Step's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[~SW~ (Caelum) Blood is Shed]

Your puppy dog eyes worked.

This is great. I'm sure you'll do a good job with the game soundtrack. This is unique, catchy, and very likeable. I can totally imagine this as soundtrack for a game. Is the game Japanese-styled or something? It'll probably explain your instrument choice, lol.

So, I'll get the problems I had with the song out of the way first, and my first complaint is the lack of consistency. I know you're probably going with the ever so revolutionary way of making a song in just one pattern, which definitely helped give this a varied feel, but it's a double-edged blade, because the track lacks consistency, something which is inarguably important for game soundtrack.

What I mean by lack of consistency is that the song feels unpredictable and some parts could have been developed more. For example, the drum line 0:14 ended just 6 seconds afterwards, and at 1:08 the track ends so suddenly when I would've expected a few more bars of the awesome Video Game/Japanese badassery. The drum line is also pretty all over the place (you probably know that though :P), when more consistent beat with a few subtle fills here and there would fit this better I think.

Second complaint is the mixing. It feels like each instrument is trying to greedily claim the spotlight and is pushing the others away (except the drums which are nicely EQ'd). Try and tone down some of the heavier mid and lower mid frequencies of some of the instruments (and try increasing the high end of the plucked instrument a little). This'll make the track sound clearer and brighter, and as long as you don't go overboard and do some frequency massacre, I think it'll help make the melodies easier to listen to and clearer.

However, despite what I said, the mixing isn't that bad at all, and the composition naturally trumps most melodies here on Newgrounds, as always! You really know what you're doing with your melodies and I loved listening to the melody's progression and the various melodic phrases. The melody of the less busy string part in the middle struck me as really great too.

The transitions are all brilliant. 0:14 and 1:08 are my two favourite transitions. Smooth transitions are important in background music and your track has no faults in that department. The drum fills helped to make the transitions sound very cool too. Oh, and this loops really well. I never really manage to make a loop start softly, end softly, and still sound natural and smooth, but you've made it sound so easy here. Fantastic job with the loop.

So, overall, despite the two main gripes I've got with this track - the lack of consistency and a few mixing faults - this is awesome. It combines classic Video Game elements with unique instrumentation and a Japanese influence. Keep it up, man, and good luck with the rest of the game's soundtrack :D.
9/10
5/5

-Review Request Club-

SkyeWint responds:

Hello!

"This is great. I'm sure you'll do a good job with the game soundtrack. This is unique, catchy, and very likeable. I can totally imagine this as soundtrack for a game. Is the game Japanese-styled or something? It'll probably explain your instrument choice, lol."

Actually, the game isn't necessarily Japanese-styled, but that would be cool. I can see how you thought of that.

"lack of consistency"

Yeah, I agree there. And yeah, I did only use one pattern. :P This song was one of my songs that's a LOT more all-over-everywhere, which I think occurred because I didn't want to have any part be too long. Overdid shortening them, I guess... The drums, I just wanted to be crazy. xD It was a lot more experimental for me. Also, I might end up making the last bit longer, I REALLY agree there, it should be longer.

"the mixing."

Again. Completely agree. The drums were one of the most annoying bits to mix, and I focused mainly on them. The other instruments, I didn't think that at first, but if I do think about it, I'd have to agree, they aren't mixed the best. I should probably fix it up.

"However, despite what I said, the mixing isn't that bad at all, and the composition naturally trumps most melodies here on Newgrounds, as always!"

Wow, thanks! Glad my 6+ years of having studied music theory and playing piano/drums/mallets has paid off. xD

"The transitions are all brilliant."

Thanks again, I really like transitions. I think it makes a song SO much better when the transitions are good, there's just a great feeling when a song suddenly springs somewhere else, and you could feel that it was going there.

'I never really manage to make a loop start softly, end softly, and still sound natural and smooth, but you've made it sound so easy here."

Well, that's really simple, actually. I just recorded the guitar-like instrument with a downward slide, reversed it, did the same with a multilayered cymbal crash (including the downward slide), and then placed them so they would line up with the first real bar of the song. Then I made the end the violin fading out, and the initial guitar-like bend with the bent crash. After that, exported, went into Audacity, copied the ending to the beginning, went to the middle where everything was relatively quiet, cut it, put that back at the end, export from Audacity (which has better loops), and presto! Looped well. Admittedly, that doesn't seem overly simple, but it's one of those cases where typing it takes longer than actually making it. :P

Thanks for the awesome review! Maybe I can convince you to get a review of the song I just posted in the RRC for this next week..? ;) ('s fine if you can't. xD)

"9/10
5/5"

Thanks very much!

