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DusK

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  1. DusK

    I took the hint. See ya.

    By DusK,

    Well, after this most recent temp ban, it's time for me to part ways with MLP Forums and Poniverse. Maybe some of you saw my tweet. I'm sure Feld0 saw it, but like much of what I'm about to write about, he likely didn't care. But I have a lot to say before I go, and it won't fit in a 140-character tweet.
     
    I'm apparently not welcome here. I can't say that's on behalf of the members, though; a comfortable brohoof count and an inbox loaded with messages praising me for the posts I got infracted for are proof enough of that. No, I'm not welcome because I, unlike people who have gotten away with much, much worse than anything I've ever done here, just don't seem to be on the same wavelength as the people that pull the strings. I've learned a lot, and some people don't like that.
     
    I won't detail everything that added up to me leaving MLP Forums. The "powers that be" don't like it when people post about them here. If anyone's curious, though, go ahead and ask me anywhere else on the 'net; I have a LOT to tell, and now, unlike before, I'm willing to be very open about it. Hell, I may throw a post up on Tumblr detailing my experiences here in full in the near future, because I may decide that it needs to get out there.
     
    Yes, this means I'm also leaving Pony.fm. Over the next few days, I will be removing all of my tracks from the site and switching hosting for my music back to my site. It sucks to say that, it really does, but it has to be done, and really, that's the biggest reason I'm making this post here before I go.
     
    Really, my departure from Pony.fm's development, or what little involvement I've had in it recently, isn't out of anger, but disappointment. I was passionate about seeing Pony.fm separate itself from all the other terrible "music featuring" sites out there by becoming the first and only site to feature brony music with a consistent quality standard and lack of bias. I practically sang praises about it on my blog, My Little Remix, all of my social media outlets, and of course here on the forums. "The brony music site to end all brony music sites." Now, with the "golden age" of brony music well past its end, and the departure of what was apparently the only person interested in seeing talent get its due in this fandom's music scene, such a site may never come to exist.
     
    Talk of a judge-based featuring system started not long after I joined the Pony.fm alpha QA team, but really never got touched outside of "ideas" and a small mention in a PowerPoint slide. It obviously wasn't much of a priority for anyone but me on the QA team, whether during the alpha, or today's beta. And really, why should it be? There's no interest. Anywhere. Hell, I'm using a blog originally intended to be a precursor to that system to post this, because there was zero interest in the very idea I was trying to bring to the brony community. Like I posted a couple of days ago, bronies on the whole are a tasteless bunch. The community at large has shown, time and time again, that they don't want quality and equal recognition of talent. They actually want the perpetuation of EQD-inspired mediocrity and bias to continue. For whatever reason that may be is anyone's guess, and I have my suspicions, but that's a played-out topic that you can get banned for, apparently.
     
    Even if bronies did want such a thing to exist, I realize now that it couldn't have worked anyway. At this point, not enough people of the caliber necessary to make such a system work are active in the brony community. When I think of people that could possibly buckle down and objectively evaluate a track, I come short of names. Most, even among the "brony-famous" big names, either have never shown that they possess the ability for thoughtful, objective critique, or they've shown that they definitely don't have it. Off the top of my head, I could name maybe three people, myself included, who could maybe be competent music judges. That's not enough to make the system I've been proposing for the past nine months work as well as it would need to in order to make a difference. So even if my ideas were eventually implemented in Pony.fm, it would be built largely on those unfit to judge music; people who can't judge objectively, people who lack the knowledge necessary for it, people who wouldn't be able to foster growth in the fellow musicians that the brony community has desperately needed for the past two years. I guess it would still be better than anything out there now, though; at least the bias and inexperience of said judges would be made public in every vote. That's much more than can be said for any other site that "spotlights" brony music.
     
    Even Feld0 obviously didn't want such a system for Pony.fm, or at least, had no interest in me being a part of it, despite laying the groundwork of ideas for it. Feld0 has long kept his distance from me since Pony.fm's public launch, while keeping a very close eye on others that have only remotely (as far as I know) been involved in Pony.fm's development. I don't doubt for a second that if a music featuring system were to have gone live by now, he would have populated it solely with people who haven't contributed nearly as much as I have, in addition to not being as qualified as I am.
     
    My efforts feel wasted, really. All of it. I put a lot of heart into contributing to Pony.fm. I laid out idea after solid idea, to steer the site in the direction of creative development of the community at large and recognition of talent, and away from the stifling of creative output and overwhelming genre and big-name biases that have pervaded brony music ever since its inception. And now, it's really for nothing, because as long as I'm here and not as... acquiescent... as some people with more power than they really should have would like me to be, I run the risk of any little action resulting in harsh punishment, regardless if it was even punishable in the first place, while others that do far worse aren't even touched.
     
    And really, they were efforts. Hours of thought and meticulously checking my ideas for flaws, inconsistencies, working to make sure that the kind of dedication you often only see me bringing to the DAW was brought to the Pony.fm suggestions subforum each and every time. And I would have done more. I would have reviewed every single track to the best of my abilities. I would have made every effort to run that panel like clockwork. I would have answered every single question that anyone could possibly have. Make no mistake, I would have been the most fucking dedicated person on the Poniverse staff to my position had I been placed as Head Submissions Evaluator or even on just on the panel if the system I've been pushing for over the course of this year had made it into Pony.fm. Feld0, you lost that two days ago. Be sure to thank the incompetence I made you aware of three months ago for that, and have fun with all of my ideas if you decide to use them.
     
    I'd like to inject a bit of positivity in this lengthy goodbye, though. I did meet a few new friends here, learned about a few awesome musicians, and gained some more fans of my music. That's always cool, and I would have definitely liked to keep that going. But as the "powers that be" have decided I've "outlived my usefulness" and proceed to show it through every encounter with me, it's unfortunate that I have to say the same about this forum. Reluctantly, to be honest, but after so many months, there's apparently no other way.
     
    I took the hint, bullies. You win. For the rest, I guess this is goodbye without really knowing why.
  2. DusK
    https://pony.fm/tracks/1094-a-true-true-friend-orchestral-cover
     
    Great orchestral is really hard to come by as far as brony music is concerned; I've described it in the past as music that sounds like some kid went to town with a SNES soundfont. Mr. Yegorov's clearly got some killer studio chops, though. This cover is pretty much mastercraft. Stop reading and listen to it.
     
    -DusK
  3. DusK
    Track Name: Celestia's Ballad (Transformation Remix)
    Artists: Freewave, Dreamsong
    Remix Source: Celestia's Ballad

    Download at Pony.fm

    I'm gonna go ahead and start this one off with an apology to Freewave. Around the time he sent me this track last Thursday, I started rockin' one of the worst colds I have ever had. I couldn't stare at a computer screen long enough to review this track until today.

