Hey dude
Good luck
mod
I bet you didn't think I could write so much about a bunch of Easy diffs! I didn't either DxThe meter needs to be 3/4 on all diffs!
On easy maps many mappers choose to use the 100% technical style based on pitch and consistency. However, the style you used here -- a blend of pitch and visual symmetry -- is equally as valid, and perhaps more interesting because it's less common. I'll do my best to help the pitch while also respecting this style
4K Easy
00:14:154 - if you made this chord [14] it would make a pleasing consistency with the first three chords. Notice that the second and third chord actually are the same pitch in the melody
00:26:680 (26680|1,27144|2) - moving this to the left would improve both the hand balance and the pitch relevancy
01:01:783 (61783|1,62402|0) - switching these lanes would emphasize the upward movement in the melody and give the map more finality because [23] is a symmetrical chord! especially because [23] is actually found nowhere else in this diff
5K Easy
00:14:773 (14773|1,15391|1,16010|1) - moving these to the first lane will improve left-right balance and pitch
00:42:453 (42453|3) - moving to the first lane improves pitch + balance and creates an interesting 1-3-5 pattern
00:59:927 - consider changing to this http://puu.sh/wipW5.png for both pitch and for contrast with the previous pattern (right now they're both almost identical)
6K Easy
00:14:773 - same suggestion as 5K. Notice that up to this point, there are no notes on the first lane, but there are multiple notes on the sixth lane. So this would help the lane balance!
00:42:453 - I don't have a specific change to suggest, but this feels unbalanced towards the right side
7K Easy
What a nice diff!
8K Easy
The beginning of this map is severely biased towards the left for apparently no reason http://puu.sh/wirUi.png ;_; I think you should try to balance it
00:41:989 (41989|4) - consider moving this to the fourth lane. I like how this pattern starts all left hand and changes to all right hand, but I think it would feel more intuitive if the emphasized beat here had notes in both hands.
You should make 00:47:556 - and 00:51:268 - the same like in all the other diffs.
9K Easy
00:43:536 - I advise saving the repeated presses for repeated pitches. You don't seem to use this sort of "expressive" repeated press in any other Easy diff
All diffs
All easy diffs except 4K: 00:26:680 - it would be nice if you followed pitch here (switching the lanes of the last two notes) because all the notes before it follow pitch almost perfectly!
01:01:783 - one method I use in my own maps is placing symmetrical chords at the end of maps or the ends of sections for a sense of finality. For example, you might consider using [37] on 9K Easy or [36] on 8K Easy. I also think you should emphasize the pitch here (moving upward) because this is an important progression! The step from the leading tone (G) to the tonic (Ab) gives the song a sense of completion. On 4K Easy you might use [1][23], and on 5K Easy you could consider [3][24].
00:33:948 - consider placing the first note to the left of the second note to match the upward pitch of the grace note.
00:59:927 - same
One of the most effective parts of pitch relevancy, as my friend spoonguy once pointed out, is identifying the repeated pitches. There are a few places where adding repeated notes to emphasize the pitch could make the map feel a lot more intuitive. Especially in higher keymodes. You seem to avoid using repeated notes in 7K, 8K, and 9K, which is a shame, since these are the keymodes that really need purposeful strucure. Here are the places I'm talking about:
00:17:556 -
00:25:288 -
00:32:402 -
00:47:092 -
00:58:381 -
Adding repeated presses might ruin your intended pattern in some of these places, but I hope you can find a way to work around that.
I noticed that on all Easy diffs except 4K, you really prefer to use chords with notes in the first lane or the last lane (which I call anchored chords, by the way). Anchored chords feel more stable than other chords and provide structure when used correctly! You also like to avoid chords with notes on consecutive lanes (which I call bars). I think this style is very appropriate for this song because there tends to be a lot of distance pitch-wise between the bass and melody notes, which is represented well by the distance between the two notes in the chord.
However, your use of anchored chords often creates repeated presses in the first or last lane that feel too "same-y" to me. Example: In the ending of 8K Easy, all four of the last chords have a note in the first lane, while the actual pitch of the bass note is different for each chord. A pattern like http://puu.sh/wis8a.png would better represent the music (I also made the last three chords rotationally symmetrical, just for fun). Here's another example: 00:19:721 (19721|0,21577|0,25288|0) - three repeated notes in lane 1 in 6K Easy. Try to find a balance between the structure given by of anchored chords and the variety given by other chords.
Another way you could improve your map is by looking at repeated phrases. For example, you might notice that 00:14:154 - and 00:29:000 - are both the same. It may be possible to emphasize this part of the song's structure without just using the same pattern in both places. You could use mirrored patterns, like [35][1][1][1] and [13][5][5][5] on 5K Easy. Or horizontally shifted patterns, like [35][1][1][1] and [57][3][3][3] on 7K Easy. These are all just examples, but taking advantage of repeated passages, in general, would greatly improve the structure and logic of this map.
