A Couple Reviews for my Album & Advice for Beginning Musicians

A problem with releasing my online CD, I found, was that getting feedback on it wasn't always easy until you specifically asked. Recently, I just went straight to the point on a post on DeviantArt and, hooray, a couple people gave me some wonderful, hilarious, silly or smart, very helpful or not comments. All of them brutally honest, as I asked them to. Down below I have selected some of the things that have been said, and, to be honest, I totally agree with the criticism I've been given. Reading these has helped me focus on what areas I need to improve and which are my strong points, so when I begin working on the next CD, I will know how to take my music as far as I can (well, at least a bit more, thank you all for commenting!)

So.. oh yeah, comments and reviews (by people I know and by total strangers):

this has to be one of the weirdest things I have heard all year. Congrats, you managed to combine annoying and boring in a completely new way.
– Morthax

very tight songwriting
it should sell
but I’m afraid its not poppy and simple enough
- ttwoo

Oh man, I think I'm sold. I'm not even halfway through the first track, either. Very nice!
– napalmpotato


First off, this music really isn't my thing, with that said, I enjoyed it for a bit...it was very creative.

The mix on your first track seems to be overdriven a bit, were you going for that? It was distracting.

I liked the MJ samples in Bricktop, I didn't like Itchy Bitchy Spider at all, but the mix was decent on those two songs.

I didn't bother listening to the rest because I had lost interest at the 3:30 mark of IBS after the solo (which was appetizing). Good work though
– Arkayem

love the first song, LOVE the drum quality

Lets a goin down remix is SOOO good

your music
cept for the videogame metal
all amazing
videogame metal was a fail in my opinion

like how u mixed both michael jackson and old 40's jazz
[this] music is good study music

u sound like goofy in the daniel song
what the fuck were u thinking about when u wrote the lyrics?

love the break downs of the song song

Jamón Serrano is sooo good
I think I’m addicted [to it]

I just realized
Ur voice sounds like Sean Paul
Mixed with the singer of Rammstein”

I love the vocals for Crazy With the Hues

eni-mini-miny-mo, catch michael jackson by the toe??
– D. T.

from my point of view ur music is very complex and extended. i rlly like it that way. its enjoyable when i wander off and get into the music.
– B. T. (no, not the DJ)

Just checked out the first song - so far, it sounds nice. I would have mixed the drum/percussion samples a bit further back myself, might just be a matter of preference though (I'm a drummer, the beats got me air drumming :D I like snares in those nonstandard places)...

The beginning of the second song reminded me a bit of Autechre, always good as far as I'm concerned... I'll have a corn muffin or three or four and get to it and the others on a fuller stomach...

I'm on Any Day Today, which would, should, and absolutely wants to be a great song, maybe somewhere between Pink Floyd and Modest Mouse vibewise, tarnished greatly by too many effects on the vocals... your voice is solid, don't be afraid of your voice! Don't get in the way of the listener connecting with the most human and accessible part of the music! Some compressors on the vocals to control dynamics should be plenty...

The first two songs and the last three songs (especially Bricktop Breakbeat and Any Day Today) are solid, the album bogs down in the middle for lots of reasons - sometimes stuff repeated more than it had to (The Big Blue Eye), sometimes the distorted guitars were in serious need of mids and volume (Itchy Bitchy Spider), some songs just weren't up to par with the others at all (tracks 3 through 7)... the odd beats and folky Spanish-y (is a lot of that style from being in Chile? If so, awesome! :D if not, still awesome!) guitar style are your really strong points, and your voice sounds good with no effects (I wouldn't mind more vocals, actually)... while your at it, get or make an abstract painting and make that the new album art, the best of what you made deserves a better cover.
– woofwoofl

Get someone to mix that better.
- pyro-tom

Not sure what else to say. They're damn good songs.
- anonymous

Seriously, your music is probably the best stuff i've heard posted in these threads.
- anonymous

So, with all that said, I realise the follwing key points:

• While the music may be really different and original, the ordinary listener gets bored, specially because it repeats more than it should sometimes, or it's complicated.
• When I made the music, I was sorta reluctant to include vocals because... I'm shy 'bout it. I know that by masking the vocals under tons of effects and crap I was probably losing my chance to connect with the listener (The human voice is the most versatile of instruments, and yet, I don't exactly feel comfortable using it... I'll practice more!)
• The mixing, in general, is crap. I'm sure that if I did it now, it would be a lot better, but hey, I'm surprised that what sounded okay-to-acceptable back in October sounds grating on my ears now at the end of December. I guess I got my game on after working on it...
• Now, am I making something so that it becomes a pop hit, or am I making 'extended' music that delves into progressive grounds, for me to explore? I think I'll take the arduous path, discovering 'experimental party/pop/ music'. Hmmm, how might that work?

I recommend all starting musician to do this... I'm not exactly a beginner but I'm not an expert or a very experienced musician either, so this kinda stuff helps me understand better how other people might hear what I make and what they think and feel about it. My problem sometimes (as might be with a lot of beginners and well, lots of people), is that I tend to criticise my own work and always think it's not good at all or stuff like that. So, I'll keep improving and on the way I'll ask for feedback. And that's one way to grow.