[This is Nightmare Night (OM)]

Flows well!

Wow this isn't bad at all. I like the melody and your interpretation of it is absolutely wonderful. The atmosphere is nicely done and the song flows and progresses really well. Certain aspects could use some work, but the song's flow is so great that I can hardly care... Good work!

Like I said in the intro, the song's flow is what impressed me the most. You must have quite a bit of experience making orchestral songs because it reflects in the production value of this song. The song has a very smooth progression and the transitions are all excellently done.

The entrances and introductions of new instruments worked very well and none were abrupt. For instance, I love how introduced the pizzicato strings at 0:13. At 0:26 I was also very much impressed. You changed the staccato string rhythm in the background while at the same time adding a simple melodic line on the piano. It worked very well. I could go on and on praising your transitional skills but I don't think I should :D.

Regarding instrumentation... The busier parts which incorporate a fuller use of the orchestra were used sparingly but work very well. I'm hearing a deep Double Bass (?) playing in the background for a lot of the song and I just wanted to say that it was a very nice touch. I would've liked to see some more use of brass instruments.

The atmosphere and theme are definable and likable. Even during the more action-filled orchestral parts the theme can be heard very clearly, and the atmosphere is full of classic Halloween goodness. However, I think using some more elements of the orchestra which provoke tension would work well. Some violin scratching, brass clusters, Tam-Tams, tremolo strings, string trills, etc... would be SWEET.

The structure is pretty much excellent and I really don't have any complaints. Not only did the flow help to make the transitions more smooth but it helped give the song a solid structure. The variety is also brilliant. Not one part in the song was boring and yet with all that variety, the song kept a consistent theme which stopped it from being random. All the dynamics helped too - the occasional percussion hits, subtle and brief entrances of different instruments, cymbal rolls and fade-ins made all the difference.

The intro was one of my favourite parts of the track. The glockenspiel, or whatever that is, played a simplistic melody which got the song started rather nicely. You then faded the strings in and I started getting a taste of the fantastic progression that the song has. The second half of the song wasn't as good as the first in my opinion. The ending was decent. It was a good idea to end with the instrument you used at the beginning and while the ending didn't strike me as much as the beginning, it wasn't bad...

My main complaint would be the mixing and instrument quality. Don't get me wrong, the instruments certainly didn't sound bad and are leagues better than most orchestral instruments I hear on NG, but some of the sounds you used sound a bit weird, mainly the choirs and percussion. And like I said, some things like violin scratching and stuff would make this feel more like it's played by a real orchestra and not obviously sequenced.

However, as I said the instrument quality is pretty good in any case. My main gripe is the mixing, especially on the percussion. The percussion feels very drowned out and subdued, namely the bass drum. I think a bit more focus on the percussion would help to make the busier parts sound more full of tension. That said, I think your use of cymbals was great.

The other mixing is alright, and despite having a lot of string instruments playing at the same time, the melody is still clear and easy to hear. However I can't help but think that the high end was a little neglected in this track.

Overall, this is a really awesome remix. I have a few gripes with it, but it's very enjoyable and the effort certainly paid off. Keep it up!

By the way, don't feel obliged but I'd love it if you could review me back!
http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/liste n/451318

8/10
4/5

-Review Request Club-

TheBellmaker responds:

Thanks for the honest and well thought out review!

Basically in this song I wanted to imitate the feeling of "This is Halloween," nothing too dark, but still in the spirit of Halloween. Thus, I didn't use any brass, because I felt it didn't fit the theme.

Haha, you pointed out my two weaknesses, mixing and percussion. I haven't learned any mixing outside of basic EQing, filters, and volume adjustments. As for percussion, My limited knowledge combined with my limited instrument selection usually doesn't turn out well. I'd also like to insert those epic string instrument tricks, but Edirol makes them sound....horribly.

Now for some information actually useful to you. I definitely like the style of the review you have! Grouping different subjects in different paragraphs is a good idea. However, you may want to consider grouping some of the subjects together, like structure and flow, so that you do not accidentally repeat yourself.

