ones, but all of them seem to be clean and sound great. The choice is interesting, I like the way they cooperate. The strings slide from left to right - well, it's the matter of taste, some ppl don't like it, some do. I'd say it acceptable if it doesn't go to the extreme side positions. Well, here, I would change it a little... | |
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Title: false groove Filename: falsegro.xm |
Posted Sat 13th Jul 2002
Rated 8 / 10 |
| Without any prolonged intros, the cool rhythm starts quickly and within seconds my ears have the honour to hear the great jazzy song. There is a short jazz organ solo, then we have some trumpet, which sounds so real and so pleasing! That's a pity it plays just for 8 seconds (counted!) Then there's the organ once again and... why?! The song fades out and when the time comes to 1:12 it is over!! Oh well, surely Gammis will come up with more songs of such good quality. This one is undoubtedly worth attention! Rarely can we hear mods that are so good technically... Just some 8bit samples (good quality), 10 channels and it sounds so professionally, I'm full of respect for Gammis! He managed to make some top class patterns, but... why so few of them? I want mooore! | |
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Title: Fantasy Filename: fanta_.xm |
Posted Sat 13th Jul 2002
Rated 6 / 10 |
| This is an soft song with a quite fast rhythm, but at the same time not very lively. Nice synth chords are in the background, good progression. The melodies are very good, but so quiet at the same time... What can be heard best all the time are the chords and the drums. The drums are good, but don't change a bit from the beginning to the very end. The song lasts for over 4 minutes, so I think it could be a little varied. Its greatest advantage would be the fine melody, but it's so silent and too repetitive as well. Despite my nagging, it is fairly nice to listen to the song, although not for too long at one time. The major drawback of the piece is the number of repeated patterns, because little more than half of them is different. The song could be made much shorter I think. And there's the volumes problem I've already mentioned. The song uses only 4 channels. The chords are actually recorded into single samples so they use one channel only. The samples are good and fit each other well; no panning was used. | |
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Title: fast food Filename: fastfood.mod |
Posted Sat 13th Jul 2002
Rated 7 / 10 |
| Kept in a constant, fast pace, this tune is a cosmic-sounding synth song. And its another nice oldie. Really cool work, especially for such old time... However, there is one complaint - it is very repetitive. There is just the synth that plays the same over and over again and some bell that replaces the synth a couple of times. If it was more varied, the score would be higher, but still it's a great tune. I liked the samples used here, I think they were chosen well. All volumes set properly to make a good sounding mod. It doesn't contain any "ugly" sounds that would tire listeners. Bad points? Many patterns are used more than once. And the ending - it's so abrupt and sounds like it had interrupted the synth... | |
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Title: farthest shore .. Filename: farthest.xm |
Posted Sat 13th Jul 2002
Rated 8 / 10 |
| From what the info says, this song is a result of a coop. I'm happy to say that it was very successful cooperation - the effect is truly good. What we hear first, is the background played by a synth piano. It's very lyrical and nostalgic, not to say 'touching'. The subtle rhythm fits here perfectly. About the melodies - the same, very good indeed. First, there is a synth playing long notes. It is repeated once and then it goes into high notes, which makes it more emotional. Then we have something like a guitar, and another melody, as sad as the previous one, and not worse. The melodies are played very quitetly, blending with the soft synth sound accompanying them. The music falls into the ears so easily... Yes, this song is very smooth ballad, although with a sad sound to it. Lots of beautiful samples are here, maybe not perfect quality, but very well chosen. There's just something wrong with the loop points, which disturbs especially towards the end... Nice panning, the tambourins and other samples that increase ambience playing everywhere around. And a great use of all possible ft2 channels. | |
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Title: mm? Filename: falling2.mod |
Posted Fri 12th Jul 2002
Rated 9 / 10 |
