Step's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Stranded]

Hey, as promised here's that review :3. Pretty solid track overall, although upon analysis this has lots of room for improvement...

So, starting off with my favourite part of orchestral music; composition. I'm hearing some good ideas and potential here. I like your approach to the melodies and how you keep everything sounding so unified with a static chord progression, gradual progressions and the repetition of that pretty cool 0:39 motif at 2:02 and 2:41. Your composition is good and well-structured, and that's inarguably an important thing to have in this genre.

Unfortunately the bad news about the composition is that it's very repetitive and frankly it's quite bland. Most of the time you repeat the same eight notes in consecutive order. Even worse than that is that each note lasts for exactly the same amount of time. It just feels very linear. This is something you can fix with practice. Your melody is flowing but only because it does the same thing a lot of the time and there's not much diversity. The trick to strong composition is to make it diverse and non-linear but STILL flowing.

The number one solution; dynamics. I'm not hearing many dynamics here. And while I love your gradual introduction of different elements that you do in the intro... other than that there's nothing so dynamic about this, which is the main reason why this sounds so linear. I would've loved to hear crescendos, grace notes, diminuendos, tempo changes, etc... there's a whole range of articulations you can do here. For example I can imagine a gradual crescendo working wonderfully to build up to 2:09, and if you made the song die down more audibly rather than just remove elements from the track towards the end it would've sounded so much more intricate.

Your instrumentation is pretty typical but it works well! I like the fact that you used bells, they're pretty underrated (even I don't use them much haha) but if done right they can really add to a piece. And you added some pretty bassy instruments in there, which was a pleasant surprise. I'm talking about the guitar at 0:26 and the double bass (I might be wrong about the instrument names but whatever, I'm hearing bass and that's what matters! :P). These filled up the low end very nicely.

You've got a pretty pleasant mix but nothing out of the ordinary. Your instruments are unfortunately pretty low quality, but I suppose there's not much you can do about that. Still, they're not too shabby, and I bet that if you added those aforementioned dynamics to your instruments they would sound so much more realistic and intricate. You could have the most amazing samples in the world but without going the extra mile to make everything sound realistic and dynamic, your samples will end up sounding almost MIDI-like, so it's a good idea to make it a habit to add lots of dynamics. Volume automations work really well for me, I use them like crazy to do stuff like fade in instruments, highlight sections, etc...

The two things I liked the most about this would be the intro and the drums. Your intro is just fantastic man. Perhaps a more booming bell sound followed by the gradual fading in of the high strings would've worked a bit better but still, you managed to achieve that cinematic sound by throwing in new instruments gradually. Great idea to play that little melody on the piano at the beginning too. A subtle but very effective touch.

And the drums! In a way they're kinda low quality/unrealistic and a bit too snappy but they work so well regardless. Cool beat, and I love your drum fills, especially the one at 2:39. The drums aren't the best they could be, but pretty darn good nevertheless. They added a wonderful amount of intensity, and they were nicely varied with good rhythms too. Not much to complain about, percussion-wise.

So yeah, overall this is a nice little piece. There are quite a few aspects where it needs improving, others where it does really well in, but hey that's all what practice is for right? Good luck in your future works man, and thanks again for leaving a review on Ecosystem!
6/10
5/5

stunkel responds:

Honestly, I don't know where to begin DX, that was an amazing review though. I think that I can definitely improve upon what you said if I make an effort to change those things. But amazing review, I hope you enjoy my future stuff and give reviews if you choose to do so :D. Again, thanks

5/5 stars for the review :3

[Asperges Me]

This is an NGADM Round 3 Review.

--

OK so here we've got what I feel is an improvement over both your Round 1 and Round 2 submissions. As usual, you've got some very strong aspects here... overshadowed by bad mixing AGAIN, sure, but hey, you're still really good at this.

Your singing was an improvement. Your voice isn't as shaky as was in previous rounds and while you bounced in volume a bit too much on certain words, I feel, it's not much of a problem and in a way if it wasn't fluctuating so drastically in volume it'd really add to the flow. You go in a pretty high register and still manage to hit the notes correctly, so kudos for that. The high notes pretty much sounded angelic; not sure there's any other suitable adjective to describe them. And harmonic vocal lines? Damn, those were amazing. They're hard to get right (hania is one of the few people on Newgrounds who does it really well IMO) but you pretty much nailed it. So yeah, good singing.