    "Transformation" is the name of the game here, courtesy of Freewave and Dreamsong, who bring a new twist to this source while keeping the original feel largely intact.

    Right off the bat, Freewave's handle on production and composition is obvious, and Dreamsong is a dead ringer for Celestia. Throughout the track, the composition makes very fitting shifts, which is impressive considering most brony musicians aren't capable of that kind of compositional nuance. Around 1:06, a very well-executed (if slightly off-mixed) vocal harmony fills out the soundscape, easily the highlight of this track. Well-place synths, a very warm, heavily processed piano, and varied percussion really bring this track to life and the changes in tempo throughout keep things fresh.

    There's very little negative that can be said about this track. The biggest gripe I have with it would be the vocal mixing during the harmony; it's a bit off in some places and both sections being mono where most would have at least made the backing vocals stereo-sep'd made for a relatively empty LR soundscape, but for the most part, the attention to panning and effects offsets this for most of the track, and the well-done composition tends to draw the ear away from those slight production imperfections.

    A pretty great track all around from Freewave and a fantastic performance from Dreamsong. Be sure to pick this one up.

    -DusK
  4. DusK
    Artist Names: Sand Josieph, Lanovran, SiminaCindy
    Track Name: Daddy Discord


    As this fandom has shown time and time again, a show about friendship can be represented with some rather... different themes. Often, it's in the form of grimdark or clopping. In the case of "Daddy Discord", the phrase "creepy" has never been more fitting.

    The track opens up a little slowly, and it takes a bit to build itself into the niche it's trying to fill. When it does, though, I found it hard to keep the goosebumps off. The concept is rooted in a father-daughter relationship between Discord and Screwball, and drawing heavily in inspiration from "Phantom of the Opera". The lyrical theme works extremely well with the music; this track would easily be conveying this idea even if no vocal work was present, which can't be said about a lot of songs. A combination of well-orchestrated strings, brass, piano, organ, and well-executed vocals throughout give the song an extremely haunting air. The music itself provokes several emotions, notably curiosity and uneasiness, but the latter is presented in a way that doesn't remove enjoyability from the track, comparable to a scary movie. After the track ends, you're left haunted by its message and even the music itself.

    Production's pretty tight in the song as well, only hiccuping during some brass sections (like a very out-of-place brass hit during the intro), oddly-mixed and quantized percussion that's only really noticeable in certain areas, and the track pushes the limiter pretty harshly in some sections as well (notably with that kick), but otherwise there's a relatively satisfying attention to detail in the mix. The vocals for Screwball are pretty low-quality, an issue completely lacking in Discord's parts, but careful mixing and great execution in both vocal roles save it from being too low-quality to pass.

    All in all, "Daddy Discord" is a very well-rounded track that plays to its thematic strengths in a big way and admirably provokes feelings that are largely unfelt in most of this fandom's music. This is definitely one to check out.

    -DusK
  5. DusK
    To submit music for consideration for Brony Music Spotlight, follow these instructions.
     
    PM me* in a new personal conversation using the following guidelines.
     
    *While I am currently the only evaluator for Brony Music Spotlight, this may change in the future. If that ends up being the case, this entry will be edited to reflect the change.
     
    1. Message Subject: The Message Subject should have a BMS tag ([bMS]) at the beginning, followed by the track name. Examples:
     
    [bMS] Smile Smile Smile (Metal Cover)
    [bMS] Daddy Discord
    [bMS] Feld0, King of the Woodwinds
     
    Your name, and any contributing artists' names, including any artist whose track you're remixing, must not be in the message subject, unless that's explicitely a defining factor of difference from a track you're remixing or part of the actual track's title. If your track "features" someone (such as Silva Hound's "Hooves Up High"), they must be included in the Artist Name(s) field. If you're remixing a song and inclusion of your name is necessary to differentiate it from the original, you may put it the message subject. Examples:
     
    [bMS] Hooves Up High
    [bMS] Discord (The Living Tombstone's Remix)
    [bMS] Babs Seed [Anorax Remix]
     
    If you hit the Message Body character limit, just put in as much as you can. Don't truncate or reformat your track's title.
     
    2. Message Body: The message body must contain the following information.
     
    Artist Name(s):
    Track Name:
    Remix Source (If it's a remix of either a musical piece from the show or another artist's work, preferably provided as a link if the latter):
    Link to your track:
     
    The message body may also contain the following.
     
    Artist Website (just one, whichever you use most):
    Twitter handle (I tweet all BMS blog posts, so put your Twitter handle in the message if you want to be @mentioned):
    Your comments on the track:
     
    For the Artist Name(s) field, the names of all contributing artists must be present. If you worked with vocalists, guitarists, other producers, they must be credited as well. If you've remixed a song from another artist, that artist must be included in this field as well. If you can, try to clarify who did what role in the comments section of your submission.
     
    3. Format: Your track must be hosted on a site that allows music to be streamed. YouTube, SoundCloud, or Pony.fm are preferred, because they allow me to post the track embedded onto the blog post rather than a link. Do not post directly to MP3s. Do not post any track that may be taken down. Tracks found to no longer have working links at any point in time will have their BMS blog entries deleted. If you find that your track has been taken down through no fault of your own, PM me with an updated link as soon as possible to avoid your entry's removal from BMS.
     
    4. Time delay: Please wait two weeks between submissions. Any submission that is less than two weeks from the submission prior will be immediately deleted.
     
    5. Music Production Guidelines: Guidelines for music are as follows:
    Music from any genre is acceptable, as long as the genre itself does not conflict with any other submission criteria. All submissions will be judged objectively.
    The music must be cleanly and clearly produced. Recordings should be reasonably free of distortion, hum, clicks, pops, or other unintentional audio artifacts. Volume levels should be normal compared to the average recording.
    Production must show significant attention to sound quality, production values, mixing, mastering, and utilization of effects. Synthesized and sampled elements must be reasonably sophisticated. General MIDI sounds from low-budget soundcards are not sufficient when superior samples are available online for free. Chiptunes are an exception, but will still be judged according to all other criteria. Monophonic, unprocessed chiptune tracks are discouraged and may be subject to direct rejection. Submissions should be mixed with regard to volume, panning, and effects so that individual elements are clear and an appropriate sense of space is maintained.
    Overusing common presets, relying heavily on prerecorded loops, or employing nothing but basic tones is discouraged. Tracks should consist primarily of music created by you. Covers/remixes may use elements from the covered track, such as samples from the original show or artist-provided stems, and may follow the composition of the covered/remixed piece, but the majority of the piece still must be created by you, and in a way that substantially differentiates it from the original. Extensive use of prerecorded loops or musical pieces either provided with your DAW, by others, or from any outside sources will result in track rejection.
    Instrumental and vocal performances should be recorded clearly. Performances should be well-executed with regard to tone, pitch and rhythm.
    Remixes and covers should have the source clearly identifiable and recognizable.
    In summary, all tracks will be judged to a fairly high standard. If you don't feel your music is at that level, please consider posting it in the Fan Music section of Octavia's Hall instead.

