Step's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Asylum]

I have AT LAST gotten around to writing my in-depth analysis of your newest version of this track. Sorry for taking AGES. I got kind of overwhelmed with the amount of work I had to do these last few days. Thankfully, this track is just awesome, so I won't have a hard time reviewing it at all. But I'll try not to make my review full of praise.

As (I think) I said in the NGMT thread, this has a gorgeous intro with highly memorable chord changes. If I didn't say it, then I should have said it, since I think that this has the best intro from all the NGMT Round 2 tracks. That soft choir conveyed strong feelings of solitude, and almost sadness, with a slight tinge of suspense, and I love how the whole pace of the intro changed so well with the introduction of the staccato strings. As I said in the PM, I still think that the introduction of those staccato strings wasn't subtle enough, but I nevertheless enjoyed how they shifted the direction of the intro. And hey, the ending is awesome too. Nothing to complain about over there.

Really nice instrumentation. One of the things that remained stuck in my head after listening to this was how this has such a distinct ethnic quality with the choirs and the duduk especially. Plus, the duduk is my favourite non-standard woodwind instrument, so I loved listening to it. Your combination of the duduk and the more ambient, cinematic elements such as the strings in the latter section of the piece created this truly wonderful ambience, which I love.

The production is good. I mean, barring the fact that I had to turn the volume up to appreciate this song fully, you have a super dynamic mix, lots of reverb that works wonders for the atmosphere, and solid mixing of all the instruments. Plus, the instrument sample quality is through the roof and you use that to its full potential to make a track that sounds authentic and enveloping.

And my god, that buildup is so nice now. Your addition of low end elements, more powerful drums, and the huge 2:16 hit made it so much better than how it was in its preceding version. It's a very gradual buildup that becomes truly intense and exciting around the 2-minute mark. The way you built the track down right after that eargasm was neat too.

There's not much of a melody in this track. Like what often happens in tracks like these, I found myself longing for a more definable melody, especially in the latter section where the track focuses solely on creating ambience. However, your chords are still memorable and solid, so I can forgive you! What I think this tracks succeeds the most in is depicting imagery. Great atmospheres, mood changes, transitions between moods and all that jazz. Probably one of my favourite things about this track.

Yeah, this is fantastic. I don't have much else to say (except that your percussion is pretty darn awesome). Brilliant work - while I don't think this matches up to Labbaik in terms of enjoyment value, it's still an incredibly enjoyable and memorable track with awesome atmospheric value. Keep up the good work pls kthx.

10/10
5/5
Download

bassfiddlejones responds:

Step, your reviews are awesome and ridiculous. Thank you for taking the time to write this! I tried very hard to make this better than the previous version of the track, which was sorely lacking in a few areas. I am also a huge fan of the duduk, and probably use it more often than I should, but it's just so darn good.

One thing I need to work on is my mastering. Still trying to find the right balance between compression and fidelity to dynamics and whatnot. I'm quite glad you enjoyed this, thanks for the review/download! It holds great weight in my eyes.

[Agnos]

This is an NGADM Round 3 review.

--

I am, as always, awestruck by the astonishing beauty of your music. Getting the obvious stuff out of the way, your singing is beyond exceptional. This track showcases even more of your singing capabilities. I'm hearing trills that are extremely well-performed with a precise pitch that I thought was only possible with tuning software. You even display your lower register too. Your command over your voice is so thorough and skilful that I get chills listening to it, along with the fact that it's, of course, an excellent singing voice that works wonderfully with your style of music. Truly fantastic singing performance.

To my delight, you've even got the balance between instrumentation and voice that I was hoping to hear in your Round 1 submission. You treat your voice like another instrument in the mix, rather than keeping it upfront and having everything else playing faintly in the background. You even have a nice instrumental section at the end to finish off the track. By the way, I must add that the atmosphere of this track is my favourite atmosphere from you so far, and this time your use of reverb is just right! OK maybe still a slight bit of muddiness but your use of reverb makes me feel like I'm hearing this in a cathedral, especially during the Greek sections, making this succeed in creating a very big sense of space.

Your composition is excellent. I love how you start the track with a pretty strict 3/4 metre, and in the second half, where you switch to Greek, the metre becomes much harder to follow, and everything becomes so much more flowing and expressive. It provides two different angles to the track which is an impressive and masterful touch. Your melodies, supporting harmonies and modulations are extremely well-made. 2:34 is one of my favourite little passages. Your vocal harmonies add so much expression to that part! Unlike some other reviewers I love your pauses to bits. They're long, and a bit awkward during first listen, but they are such nicely-placed stops that heighten your melody. Solid intro, ending and transitions, by the way.

My score on your songs keeps going up and up. In this track, the issues are much less apparent. I found that after constant listening, the track would get a bit overbearing or tiring to listen to. I can't pinpoint why - perhaps it's because you didn't vary your instrumentation/voicing as much as you did in your other tracks, or because your atmosphere/mood is relatively unchanging, which is something that wasn't an issue in your previous submissions. This kind of reduces the replay value of this track. Other than that undeniably small nitpick I can't find anything else which is negative to mention about this track. I am very impressed with your consistent improvement, and how fantastic your tracks are sound-wise, despite the fact that you use soundfonts.

Brilliant work. One of my favourites of this round. Keep it up and never ever stop making music ever.

Score: 9.4/10

[the traveller]

This is an NGADM Round 3 review.

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Fixing the transitions because SkyeWintrest is judging is one thing. But making a terrible ending just to troll him because he's judging? Well, that's something else. I swear I heavily considered giving bonus points just for that. That's just hilarious. What's also amusing is that this is actually a very pleasant and well-composed track despite it being something of an experiment (and a very successful troll attempt because when I notified Skye of your ending he was like "WHAT"). You have some spectacular composition, that may seem a bit a slow-paced but is actually jam-packed with a bunch of melodic subtleties, harmonies and sweet motifs.

One thing I really like about this track is that it depicts a journey so well that there is literally not that much of a reason to stay following your intended storyline in the Author's Comments. The first part sounds just like a hometown, and what follows is very much of a "farewell" kind of deal. The song blends seamlessly into a more serious note as the adventurer makes his way to the desert (I'm being honest; great transition), and also morphs very well into the showdown (which OF COURSE is on top of a train in the desert. Seriously! Who didn't see that coming?). Really, you've got great transitions on the whole, and a nice structure to boot! Not a conventional structure for sure, but one that conveys a story.

What else do I like about this track? Well, the way the song opens up fourteen seconds in was just beautiful. I loved that! 1:23's little melodic phrase, while leaning ever so slightly onto the cheesy side, was also magnificently incorporated into the track, especially since you repeat it various times. I think your introduction of a breakbeat towards the end of the track was dubious at first, but I've got to admit, it's the kind of thing that, in some odd way, grows on you. Neat high pass filter on the bass at 4:31. It successfully managed to create expectations that the track was about to burst into a more exciting new section.

Really, I actually enjoyed this a lot! It hardly sounds "orchestral" in the way quite a few other NGADM Round 2 tracks were. This has its own unique little charm and even though you probably don't have amazing instrument samples, I don't think it showed in this track at all. A few issues you need to iron out though. Your reverse cymbal is again far too loud. It was also used too much. You milked it to the point that it cheapened almost every transition it was implemented in, which is a shame because you had a few impressive transitions. You have some nice percussion, but your tambourine is way too upfront in the mix. As much as I would love to give you bonus points for the ending, it is abrupt haha. There's a nasty drum roll leading to it that sounds really unprocessed and harsh; do away with that.

Scattered with a bunch of issues, but this was actually great fun to listen to, and I still can't get over how awesome you are for trolling Skye. Keep it up! Side note: was the melody in this track inspired by this? http://goo.gl/zYo0ZK

Score: 8.7/10

johnfn responds:

Step, thank you thank you THANK YOU as always for the amazing and detailed reviews. I'm glad it generally worked for you. Doing songs with visualizations is actually a rare thing for me, so I'm finding it neat that that worked out too.

The funny thing about the reverse cymbal is that I have a blind spot for it. Like I slip it in and then I just never hear it in the mix again, and then eventually everyone is like "omg your reverse cymbal what were you thinking!!!" And then I hear it for the first time and I'm like "oops." This happens to me all the time, lol. So I will promise not to use one in NGADM4. That should help me fix up my transitions.

Good call on the tams.

This song was seriously rushed so I can understand all the minor issues and will definitely keep an eye out next time.

I was actually really nervous that the ending would be my downfall... or at the very least, SkyeWintrest would give me a 0/10 as a countertroll. So I'm glad I can troll and get away with it ;D

P.S. actually no, that was not an inspiration - I haven't played that game. Though one of my worries about doing the descending baseline idea (C->B->A->G->F) is that all of the different uses sound similar. I believe the first time I learned of the idea was when I was dissecting this homestuck song a few months ago: http://homestuck.bandcamp.com/track/alternia (gorgeous song, btw), or perhaps this one hour compo song http://compo.thasauce.net/files/td244_-_Haunting_memories(OHC205).mp3 (again, gorgeous... and done in one hour too... it's the descending baseline, I tells ya!)

[Real Life Absurdities]

This is an NGADM Round 3 review.

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Again, I am utterly blown away. You're so talented at what you do that I am left in envy and wish that one day I can successfully create the quirkiness and forward motion that your latest two NGADM tracks present with ease. Where do I start? I think I'll try and avoid the generic comments I make for your pieces (great composition, great transitions, etc) and try and point out some more specific aspects of this track that I adore. First off, the transition at 0:36 is SUPERB. It's so understated and simple, but works incredibly well. Then, after that cute little music box section, everything comes together beautifully. Just wow.

Regarding the sounds you've used, they are, again, just perfect. I don't know if you used Edirol again or not but whatever the case, they should hire you to compose the VST demos for it, because you make it sound so good. It feels like each sound of yours has its own attitude, because you put so much care into each one! The trumpet that comes in at 0:08, especially, has such a great quirky attitude that listening to it for the first time certainly made me grin. Oh, and there's some subtle synth you keep in the background of the track (sounds a bit like something one would use as a synth in some comical alien scene) which sounds awesome, by the way. Something I like about this is despite the fact that this style has become quite a trademark of yours now, it's still a unique style that you rarely hear anywhere else.

One thing I feel this track does better than any other track of yours is the flow of the melody. Every single melodic passage/riff leads so smoothly and naturally to the next. This might be because you generally sacrificed adding any changes of pace/mood, making it much easier to keep a smooth and consistent flow, but for a track like this I feel like this wasn't that much of a problem. Regarding production, for the second time you've left me almost speechless by how good the production value is! You've presented the clear and well-balanced sound you had in your Round 2 submission, and this time I feel like you added more sounds playing together, making the clarity of this track all the more commendable.

I disagree with johnfn that this beats your Round 1 track. For me, it doesn't beat it by a very slight amount, and let me tell you why. I feel like the track is ultimately a bit of an unsatisfying listen. Everything seems to go by so quickly. The track is short, the pace is ridiculously quick, and the intro just gets into the meat of the track instantly. It's a fitting intro (despite sounding quite jarring at first) but it doesn't have much progression at all. Couple that with the short length of 2 minutes and 11 sections and you've got a track, once listened to, leaves a desire for more. Also, 0:42 - 1:05 has inferior melodic material to the rest of the track in my honest opinion.

I'm mentioning mostly nitpicks. Due to that, you get a high score for me again once more. Brilliant work, keep up this pace!

Score: 9.6/10

steampianist responds:

Thank you once again for this wall-of-a-review

And yes I guess it is fast pace and short. I actually told myself I need to finish this in 5 days due to I have other commissions and wanted to work on vocaloid songs.. im really hooked on vocaloids :)

awww... but I like the melody at 0:42 :(

Hehe anyway still happy I got a nine from you I will give my all again in round 4 and thank you again

[Whiteout]

This is an NGADM Round 3 review.

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Obscure atmospheric circus/waltz music. Hey, that's ZipZipper's job! But in all seriousness, this still sounds well-produced, melodically interesting, and overall a nice little tune. You start with some excellent wind effects. For a track this short, I thought starting it with ambience is quite questionable, but I have to admit that even though it kind of messes up the structure a little (since you've got practically a fifth of the track dedicated to ambience), I can't deny that not only did it help the atmosphere, but when the melody made its way into the track at 0:25, it's such a nice entrance that sets the mood so well.

What I noticed instantly was that the melody is actually very good. I agree that it gets stuck in your head easily. It has a decent hook, and thematically it fits wonderfully. On top of that (or rather, behind it) there are some neat supporting harmonies, played in a 3/4 waltz manner that I can't say doesn't fit well with the melody. I thought that the chime passage at 0:50 was a bit flat and uninteresting in terms of melody, but it felt crucial for the arrangement of the track, since when the melody comes in later with fuller instrumentation, it brought the structure of the track round in a nice circle, while making that melody even more memorable. Still, I would've liked something more impressive playing at 0:50.

With regards to mixing and production, there isn't much to say. I was glad to hear that this doesn't have a thin mix at all (which is something your tracks are sometimes guilty for). It's full-bodied, just the right loudness, and you make use of all the frequencies, while still keeping everything airy and spacious. I love your bass. It's practically the only low end instrument in your track, making it stand out quite a lot, and provide an interesting contrast. It also highlighted the little transitional bass passage at parts like 0:36. You make good use of your sounds. Your use of wind effects and chimes gives this a cold atmosphere that I would have picked up without needing to read the last sentence of your author's comments.

I agree this is nothing spectacular. That's not really a bad thing - I actually find it quite memorable and it would definitely fit well in a game. Still, considering you have just over a minute of melodic material, of which a fair amount is repetition, and not much progression or development that takes the track to new directions, this does make for a pretty unfulfilling listening experience when you compare it to other tracks of this round. This is not helped by the ending that would be good if the wind effect at the end didn't cut off jarringly (which ended up making it sound like a failed attempt at a loop). It's unfortunate, because I know you can do better and as you said yourself you had a lot of other ideas, but most likely due to lack of inspiration, you didn't manage to successfully flesh them out.

There isn't much to criticise about the content you have here. It has potential to be developed more, but sounds good as a small tune and I do enjoy that melody. However, the wow factor isn't here as you're aware. Good luck if you ever want to expand on this though!

Score: 7.1/10

SourJovis responds:

Yeah, in that sense it sounds quite like ZippZipper, but less hyper, and the instrumentation is different. I didn't have him in mind when I made this.

It doesn't loop perfectly no. I spend hours trying to figure out a way to make the wind sound loop while not having an abrupt beginning. The only way to do this is by making 2 separate songs. The first starts with wind that fades in. At the end of the first song the wind should carry over to the beginning of the second song, so it's cut off in the middle. The second song ends exactly where it should begin. So the first song serves as intro, the second one as loop. The Newgrounds player doesn't let you do things like that, so this is the best I could muster.

Other than that I won't do anything with your points I'm afraid. It does explain why I didn’t get a higher score, but I don't think these points will improve the song. I don't think it should be "fleshed out", because that would defeat the point of the song. I've been thinking about making it longer, but I don't think that will make it better either.

I don't know if this song is better mixed then my other songs. The others is just a matter of turning up the volume a little I think. It's also a matter of taste, because I'm not too fond of many songs others feel are mixed right. This song has very little instruments so it was easier to mix. Perhaps it's just that. But much of the loudness and fullness is because of the bit crushing and compression. I think this song could take it more than the other ones because it fits, but I don't plan to do that to my other songs. In fact if I listen to my older songs, I've been using less and less compression over time and began to mix my songs cleaner and less loud, just because I like that sound better now.

[Lying to a Stranger]

This is an NGADM Round 3 review.

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At this point I've decided to stop asking myself "why did he add that there?" or "what the hell is this sound?" because eventually I always answer myself with "well I have no idea but damn does it work wonders". You've met my expectations of making the most unique-sounding and weird track of this round while simultaneously making it very enjoyable and jam-packed with enough interesting sounds and manipulation thereof to give it the memorable, lasting impression it deserves. I'm curious to see how you'd do if you were asked to make something that is standard and conventional, but my guess is that you'd give up in doing so around halfway through.

Now that that's out of the way, time to make some more specific, materialised comments. The sound design here is wonderful. That atonal synth riff that pops in at 0:24 is the first thing that sets expectations that this is not going to be a normal dance track (apart from the excellent glitched singing at the beginning which also added fantastically to the atmosphere), along with the fact that it sounds detailed and aggressive. Your attention to detail and variety made it enjoyable and not monotonous to listen to for the large amount of time that it plays throughout the track. That aside, there are plenty of other sweet effects for the listener to sink his/her teeth into, such as the high pass filter at the beginning followed by the bassy 0:05 roar, the reverse effect you add occasionally, 2:30's manipulation on that high background synth, and so on and so forth.

Usually when I think of the composition, I think of the motifs, alternate melodies, how they are supported by harmonies and counter-melodies, and so on. This track is built in a different way. You seem to have only one consistent melodic element, being that sweet bassline, which doesn't really do much except add to the dance theme of this track (while also sounding awesome). Then, you've got a plethora of atmospheric elements that really create the unique listening experience I was mentioning earlier. It's an interesting way to set up your track, and I found that even though you didn't have any foreground melodies, the rhythmic and sound design elements stuck in my head just like a good melody would.

In the criticism department, I can say this is repetitive, but the repetition really didn't annoy me that much this time. I would have liked to hear the bassline change more, and more dynamically different sections, since your song retains just one dynamic throughout, which is a change from your other tracks which have a lot more attention to dynamics. Still, it's not that repetitive right now so I won't bash you too much for it. More importantly, however, the production is a bit messy. The compression feels overly excessive at times, and the mix is not ever given any room to breathe. Not only that, but for the second time thus far, your low end is undefined and muddy. It makes the track fairly tiring to listen to and unbalanced.

I'm often at a loss when deciding what score to give you. On the one hand, there are production issues, no dynamics, and a repetitive bassline. On the other hand, the issues don't detract much from the unique listening experience you've offered in a track full of excellent sounds and fantastic atmosphere-building.

Score: 8.4/10