And your composition is just superb, yet again. Very clearly sad and conveys a deep message, which I'm not emotional enough to appreciate fully. But that's just me. Cool lyrics too! But I've never cared much for lyrics so I don't usually let it affect my score. Your orchestral instruments sound pretty warm and while I'm hearing some generic chord inversions that you even used in your Round 2 submission, overall your composition is brilliant. Your vocal melody is amazing too. And unlike in your Round 2 submission you actually make an effort to change things up this time. I'm talking mainly about the more staccato singing style that can be heard pretty clearly at 3:26. I love that part. And fantastic transition to the following part too.

But yeah as I'm sure you know, your bad mixing strikes again. As much as I like the fact that despite your bad mixing you still manage to make this sound so good, you've still got pretty obvious mixing quirks, lying predominantly in your vocals. The noise removal may be a pain in the rear (which I agree with) but unfortunately it wasn't worth it because while I'm not hearing much static from your bad mike, your vocals sound really weird now, to the point that I would've preferred the noise and voice to remain untouched.

Also, my next complaint is that I feel it's missing something. I don't usually make these kinds of complaints because they're vague and aren't productive at all but I honestly feel that at times this song is missing certain vital elements. Such as the part at 3:26. I loved it but you really didn't go the extra mile to compliment your staccato vocal notes with, perhaps, a bass drum? Some staccato string passages would work too. And you remain with a pretty static instrument choice throughout, similar to your Round 2 submission. I would've loved to hear more variety in instruments, and more instruments carrying the melody. Maybe some woodwinds? And a harp! That's exactly what I feel this song needs. A harp would sound amazing here. My point is, I feel this is lacking in certain elements that could really realise the song's potential.

However, overall this is a very impressive piece of work and despite some bad mixing, somewhat low-quality sounds, and conservative/limited instrument choice, this is a very good piece of music and you should be proud of it!

--

SCORE: 8/10

[Istishhad]

This is an NGADM Round 3 Review.

--

And for the third time in a row you deliver a creative and new-sounding track unlike anything I've ever heard before in my life. Darn it, man. This is what I call creative.

First thing that I feel I should commend you on would be how GOOD this sounds when you're probably using soundfonts for stuff like the sitar and strings. Everything sounds so polished and well-mixed, and there's literally no indication at all that you're using soundfonts (unless you listen really closely). Really fantastic work; I believe that making generally low-quality samples sound so good is the mark of a fantastic musician. Speaking of which, your mixing is really good. I think some of the snares were a bit too 'penetrating' in the mix, as in they stood out too much and were too snappy, but that's probably personal preference. Fantastic bass, by the way! I can definitely feel the bass in certain parts, and it added a lot to the experience.

Your composition is nice as well. Nothing out of this world but I still enjoyed your melodies, especially those presented by the sitar. And I love that little motif you introduce on the sitar at the very beginning. You even played it one last time at the end. I feel that this was a great way to end the song, as if the song went in a full circle. To add to that, you've got plenty of elements from different styles of music like the string at 2:28 (still loving the sound of those strings, hard to believe they're soundfonts!) and the lead synth that you used. Awesome percussion too; BIG improvement from the percussion of your Round 2 track haha. Interesting usage of the hip-hop snare and the fast-paced tabla beats (or whatever those are), despite being subtle, worked SO well. Additionally the jaw harp was pretty much the most awesome thing I've heard in a fair amount of months.

The biggest issue of this track, I feel, lies in the fact that it gets pretty boring to listen to. There are lots of lengthy buildups and patterns that just repeat themselves without throwing in anything substantial to remain interesting. That, and the song really stays at a pretty low intensity level. I have nothing against tracks that don't have super amazing climaxes or anything but in this case it actually made the track uninteresting. Everything is very laid-back and slow, and I desperately wanted a very powerful and fast-paced part to come in and liven the track up a bit, but it never came.

