Step's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[-Set In Motion-]

I heard that chord progression 50 times before...

...But who cares, generic chord progressions don't necessarily make your song bad. Nice job, this is a pretty cool song you have here ;).

Melodies, as I said, were generic, and not the best I've heard, but still nice. Climax at 1:08 was well done, but I wished the song, at 1:36, would take a break from the main melody, and then the melody starts fading in slowly, along with some drums soon after. Well, I hope I'm allowed to use other songs as reference... anyway, take this song (remove spaces) as an example: http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/liste n/277684 ...at 1:21, there's a break from the main action-packed melodies of the song. Something like that would do wonders in this song ^^.

Instruments are very nice, and not that generic. It didn't move onto that very familiar saw wave along with a few bells in the background and a bland kick beat like what happens in a lot of dance songs. Loved the square wave that first distinctly appeared at 0:13, and the one playing the melodies was quite interesting. 1:07, if I'm not mistaken, had a vocal sample. Nice job putting it there, but I would've preferred if you increased its volume some more. Good sound effects throughout the song though.

The transitions were all smooth, and some were very well done, like the one with the vocal sample at 1:07. All new instruments were introduced very well, too. Song structure and variety aren't so good though. It was just that same chord progression with the square wave playing for practically the whole song, and it got rather annoying. I'd prefer you removed the square wave, or even better, make it play other melodies, and leave the melody that its playing right now to the bass.

Intro was great. It started a little too softly, and I had to turn the volume up quite a bit to see if what I was hearing was a very soft melody or just silence, so you could turn up the first part a little, but other than that, excellent intro, with a cool sound effect that moved into the main melody at 0:13. The ending was a fade ending, and I really wish it wasn't, since fade endings almost never turn out that good. I can't think of any way to end it though, sorry :( ; just try and think up an ending which isn't too abrupt or wierd, and fits well with the song.

The drums, as Kirbyfemur said, were very good. Wish they were louder though; at times I wondered if they were even there. Still, they were varied (well, I *think* they were varied anyway... I could barely hear them :P), had nice samples, good beats, fit with the song extremely well, and I liked that you used a crash cymbal here and there to mark new parts in the song.

Overall, I enjoyed this song, although it has a few defects, namely fade ending, quiet drums/vocal sample/intro, and variety. Fix those, maybe think up a few more melodies too, and you have yourself a top-5 worthy song ^^.
8/10
4/5

-Review Request Club-

Liam3003 responds:

Top 5 worthy song? Now, that really is a long shot. lol, After reading this review the first time I decided to change some things in the song, changed the intro and made the vocals louder, I'm not going to upload it because I'm actually now thinking I should remake the entire song.
variation, variation, variation. I need some..
Anyway, Thanks for the great review.

[FL are you ready?]

Yeah, you've got a lot more to learn on FL :P

It's your first audio submission, so I can't give you a high score, although you've got an OK loop over here. For a first song, I've seen much worse, but this isn't particularly fantastic either. Still, it's what practice is for, right?

Melodies are quite good. The main melody did get a little monotonous, but it was OK nevertheless. The background melodies were alright, and I liked that you had more than one instrument playing; usually in first time submissions there's blandly one instrument at a time playing, but you did a good job mixing them all together. Still, as Kirbyfemur said, the background melodies were too and repetitive. Instead of using the same background melody in every part of the song, vary it entirely, maybe even giving it its own solo before the main instument comes in again.

As for the instruments, I don't know if you used default presets in FL Studio, but if you did, don't worry, it's normal, everyone does that, but after some time try using downloaded VST's and soundfonts and the like from the Net. Anyway, choice of instruments was fine, and I liked the vocal sample at the beginning. What I would've preferred though was that you recorded yourself saying 'Are you ready' and editing it in a waveform editor to make it sound better and fit with the loop.

The transitions were done quite well, remembering that this is just a small loop. Structure and variety are quite good for a loop too, but this only is a melody repeated err... 2 and a half times, except in different keys, and with a repetitive background, so you should think up some alternate melodies to remove the monotony this song has.

