Step's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[What I Am (Mans0n)]

Another somewhat generic song...

...Again, I can't really say that there's anything wrong with this track. The production is great, and the whole thing sounds like it's been made by someone who knows their way around their DAW and has been making house/trance for a long time. Like you probably already know, I don't enjoy house/progressive trance, so this review may be a bit biased, but personally I think the biggest defect in this is the same as in your other songs, the fact that it sounds so similar to any other house song. Anyway, I'll review it as I go along...

0:00 (Intro) - A pretty bland intro, to be honest, maybe you could start it with an effect or some subtle synth/melodic sound. Still, I suppose the minimal sounds and effects come in at 0:06 anyway so I don't have much to complain about. The kick sounded good, if not a slight bit lacking in bass, and the clap sounds awesome.

0:36 - Hmm... It starts getting repetitive here. I like the variation you did on the kick beat, when I first heard it I thought my computer was sticking lol.

0:52 - I'm relieved to hear a new element enter. It was getting pretty repetitive. I'm also hearing some filtered noise in the background which was a nice touch. Still, I feel that this part keeps on going for too long; the filtered noise soon dies away, and everything starts becoming repetitive again.

1:51 - Again, I'm grateful for this change. I'm not really liking the transition though, I think it sounds a bit too abrupt, although that could be just me. The synth you're using here sounds awfully generic, but it worked well and sounded cool.

The filtered noise in the background worked well here too, although I would've liked to hear it increase in volume a bit more before the song moves to the next section.

2:12 - The transition was very smooth, so nice job there. In addition, I love the sidechaining you did here, it was surely a nice touch. The melody was decent, although the song stays mostly minimal, so I can't expect too much from it. So far there's a great structure, even if it's really generic.

From here onwards till the outro there are a few subtle changes in the beat and in the melody, although the rhythm of the melody stays mostly the same, so I would've liked to see a few more rhythmic changes in the melody. It started to get a bit repetitive too...

3:10 - Here you fade the filtered noise out, which was cool, and you get ready for the outro. Unfortunately it's an extremely generic approach for an outro to a house song...

3:23 (Ending) - Not such a bad ending, but catches the listener by surprise, since it ends quite suddenly. Oh and there was too much silence at the end, in my opinion, but that's not such a big problem.

Conclusion:
It's a cool song, and after turning the volume up a little more than I would usually do and listening hard, I can see that you really know what you're doing with your DAW. There are loads of really subtle sounds here and there which I wouldn't catch on my first listen, which gives this song some replay value.

Basically, the main thing which I'll whine about would be the fact that it's so generic. The beats and sounds are typical of a house song, so's the ending and the intro, and overall it's structured like so many other generic house songs out there. To me, a song being generic is indeed a big problem, since it sounds like so many other songs, and I could just download another generic song of the same genre and enjoy it to somewhat the same extent, most of the time.

If this had more unique sounds, interesting new sections, and maybe some more non-generic variations of the beat, then I think that it would do way more good than it would do harm.

Anyway, other than the fact that it's generic (along with a few other nitpicks I mentioned such as the excessive silence at the end) I think this song is pretty much flawless. It has superb production, and has a sort of relaxing vibe to it. Not really much else to say; keep up the great work I suppose, and I hope your future submissions manage to incorporate a few more unique elements to them.
8/10
4/5

-Review Request Club-

Mans0n responds:

Thanks for the very detailed review steph! I will definitely work on the things you mentioned.

[-[FR]- Summer Love]

Not as good as your other track...

...I don't think this is as good as Golden Meadow Sunset. It sounds much more beginner-ish than Golden Meadow Sunset and sounds a little annoying to listen to as well, but I suppose that for someone who recently started with FL it isn't too bad. Definitely sounds like it was made with FL Studio though, you could've used some different sounds, especially for the percussion :P.

The melodies aren't really too special. The beginning melody was decent, but still quite simplistic, and throughout the song the melodies did get a bit repetitive. The rhythms were really simple too; a lot of the time you only had notes only playing on every beat, which led to this sounding really bland and annoying. Firstly I think you should use a better chord progression and make your melodies have more of a hook to them and be catchier, and secondly I think you should vary the rhythms a bit more. The first melody was basically 2 crotchets and 4 quavers repeating itself, and the second was just a bunch of crotchets, so I really think you should make the rhythm better. Also, I don't know if it's just me, but I spotted a lot of dissonance which didn't work so well...

