Step's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Gravitational Pull]

You can tell it's made by a beginner...

...but you can also tell that it's been made by a beginner who has a lot of potential to become a great artist. I don't know if it's the first song you ever made or not, but heck, it's your first submission, and it's pretty well done too, even though it has a number of different defects. Not a bad job in all.

The melodies are alright. They were pretty catchy, and sounded pretty spacey, making the song loyal to its name. My problem isn't the melodies, but the fact that the song is so hard to get a 'grasp' on, if you get what I mean. You remove synths at unexpected times, introduce synths/drums too early or too late, and with the main melody playing all over the place, it's hard to keep track of this song. Make it simple; a 4-bar intro or so, and then introduce the drums at the beginning of the 5th bar, add the bass at the beginning of the 9th bar and add some new instrument such as a pad or something at the beginning of the 13th bar, then continue from there on a simple and solid structure like that, since in my opinion, the song is very hard to keep track of. Yeah, you may not be understanding me pretty well, if not send me a PM and I'll see if I can help out.

The instruments are fine, I enjoyed listening to them quiet a lot. The main lead was awesome, and the bass sounded really really cool and added a lot to the submission. What I think you lack in was variety of instruments, since you only had a max of 3 synths or so. I think this could do with some pads to fill up the background a bit more. You can also add some sound effects too, spacey ones in particular (I can send you some space-like sound effects if you want) such as sweeps. What I'm trying to say is, the song lacks depth, and you can achieve this depth by adding more instruments, possibly some effects, and you can even experimenting a little with reverb and delay till you get a good spacey sound which fills up the background nicely.

The transitions, as I said above, could use some work. Some things were introduced or taken away from the song too early/late, and a clear example among many different examples would be when the bass exits the song for the first time at 0:40; it's as if it just muted itself for no reason at all, only to come back to the song out of nowhere a few seconds later. I think you could work a bit more on introducing/taking away some elements from the song at better times and adding stuff like reverse cymbals, sweeps, reverbed kicks and crash cymbals to indicate that something new has entered the song or something has exited the song. Maybe you can experiment with fade ins/outs too.

The structure isn't too good. The song, like I said, is hard to keep track of, and doesn't have such a good structure. You started it off pretty well, but once the drums started to kick in properly, I totally lost track of the song, and when the bass came and went all the time, it confused me even more. There are many examples of well-structured techno songs here on NG (my recommendation would be listening to some of Blackhole12's techno music, namely SunStorm, Absolutia or Now). The variety wasn't too good, unfortunately. The same melody was repeated loads and loads of times, and while it's an OK melody, it gets annoying to listen to for practically the whole song without any alternate melodies. The lack of variety can also be considered as a problem with song structure, so I think the one thing you should try and improve on would be your song structure. The intro and outro, however, were fine, since they provided a perfect loop.

The drums are pretty generic, and sounds more like Trance drums, but what the heck, on the whole they're decent drums that fit well with the song, although they can get repetitive too.

I won't lie, you have a lot of potential to become an excellent artist. What you need to improve on would be the structure/variety, but in my opinion, with a little effort, you can turn out to be a great artist, since you have heaps of potential waiting to burst out. Good luck in your future tracks :).
7/10
4/5

-Review Request Club-

yours31f responds:

I appreciate it alot. I have started messing with automation loops to practice fading and such. I think they have helped my songs alot. It really helps me to know that you think I have potential. I love making music, and I will take everything you said into consideration in all the songs I make from now on. I think the most important thing I need practice on is melodies and timing. What you said has really helped me. One thing I have a question on is my levels. I tried to make them "right", but I need an outside source to let me know if they fit well. Thanks for the comment.

[<MWA> Erroneous Glitch]

Hehe, this is awesome :D

I really like this submission. The fact that you mixed ambient and glitch/IDM so well together really worked well in this song, and overall this song is enjoyable to listen to. I can barely find any problems with it: it's catchy, calming and a great song all around. Keep it up, I really enjoyed it :D.

The song's composition is superb. I really enjoyed the melodies you used, especially the main melody that first came in at 1:35, and the guitar's melodies were really soothing. Those staccato thingies at 1:52 were really cool too, maybe you could add more of them throughout the song. The amount of alternate melodies was also very good, and overall your melodies were really cool. At times the song felt a bit empty though, like at 1:36, and for Ambient I expect it to have more depth, so maybe you could add a few more bass pads; it would definitely help in fixing the high frequency that ChampionAnwar was talking about. On the other hand, panning (at least I think there's panning: I'm deaf from one ear so I can never hear panning properly) was a nice touch.

