Easy Batch Notes

**psychoangel691** · 06-27-2020, 02:59 PM

Re: Easy Batch Notes

Judge: VisD

Alien Blues [**8.5/10]
15.300 to differentiate from previous jump pairs like these PR-wise, [13]?
25.096 would just go for the 24th here - slowed it down to 10% and this 32nd is a bit early on the peak + extraneous coloring
28.391 PR on these 3 jumps a bit awkward - it's ABA with B higher than A
**31.300 Starting in this part these white notes are a bit confusing. The first one on the 4 is pretty clear, then the two after that don't seem to go to anything except the percussion, which you've been consistently ignoring and also
ignore shortly after this (e.g. 33.482). In particular the fastest jack in this file goes to the [u] jack at 31.846 created by the white note just above it, which is comparatively intense for something that isn't all that prominent.
32.391 seems to go to the bass? That's also okay, but then you do ignore this stuff earlier on, so idk. The 3 white notes at 32.936 on: are these to the percussion? It's also very faint - I think you might be stepping to the drum
very far in the background but the 1st white note should probably be disjointed from the 2nd one in that case; the 3rd one is suuuuuper quiet and I'm not sure I'd step it at all.

In general this couple of seconds felt a bit strange to play to me.**

40.846 missing a note somewhere here for the alieny synth thing
1.21.493 thoughts on moving these 3 notes up to 234 for better PR with the subsequent notes?
1.45.805 i hear this but it feels a bit mean...ok though.

Solid file. Just the 192nds bit that I couldn't really get. Please take a 2nd look at that bit, otherwise excellent stuff

CHERRY DOLL [9/10]
This file feels like it might be harder than 50, but not so much so that it shouldn't be judged for this batch. Part of that is the patterning - some of the transitions and patterning are a little mean for the difficulty at which
this is supposed to be pitched at (the OHT at the very end, the bit starting 38.185). But technically on point, I actually didn't really see anything to point out other than personally smoothing out some of the difficulty curve,
but that's clearly a personal decision

Child Protective Services Theme Song [9/10]
21.696 missing note
24.318 ^ - if you're missing these intentionally for some reason, feels a bit weird since you're still layering jumps on them elsewhere
1.21.106, 1.21.649, the 3 16ths starting 1.22.291: personal decision, but given the climax of this section I'd fill in these 16ths, doesn't make it that much harder and the climax is still retained with the current patterning

Feels like a case study in how to properly take more complex/denser rhythms and break them down into easier patterns that still retain their original musical identity

Darkside [8/10]
41.649 this bit of PRing sticks out bc it's the end of the section, and noticeably the lowest note over the last measure or so, yet it's an R. Would play around with the patterns here to make it an [L] or [D]
45.049 move to L for PR? (Shared column with the previous note with no common thing)
1.10.094 why is this the point at which you start the minijacks? The two notes here are melodically distinct. 71.427 is a great place to star thtem however
1.25.149 this grace note is after the 4th, not before
2.05.048 would move this off U for the same reason as 45.049
I will say that the last section does a feel a bit repetitive (it even has the same minijack starting thingy at 2.24.760 as was pointed out at 1.10.094, and the grace note thing as well). I suspect that this will only be more
noticeable for more advanced players, however, and newer players that this chart is pitched at will probably have a fun and engaged time throughout the whole thing. Nice.

Elesis Theme [Future Bass Remix] [8/10]
19.455 [34][34][12] for PR?
22.212 this may take a bit of patterning around, but it'd be nice if e.g. the jump to the kick here didn't share the exact same jump as the one to the clap at 21.564. For bonus points, it could, however, share the same jump as 21.401,
the kick immediately prior. (You don't need to be super rigid about this - but consistency within the span of the same couple of beats or even measure would be nice and noticed by newer players, I think.)

I won't keep pointing that out, but PTAL at that ^ and repeats.

