Step's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[<EagleGuard> Electro Allegro]

Good stuff!

The second I saw you submitting this to the RRC and I saw that you were getting 0-bombed I decided to go and five it like I usually do to songs which get undeserving 0's, but once I began hearing the song I started enjoying it and couldn't help but review it too :P. Anyway, again, this is another good song from you. I prefer some of your other submissions, but this is still pretty darn cool, and it shows that you're able to make orchestral/rock submissions and still make something Techno-ish like this. Nice :D.

The melodies are nicely done. It's not often you hear such a varied and well-written melody in Techno songs, since usually Techno melodies are simple and are used repeatedly throughout the song with some subtle variety. So yeah the melody really works out well here. I also heard your surprise at 1:41 and while I think the key change was great and had a smooth transition to introduce it and exit from it, I think I'm hearing a wrong note or two at 1:41-1:42 which is repeated at 1:47-1:48. It sounds sort of discordant, although I'm not too sure since I'm not really that experienced in music.

The instrumentation was nice. I liked the bass that played throughout the song. It filled the bass range nicely and gave the song a nice amount of depth along with the strings you used, which also fit well. Chimes, albeit a bit overused in my opinion, were nice. The synth at 0:46 sounds pretty much awesome, and I would've loved to hear more of it throughout the song because you only used it in one section and then it disappeared.

Also, one suggestion - maybe you could experiment with some pitch-bending/portamento on the synth? (I'm talking about doing something like the synth at 2:38 in this song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtopG7 XPMUI) I think it would make it sound a lot more interesting, but that's just a suggestion.

Regarding the production, again I think this is too quiet. Take a look at the waveform and you'll see that there's quite a bit of headroom left and because of this, I'm forced to turn the volume up again to enjoy the song. Other than that, there are no other production issues, and the EQing was nicely done too, so nice work over there.

Now for the transitions... like in 'Dawn', the transitions here are awesome. I think you really have a knack for transitions, because your transitions are on the whole very smooth and fitting. My favourite transition would be the one at 0:32 - the way you introduced the drums and changed the style of the song from the intro was just excellent. Another great transition at 1:00 too. No complaints with the transitions! :D

The song structure is pretty good, although a bit confusing in terms of when you introduced the instruments and how much you used each instrument. When the part at 0:32 started I began hearing a synth riff by a new instrument, and then the synth section at 0:46, but then both of these synths disappeared and chimes were introduced. Then you spent the rest of the song playing around with the chimes and piano as the main instruments. Therefore I think that the sounds weren't used to their fullest, especially the synth at 0:46, like I already said.

Now, the percussion... Firstly I'll say that the bass drum rolls (such as the one at 0:31) were absolutely superb and I'm not sure why you only used them for the part around 0:30 - 1:00 and didn't use them for the rest of the song. The other percussion was fitting, albeit a bit repetitive and bland at times.

Not much to say about the intro and outro... I liked the intro, and the outro was good too, although I think you could've left the strings note playing for a bit longer and then fade it out.

All in all, this is a pretty good song. Some aspects of it like the transitions, instrumentation and composition were fantastic, but others such as the structure, production and the some of the percussion could use some work. Still, I always enjoy reviewing your songs because they're always well-made, catchy and enjoyable, and some really stand out as being awesome too. Keep up the good work!
7/10
5/5

-Review Request Club-

EagleGuard responds:

Thanks Steph, always a pleasure to receive your huge-ass reviews =p

I think I used the right scale of F-minor when the keychanging happens, so I'm not sure why you think the parts from 1:41-1:42 and 1:47-1:48 sound wrong. Or perhaps I'm becoming a bit tone deaf...

I know I neglected some of the synth instruments, like the second bass from 0:32-1:00 and the synth lead. The synth lead does return though. It's played very softly in the background during 1:27-1:54. Sorry for the chime-overkill, but I just love the sound xD

I rarely use pitch-bend, but I have to say, it would've been cool had I used it in this particular song. Pitch-bending was used more often in the 80's and 90's, so it would've been a good addition.

It's been a while since I last made something electronic, so perhaps that's why this one wasn't so great. I already stated that it wouldn't be huge though, but I needed some variation in my works =p

Thanks again for the review. Glad you like to write them xD

[==(Deep Man.)==]

Dude, that's deep.

