Step's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Modeled Soul]

Man, this is so much nicer than Not Everyday! You should have submitted this one to the contest; I really enjoyed it. It's chill, laid back and at the same time it has moments where it becomes pretty uplifting. It also sounds different from what you usually make; then again maybe it's because I'm just surprised not to hear any chopped up vocals in this one haha.

This has surprisingly excellent atmosphere-building. All of your sounds contribute to create a superb mood and atmosphere. I had this looping in the background for a very long time and I found it great music to have playing while you do something else. Even on its own, it's a real pleasure dissecting all of the different sounds playing together and the lovely contrast you create between the smooth, pad-filled, uplifting buildup sections like 2:15, and the more minimal sections such as 2:34.

The sounds you've used are absolutely excellent. Some of them sound quite retro and others are a bit more space-like, such as the arp that comes in first at 0:20. Despite this, all of the sounds work together just beautifully. You do a good job automating your sounds with effects/filters, especially that arp whose intensity you very gradually increased, making it a versatile sound that fits in both the minimal sections and the uplifting sections.

Something that makes this different from Not Everyday is that it's far more melodious. Sure, it's not filled with melodies, sticking mostly to an arp playing one note interval and then long chords played by other instruments, but that's alright. You've got some really nice motifs here which you use heavily to create a unified listening experience.

While this track, to me, is a definite improvement from Not Everyday, it has its issues. The track is repetitive, and I'm not saying that because I'm an orchestral composer and expect the same constant variety from other genres, because first off I don't only make orchestral - I've made techno plenty of times before - and secondly, I believe this is objectively too repetitive.

The arp playing that single note interval got seriously monotonous since it never changed whenever it was played. You recycle many elements in this track as well. It's not hard to notice that the second half of the track is basically the first half repeated, except with some new elements like the nice new melody that starts playing from 2:35, and with an ending tacked on (well, "ending").

This track is dynamic, making it fairly interesting throughout, but unfortunately since you overuse the elements you introduce in this track without really adding many changes, it falls short of doing a whole 5 minutes and 11 seconds justice. I would've liked to hear more new content and new sections, without interrupting the relaxed and smooth flow you've created here.

Speaking of the smooth flow, let me just mention that your transitions are brilliant. Every transition throughout the track was stellar. You make nothing stand too much and tastefully make use of anticlimactic buildups which don't sound unsatisfying at all. Your intro, while nothing special, sets the mood just right. However, your ending is just terrible haha. It loops better than it ends, and even then it doesn't loop well. I love the glitch effects you use at the end; they do a great job of throwing the listener off-guard, but you leave me baffled why you didn't add some form of conclusion, or at least a smoother loop.

Your production value is, as always, excellent. In fact, I think this has the best production from all of the tracks you've submitted to the competition, including your audition. Of course, I also think that this has the best sounds from all of your submissions, so that might be why I also think this has the best production. The mix is incredibly crisp and everything is really pleasing to the ears.

The only thing I don't like about your production is the percussion. Like in your other track, the drums in this just feel unprocessed and raw. I can't quite tell you for sure what exactly is wrong with them but somehow I feel like they're very weak and lacking in effects and wow-factor compared to everything else (except the percussion that first appears at the very beginning of the track which sounded fantastic). OK, they provide a solid percussive backbone to the track without being too intrusive, but when I listen to the amazing pads and arp and all the other synths, and then I shift my focus to those drums, I'm hearing a total difference in quality.

Overall, this is one of my favourite works from you. While it has a handful of issues (to recap; bad ending, repetitive structure, lack of new content in second half, unchanging arp and unprocessed drums) this has some truly excellent redeeming factors, such as the incredible synthesis work and atmosphere-building. I love it, keep up the great work. I've favourited you and I'm looking forward to your future tracks. Do try and get to know the Newgrounds community though, and take part in contests like the NGADM. You'll get far! If I had to rate this in the NGADM it would've gotten an 8.7 or 8.8 from me, but since I set higher standards when judging for the NGADM, I'll give you a 10.

10/10
5/5
Download.
Favourited.

[Skyline V2]

Aw DAMN this was a surprise. You have done the track so much justice it's almost ridiculous. If Wolftacular submitted this I THINK he could've gotten one of the highest score averages in the round! Really goes to show what some good production can do to the track.

