Step's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Supplication]

This is your NGADM Round 2 Review.

--

Man, despite having fairly low-quality resources, you really manage to make some amazing stuff. Anyone who can do that is a super talented musician in my books. Good work!

So yeah, like in your Round 1 submission, you've got some amazing compositional aspects here. You've got such a masterful hold on composition that it's ripping me apart on the inside that you don't have a better microphone, mixing skills and instrument samples. This track has a real charm to it, with a very modest set of instruments that are each used very respectfully and properly. You probably don't have super expensive samples but you give each instrument its own importance and everything fits so well with each other that I don't really care. Fantastic intro and outro too by the way (loving the chord in the outro).

And the composition is just so good! I love your chords. Some chord progressions (like that progression at 0:20 you use throughout the song) are a bit generic for songs of this style but honestly you make such good use of everything that it doesn't give me that 'heard it all before' feeling I get when I hear generic chord progressions. 1:34's chord is also awesome, wanted to point that out. Your melody's great, and you've got lots of subtle compositional details here and there that make all the difference. To top all that, your singing is great. Unlike in Propter Te, your crappy microphone doesn't stand out nastily here and the singing is an improvement from Propter Te (although you are still a bit shaky with your singing here at parts). Your production is also a big improvement, but that's likely because this track is simpler and slower so it's easier to mix.

Now for the complaints. To start off, this track is too quiet. You must have some sort of limiter/compressor with a low threshold in the master channel because there's a lot of unused headroom. This isn't necessarily a bad thing but here it actually requires me to turn up my volume to appreciate the finer details like the wind chimes, the string's chords, the woodwind at 3:28, and so on. Turn the track's volume up enough to make it still sound soft and dynamic but actually allowing me to appreciate all of the small subtle details you put in there. Also, another production-related quirk is that occasionally the lyrics are hard to understand, but I've never cared much for lyrics anyway so that's not really an issue for me.

The big issue I've got with this track, however, is that I'm afraid it doesn't have enough content to keep it going for almost seven minutes. While I commend you on your effort to keep things interesting with the small details, dynamics and various chord changes, this track is still a lot of the same thing. The piano's chord retain the same rhythmic pattern for almost the whole track, the mood is pretty linear throughout, and you don't have much lyrical content either. Provided the song doesn't capture you in a trance due to the amazing composition and atmosphere, this track can very easily get uninteresting. Finally, a small complaint I have has to do with the transition at 4:16 which feels like you just stop and start again. It doesn't feel that natural.

That's all I've got to say. This is a great track and you're an incredibly talented composer. I've got some complaints, mainly being the fact that this needs more content for 6 minutes and 39 seconds of music, but this is still a great track.

--

SCORE:
8/10

[Her Wish]

This is your NGADM Round 2 Review.

--

Well this here is a beautiful piece of work. You've really nailed this style; I can safely say you've almost mastered it. Everything sounds so pretty and well-made. Very nice work. It's a shame you didn't have time to flesh this out fully.

What I like here most is the production value. Like in Round 1, you make good use of your instruments and execute the sections of your piece of music skilfully, but unlike in Round 1 over here your song doesn't clip and doesn't have iffy mixing anywhere. Everything fits so well with each other. The string chords are wonderfully warm and vivid, coupled by some absolutely amazing harp, piano and woodwind passages. You manage to retain dynamics while still making everything crystal clear, which is something that Rampant's track has trouble with.

On top of that you've got great composition. The only aspect of the composition I wasn't very impressed with was the 1:06 transition which felt like it came out of nowhere, but otherwise your composition is solid. You've got some little things like the fantastic intro, the key change at 1:19, the high strings answering the melody at 2:01 and the super uplifting buildup at 2:20 that really kept things interesting and show off your fantastic musical skills. The key change at 1:19, in particular, is really interesting. A bit awkward at first but once it settles in it feels like such an integral part of the composition.

That being said, my first issue with this track is something that you weren't able to control. This track feels unfinished, mainly in the fact that it ends with a really uplifting buildup that just dies down. It really doesn't fit at all. I was expecting more development over there but all it did was allow the harp to play a few descending major scales and die down for the ending. It's a massive shame that you didn't have time to finish this because it shows in the ending.