The synths you used sounded pretty annoying too, to be honest. They sound like FL presets, and don't really have much life to them, if you get what I mean. They sound really bland, with lack of any reverb or effects. Actually, this whole song sounds very dry and sounds as if it needs some reverb or delay effects to give it a bit more depth. If you need any help with adding effects to your sounds or synthesizing, just PM me :). Anyway, the sound of the synths themselves isn't anything to special. I think if you made your own synths or used presets from great VST's like Hypersonic, Pro-53 or z3ta+, then you could definitely make use of better sounds. You can even make your own synths using Sytrus, with an amazing tutorial found here:
http://blackhole12.newgrounds.com/new s/post/80532
That is, providing you have Sytrus. Also, I really think you could've used more sounds. You only used 2 different synths and percussion, and the 2 different synths sounded somewhat similar (alliteration unintended :P) to each other.

The transitions were all quite amateur to be honest. They weren't really that bad, but they weren't too special either. I like your use of a crash cymbal to introduce some new sections of the song, but other than that the transitions were pretty simple. I can't say that they were bad though, so decent job I suppose. New instruments were introduced pretty well...

The structure was quite weird. You repeated the main melody a few times in the intro, then moved to another simple melody, and back to the main melody again. I suppose I can't really complain about the structure, but the problem is that it makes the song quite repetitive, meaning you need more alternate melodies to vary it a bit more. The intro was pretty simple, can't really complain about it, but I liked that you gradually introduced new elements to the song as time passed. The ending was a bit strange, topped with a weak crash cymbal, so there's room for improvement over there.

The percussion was also quite dry, bland and simple. Not only that, but it's the default hat, clap and snare of FL Studio, so whenever someone hears it, they'd immediately think it's bad percussion. Here you can find loads of percussion samples:
http://www.darkbeats.com/sampleswap/
Also, the beat was very simple. There was a clap every 2 beats, snare every beat and hat every half beat. The clap sounded very dry too, it could definitely do with some reverb on it. Furthermore, the drum beat needs a few more subtle changes to it, I think.

Anyway, all in all, I don't think this is as good as the other track which I reviewed. It's not too shabby for a beginner, but has loads of room for improvement. I don't really think it has as much potential as Golden Meadow Sunset did, but it's not too bad. Pretty good work in all, good luck in your future submissions, and sorry if this review came out as a little too harsh...
6/10
3/5

-Review Request Club-

[Sweet Wish]

Quirky.

Well, I must say that this fit very well in the 'Drug the Mouse' submission which I had to review since it was requested in the club. You can't begin to imagine how many times I've been listening to this track, since I spent so long trying to beat the other reviewers' high scores xD. Yeah, that being said, this is a very enjoyable piece. It has so many quirky synths and melodies that I couldn't help but smile in some parts of the song. Good work.

The way I see it, the melodies are definitely the highlight of this submission. As I said, they were really quirky and as iHeartQuistis said, it's not that hard to notice that there indeed is a lot of talent in the melodic section. The melodies actually sound very unique with a nice chord progression and very good rhythms. I like the small melody playing at the very beginning, and the main melody coming at 0:29 was excellent, and I'm sure it won't be easy to get it out of my head.

Another thing which was cool was that the background depth always changed. Sometimes you had an offbeat bass, sometimes you had some pitch-bent square waves, sometimes you had this cool plucked sound, etc... I could listen to this more than once and hear something new in the background. On the other hand, I really would've liked to hear more alternate melodies, since the main melody at 0:29 sounds overused to me, since it was used quite a few times in the song. This led to the song sounding quite predictable, which is a bummer.

The instruments weren't too special. They all sounded quite dry, and while I liked some delay effects you put on a few instruments, the sounds weren't really anything special. The square synth you used at the beginning was nice, but other than that, I think you could have been a bit more original and creative with your synths. There's a piano too, which really didn't work in this song I think. If you need to know how to make synths, and you have Sytrus, then this is probably the best tutorial for how to make synths that there is:
http://blackhole12.newgrounds.com/new s/post/80532
In-depth, but still in such simple and easy-to-follow diction. I think it'll definitely help you out. If not, you can download VST's like Nexus (2), z3ta+ and Vanguard.

