2015 March/April Set 2 (Complete)

[psychoangel691]

A. Q. Children - t+pazolite
Glass Lattice - UNKNOWN
Her Signals - UNKNOWN
Progressive jikuu shoujo! Urashima Taroko-chan! - ARM feat. Momiji Yamamoto
SpaceLand TOYBOX - OSTER project

[TC_Halogen]

Glass Lattice has been auto-rejected for being an incomplete file. Resubmissions for this file will not be allowed for this period.

[psychoangel691]

Glass Lattice 0/10 incomplete file

[HeZe]

4/10 - REJECT

There are too much things going on.
-M21 onwards: ok, this is SEVERELY overlayered, in other words quite dumpy. You have made it into a massive chain with 16ths in between which I don't recognize. Also, these quads and hands at places don't fit there. I could enjoy this kind of volume of arrows if it was made in a flowy way but it is just not that.
-M81-M96 is ok, but the hand usage in the end is not ok.
- M124 you have here a BPM 41739 lol. Well it is hard to say exactly where this pattern is what I mean because of how the stepfile image works with high BPM's, but these colorful patterns are a great turnoff to me. That one handjackish pattern seemed really unnecessary too.

diff 80

-/10 - DUH

Wow, AAA! But seriously, the problem wi

6.5/10 - PASS?

Overall not much to comment. I am not impressed because the stepchart was just not interesting enough, but let's wait what others have to say.
- Before M94-M96 I didn't really have anything to say about any technical aspects, but I think this stream doesn't belong here. Same about the trill in M98-M99. If these were an attempt to make the stepchart more interesting, you are a too late.

Diff 29

8.5/10 - PASS

It is quite good. I really enjoyed it! There is just one little thing which bugs me like a grain of sand on a fresh ice skating ring:
- M44 this polyburst. It would be much better if this was smoothened out a bit. It's quite a difficulty peak down here.

Diff 73-74

8.5/10 - PASS

Very good, not much to critisize about arrow placement. Maybe a bit too harsh with the jacks? Overall I think a clear pass.

Diff 75

[igotrhythm]

Progressive jikuu shoujo! 7.5/10

-m10-15 Jacks in the jumpstream. Pretty much a cardinal sin of patterning, cost me the sightread FC, and this happens again in m45-49. Perhaps consider moving some arrows around?
-m44 has a nasty looking burst, but m54-55 takes it up a notch with 32nds and longer 24ths at the end of a long stream. Reminded me of The Simpsons, but I managed to combo this part both times. I bet the frame comparison would be hilarious.
-m73 I know I've seen a pattern like this elsewhere in this month's batch, but due to the lack of white notes this was way easier to read.

I'm going to put this in the mid-70s range alongside some of the other Powerglove songs and Metal Squad. Speed is not an issue at this level, but the patterns being what they are it's more read and react. A few absurd bits where you have to just go on instinct and hope you make it out, some tricky patterns, but the FC is there for the taking if you're D5.

A.Q. Children 8/10

-300 bpm? Ow. Shit. And yet I took an FC into 1400 thanks to super simple patterns and keeping the fast stuff in short bursts. This is still going to be a bitch for all but the best to PA.
-m21 was a rude surprise. Perfect 1-framers, but it really shattered my impression of the file when it came up. I was in for a world of hurt. Happens again at m41 and m49, with a final "fuck you" at m81.
-m76 sneaks a jump into the 16th stream. Not a fan.

Definitely high 80s for this. It's not as relentless as Slashmaid, nor are the patterns as taxing as stuff like grind2.

Spaceland 9/10

-Tricky patterns right off for immediate wakeup
-24ths, 32nds, and even 48th intervals (m16 yellow to purple, for example) are sprinkled tastefully throughout the file, never such that it interferes with the dense 172 bpm jumpstream
-m32 kicks off a long, dense JS with irregular jumps, testing the read skills and probably destroying PA
-Jumpjacks in m46 and m47, that was nasty and hard to control, and it gets worse around m60. m67 even adds a jack into a jump, which will really test everything you've got left after handling those 24th and 32nd sections

I'd say 77, alongside well-rounded files like Aletheia.

