Step's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[[dj-Jo] Electric Cove]

Thru the Sea of Trance, I remember that! :D

I think it's great that you remixed one of your old songs. I do that quite a bit and it usually turns out pretty good! About this song, unfortunately I don't think it's one of your best. It's nice, and I like how you varied it so much from the original while still keeping the same mood, although it still needs work I think.

First things first, I love the atmosphere. It fits so well with the name (or at least the old name, Thru the Sea of Trance) - the piratey melodies and long sweeps remind me a lot of the sea, and the song really does pack a punch like megakill pointed out. Reminiscent of the sea/pirates but still sounds like hardcore Techno.

The song sounds unique too. I'd imagine it's not easy to sound original with Techno songs, although you seem to pull it off nicely. There are some unoriginal sounds (like the supersaws) but you use them uniquely and you use some sounds such as the rim sound which you used in the old version. Some synths are pretty cool.

The melodies are catchy and the transitions are smooth, so I have no complaints there. I particularly like the automation you did on the synths filters, such as towards the end where made a break which led to the climax of the song at the end. Pretty cool stuff!

Now for my main issue with the song. The mixing. The whole song is waaaay too and clips at some points I think. Just taking a glance of the waveform shows that it's loud and all that noise is bound to give someone a headache. To start with, turn the master volume down. I had my volume set to a value which will let me hear any decently loud song just right, but I had to turn it down a notch just to hear this submission.

The EQing needs work. In the busier parts, the sounds engage in an epic noise battle. The kick is trying to drown everything yet the synths are playing as loudly as they can, and all this sounds pretty overbearing. Try and give each sound its own space in the mix, instead of clashing everything together.

So, overall the main problem with this is the mixing I think. With all the floor-shaking kicks and noisy supersaws one has at his disposal to make a song like this, it's easy to fall to the temptation of twisting their volume knobs to high heaven (I know I fell to it many times :3) but remember that a song can have the nicest melodies and coolest sounds, but be totally ruined by a bad mix.

Honestly though, other than that, this song is pretty darn cool, and an interesting take on your original. Nice work!
7/10
5/5 because 0-bombers suck.

-Review Request Club-

[[FR] Siege]

A little repetitive, but pretty good!

I enjoyed this more than your other track 'Void'. They're both very soothing and I can hear your style clearly in each of them, but this has a nicer atmosphere and it seems overall well-produced. I still have a few issues with the track, but I like this.

I'm pretty impressed with how relaxing this is. Again, I don't think it fits with the name since Siege would make me expect a mightier track with a bit more tension. A name like 'Isolation' would fit here, but hey, a name doesn't make a song, does it? The pads, bells, bongos, slow paced beat and subtle effects certainly made this song memorable but still calm. As megakill said, it's got a charm to it.

I think all the sounds are great, but I especially like the drum samples. The clap/snare was awesome (I like the little whoosh that comes in right before the sample plays), the kick was just the right volume and the hats were still there to fill the drum beat but not interfere with the song. Bongos were surprisingly a very nice addition, and I would've liked to see you do more with them. The crackling effect you used in the song is pretty cool, by the way :3.

The beat is interesting. It's a Dubstep-styled beat which plays over a song which is anything but Dubstep. I think you could've varied the beat a bit more since it was basically the same thing for the whole song. By the way, the sub-bass you used along with the beat was really cool and filled the low end rather nicely.

Anyway, unfortunately this song is repetitive. Not only is the beat quite repetitive, but the melody gets repeated a lot and played by the same sound throughout the whole track. Don't get me wrong, the melody's nice, but after the beat comes in, there isn't anything else to catch my interest for the whole song. It's just the same thing playing over and over again.

In fact, I think vocals would work nicely here. There doesn't have to be lyrics, but any soft vocals will do - they will break the monotony of the song and I'd imagine that they'd fit nicely as well. Right now the song is too repetitive, and it's not exactly a long song either, so some vocals will certainly make it more interesting I think, or if not vocals then some lead synth or something to be played over what you have right now.

