Step's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[The Path Not Taken- Ngadm13]

This is an NGADM Round 1 review.

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I knew you'd have trouble doing an original song as opposed to a cover haha. It's one reason why I was worried to get you into the competition since all you had in your portfolio were covers, but I think you certainly managed to do just fine! Your composition is very suitable and well-structured, along with the lovely vocal harmonies that I knew you'd be able to pull off judging by your audition. I'm actually finding it pretty hard to judge this fairly among other submissions, since we've never quite had acapella tracks on the NGADM before, but in a track like this one of the most important things to judge is the singing quality. Your voice is just fantastic, and very versatile, making you a considerably good one-man acapella group, so you don't need to worry about that! Big notes like 2:12 really showcase the power of your voice.

I would've liked to hear some more melodies. You have that one descending riff that you repeat far too much, and then when you're singing the verses at times it sounds a bit like you were awkwardly trying to fit in the words (although I admit you did a good job with this most of the time). This all leads to the fact that the melodic content is lacking in substance, which is something you should work on. Also, a production-related complaint is that often the main vocal line was drowned out by the background harmonies, but this isn't such a big problem.

Anyhow, you've got a really well-meaning and enjoyable track here, only strengthened by your fantastic singing. Nice work!

Score: 7.9/10

[Empty]

This is an NGADM Round 1 review.

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The really great factor of this track that gives it its charm is the human touch you add to it. I'm not 100% certain whether the guitar(s) are real or not but they sound real, and the piano sounds lovely, giving this track a nice amount of expression. You've got some really good compositional ideas, and there's a good amount of depth in your composition, along with some nicely-chosen chords. Then there are the vocals of course, which contribute the most to the expressive, authentic kind of sound that this track has. I also quite like your lead guitar solo almost halfway through the track.

There are unfortunately quite a few issues with this. The singing style feels very heavy and slow. For a ballad-like track at a tempo like this, the vocals need more emotion and power (also they were hard to understand, which is a shame since the lyrics were great). In fact, the track in general is lacking in power. The drums are lacking in low end and feel too thin, for starters. Also, the singing occasionally goes out of tune, although you're a pretty good singer so it just takes a bit more practice!

Anyway, this was a nice track, with some production issues that need ironing out. You've got some excellent ideas and I enjoyed it. Good work man.

Score: 7.2/10

DivoFST responds:

Thanks for the detailed review Step!
The more human the song is the more fun i have, unfortunately my recording material is very low quality so the more "real" tracks i have the harder it gets to mix everything properly and the vocals suffered a lot from that.
Recording vocals is incredibly frustrating and i got to a point where i just tolerated the flaws it had.
Yes the guitars are quite real xD
Im in need of serious vocal ideas...was the melody weak?...was my singing weak?...was the mixing weak?...double track?...so much questions!! SOMEONE TUTOR ME!!! xD
Thanks Step :D

[Supercollide]

This is an NGADM Round 1 review.

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I am left in absolute awe. You had all the odds against you and made something that is definitely one of your best works, spanning over 8 minutes of incredible jazz music with wonderfully-fitting funk influences. There's a superb amount of variety in this track but everything is still structured so well, with well-executed crescendos (like 2:22 onwards which has the most beautifully subtle sax introduction ever at 2:35 may I add) and even a reference to the beginning melodies towards the end, truly bringing everything into a full circle. And the production, the one thing which I was worried about in your track, is actually very good! There are a few inconsistencies, like 6:52's piano not sounding nearly as crisp as it did at the beginning, but overall everything is produced well! Not as clean as it can possibly be, but certainly very good.

I feel like an idiot pointing out flaws in such an incredible track, but really all I could find is that sometimes when a lot of instruments play together, the result sounds a bit messy and sloppy (1:43 for instance). In fact, the points where you've got a more controlled and manageable amount of instruments playing, the track sounds so much cleaner in all. This could be due to little rehearsal time or lack of detailed audio editing work. Your ending is a bit lame for such a long and developed track as well.

