Artist Name: Alexander Gaiser (MaudlinBrony)
Track Name: Gypsy Bard (Acoustic Cover)
Remix Source: (From Friendship is Witchcraft, episode 8: "Cherry Bomb")

Hi DusK, I felt the world needed a mellower version of this awesomely catchy song. I'm brand new on the pony scene but this song really got in my head, so I recorded my own version of it.

Thanks for looking at this song, I hope to hear from you soon!

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Anyone familiar with Friendship is Witchcraft knows about the exceptionally well-made music throughout the series. And anyone not familiar with Friendship is Witchcraft is doing themselves a massive disservice in more ways than one. Today, Alexander Gaiser, or MaudlinBrony if you prefer, brings a chipper, up-beat original composition from FiW down to a more mellow feel with his acoustic take on "Gypsy Bard".

And no, Alexander, calling yourself an artist is by no means a stretch.

The track throughout is pretty much what one would expect from an acoustic guitar song. A guy sits down with an acoustic guitar and just plays it, and sells it like a pro. Evocative almost of a campfire at night, with a group of friends singing about one of the strangest topics one could imagine in that context. The performance throughout is fantastic, going a bit off-timing only during one section of the track and some slight slip-ups regarding the timing of the group vocals. The vocal tone in particular is very fitting, with a slight twang during the solo sections and a more well-rounded performance during the group vocal tracks.

Most impressive was the attention to detail in production. Making a track that consists mostly of a single acoustic guitar and a vocal track or three is not easy to fill the soundscape with, but Alexander manages to pull it off extremely well. Though a bit light on the volume overall, the track does the stereo field justice with fairly wide panning of his well-executed vocal work during the group sections, and a slightly left-panned lead guitar during the solo stops the track from going mono during that section. The slightest reverb is present, likely a natural occurrence from the recording process, and though I feel that a slight application of a warm digital reverb (or an increase on the reveb already present) would have helped the vocals a bit during the solo sections, it hardly makes a difference in this case thanks to the frequent group-vocal tracks.

This one comes highly recommended. Excellent work from MaudlinBrony, and here's hoping we hear more from him and his gee-tar in the future.

-DusK