Her Signals 7/10
-Repetitive patterns (the 2(34) 24th gallop is repeated a lot). Darn near put me to sleep, then the 16th stream came in.
-Long and largely empty part after the stream. This could possibly be cut. You'd only lose like 8 steps.
-Color theory or poorly synced steps? The only real difference is whether it was done on purpose, IMO.

I'm thinking mid 40s, on the border between Dance1 and Dance2, though leaning towards the more difficult side due to the ending stream.

[DossarLX ODI]

gameboy42690 finished the primary judge task for March/April 2015 Set 2. The notes can be seen below; this thread is being moved over to Completed Sets and the results/notes will be updated in the March/April 2015 thread.

[6/10] A. Q. Children {t+pazolite} (mi40)
22.184: Ghost 16th
24.319: I can barely hear the 16ths you’re stepping here. It’s technically correct (although I would have gone from right to left since the song is going from a higher pitch to a lower one) but it’s completely drowned out by other sounds in the song. You could replace these 16ths with a set of 8th jumpgluts to go with the bass. Same thing again at 28.935, 33.550, etc.
46.589: Should be a single note.
47.396: How come there’s a jump at the beginning of this 16th roll but not the other ones?
48.665: If you’re going to start stepping the vocal samples with jumps, I’d recommend going back to 38.627 and start stepping those vocal samples with jumps as well.
50.281: Vocal sample should also be a jump.
51.435: Should be a single note.
53.396: Hands didn’t really make any sense.
53.512: Missing 16th triplet.
54.666: Jump for vocal sample.
55.127: Jump for vocal sample and bass kick.
55.589 & 55.819: More jumps for the vocal sample.
57.089: Long set of hands should be changed into an 8th jumpstream like what you did from 59.396 onward.
61.127: Should be a single note. Make the following 4th note a jump.
61.589: 8th note should be a jump.
70.820: Same as above.
73.185: Missing 16th note.
77.858, 82.474, etc.: Change these hands into jumps. If there’s a cymbal crash you can leave it as a hand, but everything else should just be a jump.
89.858, 91.012, 92.166: Why are these jumps? They should probably just be single notes.
94.127: Change this 8th jump to a single note.
98.743: Same as above.
100.589: Again here, change to a single note. (Look for a few more jumps that aren’t being stepped to a bass kick. You get the idea by this point, I know you can probably find the rest.)
118.935: 4th note should be a jump. You could potentially start the color notes here too instead of waiting until 119.050.
130.936: A quad felt like a weird way to end the file. Disappointing song cut too; the rest of the song could have been really fun!
In addition to everything I’ve mentioned, I think due to the way the song is cut the file feels very draggy and repetitive.

[0/10] Glass Lattice {UNKNOWN} (M0nkeyz)
Glass Lattice has been auto-rejected for being an incomplete file.

[5.5/10] Her Signals {UNKNOWN} (M0nkeyz)
8.241: This doesn’t sound quite like a 48th. I listened with the assist tick on and it sounds more like a 64th (although we’re talking a difference of 0.06 seconds so this probably won’t mean much after the file’s converted to FFR).
8.714: This note also sounds closer to a 64th than a 4th. Unlike 8.241 though, the difference here is much more noticeable.
9.825: Should be a 16th note, not a 12th.
13.936 & 16.603: I’m not sure where you’re getting 12th notes from. These are definitely supposed to be 16ths.
37.714: Missing jump for percussion.
39.325: If the intention was color note theory, you need to adjust the BPM so that the note is still on-beat. With the current syncing this should actually be a 4th note. (Personally I think stepping a 4th note jump is really all you need here.)
43.047: Missing jump for percussion.
46.047: Rather than step an 8th trill, a pattern like 4-2-3-1 would be more pitch relevant.
49.047: Break up this 8th jack to match the synth’s change in pitch.
50.214: Ghost 8th note.
50.873: Should be a jump for the bass kick.
54.380: Same as 49.047. This long anchor really isn’t necessary.
54.880: 8th jump should be turned into a single note. The 4th note after it should be a jump.
60.380: An 8th anchor would actually work well here.
65.047: Same as 49.047 again. I think this happens a few more times in the file, so be on the lookout for it.
82.047: The bass hits extremely hard here. Why not a hand or some color notes to acknowledge it?
91.880: Missing 8th note for the synth.
92.380: The vocal sample only repeats itself twice, not three times in a row. Switch 92.547 and 92.714 to a minijack on column 3 for better pitch relevancy.
97.214: Missing 8th note for the synth.
97.547: There’s something about the equivalent of a 24th burst playing here. The 64th flare you stepped is incorrect.
98.880: The mini jumpjack is technically correct, but given the difficulty of this file overall this might be a bit excessive.
102.380: There’s a couple of missing 8ths here.
107.880: Missing 8th.
111.547: 8th note should be a jump.
114.547: Missing 8th.
116.158: I can hear a 12th being played here.
119.880: Missing 8th.
124.880: Technically correct, but quite a difficulty spike given the rest of the file is much easier. I would tone down the patterns to be a little simpler, and change that one 24th note into a 16th.
132.172: This weird burst is inaccurate. There’s actually only two notes between this 32nd and the 4th note at 132.380. They’re a 48th note and a 192nd note, spaced out evenly between the 32nd and the 4th. The next few notes actually play at the same speed, so they’re not straight 16ths like what you stepped.
On top of all of the above notes, this file is extremely repetitive! The amount of copy & paste done here is huge! Even though some of your patterns are legitimately very enjoyable on their own, the fact that the same patterns are repeated over and over again makes the file get stale quickly. Look into making the patterns more varied.