Those are all the flaws I can think of without obsessing over this track for hours to look for the tiniest nitpicks imaginable. This is absolutely brilliant and I'm thoroughly impressed.

Score: 9.8/10

[Superhighway]

This is an NGADM Round 1 review.

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A much more relaxing listen than your audition! Might be due to the surprisingly slow tempo for a song of this genre. Your sounds are so smooth, the production is super clean, and the way you set up the track makes it highly suitable for chill background music. While I wasn't a fan of the generic rhythm you used for the plucks, you've got some nice composition (even if there's a lack of it). I also quite like how you made the track progress; it's certainly not as progressive as, say, XsakuX's submission, but it's still a very suitable progression that was enjoyable to listen to, not too long for it to sound stretched and not too short for it to sound incomplete. Cool intro, ending and transitions too!

It's a real shame that you didn't have more time to work on this, because even if you didn't specify it yourself, it's really apparent. There isn't the kind of ambition and thoughtfulness I heard in your audition (even though I admittedly find this track to be superior atmosphere-wise). There's a significant lack of melodic content content as I mentioned above. You've basically got drums, some atmospheric elements, a pad and a saw/square synth pluck that you filter occasionally throughout the track. These are all background elements, and the only time something upfront and melodic comes in, it's gone by 1:47. I love your drum glitching/bitcrushing but I wish I heard more of it since tracks like this often rely more on its sounds and production value than it does on composition to deliver an enjoyable listening experience, and hence it's details like that which will help your track sound more interesting (along with throwing in some more melodic content as I mentioned).

Anyway, you've got a pretty short track here, which does not do justice to your production skills. A very nice listen though; keep it up.

Score: 7/10

[[IV]Shadow-Stealing Girl]

This is an NGADM Round 1 review.

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What a lovely track. I can't stress how much I like your approach. It's a very soft track but still has a certain power and statement to it that you don't quite find often in orchestral tracks on Newgrounds. Your composition is beautiful, as is your atmosphere-building. Despite using typical orchestral instrumentation, you manage to somehow create a unique airy atmosphere that I absolutely love to bits. I very much enjoyed all the different layers of rhythmic, harmonic and melodic elements. Even though the track is soft, there's a lot more going on than one would initially think. I don't know exactly why I like this so much, but I really do, and yeah I realise that's the most unprofessional thing that I, as a judge, can say!

The song can get a bit boring at times, which is perhaps due to the fact that the dynamics are a bit lacking. I mean, the track has its moments, and there are some clear sections where everything dies down, but volume-wise, I'm really not feeling the more dramatic moments. Everything feels very soft, even when it shouldn't be. It even makes it quite hard to enjoy the track without turning my volume up. Now I'm definitely not saying that you make this a loudness war. The softness of this track is just beautiful. However, in the more intense moments, I would like a deeper, thicker arrangement with a more clear contrast from the soft sections.

Anyway, that was an extremely pleasant listen. Brilliant work!

Score: 8.8/10

[The Ancient Ones]

This is an NGADM Round 1 review.

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Ah, the explosive power of trailer music. You've certainly done a lovely job at creating something that sounds an announcement trailer for the latest Hollywood blockbuster. Not only do the instruments sound excellent, but are mixed well too. Other than some very minor clutter/muddiness that's very hard to avoid when you've got such thick instrumentation, this sounds clear and devastatingly powerful, which I really need to commend you on. I actually enjoyed the sound of the intro too but it felt a bit detached from the rest of the track and I agree with SoundChris that it was a bit long (maybe add some more film-scorey elements/sound FX to keep it interesting?). The outro was a bit expected/predictable, but perfectly fine. Oh, and let me add that your use of the screaming choir and percussion was absolutely flawless.

The issue with this track is that it's fairly forgettable. The composition is a bit plain/uninspired. For instance, the tension you create at around the one minute marker is just really typical usage of dissonant chords, and it's followed by a repetitive and generic passage of staccato strings. I understand that while you keep that same string pattern going, you layer it with different harmonies throughout the track, but unfortunately that doesn't stop it from getting repetitive. In general, the track is pretty typical trailer music fare apart from the intro (maybe because you have assignments due?), which is a shame because you're an excellent musician who certainly has the skill of making something less generic.