On the other hand, the transitions were all very well executed. Each section flowed smoothly to the next, and the only transition which I think could use a bit of work would be the transition at 1:15. You introduce a new, slightly louder and more high pitched plucked synth, making it sound like it came out of nowhere. Giving it a bit of emphasis when it comes in like adding a crash cymbal or fading it in would definitely help not make the transition so sudden.

The structure was pretty unique. A common structure is keeping a similar background but varying the foreground, but it sounds like you varied the background more than the foreground. This has both an advantage and a disadvantage; advantage being that you have a unique structure which makes this song sound quite original, and disadvantage being that most users focus on what's playing in the foreground making this sound a little repetitive... So yeah, I think you should still vary the foreground a bit, maybe by adding some subtle changes to the melodies. However, both the intro and outro were superb, so nice job there :D.

The percussion was cool. You actually added a tambourine to a song like this, so you get some points for originality :P. The beats were good, and I loved the drum transitions, especially the one at 0:27. The drum samples could've been a bit more interesting, but other than that, I was impressed by your drums. I also liked that kick hit thing you first introduced at 0:46.

As an overall conclusion, this is a cool submission. You've definitely got all the melodies nailed perfectly, and all the stuff in the background including the drums were awesome. The two main defects in this would be the lack of alternate melodies/repetition in foreground and the bland instruments. Other than that, this is one heck of an awesome song. Good job!
9/10
5/5

-Review Request Club-

Radidsh responds:

Jezuz, I had no idea I would get this good of a feedback. X3 I was even unsure whether to submit this song or not in the start.

This is the so far last *proper project* song I made in Fruity Loops which is not a remix or the like of another song, like my Pokémon renewal projects, so perhaps I am improving after all (though not had too much activity as of late)?

I find it exciting how you heard this song in the "Drug The Mouse" flash game submission first. I am happy to be a part of others' work, and I am very excited to know how someone decided to use my song in their own work.

Once again, I never knew how to modify or create new instruments, but then again, I never did anything other than try searching for instruments in general online. Thank you so much for linking to the tutorial and giving more hints on what I can do here, it should be time for me to get off my lazy bum and jump onto a brand new project, try to get better and, this time hopefully with more exciting new tweaked instruments and the like, not sounding as dull.

My whole big dream was to make songs that others could listen to more than once and actually enjoy, which is why I am so happy to hear that you liked it.

Thank you for the awesomely kind words and the constructive review!! =3

[A Ticking Time Bomb]

Certainly an original idea...

I like your idea. Making a song completely out of bells. It definitely works well with the title, and for some reason I find it quite enjoyable. At times it does sound a bit weird, but it's quite an enjoyable piece with a variety of different sounds in it, since it uses so many different bell sounds. Good work, I enjoyed listening to it.

The melodies are good and I surely enjoyed listening to them. I loved the background melody you played with those bells at 0:06, and the melody at 1:21 was cool too. The main melodies which start playing at 0:17 were quite fast paced and added to the tension. Actually, this whole song is covered with tension and anxiety which I really like since it fits so well with the name. Basically all of the melodies were sublime.

However, after reading your author's comments, I'll have to agree with you about adding a climax. The song does have its moments, but it never really turns into an epic climax; the whole song sounds like a buildup to something big which never comes. I think so far you gave the song a 'tension as the time runs out' feel to it. If you add a climax, maybe that could signify that the time ran out and there was a huge explosion, and then maybe a slower, sadder, ambient part after this climax to resemble the aftermath of the explosion.

The bell samples you used were awesome. I was quite surprised by their quality, and the sounds work very well. I especially liked the bell sound you used for the bells in the background which can be first heard at the very beginning. The instrument choice, like I already said, made this song sound quite unique. I never actually heard a song on NG which incorporates so many different bell sounds and actually sounds good. While I think I'd prefer a song with more instruments than just bell sounds, I think that would take away from the originality of this piece so I suppose I don't really have much to complain about when it comes to the instruments :D.