...And an obvious 10/10. I think so far I've not given any of your songs less than a 10, and this is no exception. This song is so deep, bassey but still wonderfully atmospheric that I couldn't help becoming entranced by it (in fact it pulls you in so much that I listened to this for four whole play-throughs before I started thinking about beginning the review. That's over 25 minutes of my life wasted. Thanks a lot). This actually has somewhat of a spacey atmosphere to it, therefore I find it really fitting in some sort of space-themed game.

Obviously your main aim in this submission was to make a deep atmosphere, and you sure did succeed. The bassey pads and sounds help achieve this very well and the varied and unique sound effects are just icing to the cake. You really created an awesome atmosphere which definitely entrances the listener. Seriously I think this put me in a music-induced coma.

Regarding transitions, I'm proud to say that I really liked them, especially the one at 2:52-ish. But still, you know me enough to know that there will always be that one transition which I won't like, and that's the introduction of the new synth at about 5:51. It's a good transition, but it's a bit too sudden since the synth stands out too much in the mix, and it's as if you put it there to intentionally pull the listener out of the entrancing state that the atmosphere put him in initially. Which sucks because I liked my coma :(.

If there's one other thing I liked the most excluding the atmosphere, then it would be the sounds you used. They are just so fitting and match exceptionally well with each other. Additionally I especially liked the pad which can be heard clearly at 1:10. I think it really helps to convey that spacey atmosphere I mentioned above, not to mention the fact that it sounds so ridiculously awesome. The xylophone/marimba-like instrument that plays throughout the song (especially towards the end, for example at 4:21) sounded awesome too, may I add.

The composition is also a strong point of the submission. Whilst this isn't particularly interesting melodically, this has some really wacky rhythms and plenty of offbeat notes which add to that atmosphere. I also loved the pitch-sliding you did occasionally throughout the song. It fit extremely well and sounded very unique.

One thing which grabbed my attention in particular would be the guitar. Its rhythms, namely the rhythms in the second half of the song, were absolutely superb, and even though they had a quirky, almost funky sound, they still didn't interrupt the deep atmosphere you've got going. On the contrary, the guitar added to the atmosphere and gave the listener something to listen to behind all of those bassey pads and weird effects.

When it comes to the production, I definitely can't complain. No discernible clipping, and everything was just the right volume. What I probably enjoyed the most about the production is that you managed to fill in plenty of frequencies in the mix without making the song sound cluttered or muddy. This is a sign of excellent EQing.
/jealous

The song had no definable structure, and yet at the same time it didn't sound random. How you achieved this with all of those crazy effects and offbeat rhythms is a mystery to me, but it works out very well and keeps me interested for the whole six minutes and a half. The intro was sublime, but I'll have to nitpick for the ending. I think that you could've echoed the last sound effect at the very end a bit more, instead of fading it out almost immediately and moving on to the intro again. That's most likely personal preference though.

Anyhow, overall this is one of the most atmospheric songs I've heard from you. It just sounds so incredibly deep, as the title suggests, and if there's one song from my list of NG songs I'd choose to listen to for a whole day, then it'd probably be this one. Awesome work on this. It's not enough to put you up to the top of my favourites list, but you're getting there, don't worry. Keep up the amazing work!
10/10
5/5
Download.
Fav'd.

-Review Request Club-

[<EagleGuard> Dawn]

Sounds cool.

While I don't think this is one of your best, it's a nice song to listen to, has some nice rhythms and memorable tunes. Not only that, but you've managed to mix a guitar with orchestral-style instruments, and I love it when people do that ;D. So yeah, all in all it's a good submission.

What I noticed first was that your note progression was a bit generic. I found myself predicting what was going to happen next in the song, and while this is fun to listen to, I can't help but think that this does get rather predictable at times, unfortunately. Despite that, on the whole the song was well structured so nice work over there.

Now for the good news. I loved the transitions of this song in particular. The transition to the more upbeat part with the drum beat at 0:42 was absolutely brilliant, and it was followed by an even better transition at 0:53 where you introduce the guitar and brass. 1:14 was also another awesome transition, but the transition at 1:24 was a bit sudden due to the abrupt entrance of the guitar (which is a tad too loud by the way).

