Tornado of Solos: SkyShark (April 2025)

Main Entries

Duration: 00:17:01

Additional Info

Composer: Tim Follin

Banner Art: RetroReboot

About Tornado of Solos:

To celebrate the first anniversary of Dwelling of Duels, a very special challenge was issued. Tornado of Solos is when a single, musically challenging source is selected. While the name Tornado of Solos didn’t come until later, the first spiritual Tornado was in October 2004 with the Clockwork music from Castlevania 3.

In past Tornadoes, there would actually be a Judge’s panel of talented and respected musicians from the DoD community who would evaluate the tracks and give detailed notes on the production, performance, and arrangement. Nowadays, Tornado of Solos take place around the VGM Con schedule. 

Reviews

deluxdolemite

6 Reviews

空の鮫が見られる村

Game(s): Flying Shark

Love the strings sound for the arpeggios here. Bass may be a bit overpowering, or the strings could come up a bit more. The cymbal sounds a bit harsh here though, not sure if that is how the drums are recorded or just the mixing on it but they sound a bit either tinny or crashy. Very strong vocals, they are balanced really well here. I would love a translation of the lyrics later on after voting! Vocalist did a great job performing, and again were balanced just right. Good work anons!

Absolutely No Bones About It

Game(s): Flying Shark

Now we get a little more proggy here. Could use a little more of the synths, and the drums feel a bit overactive considering everything going on. Love the nice building section, and then I feel like there is much better balance on the synths and the solo lines. This guitar solo shreds, quite simply. Keys get some time to go ham too, which is awesome. Nice little mood change to just the two synths, transitions were handled well so it doesnt feel so out of place, then nice to build it up with the drums and rhythm guitar coming back in, and the nice build up to the end. Great job anon

El Gran Timoteo Cayendo

Game(s): Flying Shark

Holy toledo – anon, you are one skilled guitarist. That is some impressive playing here, and the rhythm guitar is balanced really well too. Nice touch with the shaker or whatever you substituted in for the shaker (sounds a bit harsh to be an actual shaker). I don’t really have much else to say on this one – anon you solo’d really well and this is a very clean mix. Great job!

A Sea Full of Sky Sharks

Game(s): Flying Shark

Getting rocking right off the bat! Interesting guitar tone for the solo guitar, almost sound static-y (maybe a bit heavy on the distortion), but it works. Good balance between the instruments, though sometimes the lead guitar will get swallowed up by everything else when it gets heavy. Lots of really good technical playing here. Love the shift to the half time tempo, though here I get the feeling the drums (at least the cymbals) may be a bit too back in the mix. Overall though, really fun way to start this NLP (Not Long Play) off

Card sharks

Game(s): Flying Shark

Love the vibes here, a touch of swing mixed in with something I can’t quite pick out. Good balance between the drums, piano, and sax – bass is JUST a bit too much in the mix. Really good interplay between the sax and the piano, nice mix between just trading off and the piano adding nice comp lines. Very smooth anon, very smooth

Big|Brave|Bullet|Time

Game(s): Flying Shark

Wooooo this is heavy. Snare I feel may be echoing a bit too much, a bit overpowered compared to the rest of the drums. Solo guitar could come up a bit more over the rhythm guitar and drums, almost feels like its a bit underwater. Nice little fakeout with the brief pause before the second section. Nice to get more voices in later on, but again the drums/rhythm guitars are really drowning out some of the other voices – the countermelody guitar would be nice to hear more of. I really enjoyed a good amount of this track, just some balancing adjustments here to bring out some more of the moving parts would really have helped here

TheManPF

6 Reviews

空の鮫が見られる村

Game(s): Flying Shark

This one has a really trippy vibe, it almost feels like I’m in some sort of busy street with neon lights and fun parades. I love the 6/8 feel. Drums could be louder. Looooooove hearing vocals on this, you get creativity points. Vocal performance is sweet, mix is on point though I’d slap a toooooon more reverb in that, just to match what’s in the background. Man, what a sick interpretation, I think you’ll land somewhere in the top 6 for sure.

Absolutely No Bones About It

Game(s): Flying Shark

Love the playfulness of the drums in this one. Lead guitar tone is crispy and tasty. Lots of jazzy chords in the background, was the original this jazzy? Probably not. This is really well done though I feel it gets a little overwhelming, there’s too much stuff happening in a very short span of time, and a lot of stuff going on at once, maybe the mix plays a part too? At some points it feels like I’m not sure where my attention is supposed to be cuz there’s several parts trying to stand out at the same time. I think this one would’ve worked better for me in a different month without a time limit. Still really impressive stuff, definitely among my favorites so far.

El Gran Timoteo Cayendo

Game(s): Flying Shark

Hell yeah acoustic wild west vibes, I hear this guy playing on a campfire in the middle of the desert at night. Playing is ridiculous, I always get impressed by people who can play acoustic guitar this fast. The shaker is a great touch. Recording could be crispier, it sounds like the recording room might not be the best, but since it’s just acoustic guitar, the mix doesn’t suffer much from it. Of all that I heard this is EASILY in my top 5.

A Sea Full of Sky Sharks

Game(s): Flying Shark

The rhythm guitar tone is so dirty, gives me classic rock vibes in a great way. Lots of unconventional tones but they scratch that punk itch for me. Playing is nuts. This shit really makes me appreciate how fun this source is. Mix is pretty great. Slow doomy part is a great break of pace. Extremely solid entry, favorite so far.

Card sharks

Game(s): Flying Shark

Really interesting combination of instruments in contrast to all the other previous entries, it’s slow and groovy and relaxing, love this. Every instrument sounds pretty sweet and virtuosic, and I like how everything stands out in the mix. I think I could’ve done with some more expanded harmonies, right now it feels like there’s a ton of melody in the sax and piano and not a lot of backup rhythm elements (although the bass playing is absolutely stellar), but for this length this is a pretty sweet interpretation. This lands somewhere in my top 4 so far.

Big|Brave|Bullet|Time

Game(s): Flying Shark

Live drums? This once again takes me back to classic rock vibes, I’d play this on Guitar Hero. There’s a ton of reverb on those tones which makes this feel like a live setting. Lots of heavy dirt on those amp settings. I love how this one takes its time in comparison to the others, it’s super slow, lets you take it in and experience the vibes, and the dirty tones are on point and they smack me right in the face. Of the entries I heard so far this is definitely in the top 3 for me.