Thanks very much!

[Scary Pumpkin]

Not too good I'm afraid.

I don't think this is one of your best submissions. The mix is pretty much terrible, the song is repetitive, the sounds are too rough on the ears, the song clips like mad and this isn't anything interesting, enjoyable or cleverly written. I don't even see this as Dubstep either. Sorry man :(.

I'm probably going to have a hard time giving this critique since I can't see how you can improve on this, but I'll try anyway. If you want to start improving on this, then start with the mix. There are FAR too many deep bass frequencies and the bass is clipping pretty badly. The highs are virtually non-existent because any cymbals or higher frequencies are entirely drowned out by the harsh, overbearing bass frequencies.

Taking a look at the 'Spectrum' visualisation of the audio player already clearly shows that the whole song is basically in the lower frequencies. This is not only harsh on the ears and makes the song clip, but it shows that you're not making full use of the spectrum, leaving little to no dynamics. Honestly, the whole track sounds like nearly the same thing from beginning to end. Where's the replay value in that?

The percussion is pretty bad too. I can barely hear it because you've got that bass drowning it all out, but from what I can hear the drums aren't anything special either. They sound pretty bland and dull, and don't seem to fit much with the track either. They're pretty amateur to be honest.

I think the only good things about this would be that the rhythms aren't THAT bad, and the song loops somewhat well, but that's pretty much it. Other than that, the song is a repetitive mess of badly mixed, bassy instruments, harsh tones and unfitting percussion, all with barely any dynamics and with nothing interesting or memorable.

Apologies if this review is a bit harsh, but I assume you'd rather want a brutally honest review than a sugarcoated, untruthful review. This isn't one of your best works, and I'm afraid I didn't enjoy it much. But hey, at least it can serve as a means to learn from your mistakes and get better. Good luck if you ever try Dubstep again.
4/10
2/5

-Review Request Club-

Cimba responds:

Yup I want brutally honest reviews. I really want to learn to make dubstep and criticism helps.

[St. Peter's Gate {durn}]

Awesome but the Dubstep elements feel tacked on.

Hey, this is pretty cool! I love the atmosphere you've got going, and the melodies, sounds and effects are just sublime. This doesn't feel anything like Dubstep though, to be honest. There's no bass drop, the wobble bass is weak and this song seems to focus more on the ambient and laid back mood of the song than the Dubstep elements. Although to be honest I'm glad it's not much like other Dubstep songs, because I really don't like Dubstep :P. Nice work overall.

I noticed that you've probably got a lot of experience making music because I'm hearing many great sound effects and your structure and transitions are spot on. This has a theme and atmosphere which is easy to define, the sounds fit well with each other, and the variety is great.

What I like the most about the variety in this song is that it's so unpredictable but not random. You fit loads of different sound effects and sound manipulation all over the place, and I really don't know when to expect a new synth riff to come fading in or a new quirky sound to pop up out of nowhere and leave you thinking "hey, that actually fits really well!". Brilliant stuff, man.

The vocals were a very nice touch as well I think. They sounded quite odd but, like all the other sounds you used, surprisingly fitting. I love how you started introducing them at 1:22. The transition at 1:34 was probably one of my favourite transitions too. Speaking of the transitions, they were all excellent, except a few which I thought were a bit abrupt (namely the ones at 1:21 and 1:49 where the drums sort of exit out of nowhere).

However, none of the transitions disrupted the flow much, which brings me to my next point. I've got to commend you on your efforts to make the song flow so well. The song seamlessly moved from one section to the next with the help of various sound effects and automations. Hell, the song even loops very well. It was a very good idea to wrap the remainder at the end so that the reverb of the voice carries on to the beginning. Helped make the loop a lot more smooth

Also, just a little comment - I particularly like how the song sort of very briefly pauses at parts like 0:33, 1:28 and 3:18 and then the bass comes in, plays two notes and the song continues. Yeah it's something tiny but I very much enjoyed hearing it. I don't know if you absentmindedly made it like that or making it sound like that was intentional but whatever, it sounds good :P.

Now I'll mention my biggest complaint, and it's the addition of Dubstep elements. As I said in the review summary, the Dubstep elements feel very extra to me. The drums were OK and would be pretty good in a full-blown Dubstep song, but they seem a little too harsh for a song like this. The bass was nothing too special - sure it sounded cool but it doesn't feel right in this song, and lacks the rough tone and definable wobble of a Dubstep bass.