This is also unfortunate because your mix is very sparse and roomy. You don't really fill it up with that many sounds, and while this can be a good thing because minimalistic music can work very well, here it just makes the song a bit of a drag to listen to. I would've loved it if you threw in stuff like choirs and cellos and more auxiliary percussion like shakers, more layers of bongos, etc... Thinking about it, this would work very well for background music, but since it's pretty empty with slow progressions and a lack of intensity, it does get a bit boring to listen to.

But heck, despite all that, this is still a fantastic submission with a lot of effort put into it. Great production, composition, sounds, etc... I love it.

--

SCORE:
7.5/10

RetromanOMG responds:

Thanks for the review. It was really fun making something this different, but, unfortunately, it did get a little hard to keep working on. I ultimately wrapped it up as fast as I could and wound up not putting any of the things I wanted to in it. I suppose I'll go back and put in the changes I wanted it to have at a later date, though.

[-*}CaSH{*- Ministries]

This is an NGADM Round 3 Review.

--

It's such a massive shame that you lost your CCC samples because YET AGAIN you present us with a skilfully composed submission that has HEAPS of potential.

You know I actually think this is quite an audible improvement over Etude. As much as I liked that, and despite the fact that this track isn't as sophisticated melodically, I feel that this delivered a much more satisfying experience, and it also doesn't feel nearly as MIDI-like as Etude does. Lovely piano passages; very expressive and powerful. Oh and man, that melody is incredible. You showed it to me on MSN a few days ago and despite me saying that I won't give you any feedback on it I felt like bursting out with 'THIS IS AMAZING' the whole time. Amazing chords as usual, too, and cool bass drum/timpani rolls. Additionally I love that little tremolo thing you did with the guitar in the section at 1:05.

And hey your sounds aren't really that bad this time. They're very clearly not the East/West samples you had a few weeks ago but your mixing is pretty good and your amazing composition still makes everything sound very good. And sound-wise your samples aren't TOO bad either. If you listen closely you'll notice that the strings and flute (strings especially) are clearly low-quality samples, but the overall sound is good and I like that you're still able to be so resourceful despite your lack of samples.

Unfortunately, this does have its issues. I'll start with the minor ones; I think you over-use the reverb. There's especially too much reverb on the piano and flute. Secondly, I think you over-use the cymbal roll. It kinda lost its touch after a while since you used it so much. Now that I've gotten rid of those, here's the first major issue; I think you hold on to the main melody too much. As much as I love all the background elements you've got going on, and the fact that they keep things interesting, you stick to the same melody throughout except for a different melody (that still isn't that different) at 1:05 and a subtle change in your main melody at the very end. This made the track pretty predictable.

Also, towards the end I felt that it went... downhill. At around 1:23 it started to feel pretty uninspired, since all you do there is repeat the melody you played before, and then stop it suddenly for an admittedly beautiful piano solo. The piano solo was nice but it just came out of nowhere and felt like it was tacked on to the song rather than synchronised with the flow of the song. I know you had problems finishing this on time so maybe that's why? That being said, I absolutely love your ending... even if the wind chimes were a bit clichÃfffffÃfff'Ãff'Ãf'Ã'© haha.

In a nutshell this is a great track with some issues. I very much enjoyed it despite your lack of samples and I think you did a great job!

--

SCORE: 8/10

[Alpine]

This is an NGADM Round 3 Review.

--

Well this is... different. Jazz infused with a soft DnB-like beat and subtle ambient pads. I never knew that could work out so well. Nice work dude!

You've got good composition. I very much enjoyed listening to the piano's melodies and the basslines were awesome too. However, it's not really the melodies that struck me as much as the atmosphere and mood you created. Everything is incredibly chill and has that trademark laid-back jazz feel while still sounding entirely unique. The instruments modestly deliver a fantastically revitalising listening experience. And that soft drum beat kept things going wonderfully. It's fast-paced but at the same time really light and fits perfectly in the background.

Production is nice too. Tasteful use of reverb and I absolutely love the piano-playing. I don't know if that's you playing or if it's just a VST but whatever the case it sounds very very real. Beautiful grace notes and broken chords, and I love how the notes aren't a static volume but occasionally the notes are soft and other times they're pretty hard-hitting. It's a subtle touch that really added to the flow, I feel. Mix is crystal clear, I can't complain about that. I would've personally made the bass a bit bassier (or maybe I'm just feeling that way because the particular bassline you made goes to relatively high notes). Otherwise I think your mix is really really good.

Now unfortunately I'm struggling to actually mention much about the track because there isn't much TO mention. It's fantastic, and there are no glaringly obvious flaws anywhere (except that maybe the 0:54 cymbal roll being too loud but that's too minor for me to even care mentioning), but it's very underdeveloped, falling into the very same trap that your Round 2 submission fell into. Don't get me wrong, everything sounds nice. But it just feels like it doesn't go anywhere. This is quite a recurring flaw in NGADM submissions since the 2-week deadline is unforgiving and for some people (me for sure haha) it's too little to make a full track without cutting corners, but nevertheless I can't not let it affect your score. I would have loved to see this more fleshed out.

It even sounds kinda empty since the pads are so far off in the background, the drum beat is fairly repetitive and the piano, which takes the compositional spotlight for most of the track, doesn't have such captivating melodies anyway. The focus was clearly more on creating that amazing atmosphere because I'm not hearing much melody development at all. It almost sounds like improv and if it wasn't for your fantastic production skills and atmosphere/mood, I probably wouldn't have enjoyed this nearly as much.

So yeah that's my two cents on it. It needs to be more developed since it's pretty short and empty as it is. But nevertheless you have good composition/atmosphere, and fantastic production value. For a journey into a new genre such as this, I can't say I'm not impressed.

--

SCORE:
8/10

BlazingDragon responds:

Thanks for the awesome reviews. I really, really appreciate them!

What was strange about this piece was how naturally it came. It's a different genre than any of my other work, but it happened without much thought. I just sort of felt it and made it happen.

I played the piano part on a MIDI Controller using the miniGrand softsynth with Protools. The piece was made at the community college I go to, and the software there is way better than what I have at home.

The whole piece was essentially improvised. I found that pad and started laying down chords as they came to me. Then I improv'd a piano line over the top. Then bass, etc. I used the quantize tool to take make rhythms squeaky clean, so I can't claim to play piano that flawlessly. :p

You are absolutely right about the piece not going anywhere. I actually planned this to be 4 minutes and had the intended structure plotted out. There was to be a B section, bridge, rendition of the A section, and an outro. I wrote down exactly how many each of those measure would be and everything. I ran out of time though and had to stop where I was. I even wanted to lower that cymbal volume but didn't have time! Another class was entering the MIDI lab, so I had to immediately export the project and stop where I was. -_- I'm thinking of finishing this and using a gritty hammond organ in place of the pad during the B section.

I'm planning to branch out into more genres in the future (albeit with hints of my melodic piano style) and am glad this experiment worked out. Thanks again for the review! :)

[Symphony (GB)]

This is an NGADM Round 3 Review.

--

You know, in some aspects your track and Waterflame's are pretty similar! Both your tracks are upbeat, cleverly written and extremely fun to listen to, and both have a similar issue, but I'll get to that later. This is really darn awesome man. You're one of the best electro house producers on Newgrounds IMO.

May as well start with your production because it's absolutely incredible. Again, you brickwall the track like crazy but I'm not hearing any compression issues and everything is crystal clear... it doesn't seem like as much of a problem as it was in your Round 2 track to be honest. Everything is so clear and punchy. I honestly expect this kind of professional-tier production from mainstream artists. It's absolutely and undeniably brilliant. And your sounds are pretty darn awesome too. Each one was distinct from the rest and was mixed in really well. And this time the vocals actually sing something instead of shout random syllables, so that was a nice change. Not a fan of the heavy autotune but meh, that's just me.

Moreover your composition is just badass. It's not often you hear the blues scale in this kind of music, so I'll admit that was a pretty pleasant surprise! It sounds a bit unfitting I'll admit, but hey it's a step in a different direction from the usual mainstream stuff whose repetitive melodies don't venture outside the space of 3 semitones. I kinda like it and I'll admit that it's really catchy. This is just so fun to listen to. It's bouncy, upbeat, and it's got solid transitions. I quite like the transition at 2:00. It's incredibly abrupt, but damn it works so well.

However, the main issue that your track and Waterflame's both share is the fact that this is pretty monotonous, and while it didn't annoy me as much in Waterflame's track, it gets a bit obnoxious here. Once you think about it this only has one melody. That's it. No counter melodies or anything (except the vocal melody but in all honesty that isn't anything special). And other than that melody there are the parts at 1:00 and 3:00 that don't actually have a coherent melody I can follow.

I mean, they were produced so well, but they got very tiring to listen to (and the brickwalling didn't help). Your other tracks weren't as tiring because they had some more melodic variety to them but this just feels more monotonous than the others. I would suggest adding some more breaks, and maybe throwing in some different melodies, since you repeat the main melody many times to the point that it gets very predictable.

That's my only problem with the track. You lost one point because of it, but otherwise this is absolutely amazing. You're an incredible artist and I've added you to my favourite artists list because of it. Keep it up dude.

--

SCORE: 9/10

GrantBowtie responds:

Thanks so much step it was a good run and you were super helpful throughout the whole thing : )

[Omniwitch]

This is an NGADM Round 3 Review.

--

The same jazz rock metal crap huh? Well, I think crap is the last thing it is. As usual, you impress the hell out of me with your superior hold on composition, amazing mixing and skilful guitar playing. However, unfortunately, compared to your other submissions this isn't really on-par, and that reflects in the score I'm giving you this round.

Well, starting with the good news, your production is out of this world. I actually think that despite everything, this has the best production from all your competition submissions so far. I'm hearing similar mixing choices to those of your older submissions but this has a very clear mix with virtually no compression issues at all. And those drums! Fantastic; you managed to achieve a wonderfully good punch from your drums. Fantastic bass too. And on top of that you've got amazing guitar playing, and it makes me regret quitting guitar haha. In those aspects your song certainly excelled, in my opinion.

Your composition, in most aspects, is as usual very very good. I absolutely loved your chord choices and your wacky composition just makes everything sound so unique. You manage to achieve some pretty amazing atmospheres too, especially in the intro, at 2:22, and towards the end. And there are some really really cool parts like the piano solo that appears somewhere in the latter half of the track (which I absolutely adored) and the ride cymbal pattern at 5:26. I love how the song goes into a relaxed and chilled atmosphere at 3:44 too. And even though the guitar's the main instrument throughout, you throw in plenty of different sounds in there that really buff up the composition and atmosphere, such as the pad at 4:26.

However, this suffers the exact same problem as your Round 2 submission; it's probably even worse this time round. I'm hearing some compositional components that occur more than once throughout the track that help to tie the music together, like the melody at the beginning which you repeat again at the very end (or maybe I'm just imagining stuff) but unfortunately the song is just too chaotic. It's playing one thing one minute and another thing the next. The different sections in the music are very audibly different. It's like you've got absolutely incredible music skills but you're not using them to make something coherent and unified.

And it doesn't stop there. Some of your transitions were a little off and disrupted the flow. And some just didn't make any sense at all. Like at 5:26, you're playing that chilled ride cymbal pattern, and then bam at 5:31 some guitar shredding comes in. As much as I love the fact that this is so unpredictable and therefore it provides a really exciting and intense listening experience, it can get too unpredictable to the point that it isn't coherent at all and doesn't make sense. And the ending is bad... or rather lack thereof. It just ends like "right, I'm done here" and stops. Again, this doesn't make much sense to me.

Your amazing production and ridiculously good guitar playing and composition saved your score this round, because if you weren't so incredible at those you'd probably have gotten something like a 6.5 from me. You're a really really good musician but this song's a bit of a miss for me, compared to your other works.

--

SCORE:
8/10

Kor-Rune responds:

Agreed, this was super scattered brained, I'm not happy with it either. I keep trying to cram so many ideas in one track, and it can't be ten minutes or longer since I've only got the two weeks to make it. I just need to write shorter and more tied-together tracks, and not be so bound on being technical and goofy. My transitions are so abrasive and uncomfortable, I'll try and work on that. And the two week deadline kind of decided that outro.. XD I realize I can't do these things in two weeks. I gotta chill

Thank you for the fantastic review, I appreciate it! C:

[-SuperWing Heroes-]

This is an NGADM Round 3 Review.