My other issue with this track is more something that Rampant's track has which yours doesn't rather than an actual problem present within the track. Rampant's changes mood while yours remains a pretty consistent 'uplifting' mood throughout. In all fairness I can't see many ways of incorporating mood changes into this track (maybe that's just me) but still, the fact that it's roughly the same mood throughout makes this track's structure not as memorable. Your Round 1 track had the problem of focusing on a story too much but here it's the opposite. Because of its linear nature, it doesn't tell much of a story or describe any sort of journey. It lacks a direction.

All in all, you're really good at this. You and Rampant both made fantastic tracks and I'm torn between both, so it's a draw for me. Keep up the great work.

--

SCORE:
8/10

[Pixelated Rainbow]

This is your NGADM Round 1 Review.

--

Fantastic work, dude. You were the only one this round to submit chiptune (even if we first thought you weren't submitting because you didn't post this in the Round 1 thread). Nice to have such a change from the other orchestral, metal and techno tracks haha. Not only that, but this also sounds excellent.

This kind of structure works very well for long songs and game music. On the first listen I didn't really notice it but upon analysis I realised that you've got a main melody at 1:08 that you repeat occasionally in certain parts, making it basically the main melody of the track. Along with that, there are some other sections that you repeat too, and some smaller motifs like the pitch-bend on the square that you also use more than once in the track. This works very well, and despite this track being pretty darn long, in the end it feels like such a unified track.

To add on to that, you've also got fantastic composition! Man, I love the melodies here. Your occasional descending pentatonic scales sound incredibly catchy (I would know since I use them like crazy) and each melody sounded catchy and extremely enjoyable, especially that main melody. Another note on the composition is that the intro is very good, but man that ending is just perfect. I love it. It just hits you right in your face with that powerful ending note and ends the 4-minute-and-a-half track with a super satisfying bang. While your approach to the ending isn't my favourite in this round, I can safely say that the actual ending is my favourite.

Now for the bad news. This song doesn't change much at all. Composition-wise I'm hearing plenty of alternate melodies and cool stuff like bells and strings (I don't care much for strings in chiptune tracks but you make them work), but unfortunately this is basically the same recipe for the whole track with few changes; bassline, drums, the occasional string chords and a square lead that can get pretty obnoxious and annoying at times, to the point that after the first listen I don't really want to listen to this again straight after. Even if you take a look at the structure you'll find that many sections in the first half of the track are repeated again in exact consecutive order during the second half. This isn't very noticeable, but once it is noticed the track instantly becomes predictable.

I'm giving you a longer review than I gave the others since there's a good chance that not all the judges will be reviewing you considering that we initially thought you weren't submitting and didn't score you for the round. Still, luckily for you your competitor didn't submit so I'm expecting some more awesome music for Round 2, k? And post it to the thread this time haha. Great job with this and keep it up! Good luck against RetromanOMG!

--

SCORE:
8.5/10

[Mass Extinction]

This is an NGADM Round 1 Review.

--

Man, this is one hell of a good track. I don't know why you were worried about your track sucking because this could easily be one of the best submissions this round. I have some complaints, but overall I'm highly impressed!

Fantastic intro. The strings set the mood flawlessly, thanks to those dissonant diminished fifth chords and ominous atmosphere. On top of that, they sound very warm and realistic. What VST did you use for them? I think the intro dragged on for a little long but it was worth it in the end when the part at 1:35 kicked in which was absolutely fantastic. I love that transition. It creates such a contrast from the uneasy and suspenseful intro and yet it was transitioned to so perfectly.

Fantastic progression from then on. That motif you introduced at 1:35 is great and I like how you kept on repeating it while throwing in new layers of strings, drums and that square synth. 3:10's effect is absolutely fantastic and introduced that busier part so well. Most of the time the amen break makes tracks in this style sound awfully generic but you made it work very well. The bass slides were EARGASMIC and I in fact would've probably highlighted the bass end of them even more.