    6. Evaluation: All tracks will be evaluated in the order they are received. Upon evaluation, one of two things will happen:
    Acceptance: Your track will be posted in a blog entry along with all of the information included in your message body, followed by BMS's critique of the track.
    Rejection: A PM will be sent to you in response to your original submission with BMS's critique of the track, highlighting reasons why the track is below the bar and suggestions for how it could be improved.

    If you have any questions or comments, feel free to comment on this blog post.
  6. DusK
    Download at SoundCloud

    Artist Name: Nikki-Layne
    Track Name: Zecora's Playground


    When people ask me what's missing from the brony music scene, I have several answers. One of those answers is "inspiration". Brony Music Spotlight opens its doors to its first musicians today, Nikki-Layne and Aphelion, and inspiration is the name of the game.

    The track starts off pretty typical, a persistent booming kick that's characterized so many EDM tracks. Around 0:08, that's when the inspiration starts, and it doesn't let up until the tracks over. The track maintains a slow, steady build-up, bringing ethnic instrumentation to a rather basic synth line than encompasses a good portion of the track, with some clever use of modulation to prevent it from getting overly repetitive. The track progresses very nicely throughout while still maintaining a relatively low-key "jungle" feel. Subtle pad use, careful placement of additive percussion, and attention to detail regarding panning and effects help preserve a full soundscape, which otherwise might not be possible considering the almost entire lack of a low-end save for the kick.

    This certainly isn't the tightest EDM production you'll hear, with some odd mixing mainly regarding that main synthline that serves as the lead element for the bulk of the track. And though the wide variety of ethnic instrumentation and careful consideration of panning and effects filled out the soundscape pretty well, the lack of a bass is off-putting and introduction of a bass track, if only subtly, could have done this track a lot of good. What's claimed as a bassline is actually very light on the low frequencies, creating emptiness on the low-end of the track overall.

    Though production could definitely be better in some areas (future submitters: consider this track's production values a baseline for where your production values should be to be considered for BMS, because this track's borderline in that area), the composition is booming with a clear vision. This track is more inspired than many you'll find in the music community. Kudos to Nikki Layne and Aphelion for pumping out a track that cuts through the noise and delivers something new, and here's hoping we get some sharper stuff from them in the future.

    -DusK
  7. DusK

    Brony Music Spotlight FAQ

    By DusK,

    This doesn't really count as an FAQ, as none of these questions have been asked yet, but I'm doing this in anticipation.
     
    What is Brony Music Spotlight?
    Brony Music Spotlight is a blog intended on featuring very high-quality brony music. Currently, the brony music scene lacks an adequate way to highlight the very best music this community makes without regard to who makes it, what style it's in, etc. It also lacks a way for brony musicians to get guaranteed feedback on their music; the most popular sites usually don't give rejection notices, and genuine feedback from experienced musicians is absent from any major site focused on brony music. Pony.fm will almost assuredly have a robust artist/track spotlighting system built into the site that provides a method of getting guaranteed critique, and this blog is intended as a precursor to that feature.
     
    In short, this is a place where any musician, regardless of popularity or musical style, can get the respect they deserve if the quality of their music warrants it, and feedback on how to make their music better if it's not quite there yet.
     
    Sounds great! How do I submit my music?
    See the Submission Standards and Instructions for info on how to submit your music to Brony Music Spotlight.
     
    What's Pony.fm?
    Pony.fm is an in-development brony music hosting site. The site will offer unlimited bandwidth to brony musicians to host their music for free. Notable features of the site include automatic transcoding and tagging of downloads of your music in various formats, detailed stats regarding your songs, off-site sharing through embeds and customized badges, a social experience similar to deviantArt, as well as the music featuring system that this blog is intended to eventually lead into.
     
    In short, Pony.fm will be the place for brony musicians and brony music fans, second-to-none in content hosting and delivery of brony music. For more information, visit Pony.fm.
     
    Why MLP Forums? Why not Tumblr, or any of the other popular blogging sites?
    Two reasons. The first and foremost being that this forum is the largest brony forum community on the Internet right now. The second, but pretty much just as importantly, this site will have inter-connectivity with Pony.fm, where the artist/track spotlight feature will be employed in full. This blog will hopefully be replaced by that artist/track spotlight system on Pony.fm if/when it launches, so it only makes sense for this blog to be here on MLP Forums. I may cross-post entries to Tumblr if I ever feel the need, but right now, I don't.
     
    Hey, hold on a second! What makes you think you're in a position to judge everyone's music and decide what's good and what's not?
    Experience. Specifically, experience beyond what most brony musicians have. I was "raised" by a community that has been doing quality fandom music best since 1999: OverClocked ReMix. If you're not familiar with them, visit the site, but if you don't wanna sift through all of that (though if you like video game music, you really should), I'll give you the rundown: Their quality control system is top-notch, second-to-none on the Internet, and they only accept the best pieces of music remixers have to offer. About 90% of music submitted to that site gets rejected, just to give you an idea of how stringent their standards are.
     
    I've been posted to OverClocked ReMix three times and counting, with one of those being a direct post (meaning it bypassed the Judges Panel entirely), and I'm also directing an album for that site. This all sums up as the following: I have the experience and know-how to produce good music, better than most independent self-taught musicians, and have the ability to critique others' music in an objective and knowledgeable way. It's that knowledge that has allowed me to identify the shortcomings in how brony music is currently being spotlighted on major sites.
     
    Wait, I know about OC ReMix! I may have even been rejected before! If you're judging based on OC ReMix's standards, how is anyone supposed to get featured on Brony Music Spotlight?
    The standards for getting featured on Brony Music Spotlight will be a bit lower than what's required to get your music onto OC ReMix. I recognize that the brony music scene as a whole is still young and inexperienced (most bronies are under the age of 20, according to polling), and I especially recognize that the failings of major brony sites to spotlight quality instead of popularity or specific aesthetics have resulted in a stifling of creative output and growth among the fandom, notably among musicians. These same sites refusing to provide specific reasons for sidelining or rejection also hinders musicians' ability to improve their music, in addition to a lack of transparency that can also hinder creative output. Simply put, aspiring brony musicians are being untrained -- impaired, even -- and kept in the dark. This has created a music scene that in no way matches up to a robust community willing to help others reach new musical heights, OC ReMix being a notable -- if not the most notable -- example.
     