[7/10] Progressive jikuu shoujo! Urashima Taroko-chan! {ARM feat. Momiji Yamamoto} (bmah)
12.391: 4th note could be stepped as a jump since all the previous vocals were stepped with jumps.
14.534: I can’t hear what this 16th jump is going to.
14.877: The minijacks in this jumpstream are pretty rude. They’re technically accurate, but not really that fun in my opinion. (Same thing for the second time this jumpstream happens at 61.763)
16.420: 16th jump doesn’t seem to go to anything.
34.506: How come the vocals sometimes weren’t stepped with jumps? I’m confused.
60.563: This 24th jumpstream was a little uncomfortable.
74.363: Burst transitions are a bit rough here, particularly the transition into the 24th stream.
82.506, 85.249, etc.: I’m not understanding these 8th jumps. If they’re intended for the vocals, all the vocals should be stepped with jumps. If not, I have no idea what these 8th jumps are going to.
92.106 & 92.449: No 8th jumps for the drum this time?
93.306 & 93.991: Missing 4th jumps for the bass kick.
97.420: Jump for the vocals breaks your current layering. Should be a single note, and the 8th notes before and after should be jumps.
98.791: Missing jump.
Pretty fun file but I think you should look into the layering issues I mentioned. 82.506 onward in particular have some weird layering inconsistencies.

[8/10] SpaceLand TOYBOX {OSTER project} (bmah)
2.020: The intro is technically correct, but at normal speed this sounds like it should be one continuous stream.
9.520: 8th note jump to go with the drum, maybe?
9.985: I can hear another bass kick on the 24th note here.
10.915: Same as 9.520. Given how incredibly peppy and upbeat this song is I think having those constant 8th note jumps could keep the file lively at times when you don’t have such dense layering.
13.096: Missing 16th, although stepping it would result in either a very uncomfortable minijack or a trill that doesn’t really fit the song.
15.247: I feel like with a few pattern adjustments you could probably squeeze in a 48th here.
21.555: Ideally I think this should be stepped with polyrhythms similar to 73.183, although 73.183 does have a slightly different pitch and feels just a little more climactic, so I think it works okay.
23.735: This 16th polyrhythm is kind of a jerk. I’d say change the 12th note at 23.880 to column 4 to avoid having a minijack.
28.183: Missing 4th note.
39.782: Missing 16th.
42.311: Missing 24th burst.
47.194: Missed a 24th burst, but I think just having the 16th for the piano is fine.
51.032, 53.822, 56.264, etc.: Not really understanding why you opted not to step these 8th notes.
60.276: Missing 4th note.
86.003: What exactly is this minijack going to?
96.090: Something tells me players are going to dump a bunch of goods here.
101.380: Aww, why didn’t you step the glissando at the end? Even if you only step a 3-note 48th burst it would be a lot better than not acknowledging the glissando at all.
The first half of this review is pretty nitpicky. Honestly I think the file is a ton of fun. While I’m not flagging this for conditional fixes I do really think you should take some of these notes into consideration.