--

Yeah this is totally "you". I can hear your style very very clearly and of course you already know this. Now this isn't a bad thing at all because your style is considerably badass and awesome.

Starting off, I love your composition here and I think it trumps the composition of both your Round 1 and Round 2 submissions. Everything is so distinctly pirate-like but really in-your-face, jumpy and undeniably catchy that I absolutely love listening to it. You really know how to make your tracks enjoyable and unique. Even if this may not be unique compared to your previous works, it's unlike anything I've ever heard before. And at 1:28 you even introduce a dynamic part where the song dies down but the best part is it still doesn't lose its momentum at all. Awesome soft drum beat there, and I love how you build up back to 1:51. Cool drum fills, very exciting and fast-paced.

Oh and your mixing, just like in your previous submissions, is phenomenal. While I still prefer the mix of your Round 1 submission, here your production skills still shine very brightly. I love the thump and punch of the drums, the oomph of that bass and the fact that everything is extremely clear, and like I said before, in-your-face, but without blaring too loudly and getting tired to listen to. All your sounds are fantastic too. Each synth had its own personality and sounded pretty unique (except the synth pluck which is unforgivably generic). Nice strings as well. Oh and may I add that the part at 0:35 reminded me of Ratchet and Clank, oddly enough.

First complaint is that this unfortunately gets pretty repetitive and doesn't change much. The only real changes are the soft part at 1:28 and then a part towards the end. Otherwise this sticks with the same feel and overuses some melodies as well, in my opinion. It just feels like it has potential to be a lot more diverse but sticks with the same kind of style and never once wavers too much from its original mood. This works perfectly for video game music, since you don't want a random mood change going on in the music while you're playing the game, but unfortunately this is the NGADM not a video game and we judge songs for their listening value, not how well they fit in a game.

A mood change and more distinct changes may stop it from being monotonous. I mean I still have a blast listening to it, but I can't deny the fact that the mood and style starts to become tiring towards the end. Oh and the outro was a bit of a disappointment. I understand you might've wanted to give that feeling of continuity by adding that fade-out, but whatever the case it's entirely unsatisfying to hear the track die down like that, especially when it had such a large amount of forward momentum and excitement going on.

To be honest the above issues I mentioned really didn't bother me much. I understand why you're proud of this because it's brilliant. When I hear this I just ponder "what's not to like?". Added you to my favourite artists. If you had worked on those two issues this score would've been a 10, but for now here's a 9.5 :P.

--

SCORE: 9.5/10

[Nice to Meet You Here]

This is an NGADM Round 2 Review.

--

Sorry for the late review delivery! Your song was pretty much at the bottom of the list and I've got lots of stuff to do so it's been hard getting through all the reviews. The NGADM may be tough on you competitors but it's tough on us judges too! :P

So yeah. I'll start off stating the obvious. The melodies are fantastic, or at least the melodies in the first half of the song. They are honestly gorgeous. I love the melody at 0:20 to bits and the way you highlight it with that string passage at 0:39 is just genius. The perfect fifth interval is my favourite interval and I'm hearing lots of that over here so maybe that's why I like the composition here so much haha. But yeah, very good composition. Your sounds also sound pretty good with each other this time, unlike in Round 1 where the mix was basically a blob.

And you actually made an effort to humanise it this time. I'm hearing plenty of slight variations in timing mainly during the intro. Now that is what I'm talking about! I don't know if you did it on purpose or it was just a result of rushing to get this done (which would be ironic because it actually made the track sound better) but whatever the case I'm sure you hear the instant improvement, realism-wise. I swear that if I didn't know otherwise I'd almost think the harp at the beginning is recorded from an actual harp. Cool bird-chirping at the beginning too.

Now for what I dislike about this. As I'm sure you know, the first half of this track is the one that's actually worth listening to. You might've in fact noticed that all of the compliments I had for this track were confined to the first half. The second half really isn't that good as you know. The strings in the second half are just... bleh. Weird, and they have these super unnatural stops.