22.050, 25.131 I know what you're stepping these notes too, but they are pretty faint/undistinguishable as repeats. I'd remove things like these and only step the really obvious, clearly defined synth notes. You can keep the ones
that fall on the background piano (like 21.726), that makes a lot of sense.
32.428 - see this one I'm okay with, because there's a clear lilt/modulation in the note here.
37.293 missing piano

41.996 I get what's happening here, I think the overall effect is kinda weird to play through though. You end up sort of having a jumptrilly [24][13][24]31[24]3[124] when the drums are going down and the sound effect on the 4ths
are all going down. I'd play around with the patterning here a bit to make this feel better. For more freedom, may want to remove the 32nds and just color the 4ths as some other color to express that sound. The bit at 44.591 feels much better to play.

45.564 - this segment changes up what it's following about 3 times in 5 seconds. At 45.564 for the first 4 notes you follow the background melody on the 8th; at 46.212 you drop it for the foreground melody; at 47.023 you cut back to
the background wubwubwubs. I know you're trying to follow along what's the most interesting and prominent at this point, which is a sensible philosophy, but this feels like too many changes in too short a span of time to make sense
in the player's head. At 48.483 and on you now layer all of these together.

1.00.483 - good job on this bit, very nice
1.12.806 - missing 4th for the wub, 1.13.292 should disconnect from this chain instead
This whole last section is excellently done, wow.

Nice file - has more technical questions than the other files in this set I've judged, but at the same time the file itself also has more range in what it does, thanks to the music.

**psychoangel691** · 06-27-2020, 03:00 PM

Re: Easy Batch Notes

I will be updating the OP with all the files and such a bit later, I'm just bouncing around a few responsibilities today with QA and OT previews coming very shortly haha

**M0nkeyz** · 06-27-2020, 05:08 PM

Re: Easy Batch Notes

Fixes for Elesis theme sent, gonna take a look at Alien Blues tomorrow, might dm you again then.

Great notes btw

**M0nkeyz** · 06-30-2020, 02:25 AM

Re: Easy Batch Notes

Also sent in fixes for Alien Blues, VisD told me on discord to disregard the note regarding the triple white notes at 32.936 since they're audible on normal speed. I adjusted everything else.

**psychoangel691** · 07-3-2020, 03:28 AM

Re: Easy Batch Notes

Judge: VisD

Embrace (gold stinger) [8.5/10]
1.053 move to a 3 - this 3 note sequence ending here is the same as the one that starts at 1.386 and gives room for the 4 at 2.719 to stand out
32.154 you could definitely move the 8th anchor here to a 3 to break this uber long chain up. You keep the 8ths to a sequences of 8 after this, not sure why this one is 16 in particular, especially when the note itself is different (32.154 is lower than 31.710)
In this section that ends at 46.154, while each individual pattern of runningmen/crossovers has correct PR within, I also felt like as a whole the anchor sequence itself could be made better. For instance, the bit beginning 35.710 has the repeated note on the 8th
clearly lower than the other repeated 8ths in this section, so it plays a little oddly that the anchor here is a 4 whilst the ones right before and after are lower (2 and 1).
53.265 excellent catch on the [23] here being the same as previous
56.599, 58.377 these 3s should probably be 2s to complete the anchor, it's the same note (same as the first sequence in this section). Also, why not make the 3rd sequence anchor on 1? The note that's being repeated on the 8ths is clearly different
and lower than the sequence that is in 56.599.
After this the file is perfect but I particularly want to highlight the bit that begins 1.32.377. This is taco reax stuff, the pattern switching keeps things fresh but still represents the underlying music really well. I loved this part.

Really good, straightforward beginner's file with memorable patterns. Please fix some of the PR stuff up. I think this will easily be one of the most-played beginner's files released in a while.

Kingdom of Silence (M0nkeyz) [6/10]
Fractal Dreamers! Yes!

