Step's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Soyn - Extinct Species]

NGAP 10TH ANNIVERSARY CONTEST REVIEW

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Damn, turning a soft ambient track into a drum'n'bass track. Massive props! And it actually WORKS in this genre too!

So yeah, I need to say that this change in genre is one of the most drastic in the competition. The melody actually sounds very good in a DnB setup but you still add a really beautiful ambient intro to sort of fool the listener into thinking this'll simply be a soft cover of a soft song, and then building up until any misconceptions are taken care of with the introduction of that sweet drum beat. It all works together wonderfully. Your interpretation of the original is what I was impressed with the most, but there are a lot of other qualities that this song has which make it a solid submission, such as on-the-whole good sounds, smooth transitions, and a stable structure.

But unfortunately, all of that is tainted by some pretty terrible production choices. The drums are too loud and rough, and in fact the whole track could do with toning down in the roughness. The supersaws are too dense and harsh, and while I have nothing against roughness if it's used tastefully, over here it just makes everything tiring to listen to. You've got good-quality production in general but its main downfall is the harshness, which is entirely unexpected after listening to that amazingly delicate ambient intro.

Don't get me wrong, it's a fantastic submission. Just work on mixing the sounds together well so that you can create a better atmosphere that doesn't get exhausting to listen to and hence difficult to enjoy.

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SCORE: 8/10

Developer responds:

Thank you Step for the overall reviews you've done and for this one too of course :)

[Sleep Wrapped in Love ~ T]

NGAP 10TH ANNIVERSARY CONTEST REVIEW

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What I've always liked about your work is that even if you may not have access to the best software and hardware out there, your exceptional compositional skills often overshadow that.

This is perhaps one of the most creative covers from the whole competition. It sounds like more than just a cover, but almost as if the original was a flower and you turned it into a damned garden. Despite that, you still keep it sounding wonderfully delicate and reminiscent of a lullaby. Your new instrumentation and new piano accompaniment works so well, and even if some aspects of it are very typical for this genre (piano, strings and vocals? Like I haven't heard that before), you still give it some uniqueness with the mallets (which had a very well-timed transition at 1:34). And the singing! Finally, you got a microphone! And the exact same model I have too. That, and your singing is very solid. So are your lyrics (love how you used the title of the original in them).

Now, this song isn't perfect. It's excellent for what it is but there are a few small flaws. The recording is pretty good but since the Samson GoMic is made for portability and stuff like voice chats rather than to record singing, your voice still doesn't sound as full-bodied as it should sound. Like I said above, your singing is awesome, but it's a bit iffy in the higher register at some points. I would've loved to hear some vocal harmonies too, to maybe make up for the fact that the microphone isn't picking up all the frequencies of your voice properly, and more importantly because vocal harmonies are awesome.

To be frank, all I'm mentioning are tiny little shortcomings here and there. You've succeeded in taking the original, interpreting it creatively and fittingly, and ending up with a beautiful and well-structured track that deserves high marks from me!

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SCORE: 9/10

Troisnyx responds:

Pros and cons noted! <3 Thanks for the review.
There's a special version with HFX's input coming soon, and I'll pay special attention to the vocals.

[The Genocide]

NGAP 10TH ANNIVERSARY CONTEST REVIEW

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What an awesome song to cover. And what an awesome cover.

To start off, I'm usually not one to enjoy over-compression but over here it works and makes everything sound clean and powerful. Parts like 1:44 have a lot of oomph. Your interpretation of the original is just stellar with a great creativity factor. How you started the song for example; the introduction of the riff at the beginning of the original is extremely well-thought-out, and you've got some great parts like 1:31 which are a blast to listen to. Transition-wise, I'm very much a fan of the transition at 1:45, and in general most are just awesome.

To mention a few flaws, first off the transitions to the main parts at 0:25 and 2:03 were the only ones I wasn't a fan of. In the original they felt a lot more pronounced and well-executed, whereas over here they were both somewhat anti-climaxes. In addition, while your mix is great, there are waaaayyy too many high frequencies man. In general the open hats were pretty high and parts like 1:31 are excrutiatingly ear-piercing. I would definitely consider killing some of the higher frequencies and adding more bass. The original had a great bass and over here it's still good but this is missing the awesomely deep rumble of the original's bass, and treating us to an overload of high frequencies instead.