| A soft, smooth and mellow ballad by an artist, whose handle is mellow-D :). It is very good, nice and moody. I could also add - romantic. The author dedicates it to a girl and I suppose it would be a really appropriate backround to a romantic dinner... It has a main melody that is very catchy and memorable. It is repeated several times throughout the song, but I didn't have the feeling of redundant repetition, it's just like it should be. There are also some additional melodies, which are also good. The drums are superb. They fit every other sound they accompany. The fill-ins make good impression as well. The only thing I would change is the snaredrum volume - I would lower it, that is. It is really great how each part of the song works for its overall quality... The piano samples and the muted guitar add to the mood so that it's just lovely. It's a very good ballad. Apart from the snare I've mentioned (which is not really a flaw, it's just the question of the point of view) everything here is perfect. Nice work with dynamics and other effects, like vibrato and portamento. And a great choice of samples. | |
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Title: FAIRYLAND - D. T Filename: fairylnd.xm |
Posted Fri 12th Jul 2002
Rated 8 / 10 |
| The piece begins with an instrument (synth piano or bell?) going up and down - it reminds me very much of the music from Final Fantasy... Later on it becomes faster and lasts for the entire song, plinking softly in the background till the very end. People who are very impatient when listening to new mods may be discouraged at the beginning, because the song builds up slowly. The drumbeat (which I like very much) begins about 1:30, and until then there's only the pretty bell and great sounding strings. Later, as it goes further, it is a bit repetitive. I think the best thing about the tune is the piano melody... It's certainly something that catches the attention and makes the tune remembered and recognised. I can honestly say that it is a very good piece and if you download it, it won't disappoint you. The technical quality of the song is pretty high; only 8bit samples have been used, but they sound very well and clean. The panning is okay, the volumes too. Not many different effects used here, but they are not really necessary - the song is good enough the way it is. | |
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Title: fair desire Filename: fairdes.mod |
Posted Fri 12th Jul 2002
Rated 7 / 10 |
| Now, this is another kewl mod from old times (1991). It's fast and very lively, with synths treated with vibratos pitch bend effects (which at first sounded to me a litte exaggerated, I mean I had the feeling that the samples just were going out of tune, but then I started to enjoy it very much). The panflute melodies are truly pleasing - well, generally the sample is great, like from a karate game or something... lovely! The main drawbacks of the song are: the length (only 1:24) and many repeated patterns (which adds to the first one...). But the song is very enjoyable. Surely something I'll keep on my HDD. The mod's four channels are perfectly used, this tune doesn't at all seem 'empty' because of the limitation... The drumbeat is made of short loops, which cerainly helps to keep the song sound better, but uh... it's not 100% tracked... =) But so what. The samples are pretty cool and effects are nicely used. A very well made oldskool mod, to sum up. | |
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Title: fantasy world Filename: fantasyw.mod |
Posted Fri 12th Jul 2002
Rated 2 / 10 |
| At first we have an introduction that leads us into a mysterious atmosphere, which is done simply, but not bad. Unfortunately, the song fails to build up in an interesting way. The melodies aren't too good, they're very chaotic. I'm afraid this tune is not very interesting or enjoyable. A very simple song with no effects and just 6 samples. The samples aren't really cool and they'd need tuning... Well, I regret to say that it isn't a successful mod. | |
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Title: The Fieds of Dagorlad Filename: fod.it |
Posted Fri 12th Jul 2002
Rated 9 / 10 |
| This tune nicely combines fantasy atmosphere with distorted metal guitars. We have a cool piano like in many fantasy tunes and then rock drums and solo guitar start to play; after some time we hear a great fast, heavy rock riffs and solos, which are fantastic. I truly enjoyed the way the tune is costructed - there are changes of pace, slow solos/melodies and fast ones, with no unnecessary repetition. Every couple of seconds it offers something new, it just doesn't let you get bored from the very beginning to the end. This song has everything a good song should have. Really nice work. Generally, the song sounds very good if we forget about some technical drawbacks of tracked music that isn't supposed to take 5 megs... The solo guitar sometimes plays at VERY high pitches - the fact itself is great, but it is loud relatively to the other instruments and for a while I was a bit afraid it would damage my ears (especially the right one)... It is a commonly known fact that guitar samples can be played at a very narrow range of pitches - well, here they cross the border of realistic sound from time to time. Great variety of samples were used here - guitars, horns, synth pianos - anything you want. And everything fits the tune well. | |
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Title: furyvillage Filename: fury_village.mod |
Posted Fri 12th Jul 2002
Rated 8 / 10 |
