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Old 03-9-2020, 03:03 PM   #3
psychoangel691
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Default Re: Nov/Dec 2019 Set 2

VisD took on this set as I haven't heard from James in a while, James did leave a few notes on files so I'll leave those here as well. This is the first set VisD has done so if you notice any issues/errors just be kind about it and we can always review anything mentioned.

Accepted:
The Glorious (Final Sketch Mix) 9.5/10
Right Back 8.5/10
DANCE WITH 12 GAUGE 8.5/10
Labradorite 8/10

Conditional:
I detail the conditions at the end of that file’s review.
Line Theta 8.5/10: minijack clarifications
Robot Truck Driver 8/10: set the offset
Handle Your Business 7.5/10: tone down the 2 huge difficulty spikes
Wine & Roses 7/10: Jump layering

Rejected:
Warrior 6/10

Pass:
I’d like someone with more experience on files at this level to take a look. Sorry for the extra wait.
G e n g a o z o
GIGAHERTZ
Uso and Braindead Berzerker

Dance With 12 Gauge (AutotelicBrown) [8.5/10]

26.640-26.765 vs. 30.640-30.765: not really sure why these are different - the first set seems to fit the layering scheme better
37.765-39.915: I appreciate the effort for nice PR here but in contrast to the beginning, this feels like too much at the cost of some playability. This section is so right-hand dominant, lots of hidden rh minitrills that require way more control than anything else
59.515: Maybe a minijack on the 1 - like you do with 63.765?
72.765: In this section the jumps are a bit confusing to me. If these jumps are now going to the percussion as additive layering, then something like 73.390 75.015 77.390 etc (piano + percussion). should probably also be jumps instead of 73.265 77.265 etc
78.515-79.015:Hmm. If these are purely for the low synth the 8th is a ghost and the 16th after should be on the 2 column imo. If you’re also stepping the percussion then 78.765 wants something too
86.265, 69.765, 91.765 etc.: don't see why you can't have the jumps here, personally I’d really like to see them. They really don't make these trilly patterns that much harder and filling them in feel even more satisfying to hit imo, esp. the one at 93.765

Very solid file in all senses. Just some few minor inconsistencies in the section with the jumps, everything else is “hmm, consider this too…”. Great job.

Handle Your Business (ositzxz369) [*7.5/10]

19.229: not sure why these two notes are the only color theory bits around here, considering that sound and similar ones happen pretty often
48.396: color this to match the next 192nd?
59.063: Yeah - you gotta decide if you want to color theorize these or not
77.313.119.979: Eh. I get the jack on the vocals here, but this is pretty rough at the speed. Earlier, the 16th jacks were always pretty isolated, but this is in the middle of a fairly fast burst. I’d honestly much prefer to see these two jacks gone.

Technically, everything is solid and good, file’s quite nice - reminiscent of a better October (and that’s not a bad file by any means), but I'm CQing this for a reason you can probably guess...

CONDITIONAL: The big 32nd burst walls are 360bpm 16ths, or 24nps. They're clearly stepped to be jumptrillable for the most part, and I appreciate that patterning effort, but there’s still some rough bits and I'm not taking the risk of having them convert badly and all of a sudden you end up with a file that's basically ~low FMO for the most part and then two huge gigantic spikes where you can't really manipulate and have to really stream at 360 to hit correctly. Please simplify the patterns to ensure that they don’t represent too much of a difficulty wall (e.g to start, maybe removing the jumps inside them?). For reference, I'm talking about the bursts beginning 67.729 and 110.396. The last one at 121.396’s fine as is (although if you do remove the jumps from the previous walls, then this one should change accordingly too).


Labradorite (bmah) [8/10]

OFFSET: could probably be a shade later. This review’s timestamps will use your offset, but if you look @ waveforms the peaks are definitely slightly later throughout
4.912: Not quite understanding this 16th
Pretty intro.
12.866, 17.998, etc: feels like these parts are crying out for something to the drum fills, considering you step the more distinct ones with 24ths.
20.840: Eh..a jump here seems overemphasized. Not technically wrong, but personally would rather see a single to express the big sudden decrease in presence from the previous 8th
41.051: subtle but nice, well-deserved minijack on the 8th here
65.998: Same as previous note about the bursts. Clearly a deliberate choice at this point but I wonder if the file would be better with /something/. You've had mostly 8th jumps for quite a while now, after all.
80.840: 4 8ths starting here would be better represented as 4 8th jacks or a descending scale imo - 1122 here but it's audibly lowering in pitch. maybe 4433?
85.893: a little mean but sure why not
94.498: the descending scale here starts on the 16th, not the 4th prior
106.024: Given how much emphasis on the melody you have here, definitely feels like something more to the lilt in this area could be helpful
108.472: not sure I understand some of the 16ths going on here. all the 16ths except 108.551 don't have any drum hits to them, and if the 4321 at the end is for the flourish, I feel like you've ignored a lot of similar and even more prominent bursts to that prior, so why this particular one?
111.235: sure you don’t want something additional here too…?
117.314: this part was LOTS of fun on my playthrough. Quads are underrated
122.366: ah there’s the bmah. Not as bmahy as usual, actually...PR on 123.156 wants [34], but let’s be real, that wasn’t going to happen was it .
132.472: not a jump

