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Download: Title: eric's permobil :) Filename: mrdeath-erics_permobil.xm	Posted Wed 30th May 2007 Rated 9 / 10
This piece is composed in the classic Commodore 64/Amiga style -called the "Oldskool"-, wich songs are called "chiptunes" beacuse of the characteristic FM synth sound. We can find a great number of different musical styles, going from groovy-funky to baroche, that fit into the same genre. The thing that makes them all sound familiar is the sample sounds and the way in wich the effects are used to make an expressive tune out of rigid sounds: vibrato, glissandi, arpegio, percussion rebounds, volume, delay, etc. This particular song from Mrdeath, is a very short one, but features all of these characteristics that may include it into this specific style. Mrdeath reaches a dilicate point: an original, simple song, featuring the best of the so called "Oldskool". The song consist of four patterns at a relatively fast tempo (21´´ aprox.) in two small parts. The melody is very adorned, it sounds energic and elegant and clear. Combined with the rythm and harmony, they make an agile song that reminds me the classic arkade games. It could fit quite well into a game, more precisely in a bonus level or any short part that needs strong music. I incline towards this argument specially because of the song´s short duration that makes me think of it as a functional part of something else, like a game or a demo. I asked myself why did Mrdeath make a song this short. Was it because he doesn´t have the creativity to make it longer? Just listening to any other Mrdeath song, there´s no doubt about the asnwer to that question. NO. But I don´t know if Mrdeath wanted to make a game-style song or a demo-song of it; it´s just a possibility. Resuming, "Eric´s..." is a very enjoyable tune, vibrant and transparent. I think that musically the song speaks for itself, so I will pass directly to the technique. When listening to the melody line at a slower tempo, I found some notes are emphasized by putting the other notes at a lower level, playing with a complex and subtle game of intensities, so when you hear the whole melody in normal tempo you perceive the louder notes as making the "real" melody without any interruptions between them, and the rest of them as adorn notes. The use of ascendant and descendant glissandi is very frequent and they sound correctly, without abuse. There is also a channel delay channel to the mean line with a lighter and less strident instrument. The use of soft vibrato in the larger notes of the melody softens the flatness of the chip sound; this little detail is properly used and contributes addyng a lot of life and expression to the pure-sound but expressionless chip sound. The second part presents a different melody doubled at the octave, with similar techniques. The melodies fade and blend with new patterns correctly. There are no unwanted volume resets or sudden vibrato cuts. The pattern structure is very simple and cyclic. In channel #1 we find the bass melody and the snare drum all together. There´s a delicate and subtle volume work in the bass line, emphasizing some of the notes and attenuating the others to give the song more rythmic movement and agility. Drums keep simple and changeless during the song, but it sounds well within the whole. The sound is very clear, transparent and balanced with headphone. I recomend not only this, but all the other Mrdeath´s songs, specially "The Amiga I" (mrdeath-the_amiga_i.mod) and "Sun and Rain" (mrdeath-sun_and_rain.xm). He is an active demoscene composer who recently won the second place at the Dreamhack party 2003 with "Castles and Adventures"; he also obtained the first place at the Compusphere XIII with "Frequency Shifter", emulating the classic Amiga sound in his fabulous chiptunes. He also appears in the chiptune musicdisk "Razor 1911 chipdisk 2".

Download: Title: Orchestral Moodlighting Filename: orchest.s3m	Posted Wed 30th May 2007 Rated 2 / 10
About this kind of songs: every tracker must pass through an experimental phase in order to improve their tracking habilities, during which the songs doesn´t come out that easely and doesn´t sound quite right. This initial phase takes in some cases more, in some others less time. Some never make it, due to several problems. Others learn by trying once and again until a good song comes out. Some trackers think their tiny first attempts are great and they wish to publish them, overloading the precious space in the web, making all the reviewing and classification process heavier and slower; lowering the musical level of the Archive; confusing new trackers. I´d like to think they trully believe their songs are great. Anyway, this initial tunes only serve for the tracker to learn and to adquire musical tools that may help them making a coherent song. It´s not about styles; it´s about musical quality. I suggest you trackers to focus yourselves on what you´re doing, comparing your music with the songs of the vast list of great trackers featured by the Archive and make a sincere evaluation of the music you´re doing It´s not the samples, nor the technique; it´s not the notes, chords, rythms, structure, or whatever. It´s the way it all is used. The introduction seems a bit interesting but very soon it gets pointless in the song´s context. Then a chaotic rythm appears going he same throughout the song. The rythm keeps more or less the same, except for a rustic way of "tutti-rippieno", in baroque terms. The bass line is almost imperceptible. At 1´ a crunchy guitar plays a melody -or riff- in fifht parallel chords (an incipient gregorian vein!). A flute makes a contrapunct to the guitar "alla Morriccone". A pair of chords are played by strings. Then the volume fades, and a sort of echo remains. I made jokes around this tune, but I didn´t want to laugh about the composer. I´ve made lots of song worst than this. But, please, don´t submit your first poor tries to the archive. Tech: Samples are lo-quality 8-bit. The use of them is basic and non-creative. The main problem here, and one of the things that make this song so boring, is that the main drum samples are loops, and this loops are horribly saturated. This makes it all sound dichordant and noisy. Yes, there´s actually a tracked drum doubling the noisy loop #1, but it doesn´t help the song too much. The guitar sample is not the best, but it could be used much more better. The wooden flute melody is too basical and, all in all, is just another noise in the song. In few words: no musical or technical interest. Just a "testing-the-program song".

