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Nice work! I definitely got caught up in a soundscape and got out my axe to learn to play it. I can see this being used as a soundtrack for sure. Great Work. Can't rate - 4 out of 5 for me.

Posted by Jason Vearing  {{ 2 tabs / 0 corrections }}  on: 15 Apr 2009 19:31

Rated as: Unrated

Canyon - blackiel

I have to say I really enjoyed listening to this one. Melody is what I live for in music. Also, finally I hear a tab with some DECENT banjo. Really nice work there.

I now understand why the mixing on this was so weird when I first looked at it - you use a different soundcard, so I'll be lenient on the mixing - since there's no workaround.

Strings were done well - the orchestral harp didn't really do much apart from the very start - I wish you could've used it just a little more. Your intentions came across perfectly with the western feel - this is a composition you should be proud of. Don't really get many (if any) fingerstyle compositions here, although the upcoming classical comp should change that. I expect you'll be in that as well. ;)

4.5 stars.

Posted by Quibokk  {{ 14 tabs / 0 corrections }}  on: 18 Apr 2009 08:06

Rated as: Unrated

blackiel – Canyon

Why did you have to mix it so goddamn quiet? Whenever I listen to the tune and Mel writes me something on IM, I think my head will implode -_- enough complaining, now down to business – I usually don't listen to stuff like this, but the song was very pleasing. Had a nice atmosphere, this certain “southern” feel to it (you seemed to be aiming for it too, judging by the title, no?). Not much I can point out musically, since it was well written, everything flowed along quite nice, the banjo was a nice touch... ohh, that reminds me. The synths and strings, whilst providing a good background atmosphere, broke the feel a bit. Try to maybe reduce the background slightly, but replace it with one good, mood-helping track... like a southern-feeling violin. Can't think of anything else that would help carry the mood. But it's just a minor pointer, the song is pretty darn okay as is. Clap clap.

Rate: 4 stars

Posted by RumpyTheRubbuhChikin  {{ 29 tabs / 0 corrections }}  on: 18 Apr 2009 12:05

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You say "think of westerns and frontiers", but that's not quite what I have in mind when listening to this. It certainly has a very distinctive American feel to it, but you would expect something a bit more "violent" when thinking of westerns. NOTE - this is not criticism - I love this song. It's very relaxing, transmits good feelings throughout, reminding me a bit of country music (although I don't really like that, so don't take the resemblance too seriously), and the guitar parts seem very good to learn how to play, nice-sounding but not too hard (unlike lots of songs around here - guilty :S). The strings/synth fills sound great, giving it some "ambience" (I use the term loosely here), even if it's a bit of a weird instrument choice for this kind of song :P

Anyway, I can't really point out any flaws in this. It's not extraordinarily original I suppose, but it doesn't have to be to sound good. Great song.

4.5 (no 5 because for me it's a draw between you and Quibokk)

Posted by |_JR_|  {{ 12 tabs / 0 corrections }}  on: 21 Apr 2009 03:59

Rated as: Unrated

A very beautiful, well written piece, with virtually no flaws...

Really, first off I'll congratulate you on this piece, it's genuinely the most enjoyable piece to listen to in this competition, from start to finish it was a pleasant experience.

Just be careful with the mixing as rumpy said... honestly if I hadn't raised the volume on my computer accordingly my thoughts on this song would have been drastically lower, I could barely hear anything at first
Also, were you aware you submitted 2 versions of the song, v1 and v2?

For me this song was really refreshing amidst the general song type of the competitions here, I loved the feel and mood of the song, and the format of the song was impeccably flawless.

The song has a natural ebb and flow, a dynamic level that rises and lowers accordingly, and really just took me far far away. It really achieved what I think music as an art form should achieve, and that's to make you feel or experience something through the song.
I've yet to pinpoint any shortcomings here, the chord progressions are awesome, all the little subtle variations are executed superbly, the orchestration, rhythmics/bass line are always interesting and each instrument genuinely adds something to the experience.
Not a single part was too long or too short, no out of place sections, the general length of the song is perfect.

I think the only thing I have noticed is a few notes scattered throughout the song sound odd when played together, but I believe that to be midi shortcomings.