The instrument choice you had was really great. You're really good at making pads, they worked very well in this song and sounded great. I also like your addition of guitar, it added to the atmosphere a lot. I just think that the guitar could have more reverb; I always liked guitars with a lot of reverb. Still, overall the instruments sounded awesome, especially the main lead which has that unique sound to it, and I liked the pad at 3:19-ish. The glitch stutters were also very well placed, although I would've liked to see more glitching on those drums. Also, the reverse snare or whatever reverse effect it was penetrated the atmosphere at the beginning and ruined it since it's so loud, as Heith said.

The transitions are all extremely good. The song flowed really smoothly, and while I think you could have used some more sound effects to transit from one part of the song to the other such as sweeps and more glitch effects, overall the transitions were very impressive. You introduced new instruments really well and the buildups such as the buildup in the intro were excellent. Nice job with the transitions :D.

The structure, as ChampionAnwar said, was very good. New parts came in which made the song never get boring and yet never get random either. I can say the same for the variety, which was superb, with a great amount of different melodies and something new all the time. Variety and structure were also fantastic, so good job there :).

The intro was pretty good. At first I thought it was going to be some generic trance crap, but as it progressed with a good buildup, I was wrong. Maybe you can make the intro a bit more interesting with some more effects and maybe a few pads too, but to be honest the intro was fine. The outro was superb though. A perfect way to end the song. Intro and outro were great ^^.

The drums, wow, they were amazing. The beat was really nice, and the drums were so varied that they not only added to the background and fit so well with the song, but I bet I won't get bored listening to them even on their own because they're so well done. Kick sounded powerful but never got in the way with the song, the open hats sounded awesome, so did the hi-hats and the snare, sounded great too. The only thing which would make the drums a bit better was as I mentioned above: glitching them a bit more.

Overall, this submission is really well done. It's amazing that you managed to combine calming ambient with some glitchy stutters and effects to produce something as extraordinary as this. Just work a little on the mastering, maybe making the intro a bit more interesting, softening the reverse effect at the beginning and filling up some parts which feel a bit empty with some more pads, but as you can see, these are all small nitpicks which don't take much away from the awesomeness of the song. I hope you keep up the outstanding work, and I hope to hear more awesome songs like this from you in the future :D...
10/10
5/5
Download.

-Review Request Club-

mjattie responds:

wow......

It's been a long time, since I got my last great review! Thanks a lot!!! I'm glad that you took the time to write such a long review and listen very carefully (with one ear) to this song. I must say, you're right about everything :O Sometimes I not agree with reviewers, but this is not such case.

You're right about the (too) few glitches, lack of bass, improvable intro. But I also think the lack of bass makes it sound clearer.

So, I can type a hundred words more, but that won't make my response more interesting.

I thanks you once again and will upload something similar next week (or maybe 2 a bit similar songs)

[I have a potion]

Lol, cool :D

I enjoyed this. It made me smile, and although I'm not really a fan of 8-bit, I really enjoyed this. Good job on this, for an older submission of yours, it's actually well done ^^.

The melodies are awesome. I don't know what DaveGuy means by random, TBH. It sounds fine to me. I liked the part at 1:11, the melody over there was great, and then the song picked up quite well before getting ready to loop. To keep things simple, I really enjoyed the melodies in this piece. They weren't too complicated, but did the job perfectly. Vocals also complimented the melody pretty well, even if it's a synthesized voice. I'm pretty impressed that you took the liberty of tuning the words properly too. Vocals should be a bit louder though, since they can't be heard so well with the 8-bit synth in the way, as yours31f said.

The synths themselves were great. I liked all of your 8-bit sounds, and the pad sounded good too, although it sounded a bit out of place among all of the 8-bit sounds. Still, I don't mind if you keep the pad as it is since it's pretty hard to hear it anyway, and even then, as you said, it adds more body and texture to the piece. Synths on the whole were great :D.

Transitions to different melodies were perfect, and even for a short loop, the structure is good too. Variety was fine, since the song never got repetitive because of so many different melodies to keep the listener interested in the song. The intro was a perfect way to start the song, and the loop was flawless too.

Drums were also a very nice addition. They fitted very well with the melodies, and were just the right volume, with good beats and decent drum samples. Good drums overall, I have nothing to complain about them.

Overall, this is a great submission, and among the best of 8-bit submissions I've heard. I can just imagine this being right at home in an old-fashioned RPG. Keep up the great work, the only problems with it would be obviously its length and the vocals being too quiet. Great job on the song!
9/10
5/5

-Review Request Club-

Calamaistr responds:

Wow, i think i never had such a elaborate review not even by coop or haggard :þ
Im flabbergasted here, i didnt expect people to like this so much since its so different from most of my recent work, i can hardly listen to it when ive been listening to my newest album, not that i dont like it anymore but because its a whole different kind of sound, something you almost have to seep into in time/loops.

Admitted when i was done with this track i msned a friend of mine that i probably had made something that would go all over the internet because it was just such a fun theme.

Im still hoping someone will find this track and make a flash on it. haha.

Thanks for your amazing review man, i look forward for more from your hand..if you want ofcourse. (wait till i start posting my new album in the review crew topic, not anytime soon though. Even though i gave a buzz asking why it took so long im actually patient about requesting itself)

:)

Greets Cal.

[Initiate]

Reviewing as I go along...

Sorry for not writing a proper review, but I prefer commenting as I'm hearing songs with this length. So, here goes nothing...

Alright, I'm at 0:01. Hearing some pads. TBH, I don't really like their sound. They sound a bit too plain and lack effects to them. Give them a fuller sound, maybe some reverb to them too.

0:15, weird note cutting off as djJPA stated. Ooh, hearing an awesome buildup. Yes, that's what I call an intro. Epic buildup.

0:50-ish, the song starts. Hmm, I expected some epic crash cymbal to play right after the peak of the buildup and the song starting really dramatically if you get what I mean. I mean, the buildup really sounded anticlimatic without an epic climax right after it. Drums come in, they're very, very well done. I really like that beat. The only thing I'll complain about is the fact that the drums are in the treble so much. Give them some more bass, they get a bit annoying.

0:59: Aww man, vocals ruined the atmosphere :(. The atmosphere you set at the beginning was spooky and dark, and then it built up to some really epic atmosphere, and I really imagined a crazy chaos scene set in a parallel dimension with mutant beings surrounding me, but then the vocals came in, and all that chaos disappeared, and the scene I imagined was a DJ with his turntable and an audience around him. Obviously, this shows that the atmosphere is pretty much smashed to bits with the vocals. So while I think the atmosphere you have set is REALLY epic, the vocals just ruined it, IMO. So anyway, the song continues with some nice scratching effects and other than the vocals, I'm enjoying it.

I'm now at 2:07. Yay, the vocals ended. There are some really cool effects, which add to the song a lot. Good job.

2:40, alright now it's getting pretty repetitive. Same beat, same melody, and although the addition of so many new elements keeps the listener interested, the song still isn't varied enough.

3:50 - it's starting to get pretty cluttered and full of different sounds, not to mention loud. It's also still repeating :(.

3:38, awesome break effect. It's repeated again at 4:13, 4:31, 4:46, 5:02 and 5:17, and then never again for the whole song, which is a bit weird, so maybe instead of fitting all these small break effects into one small part, you can spread them out a little more in the song.

At 4:37-ish an extremely awesome piano-like synth is added to song. Really nice addition. Still, the song is getting pretty repetitive. It keeps repeating basically the same things with a few different elements added till 6:20ish

6:20 - alright, this is a good break. I was hoping a break like that would come in eventually, since by now the listener's probably out of breath with all the drums and synths playing so powerfully. Still, after the break, it starts removing some of the elements from the song for the outro...

9:01: yeah, this is a pretty weird ending, IMO. Maybe you can consider a fade out, when remembering that this is just an experiment. Better than ending it so suddenly as you did right now. Still, you had a good idea for the outro by removing elements until getting to the ending note, so either you end it on a powerful note, or you fade it out.

--

Overall, this song is really cool, with some _EXCELLENT_ atmosphere (albeit ruined by the vocals), amazing effects, a cool melody, and some extremely epic drums. The only real constructive criticism that I can give you other than the few nitpicks that I mentioned above would be to make the song much much shorter. Grab some of the best elements from this extended version, and add them to your song. Add some variety, give the song a better outro, and try and aim for around 3:00, maybe 3:30 too. Also, as you already know, the song gets pretty cluttered too, so maybe calming down on all the blaring synths and effects a little might sound a bit better.

In general, for your first song in Ableton, I truly am amazed. If you ever release a condensed/better version of this, be sure to drop a PM :D. Good job all in all.
9/10
5/5

-Review Request Club-

DJ-Chilvan responds:

Wow! Thanks for the AMAZING review! You know what? I'm going to take everything you said into heavy consideration, and use your tips in my shortened version. I will make the shorter version before the end of May.

[Tetris (A->N Remix)]

Your epic remix, my epic review xD

You guys seriously gave a new name to Tetris. I really liked this remix, I'm pretty sure it's the best on Newgrounds. This remix is just epic, and like your other songs, it leaves me begging for more. Good job on this, it's songs like this that deserve to be among the best of all time on NG. To hell with 0-bombers :(.

Obviously, since this is a remix, I can't credit you for the melodies since the melody is Tetris not your own, but I really liked the little variations of the Tetris melody which you added such as at 2:01. You added your own touch to it. I really hate remixes which keep the same structure, the same feel and the same note progression as the original song, but you changed around a lot of stuff in the Tetris melody, and made this more than just your everyday techno remix of Tetris. I also liked the mixture of 8-bit and techno in this, it sounds really interesting, especially towards the end where the song turns 8-bit for a few seconds. That part really made me smile since not only did you add your unique touch to Tetris but still managed to retain some of the original Tetris feel to it. By the way, the break at 1:24-ish was pure awesomeness. TL;DR: this sounds amazing.

The synths sound really, really cool. Loved the main synth you used, and the background synths complimented it extremely well. One of the only things I can complain about would be the lack of bass in this song. The synths themselves sound a bit high-picthed and could benefit with some more bass. Also, the song gets really loud at times, I think you could even out the volume a bit more, since I'm always forced to turn the volume down when your song pops up in my playlist. Other than those two really tiny nitpicks, the synths were sublime and the effects you added to the song such as the filters on the synths and the cool sound effect at 1:50-ish were also awesome.

When it comes to the transitions, I was very impressed. At first I thought the transition at 0:28-ish was way too sudden, but now I'm starting to like it since whenever I show this song to someone, I make the turn the volume up really really high so that the soft intro won't be so loud, and then when the song really kicks in at 0:28, I give them a fright because of the sudden volume change >:3. The transition to 8-bit at the end was just amazing. New instruments wre introduced very well, and buildups were really professionally done, especially the buildup in the break. Seriously, you guys are too good :3.

The structure was awesome, and I don't really have much to complain about it. Variety, on the other hand, could use some work. I'm not saying that the song got repetitive, since you added so many different things to the Tetris melody that it never got boring, but I was hoping that the alternate melody of Tetris A would come in, since you only used the main melody for the whole song. I think that if you add Tetris's alternate melody, it'd make the song a bit less predictable. Intro was really cool since it started soft but then was awesome when it kicked in, and the outro was extraordinary. Who knew 8-bit outros could be so damn awesome. Basically, the only thing I'm whining about in this paragraph would be the lack of the Tetris alternate melody, since other than that the variety, structure, intro, and outro were great.

The drums, wow... I seriously love that beat. Drum samples were really, really good, and the beat was just epic. In my opinion the drums really added to the submission and when they came in the song, I was left breathless. The only nitpick I have with the drums would be the lack of beat variety as TheSongSalad said. Still, those drums sound so superb that I probably won't care if I heard the same beat all day :P.

Overall, this submission is excellent. For a melody which has been remixed time and time again here on NG, it's actually very original, and the best word to describe this song would be epic. Keep up the fantastic work, the Audio Portal needs more artists like you :D. Ouch, long review again... :\
10/10
5/5
Download.

-Review Request Club-

[Nature Is The Law (WIP)]

Cool :).

This is a cool song, really great to have songs like this on Newgrounds. You just gotta love Indie. Still, you can tell that this is a work in progress. Some things seem unfinished, this needs some little touches here and there, and some of the volume levels suck. However, in general this is a very good song, well-written and I enjoyed it from beginning to end, even though I never really liked songs with vocals (yeah I'm weird I know). Great job man!

The melodies are excellent, and catchy enough to make you hum it when the song's over. Piano was a very nice addition, you don't usually see guitar/drum/vocal songs with a piano too, but it was an awesome addition, and me being a piano player myself, I really liked the fact that you added it. Vocals also have great melodies, and as MonkeyV said, the singing style was unique and cool. Lyrics were really well-written, and I also liked the bridge in the middle, although it felt a little plain with the drums only, but I suppose that's why this is a WiP. In general the melodies were really cool and I enjoyed them, good job :D.

The instruments were superb quality. Those drums sound like a real drum kit, and the guitar sounds real too (although it probably is). Did you do this in a band or are those drums and piano samples that you found on the Internet? Anyway, basically, the instrument choice was awesome, and I won't complain about it. Maybe this could do well with some strings, although that's just a suggestion, since the song already sounds really nice as it is. Instruments were excellent ^^. Volume levels, on the other hand, could use work. The vocals and guitar were too quiet and the drums sort of drowned them out a little...

The transitions were just superb. The song flowed really smoothly from beginning to end, with some really epic transitions. I liked the drum rolls you added to the song, since they provided great transitions. Actually, the only transition which I think might be a bit better would be the one at 0:22: maybe you could add a small snare roll to indicate that the drums are about to kick in and the song is about to start. Still, it sounds good as it is, so I won't complain about it much. Nice job with the transitions, they were good ^^.

The structure was a basic structure, and you see it in a lot of songs of this genre. Still, the fact that the song structure is basic doesn't make it a bad structure, since it fit well in the song. The variety, on the other hand, could use some work. Your probably already know this, but the vocals are repetitive. Still, if you're going to change Verse 2 and 3, then the repetitiveness of the vocals won't be a problem anymore.

The intro was an excellent way to start the song. You can never go wrong with soft introductions I suppose ^^. The only thing which might make it better would be what I said above: adding that small snare roll or something to indicate that the song is about to start at 0:22. The ending, however, could use some work. It sort of skipped from loud to soft all of a sudden, providing a really abrupt ending. That final soft note seemed to come out of nowhere. I don't know if you're planning on making the ending a bit better when you finish this, but if you're not I strongly recommend that you do, since the ending right now is pretty weird in my opinion. Maybe give it some sort of slowing down towards the end until it final ends with an epic loud final note with the piano, voice, guitar and a crash cymbal or something.

The drums were great in general. Beats were good, and the drums fit with the song well. The only thing I would suggest would be to make the drums a bit less repetitive by adding some more drum beats, since the drums got a slight bit repetitive throughout the song. Other than that, I was really impressed by the drums.

Overall, this is a great song, really fun to listen to, and even for a work in progress it already sounds awesome. Keep up the great work, and good luck finishing this :D. Sorry for the long review, I tend to go over the top :/...
9/10
5/5

-Review Request Club-

StickyRemnant responds:

No need to apologise for the length of the review! it's great. Thanks.

Yea the bridge is just abit of a filler at the moment. I have a chord sequence in mind that i'll probably be going with.
The intruments, except for the keys, are all real instruments. The drums are a sample of real drums aswell but I'll be recording live drums on it at a later date when I can. The keys are VSTs. I used to be in a band but not atm, tho im looking to put something back together
. I was thinking of putting some strings in towards the end actually, good shout.
I'll look at adding a drum break at around 0:22 and put your other advice (re: levels, ending etc) into practice. Oh and yea the other verses will get their own lyrics. I tend to leave lyrics until the end.
I'm glad you like it and thanks very much for the excellent review. Feel free to review my latest tune "Alot of Heart" if you fancy it ;) Cheers

[New Qualification V2.0]

Feels empty...

Don't get me wrong, it's a good song, but lacks depth. For a new direction to music, I must say that I'm impressed that it turned out this good, but it feels bland and empty. Still, sounds pretty cool overall, so good job on this. Sounds almost frightening, which I quite like :D.

This lacks a melody, which may be why it could sound so plain at times. Doesn't need to be too complicated, but something to fill up some parts such as at the beginning and in softer parts of the song would be nice. Maybe even some ambient notes, since the only melody is played by that gated synth which first comes in at 0:41-ish, and it doesn't play much of a melody either. So yeah, a little more of a melody, possibly an ambient, slow melody, would really help in this song. The atmosphere, on the other hand, is excellent, with a dark feel playing throughout the song. So yeah, what it lacks in melody, it gains in an amazing atmosphere which is really the strong point of the submission. So good job with the atmosphere, it was spooky, dark and all in all brilliant :D. Also I loved the part at 1:49.

The synth you used fit very well in the theme of the song. Still, you lacked different instruments and sounds, which is another reason why this feels so empty. Add some bass pads, maybe more unique sound effects. Give the song a bit more depth, since it feels plain and bland with only a maximum of two synths playing at the same time. The vocal samples were great, since they added more to the submission. They were a bit hard to understand, but still, that's probably just me. Basically, what I think needs fixing would be the lack of different instruments to add depth to the song. Also, I think those vocal samples clip a little, you may want to consider EQing them (although it's probably my extremely retarded speakers).

Some transitions were a little weird, but they seemed to fit in this song. I liked how you introduced the synth at 0:41, and I don't really think there are any transitions which sound out of place. The structure was pretty unique and weird, but there's a noticeable climax in the song, and the fact that the structure is so original and strange gave the song a unique touch which makes it stand out from the rest. Variety was good, since the vocal samples never got boring, and the synth didn't really get repetitive. Good job with the transitions/structure/variety.

The intro, after hearing it for the first time, sounds a little weird or out of place, but now that I heard it like 10 times when writing this review, I'm actually starting to like it :3. So yeah, good job with the intro. The outro, on the other hand, was really strange. I'm not sure what you can do for an outro but I don't really like the outro as it is now. Maybe you can consider a fade ending or maybe even loop this (when remembering the words at the end: 'Next Test Subject' [at least I think that's what the words are], looping it would make sense), but something a little less weird would work a little better, since this ending leaves the listener with a bad impression of the song, because the whole song has a great atmosphere and interesting vocals, but then it ends so plainly and strangely...

The drums, unfortunately, are very repetitive. I think this could really do with more drum beats. On the other hand, the drum samples were really unique-sounding. Hi-hat got a little annoying after a while, but other than that, your drum samples were fine ^^. Drum beats were good, and the drums were just the right volume, although I could barely hear that bass drum, but as you might already know my speakers are absolute crap so I won't be able to hear it properly. Overall, drums were good, albeit repetitive.

In general, this is a unique submission, and although its main defect would be the fact that it's so empty, the atmosphere was just fantastic. Good job with it, it was enjoyable. It's nice to hear a unique Industrial song once in a while, among so many generic dance songs you hear on NG... Keep it up :).
8/10
5/5 - because this got 0-bombed...

-Review Request Club-

DaylightsEnd responds:

Thanx for the review man. You had some great points, and I'm shocked and surprised at the length and depth of the review. I appreciate the time and effort you put into it. I will look into what to add for the depth without killing the atmosphere (I'm glad you noticed the amount of effort it took to get the feeling), as well as a more creative way to end it. In my opinion, if your' not already sick of hearing it (10+ times, really?! lol), download and put it in a nice system. The bass drum rattles my car. Thanx again for the great review! :D

[[dB] Isolation]

Moar credit!! xD

You just say 'LOADS of help with the melody and a lot of construcive critisiscm'. I MADE the melody, not to mention the bass and the sweep too xD. I deserve more credit than that xP.
But apart from all jokes, this is a decent song. I'll have to be brutally honest, it's not one of your best, but heck, it's still a great song, and I can hear a lot of creativity in it. Basically, from all of the problems that this song has, yours31f mentioned the "big'uns", but I'll mention ALL of the problems, since a critic's got to do what a critic's got to do, and that is, be an asshole - err... sorry, review songs XD.

The melody sounds amazing, how in the world did you make it so catchy?? Alright, enough complimenting myself xD. I liked the fact that you chose to make the melody in the minor, really beats the usual happy/upbeat dance songs you find so frequently nowadays. What I don't really like is the fact that you didn't use that many melodies. You just stuck with the melody I gave you for the whole song except the parts where the bass was playing and the part at 0:54 which is similar to my melody anyway. Yours31f is right, this does get rather repetitive. Add some sub-melodies and alternate melodies, since a full song should never be based on one melody only. Also, I don't agree with making the bass part at the end so long. 8 bars is already quite long, let alone 16 bars. Still, the part at 0:54 was spot-on and I enjoyed it quite a bit, so good job on that.

The instruments on the whole are fine. Piano sounded great and the bass was excellent (I should know, I made it xD). My issue with this song is not that the instruments sound bad, but the variety of instruments is lacking. You just had a piano as the main instrument, and the bass a little at the end, which is why yours31f is right again by saying that this sounds plain. For starters, this has no pads, making it sound really empty. Secondly, there are no melodic synths other than the bass: just a piano. This can really benefit with some epic multisaws, maybe arps too. Anything to fill up the lack of background depth that this song has. Still, effects were pretty good, especially the sweep in the middle of the song.