- Really not a fan of the grace note usage in this file. It feels super over-the-top to me for a chart that is designed to be this easy (basically 8th stream or less at 140bpm with occasional 16ths).
Like at 10.316, you literally have to slow it down to 10% to actually hear the point at which these two notes diverge in their attack, and on FFR these two arrows are going to be
converted into the same frame anyway (probably), so I'm not certain how much value-add this file gets from hitting new players with this particular pattern so many times.
- And then the two at 15.459 are just completely ghosted. I couldn't tell any justification for graces at all even at 10%.
(I know, I know, I made Atop the World so lol - but even there, you can hear the difference between grace and the note on-beat at 100%, and even in that file it was already arguably too much imo)

My best recommendation here is that nearly all the graces should just be made straight jumps. You can keep a few of the more distinctively obvious grace notes as such - these
would likely be the ones with a 48th gap or more.

- Missing jump at 16.316?
17.173 1-3-4 would be better PR here if you compare these three notes with the last three
19.316 - should this be a jump? also again the offbeat note here is just kind of...

20.601 - the grace note here is one of the few I'm fine with, because you can definitely hear the distinction at 100% - you don't have to strain your ears for it, you don't have to be
particularly paying attention for it, a casual listen is enough to detect this grace
Patterning in this section is really good btw
23.173 - optional: jump?

30.887+ - I'm going to stop mentioning the graces now, but this section is where I first started to be put off by these things during my playthrough. Yes, you can tell that there are two
distinct notes on the foreground piano at many of these spots, but I don't think that means that you have to color all of them
32.601 not even really sure why this one needs a grace or a jump at all, tbqh. Sounds like a single
33.673 random 8th from the background piano leaking here?
37.744 move to 1 for PR with 38.173
41.173 this is going to be a hand with this grace note after conversion...it's actually not a bad spot for an actual hand, but definitely a little bit ugly as a color hand
42.887 understand the intent behind this 123232 pattern but it does play out kind of trilly for what is an upward melody
45.887 pr with previous grace jump thing
49.744 jump?
52.101 this is kind of nasty for a newer player. at minimum the 8th at 52.530 is ghosting this jump
54.030 should this be a jump? not sure
58.744 jump?
1.15.887 jump?
1.16.316 jump? this is a good spot to keep the 48th grace actually
1.28.101 4 -> 1 for pr?
1.43.316 shouldnt be a jump?
1.45.459 jump?

Was on the fence about CQing this because this is honestly a decent file, it gets the patterning right and PR is pretty good for the most part. Song is also very pretty and something I believe
newer players will enjoy playing. I'm a little hesitant to give the CQ because one of my absolute must-dos is to make a very large number of these grace notes become jumps, and I feel this borders
on transgressing on authorial expression; I don't want you to have to make changes based on how /I/ think an easy file for this song should be expressed.

My personal opinion is just that grace notes like these should be used more sparingly at lower-leveled files, and I can literally not hear much of a justification for a lot of these graces at 100%.
There's clearly two notes playing at a time, yes, but the divergences in their attack are so minor bordering on unnoticeable even at some lower rates. I'm not sure it's worth it to highlight all of them like that.

Coupled with repeated inconsistencies in jump usage (I know it's very not easy with a file like this, because of how muddy and faint the foreground piano can be at times), I don't feel like I can accept this file.
Giving this a 6, because grace note usage like this borders on pure subjectivity, so you can consider appealing for a 2nd look, although I can't guarantee the result will be any different.
(Alternatively - if you choose to resubmit in a different batch, I can at least promise you this: if I get to judge it again, and the grace notes have not been changed as a conscious artistic decision, I'll just pass the file; if you do generalize them as regular jumps, I'll judge the file normally.)

Oedo Hop (Psychotik) [9/10]
4.031 - 1 for pr? (same as 3.537)
11.933 - 2 for ^
13.415 - reverse pr on the next couple of notes
30.949 could share a column with [34] from previous for the kick continuing
Why are 41.568, 43.544, 44.532 jumps when 40.580, 41.321, 45.026 (etc.) are not? Looks like it's got to do with avoiding bursts that start/end with jumps? Cool idea, actually.
46.013 very pretty coloring for the sound effect here, I really like it, but I wish you'd add an extra arrow at the end of it for 8 notes instead of 7, just so the pattern feels "complete", in a sense - the sound effect is clearly still playing.
And move the last couple of them around (visually a little odd that the burst ends with 2, 3, followed by a series of [23] jumps for a sound with no relevance to the sound effect whatsoever)
47.742 a little mean to introduce a hand with a 8th minijack...
1.01.929 whee