Download: Title: psychedelic waves Filename: okeanos-psychedelic_waves.xm	Posted Wed 30th May 2007 Rated 8 / 10
This song by Okeanos is a nice "chip tune" that features a very clear melody against an ostinato accompaniment (drums and bass) and arpeggios. This 1´50 song is structured in three sections each one separated by one compass of bass and drums. The main melody is very interesting, and even thou it´s pleasant and calm, reinforced by the frequent use of long notes bringing a feeling of repose, it presents a lot of variation and covers a wide range register. It gets very clear to hear the different levels of the texture, being the main the melodic line. The harmonies are mainly presented by the arpeggios. The ostinato is used as a pedal most of the time, but it also changes with the harmony by the end of each part. The result is nice, simple and enjoyable song. So listen and find it for yourself. The technicall elements are solid and correctly used. I tried the bass and drums in square wave mode using modplug player and it sounds with a lot of presence, with the characteristic slight distortion effect of this wave type. The sample of the main melody instrument is, in contrast with the accompainment, warm, with a very soft attack. Okeanos uses portato, glissando, slight vibrato and delay to make this interesting line. One remarkable effect is the constant panning of the arpeggios throughout the whole song. All these technicall resources help to grab the listener´s attention to the end. So listen to it and see if you agree. The last word is yours.

Download: Title: Stomping on Elephantus Filename: m-stomp.s3m	Posted Sat 26th Nov 2005 Rated 9 / 10
This song from Mystical (a danish composer who made songs for the group Purple)is a perfect blend of high quality composition with good samples and advanced technique to use them. It´s not the everyday you find a similar specimen of this rare fusion in one song. Sometimes it is the samples that takes the song, others, the compotition is excelent but the samples are poor, and so on. Everything in this song fits so well and naturally, resulting on a very catchy smooth-rythm funky piece. Song´s name suggest the rythm character that simbolices stomps. The song starts with a funky guitar riff made of various short samples that goes throughout to the ending. Then the bass, and the drums along with the keyboards. Everything is very rythmic with nice melodies featuring different instruments. The first melody is taken by a sort of hammond organ (very realistic!) along with a piano in pentathonic mode. There´s a sort of chorus in a different key and then the first melody again followed by a rythmical bridge section. The song ends with a groovy flute solo. Ending is a bit abrupt and not too conclusive. The different parts are followed uninterruptedly, with the proper drum and bass fills. Samples are not high-quality in themselves (8 bit), but they are all short, precise and very well sound samples that go perfectly with the song style. Drums are tracked proffesionally. The hi-hat present dinamical volume variations which makes it more intresting and cotributes to the songs rythmical intention. The same for the bass drum. The snare sample is very strong and sounds really natural. The bass line is just superb. Three bass samples are four and there are three channels making different voices simultaneously, featuring volume, glissandi, vibrato and other effects over a big extension of notes to produce this perfect and rythmic bass line. It is not the samples that makes it sound so well, not even the notes by themselves, but the way they are used. The hammond keys are tracked with the same meticulousity using also the arpegio effect. It´s interesting how the string samples are used, giving a lot of expression to the larger notes. There´s a lot more to say about this song, musically and technically, but I suggest you to listen to it and hear for yourself all those nice datails I´m trying to explain here. Great song! Definetively worth listening.

Download: Title: Memory Haze (HT) Filename: rba-haze.xm	Posted Fri 30th Jul 1999 Rated 9 / 10
Ribina sorprised me again, this time with this great peaceful song. It starts with cool strings and great drums, then comes the piano melody, wich is wonderful, and then a nice synth. So, musically, a great song. I must say I felt very relaxed listening. Samples are low quality (8Bit), but they sound very nice. I really like the drums samples (it sounds like a real drum!). Panning is very well done (nice song to hear with headphones). About the other effects, there's not too much, but you won't miss them during the song. Anyway, you should check the great speed work Ribina uses to get the nice rythm of this song (very good!). So, this is a good example for you ambient trackers to take a look at.

Download: Title: ray.s3m Filename: ray.s3m	Posted Fri 30th Jul 1999 Rated 2 / 10
When i first listened to this song I thought I was left-ear deaf (almost a minute of right-channel music). When you start to get a bit upset of it, melody starts in the right channel... I don't feel like talkin' about it right now, send me an E-Mail if you really want to know. At the end, you can hear this great low speed pattern (1' of nothing). Samples are ugly, but the worst is the "laughing guy" one (sucks!). The small amount of effects is almost not audible, except for the panning. Other thing I always hated: at the end, speed is slowed down, but then (when song starts again) there's no speed reset until pattern 8, so then you hear the minimun speed intro version (it takes about 3 minutes).

