TraxInSpace reviews for the song "Hymn" by Sergeisergeievich ======================================== Reviewer: Chimera Date of Review: 12/29/1998 12:22:00 AM Overall Impression: 9/10 Review: Very professional, and very original. WOW this is fresh music indeed! Ive never heard music tracked in this style. The artist successfully creates a fun and happy mood through the piece. If there is one gripe i have it is the drum part, which is a bit weak. A must download for those sick of depressing/dark music. Creativity: 10/10 Creativity Comment: Something fresh and original! Yeah this is creative! Arrangement: 8/10 Arrangement Comment: Interesting in parts, quite good overall. Sample Quality: 9/10 Sample Quality Comment: Some nice samples in here, the bass sample is very cool :) Does It Work as a Piece of Music: Yes Does It Work as Music Comment: Certainly! ======================================== ssr: drums were improved since these reviews ======================================== Reviewer: roncli Date of Review: 10/20/1998 Overall Impression: 8/10 Review: It's only the drums that drag this one down, being too loud, but well worth ignoring! This song is a very exciting and energetic song, and was put together nicely. Creativity: 10/10 Creativity Comment: I have yet to hear a song similar to this one. Well done! Artistic License: 5/10 Artistic License Comment: The percussion was out of dynamic balance with the rest of the song, they needed to be about half their volume. Otherwise, this is a very exciting song to listen to, with lots of energy in it. Arrangement: 10/10 Arrangement Comment: Talk about energy! This song is a very energetic piece that keeps you moving from beginning through to the end! The composer put this one together very well. Sample Quality: 8/10 Sample Quality Comment: The piano in this one has a very seventies rock style sound in this piece. The samples are of excellent quality and go very well with each other. Does It Work as a Piece of Music: Yes Does It Work as Music Comment: Volume balance on the drums would have given this a 9 or higher ======================================== ######################################## ModArchive review for the song "Hymn" by Sergeisergeievich ======================================== Classification: Hymn / Rock Quick Rating: 8.0 Musical Rating: Very Good / Amateur A very nice song. The strings were great, and the leads fit well everywhere. My only complaint, or confusion rather, is that I couldn't hear a bassdrum, go figure. Technical Rating: Very Good / Amateur Very good for 8 channels, effects used nicely. A shame better samples couldn't be used. Reviewer: Justin Owens ======================================== ######################################## Reviews for the song "Hymn" by Sergeisergeievich made by Internet Music Monitor website ======================================== Track Title Hymn Release Date Oct. 9, 1998 Format 8ch XM Composer Sergeisergeievich Review Date Dec. 20, 1999 Time 02:53 Group Affiliations none Style pop/synth-pop Size 219k Reviews /SLASH MODERATE First of all, let me say that good old-fashioned happy songs are a rarity nowadays. Songs like the one in Valhalla's prize demo Fluid Motion, those are the great songs of yesteryear, but now almost everybody makes either dance music or ambient tunes. That's not bad per se, but it's nice to find at least some artists do still make easy-listening music. When I first played this track I didn't think much of it. The chords are pretty standard, and it's not tracked very well. The samples are not brilliant, but somehow, the song stuck with me, and I ended up whistling it the rest of the day. Now sometimes I get a song into my head that I don't like and I can't help but whistle it, but this time I really thought that the song was rather cool. Then I listened to it again, and I couldn't really figure out why I liked it so much. Still, if I like it like I do, but can't find out why, then the song must have hidden charms. I'm just trying to find out why I enjoy listening to this song so much. If I look at it from a technical standpoint, I have to say it's tracked okay, but certainly not brilliantly. The drums are revolting (but Sergeisergeievich noticed that himself too, and said to concentrate instead on the rest of the song). I think the reason I like this song so much is that the melody really sticks in my head. What I mean by that is that the melody is really a sing-along tune, that you can follow the very first time you hear it. However, it's too bad the melody itself is so sparse. Ironically, though I like this song very much, I think there are too many obvious flaws (he used almost no panning, the drums are horrid, the song is too short...) to award it with a strong recommendation. But don't get me wrong with that rating: I really do like this song. GKL NEUTRAL When I listened to the samples Sergeisergeievich used to write this song, I thought to myself, "Uh-oh. How in yog's name is he going to write a pop track using such synthetic sounding samples? " Well, the song proved to me that he could. He could not, however, go beyond the limitations of the samples and the 8 channels he worked in to make something much better than is on MTV nowadays. I think that it's a cheery, bouncy track, and a pleasure to listen to; however, it is quite repetitive, and it doesn't really do much for me. However, considering the situation in which Sergeisergeievich wrote the song, the Russian financial crisis of '98, I think that his gesture to his friend Anastasia was both admirable and quite sweet. I'm sure she appreciated this happy ditty; I'm afraid that I really can't. WOLFSONG NEUTRAL Well, this is certainly a perky little song we have here. You might even call it cute. Very bright and