In conclusion, it's a nice mellow song, but it's not exactly interesting. Try and vary it more, and add something like vocals to make it stand out while still keeping the soothing atmosphere. That said, it sounds quite unique, what with the soft Dubstep beat playing over the Ambient pads and effects. Nice work!
7/10
4/5

-Review Request Club-

Frazmaster responds:

Thanks for the words. I plan on adding vocals to combat the exact problem to mentioned, so hopefully all is well in the end. :)

[2011 Rabidsquirl Voice Demo]

That's how it's done.

Brilliant stuff, man. I won't be able to write a big review on this because I'm not that big on voice acting. However, I will say that I really like this and you've got a hell of a lot of talent!

What I liked the most here would be the acting part of voice acting. The voices were all very good and you've got a decent variety of voices, but the acting really brought them to life. You put a lot of emotion into the voices and I think that certainly made a big difference. The background tracks are all well chosen and fitting as well - I especially liked the one at 0:36. Gave me goosebumps on the first listen :D.

Honestly, the only issue I can point out is REALLY small. I think some of the transitions from one music background to another were a little too abrupt. It's not too much of a problem since the voices are the main feature here, but I think smoother transitions would be nice. Naturally a wider variety of voices would be cool too, but what you're showcasing here is awesome in any case.

That's all I can say - it's all very good. I think some transitions from one voice to another were abrupt, but that's not really that much of a problem. You've got quite some talent when it comes to voice acting!
9/10
5/5

-Review Request Club-

Rabidssquirrel responds:

Loads of thanks! Quite the long interview if you were to ask me!

Thankyou very much! One of the aspects that I think is constantly over looked by Voice Actors making their demo is the actual acting portion while throwing out a variety of different voices. Totally something that I was going for.

Noted! Though, it was something that I was sort've going for, trying to transition the listener between the different voices with a mild jar to trigger something along the lines of 'Oh, another one?' but I completely get what you're saying! :)

Again, thanks! And sorry my response isn't as long as your review!

[[FR] Void]

DnB without the B.

Not bad! While I can't see a lot of potential in this, it's nice, and a different take on the usual Drum'n'Bass tracks that you hear here on Newgrounds. It's got a few mixing issues and at times it can sound a bit boring, but overall it's quite a relaxing track!

I like how you didn't make this in the usual Drum'n'Bass style with screeching/rough leads/basses, loud, fast-paced drums, etc... You actually made this sound quite relaxing, an adjective which I thought I'd never use to describe a Drum'n'Bass track. The atmosphere doesn't really fit much with the intro (to be honest this sounds more like lounge music with a beat thrown on top of it), although I still liked the calm atmosphere.

Your use of bells, pads, and calm leads towards the end really made for the calm relaxing atmosphere I've been talking about. You don't usually hear sounds like that in Drum'n'Bass submissions, but they complimented each other nicely.

Having said all that, as I said in the first paragraph this doesn't feel like it has much potential. Perhaps it's because it's just a 2-minute preview, but as Coop pointed out it feels underdeveloped. There are no parts where the song reaches a climax, or a turning point, or anything. There's just an intro and then roughly the same mood and atmosphere till the track ends.

I've noticed that this song's filename is called '20MinuteProjectV3.mp3'. I don't know if that means that you made this in 20 minutes or if you plan on making this 20 minutes long, but since the former sounds quite unlikely I'll assume it means the latter :P. So yeah, if you intend on making this 20 minutes long or even longer by just a few minutes, you're going to have to vary the mood more and give the song more development and progression.

Onto the mixing department, I think there's one major problem here. There's very little bass and too much mid frequencies, especially in the drums. I would've appreciated some deep bass pads, or maybe you can keep the song true to its genre and throw in some dirty DnB bass or something. In any case, if I were you I'd tone down the mid frequencies and use more of the bass section of the spectrum.

Overall, this sounds cool, relaxing and unique. I feel that you've got two main things to work on: the mixing and the song's structure/progression. Make this longer, vary the mood, fix some mixing issues, add new sections, and perhaps it may turn out really well. Good luck!
6/10
3/5

-Review Request Club-

[A Bowl of Spaghetti]

That is one badass bowl of spaghetti.