Really, you've just done an excellent job. The mix, while still slightly blurry/muddy during the string+flute sections and piano solo (probably because of the actual samples), is much much better now. Clear and balanced very well. I think there are still a few quirks; the vocal recording quality still isn't excellent (nothing you can do about that!), and I can hear some static/white noise (presumably from the recording) in the background, which you could've removed with noise removal (or at least gotten rid of in parts which don't have vocals in them like the piano solo).

The drums and guitars are excellent. They add depth to the track and give it the pacing and emotional power that it deserves. They were mixed in very nicely, and fit everywhere except 1:29 which I think would've sounded better without drums, at least up until 1:44.

The track itself is great, as I said in Wolftacular's NGADM review. Amazing singing, composition, and so on and so forth. I want to make my review look a bit longer though since I'm supposed to be the guy that writes long reviews, so I'll review your Author's Comments as well.

Solid grammar, apart from a few quirks ("I redid the mix, master, AND added drums, bass and guitar"). Stylistic complaint; I personally prefer having smileys BEFORE the full-stop (i.e. "he won't appear right away :)."). That's personal preference though. You could've pasted the lyrics of the track in the Author's Comments to improve them, but I like how you posted all of the things you and Wolftacular used, with a good "Tools:" heading that works well as a transitional element.

OK I literally can't lengthen this review any more. Excellent work, you two.

MetalRenard responds:

You really... Stepped up... For this review... *sigh* Ok I'll avoid the humour.
To address the issues you raised:
The muddy mix issues all come down to the fact that I was given all the strings as one file, all the lead elements as one file, vocals and piano in their own files too, but all as 160kbs mp3s! I can mix but I can't make miracles. Haha

1:29 Yeah, that would work. I turned the drums down for that section though, to keep it subtle. I agree more subtle would probably be better. ^^

Noise removal.. I don't have my noise removal software any more because of some "quirks" in the system, to reuse your word. Sadly they've lost my information and I can't download it. The piano was recorded with a microphone, I expect the iPhone microphone just like the voice, hence all the issues with clarity and noise I had to battle with.

I really appreciate the time you've taken to review this and I'm really happy to have had the opportunity to work on this amazing track by Wolftacular. Thanks for having me as a judge in NGADM too, which lead me to finding it! :D

(I put emoticons after punctuation! In my mind they're not part of the sentence structure but, instead, provide a context for what has just been said... Let's not get off topic, eh? :P)

[Steam's Wonderful Contraptions]

This is an NGADM Round 2 review.

--

No way man. I can scarcely believe my ears. I always thought you were an excellent composer since your audition, but thought that the thing that stopped me from considering you indistinguishable from professional composers is your production quality. Mechanical Anima had that lack of low end, and I felt that Skyfortress - City of Diz got a bit cluttered at times, so I always thought your production quality, while usually good, would be your bane. I stand entirely corrected and dumbstruck. That was masterfully produced. Everything is crystal clear and mastered so well (especially that amazingly clean low end). Don't get me started on your sounds as well... again you use Edirol, a VST previously known by me as being fairly low-quality, and your sounds are just perfect.

You mix in sound effects flawlessly, giving this a distinct vibe that's indicative of your style, but at the same time this is a whole universe away from your Round 1 track in terms of mood and genre. I loved that train whistle as well! It added so much to the atmosphere. What I like the most about this track would be your rhythms though. Everything sounds so carefree and rhythmically you have huge amounts of variety. Your composition is also fantastic; plenty of lovely counterpoint, harmonies, shifting the melody to various instruments, etc. Of course, I can also commend you on your brilliant structure, transitions, and so on, but I think we can take that as a given in your music now.

Finding issues in your music is like rocket science, I'm telling you. Really, the only gripes I have is that sometimes, the composition feels ever so slightly flat, but your rhythmic excellence makes up for that. Also, I feel like the train whistle at the end was unnecessary. It feels like it works more as a background element, and when you added it at the end I firmly believe it ruined the subtlety of the ending.

Those two minor nitpicks aside, this is just incredible. Keep up the excellent work.