Among the issues I think this track has to fix, there are a few mixing issues. I don't think the part before 1:57 is too bassy unlike SkyeWintrest since I enjoyed that bass thump offered by the kick, but I agree with him wholeheartedly that after that, the drums were too rough on the high frequencies. The hats sound too clicky and harsh. I would've also given more low end reverb to the strings. Lastly, the amen break's hats suffer the same problem as the hats at 1:57 too IMO. My other issue is the part at 3:10 which sounds a bit too anti-climatic. However, you save yourself at 3:59 (after a lot of repetition) by introducing the strings and that awesome little motif you first played at 1:35. However, I would've made that motif a lot louder and perhaps played on a rougher instrument, to really highlight it. Oh and I think the ending note should be held for longer.

Overall, this is an incredibly well-produced and enjoyable track. For me, it's just a few minor mixing, structural and transitional problems away from perfection!

--

SCORE:
8.5/10

RetromanOMG responds:

Well, I kinda covered the problems in SkyWintrest's review, but I can mention what I used for the strings.

I just have a lot of soundfonts that Blackattackbitch posted years ago. It shocks me how people don't use them as much, since some of them are really, really good.

[Floating Through Reality]

This is an NGADM Round 1 Review.

--

You've got a solid ambient track here. Very minimal and soothing. In that light, you've pretty much nailed it. However, this track isn't that developed and doesn't seem to go anywhere new for the whole time that it plays, which is also quite short.

What I liked about this would undoubtedly be the atmosphere and mood you managed to convey. It's all REALLY chill and the smooth, buttery lead synth is quite catchy, although I do feel that its sound could've been a bit more interesting (maybe automating some effects on it and whatnot would've been a good idea). Still, it's all very relaxing. Composition-wise, you've got a solid, catchy melody playing. I don't agree with some of the plucked synth chords in the background but that's probably personal preference. Cool transitions and great ending too.

The main problem with this track is, in my opinion, the fact that it doesn't really go anywhere. It serves only the purpose of setting the mood and creating an atmosphere. The fact that it's just two minutes long and keeps to a pretty consistent mood, style and sound set throughout makes it not a very satisfying listen at all. It's also very minimalistic, and while this can be good in some occasions, I feel that it makes the track sound fairly empty and dull.

Moreover, the melodies are far too underdeveloped. The melody doesn't change in pace or rhythm much, and gets fairly repetitive. I would've been overjoyed to hear some changes in pace. Even the drums were very underdeveloped. They stayed nearly exactly the same for the whole track, and adding some more drum layers would've been a great idea. However, I do like how you mixed the drums. I would've put some more high-end reverb on the clap/snap things, but otherwise I think they're great. The kick in particular is wonderfully bassy.

Overall, this is a great ambient track but the fact that you don't develop it much makes for an unfortunately unsatisfying listen, I'm afraid.

--

SCORE:
6.5/10

[Isis]

This is an NGADM Round 1 Review.

--

Such a catchy tune! I love this track, it's got really good composition, an excellent mix and such a great style. Extremely enjoyable and I can see this fitting in a game very easily. I'm going to have a hard time finding anything wrong with this track and I know it.

The two key features of this track that shine would be the instrumentation and composition. I LOVE the little tune you had going in the background and all of the melodies you played above it were memorable and fun to listen to. 0:19's legato strings had among my favourite melodies in the whole track as well. You really seem to know what you're doing when it comes to composition.

Maybe your foreground melodies could've been a bit more developed since you seem to favour playing different melodic phrases on top of a constant background tune, rather than actually developing all the melodies and having a leitmotif of sorts, but that isn't really much of a problem for me. Oh and wonderful mixing too. Everything's really clear.

The main problem that I have with this track is that in some lights it's not very varied. It doesn't really get repetitive, but the thing is, you keep pretty much the same background for the whole track and you don't venture off much into instrumentation other than strings, some soft percussion like woodblocks/tambourines and mallet instruments. I think I'm hearing some subtle brass (might be my imagination) but otherwise I didn't hear anything really that new throughout the whole track. Right now it sounds more like it'd fit in a game than be an actual standalone song to listen to. I would've absolutely loved some more development, dynamics, etc... It'd work very well. And more instruments too, especially woodwind instruments. English horns and bassoons would be pretty awesome.

