Step's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Whiteout]

This is an NGADM Round 3 review.

--

Obscure atmospheric circus/waltz music. Hey, that's ZipZipper's job! But in all seriousness, this still sounds well-produced, melodically interesting, and overall a nice little tune. You start with some excellent wind effects. For a track this short, I thought starting it with ambience is quite questionable, but I have to admit that even though it kind of messes up the structure a little (since you've got practically a fifth of the track dedicated to ambience), I can't deny that not only did it help the atmosphere, but when the melody made its way into the track at 0:25, it's such a nice entrance that sets the mood so well.

What I noticed instantly was that the melody is actually very good. I agree that it gets stuck in your head easily. It has a decent hook, and thematically it fits wonderfully. On top of that (or rather, behind it) there are some neat supporting harmonies, played in a 3/4 waltz manner that I can't say doesn't fit well with the melody. I thought that the chime passage at 0:50 was a bit flat and uninteresting in terms of melody, but it felt crucial for the arrangement of the track, since when the melody comes in later with fuller instrumentation, it brought the structure of the track round in a nice circle, while making that melody even more memorable. Still, I would've liked something more impressive playing at 0:50.

With regards to mixing and production, there isn't much to say. I was glad to hear that this doesn't have a thin mix at all (which is something your tracks are sometimes guilty for). It's full-bodied, just the right loudness, and you make use of all the frequencies, while still keeping everything airy and spacious. I love your bass. It's practically the only low end instrument in your track, making it stand out quite a lot, and provide an interesting contrast. It also highlighted the little transitional bass passage at parts like 0:36. You make good use of your sounds. Your use of wind effects and chimes gives this a cold atmosphere that I would have picked up without needing to read the last sentence of your author's comments.

I agree this is nothing spectacular. That's not really a bad thing - I actually find it quite memorable and it would definitely fit well in a game. Still, considering you have just over a minute of melodic material, of which a fair amount is repetition, and not much progression or development that takes the track to new directions, this does make for a pretty unfulfilling listening experience when you compare it to other tracks of this round. This is not helped by the ending that would be good if the wind effect at the end didn't cut off jarringly (which ended up making it sound like a failed attempt at a loop). It's unfortunate, because I know you can do better and as you said yourself you had a lot of other ideas, but most likely due to lack of inspiration, you didn't manage to successfully flesh them out.

There isn't much to criticise about the content you have here. It has potential to be developed more, but sounds good as a small tune and I do enjoy that melody. However, the wow factor isn't here as you're aware. Good luck if you ever want to expand on this though!

Score: 7.1/10

SourJovis responds:

Yeah, in that sense it sounds quite like ZippZipper, but less hyper, and the instrumentation is different. I didn't have him in mind when I made this.

It doesn't loop perfectly no. I spend hours trying to figure out a way to make the wind sound loop while not having an abrupt beginning. The only way to do this is by making 2 separate songs. The first starts with wind that fades in. At the end of the first song the wind should carry over to the beginning of the second song, so it's cut off in the middle. The second song ends exactly where it should begin. So the first song serves as intro, the second one as loop. The Newgrounds player doesn't let you do things like that, so this is the best I could muster.

Other than that I won't do anything with your points I'm afraid. It does explain why I didn’t get a higher score, but I don't think these points will improve the song. I don't think it should be "fleshed out", because that would defeat the point of the song. I've been thinking about making it longer, but I don't think that will make it better either.

I don't know if this song is better mixed then my other songs. The others is just a matter of turning up the volume a little I think. It's also a matter of taste, because I'm not too fond of many songs others feel are mixed right. This song has very little instruments so it was easier to mix. Perhaps it's just that. But much of the loudness and fullness is because of the bit crushing and compression. I think this song could take it more than the other ones because it fits, but I don't plan to do that to my other songs. In fact if I listen to my older songs, I've been using less and less compression over time and began to mix my songs cleaner and less loud, just because I like that sound better now.

[Wolftacular NGADM Round 3]

This is an NGADM Round 3 review.

--

Whoa OK wait up for a second here. The production value... wow. Now that is more like it. Your Round 1 track was very muddy, as you and I both know. Round 2 was a definite improvement, but still leaving room for improvement. Now, out of nowhere, you give us a lovely mix that's both bright and warm, clear and detailed, airy and full-sounding, and while it's not PERFECT (I kind of wished for some more powerful acoustic drums and 4:16's a bit heavy on the lower mids), it's pretty damn impressive. I especially like your low end here. You don't have a great bass sample in terms of quality, but you keep it at just the right volume for me to hear all of the notes without it messing up the mix. In fact, levelling here (other than the drums which could've been louder as I mentioned) is very good and doesn't indicate any kind of rushing that you might have done in the composition process.