Best parts of the song - Everything
Worst parts..? No such thing.

Amazing work, I couldn't find anything to improve.

5 stars.

Posted by JazzDeath  {{ 22 tabs / 0 corrections }}  on: 05 May 2009 03:08

Rated as: Unrated

What to say. sometimes you run across a song here that's pure gold, and this one is, bravo!

Posted by Generis Humani  {{ 49 tabs / 0 corrections }}  on: 08 May 2009 12:34

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Im sorry if I come across as a cranky guy for apparently being the only one who doesn’t see the same splendor here as the other guys do. I mean it’s a nice song for sure, but it has many things to improve I think. I see this song as a skeleton with 5 star potential, but right now it’s not up there. First off, kind of jokingly, you should check that banjo. For me making stuff actually fit in the frets is as least as important in the score as filling empty bars is, if not more important. Check bar 24 on banjo, that G on fret 3 is impossible, as fret 3 is just air! Im sure you wrote it in guitar tuning first or something, but at least I think it’s important to check obvious things like how to fret stuff, since that actually affect the score, opposed to empty bars, etc.
More seriously though – verses seem disjointed from the chorus. There’s definitely a lack of transition there, as it feels very jagged. I always tend to focus on the odd transition than the harmony and flow, which is not so good. Also, to me the interlude part is an odd departure in mood for being so short. It’s ok as is, 50-52 reminds me of some movie soundtrack don’t remember which. It’s just that the interlude is awfully short, and seems kind of misplaced in the song, disrupting the flow. I think either it should have been longer so the mood had a chance to settle and evolve, instead of just going from mood to mood, within 8 bars. I would also have liked to see a better ending, it just seemed to stop out of nowhere after the last chorus. I think you should have made more of a buildup or climax feeling with the last chorus.
Overall the song is kind of unmemorable to me. I mean the mood is ok, but I don’t know. It doesn’t really grip me. It seems kind of unfinished. For example the verses seem to miss some kind of melody, which I guess you could easily add.
At first I was going to give you 3.5, but after writing this out I guess I’ll have to give you a 3 instead. Im sorry if I seem harsh, but I hope you understand my points. Or else catch me on IM whenever you see me there, ill elaborate.
3

Posted by Beckkill  {{ 11 tabs / 0 corrections }}  on: 15 May 2009 17:27

Rated as: 

blackiel – Canyon
I’m speechless… Really… I don’t know what to say… just… wow!
I’ll try to point out what I like about this song (because trying to point out what I didn’t like it’s useless, there’s nothing I didn’t like)… The instruments blend together perfectly, creating this great balance that makes this song so great… Maybe the transtitions are a little rough (ok, did I just find something wrong in this song, well, I’ll have to kill myself now…)
Anyway, excellent work! I definitely want to hear more stuff like this!
Rating: 5

Posted by Todo Winterwolf  {{ 11 tabs / 0 corrections }}  on: 15 May 2009 20:33

Rated as: Unrated

@rumpy:
Yes, I agree about the mixing. I remixed it louder for the myspace version. If you listen to that you should notice the difference. And any soundcard should be able to hear it ok as it's already rendered to mp3 so you should hear all the instruments mixed properly. And thanks for the rate! And to everyone else

@Beckkill
thanks for your comments. The banjo is correct apart from the G note you mention, which should be on the 4th string, but isn't because of a small error I made. If you shift the note from the 5th G string to the 4th string, it will work. Maybe you don't know this but I am very particular about playability of all stringed instruments. I DID NOT use my guitar to model the banjo track, then transfer it to banjo. Also, I included melodies and harmonies throughout. I could have had a different ending, with a fade out or some other element, but decided against it. I thought the interlude fitted nicely in the general song structure. but hey... you can't please everyone. cheers, blackiel!

Posted by blackiel  {{ 44 tabs / 4 corrections }}  on: 20 Jul 2009 02:15

Rated as: Unrated

What a nice tab... Great job, Pal!

Posted by njneere  {{ 82 tabs / 1 corrections }}  on: 16 Sep 2009 09:46

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