Really though, other than the fact that it's a bit typical/predictable, and the mix is a little muddy, this is a very well-produced track with plenty of professional touches and a devastating, mighty sound overall. Great work.

Score: 8.3/10

TitanMusic responds:

Thank you for the kind words and for the honest criticism.
I shall definitely look over the points you have made when working on my next submission(And for song writing in general).
I think it started to get fairly generic when tunnel vision set in and the only thing that was happening in my mind was those staccato strings repeating over and over. Haha, I shall definitely be working on an entirely different approach for my next song.
Thanks again!

[Sonik - Batrachotoxin]

This is an NGADM Round 1 review.

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Definitely one of the more progressive tracks in the round. First off, I love the bass you're using. The way you filtered out its frequencies at the beginning worked very well, and then at 0:15 you fully bring it in, doing a good job of showcasing the lovely aggressive sound it has. This track has a certain weirdness to it that I can't quite explain. The composition feels somehow unconventional, despite being simple, and at first this kind of odd melodic approach sounded more uninspired than interesting, but after a while it grew on me and I've decided it really adds character to the track. That aside, your production is fantastic, needless to say.

I agree quite heavily with johnfn's review. Even though your production is so good, you made a mixing choice that really detracted from the track; the bass and drums are just covering up nearly everything else, especially that piano. I'm not sure if the piano even fits at this point, since it sounds so weak and thin compared to that beast of a bass synth that it almost feels like an unsuccessful afterthought. I also agree that for its length, this was less repetitive than I expected, but it was still repetitive. That's the nature of progressive house, of course, but the key here is to add more subtle variances. For instance, the bass pattern was almost the same throughout the whole track, and some more creative processing of that bass would've made the track benefit a lot more. A few additional subtle sound effects, melodic changes, fills, etc, would have killed the repetition as well.

I actually had a hard time dissecting this track for some reason. Wasn't sure if I liked it or not, but it's grown on me to the point that the former is the case. Great job!

Score: 8.1/10

[[NGADM]Variable]

This is an NGADM Round 1 review.

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Oh damn. I love this. Jazz piece written for an orchestral setting is exactly how I'd describe this. The harmonies, scales, and a fair amount of the instrumentation are clearly jazz, but then you've got a structure and certain approaches that are obviously orchestral. This is something I would expect from you, having heard some of your other music, but this is certainly better than some of the other tracks I've heard from you (which were, admittedly, quite old, with the exception of your NGAPTAC submission which wasn't very good). You've really outdone yourself with the composition here. I also love all the melodic and harmonic layers you throw in to this track, ESPECIALLY the chords. This is considerably well-composed.

I love your composition, but I do think there's some questionable use of the blues scale now and again (3:09 especially which felt like it didn't quite fit with everything else). On a much more major note, the production value does not do the composition justice at all. Your instruments don't sound very good. Other than the flute at times, and the bass, everything sounds pretty soundfont-esque or MIDI-like. I never dock many marks for this because not everyone can afford high-end software like Cinesamples or East/West, but at the same time I feel like you could've done more to make everything sound realistic. Some of the pitch bends sounded very artificial (to the point that the song would've been better without them), the sax solos sound quantised and fake, and I would've liked some more drastic dynamics and humanisation. The NGADM allows real instrument players so you could've looked for one for at least that saxophone to help give those solos a more human touch, for example. The mix feels very cluttered and unclear at times (the drums are very hard to hear especially). The sax sounds pretty dry too, despite you allegedly adding reverb.

Almost all of the issues are production-related. Composition-wise, this is absolutely beautiful, and since composition is so important in this genre, I'll feel bad if I don't give you a high score.

