Step's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Cobalt [DEMO]]

Hm...

Well, I can't say it was horrible. For your fifth submission, it's good, although you yours31f (:D) can get better if you keep on practicing, as sixflab said. It's a pretty cool submission overall, although it sounds quite peculiar and could definitely do with more work. Not a bad job though, you're on the right track and you seem to be improving at a good rate! :)

The melody was really strange for a Techno song. Sure, the note gliding was alright, and gave the song a unique touch to it, but still, the melody was weird. The chord progression was good, but the melody could definitely use more work. Don't worry though, it took me a while to get used to making decent melodies too :P. Also, maybe you could make the bass a bit more... busy? It just plays on the offbeat and gets a little plain. Also, this definitely needs more melodies. Add some breaks, solos, and different melodies, since this just sounds too plain and basic.

As for the synths, the bass sounded fine, but the main synth was really strange. Maybe you could change it to some sort of square lead; they usually do pretty well for pitch bending, gliding, etc... or you can just add some multisaw or something. In addition, there really weren't many instruments. No pads at all, no gated synths, nothing. Just a weird lead and a plain bass playing on the offbeat. Add a few more instruments and give the song a bit more depth. Also, the song is pretty dry to be honest, especially the clap/snare. I think this really needs some reverb in the master channel or at least some reverb on the clap/snare and maybe the lead. It could also help to give you a bit more depth.

Transitions were OK, although there weren't really many in this song. You could've introduced the lead a bit more nicely, maybe a fade in of it, or some pitch bending effect before the lead enters the song, although other than that the transitions were decent. The structure, on the other hand, isn't good. You just had the same bass playing for the whole song and a peculiar lead coming in and repeating the same melody over and over again. As I said above, add some solos, breaks, etc... This song doesn't really have a distinguishable climax either...

The intro was alright, but the ending was strange. You mark this as a song, yet it works better as a loop, and even as a loop it doesn't work too well. If you want to make it a song, firstly, you have to make it much longer, and secondly, you should give it some powerful final note and leave some silence at the end. If you want to loop it, then fade out the lead before it loops, since it's the lead which interferes with the loop right now.

Drums weren't that good. Just a really generic kick per beat and clap/snare every other beat. You didn't even add any open cymbals or hat lines. Sure, the samples were OK if not a bit weak, but the beat itself was extremely simple. Not to mention the fact that the drums remained the same for the whole song without even a minor change in them here or there.

In all, this isn't too bad, but you can tell it's made by a beginner. I'm not saying for you to give up, because I think that if you keep on trying, you'll definitely get better. This has a number of problems, but it's better than the average standard that I see from beginners here on NG. I wish you luck in your next songs :D.
5/10
5/5 because this got 0-bombed.

-Review Request Club-

[SUIA-Drums&bass?]

I see you use FL Studio... lol

...I think that's the LP_Brother beat you sliced from the FL8 drum loops, eh? =P. Lol, whatever, on to the song...
This is actually quite a good song. Judging from the name, I thought this was going to be boring and a really lame and noobish attempt to make Drum and Bass, but it looks like I was wrong. You're actually quite good at DnB, and if you had better resources, I'm sure the songs you'll make will be epic. Good job on this, I enjoyed it! Think of a better name though :P.

The melodies are very good. I personally didn't like the melody at 0:35-ish; it sounded plain and pretty boring to be honest, but other than that, the melodies are really awesome. Loved the melody in the intro, and the piano playing at 0:59 too. Maybe you could vary the notes the strings play a bit more, but still, that's just a nitpick. I don't really think there's anything wrong with the melodies, except the one at 0:35 which sounded like it was trying really hard to sound cool and failing miserably. TL;DR: the melodies are really nice.

The instruments, on the other hand, weren't really that good. Sure, the strings sound fine, and add some nice depth to the submission, but the plucked bass thing at 0:11 sounded a bit plain and could definitely do with some delay or reverb, and also the bass at 0:35 was extremely weak and seems like it was forced too low in pitch and sounds very strange. I'm not one to criticize when it comes to bass though, since I have the same problem as you. I just can't get a bass to sound dirty, or at least powerful :P. Ah well, what the heck, you'll probably want to look into some VST's such as Massive for some basses. By the way, I really liked the effect you added at 0:33; pity that what followed was such an anti-climax, but I'll get to complaining about that later xD.