1.07.729 jump feels a bit heavy for this sound alone, a white R would fit better imo
1.14.659 you already know i'm a huge fan of this shit but I do think the effect ends a bit awkwardly by not encompassing the 8th at 1.15.383. I think it's fine to stop it at the 4th with the clap after.
1.33.924 runningmen are always fun but this one is a little off PR wise, sorry

the stuff on 16ths isnt the same sound throughout. OK to keep though. I think the fun-ness of this pattern justifies it.
1.37.144 what is it like to have self-control and not make this an evil burst

VERY solid easy file. I think there were a couple of PR things I missed out on listing down, so maybe go back and listen to the song at a slightly lower rate again just to 100% PR. Otherwise, big fan of the artistic and layering choices you've made here.

One Look (Psychotik) [**7.5/10]
18.352 starting here, consider 432 32[13] or similar for better relative PR between these two series of notes
12.052, 21.562 as far as I can tell, the notes follow the lyrics and then switches to the bass, with a jump to reset each phrase. However, I don't get these 4ths (and others like them). Unlike the one at 16.852, these have neither vocal nor bass on them.
There maaaay be bass, but it's so faint, is this what you're stepping to? Or are you just filling in these kicks as transition points? They played a little oddly in my playthroughs.
**28.852, 43.252 etc. The guitar plays more notes here than you are representing. There is a chain of seven 16ths, even though some of them are fainter. You do this correctly at 31.252, 38.452. The exception to this seems to be at 36.052, for some reason, which you correctly detect.
28.852-48.052: this bit was extremely confusing in my two casual playthroughs, and it took me a while to figure out why (beyond the missing notes above). Starting from the measure at 28.852 that begins this choral section, you follow, by measure,
guitar - guitar - voice - guitar - guitar - guitar - voice - guitar
This is a really weird sequence. I get that you want to avoid "downtime" by following the voice in the quieter measures, but it makes it very hard to follow the switchup in the moment of the file.
I much prefer what you did in the first 12 measures, where the voice gets "preferential layering" of sorts; whenever it's present, it's being followed. It's way way more prominent than anything else you're following, certainly including the guitar you're switching to.
This would mean switching the 1st and 5th measures of this sequence to dominantly follow the lyrics ("why - why - oh why")...it may feel a little emptier, but I believe this makes a lot more sense than what you have currently.

Won't make this note a conditional, because to me this is kind of a subjective "your take vs mine" thing, so the difference is reflected in the score, but I won't force you to change it. But I strongly recommend it!

48.202, 57.802 missing
1.04.852-1.06.352 you can afford to step the missing guitar notes here as you do on the 8th at 1.06.352

1.15.652, 1.25.252 pr here is a bit funky - these 4 notes should be something like 2321 or 3432
Other than ^, this section that ends at 1.45.652 is really well done and a lot of fun. (See in this section that you also reflect vocals whenever available - there's really no reason not to do it for the earlier section I mentioned too

)

1.45.052 could have better pr on this very explicitly downward sequence
1.48.502 missing (faint - same deal as earlier, 7 16ths in a row, arguably even 8 here, but 7 is ok)

Rest of the file sort of repeats, it's fine - could afford to fade out a bit earlier but ok as is.
Overall a very interesting easier file, switching the followed instruments back and forth this rapidly is a nice risk to take. It paid off for the most part IMO.