Hey, this isn't too bad. I've got a few issues with it, although it's a unique concept, and it's quite fun to listen to as well. Also the song name is absolute brilliance :D.

I like the instrumentation and choice of sounds quite a lot. The strings, bells and brass sound amazing, the Dubstep influences were well done, and you even add whistling at the end. It all works out well and it's reminiscent of Western music. I'd imagine a guitar would fit excellently over here, too.

The composition, albeit a bit generic, was good. I like the chords you were using in the background and the progression of the song was great, or at least great until 1:14 where I think there's too much of an anti-climax. Towards the end the song picks up with the whistling and some more instruments, and it ends quite well too. Nicely done.

I also love the portamento on the violin (or viola, I was never able to tell the difference...). No matter how hard I try I can't seem to get pitch-bending sound natural on strings, but you make it work out very well.

Now, here's my main complete. This song is weak, to put it bluntly. Not only does it sound pretty undeveloped and short, but there's a lack of depth and the drums sound really really tinny. I guess this might well as background music, but for a standalone song this barely leaves an effect on me.

The idea of mixing Ennio Morricone styled orchestral music with Dubstep is a good one, but you could've executed it better. There's only a very soft bass in the intro and a brief part in the middle of the song which has Dubstep elements, and even then they don't make a massive difference. To be honest I preferred the Orchestral influences and the Dubstep influences felt like they were there to spice things up a little, but not actually do anything revolutionary to the song.

To summarise things up, this is fun to listen to and the concept is original. You've also got some really nice sounds and the composition/harmony was spot on. Even though the song sounds pretty tinny and doesn't leave much of an effect, and even though I thought you could've added the Dubstep elements a little better, this is still a great submission. Keep it up!
7/10
4/5

-Review Request Club-

Rampant responds:

Hello! Wall of text alert - I'll try and respond to as much of what you wrote as I can :)

1) I actually thought about adding guitar, but there aren't any really good VST's or soundfonts, and it would take way too much effort to make them sound right. I looked into it, though, and found out that the guitars primarily used were Baritone Fenders with Flatwound Strings... a bit too specific for most sound libraries!

2 & 3) This was really my first attempt to incorporate dubstep elements into a track, dubstep or otherwise; the anti-climatic segment at 1:14 is my failed attempt to build-up before the drop - if I rewrote this piece, I would probably add a rising progression, then a longer pause as a solo violin sustains a high D, before bringing in the drop.

4) The ending, with a solo violin over sustained first and second violins, and cellos, was where I imagined the actual film beginning: the credits, horse-riding, and wide-angle shots of huge expanses of desert fill the first 2:00, but the film begins as the music slows down. Like how John Williams' main theme for Star Wars segues into the quieter section as the film begins.

5) The portamento on the instruments is really the work of L.A. Scoring Strings, which makes it easy to attain very realistic strings with minimum effort. (That sounded a little too much like an advertisement...)

6) Regarding the drums, they're miked using 60's microphones and mixed as they would have been in that time period; there's a mic on the kick, two overheads, and maybe a mic on the snare. That's probably why they sound tinny and, although I could have augmented them to make them sound more 'modern,' I really wanted to emulate the mid- to late-60's mixing techniques as closely as I could.

7) The song itself is undeveloped and short; it's primarily a test for writing a main theme in Morricone style, and for adding the dubstep elements. As I now have a better understanding of the orchestration and arranging involved in both of these styles (neither of which I've really written seriously before), future pieces can be longer and more developed :)

8) The dubstep elements *were* there to spice things up lol I wanted to gauge the audience's reaction to mixing the two styles (which so far seems to be mostly positive) before I went ahead and spent a long time tweaking and perfecting the two sections.

9) The synth bass is present throughout the whole song, but as I was mixing, if I bought it forward in the mix any more, it overpowered the string section. So although it is now not quite so present in the mix, it was a compromise I had to make.

Thanks for the detailed review, Supersteph,
- James

[KKS - Contact]

Absolutely brilliant!

Wow, this song is excellent. I've listened to it more times than I can count on one hand. Making a song this long stay interesting till the end is quite a feat, but you pulled it off wonderfully! Since this is so long, I'll split the review into different sections and say some things about each section.