My point is, I think this would benefit so much more with some softer drums - maybe a few deep Ambient drums as well - and perhaps something else instead of the Dubstep bass. I'm not going to make it affect the score much since after all this is your first time attempting Dubstep and if it wasn't for the Dubstep elements then I would find it very hard to criticise this song, but I do think this would be better if you took away the bass and changed the drums especially.

Anyway, that's all I have to say about this track. As a recap, it's a really awesome submission and I think you've got a real talent when it comes to making music. My only significant gripe with the song would be those darn Dubstep elements, but other than that the production value of the song is great and I enjoyed reviewing this.

Oh by the way, mind reviewing me back if you've got the time?

http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/liste n/451318

If you don't have the time then don't worry about it! Keep up the good work :3.

9/10
5/5

-Review Request Club-

durn responds:

First off, sorry for the lateness of reply. I was rather overwhelmed when I first read your review and it scared me off from writing it for a while! Lol! :D That being said, thank you for such a great critique.

While I don't mind American Dubstep (Skrillex-style, hard & noisy), pre-defining an entire genre based on one popularly successful style is always grim. :P I mean no offense but Dubstep is still a new & emerging genre and there is plenty of room for experimentation! :D

I guess I have been at it for a while now, I first started in electronic music by tinkering around in FruityLoops back when I was 18 and that was 10 years ago! I'm glad you find the sounds fit together well, it's always something I strive for as I've got a picky ear myself.

I had a lot of fun with the vocals. The first vocal bit that comes in is auto-tuned with a slight formant filter tweak since it's just a series of held notes and I wanted to differentiate it from the other vocals. The male vocals were my own but heavily synthesized using Reason's Neptune. I kept the main female hook vocals fairly clean, adding a few different vocal processors to help make it really stand out. I had fun doing the little loop with the vocals at the intro of the track. Took a little audio-splicing but it was a neat effect and definitely makes it loop well. :D

I like that little comment because that was hugely intentional! :) I was listening to a pop song (can't remember which, but an older one from the 90s) while at a bar and I was just loving how the bass wouldn't be there and then it would lead itself in and just roll after that so I tried to achieve that feel with this. :)

Haha, your biggest complaint is the Dubstep... :D Yeah, I'd never tried Dubstep before and I'm still learning! The song wouldn't have come about if not for me trying my hand as the Dubstep element was not an afterthought, just not something I'm familiar with. :)

Maybe I'll re-approach the tune some day and remix it in a different style, that would also be new territory for me! :D Thanks for the impressive review, Supersteph!

[Luxomni - Naive To Signals]

Incredible, but has more potential!

Hey man, thought I should review you back for reviewing A New World. Sorry it took so long!

Alright, I'm going to start by saying congrats on the Top 5 :D. This song totally deserves it - it's got such a wonderful spacey but somehow funky atmosphere which I absolutely adore. I feel as though it has potential to be so much more, but all in all, like a reviewer below me said, I'm really glad you didn't do that homework!

This is an awesome atmospheric sound to it. I'm finding it hard to explain why I like the atmosphere so much, but the different elements of the song come together so well and create a nice funky mood with spacey synths and a bassline which is beyond awesome. My favourite part would certainly be at 1:03. That part sounded so nice and atmospheric with the pads and all, and the bassline really shines over there.

I like the rhythms of the song a lot too. The drums have a nice complex rhythm which you don't find often in 4/4 songs, and I love how the bassline's rhythm compliments that of the drums. There are some really interesting rhythms in the other spacey synths and overall rhythms certainly shine in this song. It certainly isn't naive to rhythms :D.

One thing I particularly noticed about the rhythm was how you started the rhythm up in the intro. Right after around 4 bars I totally lost track of the rhythm and even when the clap thing came in at about 0:10, I still couldn't keep track of the rhythm. The square synth with a lot of echo on it just threw me off the rhythm even more. Hell, even when I tried playing a metronome with this song I couldn't get the rhythm right. Then at 0:42 I instantly regain the feel of the rhythm again and it's just *so satisfying*. So yeah, that's a pretty cool effect :P.

I don't have any compositional complaints either. The melodies are all very interesting, and compliment each other fantastically. In particular I liked the little synth fill at 0:40, 1:44 and 2:06, that was really cool. Additionally, I like the outro a lot. Feels kind of like the song spaced out at the end, and I think it was certainly a satisfying way of ending the track.