CONDITIONAL: Fill in the 16ths to the guitar notes in the section labeled ** above (and the similar ones later on where you do the same)

Preset Junkies VIP (TC_Halogen) [8.5/10]
40.717 This whole section reminds me of a cool, easier version of that one bit in Capoeira Sundance, and this is a very nice switchup that similarly happened there. I like it
43.651 I get the jumps here, but they do feel sort of heavy. You also lose the contrast with 50.051, 1.09.250, and repeats later on when there are kicks to actually back these notes up.
1.18.717 missing note
1.37.250 layering checks out here but not sure I'm a fan of this many hands. I'd at least consider removing the ones at places like 1.42.851, 1.49.250 etc as they come on the back of a different hand and are layered to a cymbal crash that's pretty faint.
2.32.851 kind of mean...although there was a right-handed OHT earlier, so I'm guessing this is just to balance it out and make sure mirror doesn't help too much

2.34.851 not sure why the minijacks you were doing just a measure ago have been stopped here and then resumed later on? For variation? Not a big deal, one way or another.

Lots and lots of pattern and layering variations to switch up what could have been a long and repetitive slog. I must admit that despite your best efforts, it did start to feel a little draggy by the end, and I'm sure some kind of cut could be made that would retain
most of the goodies in this file. But I'm clearly not in the target audience for this file anyway; I suspect the frequent switchups will keep relevant players engaged and entertained the whole time. The effort to keep things fresh all the time with still
identifiable layering was pretty great to dissect, tbh.

**M0nkeyz** · 07-3-2020, 04:56 AM

Re: Easy Batch Notes

Thanks for the notes, I personally thought the grace notes would be a unique feature for a low level file. I do understand how newer players would be overwhelmed by the strange and unusual patterning though.

However, I think graces are correct for most of these as there are clearly 2 notes being played within very close proximity. It's noticeable for me even on 100% and also observable on the waveform, alot of the jumps you suggested I think are when the piano is loud; which I think is a fine way to approach it, but I specifically went for the grace note gimmick here and didn't want to muddy the waters with a bunch of extra jumps to up the difficulty. For this reason I was debating before I submitted whether or not I should keep the jump at 41.173 in, but I decided to keep it because I think it's the loudest sound in the entire song.

Once again I can 100% see where you are coming from with the layering criticism and like always the notes on PR are objectively correct.

I would like another judge to take a look as you suggested; I personally think the grace notes are kind of cool in this file, but if 2 judges disagree with the layering choice then I will change the file accordingly.

**VisD** · 07-3-2020, 05:02 AM

Re: Easy Batch Notes

Yeah, that's reasonable. If a different judge thinks it's not really an issue to prevent acceptance, I'll just chalk it up to my personal bias.

I do think that:

, alot of the jumps you suggested I think are when the piano is loud;

isn't quite true though; at least these three:

58.744 jump?
1.15.887 jump?
1.16.316 jump? this is a good spot to keep the 48th grace actually

definitely have two notes in them - and there are a number of others I didn't list, because they were close enough to ambiguity - but strictly speaking, you'd probably want jumps on them too.

**M0nkeyz** · 07-3-2020, 05:34 AM

Re: Easy Batch Notes

I can see those being graces/jumps, but they sound closer together to me than the others though.

I feel there is a strong argument to stepping the closer ones as full jumps. But then again I went for the grace note gimmick.

**VisD** · 07-3-2020, 06:16 AM

Re: Easy Batch Notes

Yeah I wouldn't just convert every sound where the foreground piano plays two notes from grace notes to jumps. But only the ones that are significantly apart really need the former representation imo

Precisely because there would be fewer of them, they would stick out more too, and be more memorable to a newer player. Right now (exaggerating ofc) every other 4th is graced or something, so it could come across as messy color parse; but think about a file that is mostly 4ths/8ths, and the occasional cyan 48th or orange 32nd. My 2c is that less is more: those grace notes would stand out more notably to a new player.

**Psychotik** · 07-3-2020, 06:46 PM

Re: Easy Batch Notes

Why are 41.568, 43.544, 44.532 jumps when 40.580, 41.321, 45.026 (etc.) are not? Looks like it's got to do with avoiding bursts that start/end with jumps? Cool idea, actually.
That's is exactly why. All about the difficulty control.
but I wish you'd add an extra arrow at the end of it for 8 notes instead of 7, just so the pattern feels "complete", in a sense - the sound effect is clearly still playing.
I personally like it that way. It just feels right to me, ending it on a 2 3 and proceeds to a series of jumps on the same notes.
I do think the effect ends a bit awkwardly by not encompassing the 8th at 1.15.383. I think it's fine to stop it at the 4th with the clap after.
I kinda see what you mean, but once again it feels better without adding any burst.
1.37.144 what is it like to have self-control and not make this an evil burst
hehehe

Fixed everything else mentioned. On to One Look.