Overall: A pretty (the adjective, not the adverb), midlevel file. Very understandable layering and PR. Questions above are mostly minor; on my initial playthrough I did feel like the middle part did drag out a little and could definitely be spiced up by stepping some of the drum fills, because right now it seems mildly random which ones you choose to step and not step. My guess is that you clearly are favoring the sort of “break” you can get by not stepping them in (having the 4ths prior almost be like holds, in a sense), and I respect that.

Line-Theta (gold stinger) [*8.5/10]

I'm gay for bpm changes this was a hoot to play thank you
3.178: y e e
18.563: good job eschewing the conventional layering on 4ths until 19.332. I like
22.455: this minijack (with the prior 192nd), ew
22.793: this section, first, ok, YES but secondly. I'm not actually hearing why there's all these jumps that aren't on 4ths. I can sort of vaguely pick out some emphasis on a really low rate, but I'm not convinced at all that this translates well at 1x.

This note applies to its twin at around 73s too - these two sections (the one at the end, too, but that’s not as bad) combined are the difficulty peaks of this file, and justifiably so (musically), but I think that can still be the case even when the jumps/nasty patternings are toned down slightly.

45.295: OK normally I wouldn't write a comment like this, because the thing where only 1/2 note of a jump/hand is dedicated to color theory/accenting is pretty common in FFR. But, and this is going way above and beyond - matching the very high bar set by the rest of your file, if you're going to color theory this you might as well just accent the entire jump (and the 2 after) instead of having the split thing like this which is slightly less pleasant to read and play.

52.026: lol what do you think about making all these into making these all [34] and the 4th at 52.411 [134]? Matches the symmetry of the [12] 12th set from earlier, and fits the music better than this almost-there half-pattern change you have at the end of this beat
54.622: If this is a jack, why isn’t 54.911, and why isn’t the 16th at 55.391 stepped at all?
58.757: Hmm..not sure about this being a jack, and if you do want a jack here, why isn’t 61.738?
59.911: ^?
62.699: Not sure why this is a jack? I feel like I might not be completely understanding some of your logic behind when/where jacks are deployed tbh
67.411: Not sure about this minijack. And in the preceding section, there seem to be far fewer jacks than the musically identical phrase right before it?
75.201: kinda ew
81.835: i snorted. this sounds like a balloon peeing
82.604: 44 for PR on this, and the one after, a minijack lower than 4?
* 98.373: I'm really not hearing a reason for the jack on the 3 like this
* 100.873: ^ on the 2 - maybe [134] instead?
110.103: still confused over this minijack and the one prior


Basically kono spoon... but like an evolved, moderny form of it. Love it. You also avoided stepping some usual boring schemes like typical 32nds on distorted sounds, instead going for a heavier approach. A very interesting file, big yes, just conditional on clearing up the minijack usage in the section around 52.411 -- I might just be missing something about how they're used, so feel free to just explain to me about how it works if that's the case. Not conditional on 22.793 etc., you can keep those if you insist, but strongly recommend at least toning down some of the anchors (look at the 1 and 3 column in the first set starting 22.793...)

CONDITIONAL: Minijack clarification in the section between 52.411-67.795, and the mean 3-jacks at 98.373 and 100.873


Right Back (bmah) [8.5/10]

44.286 could be a jump too if you like
In the preceding section, the 4ths are just fillers on the vocal breaks when there’s no vocal or melody to step; wonder if that might play out confusing to newer players?
93.883+: mmmm...for the newer players, babby's first ffr solo
95.727, 101.534, 103.560, etc: consider making these jumps - the one at 103.560 where there's a wide break at least. You have much harder stuff in this file, I think you can afford some more accent here

Great varied ez file. Solo makes the file a little spicier than your usual diff~20 fare.