    So for those reasons, I won't be judging music to such a high standard that OC ReMix's panel does, even if I could. This may change in the future, as the fandom as a whole gets better at making music, much like it did with OverClocked ReMix and the video game music arrangement community as a whole.
     
    They have a judges panel. Do you have a judges panel?
    I'm planning on it. Pony.fm's discussed system seems to be leaning toward having a judges panel similar to OC ReMix. Because this blog is intended to be a precursor to that system, I'll also be looking for panelists. If you're an experienced musician and can provide several examples of your work and, even more importantly, examples of you critiquing others' music in a knowledgeable, friendly way, feel free to PM me here on the forums. Keep in mind that I'll be looking only for people that I feel with 100% certainty can objectively and knowledgeably judge music regardless of what name is attached to it or what genre it's done in.
     
    Also keep in mind that, when Pony.fm launches, Feld0 has final say in the selection of panelists if that system goes live. Being a panelist here does not guarantee you will be a panelist on Pony.fm (not even I am guaranteed that role), though it may help your chances quite a bit.
     
    What exactly will happen to this blog when Pony.fm's artist/music spotlighting feature is launched?
    Can't say for sure, actually. The most likely scenario at this point would be that this blog would stop being updated to facilitate the move to a better system, possibly with some sort of recognition for music on Pony.fm that was spotlighted in this blog. We'll just have to wait and see where the cards fall.
     
    Pff. I don't need you or this blog. I've been featured on Equestria Daily/Everfree Network/*insert brony site here*!
    To each his own, but keep in mind, being featured on those sites doesn't mean you're good, nor does being rejected from those sites mean you're bad. Regardless of how you feel about other sites, the fact still remains that there's not a single site, blog, or community that does what BMS aims to do: Review and showcase brony music in a purely objective manner, and provide critique from experienced musicians. Well, at the time, just one experienced musician.
     
    What if I want to get feedback on a track, but don't feel it's good enough to get spotlighted?
    I recommend posting it in the Fan Music section of Octavia's Hall. Feel free to even PM me as well after you've posted it.
     
    I have a question that wasn't answered here!
    Feel free to comment on this blog entry or PM me with your question.
  8. DusK

    It Begins

    By DusK,

    If you know who I am, you may also know my stance on Equestria Daily and their music featuring system.
     
    If you don't, here's my site. If you don't feel like sifting through all the content I have on there, I'll give you the rundown: I'm a pretty damn good musician and music producer, better than much of what you'll find in the brony music community, especially in comparison to the "pop artists" of the fandom. Not tooting my own horn here, just speaking honestly and objectively.
     
    So you're probably wondering, "Why are you making a blog for featuring brony music when EqD does that already?"
     
    The short answer is that EqD and other similar, well-known sites fail to deliver quality consistently, and fail to provide feedback on submissions and transparency on their decisions at all. If you're interested in the long answer, keep reading.
     
    Before getting into this, let me make one thing perfectly clear, because I know it's bound to come up. I'm not "butthurt about my music not being on EqD". I have no reason to be. Out of the 6 full-length tracks of brony music I have made so far, three were spotlighted, two were featured in Music of the Day posts, leaving
    rejection (though the rejected track, when compared to what EqD was spotlighting at the time, pretty much solidified the point I'm about to make here). This isn't about "not being able to get on EqD", because I've been there, I've done that, and it's nothing special. 
    A large problem with the brony music community is that so much of it hinges on EqD (though recently, Everfree Network seems to be following suit). EqD is where most bronies go to get their music. What music is posted to EqD is decided entirely by a group of pre-listeners. As a result, the goal of most up-and-coming brony musicians is to get featured on EqD, the biggest site in the fandom for brony music, much like the goal of most up-and-coming video game music arrangers is to get posted on OverClocked ReMix, the biggest site for video game music remixes.
     
    But where OC ReMix has a judges panel consisting of some of the most experienced, knowledgeable, and unbiased musicians, EqD lacks this entirely. Based on information that I have recieved from EqD's staff, EqD's decisions are rooted almost entirely in subjectivity. As a result, objectively speaking, tracks are spotlighted that don't deserve to be, tracks are put into Music of the Day posts that deserve to be spotlighted, and tracks that deserve to be featured are rejected outright. In short, being posted to OverClocked ReMix means you're unquestionably good at music, and being featured on EqD means absolutely nothing. This often gives bad musicians that win EqD's little "hat draw" a false sense of accomplishment and talent, while being a spit in the face to musicians who are actually good at music whenever a good track is rejected or put into the leftovers.
     
    The problem doesn't stop there. Another major issue is that EqD's pre-listening process is done in private, with absolutely no access to critique from the pre-listeners, and is done on-the-spot with little time for analytics and objectivity. Because of this, the reasons for acceptance or rejection of any track, and the reasons for choosing whether to spotlight or MotD a track, are completely absent to the musician. In essence, not only is EqD's staff stifling recognition of the truly talented and creative within the brony music community, but they also hinder artist growth by not making critique public. They also damage their own reputation in this way, because it's impossible to know exactly why they are so bad at what they do; we have no way of knowing just what degrees of inexperience and bias are a factor in their terrible decisions, or who is responsible for that inexperience and bias.
     
    Though many in the community know full well of EqD's shortcomings and see it for the purely subjective blog it is, far too many musicians (especially newer ones) still believe that EqD's system is legitimately objective and creates a standard, despite there never being one in the first place other than "It sounds good to Sethisto's subjective musical tastes, and he's cool with the musician that made it for whatever reason". Too many brony musicians make it a goal to get on a site that they believe has a quantifiable standard, and end up setting themselves up for either undue merit or disappointment.
     
    So yeah, that's the long answer. Now on to how I'm going to help with that problem.
     
    One of the often talked-about planned features of Pony.fm is the creation of a "Featured Artists" or "Featured Tracks" aspect of the site that will showcase exceptionally well-done brony music within the community. I have suggested the idea of using many of the concepts that have rendered OC ReMix so good at doing what they do in Pony.fm's music featuring system. Some of these concepts include:
    A judges panel of competent, experienced, and unbiased musicians and music critics
    A forum-based judging process so judges aren't rushed
    And a judging process that makes the decisions and the critique responsible for those decisions available not just to artists themselves, but to everyone.