I only went through the Easy diffs, but I think the mod is plenty long already The Normal diffs actually have a lot of added symmetry and consistency in the doubles, which is nice. I did notice that the beginning of 9K Normal is biased towards the right because it doesn't have any notes in lane 1
On easy maps many mappers choose to use the 100% technical style based on pitch and consistency. However, the style you used here -- a blend of pitch and visual symmetry -- is equally as valid, and perhaps more interesting because it's less common. I'll do my best to help the pitch while also respecting this style
4K Easy
00:14:154 - if you made this chord [14] it would make a pleasing consistency with the first three chords. Notice that the second and third chord actually are the same pitch in the melody
00:26:680 (26680|1,27144|2) - moving this to the left would improve both the hand balance and the pitch relevancy
01:01:783 (61783|1,62402|0) - switching these lanes would emphasize the upward movement in the melody and give the map more finality because [23] is a symmetrical chord! especially because [23] is actually found nowhere else in this diff
5K Easy
00:14:773 (14773|1,15391|1,16010|1) - moving these to the first lane will improve left-right balance and pitch
00:42:453 (42453|3) - moving to the first lane improves pitch + balance and creates an interesting 1-3-5 pattern
00:59:927 - consider changing to this http://puu.sh/wipW5.png for both pitch and for contrast with the previous pattern (right now they're both almost identical)
6K Easy
00:14:773 - same suggestion as 5K. Notice that up to this point, there are no notes on the first lane, but there are multiple notes on the sixth lane. So this would help the lane balance!
00:42:453 - I don't have a specific change to suggest, but this feels unbalanced towards the right side
7K Easy
What a nice diff!
8K Easy
The beginning of this map is severely biased towards the left for apparently no reason http://puu.sh/wirUi.png ;_; I think you should try to balance it
00:41:989 (41989|4) - consider moving this to the fourth lane. I like how this pattern starts all left hand and changes to all right hand, but I think it would feel more intuitive if the emphasized beat here had notes in both hands.
You should make 00:47:556 - and 00:51:268 - the same like in all the other diffs.
9K Easy
00:43:536 - I advise saving the repeated presses for repeated pitches. You don't seem to use this sort of "expressive" repeated press in any other Easy diff
All diffs
All easy diffs except 4K: 00:26:680 - it would be nice if you followed pitch here (switching the lanes of the last two notes) because all the notes before it follow pitch almost perfectly!
01:01:783 - one method I use in my own maps is placing symmetrical chords at the end of maps or the ends of sections for a sense of finality. For example, you might consider using [37] on 9K Easy or [36] on 8K Easy. I also think you should emphasize the pitch here (moving upward) because this is an important progression! The step from the leading tone (G) to the tonic (Ab) gives the song a sense of completion. On 4K Easy you might use [1][23], and on 5K Easy you could consider [3][24].
00:33:948 - consider placing the first note to the left of the second note to match the upward pitch of the grace note.
00:59:927 - same
One of the most effective parts of pitch relevancy, as my friend spoonguy once pointed out, is identifying the repeated pitches. There are a few places where adding repeated notes to emphasize the pitch could make the map feel a lot more intuitive. Especially in higher keymodes. You seem to avoid using repeated notes in 7K, 8K, and 9K, which is a shame, since these are the keymodes that really need purposeful strucure. Here are the places I'm talking about:
00:17:556 -
00:25:288 -
00:32:402 -
00:47:092 -
00:58:381 -
Adding repeated presses might ruin your intended pattern in some of these places, but I hope you can find a way to work around that.
I noticed that on all Easy diffs except 4K, you really prefer to use chords with notes in the first lane or the last lane (which I call anchored chords, by the way). Anchored chords feel more stable than other chords and provide structure when used correctly! You also like to avoid chords with notes on consecutive lanes (which I call bars). I think this style is very appropriate for this song because there tends to be a lot of distance pitch-wise between the bass and melody notes, which is represented well by the distance between the two notes in the chord.
However, your use of anchored chords often creates repeated presses in the first or last lane that feel too "same-y" to me. Example: In the ending of 8K Easy, all four of the last chords have a note in the first lane, while the actual pitch of the bass note is different for each chord. A pattern like http://puu.sh/wis8a.png would better represent the music (I also made the last three chords rotationally symmetrical, just for fun). Here's another example: 00:19:721 (19721|0,21577|0,25288|0) - three repeated notes in lane 1 in 6K Easy. Try to find a balance between the structure given by of anchored chords and the variety given by other chords.
Another way you could improve your map is by looking at repeated phrases. For example, you might notice that 00:14:154 - and 00:29:000 - are both the same. It may be possible to emphasize this part of the song's structure without just using the same pattern in both places. You could use mirrored patterns, like [35][1][1][1] and [13][5][5][5] on 5K Easy. Or horizontally shifted patterns, like [35][1][1][1] and [57][3][3][3] on 7K Easy. These are all just examples, but taking advantage of repeated passages, in general, would greatly improve the structure and logic of this map.
I only went through the Easy diffs, but I think the mod is plenty long already The Normal diffs actually have a lot of added symmetry and consistency in the doubles, which is nice. I did notice that the beginning of 9K Normal is biased towards the right because it doesn't have any notes in lane 1
Good luck