Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
isostatic1111, Sprawl: 9,9,10,9 (37/40)
I like that you included a few thoughts about your work. I'm nailing people hard for not writing enough or anything at all. This competition can be very hard to judge but making use of that author's comments space is a secret emotional tool to endear yourself to the judges. Not that all judges are guaranteed to take note of author's comments but I totally did. Had to sit here trapped for days listening to everyone's music. I took everything into account to judge as fairly as possible. Ultimately, there is no harm in saying something about your work or what inspired you so good job on using your words isostatic! Porygon is a favorite oddball Pokemon of mine, I felt like you wrote an inspired soundscape that reflected the subject uniquely. That percussion was all over the place and could have easily echoed the mechanical sounds that a wall clock might make. You actually missed a small opportunity to sample an actual grandfather clock or something similar. You could have opened up and ended the song with a ticking clock to really make a romantic impact on me. As a beatboxer, I love using my tongue to tik-tok when I'm waiting for something. Many clocks will gong once or twice throughout the day, an orchestral gong might have sounded nice to reflect that. Orchestral bass drums or swells could have fattened up your stereo field a little. I would have sampled and used old computer OS start-up and shut-down noises, some recognizable beeps or notification sounds might have benefit the psyber aspect of this. None of the judges will get squeamish or upset over small samples for a contest like this so long as the sample doesn't become the primary hook in the song. Give me some classic Microsoft error sfx please :3
The glitch rhythms were very nice but I like hearing EDM artists balance spontaneity with control. This is a little more spontaneous than I thought it should be but I found myself never really getting bored of it either. It's a very fun atmosphere and space that I looped many times while writing this. This is a very strong piece but you could have included some auxiliary percussion like tambourines, shakers, hi-hats, and the such to structure this a little more. A digital framework needs a little more structure. Porygon kind of exists in that digital world of zero and one switches like an animal that doesn't quite belong. I think you have too many organic sounds and not enough digital ones. I'm so torn on this atmosphere, it's beautifully abstract and seems to float but a more coherent orchestrated climax might have been a plus? Some reverse drum sounds that crescendo into sections would have pleasantly surprised me. Reversed kick drums, snare, or cymbals: play with them! I'm taking off minimal points for this track, it's so beautifully unique. This song is amazing, and I love it. I hope this review was helpful, I feel like my words don't do you justice. This was a very difficult competition to judge, there have been some wonderfully inspired soundscapes and I feel like you deserve to be in the top echelon of music makers for this contest. Have a wonderful day iso!