SRB2er - GEMS Rulings [sgen] :: Battle of the Bits

190616

C lydian indeed :)

Your channel use and writing along with arps made this feel almost like another chip, which is a cool effect.

190843

Loud and abrasive... But not really in a bad way honestly. Feels like you were leaning into that feeling maybe.

190866

I really like the angular bass melody, it has a kind of eerie feeling to it. The only shame is everything else seems very quiet in comparison. I haven't tried using SN76489 so I'm not sure if that's just how the chip behaves, love the music though!

190933

The constant arpeggiation all over this track gives it a sparkling feel!

Since you asked, some feedback: I like the bassline, but I do think it doesn't jell super well with the rest of the song -- as mentioned above, the levels are a bit out of whack, and the 8th and 9th notes of the bassline, while cool in isolation, feel like they clash with the surrounding chords.

191194

Cool track! I'm glad that you leaned into your strengths of using the SN76489, I think it worked in your favor, love all the arps and chip bass. Catchy jams and rockin' beat!

As for criticisms, this is pretty subjective but I thought maybe it could use a bit more dynamicism / negative space. There's a lot going on at constant volume...maybe having things drop out a bit more often might help focus on various elements. In that vein, I really dig the breakdown transition in the middle, when everything drops out and you can focus a bit more on the FM sound.