MadTracker - "By VERTIKAL (2005)" by Vertikal

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By VERTIKAL (2005)

by Vertikal

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Ogg Vorbis version

Inge

Originality:	6/10	Technical:	7/10
Theme:	9/10	Quality:	8/10
Arrangement:	9/10	Global:	8/10

Genre: epic trance (resembling Carlos - The Silmarillia due to a beautifully implemented violin)

A very nice main synth & melody. Not very original, but it works good for the purpose and genre. The unique vocal (peace to the world) also gives rise to an own identity for the track, although it's not as gadget-alike as one would like to hook inside the memory of the listener for days. The overall production is okay, although the panning of the hihat (closed right, open left) is too much. Great song structure, with a good bridge after the second minute. Bassline is quite strong, which is good. The song would not suffer from a higher bpm (138 and 143 worked nicely here), since it feels a bit slowish now.

Sunbuster

Originality:	3/10	Technical:	8/10
Theme:	5/10	Quality:	8/10
Arrangement:	5/10	Global:	5/10

Cheese beware! Immediately when I heard the intro vocal stab I though "no, please don't". The though that the vocals want to bring of course is very noble and follows what a lot of trance tracks want to bring out there. I think however this track would have been much better of had this vocal stab not been present. It's simply the gourmé of cheesefactors.

I like the lead melody and the instrument playing it, even though it sounds somewhat sad. The trance strings are present, but they work well here. They don't demand all the attention, but instead create a good background.
Technically things seem to fall into place in this track. Instruments have a suitable volume and get the space they need. They're well spread out also.

In the end a somewhat ordinary track, with a cheese factor reaching towards the sky. It's sad, because this track had potential maybe not as an climax in a DJ set, but at least as a transition or set-ender.

TNK / ATK project

Originality:	5/10	Technical:	6/10
Theme:	6/10	Quality:	6/10
Arrangement:	7/10	Global:	7/10

Originality: 5/10 (within the genre)
Theme: 6/10
Arrangement: 7/10
Technical: 6/10
Quality: 6/10
Global: 7/10

Vertikal's 4th entry in the MT compos, and atleast we can say one thing : He sticks to his style. Commercial trance freaks, this one is for you.

Originality : Well, where did I hear such stuff before ? Oh yeah, in all the clubs I went to for the 10 last years ! Needless to say that this style has been overdone even if new stuff is still to be invented within this genre. Unfortunately Vertikal did not invent them in this track. However as he has chosen this genre in which it is so difficult to bring something new, I decided not to be too harsh with him on this issue. I gave him an average note as many other tracks I've heard so far were not more original than his entry. Hint : try to write a real song next time and sing to it (or have someone singing to it), like Sonic/Destiny did in his milestone dance track "Project stardust", as vocals is a thing this track lacks alot.

Theme : There are 2 distinct themes in this song. A (boring) violin theme and the - ultra cliche - melodic trance arpeggios. I miss the time Vertikal brought us such trance wonders like "For you (Letizia)". However, at position A in the pattern progression, the trance arps become better, while not much more original. The result however exceeds only the average a little. I've heard much better stuff from you Pablo... Of course, the track would work in a club, but would be forgotten as soon as the DJ would play the upcoming track...

Arrangement : Works within the genre, but brings nothing new. A bit too many high frequencies I think. Nices basses.

Technical : You've got Superwave, you've got "Synth 1" in the allowed plugins list and you didn't manage to bring some more original songs within this track ? That's a flaw to my eyes. While your track definitely works as a trance track, it's exactly the kind of music that suits for those plugins and therefore I think you did only use 10% of the powers of those awesome synths. I took myself the liberty to play with the knobs of the synths YOU used a little bit and after a few minutes got much more original sounds out of them, why didn't you do it ? Of course I reviewed your track as it came from the internet and not with the tweaks I added... I however gave you a 6 as the works musically, in the sense that within the genre, it doesn't sound amateuristic. But I hesited a long time whether I would give you less...

Quality : Average... and therefore you get an average grade...

Overall : The "know how" in melodic trance making is still to be felt despite all those critics, therefore the grade is a little bit above the average, but considering I *love* this genre, it should still be felt as a quite bad mark as this song could have been so much better with so little more work on it.