Now for my issues with the song, starting with the beat. Don't get me wrong - as I said, I love the rhythms, but the drum sounds of the beat feel like they desperately need a bit of a boost. The percussion right now sounds kinda weak, and I think having more of a driving beat with some more powerful drum sounds would definitely be a lot better.

That's probably the main reason why I think that this song has potential just waiting to burst. The beat isn't as prominent as I would've hoped it to be. I still like the sounds you used, but to me they'd fit more in an Ambient song than they would in a song like this. Along with that, the song feels a bit short, and in my opinion it could benefit if you added a few more sections to the song and developed it more. On a less significant note, I think the bass is clipping a bit on certain notes. Maybe you could EQ it or something.

To be honest with you, I'm a sucker for songs like these. I just love the atmosphere you made, and it would definitely be right at home in some space-related game. It's also awesome to listen to on its own, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Great job man!
8/10
5/5

-Review Request Club-

[Halloween Town (Sonik)]

Creative and has an awesome Halloween sound

This is some really cool stuff man. This song makes it crystal clear that you've been making House for a long while. I'm hearing plenty of very fitting synths, effects and a solid progressive structure that's always so important in songs that fall under this genre. Not only that but the mixing is awesome too, and I'm hearing a very significant and creative Halloween influence. Nice work!

Right then, I'll start with the stuff I like about the track. First and foremost, I like the creativity. You went and took generic Halloween influences (like the manic laughter, thunder, creepy organ sound at 1:57, etc...) and blended them together with generic House elements like the typical House structure/transitions, etc... to actually make something original and unique. It works out very well!

The sounds and effects you used were brilliant, as I already mentioned. The scary Halloween sound effects are admittedly very cheesy, but they certainly helped add to the Halloween influence and despite being cheesy, when combined with a House beat they sound pretty unique and awesome.

The other effects you put on the sounds were all great. The filter automation you did on some of the sounds was pretty sweet, and the EQing was good. I love the bass sound you introduce around halfway into the track. I didn't expect it but when it came in it surprisingly sounded really cool along with the Halloween organ thing and the subtle, sidechained background synth. Perhaps the percussion was a bit too dry but maybe that was intentional and it's not much of a big problem anyhow.

Now for the stuff I didn't like about the submission. To begin with I think you could've been a bit more creative with the composition. I know House isn't supposed to focus much on melodies, but in all honesty the melodies were kinda dull. You seemed to focus more on the effects and atmosphere and just added the melody at, say, 1:57, as something extra without much thought put into it. I won't really make this complaint affect the score much because after all, progressive House never really was that melodic, but some more interesting melodies would certainly be welcomed I think.

Secondly, some of the transitions are a little anticlimatic or abrupt. For instance, the transition at 1:57 felt pretty abrupt. Instead of smoothly moving from one section to another, one section just stopped and the other started without any form of a smooth transition.

Moreover, the buildup at 2:56 feels a bit anticlimatic to me. I heard an awesome well-executed buildup and expected some mind-blowing part, and then all I got was the song dying down at the very end and then the introduction of the bass without as much of an effect as it potentially could have had. This might be just me because somehow I've always found House transitions to be a bit anticlimatic, but I thought it was worth mentioning.

I'm certainly not much of a fan of House but that didn't stop me from realising how creative this is. Sure, I've got some problems with it but overall I'm impressed and I think this has a pretty great chance of doing well in both competitions. Keep it up, man :3.
8/10
4/5

-Review Request Club-

[==(Cavern One)==]

You are certainly not corporate crap! :D

Always count on SBB to grab a bunch of guitars, pads, effects, and drums, and make a kickass atmospheric song in an obscure but surprisingly fitting time signature. That was the first thing that came in my mind while hearing this. As usual, brilliant work on the atmosphere, the sounds, the transitions, etc... I really love this cavern atmosphere you've got going on. Oh and this review might be a bit short (for my standards anyway). Maths homework sucks.

To start with, the sounds you used were perfect. Really, I wouldn't do anything to change the sounds at all, and they were all mixed together so well. The bass is clear without being overbearing, the pads sound incredible and the guitars are, as always, excellent. Well, all the sounds are good except the drums in my opinion. I'll get to that later on.

