2019 September/October Set 7

[psychoangel691]

Judge: goldstinger

{Stay With Me} (psychoangel691)
As We Suffocate (inDheart)
Flight of the Bumble Bee (Psychotik)
Fox Tales (Pizza69)
Hip Shop (Deamerai)
Kokorioni Utage Todoitara -Vocal- (inDheart)
Masterpiece (psychoangel691)
Nebuchadrezzar III (M0nkeyz)
Stadium Wave (kainivy)

[psychoangel691]

Re: 2019 September/October Set 7

*There are still 3 files goldstinger is finishing up on but I wanted to get the notes out that were done in case anyone wanted to make any fixes prior to release*


{Stay With Me} (psychoangel691) [7.5/10]
> Sync is good (No changes necessary).
> No issues found within simfile properties. No issues found within simfile folder contents.
*-[00:02.139] the 16th here should probably be in the same column as the previous 4th note, to match the same pattern used widely for this specific beat across other sections in this song. It also doubles its usage in consistency in the latter half that starts at 00:28.472 where the 8th is introduced in conjunction with this repeating 16th.
*-[00:18.472] Not understanding the reason behind putting the 8th in jack proximity with the jump here. Worked well when separated from the jump in previous iterations.
*-[00:25.583] Repeat of the above note (8th jack proximity to jump).
*-[00:42.250] Missing jump. [34] Would work, as the 32nd rolls away from the jump, and the 8th contains a similar drum to the 4th.
-[01:07.139 -> 01:07.361] Transition could probably be handled a bit better here. We have a theme of minijack transitions, and there’s definitely a minijack repetition happening at 01:07.139 that can be utilized. Furthermore, the 8th at 01:07.361 is pretty high-pitched compared to the rest of the 8th notes here and would probably do wonders better in the pitch relevance department as a right arrow.
*-[01:10.472 & 01:10.694] Same situation as the previous note regarding transition, but with a missing 16th at 01:10.472, and the jack potential at 01:10.694 on the 4th arrow.
-[01:21.361] Jack potential. Awkward position if used, might need to swap 16th transition.
*-[01:38.916] Missing 16th?? Same one as the one at 01:10.472.
*-[01:49.361] Extra jump. Remove the up arrow, make it a single down.
*-[01:53.139] Same missing 16th as previous note. It’s not dominant, and the pattern works well here, so it’s a pass.
-[02:00.250 -> 02:200.916] I love this part. Emphasis is powerful with the transition.
*-[02:07.361] Missing 16th. Same as the ones mentioned earlier. My brain is split on what to suggest with these, since this one in particular is a super powerful 8th that should probably be layered.
*-[02:21.583] Missing 16th, on the opposite end of the spectrum in regards to previous note, as this one is super quiet.
*-[02:24.694] 8th proximity to jump again. Would flow better elsewhere as an up arrow, or right arrow.
*-[02:28.250] Repeat of the above note. Same thing. Happens again at [02:30.028], [02:31.805] and [02:40.694].
*-[02:36.139 -> 02:36.361] Missing 16th on 02:36.139, and the 32nd burst starting from 02:36.250 and ending at 02:36.361. Essentially the 32nd burst from any other transition that does this the same way.

*PERSONAL NOTES*
This song has a whimsical flow to it, that almost reminds me of dimrain streams from back in the day. Integration of jumps into that nostalgia brings to life a new view of long stream, that imo, would be quite suitable for people getting the hand of fast patterns. There are a few consistency problems with the song, mainly in slow sections outside of the initial stream. However, it’s nothing that requires massive overhaul or change of perspective. I think this song would sit particularly well for the more casual audience looking to get into how ‘streams’ are handled in a keyboard-centralized rhythm game.