The transitions, unfortunately, aren't that good. While you have some really nice sounding melodies, a good amount of depth in the string parts, and some cool beats, the transitions sound very amateur and as if they're made by a beginner. Take the transition at 0:35, for example. ANTI-CLIMATIC. It's really epic, with a huge drum build up and an awesome effect too, and then it just loses all that power to play the drum beat alongside a weak bass. The transitions at 0:59, 1:23, 1:47 and 2:11 were all abrupt and rough too. Also, you could've introduced that plucked instrument at 0:11 a little more smoothly.

The structure is OK. Quiet unique, but does the job well nevertheless. Maybe the drum solo at the end was a bit too long though, but then again it could be just me. The variety was actually pretty good, although some melodies were repeated a bit too much, namely the string's melodies. When it comes to the intro, it was absolutely superb in my opinion. The only 2 things which could make it better would be to start the song up a bit more smoothly since the strings come in way to suddenly and loudly, and trying out sixflab's suggestion of adding some light tapping on the drums to set up the mood. The ending was abrupt and weird, I don't like it :P. Try and end it with a final note with the strings or something like that.

The drum beats were very well-done, even though the drums are screaming 'I SLICE FL STUDIO PRESETS LOLOLOL' to me all the time xP. Sometimes the drum beats do get a bit repetitive though, namely at around 1:00, and as you probably already know, drum variation in DnB is important. The drum solo at the end was decent, although some of the glitching you did was a bit annoying (I'd recommend a software called dblue, SessileNomad uses it and made tutorials on it - it might help with the glitching) and the drum solo was a bit too long, it still wasn't TOO bad.

To summarize, I enjoyed this song. The bad name is misleading, because this song really is quite cool. OK, it has its problems, but at the same time, it has its strong points, and the strong points definitely make up for the weak points. Keep up the great work, and I hope you find some good VST's some day :).
9/10
5/5 - Ouch, this got 0-bombed :(.

-Review Request Club-

[[G] Holy Advocate ft. JP & KC]

Nothing too special yet...

I wasn't really that impressed with this submission. It'll probably sound much better rapped on (even if I don't like Rap myself), but I'm going to review it as it is now, not as it might be when rapped on, and to be brutally honest, as it is now I'm not really too impressed. Sure, it has some good things to it, but this still needs some work before it can be enjoyable to listen to.

The melody you used is really interesting. You used the same four notes, same rhythm, and same instrumen for a whole 2 and a half minutes. You'll have to see it as repetitive at one point or another. First things first: turn it up. It's really quiet as it is now, completely lost in an array of loud drums and random sound effects. Secondly, this melody is REALLY simple. Just a G, E, F and A playing in a simple rhythm. Sure, I understand that rap beats don't have some complicated melody, but at least give the melody a bit more catchiness. It's very bland and almost annoying as it is now. Finally, give it some more diversity. As I said, the melody is used for the whole song, when you had space for loads of alternate melodies, or subtle changes at the least. So, as a recap, vary the melody more, make the melody a little more catchy and less bland/simple, and turn it up a little...

The instrument you used was also pretty plain. It sounds like a cross between a raw square wave and a raw sine wave. No filtering, effects, or any other layers of different waves over the synth. Just a simple synth. I think you should make the synth sound a bit more interesting and add a few more background instruments to give the song a bit more depth. Maybe it's just me and my lack of knowledge of Rap, but I think this sounds really empty with just a drums playing over a very quiet and simple synth with a few sound effects. Speaking of the sound effects, I really liked them; I'm sure that if you rap over this, the sound effects will make it sound much more interesting. I also like the reverb you put on one of the claps; it added a cool effect to the beat.

The transitions aren't really that good. Sure, none of the transitions sounded so bad that they stood out, but none of the transitions were that special. Probably the worst transition would be the one you did when introducing the beat to the song. Give it some simple drum roll before starting it up, or maybe a reverse cymbal or something. The drums come in pretty suddenly and take the user by surprise; but maybe that has to do with the fact that the drums are so loud.