That being said, the transition at 2:18 where you introduced a guitar part was much smoother and probably one of my favourite transitions. If I had any suggestions, it'd be to fade out the guitar note at 1:46 rather than just end it, but that's probably personal preference, and overall the transitions were really cool. It wasn't the first time that I smiled upon hearing one of those great transitions.

The guitar was a really nice addition, and while it wasn't amazing quality, it still sounded awesome and that's most important I guess. I also loved the rhythms of the background rhythm guitar. They fit really well, and if it wasn't for the guitar I don't think I would've enjoyed the song nearly as much. Loved the guitar part towards the end by the way, and the awesome transition to it which I mentioned in the paragraph above just made it better. Too bad the song ended soon after :(.

The instrumentation was nice. You blended the guitar and orchestral instruments particularly well, and the addition of the brass really gave this song a heroic, valiant sort of sound to the song, and as kirbyfighter12 pointed out, this does indeed have a 'We can't lose' type of feel to it.

Actually, speaking of that, this doesn't really remind me much of dawn, and while I see where you're going with the contrast from the dark beginning to the more upbeat part as the song progresses (which by the way was awesome), when I think dawn I think of a more majestic atmosphere. This sounds more heroic, but heck, I complain too much...

Regarding the production, I'm afraid I agree with SCTE3 that this still needs to be a bit louder. When I turned the volume up more than I should I started enjoying the song much more. Whilst it's not much of a problem, I don't think I should be turning the volume up just to enjoy the song to its full extent. Other than that, production was good, and I think the song has just the right amount of bass, so I don't know why you think the bass is too much. Either your headphones are too bassey or my speakers are too, err... unbassey?

There isn't much to say about the intro and outro. They were fine, albeit a bit generic. If I had to suggest anything, it'd be to make the hit at the end a bit more powerful (it sounds almost wimpy, for lack of better word), but on the other hand the intro was fine and I loved its progression.

Percussion was great and very fitting. I agree with kirbyfighter12 about the cymbals, since they do sound a bit drowned out in the mix, but other than that the percussion was rhythmic, fitting and awesome. Did you use Stormdrum by any chance?

Anyhow, in general this is a cool submission. While it doesn't especially stand out in the crowd as being unique, and while it's not one of your best, it's still a cool submission which I enjoyed from beginning to end. It's got quite a few very minor problems here and there, sure, but they don't make the listening experience that much worse. Keep up the awesome work, and great job on this!
8/10
5/5

-Review Request Club-

EagleGuard responds:

Hey man, first off: thanks once again for the massive review! xD I'll try to fix the volume problem in the future. And about the bass, I already changed it before you reviewed the song, so it should be just right now ;)

Glad you like the orchestra + rock combination. It's also one of my favourite genres to compose, so I'll be happy to write more such pieces in the future. Perhaps I'll even throw in some electronic, just for the fun of it =p

There's so many great tips in here that I'm not going to respond to them individually. I'll make good use of them all though ;)

Yes, I did use stormdrum for the percussion. I think it sounds nice and it gets the job done =p

Again, thanks for the review! I'll try to improve on the points you stated here ;)

[Graveyard Shift (Loop)]

Not much to say about it...

It's a pretty cool loop. Too bad it's only six seconds because I hate writing reviews which don't reach the character limit :P.

Anyway, I'll start by saying that I agree with Nomader about making some room for the beat. I think the drums would definitely sound a lot more intense if you give them some more importance. Having said that the beat was very good and you lined it up very nicely to the rhythms of the bass. I think that's one of the best qualities of this loop.

The drums themselves were great, and you chose good samples. The snare in particular was very fitting, and the fast-paced hats really added to the intense feel of the loop. If I had to complain about anything, it'd be the kick, which I think should have a tiny bit more of a thump to it. I'm not such an avid listener of drum'n'bass so I'm not sure if a more powerful kick will help, but it could be worth a try, since at times the kick does get drowned out by the other sounds.

And lastly I guess this loops perfectly so I can't complain there. If you were to continue it, I'd suggest starting it softly and full of suspense before moving on to this part, because in my opinion such a contrast will give the song more of an epic sound to it. By the way, I liked the synth you used in the background in the second part of the loop. Very fitting.

Anyway, as I said, there's not much to talk about. Six seconds, although they're packed with potential, so good luck if you ever continue this!
7/10
4/5

-Review Request Club-

Psil0 responds:

Before I start with my comment, fair reviews from you both btw.