Something I like about this track would certainly be how interesting it sounds, without pushing itself to sound weirdly unique or experimental. The time signature (uh... 5/8 right?) is very rarely used but it works out so naturally over here. The guitars sound atmospheric; a trait which I don't usually associate with electric guitars, but at the same time they sound really cool. Just goes to show what a good number of years of music experience can give you.

However, what I liked the most about this track would be the part from 3:47 onwards. That pad sounds absolutely extraordinary. Not only does it offer some beautiful melodic stuff but it really adds that final touch to the cavern atmosphere. I love turning my speakers up to an extremely high volume when the song gets to that part.

I can't complain with the composition. The pad melody at the end was naturally the highlight of the composition, but there were plenty of cool basslines and guitar riffs to go around, before that part came in. I would've personally preferred some more melody-oriented parts before the pad came in, however...

...And that brings me to my next point. You've heard this from nearly every person who reviewed your song in the NGADM so far, and I'll have to reiterate it: this sounds too much like background music. If I were to listen to this as a background to a game, I'd love how well it would fit, but on its own it gets kind of uninteresting and repetitive. I think that's one of the biggest problems of this track.

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against background music (after all, Video Game BGM/remixes are pretty high on my 'Most Played' list) although I'd consider this background music more than I would consider it a song that one would listen to on its own, so it goes without saying that the song gets repetitive and monotonous at times. It's the main reason why I prefer Then Everything Fell over this - TEF has those two BADASS guitar solos, and a bassline with a great hook to it, while this seems to focus a lot more on sounding like a good background.

Lastly, the drums. I agree with Metaljonus about the drums - they feel too distant. I think you could've been a bit more creative with your percussion and, for instance, brought along some loud, reverby, ambient drum hits which would've definitely fit wonderfully with the theme. Additionally, the drums themselves sound pretty weak and dry. Beats are awesome though, can't complain there.

Overall, this track is awesome. It sounds unique without striving to sound odd/experimental, the sounds are flawless, and the atmosphere is second to none. Generic recap over, keep up the brilliant work, man!
Oh and scratch that thought of the review being short.
9/10
5/5

-Review Request Club-

[Krowe - Differences]

The creativity.

That's what I've always liked about your tracks - the creativity. Even though Dubstep is so common and pretty much overdone, you still manage to keep your track sounding fresh and new. Having the talent to be so creative in something like this is a big plus, I think. Nice work :3.

One thing I like the most in this track would be the variety and structure. The song never got boring, and even when the bass came in, you had a great amount of changes in the beat, new sounds and new effects to keep it interesting. Considering the track is relatively long compared to other audio submissions, it's nice to hear all this variety.

Another thing I liked was, as you already know, the creativity. The melody sounds unique and caught my interest, and all the effects are just out of this world. The drop was awesome and I love how the bass came in, suddenly went silent and then continued playing.

At 2:20, you fade everything out and then fade it back in again, and you're constantly messing around with filter automation too. The outro was a creative way to end the track as well. That's what I like to see in Dubstep - new ways to keep it interesting.

There's not much I can say about the composition and the sounds. I like all the melodies and I don't have anything to point out about your choice of sounds, except perhaps the bass which is a bit headache-inducing I'm afraid :(. It does sound quite a bit like FL Slayer, actually...

The drums are fantastic and varied well. I agree with fishfood2021 that the snare is a bit too loud and distorted, and it got to the point that I started to get tired of listening to it after a while, although that might just be my lack of interest towards the genre/style.

I think the mix is the worst thing about this track. I think I heard some clipping in the second section of the song with the bass playing, especially when the kick plays in certain parts (2:37 for instance). The loud and distorted snare isn't helping much either. This is an old track though and I doubt its mixing holds a finger to what you can do now, although it's worth pointing out.

Great track overall man. The effects/composition are unique, and the production is generally great. I would work a little more on the mixing and other random nitpicks that I mentioned throughout the review, but for an old track I'm impressed. Keep it up!
9/10
5/5

-Review Request Club-

KroweMusic responds:

Hey man thanks for the awesome review...love getting reviews from you

Hahahae yeahhhhhh....the main synth does sound like Slayer, which sucks. I made it myself and I didn't really realize the horrible sound until it was pointed out, but I don't really care about it too much. This isn't a serious song.

