Freesound Forums

Hey, I'm new to this site, and so far it is totally awesome!

Anyway, I just put together a dance song; it uses the following excellent samples from Freesound:

By adam_danz (http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/usersViewSingle.php?id=57492)
Santa clara vanguard Drumline Warm up 040807.mp3 (http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/samplesViewSingle.php?id=17089)
By kaponja (http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/usersViewSingle.php?id=68531)
helikopter.mp3 (http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/samplesViewSingle.php?id=23974)

You can listen to or download it here:

http://www.acidplanet.com/artist.asp?songs=543929&T=4924

It's called "Napalm University." I hope you enjoy it!

thats really good - enjoyable.

don't know what to say. do you want honest feed back? or do you want someone to lie to you?

what drugs did you take while making this track? i mean..it simply reminds me of death metal (which makes no sense to me). i'm not saying the track isn't put together well..it is-but...where's the feel? all i hear is loud banging and noise that my kid is yelling at me to turn off.

i mean you used the sample well-i'll give you that.
its a good track for raving and pill popping...anyway i'll stop right there. i don't want to come off like i'm insulting you..trust me i am not trying to do that at all. i am simply giving you honest feed back, i doubt you care what i have to say-but hey you put this up there for us to comment on so i did so.

fine use of the samples-not really digging the track.

I thought that had merit. I liked the really fast rhythm (I'd like to see a video of the drummer in action), liked the use of the chopper sound, the siren at the end fading away, and the use of silence or near silence in the middle. Parts of it sounded like loads of coke can being thrashed, which was good. Overall I found it a lot better and more progressive than most stuff we get given links to on FS. But I still miss MELODY !!

I really like it. But then, I like industrial and death metal a lot! It sounds like Frontline Assembly meeting Cubanate and that ain't a bad collision...

see LG. i'm not in to metal or rock music period. (well the old stuff) and then there's death metal....honestly i don't get it and that's saying something. i mean how do you enjoy that stuff? seriously? i tell the guys all the time at work who listen to that stuff-what the hell is that? i've got nothing against it if someone can tell me why it sounds good..but i don't hear no rythm no real beat to move my body to...no feel...i just hear really loud banging and (YAWN) distorted guitar up the booty!

which isn't necessarily a good thing.

Hmm LS, it's something that can't be explained in a rational way. Either you dig it or you don't. Personally I don't see why people like electronic dance music. I think it is monotonous, endless and pointless. But millions of people can't be wrong, right? The same for those who don't dig death metal or the like.

But I don't agree that there is no rythm, melody or beat. It really is there although sometimes it is much more complex than a straightforward 4/4. If you listen to Opeth, for example, I think you will agree that it is less pointless than some of the other bands you have heard. It's got melodies, fast and slow parts, different types of singing, acoustic parts etc.

Not attempting to convert you, though...

LG
Either you dig it or you don't.

Do you think digging a genre is a prerequisite for giving sound critical appraisal of a piece in that genre?

Do you think digging a genre is a prerequisite for giving sound critical appraisal of a piece in that genre?

No, not necessarily. But that was not my point. The thing I tried to tell is that if one doesn't like a particular genre it is hard to explain why someone else likes it, that's all. Perhaps my poor English prevented me from telling this clearly, sorry.

LG
No, not necessarily. But that was not my point.

Sorry -- I understand that. Your observation about someone digging or not digging a genre just brought the question to mind.

Myself, I would say that it's difficult to give a credible critique of a piece if you don't at least understand the norms of a genre that the piece belongs to. But I recognize that this line of thinking doesn't help with a piece that doesn't clearly belong to a defined genre.

How else to evaluate a piece of music except against a set of norms?

i hear what you are saying LG-and i am not aruging against it. it makes perfect sense. same with you mil. however,good music is good music. one doesn't have to have a presquiste to understand a good song when you hear one. i agree about dance music to much of it is just 4 on the floor (but then again LOTS OF MUSIC IS) but LOT OF IT ISN'T. thats why i HATE TRANCE SO MUCH THATS WHAT PEOPLE THINK HOUSE MUSIC IS. NO NO NO NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. THAT SHIT AINT HOUSE THAT SHIT IS TWEAKER MUSIC THAT NEEDS TO TAKE ITS ASS BACK TO EUROPE AND STAY THERE (okay enough of my rant).

with all that said. i gave the guy props for this song. in the way he used his samples. as a music producer i can appreicate how someone uses the stuff they have and pieced it together. however, the song in all reality-wasn't very good. to me-sounded like every other industrial/dance tune i've ever heard (this song wasn't very danceable to be honest). just lots of noise with no feel-i mean if i was tweaking and pill popping all night long-i wouldn't care if the dj played this song because-I WOULD BE TOO F.UCKED UP TO CARE. but no way in hell would i ever listen to this track outside of the club.