As We Suffocate (inDheart) [8.5/10]
> Sync is good (No changes necessary).
> No issues found within simfile properties. No issues found within simfile folder contents.
-Very interesting jack usage for a song at a slow speed. Very fond of it. Doesn’t show up much.
-[01:38.892 & 01:42.795] Hands here would probably work better for flow as jumps in their respective jumptrill patterns vs hands for emphasis.
-[01:56.209] Another set of hands for emphasis that doesn’t really fit. Would probably work better as a jump.
-[02:13.038] Ok Scarhand.
-[02:20.843 Onwards] Wish that patterns from here on out, specifically the one that is [02:20.843 -> 02:22.307] had hands both at the beginning and the end, like you did at [02:24.746 -> 02:26.209]. Otherwise, it’s a bit confusing as to what exactly the hands are going to, because they are used in some patterns, and sometimes not.

*PERSONAL NOTES*
Very solid song throughout. Has a little bit of everything, including a speed-up half way through. Jacks take a bit more prominent spotlight than stream though. Not much of an issue with this file, it’s fairly balanced all things said.

Fox Tales (Pizza69) [9.0/10]
> Sync is good (No changes necessary).
> No issues found within simfile properties. No issues found within simfile folder contents.
-[01:22.962, 01:33.996, 01:39.513] 48ths in these locations are quite inaudible in comparison to the 8ths here, unless you slow it down to about 50% speed. Also, personally don’t feel like they do the difficulty curve of the file any justice either, as they don’t really show up anywhere else.
-[02:51.237 Onwards] Nice color accenting.
-[03:19.513 -> 03:20.203] Sounds like some minor 24th layering is missing here.

*PERSONAL NOTES*
Reminds me heavily of Stinger. Plenty of 24th and 32nd usage in creative setting. Particularly fun to stream & play.

Hip Shop (Deamerai) [8.0/10]
> Sync is good (No changes necessary).
> No issues found within simfile properties. No issues found within simfile folder contents.
-Ends kind of abruptly. If fixable via fade-out, or some other measure, that would be nice.

*PERSONAL NOTES*
Not much else really to say about it. Slow, easy song. There would be a couple things I’d personally swap around for pitch relevance but works as-is (Example: [00:30.393] changed to down arrow, [00:31.630 & 00:31.939] swap columns). Great stuff from Deamerai, as usual.

Kokoroni Utaga Todoitara -Vocal- (inDheart) [8.0/10]
> Sync is good (No changes necessary).
> No issues found within simfile properties. No issues found within simfile folder contents.
-Definitely an interesting take here to restrict layering to piano.
-[00:36.099] Personal preference, would probably used a single here. Not really feeling the double jump. The emphasis at 00:41.008 is similar, but is single.
-[00:53.553] Jump-worthy?
-[01:50.280 -> 01:54.644] Appears to be missing a bunch of piano single notes in this span. Suggest filling them in. Only happens at this specific part of the song.

*PERSONAL NOTES*
Quiet, lovely piano piece. Was subtly concerned at the beginning that shunning vocal layering was going to turn out to be a bad idea, but the piece works seamless with piano, it’s quite nice. Only thing I’d suggest fixing is a piano run at 1m50s in that is missing some singles in favor of chimes, as it’s the only part absent in piano layering for the song. But other than that, very nice.

Nebuchadrezzar III (M0nkeyz) [7.5/10]
> Sync is good (No changes necessary).
> No issues found within simfile properties. No issues found within simfile folder contents.
-[00:17.280 -> 00:18.585] The tonal shift here suggests more than just swapping columns here. Would be a better fit to swap what notes are being used (like to 1414, or something similar).
-[01:04.893 -> 01:15.328] Feels like a lot of mute notes in this section, and the layering is like a constant battle between piano and breakcore, when one of them should be focused on rather than letting them fight. Example of this is at 01:12.937, with the 12th note. Because of the layering here, it feels like a breakcore [24] jump because of breakcore layering on the 4th note prior to it, with the 8th note being a mute. Personally, considering the song came out of a breakcore section and a piano-heavy section like this one has already had a more prominent role earlier in the song, I would suggest putting the focus on maybe a breakcore-esque breakdown of the piano version? TL;DR, When playing this section, it feels like there’s a ton of breakcore-ghost notes that are really the piano, when the piano is not really getting the main instrument treatment in this section. They don’t layer with each other the best.
-[02:27.872] missing [24] jump
-[02:33.872 -> 02:34.247] Personal suggestion, the background layering in this specific part, is the same stuff that happens in the foreground at [02:21.872 -> 02:22.247]. Would help with section building considering the [13][24] jumptrill at [02:27.872 -> 02:28.247].
-[02:40.611 -> 02:55.341] 8th singles here should be rolling in the opposite direction for pitch relevance.
-[02:54.071] Missing 8th single, just drowned out by background orchestra. Should be filled in to maintain pattern flow.