The song's transitions are great. That cool reverse cymbal effect that you had made great transitions (although I think it could some reverb to it to give it a bit more of a ring than just a plain reverse cymbal) and no transition was off. You seem to be really good at transitions =D. New instruments were introduced well, and the buildups in this song were great, although at 0:40 I expected the bass to come in, and then after the sweep part in the middle you introduce a new element to the song. What I mean is, introduce the bass earlier so for the part at 1:08 you can reserve something a bit more epic.

The structure is alright. The first 3/4 of the song had a very good structure, but then the bass part really didn't fit with the structure. Maybe you should continue the song a little more and end it somewhere at 3:00 with some epic final note. The intro was pretty good, and I liked that you gradually introduced new elements to the song: it helped the song's progression a lot. Unfortunately I don't really like your ending. I know you were going for the "sudden lights turning off" or some creepy ending like that, but I don't think it worked too well. Either you end it with an epic final note, or a fade out where the final note is held back a little and really really soft.

The percussion at the beginning was unimpressive, but as it built up it was pretty good. Still, I wasn't impressed by your cymbals: the hat line was almost a hip-hop hat line at first and you didn't use any open cymbals, which made the drums sound bland and dry. Still, decent percussion :).

Overall, this is a really awesome song. I'm noticing that you're rapidly getting better at music making, and although this isn't your best, it still sounds great. Keep up the awesome work, and I hope you enjoyed my overly harsh review :P.
8/10
5/5 - Because of 0-bombers...

-Review Request Club-

Decibel responds:

Errm...........To be honest I can't answer all this cuz it's late and I;m weally tired but, i read all of it, I assure you and I understood everything, It's hard making songs these days and with me it's much harder.
Personally I dont understand you though which is my best song, cuz i suck at this but w/e

Thanks for the awesome review.
><Deejay><

[AgeisZero]

For your second song...

...This actually isn't that bad, TBH. At times it can get a little annoying to listen to, but I must say, for a beginner to FL Studio, I'm actually quite impressed. I remember my second submission. Oh God, it was horrible :P.

The melodies are alright. I won't lie to you, they didn't really have much of a hook to them. This song consists most of arps, but it has some alright melodies such as the one at 0:37. It actually sounds a little off-key, but it's OK, way better than a lot of beginners' attempts at melodies. I'd suggest adding a few more melodies though, at times your range of melodies gets a little limited throughout the song. Try adding some solos too, maybe a few breaks (the song goes quiet for some time and stays calm with some ambient stuff, then a buildup and the song reaches its climax) and stuff to break the monotony. One thing that I don't like about this is that a lot of the time it feels as if there's too much going on at once. Sometimes, simpler is better, and this is one of those times in my opinion. Still, for a second try at melodies, not bad, not bad at all :).

The synths, to be honest, sound a little annoying. Overall they were alright, but the one that came in at 0:07 was pretty weird and I think it would work out much more if you had a softer or lighter synth to take its place. Still, I have to admit, the sound effect that first came in at 0:13, although annoying, actually sounded pretty cool and fit with the song. Maybe you could turn its volume down a little, since when it comes in, it drowns out all of the other instruments (this may be because of the fact that you have a limiter in your master channel. Go to your mixer [Press: F9] in FL Studio and there should be 'Fruity Limiter' written somewhere in the horizontal bars on the right. Click on the arrow next to it, and choose 'none'. That limiter is messing up your volume levels, PM me for more details if you want). Synths overall were alright...

The transitions aren't really too special. There was nothing abrupt, but the transitions overall were pretty weird, for example the ones at 0:54, 1:01 and 1:05. New synths weren't introduced too well, such as the one at 0:06 which sort of came in out of nowhere. Also, that sound effect I talked about (the one at 0:13) played at random times in the song, so when it came in, it felt as if it came out of nowhere. Still, some transitions were alright, and no transition was THAT bad. This song definitely lacks buildups and build-downs though. Instead of building up to a climax and building down to a calmer part, you simple skip from loud to soft really suddenly, and it doesn't work out too well. Try and fade things in/out, and add a few buildups here and there. It could really do wonders to this submission...

The structure is pretty weird to be honest. You don't really have any noticeable structure, and the variety was so good the song became pretty random. I'd suggest for a structure that you have a chorus playing every 16 bars or so, and in the 16 bars that the chorus doesn't play, you have a few alternate melodies. There's already a good start to a solid song structure. The intro wasn't too bad, but the song immediately starts crazy and random, maybe if you build it up and gradually introduce new elements to the song instead of starting straight away it'd be a smoother intro. Outro was pretty weird, try and give the outro a final and satisfying ending note.