Score: 8.9/10

Nimble responds:

For the most part, yes, I still haven't gotten the hang of mixing just quite yet. I'm still learning with every little thing that I write, and since the amount of work that goes into mixing is insane, I'll get it eventually :P I do agree with what you're saying though, I need to start learning mixing faster. Thanks for the review and the chance to participate in the "playoffs" of Newgrounds. I'm definitely coming back next year! :)

[Dreamyard]

This is an NGADM Round 1 review.

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The winner of last year's NGADM is clearly geared up with intentions to win this year's NGADM too. This is ridiculously well-made. There's such a huge variety in atmospheres, moods and harmonies; one can tell you put a hell of a lot of work into this. The things you usually excel in - harmonies and guitar-playing - are beautifully-made here as well. I love how unlike in a lot of metal tracks, your guitar solos are actually really sensibly made and with brilliant composition; some metal tracks just put in a solo for the sake of showing off the guitarist's technical prowess, without really offering anything compositionally interesting, while yours do both. And let's not forget about your fantastic mixing. I think your mixing is a tad bit lacking compared to other tracks of yours since sometimes the mix gets overly cluttered, but that's not to say that your mixing isn't still amazing.

Now to mention some issues. Firstly, this sounds a lot like your other works (mainly those in the first three rounds of the last NGADM). While this is certainly not something to reduce marks for (everyone has his/her own style after all), a personal suggestion from me is to veer into newer styles, like those of Don't We All? and Fly me to Blue (due to both it being a fun way to keep your music sounding new, and me wanting to hear what you can do in different styles). Anyway, that aside, I hate to say it but I'm still feeling somewhat of a directionless vibe from this track. Like I mentioned in the past, it's really hard to nail the balance between sounding interesting throughout and creating a song that sounds unified (your track Venus comes closest to nailing it), and it's something you should work on since in this track, at times it feels as though you could've put a bit more thought into the structure.

Honestly, you're arguably one of the best musicians on the Audio Portal by far. This is incredible. I'm going to be harsher with you on scores (hence the 8.7) since you won last year's NGADM but rest assured that this is one hell of an amazing track.

Score: 8.7/10

Kor-Rune responds:

Thank you Step for your awesome reviews, everytime! I appreciate the help. I'll try something new this next round! It'll have more direction too. <:

Always love the feedback step! i'm gonna score your review at 10/10

[FD - Plaenitude]

This is an NGADM Round 1 review.

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Unquestionably brilliant atmosphere from the get go. The guitar sounds incredible, and when you bring that heavily but tastefully-reverbed/delayed ethnic woodwind sound, I died. It was beautiful; serene, ethereal, peaceful, and generally extremely well-crafted. I like the sense of movement you portray at 1:41; the song feels like it's starting to pick up at that point, and indeed it does. Your subtle use of various effects is highly successful, including what sounds like guitar feedback at one point. The metal was entirely unexpected. I like the mixing of your rhythm guitar; it may be a bit too loud but you can really feel the bassy power from those chugs. Your bold combination of ambient elements with the metal guitar/drum setup somehow works, and is incredibly interesting to hear.

I'll start by pointing out some nitpicks. Not a massive fan of how you set up the drums; they feel too loud and piercing. 4:53's transition feels abrupt, but only slightly. Some more transitional elements might help smoothen it out a bit. Now, like a lot of people have mentioned, I also think your guitar's rhythms need work. Such a standard rhythm with no syncopation at all sadly ends up making the guitar sound terribly artificial, along with being monotonous to listen to. You implement rhythm guitar better towards the end, but in that section where the rhythm guitar is introduced, the two styles (ambient and metal) feel far more disjointed, and it might have to do with the actual rhythms, so changing them up a bit (maybe even starting the metal part with some power chords instead) would've worked far better.

Still, the atmosphere is spot on, and this was a very unique listen overall. Keep it up!

Score: 8.4/10

ForgottenDawn responds:

I'll admit this was more of an experiment than ever. While in retrospective some ideas seemed to work, others needed some more polish and there's a lot to consider in the mastering department. Nonetheless, these reviews helped me clearing out the mist I was forcing on my track. Thank you for your review.