    Unfortunately, this system won't be available for quite some time, if ever (Things could change). So to get a leg up, I'm starting this blog with the intention that it will eventually be the "go-to" for MLP Forums members and maybe a larger portion of the brony community to find the best of the best that the brony music community has to offer, and for talented musicians that would otherwise be shafted by EqD and EFR to be given a chance to shine.
     
    But here's the kicker: What music I feature on the blog will be entirely submitted by the artists themselves. Much as OverClocked ReMix gets its submissions from the artists, and gives feedback to those artists, so will I. Details on how to submit music will be posted in the another entry soon.
     
    Why MLP Forums? Mainly because of MLP Forums' connection with Pony.fm, but also because MLP Forums makes it easy to bring your own input to a blog post. I may copy these entries to a Tumblr blog or something if I ever feel the need, but MLP Forums and Pony.fm are intended to be the foundation of a grand hub for the brony community, and rather than avoid that, I want to contribute to it.
     
    The short of it is, if you're a brony music fan who's looking for great music, or a musician who's looking to get noticed in a fandom where the top sites actively work to suppress your talent in favor of popular mediocrity or specific aesthetics, keep an eye on this blog. If you're an aspiring musician looking to measure your music to a standard and get feedback from another experienced musician in order to better your own music, this blog is for you as well.
     
    Get ready to raise your hooves.
     
    ~Dustin "DusK" Branscum
  9. DusK
    https://pony.fm/tracks/750-daybreak-ft-rhyme-flow
     
    No long writeup or anything for this one. I'm sure I don't have to tell you all that Cherax is undeniably amazing, and by some chance you don't know it yet, it's time to crawl out of your rock. This is easily some of the best hip-hop to come out of this fandom.
     
    -DusK
  10. DusK
    https://pony.fm/tracks/94-babs-seed-anorax-remix
     
    I'm gonna start this off with one of my personal favorites from the fandom.
     
    Whenever someone tries to tell me that EQD does a good job of filtering out bad music and spotlighting good music, I do two things: First, I point them to a post on EQD where they spotlighted a rather... amateurish, to be nice... metal take on "Winter Wrap Up". The second thing I do is drop -- not one of my tracks on them, as some might believe me self-absorbed enough to do -- but this amazing take on "Babs Seed" that was rejected because the EQD pre-listeners don't know what the hell they're doing.
     
    If they need more convincing after that, I can keep it going, of course; there are years of examples for me to work off of. But I'm not posting this to rant about a crappy site. I'm posting this to highlight some sweet brony music.
     
    I know some of you may have seen this on Brony Music Spotlight back before my first little forum hiatus. And this remix right here is one of the reasons I adopted the "if you made a show remix that passed BMS and submit it to PRS, it's an auto-pass" rule. One listen to the track should tell you why; aside from some sound effects (which can't really be removed cleanly without compromising the vocal audio anyway) and a minor composition criticism, this track is unbelievably catchy, and a very unique take on the source.
     
    I'm not a big fan of electronica. Actually, considering how saturated the brony music scene is with it (and largely under-produced and uninspired at that), I kinda find brony electronica kind of difficult to enjoy. So to be not only an exception, but a standout, that really takes something.
     
    j00jcat gives this one two paws up.
     

     
    -DusK
  11. DusK

    Take Two

    By DusK,

    Hi. I'm DusK. If you know me, cool. If not, here's where you can read up a bit on me.
     
    On February 26, 2013, I opened Brony Music Spotlight, a blog intended to address a critical problem in the fandom. It's a problem that, unfortunately, remains to this day:
     
    There's not a single place on the Internet where brony music gets reviewed objectively, or featured with a consistent standard of quality.
     
    My experience during the short time I ran Brony Music Spotlight showed me a lot. Through those lessons, I've decided to make key changes, and I also decided that the best way to implement those changes would be to create a separate blog entirely, to be more of an evolution, or a sequel, rather than a continuation. And thus, Pony Remix Spotlight is born.
     
    Pony Remix Spotlight is focused around three key changes:
    A focus on show remixes and covers. I chose this for two reasons, which can be found in the FAQ, but the short version is that I wanted the blog to focus on this particular niche of fandom music which no other site focuses exclusively on, while eliminating any doubt that the music being submitted to be featured is indeed pony music.
    A judges panel. This time around, I'm going to be pushing very hard on recruiting a judges panel, so that multiple critics can weigh on any given submission. A judge-based voting system helps create a consistent quality standard.
    Official affiliation with Pony.fm. Brony Music Spotlight was intended to be a precursor to the artist/music featuring system being discussed. The idea for the judges panel, aside from creating a quality standard, was to create a pool of candidates qualified to be judges for Pony.fm's system when it launches. This blog will see that reach fruition, and more, as an official branch of Pony.fm.

    Through all of this, the Internet will obtain a place where the very best remixes and covers of MLP:FiM's songs can be found, while also paving the way for Pony.fm to be the one place on the Internet where the very best of all types of brony music is highlighted.
     
    I hope you enjoy your time checking out this blog in the future, and if you feel like you have the chops to be a reviewer, check out the recruitment thread for more information.
     
    -DusK
  12. DusK
    What is Pony Remix Spotlight?
    Pony Remix Spotlight is a spiritual successor blog to Brony Music Spotlight, intended on featuring high-quality remixes and covers of songs from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. It's also the precursor to Pony.fm's Hall of Fame, a planned artist/music spotlighting system.
     
    Currently, the brony music scene lacks an adequate way to highlight the very best music this community makes without regard to who makes it, what style it's in, etc. It also lacks a way for brony musicians to get guaranteed feedback on their music; the most popular sites usually don't give rejection notices, and genuine feedback from experienced musicians is absent from any major site focused on brony music. Pony.fm will change that, boasting a well-rounded judges panel of experienced and capable music judges that will work to highlight the most exceptional tracks on the site.
     
    Additionally, a niche I've been seeing go more and more unfilled is the show song remixing side of the fandom's music scene, which is, in my honest opinion, one of the greatest ways to pay homage to the show itself. Additionally, there's currently no place where a fan of the show's music can go and be greeted with only high-quality remixes and covers of the show's music. This blog aims to take care of that as well.
     
    In short, this is a place where any musician, regardless of popularity or musical style, can get the respect they deserve if the quality of their remixes or covers warrants it, and feedback on how to make their music better if it's not quite there yet, as well as a place where fans of Daniel Ingram's compositions can go to find the absolute best remixes of the show's music.
     
    Why only show remixes/covers?
    Two reasons.
     
    1. As an OverClocked ReMixer, I understand that arranging another's piece of music is an art form in itself, and a way to feature that art form specifically as it relates to compositions created for the show is absent from the Internet. So I decided to create it.
     