Robot Truck Driver (devonin) [*8/10]

*OFFSET: is quite a bit off...oh, you didn’t set it at all... - the review will use your 0 offset for timestamps, but you definitely want /some/ offset here

10.200 etc: song got more intense v. prior part - not sure about dropping the jumps on these like this. Fine to drop them at m16 instead imo.
13.651 etc: no reason to not have the 8th in here
23.701: [12] pr?
28.502: slightly awkward for this to be the lonely soul with no partner
55.654: yeet
66.604: PR on these 4th jumps - strictly descending
93.607: I want to say that this should be 4 16ths arrows too (like the previous), given how the bursts have gradually been building up and this one is exactly the same musically sa the previous
94.507: make this a 2 for pr
110.333: you can definitely make this 4 arrows now, and the last one after this too.
Or, even better: just don't make that one burst the only 4 arrow long one - it doesn't seem special musically to me

Nice easy file! Thanks for stepping TORLEY - he's underrated and how we don't have more files by him is a fiffer community crime.

I also note that in your comments you were chiefly concerned about the bursts, but what you have is fine. The 12ths are synced close enough when leading into 4ths, and the 16ths after the 4ths are fine too. For newer players I wouldn't even be super concerned about that, honestly. I'd say just remove the 8th at the end of the only 4-note burst you have (it's kind of a ghost anyway, if you listen to it on a low rate the sound ends before we hit the 8th).

CONDITIONAL: Only must-fix is the offset, it’s significantly off right now and it’s good to get it perfect for newer players.

Warrior (Ghost_Medley) [6/10]

22.628: Try as I might I can't quite figure out what the 16ths in this section are guiding me to follow. My best guess is that the 16ths you’re trying to express are almost universally just triplets on each 4th - I’m really not hearing the special cases which start on the 8ths or the ones that drop the 8th (XX-XX). Right now these 16ths just seem pretty random, like there's a very distinct note on 33.481 that's just completely missed.
36.589 42.216 ghosts in this layering context? No kicks there.

51.392: feels like a jump based on surrounding layering context
51.569: definitely a jump here, sharing at least one column with the th before, and both (mini jumpjack) if you opt for the jump on 51.392
next 2 8ths don't seem to fit in as jumps?
52.981: pr
54.304: yeah if this is going to be a jump 51.392/51.569 should probably be too imo
54.392: probably want a 4th here considering how much you've acknowledged the kick in this file
54.657: there's actually a note here. I can understand not wanting to jack it for perfect PR but consider filling it in on a different column

59.245: of all the places to start using jacks, this seems like an unusual choice; the sound is somewhat less noticeable compared to stuff you've stepped as 16ths
61.187: ghost
61.981: ehh, can't say i'm a fan of these jacks (this and the one before and the ones after). big difficulty spike in this file at this speed given the file's history so far, and they're going to one of the least musically prominent elements in this section. you've got some cool cranky vocals going in the foreground, if you want to have jacks for spice - and these jacks are the difficulty peak in this file -, perhaps consider making them to the ultraprominent foreground vocals instead? (don't just jack all the vocals of course, but e.g. 61.451-61.539 when the voice is 'wa-nna' where we have close sounds is something you could consider, for instance imo.)
64.098: oof - the jacks are nicely going to the vocals here, but this is a SPIKE. transition on LH at this speed for a file that has been like D3 difficulty up to this section is no joke. in any case the last 16th is a ghost if following vocals; so just remove that and maybe move 64.451 to a different column (optional) and we gucci
70.275: Hmm - I get the jack, but forcing it like this on the LH with the contextual LH strain is...very hard for this file. You don’t even do this in the repeat. I personally think this pattern is somewhat unpleasant in the context of this file and its prior difficulty levels

82.186: if you're going to stick to your guns and make this sort of thing a jack, then presumably stuff like 83.598 needs to be too. and possibly later on too around 97s where suddenly you let up on them (I can understand why you chose to do that though, not an objective error or anything).

91.804: Starting here and until the end there’s suddenly lots of 4ths that aren’t jumps. I can sort of see why, but this feels somewhat inconsistent considering how adamantly you stepped all 4ths as jumps in the clone of this part earlier in the song; maybe go back and make all of them jumps if you're going to stick to what you did earlier. Alternatively (and this is probably better, but more time-consuming), re-think how you use jumps so that we don’t have all 4th jumps earlier on in the file (e..g in the section starting m8) so you have more nuance and flexibility in layering jumps in later on.
110.863: anchor ahoy - intentional?

Overall, file was almost there, I was on the fence. But there’s just a number of different things to fix across different aspects of the file, so please consider the suggestions I’ve made above.