The drums, well, I'm not really sure if there are any drums. I might be hearing a kick in there, maybe a hi-hat too unless that's a synth, but if you do have any drums, I think you should turn them up a little, since theyr'e drowned out by the synths. If there are no drums, add some :P.

I want to stress the fact that even though this may seem like a harsh review, for your second song this is way above the normal standard, so if I were you I wouldn't give up on music since I'm sure that if you continue at this rate, you'll be a great producer, and if you need any help with FL, feel free to PM me ;).
7/10
4/5

-Review Request Club-

Fishtales responds:

Lol to be honest I have no idea what i'm doing with FL and still don't I was just playing with stuff and was hoping for a review like this. Unfortunately I canned everything I had. Still have FL so maybe ill give something other than a loop a try. I don't think there were drums though. I can't remember. Thanks though., I do appreciate your time.

Also I use to listen to this a bit. and it use to hurt my head so that's mostly why I stopped trying.

[p4c-Maleficence [Short Mix] HQ]

For a House song...

...This is very original. House is so common nowadays that it's very hard to invent something original to put in a house song, but you achieved this very well. So yeah, this is a really awesome track. I think you're one of my favourite House artists, since although I find House really boring, you really spice it up and make it sound interesting and original, so great job with that :D.

The melodies are well done. I really liked the harpsichord (?) melody that you incorporated to the song, since it really gave a unique, 'medieval' touch to this. I wish I saw more of that harpsichord throughout the song, since it only played twice and played the same melody. You seem really good at making harpsichord melodies so I think that if you add a few more harpsichord melodies I'm sure it'll make the song really interesting. I really liked the hits you added to the song such as at 1:37, 1:41 and 2:03. They were very mighty, were a really nice touch and were fun to listen to. That bass had good melodies too, and fit in with the song very well ^^. In all, the melodies are just wow.

The instruments also sound really amazing. That harpsichord was surprisingly pretty good quality, and sounded really nice, and the hits, as I said above, were extremely powerful and sounded really unique. Distortion FTW xD. I liked the high plucks at the beginning, it made the intro a bit more interesting. The bass was really deep and powerful, plus it wasn't that generic which just adds to the fact that this song is so original and well-done. I liked your effects such as the sweeps you incorporated in the song, since they really added a lot to some of the transitions. Yeah I don't think there really is anything wrong with the instruments over here. Production is also superb, and I liked the sidechaining you did over here even though I usually despise the use of a lot of sidechaining since it completely drowns songs out. The sidechaining over here sounds fine ^^.

The transitions are all perfect, except the one at 1:52-ish which I don't really like. The song is all powerful with those hits, and then the square wave randomly plays one high note and the song goes silent before continuing again :S. I think it was a pretty weird way to transit from one part to another, although it could be just me. Other than that, smooth transitions. Instruments were introduced very well, and the buildup you did at the beginning and throughout other parts of the song was cool too. Excellent job with the transitions/buildups :D.

The song has a unique structure; another thing which is unique in this song. I liked the structure, since it wasn't the usual house structure: buildup, synth breakdown, buildup again, the song continues playing, a few breaks, build down, end calmly or with some sweep/percussion hit. You changed around the structure a little which sounds great. The variety is also very good. Even though you didn't have many melodies with that harpsichord, the song never got repetitive at all. You seriously never do anything wrong, do you? Intro was slightly bland, but you introduced new elements to it so quickly that it hardly matters. Ending was also REALLY good, since it had such a powerful ending with a powerful hit. Structure/variety and intro/outro are both wins for me.

The drums are great. Your kick isn't weak, but isn't loud or powerful enough to start becoming penetrating and annoying, and your use of cymbals was good. The only thing I didn't like about your drums would be that clap, like the other reviewers said. I'll have to agree with Haggard about adding that snare drum instead. The clap sounds so dry and plain, and I really didn't like the sound of it. Still, overall, the drums were excellent, and were just the right volume. Good job.

To summarize, this is an amazing song, which I really enjoyed, and this is coming from someone who VERY rarely listens to house. Heh, I remember reviewing another song of yours, even that rocked. A few more songs like this and I'm fav-ing you, for sure. Keep it up!
10/10
5/5
Download.

-Review Request Club-

p4c responds:

epic review, man. yeah it all flowed to me soo quickly on this one. the idea was all in the intense chords, since its such a common sequence for a lot of classical music. so with baroque in mind, the harpsichord was jst the most logical thing at the moment. im glad you like the track and thanks for the thorough review :)