Download: Title: Rays. Filename: RAYS.S3M	Posted Fri 30th Jul 1999 Rated 2 / 10
First, I must say I can't understand this song. It sounds like a mix of made-for- different-songs parts. The first minute of music is not that bad, but then, when an ugly drum loop starts, it turns imposible to follow. I tried to follow the rythm... oh god, still I've got this pain inside my head! At the end, you'll feel relaxed. The main (higher volume) drum is a loop. I have nothing against loop using, but if it's not used correctly 2 thing may happen: it may sound non creative and sometimes it gets OUT OF TIME. This song is a good example of this two things. Following the samples description, I found this jungle sound (worn out as John Wayne's boots) used as it came to the Earth (plainly). The girl's yodel (or yell) sample is really bad. I found a volume effect used in some strings part, but it sounds ugly. So, this song needs a lot to be just acceptable.

Download: Title: Sweet Tunes From Hell Filename: r_swe.it	Posted Wed 28th Jul 1999 Rated 8 / 10
Song starts with a great arpegio guitar and piano, then a lead guitar wins your attention with cool vibrato effects and a perfect second voice. So, song goes on perfectly, but then drums start... :( they sound too low! and the hat sample is horrible (in the song sounds like a pre-delay thing or something). But if you keep listening to the melody and the bass, you will find a great song there! Different instrument voices are wonderful. And the ending part: good! Most of the samples are great, 8Bit, but sound is great. I just don't like the drum samples (as I said, the hat is really ugly). The panning positions are alright, the other effects are used correctly (great vibrato and offset work on the lead guitars). The only thing this song really needs is a little volume work.

Download: Title: Rest In Peace Filename: rstinpce.s3m	Posted Wed 28th Jul 1999 Rated 6 / 10
I found this one interesting, it's the first good "underground" song I've ever heard. Drums are very good and strings give this tune a dark ambience. If you expect a great musical develop, this is hip hop, not classical. The only thing I don't like about the music is that the piano sample sounds a bit out of tune in some parts. So, it's a Cypress Hill style, only without G-Real's voice. Mmmh... Samples really suck (except for the drums). This doesn't mean the song is bad or something, I think better samples will make a very interesting song (that explains the rating number). About effects: as far as I see (and hear),a few portato and panning effects are used and that's it. Technique is no good for this song.

Download: Title: Land on the Sun (HT) Filename: rba-lsun.xm	Posted Wed 28th Jul 1999 Rated 8 / 10
This song is almost professional, and it would perfectly fit in a game (that explains the classification). It grabs you right from the beginning, with cool noises and very nice percussion, this gets better by (1:50)' when a "tribal" part starts, there you can hear this great marimba sample playing different voices. From (4:00)' theres a part I don't like too much, but it sounds nice after a while. The bridge parts of this song are great, containing cool speech voices and other cool noises. The ending part is simple, but perfect. Much to talk about. Great sample manipulation (even though they aren't that good). Right from the start you can hear great pitch effects getting "acutelly" panned. I found a bunch of vibrato and portato effects here. But the thing I really liked of this song were the volume effects used on the percussion (unfortunately it's not much audible). Anyway, great offset on the reverse crashes, delay channels are made correctly. About the samples, I really liked the speech and the marimba (i guess) sample, the rest of them is good (not high quality, but good). I must say: Great and Serious song!

Download: Title: Raindance Filename: raindanc.s3m	Posted Tue 27th Jul 1999 Rated 6 / 10
Composition is acceptable. When I first heard it, I thought it was going to be better. I like the notes, I like the drums (very original), and the melody is nice, but there's no change. The first patterns are very well, but you get bored soon. I think the song's too "down", and it needs to ve elevated in some parts (orchestal samples would help). The sound is clear, but samples are low quality. I think you should check the "Q" effect Freeloader uses very well on the drums, to get a "rebound" sound; I haven't heard it since Future Crew's Skaven songs. Normal volume effects, and no other thing I could seem to find.

Download: Title: raindrop.xm Filename: raindrop.xm	Posted Tue 27th Jul 1999 Rated 7 / 10
I must say I like this one. The strings and piano notes are really nice. The different parts of the song are well defined, and they are ordered "dynamically", I mean you don't get bored. The song's got no ending part (bad thing), but the rest deserves to be heard. Very good use of the sample offset effects (to get a TB-303-Like effect), and the volume effects used on the strings sounds really cool. Panning is just fine. About the samples, most are 8Bit, but the sound is good when you hear them in the song.

Download: Title: RainBow (remix) Filename: ranrem.it	Posted Tue 27th Jul 1999 Rated 7 / 10
In general terms, composition is good. I like the intro part that goes with storm sounds. Drums sound very well when they start. Then the song is a bit repetitive. The strings and drums give the song a 2 Unlimited stile. Good ending, just like the starting. Most of the samples are good quality (16Bit). The main drum sample is a loop :( (not too creative). The effects are well used (sample offset, panning, volume, etc). As far as I can hear the samples fit perfectly together.