    2. A problem that frequently comes up within the fandom's music scene (and during Brony Music Spotlight's uptime) is often whether or not a piece of music is considered "pony". Far too often, musicians will create pieces of original music, completely uninspired by the show, and then label them as "pony music", sticking a piece of pony art or screencap on them or giving them a pony name in hopes that they might get exposure from popular brony music outlets. By keeping submissions solely to remixes of the show's songs, any doubts of whether or not a piece of music submitted is "pony music" is erased.
     
    Why not remixes of other brony music?
    As cool as those remixes are, original, non-MLP:FiM music, including remixes of original music, falls outside the scope of what I'm trying to accomplish in this blog. This blog is intended to focus solely on remixes of songs that are from the show. I feel that there's no other type of music within the fandom that pays tribute to the show as much as directly remixing music from it.
     
    Sounds great! How do I submit my music?
    See the Submission Standards and Instructions for info on how to submit your music to Pony Remix Spotlight.
     
    What's Pony.fm?
    Pony.fm is an in-development brony music hosting site. The site offers unlimited bandwidth to brony musicians to host their music for free. Notable features of the site include automatic transcoding and tagging of downloads of your music in various formats, detailed stats regarding your songs, off-site sharing through embeds and customized badges, a social experience similar to deviantArt, as well as the music featuring system that this blog will eventually lead into.
     
    In short, Pony.fm is the place for brony musicians and brony music fans, second-to-none in content hosting and delivery of brony music. For more information, visit Pony.fm.
     
    Why MLP Forums? Why not Tumblr, or any of the other popular blogging sites?
    Two reasons. The first and foremost being that this forum is the largest brony forum community on the Internet right now. The second, but pretty much just as importantly, this site has inter-connectivity with Pony.fm, where the artist/track spotlight feature will be employed in full. This blog will be replaced by that artist/track spotlight system on Pony.fm when it launches, so it only makes sense for this blog to be here on MLP Forums.
     
    Didn't you leave MLP Forums before? Something about a moderator decision?
    Yes, I did. But I came back mainly because this forum is being run by one of the only renowned people in the entire fandom I can be sure is a decent person. I'm still keeping the reason for my previous departure confidential, solely out of respect for Feld0, as it still remains (and likely will always remain) an unfixed issue. But I intend to stay here on MLP Forums as long as Feld0 keeps being rad dude overall.
     
    Hey, hold on a second! What makes you think you're in a position to judge everyone's music and decide what's good and what's not?
    Experience. Specifically, experience beyond what most brony musicians have. I was "raised" by a community that has been doing quality fandom music best since 1999: OverClocked ReMix. If you're not familiar with them, visit the site, but if you don't wanna sift through all of that (though if you like video game music, you really should), I'll give you the rundown: Their quality control system is top-notch, second-to-none on the Internet, and they only accept the best pieces of music remixers have to offer. About 90% of music submitted to that site gets rejected, just to give you an idea of how stringent their standards are.
     
    I've been posted to OverClocked ReMix several times and counting, even direct-posted (meaning my track(s) have been of a quality to bypass the Judges Panel entirely). I've also directed an album for that site. This all sums up as the following: I have the experience and know-how to produce good music, better than most independent self-taught musicians, and have the ability to critique others' music in an objective and knowledgeable way in order to create a consistent quality standard and promote musician growth. It's that knowledge that has allowed me to identify the shortcomings in how brony music is currently being handled on other major sites.
     
    Wait, I know about OC ReMix! I may have even been rejected before! If you're judging based on OC ReMix's standards, how is anyone supposed to get featured on Pony Remix Spotlight?
    The standards for getting featured on Pony Remix Spotlight will be a bit lower than what's required to get your music onto OC ReMix. I recognize that the brony music scene as a whole is still young and inexperienced, and I especially recognize that the failings of all major brony sites to spotlight quality instead of popularity or specific aesthetics have resulted in a stifling of creative output and growth among the fandom, notably among musicians. These same sites refusing to provide specific reasons for sidelining or rejection also hinders musicians' ability to improve their music, in addition to a lack of transparency that can also hinder creative output. Simply put, aspiring brony musicians are being untrained -- impaired, even -- and kept in the dark. This has created a music scene that in no way matches up to a robust community willing to help others reach new musical heights, OC ReMix being a notable -- if not the most notable -- example.
     
    So for those reasons, I won't be judging music to such a high standard that OC ReMix's panel does, even if I could. This may change in the future, as the fandom as a whole gets better at making music, much like it did with OverClocked ReMix and the video game music arrangement community as a whole.
     
    OverClocked ReMix has a judges panel. Do you have a judges panel?
    It's planned on being one of the core features of the blog. A capable judges panel is essential for creating quality standard. Additionally, the judges panel of this blog will provide a pool of capable candidates for the judges panel of Pony.fm's Hall of Fame, at Feld0's discretion per candidate.
     
    What if I made a remix that qualifies for Pony Remix Spotlight that was previously featured on Brony Music Spotlight?
    Then it's eligible to be reposted to this blog! Keep in mind, though, requesting a repost will count as a submission, meaning you will have to wait the delay period before submitting again. I'm doing this by request only, rather than snatching all of the qualifying posts from BMS right from the get-go, because there may be some people who do not wish their tracks to be reposted to this blog. But hey, if you wanna be on PRS, it's a free pass!
     
    If you'd like your track to be reposted, simply send me a PM. No need to adhere to the Submission Standards and Instructions.
     
    What exactly will happen to this blog when Pony.fm's artist/music spotlighting feature is launched?
    The blog will cease to be updated. There will be no need for it to continue; Pony.fm will be the place to go for not only the best remixes and covers of songs from the show, but the best brony music of all types.
     
    Pff. I don't need you or this blog. I've been featured on Equestria Daily/Everfree Network/*insert brony site here*!
    To each his own, but keep in mind, being featured on those sites doesn't mean you're good, nor does being rejected from those sites mean you're bad. To date, all of the major sites that feature brony music are notorious for doing a terrible job of creating a consistent standard and remaining unbiased in their selections. Regardless of how you feel about other sites, the fact still remains that there's not a single site, blog, or community that does what PRS aims to do: Review and showcase MLP:FiM remixes and covers in a purely objective manner, and provide critique from experienced musicians.
     
    What if I want to get feedback on a track, but don't feel it's good enough to get spotlighted?
    I recommend posting it in the Fan Music section of Octavia's Hall. I'd also suggest you note in your thread title that you're looking for feedback, as there may be PRS judges panel hopefuls looking to create examples of their work for me to look at when considering them for recruitment.
     