*PERSONAL NOTES*
Breakcore and Piano is a hot mix. I especially like what’s happening at 01:15.328 onwards, with the piano being on-point with the breakcore. Nice twist in the second half with the introduction of a percussion-based, orchestrated progression.

[inDheart]

Re: 2019 September/October Set 7

updated both of my files. here's the note response that got cut off for As We Suffocate because i write too much (it seems to have uploaded successfully otherwise, though):

-[02:20.843 Onwards] Wish that patterns from here on out, specifically the one that is [02:20.843 -> 02:22.307] had hands both at the beginning and the end, like you did at [02:24.746 -> 02:26.209]. Otherwise, it’s a bit confusing as to what exactly the hands are going to, because they are used in some patterns, and sometimes not.

so i meant for each hand here to be to where shouts overlap the crashes. the reason there aren't hands at 2:20.843, 2:32.307 or 2:36.209 is because the "-way" of "burns away" is sung differently, coming on the 8th prior instead of right there. there's a "-way" at 2:44.258 that could form a hand, but i ignored the entire "burns away" lyric there because of the drumroll

if this was a hard "change this" type note, i'd probably opt to turn all the hands to jumps instead so i'm not upgrading some undeserving jumps more than they need to be, but i like how it is now

made all other recommended changes. thanks for the notes o/

[Pizza69]

Re: 2019 September/October Set 7

Updated Fox Tales. I added in the missing 24ths at 3:19.513, but left the earlier 48ths unchanged--I definitely hear them loud and clear at full speed, and I don't think they're out of place difficulty-wise within the section they're in. Personally, I can AAA the first half more consistently than the second.

Also I made the staircase 24th pattern in the last section not a staircase. I completely forgot to write down the timestamp on that one but I'm pretty sure it was 3:30.893.

[psychoangel691]

Re: 2019 September/October Set 7

Stadium Wave (kainivy) [2.5/10]

> Unable to find definitive proof on FFR Website, from the in-game engine, wiki, or online (via Creative Commons licensing) that we have permission to have this song in-game. Going to need some form of proof from stepauthor of permissions either by Pre-existing Creative Commons licensing, or by private licensing by Private Messaging/Communication to allow this song in-game.
> BPM is correct, sync is off by roughly -0.03 via Music Offset (Meaning, the first bar with the BPM setting, starts at [00:00.030]). Requires fixing. These changes will reflect the timestamps of notes for this file.
> No issues found within simfile properties. ‘sm.auto’ and ‘sm.old’ files found within simfile folder contents. Suggest removing.
-Pitch relevance in general for the entire file is hit or miss for majority of the file. While it doesn’t necessarily have to be a priority the denser a file gets, it is usually a nice note to follow during slow sections and for parts that share a similarity in tune to other sections. Something to think about when looking back at 1:29.607 onwards.
-Majority of sections within the file only follow one instrument or pattern instead of layering more than one together. Gets pretty stale by the time it reaches 2:11.860.
-Pattern consistency needs a bit of cleaning as well. For example, the section starting at 0:49.044 is pretty good in itself, until it starts getting to minijacks and 3-note jacks that are either not justified based on the surrounding patterns, or misrepresented in what the section has to offer.
-[02:11.860 -> 02:25.382] Mirror’d from an earlier section. Big oof. Section also transitions into a 27 second long staircase.
-Going to end it there. Probably not what FFR is looking for in fronts of playability and fun, and not sure if we have permissions.

