MadTracker - "Itaxiphio - xiphiuz" by xiphiuz

Color scheme

Itaxiphio - xiphiuz

by xiphiuz

Rate and comment this entry

Download

Ogg Vorbis version

QBical

Originality:	6/10	Technical:	9/10
Theme:	5/10	Quality:	8/10
Arrangement:	7/10	Global:	8/10

This 80's italo electro piece by xiphiuz sounds realy good. This thanks to the great effort on production, everything has it's own place in the mix and this makes an easy listening experience.

The track starts of with some nice panned filter sweeps that set the mood for the rest of the track, however they I would have liked if the sweeps made a comeback in the track.
The track realy flows well but lacks a climax, but since this is common in italo music I guess that this isn't realy a problem, however using the sweeps in a creative way in the middle part or end part would have made such an climax.

There is some good usage of vst instruments and effects, also automation is used wisely, good work!

keep it up!

Sunbuster

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

I sort of feel a game music vibe in this one, sort of early 90's electro. Got me thinking of Knight Rider, don't know why though, because the music in Knight Rider is far worse than this. I like the atmoshpere in this track, sort of adventureish, yet has speed and energy. Good use of delays to spread out instruments. The mix is good also. The track has both width and depth. It's able to keep things interesting also, even though it doesn't have that much variation in what it plays.

The intro fx playing, with jumping from one channel to the other, is a bit of a two-edged sword to me. It would have been really cool if the intro would have evolved into the the track playing with both leads and drums and all (the high-pass gradually going lower to reveal the underlying instruments for instance). But now it splits the track up a bit. You have the intro with cool fx with moves over to the sawtooth- or trianglesynth that quickly fades in and flutters a bit, then you have the kick doing the work the intro should have done. This leaves the actual intro a bit outside, it doesn't have any other purpose than being a gimmick.

Overall a very enjoyable track. Keep it up!

TNK / ATK project

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

Originality: 10
Theme: 7
Arrangement: 9
Technical: 10
Quality: 9
Global: 9

Imagine some 80's italo disco (like Valerie Dore's "the night", that scooter recently remixed...see how creative he is... all the opposite of Xiphiuz !) mixed with modern house technologies & weird synths. This is what Xiphiuz provides to our ears for an optimal listening pleasure. The best of the 80's mixed with the best of the 2000's. Great works.

The song is somewhat reptitive but not too much. It's theme is not very developped but strong enough to make it within the chosen style. However it's the only real minus point of an otherwise almost flawless entry.

The arrangement is very 80's italo disco alike. I like it a lot. Everything fine there.
Technically except some melodic instruments that are a slightly undermixed to my ears everything is in place, no too obvious frequency overlaps, extraordinary use of todays's MT possibilities. I especially liked how Xiphiuz uses Daichi's synth 1 (I listened 2 it with the right version :-), the best analog-synth emulator around to my ears.
I think that if there were tracking academies around, Xiphiuz should be hired as a teacher because he masters the tracking arts more than 95% of the entrants do. Black belt in tracking for Xiphiuz. He shows the MT community how to be creative with all those FXs, while still keeping his tracks commercial enough to be played in front of a mainstream audiance.

A great entry that will leave no one unsatisfied I think. My humble congrats.

bigandymac

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

an interesting blend of 80s synth pop/ early house and game music.
originality - the overall sound is pleasingly retro, with some nice touches thrown in (the detuning of the lead in the 1st pattern. plus points for programming original patches for the vsts and the combination of a few different styles.
theme - the track fits together well with the drums, the synth pad and the high strings standing out in particular. if 80s retro was the aim of the composer then they have achieved it very convincingly.
arrangement - nothing wrong with the arrangement, it is pretty basic with an intro (nicely done) a bridge, then the chorus (with the bassline change, also sounds nice) then a short outro. plus points for the filtered and then detuned intro which is a very nice touch. a more complex structure with more progression would have improved this track (ie a filtered section in the middle, maybe using some deeper bass, evm bassline is good for this) as currently it is very linear.
technical - the strongest point of the track, the eq'ing and space between instruments makes this a full, but not busy sounding track. the programming of new patches for synth 1 has produced some nice results, the high string in particlar. the exciter was set on bypass on my mt2 version which i think was probably unintentional, but other than that the use of fx was sparingly but appropriately applied.
quality - again a very good point of the track, the samples/vsts are well used and clear sounding, there is very little frequency overlap. only the hihats became a little prominent after a couple of listens as they are so static (a break from the perc in the middle of the track would solve this).

summary - a very nice clean sounding track that clearly highlights the flexibilty and quality of vsts over samples. the sound is good, the theme and sample selection good. only a basic structure impacts on the overall score.