Extremely well-done overall. Shame about the high frequencies, but otherwise keep up the great work.

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SCORE: 9/10

SourJovis responds:

Thanks man. Glad you like it. Like I said before I made an alternate mix with less high frequencies and more low. Unfortunately that mix also sounds less powerful, because other people weren't a fan of the over compression and distortion. It's a lot easier on the ear though.

[Origin (Cover)]

NGAP 10TH ANNIVERSARY CONTEST REVIEW

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Aw man, this hits me right in my soft spot. I love Origin! Awesome song choice.

Just when I thought the original had relaxing qualities to it, this cover came along. This rendition certainly feels a whole lot more laid-back than the original. The rhythm guitar is a creative addition and the beats are tight (cool tom drum fills). Props for using LMMS too. Since it's a free program LMMS might sometimes be underestimated, but songs like this definitely prove the misconceptions wrong. You've got some lovely synths as well, like the plucked synth at 2:37. Great use of the organ synth at the beginning.

What this makes up for in the mood, it lacks in production. The drums lack in any kind of power and while I don't want to hear loud drums drowning everything else out, a bit more punch would be appreciated with drums in this style. In fact, everything just sits in the background and nothing really stands out that much. 0:47, for example, is very plain and understated, even if it's supposed to be a foreground melody. Couldn't you have turned that synth up and given it a bit more character, like some chorus or glitch/distorion effects? The original had silky and spacy square synths for foreground melodies like that, but sometimes over here we're just treated to a very average-sounding and quiet lead. The ending in the original was much better by the way.

As a recap, work on employing more masterful production techniques. What you've got is wonderfully relaxing though, and I love your interpretation of the original. Keep it up.

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SCORE: 7/10

K-Pone responds:

Indeed I could have turned the lead synth a little bit louder. The drums may also be a little bit quiet, but I don't want the drums to be louder than the rest. Thanks a lot for the review.

[Jaded Gunner (RMX/cover)]

NGAP 10TH ANNIVERSARY CONTEST REVIEW

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This is a pretty solid cover right here!

My first thought was that this has an awesome intro. The drum beat over there sounds very smooth and sits beautifully in the mix, and it's surprisingly refreshing that it's such a classic drum'n'bass beat which has been used so many times before. It's executed well enough here for it to fit in well and not sound like a generic element that's forced into the track, and I also like the subtle entrance of those string plucks as well. What I truly like about this is that it isn't just a blind cover of the original but you proudly give it its own identity by nailing the balance between making this a cover of the original and giving it your own touch. The structure here varies from the original too, which is something I commend you on, since it isn't always easy to vary structure of an original track in a cover.

Now, if I had to be entirely honest here, this is sadly lacking in terms of production quality. I'm hearing some well-produced things like the drum beat at the very beginning, but then the drums that come in at 0:23 aren't as flowing and sound kind of loud (but I do admit they get better later on). The synths you used sound incredibly raw and unprocessed as well. The synth at 0:22 almost sounds like the default 3xOsc sound, for example. The saw synths at the end get pretty overbearing and overall the production needs work. Apart from that, this is unfortunately a bit boring to listen to. Nothing too exciting ever happens.

It's a good cover in general. Nice work!

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SCORE: 6.5/10

Yoshiii343 responds:

thenks steph
still can't think of a proper response so i might edit this later

[Rose (viewtifulday Remix)]

NGAP 10TH ANNIVERSARY CONTEST REVIEW

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When I saw that Rose was being remixed, I instantly thought HOW THE HELL WILL HE BE ABLE TO REMIX THAT MELODY. But you did. You sure did. D:

Absolutely brilliant intro. What an excellent piano-like intro synth right there. Not only did it set the mood but it sounds great and works well with everything else, especially the strings at 0:32. The strings themselves actually sound wonderfully warm and fitting, and I like that you used them as a sort of tribute to the original, since I think that one of Rose's trademarks is that it has strings in it along with all of the electronic techno synths. The sounds in general are awesome and apart from that you've got solid production! This is well-rounded and clear, while still retaining a satisfying punch and rumble from the kick and bass.

To be honest, my only problem is that, like I've said to some other submissions in this contest, this does not go to any new grounds from the original whatsoever. I do like some things you've done here, like the ending synth, the different-sounding intro, etc, but this is unfortunately a bit standard and 'safe' compared to what you could've done with this track. While I certainly commend you on being so meticulous with this track and making sure you replicate the synth riffs well and whatnot, that's not what you need to do for me to call this a creative and innovative cover of the original.

