# Critique rubric

Read the loop against these twelve lines before returning it. `lint` checks
the mechanical ones and names the verb that fixes each; the others need your
ear and the `analyze` output.

| # | Question | `lint` code | Fix |
| ---: | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | Does something change on bar 4, 8, or 16? Four identical bars in a row read as a demo. | `identical-bars` | `fill <drums> --bar 4`, `variation <track> --bars 4,8 --density -20`, or write bar 4 by hand |
| 2 | Does every track play in every bar it is meant to? An accidental empty bar is a dropout. | `empty-bar` | `duplicate-bars <track> 1 --to 3` or `add-event` |
| 3 | Does every track have a job? A silent track costs bytes and confuses the roster. | `empty-track` | `remove-track` or give it a part |
| 4 | Is the bass at or below C3, with roots that follow the chords? | `bass-register` | `transpose <bass> -12`; check `analyze` chords per bar |
| 5 | Are the chords voiced at or above C4 without doubling the bass root? | `chord-register` | `transpose <keys> 12`, or voice explicit stacks (`C4+E4+G4`) |
| 6 | Do the hats have accents? One velocity is the first tell of a machine loop. | `flat-hats` | `accent <drums> --pattern 100,70,85,70` or `humanize --velocity 10` |
| 7 | Is the low end dry? Reverb or delay on kick and bass smears the groove. | `low-end-send` | `set-send <track> --reverb 0 --delay 0` |
| 8 | Is delay feedback under 6,000 unless the pile-up is the point? | `delay-feedback` | `set-effects --feedback 3500` |
| 9 | Is there headroom? Eight tracks at volume 10,000 live in the ceiling. | `volume-headroom`, `mix-clipping` | `set-volume <track> 8000` (drums 9,000) |
| 10 | Is the loop under 80% of the byte budget so an edit still fits? | `byte-budget` | `thin <track> --to-bytes N`, shorter names, fewer bars plus `double` |
| 11 | Does the bass carry the lows and nothing else crowd them? Needs `render --dry` statistics. | `bass-band`, `sub-band-crowding` | `set-cutoff <bass> --base 4000`, `transpose <pad> 12`, `set-volume <pad> 6000` |
| 12 | Do kick and bass make room for each other on shared steps, and is there one moment a listener waits for: a fill, a drop, a held chord, a rest? | `analyze` collisions | `duck <bass> --against <drums> --depth 3000 --release 2`; write the moment by hand |

A finding is advisory. Keep it when the music wants it, say so when you return
the URL, and never silence a finding by deleting the part that made it.