Also, I was thinking of building it in slowly, not so much in an eerily ambient sense, but more in a gradual fill in of all the different parts.

And I can agree with the kick drum, that's something I'll definitely look into emphasizing a little more especially since the genre is call drum and bass lol.

Once again, a fair review and I'll definitely take into consideration what you said.

[A Hero's Last Stand Remastered]

Some little problems here and there...

...But an impressive submission. It's a shame that you use only soundfonts because making a song as cool as this with just soundfonts shows how good you'll do with proper VST's. Anyway, all in all I found it to be an epic, well-thought out submission, and like your last, the whole 'Video Game final battle' sound really stands out. Now time to annoy you with some constructive criticism :D.

Alright, to start with, I really liked the instrument choice. The guitar in the background fit very nicely and its patterns were rhythmic and catchy. The strings provide a wonderful amount of tension to the piece, and they sound particularly good at 1:43. That being said I think what really made the difference would be your use of chimes and xylophones. I think they added a unique touch to the submission, giving the listener something more light to listen to, as opposed to the power chords of the guitar, the thumping drums, etc...

XayberOptix's horns were also a really wonderful addition. When comparing this to the original one, I immediately noticed that the other one sounded a bit more empty and if I had to review that one I'd definitely point out that it needed more depth, but over here Xayber's horns filled up that emptiness very nicely and really leaves the listener with that epic feel after a full listen.

Now, while the instrument choice was pretty much spot on, as you might already know the instrument quality isn't as good. The the choir in particular, stand out as a little fake (I suggest looking into Magnus Choir for choirs - it's what I use and sounds very realistic and pleasant). I won't reduce any marks for that, because it's not your fault, but it's worth mentioning, and heck, on the whole the instruments sounded good, and you don't always need a realistic sound to get a cool sound ;).

The composition was really nice, and gave the song a somewhat heroic feel to it, which makes it fit perfectly with the name. The main melody is rememberable and catchy. Not only that, but it was varied well throughout the song, and the subtle changes you made around the melody gave the song a fantastic amount of variety. The melody especially shined in the part at 2:25, and playing the woodwind instrument on its own and then introducing more instruments at 2:38 was a great idea.

Now for one problem I have with the song. Despite the horns in the song which gave it the depth it needed, at times I thought that the song's melody was a bit underpowered and drowned out by the background instruments.Here I think some mixing/mastering would help out.

For instance, you can EQ the instruments to give them their own space in the mix to achieve more clarity. Maybe you can increase the high end of some of the instruments carrying the melody to make them sound clearer, and some stereo separation will help. Still, I wouldn't worry about it. Even though I think the main melody could be more definable/distinct, it still sounds alright the way it is.

I don't have a lot to say about the transitions. Even though I'm known to be fussy when it comes to transitions, I'm glad to say that I liked all of the transitions in this song :3. They were smooth and fit well. The transitions at 1:16 and 2:22 were probably my favourite transitions. There were similar transitions in the older version, but they sound better with Xayber's horns in this one :D. The ending was perfect, and although I think the intro is a tad too simple with just a snare roll, it's alright...

The drums on the whole were very fitting and wonderfully varied. That being said, I think that the kick and snare are too drowned out and should be heard more. Other than that, the drums were pretty much flawless, and I liked the changes you did to a marching rhythm throughout the song.

Well, since I'm now running out of characters, I'll just say that I've been listening to the song more times than I have fingers and I enjoyed it throughout. I'd give you a 9 for the small nitpicks I mentioned, but I'd hate to ruin your perfect 10/10 score, so here's a 10! :P. Keep it up!
10/10
5/5

-Review Request Club-

Shiverwar responds:

I can always count on you for a wall of words, dude. I always enjoy reading your reviews, no matter how long they are, because even though you're younger than I am, you've got a severe advantage over me, and because of that, I love hearing what you have to say.

Yes, sadly, I'm still limited by soundfonts, but I try to do what I can with them to make the best of them. I heard the kick drums just fine. I DID use a compressor to get the kick drums to stand out more, because I listened to it without the compressor, and it just didn't have the same power. Now my favorite part of the song is the interlude I had, with the instrument "Atmosphere" going about its own solo part.