Honestly though, I still have to credit you for the production, sounds and remaking that CRAZY synth riff.

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SCORE: 7.5/10

viewtifulday responds:

I'm glad you appreciate the production, even if, like the other judges, you were disappointed I didn't take Rose in a completely different direction from the original.
I feel kind of let down that I was expected, rather than encouraged, to make huge changes from cornandbeans's version, but that's just me

[Sad Robot (Doppo Version)]

NGAP 10TH ANNIVERSARY CONTEST REVIEW

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This is not as impressive as I hoped it would've been I'm afraid. You have some elements in your cover that I can commend you on, but as a whole I think this is an unimpressive attempt.

As usual, I'll start with what I liked. The atmosphere in this, while not as strong as in the original, is still dark and well-composed. You've also got a cool atmospheric electronic pattern going on, and the drums are pretty great as a background element. In fact this track would actually work quite well as a background to a game or movie or something. I'm quite happy with how you ended the track too, rather than looping it like the original does.

That said, this is far from what I'd call an improvement over the original. For starters, that piano is just terrible. The original's was very fitting but like various other people have said, this sample doesn't do justice to the atmosphere at all. This is uninteresting overall and doesn't have much other than a good atmosphere and good composition (which for the most part I can't credit you for) to remain interesting throughout.

It's not a terrible cover, but I'm afraid it's a bad score from me. Thanks for participating anyway!

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SCORE: 5/10

Doppoganga responds:

Appreciate the feedback and your honestly, I'll be sure to give it my all next time.

[Circus To My Vanity]

NGAP 10TH ANNIVERSARY CONTEST REVIEW

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Circus music from ZipZipper. I SHOULD HAVE GUESSED. And well-made circus music too!

You honestly have considerably good production skills, which make this have an even crisper mix than the original has. I love how you take techniques that are often used in circus music and make them your own, by the way. To any listener, this will sound exactly like circus music, but despite that, you've got quirky synths that work very well but aren't often used in circus music, if at all, since generally accordions, strings/guitars, bells, etc... are used. And then you still make tributes to circus instrumentation at parts like 2:57. The sounds are pleasing to the ears overall and this is just a really well-made track. By the way, love the time signature changes. You actually transitioned between them very well on the whole. Great work.

A tiny problem I had with this is that while I love the piano solo at 4:13 (and the extremely elegant transition at 4:28), the piano mostly plays singular notes and I think that for a solo like that, some more complex accompaniment would work very well. If it were up to me I'd make that section a bit more rubato too, but that's personal preference. My main issue with this is that halfway through it unfortunately gets quite monotonous. I can tell you worked hard on it but it's a very long track and it's practically in one suspenseful circus mood the whole time. The only change that was truly welcomed as a change of tone was the piano solo. I know the original is quite long and not that diverse either, but that doesn't mean you can't diversify yourself!

Despite the issues I mentioned, I think this is one of my favourites from the contest! Great work.

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SCORE: 9/10

ZipZipper responds:

Agreed...shouldn't have been so focused on following the original. Guess that's how I approach covers, I'll feel rude if I manipulate the original too much. And yeah piano solo was blah...I need to lose the OCD I have with music...

[~SW~ Contentment]

I thought about giving you some feedback on this through Skype but screw that, I'll write a small (for my standards) review on it over here! It may not be apparent at first but this is an incredibly solid contest submission. If the judge(s) are factoring originality in their score (and I don't see why not) then this has it nailed. If they are I'm also pretty much doomed because one of my tracks is generic film-score stuff and the other is generic mission-impossible stuff.

Brilliant composition from the first second. You must be using a mode other than Ionian since it doesn't sound entirely in the major key. Might be Mixolydian or something. Whatever, it's awesome. What I like most about this is that it isn't always bright and happy. There are indeed moments where the song goes to a less happy mood like around 1:15, and then it resolves back to its content mood again. Creative stuff overall.

The instrumentation is highly intriguing. There are some sounds in Omnisphere that I load up, listen to, and then I think "damn, this sounds so good but I don't think I'll ever be able to fit it in anywhere". Examples of these sounds include the jabbadadoodlydah jazz vocal things and the solo tenor patch not found in this song. That said, you've actually put them in situations where they really make sense, in both this song and other songs. The jazz 'doo' vocals actually fit wonderfully at parts like 0:45.