The structure is pretty weird, when comparing with other song structures I heard. You had the same melody playing, and sometimes the beat was playing, sometimes it wasn't, and you added a few sound effects here and there. Still, maybe it's the structure of a Rap song; as I said, I know very little about Rap. The variety, as I said, isn't that good, because of the repetitive beat, the repetitive melody and the lack of different sounds. The intro and outro were very uninteresting too. A fade in for the intro and a fade out for an outro, which don't provide such a good intro and ending.

The drums were good. The beat was definitely catchy, even though it held the same rhythm as any other rap beat there is. I think the hat got a bit annoying at times though, namely around 0:28. Still, the beat sounded nice overall, so good job over there. Samples were cool too. The only problem I have with them is obviously that they were so repetitive and that they were really loud too.

Overall, this is an OK submission, although without the rap lyrics, this sounds really plain because of its lack of different sounds and depth. The melody also needs some work since it's really basic, but at least the sound effects are awesome and the beat and drum samples you used were also great. So yeah, in general, an OK submission, but deifnitely could be improved more if it had the rap lyrics or at least some better melodies and more instruments. Still, not a bad job, good luck with your future songs!
7/10
5/5 - because this got 0-bombed :/.

-Review Request Club-

[Our Nova Pt. 2]

Aboslutely amazing...

While, just like every other submission, this isn't perfect, I was extremely impressed by this. This is clearly better than part one; it's much more catchy, the atmosphere is much deeper and more powerful, and I think I agree with sixflab that this is an excellent example of when not everything sounds epic in a fast tempo. This is a really good submission, and I seriously think you've improved greatly from your older submissions (not to say those were bad, though =P). Keep up the constant improvement!

The melodies are obviously really happy. They have this sort of emotion to them which really fit with the theme of 'start afresh, fix errors'. I think the only thing that I don't like about the melodies would be that they suddenly jump up to a really high note (for example, 1:17 and 1:26). This sometimes works in music, but I don't think it's the case over here. The notes seem to stand out too much, and when listening to your amazing melody and hearing those notes play, you think 'ouch, what was that?' and it shifts your attention away. Probably the simplest and best way to fix this is just shifting those individual notes down an octave.

The harmony, well, I can take it for granted that it's extremely well done :3. You had loads of different instruments playing together, and some playing entirely different notes and melodies, yet dissonance is nowhere to be seen (or heard in this case). Atmosphere is also brilliant. You found a cross between spacey and emotional/joyous, which might be what makes this piece so distinguishable from other trance/VG music out there. Alternate melodies this time were all over the place, although at times the song got really cluttered and it was hard to keep track of, which brings me to the complaint I did in the other review; that this has no calmer parts, no ambient parts, nothing. I think if you play a calm part before some sort of climax, the climax itself will give more of an impact. Even then, the listener does need some sort of break...

The instruments are pretty similar to the ones in Part 1, although there were some new additions I think, such as the sound at 2:33 which added a nice layer to the piece. I liked the gated synth at the beginning too, although the rhythm you used was terribly generic. The bassline sounded REALLY awesome, I won't complain about it, and the mix was nice too, even though the song got really loud and blaring at times. As for effects, I was impressed. The filter automation on the synth at the end was great, and so were the sweeps you used around the song. That little portamento-like effect you did on one of the notes at 3:02 was really cool as well :3.

The transitions are all very impressive, and although there weren't any which actually standed out, the transitions were smooth. New instruments were all introduced pretty well, except the gated synth at the beginning, which came in too abruptly in my opinion. The structure is interesting and unique. Not too simple, but not crazily complicated either. Variety on the whole was very nice too, since you had quite a lot of melodies. The intro was OK, although I think the bass started the song up a bit too roughly. Maybe you can add a sweep to start the song out instead? Ending, on the other hand, was great.

The drums were pretty well done. I think the main problem I have with them was that they were so hard to hear. I can't really give much criticism on the drums, since a lot of the time they were drowned out by the synths. Still, from what I heard, the drums were decently varied, the samples were cool, and I also really like the beats you did with the drums; they were definitely a nice chance from the usual kick every beat, clap every other beat, an open hat in-between and a hi-hat line if we get lucky. My only complaint with the drums would be the fact that they were so soft.