Yeah, I agree with the xylophone parts (they're actually vibraphones, but hey, who's keeping track?) giving it more of a light feeling, as if it were a prelude to the battle that comes as soon as the song gets its power. And yes, I really love the fact that Xayber pitched in with the horns when he did. I never thought that this song could have gotten better without his help.

Yeah, this song does still need work, but I think when compared with Endless Confrontation, this has to be probably my best work yet. Of course, these days I'm very limited on material due to some problems I'm having on the home front here, but I'm doing my absolute best to tend to the needs of Newgrounds' Audio Portal. Still, I wish I had what you had, that East/West Symphonic Orchestra VST so I can fiddle around with it and see what I can do, but alas I'm flat broke.

The heroic feel was what I was aiming for! I always did ones that sounded dark or just pure battle. I wanted to have one that had a heroic basis, like that of a hero backed up against the gates of his city, defending it from an onslaught of opponents until his dying breath.

Again, thank you for your always marvelous reviews, and I hope to hear from you again!

--Shawn--

[Reasoner- Dear World]

One of your best...

I'll start by saying that this is one of the songs which I listen to the most. I spend every school morning (while waiting for the lessons to start) going somewhere on my own, far away from all the noise that the other students make, and listening to music on my mobile, and your songs, particularly this one, are the songs that I listen to the most. It's incredible that someone can fit so much emotion and meaning into around four minutes of music. Even though I have tonnes of school work to handle, I can't help but review this, but expect a review full of praise...

What strikes me the most is obviously that melody. It's by far the best melody I've ever heard, and I seriously envy your wonderful ability to make such emotional and brilliant melodies. The introduction instantly sets off the mood and the tune entrances the listener from the start. I'm assuming that you played this yourself (or grabbed a realistic piano sample and spent a ridiculous amount of time playing with the notes in a piano roll to make it sound like it was played and not written in a piano roll), because the dynamics here are superb. The occasional subtle crescendos such as the one at 0:25, despite being such a small addition, really work well.

Another thing I like about your melody is that its progression is so well done. You started it off in a high octave, and after every bar you leave a small amount of silence to let everything sink in, and then the melody progresses, filling in all that silence that can be initially heard in the intro (I'm aware that what I said doesn't make any sense >.>). All of these little things definitely make the melody a pleasure to listen to, not to mention the fact that the melody has so much emotion. I can literally leave this song on loop for ages, just because of that amazing melody.

After the first section finishes, the song undergoes a bit of a mood change at around 1:20, possessing a more uplifting, joyous sound than the first section. While I admit that I preferred the first section more (which is probably personal preference), this section also sounds sublime. I also like the transition with that reverse effect.

At this section you're introducing more instruments, and the piano takes the role as a background, supporting instrument, not carrying the melody anymore. This change offers a solid amount of variety, and can keep the listener interested till the end. I also enjoyed hearing the synth strings in the background. They offer a fantastic sense of depth to the song, something which wasn't present in the first part of the song.

The clarinet (or oboe or whatever that instrument is, but let's just call it a clarinet) at 2:18 was introduced excellently. To be honest I definitely didn't expect a clarinet to come in and carry the melody, but it worked out a lot better than I expected, and sounds right at home with the piano and strings accompanying it. My only concern here is that I think it clips a bit (namely in the higher notes) so you may want to do some EQing. I'm probably wrong though - I'm deaf from one ear so spotting clipping is just hit-and-miss for me...

By the way, I liked the really subtle percussion that plays towards the end of the song. It helps to give that climatic feel to the second section, while providing something else to listen to in the background. I find it hard to make drums for soft songs without ruining their atmosphere so I commend you on managing to make such fitting drums. If there was anything I'd change, it's the ending. The fade ending didn't work out so well, in my opinion. I liked the ending you did for Living Transparent - maybe you could do something similar over here?

All in all, I love this song. I listen to it almost everyday (along with Living Transparent, I'm Still Here, Champions Green and The Last Flight) and it deserves all the 10/10's it can get. You've managed make something as emotional and wonderful as this, after reading a piece of literature written by someone else. Now that's what I call a musician's talent.
10/10
5/5
Download.
Fav'd.

-Review Request Club-

[-ganon95- The Liquid Fact]

Some really good BGM music...