And the mix sucks. No doubt about it haha.

But I'm glad that you liked it overall. Thanks for the awesome review!

[Idyllic Memories]

Excellent, but the mixing needs work.

I totally agree with megakill that this is a really great submission but the mix takes it down a lot. I won't give you a score as low as a 5 because the atmosphere and stuff, although the mix certainly needs to be touched up, I think. All in all, good job.

Starting with the composition, the melody isn't exactly memorable - to be honest this sounds quite a bit like an improvisation. Still, the way you introduce note after note and the clarinet playing a droning hum in the background gave it a very interesting atmosphere. It actually reminds me a bit of the Sacred Grove soundtrack of Twilight Princess.

I've never been good at figuring out time signatures although this sounds like 5/8. Whatever it is, it's a change from the usual 4/4 and works wonderfully. Always interesting to hear songs in time signatures that are used less than others.

The instrumentation is simple but fitting. The harp plays a continuous pattern in the background which serves as a nice backbone to the song, and the occasional entrances of the clarinet are fantastic. At parts like 0:53 you fade in strings which sounds great. At 1:53 you introduce a softer part, which breaks up the repetition and was enjoyable. At 2:20 you fade in some strings which work out very well.

The transitions are smooth and none of the transitions interrupt the atmosphere or anything. I especially like the transition to the softer part at 1:53 and the entrance of the harp when that section ends. It's all very subtle and I think this would make perfect background music because of such a nice, consistent atmosphere and smooth transitions. Intro and outro were both incredibly fitting - no complaints there!

It's all very good, but unfortunately the mix is definitely something that needs working on. There are way too many mid frequencies, especially with the harp and clarinet. Space out your instruments a bit more - having so many mid frequencies makes this quite tiring to listen to. The song clips a little too, if I'm not mistaken. EQing will work wonders over here.

All in all, I love the song. Despite not having much of a memorable melody, it'll fit right at home as background music to a game. However, as you can see the mix knocked two points off my score. Work on your EQing and this won't have much more room for improvement. Other than that, keep it up!
8/10
4/5

-Review Request Club-

[[Kieda] Yearning Hearts]

The effort shows.

Before I start, just wanted to say that I love how you take criticism. A lot of people here on Newgrounds seem to dislike and shun harsh/honest constructive criticism, so I think more people should have your attitude when it comes to accepting criticism :3.

Anyway, onto the song. This isn't the first time I've heard mellow Drum'n'Bass in the past few days, but it's one of the better ones I think. It has its own problems, but as I said in the review summary the effort shows!

To begin with, I love the piano. I think it could have been humanised a bit more and if you you used a few more octaves of the piano's range (some high notes would've worked nicely), but it's rare to find a piano in a DnB track and hence I'm glad you added it here. Moreover, the melody it plays is lovely.

The drums are nice as well. You varied them a little and added a few drum fills here and there to keep them interesting. The drum sounds are cool too, although I think the snare is a little too rough for a song like this. Transitions were nice and the intro and outro were both great.

Unfortunately, I don't think there's much to listen to here, and that's my main gripe with this song. It does sound anti-climatic - the only two main sounds are the drums and the piano - and anything else is in the background and doesn't do anything revolutionary to the song. It even gets repetitive, and by the time I finished hearing the song once, I didn't find anything memorable.

To put it bluntly, the song sounds empty and it sounds like there's more to it. It sounds pretty underdeveloped and it needs more variety and new sounds. I mean, it sounds good, and the melodies are great, but there isn't much that I can remember the song by.

Overall, it's a nice track, but it doesn't particularly stand out. It seems to have unreleased potential. Now it's your job as a music artist to release that potential, whether it be new synths, new sections, climaxes, solos, anything to make this more than just another mellow DnB track. However, what you've got right now sounds good, and as I already said, I love the melody. Good work, and good luck in your future submissions!
7/10
4/5

-Review Request Club-

Kieda responds:

I have nothing against well written and reasoned criticism. It takes more time and thought to write constructive criticism than just write "I like it, it's perfect" (:

Anyway, I didn't even realize the piano was very playing very unrealistic (only one octave). I'll look on this on my next song... I suppose I should add more synths and sections to my future songs to make them less repetive, but I've kinda had the problem of having 10 different songs smashed to one in the past (the sections haven't had really much in common), which I suppose ain't too good xP

Thanks for the review (: