Also somehow I got three scores with 4.20 ms mean. That can’t be a coincidence (Blight Mamba #3, #5 and #6) lmao.
Blight Mamba reviews:
1)
This style is very technical, and I think it works for this song. You clearly have a plan in regards to the structure of your file, and you rigidly stick to that format that you set for yourself.
There are some patterns in there that are really cool, and a few others that are quite frustrating to hit, but generally there’s not too much to complain about. At this point, you just have to work on getting familiar with different layering techniques and direction control. When you stick to generic patterns against a rhythm without much of a purpose other than “I need to do something different” that’s when you know you need to expand your repertoire a little bit.
Pretty good, nothing to write home about though, but keep at it and try to go out of your comfort zone a little bit. 6/10
2)
Clean patterns, fun patterns. Lots of cool syncopation, and modest layering that doesn’t go crazy. Difficulty control is excellent, minefields are interesting without being obstructing, and great intensity. I feel like I’m actually following all of the interesting sounds in the music.
The climax does feel a bit underwhelming, but the jacks do help a lot. The miniholds definitely need to be shorter and lighter. It also wouldn’t hurt to see a couple more chords, but at least there isn’t anything noticeably off about it. 7/10
3)
I appreciate the big chords in the chorus. I love those fat chunky patterns on the big fat synths.
Unfortunately, that’s as much as I can positive to say about this. This is pretty aggravating to play due to the long holds. This is an example of specifically how not to layer. There are many different choices and methods for layering, and I feel like with more experimentation you could easily find combinations that are way nicer than this.
Maybe this is how you like it, and that’s fantastic, but it’s certainly not very palatable for players in general. Technical accuracy can also be sacrificed for the sake of being fun. 5/10
4)
This one is very similar to 3, except the good part isn’t as good and the bad part isn’t as bad.
I get that the music is repetitive and you want to choose a repetitive pattern to reflect that aesthetic. That’s not a bad idea on its own, but the issue is that if you’re going to repeat a pattern over and over again, you have to make sure that pattern is really fun or interesting, or else it just becomes frustrating very quickly. A lot of the patterns here are just insanely tricky to hit and aren’t all that exciting.
During the chorus, the big chords should be really exciting, but because there’s so much 16th stream surrounding it, the chords don’t have any punch to them, they don’t feel sticky or intense at all.
All of the miniholds, while I know what they are supposed to follow, I don’t actually get a feel of it because those notes are everywhere and it’s super fast. The patterns should speak for themselves. If you need to specifically highlight the instrument you’re following with miniholds, that’s a sign that you should work your patterns and techniques. 4.5/10
5)
The large majority of this chart is fantastic. Tight crispy patterns and big fat chords on the chorus, great buildup of intensity and excellent smooth pattern choices.
Minor complaints would be for instance layering the hi-hats in the second half of the chorus. I understand it’s to further build to a climax and add some variation, but at that point it’s starting to get really dense and it’s taking away from the punchy chords.
I appreciate the attempt to try something different in the ending section, and perhaps you were also trying to add some difficulty to the end, but I think it’s a bit much and starts to feel too heavy and awkward.
Generally really fun. 7.5/10
6)
There’s a few good patterns in here, but the rest of it feels like complete disregard of what is going on in the music, just random (albeit structured) notes thrown about. The dense miniholds don’t really help matters either, as it becomes difficult to see what’s going on or tell what the miniholds are going to. 4/10
7)
The approach to tackle this with a higher difficulty is not a bad idea; a song with straightforward rhythms and is fairly technical tends to have a lot of potential for more heavy streams.
However, there was a lot of artistic liberty taken with the rolls (I don’t normally agree with making those held sounds rolls, but for the sake of increasing difficulty I can give it some due credit).
There are a couple of chunky patterns which are pretty fun, but the rest of it is such a huge difference in difficulty, and to make things worse, the patterns are pretty aggressive, and not very smooth.