The transitions are quite interesting. Some sections of the song came in earlier than others, so some sections surprised me when they entered. This furthermore added to the tension. I don't think there are any transitions which sound off, I definitely liked all of the transitions in this. New bell sounds were introduced very well too, although I would've liked to see some more powerful buildups throughout the song, since I think they would definitely help the suspenseful atmosphere and anxiety in this.

The structure was excellent. You had a background melody which you played throughout the song which structured the song nicely, and every new section complimented the last. Variety was also great, especially considering that you only used bell sounds. Furthermore, the intro was excellent, but the ending was weak at best. I think the ending has a lot of room for some epic climax or something. Could be just me and my obsession for climaxes, but I think that the best place to add a climax would be a little after the final, note of the ending, and then adding some sort of sad or ambient part like I said above, to signify the aftermath of a massive explosion.

Well, I can't really say much about the percussion since this song was basically all percussion. I think I heard a timpani in there though (0:35) but that could be another bell sound. What I would've liked to see would be some powerful bassey percussion such as bass-drums. I think that they would compliment the bells nicely, and definitely add to the excitement and tension of the piece. Maybe some cymbals could help achieve a more epic sound as well...

Overall, I was impressed that you managed to make a song sound awesome with just bell sounds. I think the main problem with this would be that there's no climax, which is why I gave you an 8. Maybe you could add some bass drums or cymbals too, and I'd love to hear more buildups throughout the song, but still, this really isn't such a bad start, and I enjoyed listening to it. Anyway, good job, keep up the fantastic work!
8/10
5/5 since this song got 0-bombed. 0-bombers suck :(.

-Review Request Club-

[Clayfacer - First Dubfuck]

Very cool.

You know, for your first attempt, this sounds very good. I personally don't like Dubstep that much, but if it wasn't a 28-second loop, then I would've downloaded it. Sure, the wobbles are badly executed, but heck, it's your first dubstep, and that's what practice is for, right?

The melodic section of this is probably what I liked most about it. This has a sort of entrancing sound to it, yet the rough bass gives this song its dubstep identity. Atmosphere was quite spacey yet still great, and I suppose I can't mention anything which I didn't like about the melodies. On the other hand, as I said above, the wobbles in this aren't that good. The wobbles are more like abrupt fade-ins rather than the proper LFO-wobbles that a dubstep song should have. I think that the wobbles are basically the biggest flaw of this submission, other than its length obviously.

The instruments you used were awesome. I really liked the bass, it was rough and powerful, and the spacey synths in the background were awesome. This is actually quite an original/unique dubstep song. Sure, the bass makes it clearly a dubstep song, but the spacey atmosphere in the background was really cool and I never heard anything like it in any other dubstep song. The production was pretty good too.

The transitions on the whole were fine. This is only a small loop so there obviously aren't many transitions, but I suppose that it flowed very smoothly. The structure/variety could be better though. My problem with it is that it's basically the same thing repeated twice. You could've easily made this a 14-second loop by cutting out exactly half of it and still produce the same result. I think that the second repetition of this could've had a few subtle changes to it, in my opinion. On the other hand, it looped perfectly, so good job.

To be perfectly honest with you, I didn't really notice the drums until I came to this paragraph where I usually talk about percussion. I mean, I was so entranced by the foreground that I didn't even notice that there were drums in the background xD. Having said that, the drums were great, just as dubstep drums should be. I would've liked a stronger kick, but that's about it.

Overall, for your first attempt, this is impressive. I think the main thing you should work on would be the wobbles, since the fact that this is only 28-seconds long and is basically 2 repetitions of the same thing is just because this is a small loop which doesn't need to be that long or have a complex structure. Work on the wobbles, and I'd have mistaken you for an experienced dubstep artist. Good luck making dubstep, and great work on the submission!
7/10
5/5 since this song got very badly 0-bombed.

-Review Request Club-

[Castles In The Sky (Mans0n)]

Cool :3.

While I do think that this song is pretty similar to any other progressive trance songs due to the almost identical structure, generic synths, etc... it's still enjoyable to listen to. Quite a simplistic piece to be honest, but even then this sounds great, so good job on it.

The melodies are really catchy, and work well in the song. I really liked the filter automation on the main synth, it definitely made the synth more interesting than it would have been if you simply automated its volume. That being said, I think you could add more melodies, since there was only one melody, played on top of some drums and effects. This would definitely help vary the song a bit more. Also, the background depth could use some work. As I said, this is a simple track, so there still is room to make it a bit more complicated while still keeping it fun to listen to. By this I mean that you could add some more effects, different synths etc...