In general, this definitely beats Part 1, and I enjoyed it a LOT. I hope you continue making masterpieces, because you sure are good at it! :D
10/10
5/5
Download.
Fav'd.
Fav'd as an artist.
*PHEW*

-Review Request Club-

DJ-Chilvan responds:

Haha thanks! I really love your reviews! I really like your suggestions. I always take your suggestions into consideration, and that's why my songs get better and better, because of the advice of you, and other people as well, thanks!
I was in love with the portamento haha. It was totally accidental too, but I was like "wow that sounded amazing." Yea, some people said the drums were a little soft. Idk, I found them to be smooth. But in my next song, I will make them a little more prominent. Lol, I know that the gate was generic, but I just love that generic gate rhythm lol. And even, it wasn't meant to be interpreted in a generic sense. Just think of the bass and the gate as one, then you will feel its warmness. This song started out with me dicking around in FL, and i was playing the bass line and the gate at the same time, and got this idea. This is probably my most golden track, I really love it. I'm glad you loved the bassline. Haha, it's the happiest bassline in the world. Every song with a Do Mi Fa So progression always brings joy.
Thanks for the review! I will continue to make great tracks, don't worry!
Btw, you can check out my new song, Golden Paradise. It's probably one of my favs.

- Isomatic

[Nature's Majesty]

Sorry, doesn't really fit with the name :P

This doesn't fit much with the name. I would think that the song would be majestic, with animal sounds and a beautiful atmosphere. Although at times the song did sound a lot like this, a lot of the time it sounded like a battle, as sixflab put it, because of the powerful gong/cymbals and the deep low brass in the background. Still, that being said, this is a great song, and the fact that it doesn't fit much with the name doesn't make it sound worse or anything of the sort. Good job :).

The melodies are good. I liked some of your fast flute melodies, and the string melodies were also very nice. At times the song felt a bit empty though, such as at the beginning, which defied the good background depth that came in later, not to mention the fact that the bell at the beginning sounded very thin and not powerful enough to be played on its own. On the other hand, the ritenuto at 1:34-ish was a nice addition, although I can't help but think that the transition to the faster part could have been smoother.

The atmosphere is probably the biggest problem of this. I can't seem to get a grip on any message, emotion or atmosphere that this song is supposed to evoke. You can hear very clearly 1:52, for example, that the low brass and booming percussion along with the high and majestic notes of the flute accompanied by the strings created a *huge* contrast. I can imagine a battle, a suspenseful atmosphere, a majestic landscape, a jungle, AND some sort of march just by listening to this song lol :P, which is why I think this song needs more identity if you get what I mean.

The instruments overall sound very nice, although the sound quality isn't too good, but I suppose since you asked us not to criticize you about that, I won't mention it :). However, may I ask why the sound quality is so bad? Anyway, the choice of instruments was a bit weird. Sure, the strings and flute were awesome together, but the bell at the beginning sounded really cut off from the rest of the song since it never really came in much after the beginning and didn't seem to match with the rest of the instruments. The low brass also didn't fit much; I'd suggest making it higher and using it to play some majestic melodies instead of leaving it in the background to simply make the atmosphere more suspenseful and almost evil...

The transitions on the whole could use work. Some transitions were nicely done such as the transition to the slower part in the middle, but as I said above, the transition to the faster part wasn't too good. In addition to that, the transitions at 1:59, 2:40 and 2:44 were all abrupt and weird, and the strings at 1:13 came in WAY too loudly and caught me by surprise. I'd strongly recommend figuring out a way to give it a little more of a subtle entrance. The buildup at the beginning was good though.

The song structure on the whole was a bit strange, but I think it adds to the originality of the piece so I don't think I'll complain about it. Variety was great, and I never really got bored listening to this. The intro, unfortunately, was pretty strange, since the bell sounded weird on its own. Still, the buildup from then on, as I said, was fantastic. The ending was a great way to end the song, although the transitions to the final crash need work, and I think the ending needs a bit more silence to let the final crash echo a bit more.

The drums are interesting. The rhythms sound really nice, and the samples are cool, especially the cymbals/gongs, not to mention the fact that the maraccas at the beginning were also a nice way to start the song up even though they can barely be heard. Drums were varied pretty well, so overall, nice drum work ^^.

In a nutcase, this is a good song, although it has some obvious flaws, such as the lack of identity because of the clashing emotions/moods, and the transitions towards the end which need work, along with a few other minor flaws I noticed, but even then this is still a cool submission. Good job on it, and keep it up. Good luck in your future submissions :).
8/10
4/5

-Review Request Club-

[==(MINDMINER)==]

Wow, catchy!