As for the intro, it was well made with the vocal sample, but I think this didn't loop that well. I'd rather you turn this into a song of at least one minute and then end it properly. Either that, or if you're adamant about looping it, then you'll have to take that vocal sample out, improve the ending by matching it with the beginning and starting the song suddenly, so I'd prefer if you tried to expand this into a song.

Not much to say about the percussion. It wasn't bad, but I think you should use more samples, like a snare, and maybe a few splash cymbals or soft crash cymbals here and there to mark new parts in the song.

It's definitely a good start, for a first song. Has some problems, but that's normal in every song. Don't let the low score put you down, this is impressive for your first song, and trust me, it's definitely better than my first song, or the first song of quite a lot of other people. Good job!
5/10
2/5

-Review Request Club-

jake-thesnake responds:

Thanks, I'm really glad I could get some honest opinions about my "song." Now I know, (based on your review), the things that I need to work, and improve on. I realize that this was very repetitive, short, very bad loop, and had very few instruments; but next time I will follow your advice and make it more interesting.

Thanks man, and once again I appreciate the honest review.

[SN |Lost, But on Her Way| SN]

Ambient and Dnb with a touch of Glitch?...

...Seriously, why am I not surprised? Lol, still, great song. You have a lot of talent; so much talent that you got me downloading glitch... And man, you've got to be a darn genius to get me to download glitch music...

The piano melodies are excellent. There were many alternate melodies, and they were all so epic. The closer the song got to the end, the better the melodies were. Loved the part at 1:43, it was an awesome break from the overload of glitch effects and drum beats. The only complaint I have is that the piano stuck to the high notes only, which got a little annoying. Add some piano accompaniment in the bass to even it out.

Instruments are great, as usual. Piano wasn't that good quality, but I think this piano would do better in a song like this than a good quality piano would XD. Loved the ambient pads and choirs in the background, they added a lot of background depth to the song and fit perfectly with the heavenly or otherworldy theme you were going for in this song. I'll just complain about that piano sometimes having its notes blurred together a lot, and it was hard to make out if what was playing was a piano or just another sound effect.

Speaking of effects, man, this song is covered in them! The delayed sound effect thing that was a little like a reverse cymbal which appeared first at 0:48 was really cool and made good transitions, and you used so many reverse cymbals and glitch effects. Vocal sample at the beginning was a really creative idea, good job. It fit perfectly with the song without disrupting it.

Transitions are just how the always are in your songs. Purely epic. There were many amazing transitions which made the song flow smoothly throughout, but I think my favourite would be at 1:09. It had a nice glitch effect, and didn't ruin the feel of the song. Another favourite transition of mine was where the drums stopped and left the piano playing on its own at 0:24 before the drums came in. I liked how you introduce the drums right after with that brief glitch effect.

The song is well-built with a brilliant song structure, and the variety was just amazing. So many melodies without making it sound repetitive; I don't see why this didn't make it to the top 5 O_o. Anyway; onto the intro... As I said, vocal sample was a great idea, and I think the only way to improve the intro would be to turn up the volume of the vocal sample at the beginning. After that guy says "Come", it becomes difficult to make out the "The Afterlife Awaits You", so by turning it up you'll be able to hear what's being said more clearly. As for the ending, I'm not much of a fan of arpeggio-based endings, but I must say, this turned out perfectly. The slight ritardando you did was awesome too. Hm, sorry for the long paragraph :\.

The drums... well, the drums... TBH, I couldn't make out when there was a drum playing and when there was a glitch effect playing, since they were mixed so well together :P. Still, they fit very well with the song (it's still a mystery how you manage to get ambient sound so awesome with DnB) and they had good samples. I liked how in some calmer parts you did a softer drum beat, other than just doing something bland like a kick every beat. The drums, like the melodies, were extremely varied as well, so they never got boring to listen to.

I can tell why it's one of your best songs. So much variety, so many effects, so many catchy melodies, so much awesomeness, you sure have a talent at producing. My only complaint is that piano being too high pitched, so it needs accompaniment in the bass to even it out, and that the piano's notes were blurred together quite a lot which I think would be better if you increase their velocity and maybe take away a little bit of reverb that was put on them. Other than those two very small defects, I can't find anything at all wrong with this excellent submission. Keep up the great work, and I hope you enjoyed one of my best reviews (my best review for your best song XD).
10/10
5/5
Download.