Some transitions were quite abrupt too, like the transition to the piano part. The piano part in itself was pretty ugly too since while, as usual, you had good melodies, the piano sound was unrealistic and odd-sounding. Don't get me wrong, your melodies towards the end were fine, but the strings are clearly very rushed. And, of course, your samples in general sound pretty bad. I certainly commend you on actually making them fit well with each other now and making them sound realistic, but unfortunately, apart from the harp and to an extent the birdsong, you don't really have such good sounds. You are one of the people on Newgrounds who, I believe, deserve my East/West samples more than I do haha.

Overall, this is actually an improvement over your Round 1 submission in certain aspects. You're a super talented composer and maybe if you had more time you would've really turned this into something amazing. I'm almost tempted to steal your melodies here :3. We should totally collab sometime. And I hope your health issues are gone now!

*is happy that he finally finished all the NGADM Round 2 reviews*

--

SCORE: 6.5/10

CheckeredZebra responds:

Heehee, thanks! Your review made me smile. The intro's "humanized" tempo changes were purposeful, but it made everything after it a bit hellish to record. I had to play the piano in such a way that it would get back on beat and AUGHRA ;=; it's such a pain.

And yeah, as you can tell, I use default for everything. I only own software; nothing else. No sound plug-ins or anything, as I can't figure out how to use them.
Getting in depth with how the whole "improving the sounds of the instruments" aspect of said software...well, I have no idea how to do that, and those free tutorials are above my head, haha. I'm going to try and wrangle some legit college level lessons on mixing, and see where I can go from there. Without such knowledge, I don't think fancy VSTs would help much. XD
(I can do some decent stuff with Sibelius' limited abilities, but it's because everything is up front and easy.)

As for collabing, that would be fun. However, upon file transfer, you'd be like "WTF is this person doing." Heheheh.

[-*}CaSH{*- Etude]

This is an NGADM Round 2 Review.

--

Man, despite the loss of your CCC samples, you've definitely not given up yet and use your fantastic composition skills to stay in the game. That's what I call being resourceful.

Naturally, I can't review one of your submissions without commending you on your fantastic composition. The chords are very well-chosen and everything just harmonises SO well. Very sophisticated composition as usual, but you still make it appeal to my not-fully jazz-oriented ears by keeping a clearly foreground and undeniably catchy melody. You've even got some dynamics too, despite the song being just over a minute in length, since you threw in that very cleverly-placed piano solo at 0:28, and progressed fantastically from then on. Oh and your melodic structure is absolutely fantastic. I love how you start off with one melody, introduce a B section, and then seamlessly and successfully integrate the two together at 0:54.

This is all coupled by clever rhythms, great use of the 5/4 time signature, and a fantastic blend of instruments. You still make it sound quite good, despite not having the wonderful East/West sounds you used to have. Again, this is a sign of an aptitude to being resourceful. Everything sounds very clear and it was a pleasure listening to all those melodic layers working together to produce such a compositionally-strong result.

Unfortunately, the first complaint is one that you saw coming a mile away. The sounds are still pretty crappy. Thankfully you make them sound good with such sophisticated composition, but they're still horribly unrealistic. You could've done a little more to increase realism and intricacy such as make the buildups (like the one at 0:58) more pronounced, add some more reverb, grace notes, and done stuff like actually fade out the flute note at 0:28 instead of blandly stopping it. Any other sound-related problems are because you lost your samples so I won't complain about them.

Oh and I agree with Back-From-Purgatory that the intro and outro are both pretty... unsatisfying. The intro pretty much comes in out of nowhere with no form of progression and so does the outro. They're not really that abrupt or bad by any means but if you just expanded on them a little more you could provide a more satisfying experience. This brings me to my next point; this is really short, man. I know you probably didn't have much control over this and you already know about it, but there are ideas in here that could be expanded so much more, and it just feels so short right now. It's concise, sure, but its composition isn't reaching its full potential.

Anyway, you probably already know about most of what I've said but I hope this review was helpful in any case haha. Great work on this, goes to show that a good composer can still make great stuff without fancy samples that cost hundreds of dollars!

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SCORE:
7/10