and that ultimatly-to me-is what matters. will i play it even outside of the place it should be played? in this case, no i wouldn't. its not a knock on the guy-far from it if anything i'm telling him

this has been done. will always be done-and this style ain't ever gonna go anywhere. you clearly are making music for a reason. so why make beats that don't really have a reason? why get stuck in that rut? why be a cliche? why does everyone who makes music like this name their works....so so so BOMB ...napalm such and such..death of so and so. COOOOOME ON MAN-its like house music guys calling their shit-love this..love that...love so and so. it gets pathetc after awhile.

too much of that going on-people basiclly take loops and presets-then call them selves producers while making the same shit over and over.

impress me.

we all have our ideas of standards that we judge by. so you can't say your way is better than mine. i'm not being biased here. i love hearing noise-hell i love jungle and d n b. and half of that is just noise. so i am far from biased.

*sigh*

Guys, guys, guys, no matter what all of you you are saying, a thread like this is is no way of welcoming a new user to freesound. LS, in particular, there's no need to hammer in your opinion every time you see the oportunity. The guy was asking for some feedback, not a lecture filosofical nature on the goodness or badness of music.

Perhaps all try to give some *constructive* critisism once in a while. "what drugs did you take while making this track?" is hardly a constructive comment, is it now. Why not help the guy and tell'm to try X or Y to make his song better (more variation, ...)

'nick lol', I think the song is not that good, I think you could browse around on the web: there's plenty of netlabels that release really good 'Noise' you could learn from. Have a look at entity.be or autoplate, for example.

If you're looking to make noise, I do think you're on the right way, ...

cheerio,

- bram, waking up

Bram
'nick lol', I think the song is not that good, I think you could browse around on the web: there's plenty of netlabels that release really good 'Noise' you could learn from. Have a look at entity.be or autoplate, for example.

Bram, that's "constructive" insofar as it doesn't make a negative point without offering some advice as to what to do about it. However, "not that good" isn't terribly specific. If nick lol goes to these netlabels and listens to stuff there, what should he be listening for that's lacking in his own stuff?

Give him three specific things and I think you'll have made your own point about being constructive very well, and set a good example for the rest of us.

Ok Bram, this thread has become slightly off-topic but I think that the point made by .milan earlier is interesting and deserves discussion and I also would like to know more about the standards LS uses when evaluating a song. He may not be biased but I doubt if he would give Euro-trance a fair review... :wink:

Perhaps it is time to open a seperate thread for this?

Edit: a new thread covering the art of reviewing has opened here: http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/forum/viewtopic.php?p=7061#7061

Please use this thread to comment on the song presented by the first poster.

wrong LG i would give it a fair chance. you mentioned a few names of death metal. so guess what? i've been looking into them because you said i should. does that make me closed minded? if you say there's better bands out there-then i want to hear them. for the europe trance-by the way i've spent may summers in europe and at ibiza etc-some songs are good-AGAIN SOME AREN'T. most aren't. i hear that pych trance that's going on lately. i don't know that just sounds like breaks to me. so i don't totally hate that.

i won't go on on this thread about that but you and i can talk about the standards i judge by. its basic. if i like the song it gets the nod-no matter the style-if i don't then you hear about it. that's pretty constructive-why? cus people simply want to know if their shit sucks or is tight. i'm not gonna front and pretend i'm some philospher and that shit-shit's either good or its not. don't waste time thinking inbetween-lifes too short. but hey hit me up-i dig your comments and would like to talk to you more about this.

woah, a lot of replies

Thanks everyone, I appreciate all of the comments, especially brutally honest ones.

This is probably the most noise-influenced thing I've ever done; I like to dip into a lot of genres. I had it all layed out and thought about having a melody over it, but most of the dance stuff I've done has one, and I also kind of wanted to keep the rich drum sound as the focus.

But I see where the negative comments are coming from, it does sound like a big rumble and doesn't really go anywhere.

I missed something... I know death metal and that is not what I heard. Sounded like techno to me. Death metal avoids sampling, synths, dance beats and the break beats that this song has. Glitching drum beats are not my cup of tea but I can definitely see it as some kind of movie or or video game soundtrack. There is definitely a clear beat and I am sure ravers would love it. Fairly decent mix also... Guitar sounds EQ'd and placed properly.

Props for creative use of samples, and for PROPERLY ATTRIBUTING THEM without being asked!
It's a bit too noisy for my taste but the beat isn't bad.

Oh, and Welcome to freesound.

I think it sounded pretty well tbh.
Yeh, and this ain't death metal. Trust, if you want death metal check out Nile or Behemoth.
A good song to rave to, I like the heavy guitar in it haha.
You probably would never see me driving with it on, tho! Nothing I don't think I could see myself driving to haha.
It's alright tho! Ace tune!
Keep up the good work mate .

Thanks for the URL.I like this song.