Anyway, that's all I need to say about the track. Recap: fantastic composition, mixing, instrumentation, etc... What this could do with is some more development in the instrumentation, dynamics and so on, to keep it sounding new and interesting throughout the whole track.

--

SCORE:
8.5/10

BenTibbetts responds:

Thank you Step!

[Zebra Tangerine {7x}]

This is an NGADM Round 1 Review.

--

You've got some great ideas in this track that really stand out with your great guitar work, good structure and clear mix. However, the track's got a lot more potential than what you've got here.

Fantastic intro. Really, I love it. You can't go wrong with a soft plucked guitar intro and you've executed it so well here, with a fantastic melody and awesome ambient effects in the background as icing to the cake. I'm currently reviewing this with headphones on (which isn't usual for me) since I'm in an airport on my way back to Malta, and I can safely say that through the headphones this intro gave me shivers. Oh and the guitar note sliding also gave me goosebumps. It all sounds really good, and led me to believe that this is a track I'd really enjoy.

However, the part at 1:11 was unfortunately a disappointment. The intro led me to believe that this was going to be an awesome progressive rock track, but you just went right in with the heavy strumming when a more gradual progression would've been preferred. Why not continue with the mellow guitar patterns you played at the beginning and add a beat over it, instead of moving on to the strumming? This opens the doors to many more directions that you could take the track. Right now the part sounds pretty anti-climatic without a good gradual progression to lead up to it.

Another reason why that part is disappointing is that there really is a lack of a good melody in that part. You introduce string staccato patterns after a few bars of strumming, but they're not providing much of a melody other than playing patterns that support the background strumming. If you made this a more progressive track, you'd be able to introduce leitmotifs during the progression and then repeat them with full force in a climax. Also, the drums aren't bad but they lack in power, particularly the kick. Moreover, the open hat is a bit too loud, harsh and dry for my likings. Having said all that, I love how you transitioned back to the mellow intro for the outro and the ending is brilliant. A modest ending that isn't expected but isn't abrupt. A quick note on the mix; I must commend you on how clear you made everything sound. Sure, the mixing on some elements of the track could do with some touching-up, but other than that I love your mix.

Overall, you have some excellent ideas here, but the execution of these ideas could have used some work. A more progressive approach would have fit this track a lot more. Keep it up, though!

--

SCORE:
7.5/10

EbonHawk7X responds:

:( Sorry, yes the beginning I think was some of my best work, only to be put off by the painfully average middle section. I feel like I run into this problem of not being able to carry out an idea to its full potential quite often, but your suggestion about taking different approaches I think is very constructive and I will keep it in mind during future projects. Thank you very much, this review was both excellent and informative!

[Outside the Atmosphere]

This is an NGADM Round 1 Review.

--

This track has some really good ideas, some decent ideas, and a fair amount of bad ideas. Some of your piano melodies are honestly fantastic, but the synth parts are unfortunately not cutting it. Still, I can't say I didn't enjoy the track as a whole. Good job with it.

So, what I absolutely adore in this track would be the intro's melody. Not that I dislike all the other composition in this track but I think that melody really stands out above the rest. Some of your other melodies are pretty impressive too. 1:48 has a great melody, for instance. I also like how at the end you played the left hand's accompaniment in a calm setting and then introduced the right hand's melody later on. Transitions are all smooth, especially at around 3:05 where you re-introduce that melody. That was a really good idea, and worked very well with the melody before it. Great supporting melodies/chords too, even if they were a bit simple.

Having said that, I'm sure you've noticed that all of the parts I've mentioned so far that stand out to me are the piano parts. The synth parts unfortunately sound very annoying and lack the warm and intricate texture of the piano parts. That square lead got really obnoxious after a while, and by 3:35 it was really getting on my nerves :P. It just didn't fit with the piano that well. In addition, the drums have too much kick to them and get very repetitive after a while.