    Feel free to even PM me as well after you've posted it. Keep in mind that informal requests for my feedback may be delayed; actual submissions to PRS will always take priority.
     
    Remixes and covers only, huh? Sounds suspicious, considering your brony music is almost exclusively covers. Are you going to be featuring your own music on the blog?
    I seriously doubt it. I feel like right now that would be far too self-serving. The only way I would honestly be okay with my music being on this blog when I finally get a judges panel together, at which point my music would have to be submitted, judged, and if passed, posted like any other track. Until then, no, you won't find my tracks here.
     
    Besides, I have hundreds of fans already, and I've seen too many awesome musicians in the low double-digits. Let's see if we can focus on getting those guys some exposure first.
     
    I have a question that wasn't answered here!
    Feel free to comment on this blog entry or PM me with your question.
  13. DusK
    To submit music for consideration for Pony Remix Spotlight, follow these instructions.
     
    PM me* in a new personal conversation using the following guidelines.
     
    *While I am currently the only evaluator for Pony Remix Spotlight, this will change in the future.
     
    1. Message Subject: The Message Subject should have a PRS tag ([PRS]) at the beginning, followed by the track name. If your track has an original name, it should follow the [PRS] tag, and have the source(s) in parenthesis. Example:
     
    [PRS] Fashun (Winter Wrap Up)
    [PRS] This Barn is Going to Be Perfect (Raise This Barn, This Day Aria)
     
    Otherwise, use the name(s) of the song(s), followed by your name, any contributing artists' names, and the word "Remix", all in parenthesis. Examples:
     
    [PRS] Babs Seed (Anorax Remix)
    [PRS] Becoming Popular (DusK, Corralfur Remix)
    [PRS] Smile Song, Welcome Song (Feld0 Remix)
     
    If you are unsure what the name of the source song is, refer to this list.
     
    If you hit the Message Body character limit, just put in as much as you can. Don't truncate or reformat your track's title.
     
    2. Message Body: The message body must contain the following information.
     
    Artist Name(s):
    Track Name (if your remix has an original name):
    Source Song(s):
    Link to your track:
     
    The message body may also contain the following.
     
    Artist Website (just one):
    Twitter handle (I tweet all PRS blog posts, so put your Twitter handle in the message if you want to be @mentioned):
    Your comments on the track:
     
    For the Artist Name(s) field, the names of all contributing artists must be present. If you worked with vocalists, guitarists, other producers, they must be credited as well.
     
    3. Format: Your track must be hosted on Pony.fm.
     
    4. Time delay: Please wait one week between your own submissions. Any submission that is less than one week from his/her prior submission will be immediately deleted. This time delay only applies per MLP Forums user.
     
    * This time delay may increase as submission load demands.
     
    5. Music Production Guidelines: Guidelines for music are as follows:
    Music from any genre is acceptable, as long as the genre itself does not conflict with any other submission criteria. All submissions will be judged objectively.
    The music must be cleanly and clearly produced. Recordings should be reasonably free of distortion, hum, clicks, pops, or other unintentional audio artifacts. Volume levels should be normal compared to the average recording.
    Production must show significant attention to sound quality, production values, mixing, mastering, and utilization of effects. Synthesized and sampled elements must be reasonably sophisticated. General MIDI sounds from low-budget soundcards are not sufficient when superior samples are available online for free. Chiptunes are an exception, but will still be judged according to all other criteria. Monophonic, unprocessed chiptune tracks are discouraged and may be subject to direct rejection. Submissions should be mixed with regard to volume, panning, and effects so that individual elements are clear and an appropriate sense of space is maintained.
    Overusing common presets, relying heavily on prerecorded loops, or employing nothing but basic tones is discouraged. Tracks should consist primarily of music created by you. Extensive use of prerecorded loops or musical pieces either provided with your DAW, by others, or from any outside sources will result in track rejection.
    Your track must differentiate itself to a substantial degree from the original song. Usage of show audio in your track is restricted to vocal rips and dialogue audio; no other musical recordings from the show may be used. Composition differences in instrumentation are encouraged, but direct covers are allowed if they're substantially different in performance (i,e., performed with live instruments, or created in a different genre entirely). Taking an existing MIDI file and assigning new instruments does not count as substantial or original arrangement. Mashups or vocal performances over a "karaoke" version consisting primarily of show audio will be rejected.
    Instrumental and vocal performances should be recorded clearly. Performances should be well-executed with regard to tone, pitch and rhythm. Vocal and dialogue rips should be reasonably free of the show's instrumentation.
    Remixes should have the source clearly identifiable and recognizable.
    In summary, all tracks will be judged to a fairly high standard. If you don't feel your music is at that level, please consider posting it in the Fan Music section of Octavia's Hall instead.

    6. Evaluation: All tracks will be evaluated in the order they are received. Upon evaluation, one of two things will happen:
    Acceptance: Your track will be posted in a blog entry along with all of the information included in your message body, followed by PRS's critique of the track.
    Rejection: A PM will be sent to you in response to your original submission with PRS's critique of the track, highlighting reasons why the track is below the bar and suggestions for how it could be improved.

    If you have any questions or comments regarding these standards and/or instructions, feel free to comment on this blog post.
  14. DusK
    If you've seen my previous two status updates on this forum (update 1) (update 2), you probably know that large changes to Brony Music Spotlight are coming. I'm making this post to both outline these changes and announce my indefinite leave from MLP Forums.
     
    Yesterday, I discovered a decision made by the moderators and/or administrators of MLP Forums that I find to be extremely disagreeable, to the point where I can no longer bring myself to be a part of this forum community. I can't explicitly say what that moderator/administrator decision was, so don't ask.
     
    I can't just up and leave though, because of all that I've invested here, in Brony Music Spotlight, as a means to finally give the brony music scene a legitimate way to spotlight great music within the fandom. So I slept on it, and deliberated what the future of this blog would be. I have decided, despite the little interest in the blog that currently exists, to continue running Brony Music Spotlight and move it to a more neutral ground; Tumblr.
     
    This will of course mean that the submission process will change for musicians. Those changes will be outlined in a specific page on the Tumblr blog when I get it set up. Submissions are not closing. Until the Tumblr blog is set up, I'll still be taking submissions as PMs here on MLP Forums as outlined by the current Submission Standards and Instructions. All rejected tracks will still be reviewed same-day on weekdays by PM. All approved tracks will be held and posted to the new blog when it's set up. All current BMS tracks' entries will be moved over as well.
     
