Step's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Empty]

This is an NGADM Round 1 review.

--

The really great factor of this track that gives it its charm is the human touch you add to it. I'm not 100% certain whether the guitar(s) are real or not but they sound real, and the piano sounds lovely, giving this track a nice amount of expression. You've got some really good compositional ideas, and there's a good amount of depth in your composition, along with some nicely-chosen chords. Then there are the vocals of course, which contribute the most to the expressive, authentic kind of sound that this track has. I also quite like your lead guitar solo almost halfway through the track.

There are unfortunately quite a few issues with this. The singing style feels very heavy and slow. For a ballad-like track at a tempo like this, the vocals need more emotion and power (also they were hard to understand, which is a shame since the lyrics were great). In fact, the track in general is lacking in power. The drums are lacking in low end and feel too thin, for starters. Also, the singing occasionally goes out of tune, although you're a pretty good singer so it just takes a bit more practice!

Anyway, this was a nice track, with some production issues that need ironing out. You've got some excellent ideas and I enjoyed it. Good work man.

Score: 7.2/10

DivoFST responds:

Thanks for the detailed review Step!
The more human the song is the more fun i have, unfortunately my recording material is very low quality so the more "real" tracks i have the harder it gets to mix everything properly and the vocals suffered a lot from that.
Recording vocals is incredibly frustrating and i got to a point where i just tolerated the flaws it had.
Yes the guitars are quite real xD
Im in need of serious vocal ideas...was the melody weak?...was my singing weak?...was the mixing weak?...double track?...so much questions!! SOMEONE TUTOR ME!!! xD
Thanks Step :D

[The Ancient Ones]

This is an NGADM Round 1 review.

--

Ah, the explosive power of trailer music. You've certainly done a lovely job at creating something that sounds an announcement trailer for the latest Hollywood blockbuster. Not only do the instruments sound excellent, but are mixed well too. Other than some very minor clutter/muddiness that's very hard to avoid when you've got such thick instrumentation, this sounds clear and devastatingly powerful, which I really need to commend you on. I actually enjoyed the sound of the intro too but it felt a bit detached from the rest of the track and I agree with SoundChris that it was a bit long (maybe add some more film-scorey elements/sound FX to keep it interesting?). The outro was a bit expected/predictable, but perfectly fine. Oh, and let me add that your use of the screaming choir and percussion was absolutely flawless.

The issue with this track is that it's fairly forgettable. The composition is a bit plain/uninspired. For instance, the tension you create at around the one minute marker is just really typical usage of dissonant chords, and it's followed by a repetitive and generic passage of staccato strings. I understand that while you keep that same string pattern going, you layer it with different harmonies throughout the track, but unfortunately that doesn't stop it from getting repetitive. In general, the track is pretty typical trailer music fare apart from the intro (maybe because you have assignments due?), which is a shame because you're an excellent musician who certainly has the skill of making something less generic.

Really though, other than the fact that it's a bit typical/predictable, and the mix is a little muddy, this is a very well-produced track with plenty of professional touches and a devastating, mighty sound overall. Great work.

Score: 8.3/10

TitanMusic responds:

Thank you for the kind words and for the honest criticism.
I shall definitely look over the points you have made when working on my next submission(And for song writing in general).
I think it started to get fairly generic when tunnel vision set in and the only thing that was happening in my mind was those staccato strings repeating over and over. Haha, I shall definitely be working on an entirely different approach for my next song.
Thanks again!

[[NGADM]Variable]

This is an NGADM Round 1 review.

--

Oh damn. I love this. Jazz piece written for an orchestral setting is exactly how I'd describe this. The harmonies, scales, and a fair amount of the instrumentation are clearly jazz, but then you've got a structure and certain approaches that are obviously orchestral. This is something I would expect from you, having heard some of your other music, but this is certainly better than some of the other tracks I've heard from you (which were, admittedly, quite old, with the exception of your NGAPTAC submission which wasn't very good). You've really outdone yourself with the composition here. I also love all the melodic and harmonic layers you throw in to this track, ESPECIALLY the chords. This is considerably well-composed.

I love your composition, but I do think there's some questionable use of the blues scale now and again (3:09 especially which felt like it didn't quite fit with everything else). On a much more major note, the production value does not do the composition justice at all. Your instruments don't sound very good. Other than the flute at times, and the bass, everything sounds pretty soundfont-esque or MIDI-like. I never dock many marks for this because not everyone can afford high-end software like Cinesamples or East/West, but at the same time I feel like you could've done more to make everything sound realistic. Some of the pitch bends sounded very artificial (to the point that the song would've been better without them), the sax solos sound quantised and fake, and I would've liked some more drastic dynamics and humanisation. The NGADM allows real instrument players so you could've looked for one for at least that saxophone to help give those solos a more human touch, for example. The mix feels very cluttered and unclear at times (the drums are very hard to hear especially). The sax sounds pretty dry too, despite you allegedly adding reverb.

Almost all of the issues are production-related. Composition-wise, this is absolutely beautiful, and since composition is so important in this genre, I'll feel bad if I don't give you a high score.