There maaaay be bass, but it's so faint, is this what you're stepping to?
Yep it's following the bass synth. I don't think it's faint at all, I can hear it pretty clearly.
This is a really weird sequence. I get that you want to avoid "downtime" by following the voice in the quieter measures, but it makes it very hard to follow the switchup in the moment of the file.
100% agree. One of the hardest parts of creating this chart was just figuring out the layering and what to follow. I love the way your simplified solution looked and played so I toned down this section and the repeating section at the end a bunch.
1.45.052 could have better pr on this very explicitly downward sequence
So a lot of the time when I have funky PR, it's usually because I have a pattern in mind that sort of fits the song that is more fun to play and less rigid or repetitive than the actual PR. I do fix these PR instance when pointed out, but I just explaining myself why I do it.
CONDITIONAL: Fill in the 16ths to the guitar notes in the section labeled ** above
With the layering changes and general toned that version, most of the guitar in that section isn't followed anymore so there isn't a need to add this. Let me know if this counts as fixed.

Everything else mentioned was fixed.

I've uploaded both updated charts.

**VisD** · 07-3-2020, 07:35 PM

Re: Easy Batch Notes

re: one look conditional, def works

**gold stinger** · 07-3-2020, 09:29 PM

Re: Easy Batch Notes

Sent in fixes for Embrace. Thanks for the notes!

**Psychotik** · 07-9-2020, 08:16 PM

Re: Easy Batch Notes

Posting to say that I updated One Look again. After replaying it, I noticed a lot of inconsistencies with some of the layering (especially in the tail end), so now it should play a lot better.

Uploaded the fixes already.

**psychoangel691** · 07-30-2020, 07:15 AM

Re: Easy Batch Notes

Judge: visD

MG1 (mi40) [**9/10]

Judge Notes:
I'm only giving approx timestamps for this one, for obvious reasons lol
Gallop at ~8.853: Don't feel like this is necessary. "girl" is a single syllable the way it's enunciated here
8th at ~11.626: Same thing as ^ with the [U] here, but more relatable, the p-R- sound is stronger
8th above 12.151: this note should definitely go, there is no syllable here
the [L] just after 13.576: same thing with the previous 2 gallops highlighted. I don't know if the ultra-technical approach is really needed here with how easy this file is supposed to be
After 13.906, there should be a 2nd syllable for "go-ING" that is missing here. I mean, I can see why you'd forego this, but given how you've been charting 2 arrows to Single Syllables Slurred Slightly, this one should definitely be included.

**CONDITIONAL: The ultra-technical approach with this file has one really glaring problem, which is your use of minijacks.
For instance, the one that starts at 5.678 ["a - go"] has a span of 0.109s, or what is essentially a 138bpm 16th jack. This is pretty exaggerated given the rest of the file.
I think this was the worst instance, there was another that was just as bad, but there were numerous others I checked in on that were basically 100bpm++ jacks as well.

I know it "feels" more right to have syllables of the same word go to the same note, but this right now is in essence a difficulty ~10 file with difficulty 30+ (and in one or two cases, 40+) jacks in it. You can keep some of the slower ones if you really want, say around 0.2s gap++ apart - ~0.2s because the fastest jacks in Fastest Pointer Finger are also around 0.2s apart, and keep in mind that if we took the jacks out of your file, your file would be approximately difficulty 8-10

Or for an extra data point, go check out hehenonomohe which is a difficulty 26 because of 120bpm minijacks - 130bpm minijacks in a diff 10 file are pretty no-no

OVERALL: this is the sort of thing that would historically get insta-rejected by a good majority of judges, especially in the past, I imagine tbh. And, even today, this will likely still be somewhat polarizing when it is released.
But we're approaching 3000 files in the game and you know what? This is different and memorable. Some newer players will absolutely love it - I know I would have - and, if they hate it, well, for all its technical flaws, it's still short and sweet, and doesn't outstay its high-concept welcome at all, which is very easy to do. That�s a huge plus for an experimentalish file.
The color theory is also tasteful and adds to the experience of the chart in a meaningful way, not just there for no reason. Good shit.