[gold stinger]

Re: 2019 September/October Set 7

Some stuff lost in limbo:

Masterpiece (psychoangel691) [8.5/10]
> Sync is good (No changes necessary).
> No issues found within simfile properties). ‘Sm.old’ file found within simfile folder contents. Suggest removing.
-Those are some tasty 12th jacks, wish there could be a few more jump to single triplet jack connections in the first portion of the 12th sections (starting at 0:50.607). The second 12th jack section starting at 2:10.001 is perfect.
-[1:06.970] Missing jump. [34] Would work well here.
-[1:08.182] Minor suggestion, the 12th jack here pulls away in pitch from the other 12ths here, similar to the previous 12th one beat ago at 1:07.728.
-[2:24.773] Ghost 24th. Also suggest to change the 4th prior to the 24th (at 2:24.698) to a jump, to reflect the jump earlier at 1:04.697.

*PERSONAL NOTES*
Super fun file to get into the meat of with the jack sections. Solid.

Psychotik's 'Flight of the Bumblebee' is the last unjudged in this set. Want to get it done before I head to work tomorrow (I start work at 10pm EST).

[gold stinger]

Re: 2019 September/October Set 7

Flight of the Bumble Bee (Psychotik) [5.0/10]
*> Starting sync is correct. Sync adjustment at [00:13.082] is required. Please change BPM from 92.500, to 93.000. Current settings makes the rest of the song outside of the intro, off-sync. These changes will reflect the timestamps of notes for this file.
> No issues found within simfile properties. No issues found within simfile folder contents.
-[0:16.474, 0:17.771] Unsure of exactly why these jumps are here, but patterning works. Creates some real awkward patterning, like the one at 0:21.663. If they’ve got a good reason for existing, then you’re missing one at 0:19.069. Otherwise, can probably do without.
-[0:21.177] Missing 4th jump.
-[0:31.879] I’m all good for omitting 4ths, but now it’s just 8ths and the major 4ths?
-Overall charting structure up until this point is a little wonky. There’s a decent handful of anchors that don’t really play a role in pitch relevance, and don’t follow much of a rhyme or reason to the song progression. Might require some cleaning up.
-[00:26.041 -> 00:31.231] This is pretty good.
-[00:31.879] Missing 4th jump. Again on following similar 4th @ 00:33.177.
-[00:35.447] Missing 4th jump.
-The issue with missing 4th jumps similar to the one at 00:31.879, and at 00:33.177 is pervasive throughout the majority of the file after the transition 30 seconds in.
-[00:36.744] Missing 4th jump (same as the one at 0:35.447, doesn’t seem to be any real reason to drop the jumps here other than favor of transitioning in and out of initial song verse transitions).
-[00:38.041] Missing 4th jump.
-[00:38.366] Repeat missing 4th jump, going to omit these particular ones here on out.
-[00:39.339] Missing 4th jump.
-[00:40.636] ^ same issue.
-[00:42.014] Missing 16th jump.
-[00:52.312] Similar missing 4th jump. Repeat issue for future missing 4ths.
-[01:05.771] Pretty sure the 8th here should be a jump given the structure of the chart, but aite.
-[01:07.069] Definitely some room to improve on the introduction of wubs and dubstep features of the file, like grace notes and burst rolls to accent the harsh wubs.
-[01:08.528 -> 01:08.852] Jumptrill here travels right up to the 4th here.
-[01:09.014 & 01:09.339] Same suggested 8th jumps as the one earlier at 01:05.771.
-[01:09.825 -> 01:10.150] Same Jumptrill situation as the one earlier, but doesn’t match up.
-[01:11.123 -> 01:11.447] Jumptrill. Same as all future similar-sounding spots.
-[01:15:339 -> 01:24.420] This entire section is pretty messy, and doesn’t really follow anything in-place that hasn’t been portionally or marginally already set elsewhere in the file. Needs fixing.

*PERSONAL NOTES*
File attacks a tricky modern take on Flight of the Bumble Bee, but is falling short in more than a few places both consistency-wise, and pattern relevance-wise. Also needs sync fixes (albeit minor), but the first 2 drawbacks will put it under the bar for me unfortunately. Needs a fair amount of work.


This should close out this set, as there are no conditional queues in this set.