Really liking this song, from the varied and catchy drum rhythms to the awesome underwater feel. What really strikes me in this song is that I can see this right at home in a game set in a water/factory level, and it really sounds good as background music. It even sounds good on its own, but I find it particularly good as BGM for a game, so I'll keep it in mind if someone's looking for game music over in the Audio Forum. ANYWAY, on to the review.

My favourite thing about this is that you managed to create a wonderful atmosphere where I can easily imagine myself in both a factory and underwater, making this fit with the name flawlessly. I think one particular thing that contributed to the atmosphere would be that echo-ish sound effect played throughout the song (heard clearly at 1:35). The use of square wave synths also help evoke that underwater feel, especially that background pad thing.

That being said, I have one suggestion which might make the atmosphere even better. The chimes in the beginning are a nice touch, although I think you should increase their high end a bit more and give them a good amount of reverb, until they sound a bit like a sort of sonar. I think that fits very well in underwater-type songs, although I'm not sure if it might work out. Give it a try.

Speaking of reverb, I think the song sounds a tad bit too dry. It might be just me, but in my opinion even though the song gives out a really nice atmosphere, I find some sounds a bit too dry, namely the drums and some of the leads. Perhaps if you give them a bit more of an echo without mudding up the mix (especially the drums which sound a bit too rough) then it might give the song a bit more depth and help with that underwater feel.

Regarding the drums, I really like them. They were varied very well and even though they were meant to be in the background, they still feel like a main part of the song. The kick is nice and bassey, the snare was fitting and the hats are very clear and work out well. Maybe you could make the hi-hat at 2:24 a bit less rough on the high end since it sticks out too much, I think, but other than that I have no complaints with the drums. I like the crash too.

Regarding the melodies, I can't complain much either. The progression of the melody was decent, the melodies were catchy, and as SBB pointed out, that major third sure does fit. Towards the end of the song the melodies got even better and all of the tunes and melodies were a pleasure to listen to. Nice work in this department.

Additionally, the song was quite well structured, and all of the different sections meshed together nicely. I *love* the ambient changeover in the middle of the song (at around 1:35). It provided a good amount of variety and sounded really awesome at the same time. One thing regarding the structure/variety is that I think some of the melodies were repeated a bit too much at times, for example the chimes melody at the beginning. Try and give your melodies subtle changes in the notes at times. It may not seem like much but in my opinion it really makes a song more interesting.

There isn't really much to say about the transitions. They were all well executed. I especially liked the transition at 1:35-ish, where you fade out the lead with some filter automation and then used a reverse cymbal to move on to the next section.

Random suggestions time... I think the intro could have started off with a bit more of a gradual progression. I mean it immediately starts off with those drums when maybe you could've introduced the drums gradually later on and used the first few bars of the song to build up an atmosphere. If this was a loop I wouldn't complain about the intro, but for a full song it could've been a bit better. Also at 2:36-ish I think you should introduce another element to the track like a bass pad to make that part more climatic. Just a suggestion...

Anyway, all in all I really enjoyed this track, and my only complaints are small nitpicks. Keep up the great work and thanks again for reviewing Beyond Control!
9/10
5/5

-Review Request Club-

ganon95 responds:

thanks :P

yeah i do agree with some of these things, one thing i try to do is add alot of good stuff without overdoing it, basically i try to keep it minimal but filled in at the same time. but thats just my style.

i do kinda agree with the gradual drum build up, ill have to try that and see if it sounds good :) i also like that 'sonar' idea ill give that a try too

thnx for the review!

[Dream Among The Stars]

One of your best...

Haven't reviewed you in a while - missed my reviews? :3. Anyhow, I should probably review this, seeing as along with a few other of your songs like Crystalline Cloudscape and Soar, this is one of your songs which I listen to the most. Why it wasn't accepted in the EP is a mystery, but whatever...

The atmosphere of this submission is undoubtedly what stands out in it. The sounds are all so well chosen, from the piano which keeps the main melody flowing wonderfully to the background instruments such as the choir with the cool EQ on it. The atmosphere definitely reminds me of a starry night sky, which I assume was the intention you had when making the song.

I also like the little details you put into this such as the echoing click sounds which you can hear pretty clearly at around 2:27 and the constant sweeping sound you had going in the background. Not only did these small additions fill up the background nicely but they contribute a lot to the atmosphere, which is awesome. The various effects around the song were also very fitting.