No wonder you think that this is one of your best music submissions. It's catchy and contains many elements from different styles of music, including Ambient, Dubstep, Industrial, Glitch and Techno, all layered on top of some really interesting drums. This truly sounds awesome, great job!

The melodies aren't too complicated, but they did the job very well. The main melody that first came in at 0:54 was so damn catchy that I couldn't help but smile even though I knew that it was only going to get out of my head if I get amnesia. It should be illegal to be this catchy... I loved the quick key change you did at 1:18. 1:35 was also really interesting. The dark and suspenseful ambience in the background contrasted with the quirky and catchy melody playing in the foreground. The dubstep/metal notes that play at 2:28 were a very nice touch, although I can't help but think that they cut through the song a bit too much even if that was intentional. They may be a bit too loud/abrupt. I'm definitely not saying that you should remove them since they're great, but letting them fit in the smooth texture of the song a bit more would help, IMO. Loved the break at 3:16.

The instruments are all superb. I liked the main plucked instrument you used to play those extremely catchy melodies, and all of the other instruments complimented it really well. What probably makes this stand out the most, though, would be its excellent contrast of wet and dry elements, as you mentioned in the Author's Comments. The main instrument was dry, although the background was very echoey/reverby, which gives this an interesting touch. The background depth at times was lacking such as at 0:54 but I think it didn't take anything away from the song; actually it made it more interesting. The effects are also really amazing. I can't say much about them, unless you like reading an endless list of compliments, that is...

The transitions actually sound professional, especially a lot of the transitions with the drums. I think the only transition which didn't agree with me much would be the transition at 0:54. It switched from the rich texture of the ambiance at the beginning to the dry and empty part at 0:54. While I surely like this contrast, I think you should create a smoother transition. Probably the easiest way to do this would be to simply make a 2 - 4 second fade out for ambience once the melody starts playing at 0:54.

The song's structure is superb (alliterations FTW xD). You had loads of different sections, and each one left me impressed. Variety is really, really good as well. Along with the fact that there were so many different and interesting elements playing together in the song, the variety really makes the listener find it very hard to stop listening to this song, so good job there. The intro was brilliant (I liked the heartbeat sound you incorporated). The drums were also introduced very smoothly and sounded great along with the dark and creepy ambience. The ending was also great, and interesting too.

This song has some of the best drums I've heard in a long while. The beat was unbelievably catchy, and varied nicely too with a great amount of subtle changes to keep the drums sounding interesting and varied. The drums also fit extremely well with the song and complimented the melodies a lot. Drum samples were fantastic, and the drums were the right volume too. Flawless drum-work!

Overall, this is an amazing submission. I think the only wrong things with it would be the slightly rough/abrupt transition at 0:54 and the dubstep elements cutting through the song too much. Keep up the awesome work, and even though you're probably tired after reading this massive review, I'd love it if you could review my song Racing Through Eternity (http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/list en/322854) or Spacewalk (http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/list en/300556) (whichever one you prefer). Sorry for the long review, but I feel inclined to review whenever someone mentions it to me :P. Keep up the amazing work!
10/10
5/5
Download.
Fav'd.

-Review Request Club-

[Deep in the <3 of Us (instr)]

Nice bass :3

I like this song a lot. It has meaning to it, and sounds really well done. I can definitely picture this in a scene in a Flash movie where there's a suspenseful and daring atmosphere. I think I prefer this instrumental more than the version with vocals, IMO, since I think that while the vocals are extremely well written, they seem to ruin the cool atmosphere you've set in this version, although maybe that's a biased opinion since I never really liked songs with vocals. Whatever, great job on this!

The melodies are just great. As Shellac said, these definitely sound sloppy, but sloppy in a good way. I'd hate it if this song had everything perfectly the right time, since it would definitely take away from the smooth and natural sound of the track. This song is actually really relaxing, with a variety of different melodies. I usually don't like songs like this; played by a guitar without any fixed melody, but I'll have to make an exception over here. In addition, as the review summary might lead you to believe, I really like the bass. It sounds so catchy and fits really well in the song. I'm starting to wish I didn't have to use my old crappy subwoofer instead of my new one which decided to break out of nowhere. Every sound comes out thin on this subwoofer and I can't hear that bass to its full extent X(. Oh well...