| So this is how the music from "Fury of the Furries" goes... I never played the game so this is the first time I can listen the music. Objectively, without any influence of nostalgic feelings about the game, I can say that the tune is cool. Very good game music, and it's from 1992... The song is beyond the time! Pleasant and happy, with lots of melodies, nice instruments that change and keep the listener interested. I can imagine the song was (and still is!) a great background to the game. Perfect. The samples are superb, clean, well chosen and used. At the time I didn't even think I would write modules (didn't know they existed then :) ), the autor of this piece was already master in using a tracker program, placing notes in the patterns and equipping them with effects, thus creating a song that gives lots of fun to the gamers or just listeners. | |
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Title: fantasies iii Filename: fantass_.mod |
Posted Thu 11th Jul 2002
Rated 8 / 10 |
| A fine oldskool mod with synth leads playing great melodies and solos one after another. It is not boring thanks to the variety in the melodies, as well as the fact that more than one instrument play the solo parts. The bassline is cool and catchy and the drums, although simple and rather unsophisticated, fit the rest perfectly. This tune is really good, rhythmic and truly enjoyable. Good, well chosen samples and 4 channels nicely filled. Some effects are used from time to time, which is a significant advantage to this song. This tune is actually surprisingly good for an 86k mod! That shows remarkable tracking skill. I think I can recommend this song to everyone who likes tracked music. And, gee, it reminds me of Amiga days... good old days... :'-) | |
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Title: fallin' in love Filename: falluve.mod |
Posted Thu 11th Jul 2002
Rated 6 / 10 |
| A quiet, slow, little love song... It is pleasant, but very, very short! Theoretically it has 58 seconds, but practically it is ten secs shorter (10s silence). Well, what can I say... I played the song in ModPlug, sat back and enjoyed its sounds, but when I was expecting it would build up, it faded out and ended... I guess it would suit a romantic scene in a game or movie, but a long one. It doesn't have an exceptionally amazing melody, but it is pleasing for the ears. Nothing wrong with this piece, but during the 58 seconds not really much happens. The song consists of 3 patterns that go very slowny (speed 15). Samples quality is satisfactory, although not brilliant. As it often happens, I feel that the melody could be slightly louder relatively to the backround instrument (synth piano or something). | |
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Title: Fairy Filename: fairy.xm |
Posted Wed 10th Jul 2002
Rated 6 / 10 |
| This piece begins with a bassdrum sample that would rather fit a dance song I think... Then we have a synth bass which is nice. What the song lacks, is a proper melody. There is some synth sound playing a repetitive motif - at first I thought it was just background, or something that preceeds the main chorus, but it doesn't, only a sweep pad was added. All that sounds decent, but I think it's not enough. Generally, the song is nice, but it doesn't have anything that would make me remember it long, I'm afraid. It's worth downloading and listening, because it is made pretty well, but it could be better. Pretty good here. Good samples (16bit), all volumes are ok. Panning is not very much used here, but I think it would be much worse if it was exaggerated. Generally, not many effects were used and the song isn't very complicated. | |
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Title: fairlight1 Filename: fairlit1.mod |
Posted Wed 10th Jul 2002
Rated 3 / 10 |
| A song with quite heavy, but quiet drumbeat (with no hihat, cymbals or anything except bassdrum and snare). So there's the drumbeat, the simple bassline and melodies. To say something about the melodies - they are just average I'd say, nothing special; and the instruments that play them are mostly high pitched so they tire the ears soon. Maybe if everything was technically more advanced it would be much better and the melodies would be more enjoyable. The samples quality is poor, especially the drums sound bad. The song is tracked very simply and doesn't show anything really interesting. There are no effects, almost all the samples are played just as they are (except for one place where appregio effect was used). The volumes could be set better. Well, it is just one of those simple sound tracker mods from the old days. Not really much to listen to today. | |
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Title: "If I should Fail" Filename: fail.it |
Posted Wed 10th Jul 2002
Rated 7 / 10 |
| The author didn't write his name in the info, only email address, from which I deduced his name is Andy. =) Ok! Let's talk about the song. Well, at first it seemed so very complicated to me... The melodies are pretty fast and consist of a big number of notes. :) But after some time it appeared really pleasant. The melodies are great, chord progression too. A good, very happy song to listen from time to time, although sometimes I had the feeling that it was... I dunno... chirpy. =) Anyway, it is nice, I like it. The song sounds good, everything is ok here. The samples are well chosen, they fit to each other nicely. All of them are 8bit; volumes balanced very well. 32 channels have been fully used. Pretty nice work. | |
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Title: Flowing Filename: flowing_.xm |
Posted Tue 9th Jul 2002
Rated 8 / 10 |
| I could call it a classical tune, but the drums that play for some time here made me a little hesitant. :) Well, if we forget about the drums (which sound a little odd here) this is ordinary orchestral music with nice, clean ensemble strings and some other instruments (like for example piano). This tune is not very exciting for extrovert people I guess :). If you expect to hear some spectacular effects or amazing I-don't-know-what, you may be not interested. But if you'd like to listen to some mature (I'll take the risk to call it this way ;) ), relaxing and emotional music, this song is good for you. I myself like it very much. Without any special effects (although not without tracker effects at all!) In the song info the artist lists the parts of the song. Each of them goes with a certain kind of feeling. That is nice, but as for the last part ("Through the river of hope") - for me it didn't really sound like something about hope... Well, from the very beginning to the end the song is pretty sad. But it's nice. I think it's very good when you want to calm down or just relax. This piece sounds really good, without any disturbing flaws. On the technical side everything was made thoroughly and you can just listen without worrying that something doesn't sound right. That's important especially for this kind of music. Major part of the samples are 16 bit and that makes the song so clean and pure! | |
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Title: Fantasy runner Filename: f-runner.xm |
Posted Mon 8th Jul 2002
Rated 9 / 10 |
| A very interesting composition by LoRdLaZeR. A he says in song info, it was influenced by Jarre. Well, if you follow someone's example, follow the bests, as they say. So did the artist here and that made him good :). This is a great tune! The melodies are very much in the style of Jarre. And they are cool! The synths in the background are also wonderful. The drumbeat is a little like dance (with those sweet woodblocks!), and generally the song is very rhythmic. Nice to listen to it, to stamp to it, to hum to it. Do I have to say more? Oh well, I'll just say: good work, man! With 32 channels and a fair number of good quality samples used, the artist has made a technically and artistically great song. Some well used effects are also there and work for the cool sound of the song. | |
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Title: the factory Filename: factory.mod |
Posted Mon 8th Jul 2002
Rated 4 / 10 |
| A strange song, I'd say. It sounds as if workers in a factory used their tools to play music. There is just an ordinary bass sample and a lead, which is a rather funny mixed vocal sample. There is a main melody which comes back several times (many patterns are repeated). Well, I don't find the piece really good, but it's a quite interesting idea. Technically it's not bad. Well balanced volumes; the quality of the samples, although there's nothing extraordinary about them, is ok. Just the repeated patterns... Effect are are almost non-existent. A pretty simple mod. | |
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Title: FACT_01 v1.3 Filename: fact_01.mod |
Posted Mon 8th Jul 2002
Rated 1 / 10 |
| This one doesn't really sound like music... At first I promised myself much more, as I heard a simple rhythm, but then I was quite disappointed. There are some samples that sound like news extracts (Russian?) or something and some other vocal samples. Everything is played with various pitches, from time to time interrupted by a heavy synth (this part at least sounds like music). Nothing interesting that would be worth spending time on downloading and listening. Whatever the artist wanted to achieve - he failed, I'm afraid. What can I say? Samples don't seem so bad, but apart from that there's not much to say about the 'song'. | |
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Title: Fire of the Past Filename: fireofth.it |
Posted Mon 8th Jul 2002
Rated 7 / 10 |
| Aaah, the intro is so nice. The warm, soft piano catches the ear and it is really great. However, when the toms enter, it is not that perfect any more. Well, the drums aren't ugly, but I've heard better ones... Especially the hihat seems to be slightly too loud. Oh well. The coolest thing in the song is the piano, and I don't only mean the samples, but also the way the piano parts are composed. Other instruments also play nicely; the lead melody for example is also very good. But I somehow have the feeling that there's something missing here. Hard to say... Maybe it's the background; there is the synth bass, there's the lead synth and strings, and the piano, but the sound isn't completely 'full', if you know what I mean. Maybe it's because there are low and high notes, but not much in between - except for the piano. Overally, a good song, with interesting melodies and cool piano accompaniment. Maybe not amazing, but still worth listening. The song is technically good, not much to complain about. Most samples are good (especially the piano!!!), effects used wisely. Good panning, although when the main melody comes back at 3:20, it plays only in the left ear for some time. Well, I'm pretty sensitive about it - even if I don't use headphones, I strongly dislike it when some sharp, loud sound comes from one speaker only. | |
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Title: fabious Filename: fabious.mod |
Posted Sun 7th Jul 2002
Rated 9 / 10 |
| Wow, this one sounds truly like a professional piece of music! From the very beginnig the perfect bassline hits the ears and fills them with pleasure. Some pads quietly play a chilled, mellow melody. Later, the wonderful synth begins and the tune becomes more lively, with the synth playing really a cool melody, with amazingly used vibratos and pitch slides... There are just 2 things I didn't like about the song - no proper ending (there we go again! ;) ) and the fact the artist repeats so many patterns... But I can forgive that, because I could listen to it again and again anyway. Well, although only a 4 channel mod, it has truly professional sound to it... Just 77k zipped and tons of pleasure. Don't think much about it - just download. Everything here sounds perfect. Samples are top quality, effects are used in a wonderful way (all the vibratos and pitch shifts!!). The composer is a master - such great music in just 113 kbytes... Everything that was put here plays its role really perfectly!! | |
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Title: fary.xm Filename: fary.xm |
Posted Thu 4th Jul 2002
Rated 6 / 10 |
| A nice, pretty romantic ballad addressed a friend (as the title suggests). The mild, soft melody corresponds to the title very well. It is rather simple and sounds a little like a composition for a vocalist to sing. The instrument that plays it is somewhat strange - I couldn't figure out what it is - not an ordinary synth, more like a synth-violin... Anyway, with just a break for the piano, it plays all the time. That's not a tragedy, but some more variety wouldn't be bad... On the whole, a pleasant mod, but no more than that. This track is pretty simple, only 10 channels were used, almost none effects in the patterns, except for volume changes. Samples sound mostly all right, volumes are well balanced, just the open hihat in my opinion is slightly louder than should. Oh, and the panning slide of the snaredrum was pretty odd. It is not what I'd call a good idea... Well, generally, there are no major flaws in this piece, but it is not a stunner, just an average mod. | |
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Title: Frek - S Filename: frek-theletter_s.xm |
Posted Thu 4th Jul 2002
Rated 7 / 10 |
| This is a very short song. A piano (again, I feel that for the highest notes another piano sample should be used...) plays really good melodies. That's actually the best aspect of the song! The soft rock drumbeat is very nice. The bass+some quiet synth also sounds good. What I didn't like much in this song were the background strings (More about them in the tech comment). The song could be longer. The artist says that after repeated listening it becomes boring quickly, but I think that he could add some more cool melodies (he can do that!), maybe some more instruments, breaks. For me it isn't so much boring although I listen to it looped while writing the review. Pretty nice composition. This song is very loud, too loud (tends to get distorted in ModPlug and FT2). The bassline put into 2 channels to double its volume, but instead of this, I would rather suggest reducing other samples' volumes. The samples are OK. Not many effects were used, but panning was even overused from my point of view. The synth strings should be either stereo or put somewhere in the middle, not in the extreme side position! Especially when it is loud and high-pitched. After some time, I changed to mono and then it sounded better, especially for my right ear. :) That's just one serious complaint, generally it is rather good. | |
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Title: Dagger in the Dark Filename: fermusdagger.xm |
Posted Wed 3rd Jul 2002
Rated 9 / 10 |
| In the beginning a quiet, mysterious piano leads us into the climate of a dangerous event that's going to take place... The piano is fading in, some choirs enter, and then a horn melody starts. It is later repeated in a wonderful manner, I should say solemn and lofty. Then it is quite and mysterious again. A synth instrument plays another great melody (good use of pitch bend here!) Later we have a louder and more menacing part, with horns, drums and everything! This tune is just great. It has everything: quite, mysterious parts and powerful horn melodies! But the best thing about it is that it builds a wonderful atmosphere, stimulates imagination and catches the listener. Very interesting piece, very well made, both musically and technically. It would be very suitable for a fantasy RPG game (although the synth instruments would be rather inappropriate for a medieval theme :) ). They say music is responsible for 90% of the atmosphere - this tune would undoubtedly do its job! This song is truly enjoyable thanks to very good work with volumes, portamentos, and good quality samples as well. Panning is also used with experience, without any exaggeration. There are 53 patterns, each of them is different and the composer absolutely didn't overuse copy/paste! Surely, there's been fair amount of work put in it, as well as artistry. Great piece. | |
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Title: echos of faraway Filename: faraway.mod |
Posted Wed 3rd Jul 2002
Rated 4 / 10 |
| This piece is a combination of an electric guitar, some synth and a flute. The beginning is pretty decent, but later I had the feeling the whole song is kind of chaotic, with no distict melody or chorus that would catch the ear. Well, I can see that the author did much more than trackers who just make 5 patterns and play them 4 times each, but still, this is not really much of an interesting mod. The guitar sample is used in a too wide range of tones which makes it sound pretty like tracked guitar... Apart from that, the technical quality is not really bad, although there's nothing special either. A small number of 8bit samples and very few effects are used here. | |
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Title: Forever Filename: forever.mod |
Posted Tue 2nd Jul 2002
Rated 6 / 10 |
| A nice, soft ballad with a synth lead and a piano playing together. A nice idea, but... Well, I guess the piano was supposed to play background, and the synth - lead melody. In that case, the volumes are definitely inappropriate, because the piano is much too loud and the synth too silent. I would also suggest using dynamics with the piano, it would sound far better! There are only two piano motifs, which are played over and over again, completely unchanged. The lead melody is just about marvellous, but lack of variety appears here as well. The drums, together with the bassline, are pretty cool - the accompanimet is very nice, soft and mild; simple, but very good. The general idea for a song (structure, melodies) was great, it's a shame it wasn't developed better. Well, this is a .mod, but not a 4 channel one, it actually has 8 of them and they are used well. Unfortunately, apart from that, the technical side considerably lowers the overall rating. Whereas the musical aspect of the piece is good (excluding monotony), technical flaws make it sound amateurish. I've mentioned the problem with volumes and dynamics. Another thing is that the piano sample is not good for the high notes it plays here. Oh, and one more thing - there are 20 seconds of silence at the end - isn't that too much? ;) | |
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Title: fa.xm Filename: fa.xm |
Posted Tue 2nd Jul 2002
Rated 7 / 10 |
| A short, but fairly good guitar song. It is fairly short and simple, but has a very cool and catchy melody - maybe not very original, but pleasant and nice to hum. :) The drumbeat is very simple - it's composed of a closed hihat and two bassdrum samples playing together (I think one would do; for the mellow and rather subtle sound of the rest the bassdrum is a bit to loud). The bass line is also simple, but works well and accompanies the melody well. Although very simple, the song is good and worth listening to. The song's structure is very simple, almost no effects are used. Of course it's not bad, however the guitar melody could be more expressive and realistic if some effects were put into it. Fair number of 8bit, but good quality samples are used here and the technical side doesn't discourage from listening. Pretty good job. | |
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Title: Fascination Street Filename: fascinat.mod |
Posted Fri 28th Jun 2002
Rated 4 / 10 |
| This tune doesn't possess any intro or ending. I really dislike such approach - I guess it is meant to be looped and played over and over again without end, which I consider a ridiculous idea. I don't know why some trackers do it, imo it doesn't make any sense. The bass and drums are very monotonous and become boring soon. Apart from a couple of simple melodies that are played several times, we have a loud and kind of, I dunno, itching synthsound - it enters from time to time, completely destroying the song. The melodies are not bad, but they are short and simple, not especially interesting. I definitely think more creativity should be used here. Generally - not an exciting piece of music. The samples quality is very low... Especially the snare drum and the lead guitar sound bad. And that synth is too loud and rather annoying. No special effects here, just a simple, not sophisticated mod. | |
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Title: Fantasie for piano#1 Filename: fantasp1.xm |
Posted Fri 28th Jun 2002
Rated 6 / 10 |
| A quiet, romantic piano song. It has very good, pleasant and memorable melodies. The musical ascpect of the piece is great; I would just suggest working a little bit more with the volumes to make it more dynamic and human-like. Unfortunately, the quality of the three piano samples used here is poor, some unpleasant noises spoil the general effect. And because the piano is the only instrument here, it is a huge drawback! That's a shame; such a fine composition is worth the effort of finding better samples! Even a song that uses just a piano, more than 4 channels could be used, so that new notes do not cut the previous ones. Well, my suggestion for the artist would be to write a kind of remake, with high quality 16bit samples set and with more channels! The rating is so low *only* because of the technical quality, as it will surely discourage people from putting it to their playlists. | |
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Title: fall of my sun Filename: fall.it |
Posted Wed 26th Jun 2002
Rated 8 / 10 |
| It begins with a pretty strange drumbeat, which later becomes normal however, as other instruments are added and the song begins for good. "Fall of my sun" is a truly enjoyable combination of smooth rock drums, electric guitar riffs and synth pads. In the song info D-Beat says he was pretty down while composing the piece - that would explain why it is rather morose (although fast paced). But, at the same time, it is so cool! It has some interesting motifs, and it's not the same all the time. And the best thing about it is how great it sounds every second! D-Beat, I wish you better moods now and always, but keep in mind that your depression wasn't for nothing; it gave us a truly marvellous mod!! All samples sound very good; they're chosen faultlessly and fit the piece well. Volumes on balance, no audible flaws in this piece. While listening to it I have the nice feeling that I listen to a really professional work. Any complaints won't take place here. Everything sounds just as should. 100% of enjoyment!! :] | |
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Title: "Felling Ice" Filename: felling.it |
Posted Mon 24th Jun 2002
Rated 8 / 10 |
| From the very beginning the track creates a great atmosphere, subtle and mysterious. The lead synth sound is pretty icy, so it is chosen very well to suit what the title says. The melodies it plays are great, especially the one at 1:15 - this one is wonderful. Somewhere in the middle quiet and moody drums enter - I liked them as well. However, I think that either they appear too late or the song ends too early! The artist undoubtedly is quite talented and if he made it longer it surely would be better. No major complaints about the piece (as for its musical qualities). I don't know why the artists didn't write his handle in the song's instruments - that's a pity, because he really can make music, it would be good if he could be recognised! The samples are good, but the lead synth doesn't fade out in some parts and that doesn't sound so good - I mean when a melody ends, there's just the accompaniment playing, and the quiet looped synth is still there. Apart from that everything sounds decent. | |
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Title: Flower of Winter Filename: f_winter.it |
Posted Mon 24th Jun 2002
Rated 7 / 10 |
| A good, peaceful and relaxing song by Golrien, with some load of emotions in it. It has a nice flute and strings melody. It sounds a little sad and lyrical, very nice to listen. The high pitched bells are superb, just a little bit too loud I'd say. The strings melody is outstanding, it's a pity it is so short! The ending is quite surprising - the entire song has a slow pace, just for the last 10 seconds it is fast. For me, it sounded slightly odd. This track is a good job, really nice piece of music. It is quite emotional, especially the last melody (if only it lasted longer!). Good samples, well chosen and balanced. Just the open hihat sounds somewhat worse than the others in my opinion. It also shouldn't be so loud. Only 13 channels are used, but that's pretty enough - the song doesn't seem to lack anything. It's not spectacular, but it is made well and certainly worth listening. | |
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Title: Misty Mountains Cold Filename: farover_lofi.xm |
Posted Sat 8th Jun 2002
Rated 8 / 10 |
| This is a medieval piece that makes me think of some inns from fantasy novels or games. It also reminds me of some films about medieval times I've seen. I think the artist catched the right climate perfectly. The melody is excellent. It's nice to listen and it definitely fits the song with its style in general. It is played by some cellos, violins, and a flute (with a stereo delay, which is great), a sort of guitar, so quite a lot of instruments are used, but unforutnately they play the same all the time. I realise that such repetition was the author's intention, but in my opinion there should be some break, some variations of the melody maybe. What's really good about the song is the general sound of it. And this is where I should say something about the background. Well, it is rather simple, but actually that's what it should be like, so I found it good indeed. It is more than put together with a good feeling for it! Overall, this song is a fine work by Efenstor. I like it a lot. I feel like in a medieval tavern!! :) The quality of samples is pretty satisfactory, the volumes and panning are chosen properly. However, the instruments Efenstor uses (I mean the stringed instruments) are not easy to sample down and track so that they sound completely real and don't take 10 megs at the same time. That's why one can hear e.g. that the cello has been tracked. One thing I would suggest is using two channels for the flute, because every subsequently played sound cuts the preceding one abruptly; it sounds somewhat unnatural. It is not very audible here, but it can be heard. Despite my little nagging about such minor details, this song is very well made and I enjoy listening to it very very much. | |
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Title: Flying Fortress Filename: ffort.xm |
Posted Sat 18th May 2002
Rated 8 / 10 |
| Well, we have a pretty cool metal piece here. First of all - I definitely like the riff. In fact, it is not really tracked, just played and recorded from the guitar, but how actually are you supposed to track a guitar? It just has to be played if you want it to sound good, so it's OK. As regards the solos, they are fine, but sometimes too loud (e.g. around 2:00) - that sounds pretty bad when you listen to it very loud, and this is the genre to listen to loud, isn't it? I also think that this tune lack at least one faster solo; the entire song is rather lively so I guess it would fit here. Perhaps it is not necessary, however it would make the song more interesting. Oh, it is interesting, anyway! :] Generally, this piece is good, very good, superb. If you like metal, you will enjoy the song. I do. I always pick on artists because of instrument volumes. :) I have already mentioned the solo guitar; what I would like to add is the crash cymbal - again, when playing the song loudly, it hits the ears quite strongly. The samples quality is good, Most of them 8bit, but they sound completely satisfactory (maybe except the solo guitar samples - these are not perfect). | |
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Title: forest3.s3m Filename: forest3.s3m |
Posted Sat 18th May 2002
Rated 5 / 10 |
| The song is very short, it lasts only for 1:26. I imagine it would fit some in-game movie with some action. It has no melody besides some vibes playing the same tones a couple of times - first slowly, then faster. Ppl who would like to just listen to it will probably feel the lack of some melodic motif. I think the artist could put some more work in it and extend the song. After listening to it for the first time, I had the feeling it is just incomplete. Nice idea, but not fully developed! Just keep tracking, man! ;) Nothing spectacular here, although no visible or audible flaws appear, either. I should just say the panning placement is not perfect - I mean the open hat in one ear is not the best idea IMO. (Especially for those who use headphones!) | |
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Title: Final Wish Filename: finalwish.xm |
Posted Sat 18th May 2002
Rated 9 / 10 |
| I keep telling ppl that the existence of the tracking scene is a wonderful thing because you can come across songs that are really beautiful and truly artistic, much more than the stuff I hear on the radio every day. "Final wish" is a perfect proof that I'm right :]. In the song we have a great panflute melody nicely combined with a synth lead. All that is accompanied by an interesting and rich background. There are quite a lot of additional samples in the accompaniment; they don't distract or disturb as it sometimes happens when an artist exaggerates - here, they add to the atmosphere and boost the pleasure of listening. What's also important, the song is not at all repetitive and doesn't make me bored even if I listen to it many times. I'd say, however, that the ending is a little too abrupt - I think it could be somewhat prolonged. What more can I say? This is a quite professional piece and reminds me of some Edward Simoni's recordings I ran up against once and considered marvellous indeed. I have a similar feeling now. I recommend this song to everyone who likes good, soft atmospheric music. Just the final word: sorry for not giving this song 10, but I keep the note for The Special Only One that shall stun me so much that I'll be sure nothing in the world can possibly be better. :) So 9.5 is my maximum note for now. Consider it: prefect! I'll be pretty short here: great samples (although many of them 8-bit, which is a bit of a pity, but the song's size would grow dangerously if everything was 16-bit ;) ), the volumes are perfectly balanced and everything is put together just like it should be. | |
Title: find & rise or lost & fall
Filename: fall.s3m
Rated 6 / 10