Your instrument choice in general is just wacky, but in a good way. Jazz vocal things, steel drum, guitar, a bunch of synths, some synthy ambience in the background and then a drum kit from all things. Your instruments sound nice, except that steel drum which is unfortunately very obviously a free soundfont. It pierces through the mix too much and sounds too upfront. It's also kinda dry and needs a lot more humanisation.

The trill things at parts like 0:43; great idea, but they also sound very artificial. For trills like that, I find it useful to start the trill at a low velocity, and then increase the notes' velocity as the trill goes along. It makes it feel a lot more natural. I do the same for any kind of quick playing with an instrument, including turns, snare rolls, glissandos, broken chords, etc. Never play any of these ornaments and articulations with a constant note velocity.

The structure is spectacular. You go through different melodies smoothly and then bring the song round a full circle by repeating previous motifs again at the end and even changing them up a little at times, and it works well. Additionally your transitions are as always pretty much impossible to fault. The only transitions I'm a bit irked about are the 0:43 transition and the 1:00 transition. The former is just a little messed up since that steel drum is so loud, and the latter is smooth but could be improved a bit more! As transitions they're fine though, they just need some more fine-tuning.

In the percussive department, I don't have that much to talk about. They're fine I guess, and they do sound like they're actually played. They fit kinda well although personally I do question your use of a traditional drum kit over something a bit more synthy and punchy. Personally I think some techno drums, complemented by some ethnic percussion like bongos and whatnot, would work better in this track.

The mix is the last thing I need to talk about. Like in a lot of your other songs, the mix is clear. It's a good mix, although maybe dampen the cymbals' high-end a bit more? Also like I said that steel drum needs work. Lastly, I need some punchier sounds! I'm talking about the drums mainly; they're kinda weak and I would've loved something a bit more hard-hitting, like what FairSquare did in this track.
http://goo.gl/h7X1l

That's pretty much it. Great work on this; you're as always a worthy competitor who takes a direction that no other competitor would dream of taking. I mean, making something content/happy isn't entirely original, but you do it in such a creative way that I can't help but give this my exclusive seal of approval ^_______^.
9/10
5/5

SkyeWint responds:

Hai!

"a small (for my standards) review"
Lies. Even with that "for my standards" statement. I'm happy about it though. :3

"Brilliant composition from the first second. You must be using a mode other than Ionian since it doesn't sound entirely in the major key."
:D Yay. Yeah, my line of thought for this was that you need some kind of comparison for happiness. If you're JUST happy, how do you know that you are?

"The instrumentation is highly intriguing."
Okay yeah I did kinda go crazy with the instrumentation. I just started with the vocal "bass drum" and it exploded from there. Funnily enough, I was originally going to have a melodic bass structure similar to Buoy's in "Endless Forms Most Beautiful", but it... evolved. Also, I find it funny that you had two different paragraphs about instrumentation which are written as if they're discussing totally different topics. :3 And yes, I totally agree about the steel drum. :< Unfortunately, I don't have anything better myself, and I didn't have time to get someone else to replace them.

"For trills like that, I find it useful to start the trill at a low velocity"
Okay, this part is SUPER helpful to me. I like trying to get things to be realistic, and knowing a better way to do it is helpful. :3 I guess I mainly just got lazy at that point, lol.

"The structure is spectacular."
:D

"Additionally your transitions are as always pretty much impossible to fault."
Yaaaaaaaay. You know how much I work on that. I do agree about your criticisms though. The soundfont Steel Drum was a bit meh in its introduction (though I personally don't mind it a ton), and getting out of a swinging groove is ABSURDLY DIFFICULT. I think I managed to pull it off passably though, and considering what I was doing I'm happy with that.

"complemented by some ethnic percussion like bongos and whatnot"
Some ethnic stuff would have been AWESOME. I didn't want synth drums though, so I guess we disagree on opinion there. :3 Same for the punchier, hard-hitting suggestion. I know you love that kind of thing, but I'm not as much of a fan of it in pieces where the point isn't to drill the drumbeat into someone's ears.

"a direction that no other competitor would dream of taking"
Dat's meh goal. :3

"my exclusive seal of approval"
Oh man is that some kind of picture that I can use for the CD cover or something because that would be awesome to have

Thanks for the review, man! Huge and helpful as always!