I think I'll have to agree with Shellac again on the fact that this could do with some repetitions to give the track a more solid structure. You should add some sort of climax since the song never seems to reach a new level. Don't make some epic climax beyond proportions, but some part where the song gets a bit faster and the drums get a bit stronger would really help, since I can't really say 'Oh, this is my favourite part!' in this song, if you get what I mean. Sure, the song has a few small parts where the song becomes a bit more powerful, but maybe somewhere towards the end you can add some climax.

The instruments all sound awesome. The bass was very deep, and the guitar sounded great. 1:46 also has some sort of instrument that I can't seem to make out, which sounds really cool too. I also like the delay/echo effects you put on some guitar notes, that was a nice and interesting touch. Excellent use of the static as well, it DID add some overall warmth to the track.

Regarding the transitions, I can't say I didn't like them. The song flowed really smoothly from one melody to another. I like how you introduced the guitar, although you had a whole intro played by the bass and drums, and then after around 40 seconds you finally introduce the guitar. Not saying you should introduce it earlier, but perhaps you should play a few really subtle and quiet notes with the guitar here and there in the intro as an indication that the song is about to add a guitar eventually.

The structure, well, as I said, this doesn't have some sort of fixed structure, which works excellently in this song, but I strongly agree with the fact that you could repeat a few melodies with the guitar. On the other hand, the fact that you kept the bass playing roughly the same rhythm and notes throughout the song really kept the song in place and gave it a good structure, so while you didn't repeat any of the melodies at all, you added repetition with the bass line to stop the song from getting random. Intro was very good, the only thing that could help it is what I said above; adding some subtle guitar notes. The ending was awesome, but maybe some splash or ride cymbal accompanying the ending note would help it a bit.

The drums are absolutely brilliant. Loved the use of snaps, and the drums fit really well in the song. Maybe you could add a bit more of the snare, but heck, this is fine as it is. Fantastic job with the drums!

To summarize, I was impressed by this. Relaxing and suspenseful at the same time. Just work on some of the nitpicks I mentioned and this'll be perfect in my opinion. Keep up the amazing work and good luck with your future submissions!
9/10
5/5 - Ouch, this got 0-bombed badly :(.

-Review Request Club-

MarkArandjus responds:

Yeah I don't blame you, I prefer this version too and I thin kthe vocals kind of distract you from the neato details of the instrumental.

1:46 is actually an organ. I just love to put organs in the back sometimes, maybe even too much I even put one in this metal song (though it was a pleasy part of the metal song).

Thanks for the sweet score, and yeah there are always a few trancefags 0-ing non-trance songs. Not that I have anything against trance, but those are some mean folks.

[Our Nova Pt. 1]

Wow :D

I suppose there are some different opinions on this. Some people think that Pt. 1 is better, some people think Pt. 2 is better, most people like the melodies, some people don't, some people don't mind the loudness, some people do, etc, but personally I think this is one of your best submissions. The only reason why I'm giving you a 9 is the usual reason: the length. You seem to stretch the same melodies or the same beats again and again till you drag it on to a huge length. I'd love it if you make a condensed version of this, because then I'd download it for sure. Wow, long intro xD.

The melodies are amazing. They're very catchy, upbeat and euphoric, plus they all compliment each other very well. Still, the beauty of this submission doesn't only lie in its fantastic melodies and great blend, but also the amazing harmonizing you've done, as usual. However, not to doubt your godly harmony skills, but I think 3:27 sounds a little weird. Could be just me (I suck so much at harmonizing), but I think there's a note somewhere there which sounds a little off. I won't reduce any points for it though, since as I said, it could be just me. Chord progression was awesome. Still, I agree with Shellac about the loudness. Turn it down a little, and EQ it. It'll definitely help fix some static and clipping too.

One thing which I don't really like in this submission would be the fact that it never changes mood. It's happy and upbeat for the whole song. No tempo changes, no breaks, no ambient parts, and no noticeable climax. Sure, the song has its moments, but I never seem to find any grand climax in the song. Heck, even a quick and noticeable change to a minor scale for a few bars would be nice.