-Review Request Club-

Reached the character limit XD XD!!!!

SessileNomad responds:

WHOO got a 10 from Supersteph54, not an easy thing to do xD

the piano is really hard to use bass notes sometimes cuz it will start clipping, it is honestly hard to use a variety of piano notes, at least for me it is...

those vocals are actually my voice, pitch shifted a little bit

meh arpegio endings are somthing i very rarely do so i thought i might give it a try, plus i think it ended quite well, nice and quaint

lol you always reach the character limit xD

peace out dude, really glad that you liked it, its really hard to get a good score from u on this stuff

peace out

[Waaaar!]

Not the best I've heard...

I guess it would make an OK battle theme, but needs quite a bit more work to it.

Melodies are great, and give a mighty feel to the song. I liked the one at 0:43 most. What I didn't like is what I think is a phaser that you used at around 0:15, I think it ruined the song a little. You can keep it there, just turn it down slightly. Also, the song does have a lot of 'hissing' or static, whatever it is. I don't know if that's your guitar sample or just some glitch, but it really sounds like it came out of a 64-bit RPG :P.

I personally don't like the sound of that guitar. I think that a boss theme doesn't necessarily need guitar, but choirs and saw waves work well too, so if a guitar in the song doesn't work well, you can use those. Also, piano was way too quiet, you should turn up its volume, since I can barely hear it except in some parts, which made the song sound random.

The transitions were quite rough, for example the one at 0:42-0:43. The melody was a completely different rythm and it sort of jumped out abruptly. Even the slower part of the guitar which came at 0:55 had a rough transition to it. The transition at 1:08-1:09-ish was OK, but I think you shouldn't do that many rythm changes in a boss theme, since it would distract the player as he's fighting the boss. Keep a steady rythm, I think this song would be better off like that.

The variety is quite good, I don't see why the others see it as repetitive, but the structure is pretty wierd. Try the simple structure of: Intro - Chorus - Alternate Melody 1 - Chorus - Alternate Melody 2 - Chorus (with a few changes in the background) - Alternate Melody 1 - Alternate Melody 2 - Chorus - End. Give it a try and see how it fares in the song. As for the intro, it wasn't bad, and it looped perfectly, so nothing to complain about there.

The drums are barely heard, and they don't have the best samples I've heard. You should turn them up a little (making sure they don't drown the piano) and try and find better samples (I have a rock drum kit soundfont if you'd like it, just send me a PM). Still, they were nicely varied, had good drum rolls and fit with the song, so good job ;).

It has its defects, like all other songs, namely wierd structure, constant rythm changes, quiet drums, almost non-existent piano and some strange hissing sounds in the background. Fix those, and I think this song will be more like a boss battle and less like a collection of catchy melodies.
7/10
4/5

-Review Request Club-

Centrist responds:

Wow, thank you for the depth of your review! I admit, you're right on most things, and I thank you for the quality of examining my song. I was kinda going for like.. a "Quick idea for an actual song" type..well..song. If this was made into an actual track made by an actual band, with some of it spread out mind you, and yatta yatta. xD.

Again, thank you! I'll keep your words in mind for future tracks.

[(CHS) Death Match!!!]

Guitar and strings?

Interesting combination. Anyway, as for the song itself, I like it, but this needs a little more of a climax, maybe sounding a bit more epic, since it's not that easy to imagine a big boss fight with this song. Still, in general, it's a great track.

Melodies are really nice, did you make them yourself? If so, I'm really impressed. Loved the guitar melodies, and I also liked the part at 1:26, it was an excellent break from the main fast-paced rythm of the song. What I didn't like was the background melodies, since although they were cool, they didn't change much during the song (For example the sounds that start coming in at around 0:25). There was a decent amount of melodies though.

As for the instruments, not excellent quality, namely the guitar, but they did the job perfectly. I liked your choir voices throughout the song and the pizzicato's at the beginning were a nice touch. One problem... as EmperorCharlemagne pointed out, the guitar gets quite overpowering and is a little too loud. A little bit of mastering would fix that. Oh, and turn up the choir's volume a little, too.