OK, I'll get the whole "there's no lead instrument" out of the way for now. The composition is otherwise really nice. The chords are really nice, and on top of that there's an excellent blend of instruments. There's a lot to commend in how all of the instruments' melodic passages work together, despite having different rhythms and melodies. You also make a genuine effort to keep the instrumentation interesting. It's not often that in songs like these new instruments are introduced later on in the track, but you're not afraid to do that, adding latin percussion and even some kind of synth thing at 4:16. Considering you were planning on adding vocals to this, hearing this kind of attention to detail in the instrumental background stuff is a nice change.

Transitions are all spot-on. None really stood out for me (except 0:18 which was a fantastic change of mood and pace that could've been a bit smoother with a louder drum fill before it) but that's fine. They all do their job in connecting the various sections of the song together. I can't really say much about the structure since a lot of the stuff here is just background or supporting elements, but considering the structure of your other tracks was always good, I can expect a solid structure from you. Intro and outro are both awesome, as they usually are. For a track whose author's comments starts instantly with "COMPLETELY INCOMPLETE", this is surprisingly polished.

I feel like I'm just wasting time by mentioning issues you already know about, but due to my aforementioned self-diagnosed OCD, every NGADM track in this round must have five paragraphs, the fourth being a complaints paragraph and the last being a shorter conclusive paragraph, so HERE WE GO. The track is lacking something in the foreground; everything sounds like it's meant to support vocals. I can actually hear vocals in my mind, coming in at 0:18 or 0:36, and I know you'll do a good job with them. Right now, the lack of vocals starts a chain reaction to lots of new issues, like the seemingly static dynamic (apart from at the very end), the repetition, the lack of a melody to latch on to, predictability, and so on. I'm a bit worried about how you're going to add the vocals in the mix since your mix is already pretty full up. It's something I wouldn't be able to pull off that well, but then again you probably have much more experience with vocals than I do.

It's a shame you didn't manage to finish this. It has a lot of promise, and contest or no contest, I'm going to keep an eye on your page for a finished version which I hope you plan on doing! All in all, fantastic work with everything else. For a track which has no proper foreground most of time, this was actually fairly enjoyable, and well-produced too!

Score: 7.7/10

Wolftacular responds:

"Whoa OK wait up for a second here."
For someone who cares so much about proofreading, I find it... charming that you seem to add a lot of expression to your writing instead of keeping it steady :3 You wanna get in bed with me? Wait, WHAT? Who said that?

Haha, I just had to comment on that. Down to business though!
I'm very pleased to hear that I finally did a good job with mixing and all that shizzle ;u; Needless to say, I think this competition has really pointed out a lot of things I didn't seem to take too much into account. I agree with the drums, too. It's just something I failed to notice because of listening to the track over and over. You know how that is, right? The guitar is super low on volume here too.

I was planning on replying to your entire review, sentence by sentence, until I realized I agree with everything. I guess I'm curious to find out why the lowish score for so many good things you mentioned, although I do agree that missing the lead instrument is a big biggie. To paraphrase, I wonder if there are other bad things you didn't mention for the sake of an optimistic review. I'd be interested to hear if there's more.

I know I expressed disagreement in the judging style (in someone's blog post), and I maintain that position, in case you ever find the need to discuss it. Furthermore, I do want to point out that what I said in that post (and this applies to nearly all comments and feedback I ever make/give) isn't an "I disagree" as much as it's an "I agree but I think it could be better". Last, but not least, thank you for taking the time to listen and review my shit. Contest or not, judge or not, agree or not, I always appreciate it.

[Bajo el sol, sobre las rocas]

This is an NGADM Round 3 review.

--

Every musical cell in my brain is screaming to me that flamenco and heavy metal will never work together in one song. Transitions between them will sound jarring and weird. The song will sound entirely disconnected. Having said that, somehow, just somehow... you've managed to prove every musical cell of mine wrong. Wow. The two styles work together in this song in such a weird but effective manner that I'm left in awe and applaud such a risky yet successful experiment. I don't know why but I love the transitions to and from the metal sections like 0:30 and 2:23. They seem to pull the song into different directions without sounding abrupt or arbitrary. Your structure is also good enough to justify using these two different styles to form together a full song.

As is generally the case, your production quality is stellar. You've got an incredibly warm acoustic sound at 0:11 and 1:06 that I'd love to hear more of in the track, and during the metal sections, which are obviously your forte when it comes to mixing, sound very thick and meaty, and sound excellent at high volumes. Clarity's good, quality's good, there's really nothing left to desire in your producing skills. The sounds you've used are great. Other than that guitar tone which I've now gotten used to in your music, the Peruvian guitar sounds beautiful, and the drum samples you've used are great. Making the castanets louder in the acoustic sections, and adding more latin percussion, would've been nice, since the drums during those sections don't sound as "authentic" as I would've hoped for, but the rhythms certainly do so it's no issue.

The acoustic sections have some of the nicest composition I've heard from you yet, probably because metal isn't as focused on composition as those sections would be, which goes to show that you're a talented composer even when you switch to another genre! You have great harmonies as well, especially at 2:23 which also has this wonderful dreamy atmosphere that you don't find anywhere else in the track, something that certainly helps to keep things fresh. The metal sections, while not being as compositionally impressive as their acoustic counterparts, are rhythmically solid and played well. Brilliant intro, and a good ending too!

Time for complaints. While I think you melded the two genres together well, like with Hurks' Round 1 submission that also had two genres in one track, I felt like you might have held back/hesitated when it came to having them play simultaneously, which really is wasted potential, because I think you can pull it off. The metal sections don't have the Spanish flair that I found in the other sections. While I am certainly not against having some pure, traditional heavy metal in the track, sections where the Peruvian and electric guitar worked together, or sections where a lead electric guitar plays some melodies found in the acoustic sections (or melodies in a similar melodic style) would have beefed up the metal sections a lot, because let's face it, the metal sections really weren't as memorable as the acoustic ones (my apologies for the long sentence!). Also, the main riff you played during a lot of the metal sections got very repetitive, and there's a marginal amount of incoherence in the 1:06 section.

Anyway, that was quite an experience! For being so creative and pulling off such an impressive feat, along with having some excellent composition and your usual high standard of production, you're getting an excellent score from me. Great job.

Score: 9.5/10

InYourDreams responds:

OMG words! ...words everywhere!! :D
Thanks for the review Step! Awesome as always :)... I'm really honored by your score. Thanks! I'm glad you liked the song. I thought I was screwed this round, cause I also think the metal section isn't as good as the rest. I definitely should had kept the flamenco as the main theme. Well... this one was my first experimental try. Now I know better. ^_^ I definitely got a lot of experience doing this one. I loving the feedback!

[Mote Prime]

This is an NGADM Round 3 review.

--

Alright, NOW I'm blown away. I can't believe you did this in three days. This is incredible. You've thrown in all of the good qualities I know you're capable of in this, and BOTH the scatterbrained feeling and any kind of monotony or boring elements that were present in some of your earlier tracks are out of the picture. What we've got here is a masterpiece, with wonderfully-woven textures and atmospheres, melodies that range from the beautiful and serene to the wacky and disturbing, and transitions, progressions and a structure that leaves me wondering whether you're the same person you were 2 weeks ago, or if insanely musically-talented aliens kidnapped you, hacked your Newgrounds account and then proceeded to probe your brain and so on.

Other than your brilliant harmonies and whatnot, I really like the atmospheres in this one; your atmosphere work here is on par with that of Omniwitch, which I believe has some really sweet atmospheres. What I liked the most though, was how you seamlessly morphed the atmosphere and aura of the piece from a soothing sound that's comparable to that of ForgottenDawn's Plaentitude, to a more tense and crazy vibe. Hearing the intro and then skipping to somewhere in the latter half of the track really shows this contrast, and yet, listening to the track fully without skipping (as it should be) makes it sound so much more gradual.

Rather than doing the usual things such as praising your composition, your production quality, your guitar-playing, etc, I'll focus on some more specific things. I love some of ideas you've done here, like the increase in tempo around a quarter of the way through the track, the 5/4 + 4/4 time signature that becomes 5/4 on its own eventually, the amazing transition to the 4:36 section, your 5:01 introduction of those soft high strings (they are strings right?), the beautiful 6:40 piano glissando, and the really awesome lo-fi ending. These are all truly brilliant little touches, and I know that the more I listen to this track, the more of them I will pick up.

Unlike johnfn I think your track is just the right loudness. However, I agree entirely about the compression. There are a few compression issues in this track which are also present in some of your other tracks. Something to watch out for! I also think that the first 3 minutes or so could've had a larger palette of sounds, because it can feel a tad bit empty or boring before it picks up later on. But seriously, other than that, this is ridiculously good; so good, in fact, that it has one of the smallest complaints paragraphs I've ever written for the NGADM 2013.

I reiterate; I am blown away. I think this is one of my favourites from you. I kind of hoped for a stronger melodic line at times, but it really isn't an issue that's not personal preference. This is phenomenal. I love it.

Score: 9.7/10

Kor-Rune responds:

Thanks for the beautiful review yet again Step! Perhaps it was aliens, if so, I thank them, but wish they would work on their compression issues <:

5:01 aren't strings, but they kinda are lol. it's a guitar with low attack and too much verb.

Thanks again for your always seriously helpful and gigantic reviews, for me and for everyone, you're super step <3

[Public Enemy No.1]

This is an NGADM Round 3 review.

--

I know you're always trying new styles, and you've certainly done that here, but let it be said that this sounds SO SoundChris haha. Such intricate, flowing piano work is so characteristic of your style as a composer, and works wonderfully for anything Jazz-related. Right, I'm going to start by saying that in terms of composition, this is inconceivably good. I have an issue with the composition which I will mention later, but I believe that the composition's strong point here are the harmonies. I loved 0:24's (or 1:25's) chord progression so much, and that little transitional passage at 0:20-ish where glissandos are played in the bass notes (which is repeated around a minute later).

What I love here is how you craft the listening experience. You have a remarkable way of speaking with your music. This sounds so busy and full of life, with a tinge of the shady, fishy and suspicious. I can really picture the scene you were explaining. You manage to convey such business by having the song almost never falter in its energetic pace, and having so much stuff going on at once. This is insanely detailed, and not an easy listen at all. You've also nailed the atmosphere, with that subtle use of the vinyl crackling sound at the beginning and end, that may have been a bit cliché but set the mood with unquestionable efficiency.

Your stucture is almost like a run-on sentence. You keep introducing new things to the track like it's nothing, and the only time we're allowed to stop for a breath is at the end where the bar closes down and everything comes to a ritardando-enhanced stop. That said, your clever and subtle repetition of the intro melody halfway through the track helped solidify everything wonderfully, and led flawlessly to a great ending. Speaking of which, your intro, ending and all of your transitions are just pristine. I especially like your ending, which, like the vinyl crackling, is a bit cliché but is executed so perfectly that I can't help but turn a blind eye.

I'm pretty sure you saw this coming already, considering it has been mentioned before, but this track is practically a blob of different instrumental passages, and nothing ever stands out. It's a stylistic aspect of the track that does a good job of highlighting that sense of a busy bar, but it's a double-edged sword because it also does a good job of making me have no idea what instrument to focus on at times. As much as I love your composition, it needs to shine through more. You need to work on your levelling, making editing the velocity of some more important notes. Also, when your piano goes around middle C or under it, it becomes a jumble of incoherent notes. Lastly, your brass is a bit weak, which has also already been mentioned before. I was going to complain about the song length being too short but I didn't find it to be a problem at all, probably because of the compositional detail that there is in this piece, so forget I said anything!

I'm a bit bummed about the incoherence in this track, but it's otherwise a masterfully-composed and extremely enjoyable piece that conveys a wonderful mood through brilliant composition and suitable instrumentation. Keep it up!

Score: 9/10

SoundChris responds:

Hey there - glad you liked the track and i am really happy that you think the sound represents "my style". To get the brass done was quite difficult. At some passages i was limited because of the libraries possibilities. Its quite impossible to imitate a clear and comprehensive saxophone line with hte tools without making it extremely cheesy and unreal. The most important thing for me was to create a tune which sounds quite natural and fitting to the style of the 1930ties.

So thanks a lot for another monsterreview of yours!

[Pride]

This is an NGADM Round 3 review.

--

As is the case with johnfn, I had a wat moment as well once this started. Just like SoundChris, you are hopping between genres with such ridiculous ease it makes me go "wat" each and every time, all the more with a track like this, which differs from your others not only in genre but in mood as well, and yet again, it's masterfully made. I was pleased to hear you use your excellent singing voice, and so much of it too! There are loads of vocal harmonies, and they are incredibly pleasant to listen to. I don't think the lower register sounds weird at all, even if it might just be you shifting your voice down with a tuning software (or using some other VST that provides the bass voices, or having some superhuman six-octave voice). It sounds like you've got a whole tribe backing up your voice, which is great.

I just love the atmosphere of this as well. The track really doesn't overload the mix with a lot of instruments; you make good use of silence in my opinion and most of the depth comes from the singing, giving this a very humble and likeable atmosphere. The composition is nothing complex like your Round 1/2 submissions, which is just fine, because it fits perfectly and is well-structured! The flow of the melody is what really does it for me though. I can't begin to express how much I enjoyed hearing those little melodic phrases at the beginning being answered by what sounds like a whole tribe of singers, and how you did the same thing at 1:06. Unlike SkyeWintrest, I also loved how the track loses its metre during both the intro and at 1:06 and then brings it back again. Just another testament to how well you set up this track; it doesn't try to follow strict/complex musical theory, and still sounds awesome.

Your instruments are excellent. There was one instrument which I had a problem with but I'll mention that in the last paragraph. Overall, your instrumentation works very well. The drums highlight the rhythm of the track perfectly, and with great sample choice and plenty of subtle variations to keep them sounding fresh. The production, apart from another complaint I'll mention later, is impeccable. The reverb you used is just right - it's there, but dry enough to give this the right atmosphere. Everything is clear, the recording on the voice is high quality, all the samples you've used sound excellent... there really isn't much else to say.

Finally, the complaints. For something that sounds so well-meaning, simple and pleasant, the issues with this track don't take down the enjoyment value that much at all. I feel like there are a few levelling issues - at times the spoken words are a bit too far back in the mix, making them hard to understand. Other times, like 1:47, the voice just jumps to the front unnaturally. The first few notes of 1:30's mallet pierce the mix a bit too much I think. The shakers are a tiny bit too loud (but only slightly). Additionally, I think at 1:30 the strings don't quite fit with the rest of the instrumentation (and the transition to that part could've used some work). 0:13's release seems unnaturally abrupt for some reason. Lastly, I would've liked 2:04 to be a bit longer and a bit more powerful, before it gets into the ending. It sounds like it was intended to be a much larger-sounding section, but ends up sounding pretty weak.

This is amazing though. Highly well-made, professional-sounding, and still simple and has a distinct "home-made" quality to it. Label me impressed. OK you didn't make reggae, but this is close enough! Please keep it up.

Score: 9.2/10

headphoamz responds:

Step! Thanks once again for a brilliantly detailed review. One thing I am proud of are the vocals on this, even though the lower register sounds crappy. And yeah, ending's weak, I know it. I wrapped it up in about ten minutes before the deadline. ;__;
Again, thank you for making a girl feel like she's not a chimpanzee smashing a mixing board. :)

[This is Not the End]

This is an NGADM Round 3 review.

--

I am instantly going to start this review by saying that your melodic material is magnificent. Graceful, elegant, and the chord voicings in the background are lovely (1:50 especially). You'll be delighted to know that I think the generic quality of your previous tracks is not present here at all (*high-fives*). There are a lot of piano + string/pad tracks all over Newgrounds and the rest of the music industry, but this one has enough distinct characteristics to take away any predictable or generic factors that may have unfortunately resided in your other submissions. The contrast between the more fast-paced and trill/ornament-filled sections, and the soft, contemplative sections is beautiful, and shines through spectacularly during both the subtle changes of pace (such as 1:38) and the more abrupt ones (such as 2:33).

It wouldn't be nearly as beautiful if your transitions weren't so silky-smooth. The song flows delightfully, making for a piece that's quite easy to listen to, but still takes a few listens to comprehend fully, because there's a fair amount of detail and length in the composition. On a related note, both the intro and the ending are great. Your intro sets expectations for a soft piano piece, but really picks up after a few seconds, and without much of a gradual change, providing the awesome contrast I mentioned above. Ending the track by slowing down the arpeggios was a splendid idea, but I would've liked the final note to be held back a little more, just for a more satisfying ending.

On the production side of things, everything is clear, like it should be. You have a piano sound that's very bright. I agree entirely with Kor-Rune that the piano could do with being a bit deeper/warmer. I don't think it's a matter of EQing - the piano sample itself isn't very full-bodied (or it might just be because you don't use the low register as much). It's nevertheless a nice piano sound, and is backed up well by some decent strings that are a bit thin and low-quality but do the job. You've got a bit of unused headroom at times in this track, but that's not a problem at all for an emotional, dynamic and expressive track like this. It's soft, and even when it picks up the pace, it doesn't become a powerhouse, which is good to hear.

I had a hard time writing a full length review for this because there isn't much substance in it. While there are plenty of melodic changes, you recycle certain melodic ideas a fair amount in this track, and while some serve to bring the structure of the track together very well, others just make the whole thing a bit repetitive (like the excessively long 1:38 section). The texture of the track is also relatively samey. The melody of the piano is almost always in the high octaves, and you don't have many other instruments or sounds supporting the piano. It feels like the potential of this track is a bit restricted at times, both in composition and instrumentation.

Small issues aside, this is a truly beautiful track. You've delivered a musical experience that, I feel, is an improvement over your Round 2 track, at least compositionally, and I already liked your Round 2 track a lot. Each NGADM track of yours seems to improve over the last, and I'm really really enjoying your work. Consider me a fan!

Score: 8.8/10

ChronoNomad responds:

Thank you so much for so much thoughtful and impassioned feedback, Step! It seems like the one thing that really backfired on me was my "less is more" approach when it came to instruments, and that was something that I had decided on pretty early on, but I didn't quite want it to be nothing but solo piano. That being said, you've hit on a lot of salient points, and have given me a very well-received and appreciated mixture of praise and criticism.

The section being most criticized for its sameness (1:38) is one of my favorite parts, and my hope was that by continuing to layer new things over the main melody it would feel less repetitive. What works for me, ultimately won't sound as good to others, and I can always accept that. I was prepared to bow out gracefully from the instant I was matched up against Jordi in this round, but - interestingly enough - I felt much more confident in the last two rounds. I love what Jordi does, and losing to him while doing my best leaves me with no regrets. A hint of sadness of course, but I'm very happy for him.

I'm really glad that you like this track as much as you do! I've enjoyed being a part of this contest very much, and I have learned a lot about not only myself, but also many other great artists here on Newgrounds...some of whom I didn't even know about previously! I have learned a lot and done some growing, and I intend to keep on doing just that as I keep cranking out music for a long time to come. I hope that you'll stop by and visit me from time to time, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for being a fan! I'm looking forward to being right there with everyone else to see how this whole thing ends.

EXCELSIOR!

[Sequence]

Hello again! I'm the one who made Sky's the Limit, and I've finally gotten around to returning the great review you left me.

I'm going to start by saying that this track is fantastic. There are so many House tracks on Newgrounds, and so many are just badly produced and generic. Listening to this is such a change. You have excellent production! I'm still not sure if I like your kick (it's almost excessively punchy) but you seem to have been going for a more harsh percussion sound so I'll probably get used to it after a few more listens.

You have a really clean and clear mix. The low end is so present and powerful, making this a pleasure to listen to on my decent subwoofer. The sections after the track, well "drops", for lack of better word (the "main" sections such as 0:45) are crystal clear and have so much wonderful in-your-face oomph-y goodness and a really tight and balanced mix.

I have a few issues with your production. You've got a hissing sound that starts at 0:45. It sounds like a reverb/release tail of a cymbal being lengthened for the whole section. While it gives the track some nice gritty high end, it unfortunately gets in the way I think. I'd much rather you sidechained it with the kick and had it fade in and out constantly during those sections. Also the piano's melody gets kind of drowned out since it's really weak compared to all the other sounds.

Composition-wise, you have a few little issues here and there. Your piano occasionally sounds less like it's playing coherent melodies and more like doodling at times. Otherwise, I love a lot of your composition ideas. Unlike one of the other people who reviewed this track, I really really love your intro. When you play "off" notes with the square pluck (i.e. notes that aren't in the tonality you're in), it sounds much better than one would think. It gives the intro its own unique flair without sounding displeasing. In fact, when I first heard this song ages ago, and I'm hearing it again now, I found that one of the things that really stuck in my had was that square pluck synth riff that comes in at the beginning.

Still in the composition department, you have an excellent structure. A lot of the elements in your track are played in one section and tastefully repeated in a later section, which helps keep this track memorable and satisfying. I love the 1:59 part where the square pluck plays behind the piano. Like I said above, I think the piano could be louder in that part, but otherwise it's a strong section that brings together many motifs and iconic elements of the song.

All the transitions are smooth. Not much to say about them. Your careful attention to sound design made for some perfectly smooth transitions that glued the sections together spendidly, like 0:44 which, while a bit generic, worked well. I think your ending is a bit of a cop-out. For a track with such a satisfying structure, ending it like that was fairly lame and didn't do the track much justice in my opinion.

And finally, the sounds. Usually for a track in this genre I'd talk about the sounds towards the start of the review because they're an important element of EDM, but I left them for last. I dunno, maybe I'm getting rusty with structuring my reviews x_x. But yeah, you have fantastic sounds and your mixing and effects on them are superb. Brilliant work.

So, basically, overall, the effort is clear. This is a superb track which I thoroughly enjoyed. Keep up the excellent work - this deserves the popularity it's getting!

9/10
5/5

Lockyn responds:

Ho

my

gat

Ho my gat. Now this I was not expecting when I woke up this morning. Thank you very much for spending the time critiquing this track, I appreciate it! Has anybody told you you're awesome? Because you're awesome. (I'm also gonna have to copy the way you responded to my review because there is NO way I'm going to be able to keep track of what I'm responding to LOL)

"I'm going to start by saying that this track is fantastic. There are so many House tracks on Newgrounds, and so many are just badly produced and generic. Listening to this is such a change. You have excellent production! I'm still not sure if I like your kick (it's almost excessively punchy) but you seem to have been going for a more harsh percussion sound so I'll probably get used to it after a few more listens."
Aww, shucks. Are we here to embarrass each other with offhand compliments!? You flatterer, you. Thanks though, I'm glad you enjoyed so much! As for the kick, that's probably because of my listening habits. I'm very used to listening to tracks with harsher percussion, and it is something that rubbed off on me I guess - I actually thought the kick wasn't punchy enough. o__o It's probably high time for me to get some new headphones, because something is obviously wrong with my hearing or my equipment... xD

"You have a really clean and clear mix. The low end is so present and powerful, making this a pleasure to listen to on my decent subwoofer. The sections after the track, well "drops", for lack of better word (the "main" sections such as 0:45) are crystal clear and have so much wonderful in-your-face oomph-y goodness and a really tight and balanced mix."
Haha, thank you! And it is hard not using the word "drop", huh...

"I have a few issues with your production. You've got a hissing sound that starts at 0:45. It sounds like a reverb/release tail of a cymbal being lengthened for the whole section. While it gives the track some nice gritty high end, it unfortunately gets in the way I think. I'd much rather you sidechained it with the kick and had it fade in and out constantly during those sections. Also the piano's melody gets kind of drowned out since it's really weak compared to all the other sounds."
Hmm, yeah. That hissing sound is a splash cymbal. I used a peak controller to duck the mixer volume slider when the kick hits, I agree that it gets in the way of the mix. I probably should have sidechained it rather than use peak controller. And yes, the piano melody is drowned out at certain sections - I only ever intended it to be a background instrument in this piece, but now that I listen again, perhaps it would be better brought out more as you said.

"Composition-wise, you have a few little issues here and there. Your piano occasionally sounds less like it's playing coherent melodies and more like doodling at times. Otherwise, I love a lot of your composition ideas. Unlike one of the other people who reviewed this track, I really really love your intro. When you play "off" notes with the square pluck (i.e. notes that aren't in the tonality you're in), it sounds much better than one would think. It gives the intro its own unique flair without sounding displeasing. In fact, when I first heard this song ages ago, and I'm hearing it again now, I found that one of the things that really stuck in my had was that square pluck synth riff that comes in at the beginning."
I have a vital weakness, and you found it xD When I compose melodies I have lots of trouble not making it a structured melody, and more than occasionally just keep letting it flow. It doesn't wrap up and loop easily, if you know what I mean. It comes from the fact that I've been a jazz pianist for so long, I think - I have trouble wrapping up melodies, giving them almost a doodling, backgroundy feel like you said. I'm glad you enjoyed the intro! It was the part I was least annoyed listening to after 49104921 times listening to this track while making it. I wanted it to be different from the rest of the piece, so I'm glad this part stuck out for you.

"Still in the composition department, you have an excellent structure. A lot of the elements in your track are played in one section and tastefully repeated in a later section, which helps keep this track memorable and satisfying. I love the 1:59 part where the square pluck plays behind the piano. Like I said above, I think the piano could be louder in that part, but otherwise it's a strong section that brings together many motifs and iconic elements of the song."
Thank you thank you again :D The 1:59 part is the part that sounds the best to me xD and the weird part is, it took the least amount of time. Those complex drop sections though... *shudder*

"All the transitions are smooth. Not much to say about them. Your careful attention to sound design made for some perfectly smooth transitions that glued the sections together spendidly, like 0:44 which, while a bit generic, worked well. I think your ending is a bit of a cop-out. For a track with such a satisfying structure, ending it like that was fairly lame and didn't do the track much justice in my opinion."
The ending was the most disappointing part for most other people who reviewed as well. I do agree - I didn't put much thought into ending the track, other than "I want piano at the end". That ended up showing, didn't it xD I do plan on revisiting this track, so I hope I can do it justice next time around.

"And finally, the sounds. Usually for a track in this genre I'd talk about the sounds towards the start of the review because they're an important element of EDM, but I left them for last. I dunno, maybe I'm getting rusty with structuring my reviews x_x. But yeah, you have fantastic sounds and your mixing and effects on them are superb. Brilliant work."
Thank you! I appreciate you saying this, because synth design can really get complicated - arguably the most complicated part of the process. I'm glad you enjoy my synths and effects, thank you thank you!

And again, I can't say thank you enough for reviewing this. I respect your advice and critique wholeheartedly, and I'm a big fan of your music, so I am very happy you reviewed :D Soooooooo with that said - thank you again! I'm looking forward to your future tracks. Cheers!

[Flip Flop]

Oh hell yes. I found this randomly while browsing the Audio Portal and I am not disappointed. Despite the fact that it has a few issues, you have creative ideas that I just don't hear very often in tracks of this genre. Excellent work.

Right, I'm going to start with that arpeggiator buildup. That is literally the second coolest thing I've heard in ages. After analysing it, I think it's actually brilliant. You start playing arpeggiated patterns slowly, and then you build up in speed while everything else is playing at the original tempo. This rhythmically throws the listener off, and the only way to remain in touch with the meter of the track is by listening to the chords in the background.

Then, the arpeggiator is playing so quickly it's almost like it's a synth playing single notes, and all of a sudden it's back in time with the tempo of the track. I don't know how long it took you tweaking the tempo and the notes that the arpeggiator plays but damn, man, that's just fantastic. I love it.

Apart from that really cool idea, you've got plenty of other excellent things about this track. The production, while not out of this world, is commendable. Everything is clear and fairly punchy, and while I would've liked a more pronounced low end on the kick and some brighter high-end sounds in general, it's quite obvious you've been producing for quite a few years now.

Your jazz electronic combo is awesome. I loved hearing that piano playing jazzy chords and how you seamlessly integrated it with the house beat you've got going. I think the piano's melody is a bit flat. You could've expanded the note range of it at times, rather than keeping it confined to the middle/lower register. I enjoyed your repetition of it in the latter half of the track, since at that point it became quite an iconic element, but again, you just repeat the same riff over and over again. Still, while the execution could have been more impressive, it's another creative touch I have to commend you on.

The sounds you use are MOSTLY great. While your piano is nothing special and your arpeggiated synth sounds quite plain and raw compared to the other sounds, your drums are punchy and sound great, and the variety of synths you introduce in the more house-like sections like 1:30 are sweet. Some bongos would've actually worked really well for this track; I'm surprised you didn't add any considering your jazz influence with the piano.

Lastly, I'll talk about one final issue with this track. It can get a bit boring eventually. The second half of the track does not introduce any ideas that weren't present already in the first half. From 2:50 onwards it felt like I've heard it all and that what followed was "been there done that" filler to lengthen your track to over 5 minutes. Of course, you do introduce plenty of changes in the second half, such as the pretty sweet outro and the modified buildup, but nothing feels ground-breaking, making this eventually sound directionless, anticlimactic and ultimately monotonous.

Overall, this has its problems, I won't lie. Problems aside, however, you've got a super solid track here with spectacular ideas and impressive production value. Great work!

8/10
4/5

Voltus responds:

Thank you for your review. Well I'm too lazy to really make it a 10/10 track :D

[A Farewell To Heroes]

Oh hey man :3.

When I first heard this track I instantly knew it was something by Birdinator99. You have a very distinguishable style, perhaps due to your frequent use of fuzzy pad sounds, and dreamy lead melodies.

For the 1 minute and 16 seconds that this lasts, it's a pleasant listen that deserves some patience to properly digest. You have a nice melody that's backed up by some pretty sweet pad chords. The chord at the end just feels huge haha. It works to provide the resolution you were going for, especially since right before it there was a dominant chord that leaves the listener anticipating such a resolution.

The atmosphere, while being quite heavy for a melody that I'd imagine would fit more in a lighter, more airy atmosphere, is interesting and curiously quite great. You've got a very slow pace and really full/deep instrumentation which creates a kind of majestic, somewhat bittersweet mood.

The sounds are good. I'm still not entirely sure on you playing such prolonged and heavy chords with such thick synths, since it can get a bit overbearing to listen to (especially at the end when you have a sound that rivals the THX sound effect in thickness). Otherwise, you have a set of sounds that are very characteristic of your musical style and are interesting to listen to!

Really though, there isn't much else to say about this track haha. It's nice, but doesn't last very long. There's little development - it instantly starts by introducing the lead melody, and then introduces the drums shortly afterwards, making for very little progression. I can imagine this working in a game cutscene where main characters have to say farewell to each other, but otherwise it isn't very satisfying!

So yeah, basically, this humbly provides a nice listening experience which doesn't last that long. The mixing is solid (maybe a bit overcompressed), the composition is great, the sounds are mostly fine, etc. Keep it up :3.

7/10
5/5 not to ruin your perfect 5 streak

Birdinator99 responds:

Dude, I'm totally going to make more unintentional puns now...

I love dat fuzz, and slow music! It's kind of neat that you can tell it's me by listening now.

I don't know enough theory to know what a dominant chord is, but I know what you're talking about. I'm going to try and learn more about that stuff in the future. Glad you like the chords!

I'd thank the drums for the full sound -- I knew straight away what I was going to do with it when I reached that stage of the recording process.

The pad's a preset, and in hindsight it is a bit thick. Good observation -- I didn't spend a lot of time choosing my instrument there, so now I know what to do next time. The THX sound (haha) was used in Paradox, I'm pretty sure, but I wanted to try it again with proper mixing. It is pretty ridiculous (also a preset heh), but I love it. However, since the song was so heavy leading up to it, I suppose there was less of an impact when it finally came around. Again, back to instrument choices...

If I could do this piece again, I would start quieter and add at least one more layer of progression. The goal was to be a satisfying end, but for reasons already explained that didn't pan out so well.

Glad you liked the mixing -- the compression is probably the mastering limiter I'm using. I was wary about turning it up any more, and I'm glad I didn't, as it probably shows a little too much as it is. I enjoyed the slight pump I got with the kick, though, when I used it the way I did. I would love to increase the volume of my tracks some how -- maybe I need to record my keyboard sounds at a higher level or use more software synths.

Thanks for stopping by, and KEEP THAT STREAK ALIVE HOMIE BIRDY AND STEP 2013 KNOW WHAT I'M SAYIN'?!?!?!