Still, what probably did it for me would be the two climaxes, especially the one at 1:41. Just hearing the transition from a calm part with minimalistic percussion to a sudden cool sweep effect and a much more powerful climax is amazing, which brings me to the transitions. They are all so smooth, strengthened by some superb effects. I also love the subtle entrance of the piano at the beginning, playing the main melody.

Now for the structure, and this is also excellent (as usual I'm finding it hard to stop complimenting you in my reviews). What I particularly liked was that despite the fact that the melody didn't change that much throughout the song, this definitely doesn't get repetitive at all, probably because of all the different layers of sound you put into this, as Kebess pointed out. The fact that a similar melody plays continuously throughout the song made it very memorable and catchy.

Speaking of melodies, the melody here is great in my opinion, albeit a bit more unoriginal than the other aspects of the song. As I already said, it's catchy and has a great hook to it. What I think was a particularly nice touch was the fact that in the softer parts you can hear the melody very clearly but when the song reaches a climax the other sounds take over and even then you can faintly hear the melody playing in the background. This is original because you usually hear melodies being played in the foreground and the other atmospheric sounds complimenting it, not the other way round.

Maybe you could've changed the melody a bit since the song basically revolves around that same melodic idea, but like I said, it's not too much of a problem since the number of different layers of sounds and effects provide enough variety to keep me interested for the whole four minutes that the song plays in.

Regarding the production, I really don't have much to say. Everything was EQ'd to perfection and the song was just the right loudness. Not much to talk about when it comes to the intro and outro either, since they were both awesome. The intro began perfectly with a calm and peaceful sweeping effect followed by the piano, and additionally the song ended flawlessly.

The only one thing which I'm not really that keen on here is the percussion. The drum sounds themselves are pretty good, namely the clap/snare, but I just don't think the percussion is up to standard with the energy that this track manages to possess. It could be just me though, I'm not particularly good with techno drums myself anyway...

All in all, this is one of my favourite songs from you and it's only fair to review it after I listen to it around three play-through's a day while walking alone in the out-of-bounds sections of school in the lunchbreak >.>. If I had to really complain about anything, it'd be the percussion, and maybe the fact that you could fit in a few alternate melodies, but these minor faults aren't enough to make me lose interest in this song by far. Keep up the good work!
10/10
5/5
Download.
Fav'd.

-Review Request Club-

ErikMcClure responds:

The drums have always bothered me in this song but I've never dared touch it for fear of ruining its atmosphere.

['11 The SuperBugs Attack]

Nightmares...

This track gives me NIGHTMARES. Seriously, this is by far one of the most high quality, detailed submissions entered into the contest. The tension, the excitement, the fear; all portrayed absolutely flawlessly in this stunning track. You're one hell of a competitor man, I very much doubt my piece can stand a slight chance against this. Excellent work!

Probably what got me would be the atmosphere, which was so well done that I literally felt something creeping up my leg while writing this review. I loved the general atmosphere, and I definitely imagined what you were going for from beginning to end. The constant syncopation of the staccato notes and drum hits, the occasional dissonance, the fast pace... these small details all contributed towards the tension-filled atmosphere.

Another thing which I noticed was that you seemed to have two different moods in the song. One is ambient, slow, and full to the brim with suspense, which can be clearly heard in the intro and outro especially, and another is a dangerous, powerful and exciting mood which plays throughout most of the song. I just wanted to point out that despite these two moods being considerably different, you still managed to mix them together perfectly, which I loved :D.

What got me the most would without doubt be those brass stabs, though. You managed to give them such a dangerous feel. I remember you mentioning that you find it annoying to take away that marching sound from your brass staccatos, but I can assure you that you managed to get rid of it over here, without a doubt. The brass is just so incredibly fitting, and simply listening to it really gets you in the mood of the song.

The instrumentation is brilliant. I can hear all sorts of different orchestral instruments there, from brass to strings to woodwind to percussion, the whole lot. You even added a choir later on in the song, and I must admit that it fit a lot better than I thought it would. Just excellent.