Transitions were fine, and I didn't find any rough or sudden transitions, except that I didn't really like the transition at 0:12; it switched from more laid-back to action-packed too suddenly. New instruments weren't introduced that bad, but there were a few sudden introductions, like at 2:16, the drums were introduced quite suddenly. You can do a small drum roll before the drums come in to show that they're entering.

As for the structure, quite unique, without a fixed chorus in the song. What bothered me was the variety. Sure, the guitar is varied well, but as I said, the background needs to be much more varied. It was the same thing for almost the whole song.

The intro and ending weren't really too impressive. I would've preferred it if the intro was a little more progressive, rather than a sudden start. Maybe a fade in of the pizzicatos, and then the guitar starts. As for the ending, it was a fade ending, which really didn't go with this song. Try and ending it with all the instruments playing together, and then the guitar doing one final note along with a crash cymbal. Either that, or loop it, since the intro as it is right now would be good for a loop.

The drum beat was good, and the drum samples were OK, but when it comes to percussion in general, it wasn't that varied at all. I liked that there were some parts of the song without drums, and some with, but there weren't many drum beats, and man did it get annoying. Introduce some counter-drum beats, and also turn the drums' volume up, since they're too quiet, especially in the louder parts of the song. The drum rolls like the one at around 2:50 were decent, though.

Overall, an impressive song, with nice melodies, instrument choice, beats and samples, but what needs more work is the variety of the background, mastering (guitar: volume turned down, drums: volume turned up, choir: volume turned up), some transitions and the intro and outro. Good job in all, I enjoyed it.
8/10
4/5

-Review Request Club-

ChaosDragon004 responds:

That was a very thourgh and helpful review bro I reallly appreciate how real you were on this particular piece because I knew it had problems. so I know that you are being honest with what you wrote. I will do my best to not dissapoint again.

[Whales [Box-Killa]]

You have a knack for Ambient ;).

Yep, I definitely can't find many problems in this. Good job!

Melodies are well done. There were some wierd ones as you said, but that seems to symbolize that the ocean is wierd and we still haven't learnt enough about it. Wind-chimes were a nice touch over here too. I also liked that reverb you put on the song as a whole; it definitely fit with the hollow feeling an ocean has.

Instruments are perfect, and I think I could guess what the song is supposed to symbolize without even looking at the title. There was a little pitch bending on that instrument at the beginning, which I quite liked, since it does remind me of whales. What would be a cool addition here is the sonar-like sounds whales do, or maybe some ocean sound effects like waves and bubbles rising to the ocean surface. Delayed bells could fit well here too.

The song's transitions were done perfectly, especially the ones with the Wind-chimes. New instruments were introduced well too, and nothing felt too sudden. I liked the buildup which then built down for the ending as Haggard said. Song structure and variety are just right, and the song didn't get repetitive.

Intro wasn't that wierd really. I quite liked it, since it reminds me of whales perfectly. What was quite wierd in my opinion was the ending. It's good to do the building-down so the song ends calmly, but the ending note was wierd. Try and end it with the proper note. Either that, or consider fading the song, since I think a fade would work well over here if you make it correctly.

Drums are really excellent. They fit so perfectly with the song, and the samples were brilliant, especially that snare. Kick could've used more reverb to it, since it sounds quite abrupt and short right now, but the drums were perfect other than that. Could use more variety of samples, though.

I hate Ambient, so I can't give you such a big review, but still, for an ambient song, this was rather good. I guess you're an artist of many genres. Heh, I try out loads of different genres too. Too bad I suck at them :(. Anyway, keep up the great work!
9/10
5/5

-Review Request Club-

Box-Killa responds:

Lol "I cant give you such a big review" Well you did lol. I think you did like this, despite your hate for ambience :D Yeah now that I listen to this, like I made this a while back, the bass drum doesn't suit that great. Well thanks for the review and stuff ! Peaceout :D

[Flying High - Epilogue]

I love it!

Seriously, after seeing all the 7's and 8's, I thought this wasn't that great, but honestly, this really rocks, IMO. A few problems here and there, but it shows that you worked really hard on it. Since it's such a long song, I'll review while I'm listening to it:

I'm hearing a great intro, with good drums in the background. I loved the drum roll at around 0:09, it started the song up very epic-ly-ish....

I'm at 0:12, drums have gotten too loud, with the main melody a slight bit too blurry and hard to keep track of. You may want to fix that with a little mastering. Other than that, 0:12 onwards was superb.

0:24, piano came in a little suddenly, but it's very catchy. At 0:37 there was an awesomely catchy melody. I guess you didn't make it yourself since this is a remix, but it fits very well with the insrument you're using for it. Soft but fast-paced drums in the background were a nice touch, and there was another great drum roll.

1:00, OMG EPIC TRANSITION. Amazing orchestra hits, they were just so epic... From then on a little anti-climatic, but the more orchestra hits at 1:14, with the awesome drum roll in the background made up for it, definitely.

I'm now at 1:15, I suppose this is the chorus, because it sounds like it. Catchy drum beat in the background, and the strings really gave an epic atmosphere.

1:40, a nice alternate melody, and a break from the drums. Good idea adding it there, and purely outstanding job in how you introduced the drums again. From then on, melody was decent, and the drums in the background were varied and awesome.

Now at 2:17, good drum roll before that, and I liked the piano in the background over here.

2:30. Seriously, adding that melody with the piano was genius. Great job, this part is my favourite part so far. Till 3:19, it played some nice melodies and drums as usual.

3:19 - Scratch what I said before, THIS is my favourite part. Very good rythm change with the piano, and it was really catchy. When the strings came in, I think you should've reduced the amount of crash cymbals you used there, but other than that it was brilliant.

4:21, this was a brilliant piano part. Epic job. Expecting the song to get calmer for another break from the drums again...

4:34 : Man, you read my mind O_o... Good drum roll as usual, but at 4:52, the strings stop suddenly... I don't know if that was intentional or not, but I'd rather that there was strings over there.

I'm at 4:58, and hearing an extremely awesome drum transition. Great job. I was expecting the melody at 1:15 to play again somewhere over here, but it's not really such a big problem, since the melody you used was great anyway.

5:26, oh, never mind, that melody repeated here instead :P.

Then from 5:51 till 6:16 was just a repetition from a part earlier in the song, so I already commented about it.

6:16, drums get calmer, then more action packed. That was a nice touch to the song.

6:41 - end: Seriously, I don't know why you added this part. The ending sound perfect from 6:39, so I think you should took that part away.

Anyway, here's a little summary:
I really enjoyed this song. Drums were my favourite part in this, since I usually enjoy extremely varied drums in songs. They had good samples too. The only real defects I can point out over here are the ending (take away from 6:41 onwards) and the fact that the song's notes get blurred together quite a lot and it's hard to keep track, plus the drums at times can get too loud (fix it with some simple mastering).

Other than those two little defects, I enjoyed the song immensly, since it had a lot of variety without getting random, transitions were perfect, especially the drum rolls, instuments fit well with the melodies, and in general you chose an excellent song to remix. Sorry for the ultra long review, but I guess I warned you in the PM (Hehe, lets see you reply to *this* without skipping the character limit XD). Overall, excellent job, keep up the awesome work!
10/10
5/5
Download.

-Review Request Club-

Yay, reached the character limit XD!

Cosmos8942 responds:

Are you serious? I never answered this one...well wtf. Alright going to have to get around to it then.

[Come on lets Go!]

When it comes to rock, you excel.

I usually find General Rock fun to listen to, but honestly, not as fun as this! Excellent job, I enjoyed it a lot. PLEASE make it longer! Oh, and it *does* sound like a sonic song for some strange reason :P.

The main melody you're using is fantastic. Nice, catchy, and really awesome. This'd do well with a guitar solo, I'd say. Somewhere in the song, make a quick guitar solo. Slowly, the drums come in, then the backing guitar, and finally, the song returns to the main melody. Either that, or add one more alternate melody somewhere. Loved the part at 0:40, though.

That guitar is such excellent quality. I imagine you're playing the guitar yourself. If you aren't, then I'd DIE to get a guitar VST like that... Well, I definitely can't complain with the guitar, it was perfect. Maybe you can experiment with adding more instruments? I don't think there's a bass over here (correct me if I'm wrong, since I'm deaf from one ear) so if there isn't, you should try adding one. Maybe add a piano playing glissandos in a few parts as well.

The transitions are perfect. Every melody fit with the other very well. I liked the drum rolls in the background, they helped the transitions well too. Good structure, and variety is superb for such a small song. I liked the intro, it had a nice drum roll, and the ending was great too. Awesome job!

The drums, well... need more work. Samples are too light, you should get heavier, mighter drum samples. Also, turn them up. The guitar is making the drums sound like they aren't there. Still, they were decently varied too. I liked how the drums got more action packed at around 0:24 with a crash cymbal every beat. As I said before, drum roll at the beginning was great.

Overall, it's an amazing song and the only things which pulled your score down to a nine are the drums and the length, mainly. Keep up the awesome work!
9/10
5/5

-Review Request Club-

sicjes responds:

Thanks for the great feedback. I play guitar and did all the tracks as for everything else... well its all fake, the drums were done on my Yamaha rx11 prehistoric drum machine (I finally got fruity loops a few weeks back) and I did the bass with my keyboard. I have some new tunes I'm working on and they will blow you away both in sound quality and Catchyness. Stay tuned for some crazy awsomness coming from my way. Thanks again bro.

[DjTyph - Let's Do The Mario!]

Just adding to the 100's of Mario RMXs on NG :P...

...But honestly, I completely agree with Haggard. This has some extremely unique aspects to it, even for a Mario remix, and I really enjoyed it!

I obviously can't credit you for the melodies since this is a remix, but I love what you added to them. The instruments you used were absolute perfection with the melodies, and fit greatly with the Mario feel this song is supposed to give out, plus I can definitely picture poor Luigi getting his butt kicked to this song :P.

One small problem though. It might have to do with my Internet connection, but for some really strange reason, this song is lagging and becoming a little glitchy on my computer, especially towards the end, which was quite wierd, and I don't know if it was a glitch when uploading, deliberate, or just my Ye Olde Computer acting up as usual, but if there's any way to fix it, that'd be great.

When it comes to the instruments; just perfect. I never used Nexus before (aren't I a noob?) so I can't say they're too generic or anything, but they're really well done. Saw lead was brilliant, the bells at the beginning were fantastic, and all the other instruments gave out that Mario feel excellently.

The use of vocal samples is quite new to Mario remixes, and they weren't that badly introduced over here. Wish they were louder though, and more sort of prominent. A good idea would be that somewhere at around 0:42, the song stops, and you only hear Mario going 'Yahoo!', and then the song continues, or maybe at 0:42 you could do the sound effect of Mario grabbing a super mushroom and turning into Super Mario before it becomes action-packed. I always loved that effect :D.

Transitions were very impressive over here, and I couldnt find any problem in them. Loved the transition at 0:26, and vocal transitions were timed very well too, as Fro said. New instruments were introduced perfectly, especially the saw synth, which came in with a good buildup, and I liked how you introduced the drums as well.

The structure is fine, and variety was perfect. Usually in songs as small as this, variety is lacking, but I see you did a great job leaving the song as varied as possible without getting random, so awesome job. The bells intro was epic, and I didn't find anything wrong with it, but I'm just concerned about the ending.

I'd say to fix the ending, either you loop this better by removing any silence and that sound effect at the beginning (instead, the bells melody starts playing straight away at the beginning) or at 1:05, you remove any background drums/instruments playing so only the main instrument is playing, and then play a kick and crash along with the final note, remove the vocal sample and add at least a second and a half of silence.

Drums were one of the best parts of this. They made the song quite action-packed, and if I had to go through the song, I wouldn't change them at all. They had very nice drum beats, made excellent transitions, were just the right loudness, fit with the song perfectly and had really nice samples. At the end of the drum beat, you also added a turntable scratch/two small reversed kicks (not too sure which one) which was quite cool as well.

One of the better Mario remixes, with the only reasons why I gave you a 9 is because of the ending, the length and the fact that the vocal samples need to have a bit more importance. Oh, and before I forget, the song overall is too quiet, you need to amplify it a little more (I'd say around +4.5 DB). Anyway, sorry for the long review (it's amazing how much a guy could say on such a small song :P) and keep up the amazing work, oh supreme remixer XD. Oh, and if you continue this, please send me a PM, I won't live without it in my Music folder :P.
9/10
5/5

-Review Request Club-

Prodigal responds:

Holy fuck king of the reviews.

Time to reply to this one :D On a note, this song was going to be used for a title screen on a collaboration flash that was about Luigi getting terribly owned, so at least you have a good idea here when he's getting his ass kicked :D

That glitchy sound is probably, and simply, the shuffle style 4/4 I used in this song. Sorry for making you freak out D:

Id you haven't used Nexus before I reccomend you don't get it unless you are seriously in need of a good soundbank of presets, because thats all Nexus is. It'll turn you into a preset whore, and I'm trying to blend and layer Nexus with different assortments of VsTi/plugins too.

I'm going to definitely look into that new transition that you were talking about. the mushroom idea is perfect :D

I was aiming for a well made short song so I had to really extend my ways of creating a variety of choices to listen to, and I guess that made no sense, but it worked :D

I'll definitely look into finishing this, it's just DYING for a front page! (I got so close when I submitted but then the usual retards came by and decided to laugh in their spinny chairs as their fat hands plummeted on their mouses as they pressed the zero button, then they went and grabbed some cheetos but got an artery clog.)

There is literally no bass out of what I hear right now, i'm gunna remaster this all. Not to mention turning it up too.

Thanks for the monster review!

[mik // the beach \\]

Not bad :)

You're definitely getting better at composing. This song has loads of potential to become a great song, even though it has some problems.

The melodies are quite fast-paced for an ambient song, but they're quite well done. It gets a little hard to keep track of them, so I think some soft drums in the background would keep the rythm more, but from what I'm hearing, the melodies are great, especially the one af the beginning.

It shows that you're at a loss for instrument samples :P. Instruments sound more like bells than an organ synth, which is OK for me, but what I didn't like was the lack of instruments. There was only one or maybe two instruments (I'm not sure if instrument in the middle was the same organ synth lowered a few octaves or a different sample entirely), and it really put the song down.

What I think you should do is add some ambient bass pads, and vary the main instrument. Maybe give some plucked instrument sometimes and a decent bass. If you don't do them, not only will the instrument choice be bland but the song will be too high pitched.

The effects were a good attempt, but droplets don't sound that much like a spring :P. Applause effects for waves was done OK, but I'd prefer if you used an actual sea wave sample. Some large soudfonts (Unison, SGM V2.01, etc.) come with some nice seashore sound effects, so you could google them. Websites like www.partnersinrhyme.om (I think that's what it's called) give some good free sound effects too. Also, you should use more sound effects than just focusing on the sea. Some seagulls, kids laughing, etc... they all give out the picture of a beach.

The transitions weren't that good, since as I said before, I quickly lost track of the song, so you should try and add drums like at least a slight kick every beat or something. The structure and variety were a little random, because although the song was decently varied, it didn't have a fixed chorus which played every now and again and the small amount of instruments made it a little boring.

The intro was quite expectable, but fit well nonetheless. Droplets sounded a little strange, but the waves weren't bad. What could be better is if you give the bells a crescendo somewhere around 0:08, (that means make them from soft to loud gradually). The ending was actually quite good, but a little abrupt, so if you do a ritardando (that is, you make the tempo get at least 15 BPM slower towards the end) right before doing that ending note, it'd not sound that abrupt.

There were no drums over here, which as I said made the song hard to keep rythm with. I'm not asking for some heavy metal/hard techno loud drums or anything, but some laid back, slightly soft drums playing along with the melody would fit well over here (just make sure you vary them), or maybe you can even try congas, shakers, tambourines and bongoes.

I see a growing talent in your composing skills, and your songs are getting better. Just work a little on your samples/effects and lack of drums mostly. Also, the song is a little on the short side too... Still, keep up the good work!
7/10
5/5 - since this song got 0-bombed...

-Review Request Club-

mikkim responds:

I wasn't composing it to give the feeling of ambience or of a beach, but more to give the feeling of the song.