The synth you used sounded cool, although it was pretty generic. Actually, the whole song sounds pretty generic. I personally really dislike songs which use same styles and same sounds as other songs, which is why I'm not going to download this. The main problem with Trance is that it's so hard to be original nowadays. I think that if you use your skills at producing to making more original-sounding songs, then it'd be awesome. Oh well... Basically what I'd like in this song would be some more synths as I hinted above. A pad would work really well here, or maybe some other synths or even more effects. Just some stuff to make this more interesting to listen to.

The transitions, like in your other songs, are superb. I suppose I can't really complain about them. I especially liked the transitions towards the end where you slowly took away some elements of the song to get to the ending. The buildups were also great.

Structure-wise, this had a generic structure. Buildup for the intro, climax, build down for the outro. I can't really complain much since this structure works well. The variety was good since you had a lot of variety in the drums, but the synth could have definitely been varied a bit more with some more melodies like I said. The intro was generic too, but worked well. Same with the outro, although I think the effect at the end could have lasted longer.

The drums are brilliant. As I said above, they were varied a lot, and I enjoyed listening to them. My only complaint with the drums would be the kick. It sounds really punchy and is taking over the mix too much at times, at least in my opinion. Other than that, the drum work was basically spot on, so good job over there.

Yeah, overall, I think the biggest problem with this submission would be that it's generic. Not to say that your work is bad, because I enjoy listening to your stuff, but I think that incorporating more unique sounds in your songs would make them much better. Keep up the great work nonetheless, you're a really talented Trance artist.
8/10
4/5

-Review Request Club-

Mans0n responds:

Nice review man, Thanks for all the advice and criticism! I will do my best to improve on the things you stated above!

[Pineapple Shoot Out]

Certainly good for your first attempt!

I'll have to admit that I enjoyed this. If you didn't say that this was your first attempt at electro-house then you would've easily fooled me into thinking you've been making electro-house for a good while. Good job this, I definitely enjoyed it!

The main melody (0:22) was extremely simple. I've definitely heard something like it before, to the point that I knew exactly what the next note would be while listening to it for the first time, and I think you need a few more alternate melodies, but still, the melody was very quirky and fit really well with its name for some odd reason. I enjoyed the pitch-bending/portamento you did on the synths, but I think that the main problem with this would be that after a while it gets a bit annoying to listen to. What I'm trying to say is, after one full listen of the song you don't really want to hear it again, and even throughout the song it gets quite annoying. I think a good way of fixing this is more variety, and maybe a few sections in the song which catch the listener by surprise like some ambient part or some epic break. Maybe a few more effects too.

The sounds were good. I liked all of the background elements you had playing along with the main melody. There was a number of different sounds playing at the same time, all of them quirky and fun to listen to, which makes this quite an enjoyable track. The bass at the beginning was awesome, and then that rough saw bass that came in afterwards was cool too. However, as I said above, you could've definitely used a few more sound effects throughout the song. Anything would work, as long as it breaks up the repetition a bit. I have a question though; did you add any panning in this song? I can't know for sure because I'm deaf from one ear, but I swear I heard some panning somewhere. Or maybe my ears (read: ear) are playing tricks on me xD.

The transitions were decent, although some of them could use a bit of work. 0:59 was quite a rough transition, where all of the background sounds except the kick disappeared all of a sudden. Maybe it could be a bit better if you added some sort of crash cymbal/hit right when the other sounds stop playing to indicate that they've exited the song with a smoother transition. Also, the transition to the busier part at 1:07 could have been a bit more interesting, such as maybe using some reverse cymbal or something. Finally, I think the transition at 1:22-ish was a bit sudden too, and again I think that a crash cymbal or hit of some sort will make it a bit smoother.

Still, the buildups were good, and in some parts you gradually introduced new stuff as the song went along, which worked very well. Not only that, but some transitions were also pretty cool, such as the transition to introduce the kick at the beginning.