    You can find the new Brony Music Spotlight blog at http://bronymusicspotlight.tumblr.com
     
    I'd like to thank all of the musicians that have submitted to Brony Music Spotlight in the past, particularly Freewave and Anorax for their more direct support and advertisement, and Feld0 for advertising Brony Music Spotlight on the forums while he did.
     
    -DusK
     
    Edit (07/13/2013): I have returned to MLP Forums, but have decided to indefinitely close Brony Music Spotlight. I am considering a more niche brony music review blog, but if I start it up, there will be a few key differences in how it's run and exactly what content can be submitted.
  15. DusK
    Track Name: "Carnival Cat vs. Ponyville

    Artists: Sand Josieph, PKEmi, Emichwan88, MsIkarishipper, AlisaBethification, The AshGirl, krisdageekqueen, ILuvBoysInDresses, Saminat, Amelia Bedelia, Ocarinaplaya, Ocarinaplaya's Sister (Kat), MorbidButterflyProd, Nraco Wolf, xxxdigital, linksbro1, xmleaderx2006




    Brony Music Spotlight is back! And what better way to bring it back from the dead than an epic, 17-artist collaboration?

    Today's Spotlight comes once again from the extremely talented (and, imo, massively underappreciated) Sand Josieph, recruiting the talents of PKEmi and a massive assortment of vocalists and musicians from all over the fandom. This huge undertaking took the better part of 2012 for Sand Josieph to put together, but as you can clearly hear, it paid off in a pretty big way.

    Sand Josieph brings back some of that sinister, haunting, and almost groove-driven orchestral work that sounds like something straight out of a blockbuster Broadway musical. Everything about this track, from beginning to end, is impeccable, with the only issues being some clipping that's more likely than not a result of YouTube's compression rather than any mistake on Sand Josieph's part. The music is masterfully composed, the vocals are well-executed (save for a couple of slight, almost unnoticeable hiccups) and well-mixed, but where this track really shines is how well the vocal parts are composed and implemented.

    Overall, this is a near-flawless piece of art, and you'd be doing yourself a disservice by not giving it a listen.

    -DusK
  16. DusK
    Artist Name: Cherax Destructor (http://cheraxdestructor.bandcamp.com)
    Track Name: Sister

    Download at Pony.fm


    It's nice to see that my negativity did at least some good in this world.

    One of the biggest reasons I made this blog is because people of equal or often greater abilities and talent than the "top-tier" brony musicians aren't getting the recognition they deserve. That purpose is met here today, easily, with Cherax Destructor's "Sister", a track rivaling many of the "greats" in this fandom easily.

    Nice, airy synths rev up right away, pumping out a chord progression that sets the mood quite fittingly for the rest of the track, a mainstay that works well with the other elements in the track later on. Cue heavily processed vocal work that lays -- I wanna say inside the soundscape -- rather than on top of it as vocals do, in a way that doesn't sound off-putting even if a little buried. The vocal work in itself is pretty well-done as well, working wonderfully with the processing in a way not heard often in brony music. Carefully placed down-tempo percussive elements, with an extremely impressive attention to detail become more and more prevalent as the track moves forward.

    Though the track could have been a bit less muddy in the higher registers and a bit more expressive in the lows, it still remains a well-rounded piece that's sure to titillate anyone's ears, especially those who are into really atmospheric, ambient electronica.

    Though this review may seem a little short compared to some others, it's because there's really not a lot to say. This amazing track is really at a level that speaks for itself. I can't rip on composition or production (at least, not very much) here; they're both top-notch. Be sure to hit this one up and load it onto your portable listening device of choice, and keep an eye on this guy, because this is one dude who definitely knows what he's doing.

    -DusK
  17. DusK
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8bN7lJMAPc


    Artist Name: concertoldham (http://www.youtube.com/user/concertoldham)
    Track Name: The Night Will Last Forever



    Oooh, my first scheduled blog post. How exciting!

    Today's Spotlight that I totally wrote yesterday comes to us from concertoldham, known to some here on MLP Forums as Maxwell The Damaged, and the night is definitely what this track embodies.

    Right from the beginning of the track, the choices in instrumentation and notation reflect a somberness that's characteristic of many tracks revolving around Luna/Nightmare Moon in the fandom, but the way Max does it is very mood-setting and thematic. It reminds me of some of Mitsuda's work on Chrono Trigger, with a clever piano piece leading into the track as it builds and remaining as a mainstay throughout in a way that doesn't seem repetitive by being pushed to the background in favor of other instruments throughout. The combination of timpani and the way the strings are textured, in addition to the chosen chord progression, make it sound Egyptian or Middle-Eastern. The leads are simplistic when they're there, but the lack of complexity is presented in a way that preserves the feel of the track. Something more energetic would have broken that mood.

    The production is pretty solid as well, save for a rather quantized, static piano and, in a few places, woodwinds. The timpani is rather repetitive as well, but doesn't detract too much from the track as a whole thanks to variation in all the other instruments.

    This really is one piece that embodies its title quite well in this piece, and does it in a fantastic way. The night is definitely there, and if you stick this on repeat, it truly can last forever. Excellent work from concertoldham.

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

    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
  19. DusK
    https://pony.fm/tracks/94-babs-seed-anorax-remix
     
    Artist Name: Anorax (http://youtube.com/user/anoraxaudio)
    Track Name: Babs Seed [Anorax Remix]
    Remix Source: Babs Seed

    A double-feature of under-recognized music is a great way to kick Brony Music Spotlight off, right?
     
    Anorax treats us today with his take on "Babs Seed", a song that boomed with popularity shortly after its respective episode aired thanks to its absurdly catchy nature. Anorax's remix builds on that with his smooth, almost calming take on the piece. From beginning to end, the track focuses on warm synths to set a low-tempo mood throughout, aided by its basic, snare-absent percussion and the occasional piano bit that works well thanks to the track's initial organic feel, which is something that I feel a lot of EDM producers overlook.
     
    Like the track posted earlier today, Anorax's production is a bit iffy in several parts of the track. Some of the more melodic synths end up buried under the vocals, which is a shame because if you can hear those synths clearly, it works in a fantastic way with the backing chord progression and the vocals. Vocals which, by the way, are unfortunately riddled with sound effects from the show that come dangerously close to breaking the mood of the remix (though I can't knock him a whole lot for that, a clean a cappella rip is pretty much impossible to get, and getting singers for a re-do of the vocal tracks would be just as difficult).
     
    Those issues are definitely not enough to warrant rejection considering the extremely impressive compositional qualities of the piece, and as a fellow member OC ReMix and a frequent dancer on ReMixing With the Stars, I expect we'll be hearing some vastly improved music from Anorax in the future. For now, tap your fingers to this track.
     
    -DusK
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