Score: 8.9/10

Nimble responds:

For the most part, yes, I still haven't gotten the hang of mixing just quite yet. I'm still learning with every little thing that I write, and since the amount of work that goes into mixing is insane, I'll get it eventually :P I do agree with what you're saying though, I need to start learning mixing faster. Thanks for the review and the chance to participate in the "playoffs" of Newgrounds. I'm definitely coming back next year! :)

[Dreamyard]

This is an NGADM Round 1 review.

--

The winner of last year's NGADM is clearly geared up with intentions to win this year's NGADM too. This is ridiculously well-made. There's such a huge variety in atmospheres, moods and harmonies; one can tell you put a hell of a lot of work into this. The things you usually excel in - harmonies and guitar-playing - are beautifully-made here as well. I love how unlike in a lot of metal tracks, your guitar solos are actually really sensibly made and with brilliant composition; some metal tracks just put in a solo for the sake of showing off the guitarist's technical prowess, without really offering anything compositionally interesting, while yours do both. And let's not forget about your fantastic mixing. I think your mixing is a tad bit lacking compared to other tracks of yours since sometimes the mix gets overly cluttered, but that's not to say that your mixing isn't still amazing.

Now to mention some issues. Firstly, this sounds a lot like your other works (mainly those in the first three rounds of the last NGADM). While this is certainly not something to reduce marks for (everyone has his/her own style after all), a personal suggestion from me is to veer into newer styles, like those of Don't We All? and Fly me to Blue (due to both it being a fun way to keep your music sounding new, and me wanting to hear what you can do in different styles). Anyway, that aside, I hate to say it but I'm still feeling somewhat of a directionless vibe from this track. Like I mentioned in the past, it's really hard to nail the balance between sounding interesting throughout and creating a song that sounds unified (your track Venus comes closest to nailing it), and it's something you should work on since in this track, at times it feels as though you could've put a bit more thought into the structure.

Honestly, you're arguably one of the best musicians on the Audio Portal by far. This is incredible. I'm going to be harsher with you on scores (hence the 8.7) since you won last year's NGADM but rest assured that this is one hell of an amazing track.

Score: 8.7/10

Kor-Rune responds:

Thank you Step for your awesome reviews, everytime! I appreciate the help. I'll try something new this next round! It'll have more direction too. <:

Always love the feedback step! i'm gonna score your review at 10/10

[FD - Plaenitude]

This is an NGADM Round 1 review.

--

Unquestionably brilliant atmosphere from the get go. The guitar sounds incredible, and when you bring that heavily but tastefully-reverbed/delayed ethnic woodwind sound, I died. It was beautiful; serene, ethereal, peaceful, and generally extremely well-crafted. I like the sense of movement you portray at 1:41; the song feels like it's starting to pick up at that point, and indeed it does. Your subtle use of various effects is highly successful, including what sounds like guitar feedback at one point. The metal was entirely unexpected. I like the mixing of your rhythm guitar; it may be a bit too loud but you can really feel the bassy power from those chugs. Your bold combination of ambient elements with the metal guitar/drum setup somehow works, and is incredibly interesting to hear.

I'll start by pointing out some nitpicks. Not a massive fan of how you set up the drums; they feel too loud and piercing. 4:53's transition feels abrupt, but only slightly. Some more transitional elements might help smoothen it out a bit. Now, like a lot of people have mentioned, I also think your guitar's rhythms need work. Such a standard rhythm with no syncopation at all sadly ends up making the guitar sound terribly artificial, along with being monotonous to listen to. You implement rhythm guitar better towards the end, but in that section where the rhythm guitar is introduced, the two styles (ambient and metal) feel far more disjointed, and it might have to do with the actual rhythms, so changing them up a bit (maybe even starting the metal part with some power chords instead) would've worked far better.

Still, the atmosphere is spot on, and this was a very unique listen overall. Keep it up!

Score: 8.4/10

ForgottenDawn responds:

I'll admit this was more of an experiment than ever. While in retrospective some ideas seemed to work, others needed some more polish and there's a lot to consider in the mastering department. Nonetheless, these reviews helped me clearing out the mist I was forcing on my track. Thank you for your review.

[GM - I'm coming 4 u (NGADM13)]

This is an NGADM Round 1 review.

--

Wow, this is fantastic. It was a real pleasure to listen to. Your production is just perfect, man. Other than a slightly disappointing bass, everything in here is mixed to perfection and crystal clear. Another thing you can loosely tie with production in this track is your guitar playing, which was highly skilful. Your transitions are smooth, including your intro and outro, and you give the track a pretty unique touch with that little piano motif that can be heard on its own at the end but is played at other times in the track, making this not just your typical guitar and drum combo.

Maybe the biggest issue with this track is its composition. Rhythmically, this track is great, and there are some pretty awesome ideas in here too, but the composition just ends up sound a bit bland at times, making the track ever so slightly boring to listen to. Having said that, you structure your composition pretty well, so even in the composition department you manage to get stuff right, just with the shortcoming of the melodies being a bit boring at times.