bouncy all the way through, using a dance structure to carry itself. Snappy string hits and dance piano chords bounce about each other, weaving an expression that is seemingly quite happy and carefree; the bass work is nice as well, using a bright and full sound that adds much to the rhythm. In all honesty, this song is just a bit too sweet for my tastes. If the world were ever as happy as this song expresses, then we'd have all starved to death long ago, having forgotten to eat whilst we frolicked about the forests. However, this is just a style complaint, a bit of personal style preference. Musically, I would have other complaints, such as the percussion. The sounds of the drums were slightly garbaged, but what I found even more distracting was that they just didn't seem to fit into the style. This song seems to be so much for dancing, but the drum set used sounds as though it belongs in a heavy metal song. Sure, there's nothing wrong with using rock drums in a dance song, but in my opinion they lack the crisp distinction that makes a dance rhythm that much more... well, danceable. I also think there should be a bit more of a definable melody here. There are some places where a horn ensemble opens up with a bright, ska-themed melody, but for a little bit too much of the song there is no distinct melody. I think it would have helped to put in more of the stuff that allows a listener to start humming. In any case, the song isn't a bad one. Be careful, though: this song is so sweet it will either crack your face with smiles or give you cavities. MINDWALKER NEGATIVE Hymn 2 Anastasia is, as its own creator states, a joyful and happy song. So what does an 8 channel XM with a 366k filesize feel like in the age of 16 bit samples and 20 channel modules as a general minimum? It feels old, of course. But enough of that, let's get into the song itself. This song is, from the beginning till the very end, a happy hymn. It starts off with some kind of toy piano playing the base chords, which is then joined by synth-pop samples, brass, and all the essential bass and drum lines. The main melody is really very simple, and I can't help feeling that it's a bit corny. It's not the kind of happy and memorable musical thing made for the Olympics and Sports Championships; I think it would be better off as a song for a children's game. As it stands, on its own, I think it's just too happy and childish for a grownup to appreciate. One noticeable thumbs down comes after some 42 seconds playing, when Sergeisergeievich changes tone and immediately goes to where he was before... not natural and not very pleasant. I also don't like the way Sergeisergeievich destroys all the work he had been doing, building up the instrumental just to mute it before the tom drum line part. Once a song gets built up, it should be kept that way for a while... and the time to change that would be when the music changes face... and not just taking off the samples you introduced before the ear can get used to them. You did this correctly at the 01:48 part, and at the 02:00 mark, too. It sounds natural at these points, but not before the tom drum line part in the beginning. Incidentally, the part of the song I liked most was the drum line, as opposed to Sergeisergeievich's own statement about his song. The drum line sounds powerful and rhythmic and has some nice tom breaks. It kind of reminds me of my first drum lines when I was composing my first mods. The samples used are okay, but getting near that "old" flashing red line. They are all 8-bit, and some of them have noticeable hiss. The crash cymbal seems to be distorted also which gives it a dirty sound. Stereo panning along the way is also okay... works well and doesn't clash, so no bad points on this one. So, if I had to give some advice to Sergeisergeievich it would be to be careful with chord changes and to be sure to head the music somewhere with them. Try to have a solid melody along the way. In this piece, at some points, it seems like the melody doesn't know what to do (I notice this especially at the 00:50 mark). Get hold of newer and better sounding samples, too, and look inside some ground-breaking modules to see how they've been made. Usually, the more realistic they are, the better reviews they get... always try to make your lead samples sound authentic. And, of course, practice, practice... it's always the key to perfection! I think you can work around your tracker nicely by now, but you can improve the songs themselves and their content. Hymn 2 Anastasia is one more module to add to the extensive modules scene, but since it sounds dated and because there are noticeable gags in the song, I think you can download it for your children; otherwise, I would advise you to look elsewhere. TROBE NEGATIVE I have to say it: the song sounds like something done in the late 80's. Not that there's anything wrong with the music of the 80's. This track, however, is not very good. I have to say it. There are nice parts (especially the part around 1:05 where the snare kicks in), but overall it is not good. I'll try to give some advice to the composer (not that I'm the big "Mr. Musicknowledge"!) ['Sall right. -GKL] 1) Use all the tracks! There are 32 tracks in FT2; use them. Don't push all the drums into one track. 2) Chords! It's never a good idea to use pre-sampled chords; write the whole chord yourself. 3) Use the FT2 instruments! A lot of the samples could use a volume-envelope (nice work with the panning though ;-). 4) The fourth point is the melody. It's hard to come up with a good, catchy melody. Practice and experience are two of the main factors. I'm not very good at it... Bottom line: There is some potential here, and I'm looking forward to hearing the future works of the composer.