I. Signs of Life (0:00 - 1:36)

Very good introduction. I like the progression, the soft beat, the bass, everything. It's a rather unique mix of different sounds which work well together. I think the coolest part of the introduction would be how it fit well with the scene you wrote about that section in your Author's Comments. The radio static was a creative touch and the occasional outworld-ish sounds echoing very much helped me imagine small traces of an alien signal.

I think the radio static was a bit annoying since it's basically the same sound played for a long period of time and something like that gets annoying no matter what sound it is. I would automate it a bit to make the sound a bit less... stationary, for lack of better word.

Still, other than that I definitely don't have anything to say which might improve this part. In this first section you introduce some key elements to the song that are consistent for the whole track such as the plucked synth with it's filter constantly being automated, and the simple rhythm of the beat too.

II. Excitement (1:36 - 2:24)

A pretty abrupt transition to this part. The strings seem to come out of nowhere, although I think this represents how quickly and suddenly excitement kicks in. I wouldn't change the transition if I were you since it fits so well with the theme.

Not too much to say about this part. The strings sound REALLY nice and the drum beat is awesome. This is the smallest section of the song but it works very well. Also I love that little sonar-like sound you did before starting this section. I heard it in other key transitions of the song too - nice touch :D.

III. Preparations

I love this part; it's sublime. What I probably enjoyed the most about this would be the progression. This part really sounds like preparation - you slowly introduce element after element to the track which symbolises progress. Towards the end I really started to imagine everything coming together, and best part is, you introduced each new element extremely smoothly. Great work.

The beat can be heard most clearly at 3:11 so I'll comment about it here. It's a catchy rhythm and sounds right at home in the song. I love it. The sounds are nice too, especially the snare. I would increase the lower mid frequencies of that snare to give it a bit more body though, since especially later on when the track gets busier, the snare seems to lose its importance.

IV. The Great Cruise

My favourite part. Not only did the song transition so smoothly to it but it's definitely the part I enjoyed most. The strings really shine over here, and at 5:11 when a climax is reached and the beat is introduced again, MAN I had goosebumps just listening to it! That part just has so much depth and sounds amazing. That transition made my day.

Two things I would change: firstly, the cymbal hit sounds a bit loud. If I were you I'd turn it down and make its sound ring/echo a little longer (say, 4-6 seconds before the sound fades out). Secondly, I would've added some more high string chords at 5:36 to give that section a bit more importance. That's personal preference though.

V. We Come In Peace

I don't have much to say about this part because this kind of ambient music isn't something I enjoy. The static got a bit annoying, and the transition to it seemed to drag on for a while, and personally I'd make the ambiance shorter and add a more melodic, exciting part towards the end as the crew explores the planet, to give the listener something to look forward to after the fourth section ends. However that's just my opinion because I don't really like this kind of music.

OVERALL:

Awesome track, man. I do have a few complaints here and there, but I enjoyed it thoroughly!
10/10
5/5
Download.
Fav'd.

-Review Request Club-

KKSlider60 responds:

Now that's a pretty detailed review o_o

Don't worry about "complaints", I actually haven't think of those cons till you showed 'em up to me. I too think the crash cymbal is either too loud or with too much reverb, in fact, if you listen to some of my most recent tracks, it is much more clearer and less muddier. I tried fixing it but I failed miserably, so yeah, I guess this is final. Lol.

If I added more stuff at 5:36 I think it would have sounded a lot more crowded and mastering would have been really difficult at that point, since everything was like on max. As for personal tastes, I can tell you that both the choice of white noise being that static and the textural atmosphere at the end was of vital importance for me and for the whole project. You know, I think every instrument tells its own story, and it's all part of greater scheme of things. It's fine though! I respect your tastes, np.

It's definitely a review I'll read every time I screw up with the cons you listed, and it'll be a fair reminder indeed. Thank you again for such beautiful technical insight, good luck with the audio moderation on the boards ;D
KKS

[Malaise (NGADM '11)]

Sweet!