Score: 9.7/10

steampianist responds:

Hahaha thats why I make it up for the composition and im so happy you loved the train whistle haha
Ah edirol. My oldest vst you make me feel like im the only one who
Carried an 18th century pistol and went to a modern warfare haha

Again thank you for the awesome review and I always look forward to your nitpicks

[Main Title Heroes]

This is an NGADM Round 2 review.

--

Well, the first thing I was delighted to see was that this time you actually made a full-length idea, and not a small almost experimental track with little content. This is, in fact, entirely the other extreme. It's long and crammed full of sweet ideas and content! Other than a slight generic feeling I got from this track, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Some aspects of it are really professional-sounding, especially due to your clear mix, great interplay of different elements, and, of course, excellent instrument samples and sounds. For instance, 2:16, while being a pretty typical transitional element in this kind of music, sounded phenomenal, and what followed was a great 7/8 section with immaculate percussion work.

As I said, there are some great ideas here, full of detail that I can only truly appreciate when I turn my volume up. For example, I love the atmospheric pad you use at the beginning, the saw synth in the background 1:07, the way the brass staccato plays along with the percussion at 2:21, the many reverse effects you use in the track, and so on. I like how at 3:18 you, in a sense, brought all of the different ideas of the track together, such as the single notes of the piano from the very beginning and the drum beat from 1:07, all layered on top of your fast-paced background from 2:21. Solid composition overall, and immaculate atmosphere-building.

I'm not quite sure about the track's production. As I said above, to truly enjoy this track, I had to turn up the volume a lot. Surely enough, I checked your waveform, and the only form of mastering you seem to have done is a quick normalise at the end, because there's a lot of unused headroom due to a spike in the waveform at the very end which hit the normalising threshold. Even when I turn my volume up, I still feel that the instruments are all confined towards a limited range of frequencies and could've spanned a more expansive range of the mix. I'd like to feel more low-end boom from the drums and a sharper high-end.

This track is a bit lacking in production, despite being clear and pleasant to listen to, and it's a bit generic, but overall solid!

Score: 8.3/10

[Cthulhu Surfaces]

This is an NGADM Round 2 review.

--

I'm pretty sure you're not the only one with a fear for gigantic deep sea creatures that want to kill you. And, best part is, this track portrays that fear excellently. You've got a splendidly unsettling atmosphere right from the start, with the low rumbling and the 0:33 suspenseful plucks (which for some reason remind me of the atmospheric elements Zelda often uses in dungeons). This is helped by the excellent samples you're using, the superb tremolo on the strings, and of course your wonderful mixing. The mix is very good; deep and dark but very clear. I can hear each instrument clearly, even when you have some thick instrumentation going on. Oh and, your brass is amazing. I've personally always had problems with getting a good brass sound (I've been stuck with East/West Symphonic Orchestra Silver for years!) but you have no problem at all with it. Good job.

And then your composition! Your composition is something else. It's not the typical overdone style of cinematic composition (although I'm hearing some film-score influences in this) and it's really enjoyable. You have some truly excellent melodies, the highlight, in my opinion, being the beautiful 2:58 melody. And, to my delight, unlike in your Round 1 track, you have a little motif here that brings everything together excellently (being the 0:05 motif that's cleverly repeated in a different key at 1:54). I love your string pizzicato melodies as well. They evoked a strong feeling of suspense. Most things in this track evoke a strong feeling of suspense now that I'm thinking about it. On a smaller note, your intro is awesome.

Some of the people are praising you for your structure but personally I think you could've done a better job with it. You have an good progression, and your structure is perfectly fine on the whole, but I felt like by literally giving the whole outro a much more subtle tone, you tainted the impact of the ending. A huge, dissonant brass chord at the very end rising out of nowhere, followed by some staccato hit for the ending note would've done much more justice to the track in my opinion (or maybe a final climactic section). It's a small structural issue that I didn't reduce many marks for (especially since it could just be personal preference), but nevertheless it's something to think about. Also, I agree that the We Will Rock You claps don't quite fit, and I think the transition at 2:09 could've been smoother/subtler.

Just a few small issues. Really though, this is phenomenal, and totally different from your audition and Round 1 track! You have such a firm grasp over different styles which really is the mark of a talented composer. Now make reggae.

Score: 9.4/10

headphoamz responds:

As usual, I deeply appreciate and applaud your detailed reviews, Step.
Did you like how I threw that leitmotif in there? That was just for you! I remembered last round that you mentioned you'd like the tune to be a little more memorable, so I tried to go with a more consistent melody throughout the piece. So happy you noticed!
Let me tell you - going with the Platinum Orchestra from East West was one of the best investments I've ever made! Highly recommended if you can get it.
Thanks for the criticism on the last bit - I wasn't sure at all how to end this, so it was very experimental in that regard.
Prrrrobably not gonna do reggae anytime soon, but hey, never say never, right?

Thanks for your take on my music, once again. :)

[Not Everday]

This is an NGADM Round 2 review.

--

Your audition was unique and unlike anything I've heard before; then it moved on to something a bit more generic and now we're back to the unique style we had in your audition. I think that, where style is concerned, this is a change for the better; this track has such a fantastic blend of different sounds that come together with different rhythms and at different times to form an entirely rhythmically-cohesive and ridiculously enjoyable track. Not only is the blend of sounds so good, but the sounds themselves are excellent. Everything is wonderfully punchy (no doubt due to your solid production skills as well). The vocals are cool (sneaky use of that Vengeance vocal loop!).

Composition-wise, you don't have definable melodies, preferring to stick heavily to creative use of rhythmic elements to deliver an enjoyable listening experience. That's perfectly fine, because this sure as hell is an enjoyable listening experience. Unfortunately, a lot of the stuff in this track seems to be lacking proper development. The track isn't very long and there actually isn't that much content in it once you think about it. You repeat certain patterns quite a lot, and there's so much potential for you to branch out into totally new sections with more clever rhythms and whatnot, but throughout the song you only seem to play it safe and stick to the sections and rhythmic interplay that you've already established at the beginning, with only one section being truly new - 1:48 - and then even that is repeated more times than it should have been!

There are some other issues that need to be mentioned. Both your intro and outro are dull. I mean, you have cool filter/flanger effects at the beginning and some awesome bitcrushing at the end, but both the intro and outro don't do the track much justice. Some transitions are a bit too abrupt. 0:38 is very abrupt but I absolutely love how abrupt it is. However, I can't say the same for 1:46 which feels too sudden for me. Vocals at 0:20 could've been a bit quieter as well. Lastly, the drums feel a bit unprocessed/plain but I think that's just me.

Anyway, I admittedly enjoyed this more than my score would imply. It's a very fun track, but I can't put aside its lack of content and other miscellaneous issues. While I think that stylistically, this is better than your Round 1 track, that track had far more development and felt more like a full song, which ultimately led me to giving this a lower score. That said, good job overall!

Score: 7.9/10

[Forgotten]

This is an NGADM Round 2 review.

--

While this is not quite as impressive as your Round 1 track, it's a solid track in its own right. For starters, your intro is immaculate. I love the atmosphere you set at the beginning, the introduction of the piano, the melodies it played, everything. Everything flowed smoothly in the intro and did a great job at showcasing your compositional talent. Great idea to have the main melody play on the strings at 1:40. After having the melody played more delicately on the piano, having it play at 1:40 made it really shine. The climax at the end, of course, did the best job of making the melody shine though. Beautiful.

In some lights, the production is fantastic, and in other lights it could use work. Your background strings and piano are undeniably amazing. Frankly, the instruments all sound amazing, undoubtedly because of your excellent EQing skills. The song has plenty of depth and you use reverb well. At the very end there's this huge reverb tail that sounds like it's coming out of the piano but might be from another similar-sounding instrument - maybe that reverb tail was a bit much, but I like the atmosphere it created anyway so just turn it down a little. So yeah, when it comes to EQing and reverb and whatnot, everything's just fine.

Unfortunately, at times the track can get incredibly cluttered, which very much ruined the impact of certain sections. The main culprit would undoubtedly be the climax you have at the end. I can hear what you're trying to go for, but execution needs touching up. The brass, for example, while sounding lovely, has too much of a high velocity which clashes with what's supposed to be in the foreground. There are similar clutter issues 1:56. Also, I think the piano at the beginning could've been a bit quieter, but that might be just me. Lastly, I would've liked more changes in texture. You use high strings over deep, warm background strings a lot, to the point that 3:13's flute section comes as a real relief. Lastly, I totally agree that the chord progression could've been changed a bit more - I think it's a habit of yours to stick to the same chord progression throughout a track, and while it does help unify it, some more chord changes would do wonders.

It sounds like you have some truly excellent ideas over here, but some of the execution needs work! Overall though, it's a great piece of work.

Score: 8.2/10

[Hacked]

This is an NGADM Round 2 review.

--

It's so hard to be creative in this genre, because it's done to death, but I do believe you've just managed to achieve that. This is very creative. You've portrayed the theme perfectly without sounding gimmicky at all. The sounds you've used are perfect. I love the "virus bass" you used in this track. It's such a good sound for this kind of theme, and it works extremely well. What really takes the cake, though, would be the alarm-like synth you used at 0:45 and 1:39 though. What an excellent way to build the atmosphere. You even sped the theme up which created an audible rise in intensity. I think your classic electro bass which comes in at 0:17 is a bit crude (but it made me smile because it reminded me of your older tracks!) but otherwise, the sounds are very suitable and this is generally well-thought-out.

The production is very similar to your other tracks. Everything is ridiculously well-produced, but loud and brickwalled. Again, just like in your Round 1 track and some other tracks of yours, I feel like the loudness of this track makes it sound overbearing and tiring to listen to. It's tough to make a mix that's loud and still roomy enough, but I feel that you didn't quite manage to get that right. Still, other than that (and your kick which I think could have a bit less mids) you have great production. Your composition is actually quite interesting. Let me also commend you on your super-solid structure, great intro, and fantastic transitions!

I feel like the whole theme of the track, while being creative, hampered the musicality of the track a bit. The sections where the numbers are being spoken feel a bit redundant after a while. As much as I love how intense they sound, I feel like they could've been a bit more melodic. The vocals themselves sound a bit off at times. As much as Hatsune Miku is awesome, the spoken words were often awkwardly pronounced (because it's the Japanese version I presume) and the numbers were sometimes off-timing and occasionally drowned out by other sounds. I think it would've been better had you asked a female voice actor to speak that in a monotone voice and then you added some effects on her voice to make it sound computerised. Also, silly little suggestion - would've been better if you put "access granted" at the end rather than "you win" haha. Obviously not reducing marks for that but it would've fit better with the theme.

Anyway, fun tune you have here, and very creative. Great composition, great production, a few issues here and there but it's a high score from me!

Score: 8.5/10

[Denouement]

This is an NGADM Round 2 review.

--

Your voice is indeed one of your greatest weapons. When I heard that you didn't have vocals in this track, I was disappointed. As I said in my previous review, you have an excellent voice, and without it I thought your track wouldn't hold its own. Thankfully, I was wrong. This instrumental track reminded me of how good your sense of composition is, and that you don't necessarily have to use your voice to deliver a good listening experience. You have a really good atmosphere, that is indeed reminiscent of Mass Effect and Terminator, and a pretty decent structure/flow too. Your transitions are smooth, including your intro and outro, which are both satisfying and well-made. I'm in two minds about the detuning you had at the beginning though, but I think I like it haha. Great chords in the intro by the way.

Sound-wise, I am very glad to hear that your production value is an improvement from your Round 1 track (and audition). While I'm STILL getting muddiness from those huge string chords, and at times your track can sound a bit thin and lacking in low end, you've got a clarity that was not present in your Round 1 track. Your sounds aren't bad; what did you use? I also like the reverse effects you used in certain parts of the track. They indeed add a sci-fi vibe to the track. One little issue I found with the sound is that your low brass has an issue when its audio sample loops. It's a little glitch that can be heard throughout the track but most clearly at 0:03 when the instrument is playing on its own.

While this is a good track, I feel like it doesn't really ever build much momentum. The only time I feel the pace picking up is when you introduce the techno arp at 1:03, and the song doesn't really go places from there. This might be due to the fact that your percussion is pretty drowned out, and while it tries very hard to pick up the pace, it doesn't quite cut it. Some kind of breakbeat would do a better job of portraying what you were trying to go for. Unfortunately, this lack of movement causes this track to be less memorable than your Round 1 track, so it's something to work on.

Overall, great track whose production value, while still needing work, is a definite improvement. Nice work!

Score: 8.2/10