This is seriously good stuff. Keep up the excellent work!

Score: 8.6/10

InYourDreams responds:

Thanks Step!! ur reviews are always awesome!... Yeah, I took down the acoustic treatment of my room, to put it on the rehearsal room of my band, so now it's really difficult to make a good mix... :(... I wish I had more money to buy at least some good headphones.
About my composition... yeah I hate beeing uninspired... I don't know what to do about it. I'm really having probems trying to come up with stuff, that make me say "this is good enough"... but I'm not gonna give up ^_^

[Mechanical Anima]

This is an NGADM Round 1 review.

--

Absolutely brilliant. After hearing what both you and ZipZipper made for this round, I feel bad pairing you two together. I felt that some of your stylistic similarities were uncanny so I thought you'd make a good pairing, but you guys make such great stuff that none of you deserve to go out so early in the contest. But really, this track is masterfully composed. The melodies were remarkably good, the chords fit beautifully, and you flow so effortlessly through key changes and different song sections. The instruments and sound effects you've used are great, by the way! I can't believe you used Edirol - everything sounds high quality and Edirol isn't quite East/West or Cinesamples or whatnot. Just goes to show that a talented composer can make anything sound great.

Like with ZipZipper's tracks, I have numerous minor problems with this track. There unfortunately is very little going on in the low end, making the track sound noticeably empty at times. Other than a percussive boom you play constantly, there isn't much depth. The track's sounds can get a bit monotonous at times too. I understand this is supposed to be a duet between two woodwind instruments and you manage to keep their melodies varied perfectly to keep the listener interested, but I would've liked some more sounds/instruments scattered throughout the track, even if they're in the background, rather than sticking to an almost-unchanging instrument/sound set from beginning to end (with a few exceptions). This could be fixed by adding more instruments, but even more sound effects would do!

Anyway, that was excellent. You're certainly one of the underdogs of this competition; keep it up.

Score: 9.5/10

steampianist responds:

thank you for the very detailed review step

aha! i knew the pairings wasn't random but i was able to discover zipzipper and i thank you for that really like his music as well

ahh yes the bass.. well honestly i couldnt think of bassline and even if i played around with my controller it just doesnt seem to "mesh well" so i thought go simple! hehe.

[Electroboy]

This is an NGADM Round 1 review.

--

Yes, this is fantastic stuff. After hearing that gigantic audition of yours, I thought "what could he possibly come up with next?", and while this track isn't quite as gigantic, it sure is one hell of a good track. The atmosphere of the intro is probably one of my favourite things about this track, mainly from 0:37 (and how you cleverly give us another brief snippet of it at 2:22). The production quality is just great too. I'm hearing cinematic elements in here, combined with electronic elements, combined with, of course, metal. Very creative work in that department; you inarguably make it work very well.

The track can sound a bit dull at times, unfortunately. The metal-driven sections are often just the same one-measure riff repeated over and over again with a little change at the last beat of the bar where you add some subtle melodic variation. The track would have benefitted if there was something playing above that guitar, but that only happens in a subdued manner with some quiet elements that are also repetitive, except the 2:04 part where that glorious synth comes in (although it's a bit drowned out by that guitar). There are some small balancing issues as well; the guitar hogs a bit too much of the mix in my opinion, since it can sometimes drown out the drums and like I said, it drowns out that synth at 2:04. Because of how loud it is, it even comes in as a bit of a surprise at 1:02 and ends up making that transition sound too abrupt.

Honestly though, this is a considerably badass track with a very well-crafted atmosphere and great production. A few issues to iron out, but fantastic work.

Score: 8.6/10

Lashmush responds:

Thanks kindly, I'll take it all into account for my upcoming projects so as not to repeat my mistakes. :3

[One Trick Pony]

This is an NGADM Round 1 review.

--

I would HARDLY call you from all people on Newgrounds a one-trick pony. Other than the fact that the production is pretty much nailed, the drums sound excellent, and most of the sounds are well-chosen, this song takes unique to a new level. I can honestly never even attempt to predict what will happen next in your music, and this song is no exception, with its almost random cute little piano melody at the beginning followed by a departure to something totally different.

Now for the bad news. The piano during the drum sections feels entirely detached from all of the other instruments in the mix, to the point that most of the time it sticks out like a sore thumb. This would be an interesting way to spice things up but considering that you have that piano playing almost all the time, it really ends up sounding very stale, very quickly. None of the melodic content here is particularly good, as the only semblance of a melody can be found in the piano parts that are often made to sound like they're riddled with performance mistakes and, again, don't quite fit with anything else. The piano here can be compared with an old but great NGADM track you made, Black Widow, which has a piano that NAILS the atmosphere (and even being occasionally atonal and wacky like the piano over here is), but unlike that track, the piano in this track unfortunately feels out of place.

Not quite the amazing, surprise-filled track I was expecting to get from you, given your musical talent, but on the bright side this track at least nails the "surprise-filled" part. And the production is incredible as a bonus, so I think 5.4 is a fair score.

Score: 5.4/10

Quarl responds:

Silly me.