Speaking of repetitive, I think you hold on to melodies for a bit too long, in particular the piano melodies. For example, when you repeated the intro's melody again towards the end of the track it started to feel far too overused as it just kept on repeating without much variation at all. The only variation I heard to the intro's melody was at around 4:07 which sounded pretty uninspired, and even then was repeated too much in itself. That, coupled with the fact that you don't have many instruments and the instruments don't fit well with each other makes this track unappealing, especially since you stretch it out for a whole 6 minutes when it barely has enough content to last for 3 minutes. This is a real shame because some of the melodies have tonnes of potential.

In a nutcase, you've got some impressive melodies in here, but it's sadly a pretty repetitive track overall that needs touching up in various places. This track has heaps of potential though, perhaps a revisit will do wonders to this track!

--

SCORE:
7/10

OpenLight responds:

I agree about the intro melody being repetitive. The reason I used it at the end and in the middle was because I had been told by a few people that I should do so.

Thanks for the review!

[XS - Leaving (Audio DM 1)]

This is an NGADM Round 1 Review.

--

Man, I'm afraid I'm not too much of a fan of this one. I remember being a fan of some of your really early works but this feels like one of your worse submissions IMO. I mean you have some good melodic ideas, but the whole thing sounds too bland and flat.

I'll have to say that I like your melody. It's unique but not too complicated; memorable but not too simple. Pretty cool chords too, but nothing ground-breaking. You've got some very good transitions too and everything flows smoothly (loving the transition at 2:17). Structure-wise it's good too, even if it is a bit predictable. Yeah, you've done a pretty good job with the composition here, I can't complain much. You've got a solid mix too.

However, the problems start in the instrumentation. You've got just a piano, synth and drums, and since you repeat the melody a LOT and keep the synth doing its own thing in the background instead of bringing it out more, this can get very uninteresting. The fact that the track isn't very intricate at all also makes it sound bland and flat. I applaud you for trying something new, I've never heard of this instrument combination before, but I'm afraid it doesn't work. I want pads, effects, arps, a bass... anything to break up the monotony and blandness of the track. You need more instruments. What makes the track even more flat is the fact that you really don't go the extra mile to add some dynamics, intricacy and/or realism to your piano. Vary those velocities more!

To add onto that, your intro and outro are also too plain. The intro, in particular, is really nothing special. Give it something more than just a chord fading in. It was a good idea to end the track fading a chord out since it rounds the track up nicely, but the ending note itself isn't very satisfying at all. You need to create a more noticeable approach to the ending note, rather than just ending it like that.

Overall, this isn't one of your best I'm afraid. It sounds too bland, even though it's got some pretty strong compositional aspects.

--

SCORE:
5.5/10

[Sonik - Sy's Law (NGADM)]

This is an NGADM Round 1 Review.

--

What could've been a really fantastic house track here is unfortunately overshadowed by a lot of unnecessary repetitions and absurdly long progressions. You're a crazily good house artist, but you need to work on your variety!

First off, I think the production overall is very good. The small percussion is crisp and snappy, the main drums are punchy and that kick especially sounds good, and of the synths are top-notch. Everything sounds great, even if you've got a few generic influences in your sounds. Really cool sub-bass by the way. It's easy to hear and adds a lovely amount of juiciness to the track. You've also got some really subtle details here and there which I highly appreciated. Both the sound effects and the synths themselves were great, so good work in that department.

However, as you might've guessed from now, this track is just too repetitive. I understand that this genre is inherently repetitive, but when it gets to the point that I start to lose interest, then clearly there's a problem. The problem is that you over-hype buildups by making them too gradual and then when the buildup reaches its peak you disappoint us with another fairly low-key beat. I'm talking particularly about the part at 4:00, for example.

What I'd suggest doing is creating more melodic material in this track. The main theme of the track seems to come up in the middle section (and by the way, it's a really cool motif). I'd highly suggest basing it off that little melodic phrase that you repeat. I'd also suggest shortening the sections that include repetition and making the buildups shorter.

To recap; you're very good at making house tracks. Just work on that repetition!

--

SCORE:
7/10