The structure/variety was a bit typical for a House song to be honest. You had a set number of different elements (2 basses, some plucked sound that comes in for the first time at 1:07, the main melody that plays in the intro and the percussion) which you played at certain times in the song. I definitely think that somewhere around 1:22 you could introduce something new instead of grabbing an already-existing sound/melody and just repeating it with the percussion and some quiet plucks in the background.

As for the intro, I can't say how many times I've heard an intro like the one you have in other House songs, where you start with all the percussion except the kick every beat, and then the kick comes in with a smooth transition. Still, it worked well. The outro wasn't too good though, it ended unexpectedly. Maybe you could consider a fade out?

The drums overall were very good. 2 things though; firstly, the kick sounds weak. I'd definitely appreciate a kick with more 'oomph' to it. Secondly, the clap was a bit too plain at the beginning. Other than that, the drums, albeit repetitive, were excellent :D.

As a summary, I'll just say that for your first attempt, this is an awesome submission. A bit generic, but keep it up!
8/10
5/5 because it's your first attempt :3.

-Review Request Club-

[Not To Be (Jeffaro)]

Superb!

I'm going to admit it, I don't like Heavy Metal, and I know very little about it. I'll have to be thankful that this song is a bit less rough than the usual Heavy Metal song :3. Anyway, sorry if my review ends up a bit short, as I said, I know very little about Heavy Metal :/.

The riffs were very catchy. Loved the one at the beginning, and the one at 1:32 was catchy too. Overall I enjoyed hearing your riffs, and your time signature of 3/8 (or is that 3/4? Sorry, I'm inexperienced at music theory) was also awesome, and your almost seamless switching to 4/4 was impressive too. I enjoyed the slow part at the end, since I thought it would end at 2:05, but there was even more to it. As for the vocals, they were sung well, I suppose, but they were a bit weak. Either you turn their volume up, turn the guitar/drums down or just sing with a bit more power.

The guitar was superb quality, but I suppose that's what you get for recording real guitars :3. Wish I knew how to play an electric guitar properly, or had a non-retarded mike for starters, but oh well, I have to stick to unrealistic guitar VST's for now.

The transitions are very good. At first I thought that the transition from one time signature to another at the beginning was a bit weird, but now I think it sounds fine. I especially like the transition to the slow part at 2:06-ish. Yeah, transitions are awesome :D.

The structure is good. Repeating the intro riff at 1:56 was a nice touch, and ending it with the slow section was good too. Maybe the lyrics could have come in 2 bars later than they did, but that could be just me. What I think could've been a bit more structured would be the lyrics. They only played in an unexpectedly short section of the song. Maybe you could add a chorus for the vocals, and think up a few more verses, repeating the chorus every now and again. I think you should try and make the vocals take up a bit more of the song. The variety, on the other hand, was good. Maybe the riff at 1:32 could have had a few more subtle changes since it did get a slight bit repetitive, but, again, that's probably just my bias.

The intro was a nice way to start the song. The drums started, and soon you introduced the guitar, which provided a powerful intro. The ending was also brilliant, but I think you could've added an epic crash cymbal playing just when the last note plays to give it a bit more importance.

The drums were very well varied, and fit with the song really well. Perhaps they could've been a bit louder? I don't know, they seemed a bit too overpowered by the guitar and I think that making them louder will make the song sound a lot more powerful and epic.

All in all, I definitely enjoyed this submission. I usually hate Heavy Metal, but I still liked this submission. I can't give any less than a 10/10, because all of the defects I tried to point out in this song were just small nitpicks. Keep it up.
10/10
5/5
Sorry, no download... as I said, I don't enjoy Heavy Metal enough to download it, even if it's this good :P.

-Review Request Club-

Jeffaro responds:

Holy shit! This is by far the most detailed review that I've ever see!

Yeah.. That opening chugging riff in that weird time signiture is something that I cannot recreate. It just happened and it sounded cool. The trick to the transition to 4/4 was to have the drums put more emphasis on that timing. As for the vocals, yeah I can't sing for shit.

Well, as far as structure goes I take my time with songs in order to have the most solid sounding piece possible. I hate loosely thrown together songs.

Onto drums. I keep them at a low volume because they should too fake and crappy when they are cranked. No matter how good you mix them they will make the whole song sound bad if they are cranked. I am glad that I had enough variation though. That was my main concern with this song.

Thanks for the detailed review dude!