What I'm trying to say is, while I REALLY like the joyous and fast-paced mood that the song has, I think it lacks a few dynamic changes, and if you add them I think they might even fix your repetition problem a little. Dance music doesn't have to be all powerful :). Perhaps F-777's We Believe Ep's might help you out, namely Ep. 1 which has quite a few changes to ambient, Ep. 6 which has nice buildups and Ep. 7 which has a very well transitioned key change.

The instruments all sound very nice, and there was a good amount of different instruments. Loved the choir sound at the beginning, and what I like is that the saw waves you used weren't that rough, even though saw waves are usually rough, and so they didn't interfere with the happy mood. The gated rhythms used in this were also pretty good, if not a bit generic. The effects were good, so nice job there. My only complaint is that the synth at 3:12 was quite ear piercing.

Transitions overall were nice. Some instruments came in a little suddenly, but that's not much of a problem. I liked your reverse cymbals, they provided some good transitions (damn, that reverse cymbal at 0:20 is long xD). There was a nice buildup in the intro too, although I would've liked to see some buildups somewhere else too.

The structure was all over the place. Melody after melody came in, complimenting each other, and although the piece never got too random, at times it got hard to follow because of the crazy structure. Condensing this song to around 3:00 or so would definitely help keep the structure solid. Variety was good, although the only problem with the variety is what I said above: this needs more style/mood/rhythm changes. The intro was amazing, and I won't complain about it for sure, although the ending was a little weird. It leaves you saying 'Eh? Thats how it ends?'. I even checked if it matches well with Pt. 2, but it still doesn't.

The drums sound really nice, and I like your beat, but the drums surely need more variety. Sure, drum variety in Dance isn't too important, but you only had about 2-3 drum beats for a whole 6 minutes, so I think you should vary them more :).

Anyway, overall, keep it up! Hit me up if you condense this, I'll be sure to download it. Also, if you respond to this, you'll be giving me my 300th Audio Response :P.
SPARTAAAA!!!!!
9/10
5/5

-Review Request Club-

DJ-Chilvan responds:

Wow! Thanks's so much for the review! I'm sorry I wasnt able to respond to it earlier, I've been pretty busy. Haha, I like how you called me the "Harmony god" lol. I try my best to make harmonizing my trademark haha. I read and reread everything you said. I will make a shortened version, but I need to finish some other projects first. And I hope this would be your 300th response, but I guess im a lil too late lol=P
Thanks for the wonderful advice! It was really helpful! I'm looking forward to more of your reviews!
P.S. lol, before you reviewed this, it was a 4.24, and after you said you five'd it, it was still a 4.24 lol.

[Stargenx - Epic Jam]

Yet another nice song from you :)

It's become obvious that you're an extremely talented artist by now. This reminds me a bit of Spring Fling, although it doesn't have as much of a nice melody as Spring Fling. Actually, while it does have some nice melodies and a good blend of different instruments, unfortunately it sounds a bit 'rushed'. You'll see why I say that if you have enough patience to read the massive review that follows...

The melodies, as I said, were very nice. You had a slightly generic chord progression, but what the heck, the chords used were nice and the melodies were euphoric and catchy. Loved the bassline at 0:17; it instantly made me smile, and the progression of melodies was decent. My main gripe with this is that it actually lacks 'epic'-ness, contradicting its name. Maybe it's because of the fact that the song is so quiet. I'm sure that amplifying it like 1.5-2 decibels will make it sound much better. Still, it could also be that bigbluechevy is right about the synths. They could be more powerful and mighty. The pad was alright, but the bassline could be a little more prominent and give more of an impact and the synth at 0:49 was weak at best.

Well, apart from the fact that some of the instruments sound a little weak, the sound of the instruments themselves was very nice. I liked your use of the pads the most. Yeah, I've noticed that your pads always sound excellent in your songs :D. What I like most about this would be the blend of different instruments. The acid bassline, joyous pads, upbeat synth and a mixture of rock/trance drums never fit so well together. This fact adds a nice bit of uniqueness to this submission, which makes up for the slightly overused chord progression. This song lacks sound effects though. You could add some sweeps, pitch bending or any other effects to keep the song interesting, like you did in Magical Pipe. Still, what the heck, the song sounds nice without that many sound effects anyway. Overall, good instruments although slightly weak, lack of sound effects, but fantastic blend.

