MadTracker - MT2 Compo

Color scheme

HUMPTIE DUMPIE

By xiphiuz

Download

Rate and comment this entry

Yannick

Originality:	6	Technical:	7
Theme:	7	Quality:	8
Arrangement:	7	Global:	7

Sunbuster

Originality:	4	Technical:	7
Theme:	7	Quality:	8
Arrangement:	6	Global:	6

heh, this one actually reminds me a bit of mid 90's trance. Not the Binary finary style, but the laid back Marino Stephano style. The structure here is pretty standard though, no surprises. I could almost guess how the notes would go next.

I like the way instr. 17 was used. It gave the track a little, but much needed edge.

Sample selection is pretty standard for this kind of track. The basskick is great though imo, it really has that suitable amount of punch vs. click. I'd lay back a bit on the hihat-shaker section though. They are a bit too dominant for this tune. Try lowering the volume of them a bit.

The mix in general is good, panning has also been used pretty visely. As there's so much going on in the hihats-shakers section they sound as if they're in the center, even though they're panned also. This is another thing I'd look into a bit.

Overall, for a trance tune it was refreshing. But still, it followed a pretty basic structure, and so I'm sorry to say it's also one that will probably be forgotten pretty quickly.

mindplay

Originality:	3	Technical:	6
Theme:	4	Quality:	6
Arrangement:	4	Global:	5

Very good sound quality, but mediocre mix. Not a brilliantly original composition, and much too short.

Novus

Originality:	6	Technical:	8
Theme:	6	Quality:	8
Arrangement:	7	Global:	7

With "Humptie Dumpie," Xiphiuz serves up slightly melodic trance just far enough off the beaten path to make it stand out, and then does what I wish more trance artists would do: shuts up when he's out of things to say.

In terms of the simplistic melodies, bassline and percussion, the song could almost be written off as stereotypical trance. But what helps set things off is the sample selection, particularly in the percussion samples. These don't quite sound like stereotypical trance samples, and when combined with a melody that is actually a bit more complex and layered than it seems at first glance, the result is a trance tune with an identity of its own.

The samples have a slightly "dirty" sound to them, but this seems to have been intentional rather than an oversight, and it adds to the song's uniqueness. The production itself seems quite clean.

Perhaps the best part of the song is that it avoids the trance cliche of wandering all over the place for 7 minutes with long stretches of filler where the artist was too lazy to actually compose something. "Humptie Dumpie" clocks in at slightly under 3 minutes, and very little of it is filler. Xiphiuz clearly has something to say with this tune, and he wastes no time in saying it and then moving on.

All that being said, the song doesn't really have a "special" feeling to it. There's nothing about "Humptie Dumpie" that washes over you and makes you say, "Whoa... THAT's a GOOD song!" It gets you tapping your toes, and it's pleasant, and it tries to break out of the trance mold... but doesn't quite make it. But I certainly appreciate the effort, and that earns Xiphiuz a 7.