P.S.: for this chart specifically, what you did to sync with the colors is ok, because the attack on these vocal samples are drawn out, not sharp. So nothing really feels desynced.
But in the future there's a much better way to do this sort of thing: chart the file "normally", or as normal as you can make this, and then use the Stepmania Recolorizer:

Stepmania Recolorizer

https://mzrg.com/stepmania/draw/awesome.html

Mysterious Wall (Pizza69) [8/10]

Judge Notes:
35.168 - reverse pr
48.668, 58.268 - shouldn't be jumps, no background piano or guitar here
97.268 should this be a jump?
128.658 - kinda weird pattern for a descending scale; I noted 35.168 earlier, there are other instances of this motif that I didn't highlight in between, because perfect pr is not super necessary or really even a good idea tbh, but this one with a minijack kinda stands out in a not so great way
138.667 - same note as 141.067, higher than 140.467
Ending placeholder note feels a little extra - would at least recommend moving it to a 1 because that's where the player would be expecting a final note (since the penultimate note is on 1)

Solid and clean easy file. PR was generally pretty good, grace notes were justified, jump accenting was neat, whole thing was well made in general.
I find it hard to rate this file any higher, even though this is a very clean chart, just because FFR already has a lot of easier files that are basically like this and I don't know if this will have a lot of replayability value for newer players.
But there will be some who love it - nice file in its own discipline.

Sam's Song (gold stinger) [7.5/10]

Judge Notes:
0.565 you step this sound consistently later on
22.071 starting here, if you want PR, should be 2 {3/4} 2 for these 3 8ths
22.071 also in this part - the 4ths seem to be deliberately omitted even though that guitar sound has been consistently stepped through previously (same as thing at 0.565). For the effect I don't reallllly mind it here, but it does play slightly weird.
37.252 glaring missing note
43.577 nice
48.905 missing 8th to guitar
53.878 ^
59.661 ^? (based on your jump usage, you'll also have to de-jump the next 4th - if I'm correct, seems to be "isolated 4ths with pronounced guitar strums -> jump", which this 4th will no longer be if you add the 8th)
1.00.926 Breaks the above rule for jump usage?
1.01.288, 1.02.011, 1.02.734, 1.03.457 - again these aren't being charted even though you definitely do include them elsewhere --- see 1.14.661, 1.15.023
1.05.444 - missing guitar
1.06.529 - missing guitar
1.11.408 - rule-breaking jump
1.11.950 - missing
1.34.722 really like this 1-3-4-3 patterning for ne-on-light-and!
1.41.770 - will stop pointing out these "rule-breaking jumps" but I think you should go back and look over the chart and make sure you're accenting every pronounced guitar strum you want to. Sometimes, you accent them even when they're
embedded amongst 8ths; sometimes, you deliberately ignore very pronounced ones (e.g. 48.999) that are just as loud as the jumps around it.
2.08.577 - like this
2.09.240 - and this, etc.
2.32.011 - I normally don't say this but I'd like to see this very last note stepped. The strum roll at the end there is nice, but this is a really solid way to actually end the song, AND allows the dragged out strum from previously to finish playing. Please fill this in.

This chart was difficult to judge, tbh. I had some questions initially, but on a playthrough, however, most of it melted away - the instrument-switching felt a lot more intuitive than staring at it through an editor - and I was left with a pretty engaging and fun file. You chose literally the *only* possible layering mechanism that this song demands in order to create both an interesting and musically-faithful chart, imo, by taking the risk of switching between the voice and guitar whenever possible.