Wine & Roses (M0nkeyz) [*7/10]

19.356 seems kinda random for this to be the first jump. You skip the first 6 (2 per measure) and then start on the 7th...would rather you skip 2 more (skipping 8 total) and start on the 9th, at 22.029, when there is a noticeable musical change (entered the 2nd set of 4 measures)

32.859 34.530 37.192 39.857 50.523 etc not convinced about jumps like these - this 16th isnt more pronounced than the others, the bass hits on the 4ths and 8ths are what's really noticeable. 36.191 for eg is fine, since that's clearly bass boosted

conversely missing jumps at 38.692 43.525 49.359 and similar
43.693 for PR reasons feel like this shouldn't be the same as the completely different sounding 4th prior

57.719 flute instrument + vocal only, sure, but I think this is a ghost for either of those

Next section kinda repeats, so just same notes as above, a couple of points where the jumps should and shouldn't be based on the bass.
70.693: appreciate the effort to change up the pattern here
84.023: imo either step the grace note on this 4th for a break signifier, or continue the piano in the next beats (which plays more than 8ths), this intermediate follows neither instrument properly

87.028: pr cf previous set of jumps - move these jumps upwards from [12]
92.026: jump
more jumps that I'd consider removing, as per previous 2 sections, e.g. 89.527
93.705: i get the 1st 192nd here but this one's a ghost
106.698: 4 for pr
107.198: missing
same pattern of 4 notes on the 32nd repeats, xxx_x - check as necessary
110.698: would really like to see this and the next 16th as 44 (jacked, for melody pr)
111.365: missing
118.031: ^
120.698: 14 to match previous 2 notes' PR, and it's also debatable whether the 2 notes after need to be around at all
(same stuff repeats, skipping over that.)
121.781: need 16th after this 32nd - extra note. Can step for when this flutey motif appears later on too.

I'm skipping over the remainder of the song, because at this point it's basically the same thing, just with extra flutey motifs and new jumps here and there, so just take the previous notes and apply to the final 1/3.

So, this file is fundamentally technically good. Incredible song with lots of care and thought shown in making the PR solid, and thank you for stepping something more unusual for FFR (new artist, less common genre -> very much what FFR needs). I was on the fence about accepting this outright, but I can't help but feel like with a file this simple, I'd like to see:

CONDITIONAL:
the jump layering should be consistent. A few missed here and there is fine, but there were enough over the length of the file that I feel either I'm missing something about how the jumps are being layered (message me if this is the case), or it's possible you might want to take a very close listen to make sure you pick up on all the little bass hits during the slow jumpstream parts.

BONUS NOTE (not conditional on this):
This is clearly a personal decision, but what are your thoughts on *some* kind of cut? This file is very long for what it offers. I understand being super passionate about a song and wanting to have it whole to do justice to it, but my opinion is that this file’s replayability value is hurt significantly by it being nearly 4min when most of what the file has to offer (musically) is all within the first 55s (end of the first js). Everything after that is mainly variations on a theme, and the file shows it too. I think cutting it would encourage more people to play it in-game.

Please fix these couple of things and get it off CQ, FFR can do with something different like this.


The Glorious (Final Sketch Mix) (EzExZeRo7497)[9.5/10]

9.340: somehwat unusual to start the burst on a 16th when the sound itself starts prior. Add the 8th immediately before this
10.320: Subtle layering in not making this all jumps. Nice
23.936: REALLY like stuff like this, thank you
31.167: missing 24th (last note in the sound, and the 2-note burst right now plays kind of off balanced)
38.244: in this section, what do you think about putting jumps, or at least recoloring points like these when the sound is a little longer than usual, for extra accenting? you kind of do it with the 8+196 at 37.897, could be interesting to do it consistently. Also not sure why the 16th prior is a 16th not a 192nd like the others
41.013+: these really just feel like singles to me, especially since you take special pains to do the same thing as singles in a much heavier part earlier on (see the 10.320 note). Gives a bigger contrast to the huge stuff coming up right after too.
60.397: not sure why this is a jump. not anymore pronounced than the percussion before and after it, in fact, the 8th right after is even louder
77.070: missing 16th
98.205: this burst should be same length as the one prior, missing a 24th at the end here
116.359: jump? the repeat after is a jump on this 8th.
125.013: not sure if we really need this 6-note anchor on 1 here; either the two jumps in the middle should break the chain (preferred), or the last two jumps should given the distinctions in sound

Glorious song and file, not much else to say, get this ingame asap i want to flail my fingers poorly at it
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Last edited by psychoangel691; 03-12-2020 at 02:18 PM..
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