The transitions would probably be my biggest gripe with this song. The drum roll at 0:17 was loud, and then what followed was quiet, leaving an anti-climatic and abrupt transition. You can say the same for the transition at 0:33. Then, as for the one at 0:49, I think the drum beat/pads/bassline disappeared way to suddenly, only to be replaced by a random synth solo. The transition at 1:04, on the other hand, was superb. Then, the transition to the ending note (1:37) was really bad. That ending note sounded completely cut off from the whole song. It was louder than any of the other instruments, and it made the ending sound very sloppy. New instruments were introduced pretty well, and buildups were very good.

The structure was alright. Basically, you had a buildup, then a synth solo, and at 1:04 you went back to the theme you originally set at the beginning, before ending the song. The variety was decent, but this song definitely needs a bigger variety of chord progressions. As for the intro, it was great; you can never go wrong with pad intros ^^. The ending, as I said above, was weird, since that note seemed to come out of nowhere.

The drums were actually really nice. The drum rolls, although too loud when compared to the rest of the song, were brilliantly executed, and the beat was catchy. Still, I'm not too sure about that clap sound you used. I can't seem to negate the fact that the clap is played utterly randomly throughout the song. I'd suggest that you either give it a fixed rhythm with a few subtle variations or you take it out entirely. However, drums on the whole were great, and I liked the kick you used.

In generak, this is a great song, although I still thing Magical Pipe is better than the rest of your submissions :P. Ah well, keep up the awesome work, and good luck on your next submission. I'd like to hear what you can come up with next, so I can have an excuse to fav you as an artist :D.
8/10
5/5 - Because this song got really badly 0-bombed, and nobody likes 0-bombs...

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Stargenx responds:

Thanks for the long-ass review! I love 'em. I know there are a ton of things to improve in this. :(
I like the honesty in your review and I agree with a lot of it. I'm not debating that my transitions are bad; I know they are. I just haven't gotten around to fixing it. My mentality at the time of the upload was: upload something and fix it later. I realize that that mentality has led to me uploading a lot of flawed work and I don't like that. I have more time now to contemplate what is up here and what needs to change. I'm spending a lot more time in the development stage, rather then just getting something out to get it out.
My latest song that I'm working on is still brewing even though I've deemed it ready. This is because some days it sounds different. I'm constantly fiddling with the volume on it because what I hear some days sounds worse. But I digress. I agree with what you're saying. I'm still working on finding ways to extend the songs and give them better transitions. Including the one I'm working on now, I have only two songs that are over 3 minutes.
Damnit I keep digressing again. XD
Some of the mixing problems in this song come from only using one speaker.
Anyway I know I can improve. I'll prove it to you. :)
Long-ass review = Mostly long-ass answer. :)

[Hinted]

Yeah, pretty sloppy...

I have to admit, I don't really enjoy guitar songs of this type. To me they lack depth, excitement, and at times sound pretty random. This wasn't really random, and had a decent melody, so it's definitely better that the other songs like this, but it still needs some work IMO.

The melodies, as I said, were nice. They're calming, and provoke a simplistic, relaxing atmosphere. As sixflab said, the fact that you retirated the ending notes was good and provided a good outro. Still, the silence at the end and beginning are pretty unnecessary, and overall the song is pretty quiet. Here it is, louder and with the silence removed (also slightly higher quality), in case you want it:
http://www.mediafire.com/?mnninzglz2y
Also, is it me, or does 0:16 sound weird?

The guitar used was alright, if not too dry. It was also low quality, although you said that it was intentional so I won't really complain about that. Obviously, having more instruments playing along with the guitar such as some strings, a piano, drums and maybe another guitar, possibly even vocals, would make this even better, but I suppose keeping it as a little guitar solo as it is now would be alright too.

The transitions from one melody to another were good, and the song flowed smoothly, which helped in the plain and relaxing theme of the song. I liked that you had some quieter parts and some louder parts; it helped make the song more interesting. The structure is actually very good, as sixflab said. I was impressed by the structure for sure, and the variety is also very good. Not random, but not repetitive either. Good job with the structure/variety. The intro was good, and the outro was decent too; not much to say about them.

As I said above, this could do with some drums. If you want I can help you out in that department, but I'll need to know the BPM.

In general, this is a nice little song. Simple, but has a very good atmosphere and sounds decent. Keep up the good work.
7/10
5/5 - because this song got badly 0-bombed.

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