I do think you should return to at least clarify the jump usage and make it more consistent throughout, I didn�t label the pronounced strums exhaustively but you should decide if you want to highlight ALL the pronounced ones (my suggestion, frankly; it gives the file a nice spicy flavor), or only jump the ones that are isolated (no notes immediately before or after). This is the main inconsistency to resolve. Still acceptable anyways, because it�s hardly noticeable on a real playthrough, so don�t feel the need to gatekeep CQ for this.

The Light (storn42) [**8/10]

Judge Notes:
Trills at 18.282 onwards - given the difficulty of the rest of the file, these slow trills lasting for about 12 seconds feel a bit bland and understated. You have a variety of options here to liven it up a bit:
you could start the snare jumps (which you have right before and after this section) as early as 19.032, or only fill them in on the repeat (starting at 24.282). You can also layer the cymbal jumps here if you want.
Just a couple of suggestions to consider - see if you like any of them in particular, no pressure.
42.282, 48.282, 60.282, etc: what are your thoughts on layering jumps to these prominent cymbal crashes? Again, your 16th drum fills that end on a jump are a lot harder than any of these sequences.

** Section starting 1.12.282 (and the repeat at 2.12.484): starting this section, the layering gets a bit hazy. The jump at 1.14.157 and the hand at 1.14.532 and the jump at 1.15.657 and so on strongly imply that you're now layering the vocals in (a move which I strongly agree with).
Great, but:
- why is 1.16.682, 1.17.344, 1.17.907 a jump (only voice, no kick)?
- 1.18.094 is a ghost note?
- there's a glaring misrhythm at 1.22.782 and 1.23.157 where the vocals fall on the 4ths, but no note is here; instead, the 8th kicks immediately after each of these get highlighted as jumps
- this previous problem is the most noticeable one

- Please relook at this section overall to ensure that the vocals are properly layered in (are they supposed to be jumps unto themselves at certain points?)
- Note that this stuff repeats in the repeat chorus at 2.12.484.
- Note that in *that* section, the vocals repeat twice, so please don�t forget the area around 2.36.284+ too.

The color fuckery in the next part is awesome.

2.49.409 is this yellow bc "show you the light"? lol
2.51.659 it's sections like these that reinforce a good reason to have slightly heavier layering before the first chorus - this is a short run of 160bpm jumpstream; whatever accenting you might have wanted to do earlier but couldn't due to difficulty concerns shouldn't be in play here

Song is very awesome, file is pretty fun, drum fills are always a hoot to play. Color theory done right. Just need to fix up some layering and we good.

CONDITIONAL: Chorus layering and rhythms. I realllllllllly wanted to accept this outright, because this is fun and song is great. But that glaring misrhythm and confusing layering in the chorus sticks out way too much, because there�s nothing else going on in the chart at that point - it became pretty distracting on my playthroughs. Please fix, otherwise this is poggers

The Phoenix (TC_Halogen) [8/10]

Judge Notes:
13.408-26.741 I think this section could be very confusing to a casual player, to be honest. The clear foreground melody is being ignored for a very sporadic sound - that further has minijacks to adjacent notes from that instrument, when (while technically correct) those notes have their relative pitch muddied and prominence diminished by everything else that is louder than them: the claps and other percussion, the foreground melody. It genuinely took me like 3-4 times replaying this section just to vibe with the current setup during a 100% playthrough.
36.471 this is so good aaa
53.408 given the 16th stream just above this bit feels kind of underwhelming. Would consider jumps on the 4th...the music here is arguably even more intense than the preceding stream
but 1/2 the density. I'm sure you already considered this, but consider again lol. At the very least, the snare hits at places like 54.241 and 54.866, which you put jumps to when colliding with violin earlier.
1.00.875 consider moving preceding 4th jumps to [12] or [23] for a clearer visual distinction between their big, punchy percussion and this high-pitched guitar note here
1.04.075 this works better!
2.12.475 move this off [14] to accommodate the pr on violin?

Simple and effective. The beginning is my biggest gripe, but everything after plays instantly intuitively.

Easy Batch Notes

Easy Batch Notes

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