I love it. I can see that your mixing has improved since your last NGADM track and if Rig submitted for the competition then I'm sure you would've given him a run for his money :P. Nice work - I do have some complaints but this is an improvement!

Like in your last track I like the atmosphere. It's actually a pretty similar spacey atmosphere (from now on your name is Space-inator99) but the other one had a lighter mood than this which feels deeper and ominous at times. I love the effects and occasional synth notes you incorporate quite sparsely throughout the track. They all help to make that cool atmosphere.

The synths and sounds are just superb. I love the pads, the sound effects, the leads, and the guitar sounds nice too. Unexpected, but still fun to listen to. The part with the pad at 4:06 would probably be my favourite part though. The pad really shined over there. The transition to that part was pretty abrupt and I disliked it, but from then on it just sounded amazing.

I like the structure a lot more than your previous submission too. You've really nailed it - the song still sounds very unpredictable and varied, but the structure is stable and solid.

One thing I quite liked structure-wise would be how you introduced the drums at 1:29 and then introduced them very similarly at 4:41. Even though in the foreground there's a different melody, the transitions to the introduction of the drums in each part were almost identical. I thought that was a very nice touch since it helped the song's structure while still sounding new and interesting.

In the mixing department, as I already said you've improved. I still think the low end could've been used a bit more though. I want to feel the deep vibrations of the low end when I turn my speakers up. I want the atmosphere to captivate me. I'm just not feeling it right now - perhaps a sub-bass or some more low-end reverb might help out. Other than that, mixing was generally awesome!

Now for my biggest complaint - the drums. I love the beats, and I like how you incorporated them, but MAN I do not like the sounds at all, sorry :P. The open hat got somewhat annoying at times, the kick was really weak and I do not like the sound of that snare at all. It just sounds tinny and dry. If I were you I'd go for much deeper and bassier percussion, and some serious low end reverb on the snare. Give your drums a mightier feel. They're still too dry and weak. D:

Still, that's my largest complaint. Everything else was great - most of the transitions, the intro, the ending (especially the ending - love it) and the composition - all very unique and fitting. Keep up the awesome work man!
9/10
5/5

-Review Request Club-

Birdinator99 responds:

I'm really glad that you found this to be improved over last time -- mixing/mastering was the name of the game here for me.

Transitions, eh? My skill in that department seems to fade in and out (no pun intended) from song to song sometimes. Oh well, back to the drawing board.

Yeah, the structure was one my focus points here as well. Looks like it did alright.

The low end may be the fault of my slightly bass-heavy headphones (not sure if I mentioned this at another time); I might be compensating for them, although I do go back and forth from my headphones to my speakers to make sure anything doesn't sound too out of proportion.

Regarding the drums, for the most part, I agree with you. I'll definitely be trying some layering techniques now that I've cleaned up my mix. Synth creation is relatively high on my list as well.

I like the ending too -- it just felt right, y'know? Not sure what the hell that means, but oh well.

Thanks for your time and your helpful tips as usual, Steph.

["The Guardians"]

Incredibly cinematic

Hey, this is your Round 1 review of the NGADM competition. Enjoy!

--

Like I said to LogicalDefiance, orchestral is by far one of my favourite genres, and again I have a very hard time trying to be unbiased. I just enjoyed this piece so much.

The atmosphere is fantastic. You've got an incredibly good amount of depth, which makes for a very warm and cinematic-sounding submission. Your sparse but extremely effective use of percussion added a lot to the submission, and the instruments themselves are so well-chosen and sound sublime. Compositionally, I really can't expect it to get any better. The melody is just amazing, and it flows *brilliantly*. This honestly sounds like it came straight out of a movie, and I'm thoroughly impressed by it.

My only complaint is personal preference. If I were you I would've incorporated more woodwinds in the song, especially to answer to the main theme in certain parts of the song, but it sounds great as it is and this minor issue certaintly isn't enough to put your score down.

I'm trying hard not to give out 10's, especially for songs which go under my favourite genre, to avoid bias, but despite my efforts I can't find anything that this song is lacking in (except length. I want MORE). Keep up the amazing work.

-Review Request Club-

BrokenDeck responds:

Oh thank-you kind sir!