I would like to try to be as non-assuming as possible given that the chart is too difficult for myself to play and judge the feel and flow appropriately. In that view, this is definitely a very spicy chart, and I’m not sure how palatable that spice level is, and I think I’d prefer more compliments to cut that spice with some actual flavor. 4.5/10
Birdo II
Chart 1 Comments:
- Good difficulty curve, very playable
- Small glut bursts accenting throughout the chart, bringing some variety between the js patterns, keeping the chart engaging. Same goes for the occasional 32nds and 48ths
- Mild hold usage, goes along to the music well
Overall I like this chart, it is fun to acc on 1.0 and fun to aa on uprates. the overall chill patterning also compliments the atmosphere of the song, giving it high replayability. 8/10
Chart 2 Comments:
- Unplayable spikes
- 90% of the notes goes to nothing, and the remaining 10% goes to the drums, ignoring all other instruments present
- The chart plays better when you mute the audio
0/10
1 Like
Birdo II reviews:
1)
There’s a sign of maturity here that a lot of other artists should learn from. Once you become very proficient at making your patterns flow and controlling directional influence, you can take small variations of basic stream patterns like 1234 and make them really shine, as if they were taking you on a journey. Not only that, even after the notes change, the artist here had a concept in mind and had the discipline to keep the notes the same, but mix them up when maintaining flow required it.
Overall, the only criticism from me is a subjective one, and that is I hate long holds with lots of stuff around it. I don’t like the feeling of needing to keeping my finger down while the other fingers are having fun tapping away. Most everything about this is smooth, structured, and smart. 8/10
2)
I’m not comfortable reviewing an avant-garde “dump” file, if this even is a serious attempt at one. na/10
2 Likes
Birdo:
1.Taiwanese accurate chart. That’s it. People can ever imagine what it looks like by these few words.
2.Good in note arrangement but not fit in this song. Seems like the chart was trying to fit in ‘community taste’.
Blah:
1.I have to say there’s no pitch on these 1/4 drums. And Etterna is not a place for dancing in goa trance music for several hours. Such a note arrangement like that only let me feeling sleepy.
2.A chart from xxx!xxxxx? I feel bored and unpleasant with these mines.
3.Good.
4.I saw unsynced notes on voices, lazy mirrors and confusing jumpjacks like my charts:).
5.Korean betweenaccurateanddump chart. And usually 1/768 gap between the end of a noodle and another note which is really annoying.
6.Hiding under these unpleasant mines and noodles there’s a terrifying amazing note arrangement!
7.The best resting section in all blahs but these sudden streamy jumptrills are really being a disadvantage of this chart.
8.Behaviour Art Chart. I do have some sense in the note arrangement of this chart but uhhh/…
9.Good but there are quite a few small problems which mostly in the last half of this chart.
10.Lifts and rolls are not being an advantage of this chart but even annoying and unpleasant. Supposed to get hired by Muse Dash or an other multi-note-type commercial rhythm games.
1 Like
Birdo 1: | AA | (W)
A mostly accurate chart that plays it a little safe in a few regards. It feels a bit odd that the percussion is only charted occasionally, especially during the (same) verse that plays in the beginning and before the end. Makes good use of the occasional non-16th rhythms that are there. I do like what you’re doing with the holds and miniholds a lot here, especially at the end, but I wish you used them more in other sections. There’s a lot of places where those miniholds could have done wonders to distinguish different types of sounds from each other, for example separating the higher-octave arp from the lower-octave in the verse I mentioned previously. Also, overall good PR in the sections where it’s used.
Birdo 2: | C |
Listen here man. You can’t take a scintill song choice and turn it into a chart from a minty pack. Hell, as far as I could tell the only pattern that actually paid attention to the song was the 24ths to the guitar. Paid a bit better attention to percussion, didn’t pay enough attention to the piano. Looking back at the chart in preview, what confuses me the most is that you didn’t even pay attention to the few flams and 32nds that were actually in the song. Those would have made complete sense to emphasize in a chart like this. I’m also now noticing how inconsistent the layering and patterning is, same sounds are being charted completely differently. You need to get out of your comfort zone man. You can’t force your style onto a song if the song doesn’t support it.
1 Like
Really unfortunate that this song only had 3 entries. Although it’s probably the hardest to chart well, the payoff for such a banger is so, so worth it.
New Vectors 3: | A |
Plays it far, far too safe. Doesn’t emphasize the nuance of the chart enough. As in, there’s a lot of stuff that felt it should have been charted but was just ignored. Mostly consistent layering/patterning, save for the rolls which were inconsistently used and imo not used as well as they could have been. Used holds in a few places better than others. Incorporates the 32nd streams without making them a spike, unlike 1. A solid foundation, but lacks the nuance this song calls for.
New Vectors 2: | AA. |
I don’t get the 48th fakes thing. I would rather play the game then watch the game, you know? It feels really odd to have a section that’s so intense just be nothing. That and I don’t exactly like the idea that you have to deliberately spoil the chart in order to make it sightreadable. Whatever, it’s a minor issue really, moving on. Really nice use of holds and miniholds. Great PR, good mine usage. I appreciated the the deliberate repeated jacks on the same column. I have a bit of gripes with the layering of the glutes, there are a few jumps that don’t feel all that justified. Needs some ironing out to make it more accurate, but overall a pretty damn neat chart that’s fun to play.
New Vectors 1: | AA: | (W, favorite chart of the contest)
As I previously mentioned, those 32nds are way too much of a spike, they should have been more rolly like in 3. Slightly inconsistent use of the 192nd flams, they disappear in the middle section and come back near the end (and then dissappear again). Good hold/minihold usage, but not as good as 2. That’s honestly all the gripes I’ve got though, everything else is great. Mines were used very well here. Doesn’t skimp out on layering a lot of the various sounds and instruments yet doesn’t make it even close to feeling overlayered, though there were occasionally a few moments it felt there was some sounds being ignored (these moments are very slim though). This chart is really close to being the deliberate tech this song needs, the rough edges just need to be chamfered out.
Sklitterbeer reviews etternacon subs part 1
BIRDO II
I’m in the pool so no review. I do wanna say, my opponent has a good chart on his own merit. Also, stay wary when reading reviews, there’s a reason there’s only 2 people in my group (and it isnt covid)
Blah Blah Blah (#DutchPride)
- been a while since i played some good ass chords like this to some hardstyle. the right-left roll does get kinda repetitive but otherwise nice layering, intensity is often accurately represented and the chart feels whole and not too long.
- Ok. the patterns were repetitive and didn’t feel hyper justified, but I mean, it wasn’t bad or anything. ok/ok
- felt more justified overall. Liked the more liberal usage of pink (24th) notes. The transitions are also really well defined. Sometimes it does get a little dense w/o intense justification but otherwise I enjoyed this. 3.5 Stars
- kinda wasnt feeling it at the beginning (mismatched vocal layering) but then it started to make up for it by just hitting all the right itches during the drop. Honestly? 7 Broken Marriages out of 9.
- Mixed feelings on this one. I applaud the step out of the fence with not exclusively charting chords for the hard parts but confusing roll (as opposed to hold) usage and the spike at the beginning hold it back a bit. 5 little ducks/all the little ducks
- Very few bad things to say about this file. The drop isn’t terribly confusing/frustrating, and actually sets up the hard part really well with mines. File feels rewarding and fulfilling to play. All the chords felt in their right place and the holds only complement this sentiment. 2.89 little pigs/wolf
- Not bad, not good. It does what it needs to overall but doesn’t have anything worthwhile going for them. Idk. Decent.
- Despite a few locks (fast unexpected jacks) this chart pleases the nut. going HS instead of chords definitely jacked up the rating but the charter’s PoV is easily recognizable. some of the lh - rh flow feels incomplete and could’ve done with more acc patterning. Just really disappointed this wasn’t finished, the strokes feel too chunky and unloved to feel satisfying and the charter could’ve easily refrained the first drop but whatever. We could stan
- A philister file. It follows the music and the gameplay feels rewarding but it doesn’t do anything special.
- wowie this takes me back. the xmod usage is very justified however right before the drop it looks like there was a different speed than before which threw me off. Also lifts. otherwise I enjoyed (also prob the first time I used J4 in years so thanks for that)
2 Likes
part 2
New Vectors
- died halfway through the file. the mines exarcebate a low MSD file into control hell. The decor, as in mines and flams, don’t really flow well with the rest of the file that’s way too easy for a chart like this. The accurate charting makes up for this somewhat.
- When I saw the 48th fakes warning I was afraid this was gonna be an all visual file. On the contrary, the charter really knew how to go with the flow of the song and deliver a fulfilling and fun experience. Maybe the warning could’ve been more specific that it was in the middle? It does kind of render the player anxious seeing a warning like that which isn’t applicable to the entire file. Because with fake usage like THAT, it’s a shame it wasn’t portrayed in its best light.
- It’s like 1 but doesn’t try to do anything interesting with mines or w/e. The hold/roll contrast was cool but also confusing. Fwiw the easy parts did go with the song, so that’s a plus.
Blight Mamba
- Enjoyed it for what it was. The jacks in the beginning were satisfying but over time the fun factor of the file faded. Still enjoyable though. (Also I loved the part with the extended 123 hold!!)
- Same vibes. Watch out not to put mines too close to notes if they’re in great quantity and supposed to be meaningful, kinda defeats the purpose as the player will be too distracted/aggravated to notice.
- Despite using a simple JS patterning style the chords at the drop didn’t make it feel to stuffy and exhausting. Was actually fun to uprate this. Pretty cooooool
- Props to the charter. Again, with a jumpjack style, a lot of value is pulled out of this song, through my computer screen into my fingers. Feels like classic wiosna, which is a very damn good thing. Just the silent part in the middle threw me off a little, I thought the file was over.
- Hold part at the end was cool. Otherwise kinda sleepy file.
- Hold intermissions were confusing and not fun. Overall ok js file, with few redeeming qualities.
- Lightly mediocre but fun file. Enjoyed the stream bursts as opposed to what others have done for the static, but not much else to say.
All in all, a lot of good submissions were made and I hope everyone votes for their favorites! Remember to keep an open mind and not let yourself be too influenced by what I said in this review, or what others have, and if one of your files was painted in a bad light I’m sorry! No ill will is meant.
Good luck to everyone
Im just vibin wbu?
birdo
Was very sad not many people charted this, would have been interesting to see which instrument the charter decides to follow.
birdo 1
this reminds me of a glove file in odi3. Specifically mirage garden. where one person would focus on less instruments giving accent to chord hits or cymbals while glove would try to include everything.
When I listened to this song, the first thing that struck me were the snares. my jumpstreams would have consisted only those hits most likely which would have gotten boring.
however, despite this being the only technical version of birdo, i think you chose the right instrument to follow. the bass guitar.
Its the only instrument that increases complexity in rhythyms during the jumpstream parts (85s ish area).
the snares were added to drum fill sections which was great.
birdo 2
more than half the time I dont know what the arrows were going to.
It was very fun to play(slowed down to .9), but i feel like i would have equally if not enjoyed this more if i were to mute the song.
This is redundant but i must stress, it was fun hitting all the arrows but eventually it got repetitive quick for i did not know what i was hitting arrows to.
Blight Mamba 1: | B |
This chart is badly missing layering fundamentals. It’s either overlayered or it’s underlayered (most of the time, the latter). Streams when there shouldn’t be any, streams that are missing. Lot of places where there’s missing jumps, which is usually percussion. Inconsistent patterning for the same verses or same sounds. Holds that aren’t charted to anything. I quite liked the buildup to the second drop though; it’s fun to play even if it suffers from previously mentioned issues, so I’ll give it that. Also, what’s with the reverse PR in the beginning? The jacks in the chorus aren’t represented in the verses after the choruses despite that sound being pretty much identical.
Blight Mamba 2: | A |
Well balanced, but the structure isn’t quite correct. The jacks missing from the chorus are in less intense parts of the song for some reason. Almost a complete disregard for hands despite the many times this chart can really benefit from them. Mines weren’t used very consciously. You did the same mistake 1 did with the jacks, but the other way around. Despite it’s faults, I would still say this is a competent chart.
Blight Mamba 3: | A: |
Some nice use of holds and miniholds here, though there were a few holds that were shorter than they should have been. Overall good layering, save for a few spots where there were jumptrills that didn’t seem charted to something, but rather used because they could be in that moment. As well as the jumptrills, the 16th fills that start halfway through the “chorus” weren’t charted either. Kudos for correctly charting when and when not to have streams in the verse after the chorus, I noticed that only you, 5 and 7 did that. However, unlike 1, 4, 5 and 7, you forgot to put continuous streams in the second half of the chorus when the continuous drum fill starts.
Blight Mamba 4: | A |
Again, inconsistent layering (I hope you’re noticing a common theme at this point), mostly to due with when and when not to have 16th streams (though you did correctly do continuous streams when the 16th drum fill starts playing halfway through the chorus). Fairly good use of miniholds. What the hell is with those jumptrill buildups though? They’re both incorrect layering and a bad spikes (less spikey for the ones with the quads though). Decent use of hands, but there were a few hands that should have been jumps.
Same mistake 2 did with the jacks, though I do have to point out the jacks you did use are a lot of fun, despite a few of them having very awkward transitions.
Blight Mamba 5: | AA. | (W)
By far the the most consistent (and correct) in it’s layering with very few faults. Of which, the only ones I can point out are two different cases of a sound being charted slightly differently in two different instances. Lacks any of the recurring layering issues I mention throughout this post. Fairly good use of holds and good hand usage. Good PR with the hands in the chorus and the holds at the end. Speaking of the holds in the end, I’ve got mixed feelings about it. It certainly works, I just can’t quite say if I like it or not.
Blight Mamba 6: | B. |
A lot of this hold/minihold usage is downright nonesensical. Why in the hell are the slow parts and the “silent” moments during the chorus charted as 16th miniholds? The rest of the miniholds are fine though, I see what you were going for them. A fair amount of places where there are jumps or streams that shouldn’t be there, but to your credit there was very little underlayering, save for a few jumps missing in the buildup to the second chorus. Same mistake 1 did with jacks.
Blight Mamba 7: | B: |
The only contender in the group to dump, sadly with lackluster execution. The idea definitely works, but the patterning for the 32nd streams vary too much with no rhyme or reason and at times are very spikey. This would have worked well if you instead, for example, made them all rolly. Suffers from some similar layering issues as previously mentioned entries, but this time mostly to due with (over and underlayering of) jumps. Fun buildups, save for that one jumpglute spike. Could have definitely used a few more hands throughout.
i enjoyed this alot thanks everyone for submitting files and gl for the voting
2 Likes
Cute
How many likes did my post have before it got removed
I think like 4 including me lmao them cunts probably thought u were serious
I accidentally clicked in the Blight Mamba voting space when I shouldn’t have because I’m a part of that group, whoops. I sent my vote on an entry other than mine, but feel free to void my vote there lol
Interesting entries for all songs, it’s also really interesting and instructive to see the many different takes on one song that charters can have. Also many thanks for all the feedback, it’s really helpful!
I’d contribute towards feedback on other songs, but my BM chart was actually the very first SM chart I ever made, so I don’t feel like I’d know what I’m talking about lol
4 Likes
You should feel welcome to provide your own thoughts regardless of your level of experience or expertise. It helps you to put some of your own concepts and ideas into words, and what you learn from that may surprise you. You don’t have to write as if you were an expert providing technical criticism, you can write as if you were just sharing your opinions and just be open about your experience level.
1 Like
I must say Birdo 2 is the best goddamn file in this contest, just wow. It’s like Van Gogh came back to life and started creating masterfully crafted impressionist files. The charter managed to catch a glimpse at God’s wisdom and expertly condense it into 4 columns, truly an experience. I can feel the charter’s struggle through his art and the result is truly touching.
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur. -Roedy Green
2 Likes
Call me when an LN chart wins an Etterna charting contest. That will be the day I will be genuinely surprised.
1 Like