[Mountains of Gold]

Damn damn damn damn DAMN. That was unexpected. Honestly, I saw your post in the Audio Forum about Irish/Celtic music and when I saw that you added that picture to your forum post, without any disrespect of course, the first thought that came to my mind was something like "oh look, here comes another bad musician who thinks that because he has nice-looking artwork for his song it means it's actually any good", because we get a lot of people like that. Yeah well, shame on me for being so judgemental; your song is actually really good!

Lovely guitar playing, man. I'm a big fan of this kind of fast-paced acoustic guitar playing and like to use it a lot in my music. Jabun did a wonderful job over here, and you did just as good of a job at incorporating the guitar into the rest of the track. That guitar gives loads of energy to the track. Hell, I would've liked even MORE guitar. As much as I love all the fantastic orchestral instruments, that guitar adds a great flair to the piece and it's something I would certainly give more of the spotlight to if I were you.

The composition is fantastic; one of the best things about this track, for sure. I don't know if you were the one in charge of all of the composition or Jabun helped out with it too, but whoever contributed to that composition did one hell of a good job. The melodies, like the guitar, are quick and extremely fun to listen to. At some points like at 1:13 it felt like the really quick notes were starting to become a bit much and it began getting kinda tiring but then SWEET JESUS, 1:30 is so wonderfully powerful that I wouldn't even care if the worst melody in history was playing before it.

Needless to say, you've got some very high-quality instruments over here. It is quite hard to fault East/West I guess! The strings in particular are great, but even though it says there are woodwinds in this track, I can't really hear any woodwinds (except maybe 1:28?), but they would work exceptionally well in a track like this, and continue with the subtle Celtic vibe this track has. The brass wasn't exactly the star of the show over here, but it was used very well. You've got to love the things you do with it, like the low brass notes at around 1:00 and the spectacular brass staccatos at parts like 1:46. The brass adds a good amount of power to the track. And like I mentioned above, the guitar is amazing.

The transitions are entirely nailed. Transitions like the ones at 0:17 (might want to make this one a bit more powerful), 0:55 and 1:28 are what I like to hear in songs like this. Those three transitions were the ones that stood out for me but in all honesty each transition was smooth and transferred the song to the next section seamlessly. What also helps, I feel, is that guitar that consistently plays fast chords for pretty much all of the track; the fact that it's always there in the background to keep the energy up to standard helps to glue the song together.

Now for the mixing, about which I have some complaints to mention. Let me get some clarifications out of the way first; your mix is great. Awesome clarity, everything is loud, fantastic EQing, etc. I think there are a few issues, though. Sometimes the strings' melodies get lost in the energy of the track and become hard to follow, mainly at 1:04. Also, throw some more reverberation on the cymbal roll at 1:39, man... in fact all of the cymbal rolls could do with a bit more reverb. The lack of reverb on 1:39's cymbal makes it sound almost wimpy. Make sure you add high-end reverb though, because low-end reverb might just mud everything up.

Something that has to do with the mix is a complaint I have about the percussion. Most of the energy came from the guitar and while the percussion was certainly high-quality, it has SO much more potential. I've noticed a significant lack of powerful low end in this track, since most of what I can hear from your percussion is the hit that comes in at 0:13 (which might be a bit too loud, may I add), the cymbals, and a poor bass drum almost suffocated by all the other instruments. Try killing some of the low end of the guitar and leaving some space for more bass drums to shine, to give this song a bit more of a low-end rumble.

If you're using Stormdrum 1, try adding some of the hits from the Big Hits patch, or from the Godzilla Hits/Earthquake Ensemble if you're using Stormdrum 2. You can try adding some of Stormdrum's toms as well if you think you can mix them in well, since I recently found out how badass they are.

The structure is rock solid. You don't exactly have any motifs that you latch on to but this song still feels like a unified listening experience since you keep a relatively unchanging set of instruments and have such smooth transitions. Not only that, but you've got a brilliant introduction that sets the mood for the song flawlessly, and then you lead up perfectly to the ending which, by the way, is an incredibly satisfying way of ending the song.

In conclusion, despite being a newcomer to Newgrounds, you've certainly made a good first impression. I'm highly impressed with this and I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavours! Keep it up, man.

10/10
5/5
Download.
Favorited.