Production-wise, I really can't complain. Despite all sorts of things happening in the song, and instruments playing at the same time, the mix was never cluttered and everything sounded wonderfully clear. The EQing was particularly good too in my opinion. If I had to complain over here, it's that I think you could have added a bit more bass to the percussion. While the percussion was extremely fitting and done well, I think it might be missing from that powerful bass thump I look for when hearing orchestral percussion of this type. I'm probably wrong though.

When it comes to variation and structure, I loved every bit of it. The song never got repetitive and this song merits a handful of listens just to let everything sink in. There's so much detail put into this piece that every time I hear it again, I'm always hearing something new. The excellent mix of ambient/suspense and danger/excitement which I mentioned above helped towards the variation too.

While the track really doesn't stand out for its melodies as much as it does in its instrumentation and atmosphere I still enjoyed the composition. What I particularly liked would be the rhythms you used in the song. They were well varied, and you had a lot of syncopated rhythms here and there, which really add towards a certain unpredictability that the track has.

Lastly, I'll comment about the transitions. For the most part they were smooth, but the only transition which I didn't like would be the one at 0:41-ish. Sure, it wasn't abrupt or anything, but I feel as though you could have done much more with it. I don't think I really feel the impact of the song suddenly switching to such a dangerous mood as much as I could have. I think you could have made the buildup prior to 0:41 a bit more effective. Could be just me however, I'm known to be picky with transitions.

All in all I thoroughly enjoyed this. Other than the drums being a bit lacking in bass and the transition at 0:41, both which are probably personal opinion, this track is perfect. Good luck in the competition and superb job on this!
10/10
5/5
Download.
Fav'd.

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[{dj-N} Chiptune In My Pants]

An original idea, but maybe too original?

It's a really nice song overall. The production of the song was very, very good, as usual. Not only that, but mixing the three different genres of electro house, chiptune and orchestral, some of which have nothing to do with each other, was a very original idea, and each of the three genres played an important role in the song. Nice work.

Probably, the main trait of this submission would be the genre mix, so I'll comment about that first. Like I said above, it was an original idea. That being said, I don't think the orchestral parts fit as well as they could've fit. The orchestral parts almost sounded extra, and when the song almost randomly switched to another genre (like from the intro to 0:22), it took me by surprise and made me feel that the song is a bit random. Sure, the orchestral parts on their own were great, and there were some decent transitions from electro house/chiptune to orchestral and vice versa (such as 1:14 which was abrupt and takes the listener by surprise, but still a good transition), but the problem is that adding orchestral elements made the song almost lose its identity and start sounding a tad bit random.

On to the production, I can't say I wasn't impressed. The mix was well balanced, and the mastering and mixing overall was sublime. I think you could have added a bit more bass to the saw lead that came in around 0:22 - 0:24, but that's probably just me. I heard no noticeable clipping, and everything was heard clearly. Nice, nice :D.

The melodies weren't exactly the strong point of this submission, but then again they're not supposed to be so I won't comment about them. Like in your other songs, though, the rhythms are varied and very interesting, especially the rhythms of the chiptune elements. While at times the song can get uninteresting, it's the variety of rhythms and sounds which'll probably keep a listener 1enjoying it till the end. Oh, and even though orchestral didn't fit that well in the song, the part at 1:14 was really nice, and the subtle entrance of the strings really did it for me. On to the next paragraph.

The percussion was very good, and got you a few points. The transitions from one percussion style to another were pretty smooth. I'm hearing orchestral drums (0:07), electro house drums (0:22) and chiptune drums (0:29). The chiptune and electro house drums were mixed together particularly well, so good job over there. The occasional use of crash cymbals and reverse cymbals worked out rather well too, and helped a lot in the transitions. I have no complaints with the percussion.

Lastly, I'll talk about the intro and outro. The intro, while not being anything special, built up to the main theme rather well. While I think you could have made the very beginning of the intro a bit more interesting instead of just piano and a random brass staccato, it's still a good intro which does the song justice. As for the ending, you mixed electro house with chiptune quite well before ending it in a trancy manner with sidechaining on a crash cymbal. Pretty good ending, if not a bit abrupt.

All in all, I enjoyed this song. The randomness of the genres is a bit of the shame, and I did mention a few nitpicks such as the slightly uninteresting intro, slightly abrupt outro, etc... but that's not to say it's a bad song. Keep it up.
9/10
4/5

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Note: This is your NGADM competition Round 4 review, which I took ages to post on here.