Step's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[AF+T888 - Lightspeed (DM Edit)]

Wow, just wow.

OK this is amazing. Just flows so easily, keeps to its name yet is so relaxing and puts you at ease. Yeah, you ROCK at Ambient, and I'm sure that this is probably your best submission so far. Too bad it has such a bad score :C. Anyway, keep up the amazing work, this is the stuff that the Audio Portal should have! :D.

Alright, those melodies are just godly. They're really, really catchy and beautifully done. You seriously have talent when it comes to making melodies, and this is just another song that expresses that superb talent. The piano (is that even a piano?) has amazing melodies. Loved the part at 2:03 where the piano chords and pad play, and then the arp comes in so smoothly that you don't even notice it came in. Speaking of the arp, it was fast paced, yet still puts you at ease at the same time, plus its melodies were really cool. Maybe you could add some soft piano solo in-between, since at times your melody could use something new in the middle of it to keep the listener interested yet still relaxed, but heck, that doesn't really matter at all. I think I'm hearing a slight bit of clipping in the middle of the song, but I'm almost 100% sure that's my crappy speakers. Fantastic job with the melodies!

The synths and instruments you used were also really cool. Very spacey, and sort of make you imagine yourself soaring through the clouds at light speed, or at least that's how I see it. The piano sounded really nice, even though it made me doubt if it was a piano or not, but heck, as long as it sounds great, it doesn't have to sound like a piano ^^. Arp sound really cool, and that pad was just beautiful and sounded so calm and soothing. Yeah, instruments are out of this world, nothing to complain about them.

The mix is slightly muddy with all the reverb you threw in, but that added to the awesome spacey feel of the song, and I think the reverb makes the song feel really relaxing and smooth. When it comes to the sound effects, I think this song could REALLY benefit with some sweeps. If you don't have any/don't know how to make some, I can help you out :). Anyway, other than the fact that I think this could do with some sweeps, effects/mastering was great.

The transitions are all pristine, except maybe the one at 2:03 which could do with some reverbed reverse cymbal, or even better, a sweep like I mentioned above to indicate that the song has reached a new, calmer mood. Other than that small defect, smooth and flawless transitions, which is always important in an Ambient song such as this. New synths were introduced very well, such as the arp in the middle of the song which as I said above entered the song so smoothly that I didn't even notice it entered. Buildups were excellent.

The song structure is perfect. It's very well structured and all of the melodies compliment each other very nicely. Variety was excellent, except for the lack of a soft piano solo somewhere inbetween, but even without that the song is still well varied and never got boring, because whenever you got tired of one melody, another melody or another element comes in to keep you interested ^^. Intro was REALLY well done, and started the song very smoothly. It started spacey, and then built up as it introduced new elements, which is just how a song intro like this should be. The ending is also extremely cool. A smooth ending with a powerful piano chord and percussion hit to compliment it. Perfect :D.

The percussion wasn't really that audible, but I think making it any louder would ruin the beautiful and spacey ambient atmosphere you've got going. Maybe you could make the bass percussion a little more prominent. Not louder, just slightly stronger and easier to hear without ruining the atmosphere. Still, the snare or clap was really awesome. Drums were well done in general, good job ^^.

Other than the really tiny defects such as lack of sweeps/piano solos, this song is really cool, and a few more songs like this and I'm definitely favouriting you. Keep up the AWESOME work, man!
10/10
5/5
Download.
Fav'd.

-Review Request Club-

aliaspharow responds:

Wow right back at you! You freakin rock steph! but i still wish i would of thought of putting sweeps in my song ^^!

[-:YRX:- MR.VanVizuard]

Thought I should review this :D

I'll start by saying that this is really damn catchy. Most of the Drum/Piano submissions are probably made with only strings accompanying the piano and stuff, yet you managed to make such an awesome piano/drum *techno/drum'n'bass* song, so yeah, points for originality. Good job with this man, I loved it!

The melodies really shine in this entry. The one at the beginning was very catchy, and by very catchy, I mean, like, it'll stay in your head for weeks. Then, when the song became really fast paced with loads and loads of fast piano notes, I couldn't help but smile. When it comes to the amount of alternate melodies, this could do with one or two more, especially somewhere in the middle, and particularly a slower/calmer melody, because after all no song is a song without different dynamics and moods, but still, your melodies are so quirky and all over the place that this doesn't REALLY need that many alternate melodies, although it won't hurt to add 1 more in the middle. Anyway, overall, the melodies were awesome, and they had a sort of comical twist to them, which is probably why you chose that title. Good job with the melodies!

The instruments are alright. I wasn't really too impressed with the quality of your piano, but that really isn't much of a problem, since this is drum'n'bass and that genre doesn't necessarily need a pristine piano. So yeah, the piano itself sounded really awesome, even though it didn't sound like a top quality piano. The bass pad was great, if not a little thin (maybe you could add some more pads to add more fullness to the song), but it really complimented the piano and sounded great. Loved the parts where the bass pad was playing on its own ^^. The bells sounded nice too ^^. You know what would REALLY fit with this song? Don't know about you, but some really cool well-timed vocal sample saying 'MR.VanVizuard' at around 0:41 would really do wonders to introducing that really fast piano a few seconds after. Just a thought, but in general the instruments and stuff were well done. I even liked the strings you had at the beginning and later in the track.

The transitions on the whole were excellent. Maybe you could've introduced the drums a little more smoothly, but other than that you had great transitions and the song flowed really smoothly. The buildup at the beginning was also really good and introduced the fast piano melody really well, so all it needs is a vocal sample to spice that transition up, as I mentioned above. The structure is pretty unique, but I liked that at the end you added that effective climax to the song, it added to the song quite a bit and sounded great. Variety was alright, you could've added more alternate melodies as I said above to break the repetition, but overall the variety was decent.

The intro was pretty good, since it left you wondering what was about to happen next, but outro was a definition of average. Not too special, but not bad either ^^. If I had to do anything to the outro it'd be to do something along the lines of this (maybe a little less of a sudden ending):
http://www.mediafire.com/?0mmtzewngjz
Yeah, may not be the best of examples, but I think if you do something a bit like that outro, it'll work pretty well ^^. Just an idea :).

The drums were great. Drum samples were amazing, and the beat was really catchy. Maybe you could make the drums a little quieter, since at times they sort of penetrate the light-hearted piano in the song with their roughness and it doesn't sound too good. Another thing I didn't like about the drums was that they were too repetitive, so varying them a little more would break the monotony of this song :). Still, overall the drums were very nice, so good job with that :D.

To summarize, this is an excellent track, which I enjoyed listening from beginning to end. Maybe you could change the outro a little, fix some stuff with the drums and work a little on the little nitpicks I mentioned, but overall, this is a piece that Darklight and I will have a hard time beating. Keep it up!
9/10
5/5

-Review Request Club-

YouriX responds:

Wow i love getting these kinds of reviews. Anyways i think i feel obligated to respond to your review. Well i'll start by saying that the recomendation where pretty good and i heard that outro example and i understand where your going. But that voice idea is really good i think i might actaully do that.
Thanks for the review even thou i didnt request it from your club :P
But i like how you took the time to review my song thanks! ;)

[Stargenx - Magical Pipe]

Yes!

I really like this song, and if it wasn't for the very flawed Audio Portal system, this would surely be somewhere in the Top5/30. Extraordinary job, this is so well done, it's even good enough to be called professional. Also, to answer to your response to the review below me, even I make my really good songs at night, so I know what you mean xP.

The melodies, as ChampionAnwar said, were REALLY well done. Had a sort of Egyptian feel to them, which really added a touch of uniqueness to this submission. The way the melodies are done and the atmosphere you evoked sort of made this perfect in a stealth-like game such as Metal-Gear or some stealth-ninja game. The melody was very catchy, and my favourite part would definitely be around 1:30 where the song reaches a cool climax. The amount of alternate melodies was superb and the song never got boring to listen to since you kept introducing new melodies and new changes to your melody to keep the listener interested till the end. So yeah, when it comes to the melodies, this song is a pure WIN. Great job!

The instruments are also really good. The woodwind-type main instrument was so cool and added to the submission, and the synth strings in the background added a lot of depth and were a really good addition. Loved the instrument at 0:52. Still, this is the paragraph were most of my complaints'll go too. I have two complaints. Firstly, I think the intro could use another instrument, since that instrument all on its own at the beginning felt a little empty, and although it added a lot of suspense to the intro, still felt a bit empty. Add some really soft bass pad starting at 0:02-ish, maybe like some sort of Double Bass.

Second complaint would be the square wave plucks at the beginning. The song is really ambient and smooth, but those square wave plucks are rough and they sort of play in the song as if to say "I'm here to ruin your beautiful ambience". Maybe you could add something a little less rough such as a shaker. Anyway, when it comes to the bass, the pads really provided a lot of rich bass which added a lot of depth. Perhaps you could add some catchy bassline played by a bass guitar starting at around 0:52. Don't know if it'll fit though, but it can't hurt to try. The sound effects you added were superb, such as that weird reverse cymbal, the sweeps, etc.

Nothing atl all wrong with the transition. Loved the type of transitions when the song went quiet and then picked up at the end of the bar, such as the one at 0:50. New instruments were introduced very well, and I really liked the gradual buildup at the beginning, where you slowly introduced new elements to the song as you went along.

The structure overall is extremely well done, with a noticeable climax in the song which makes the song very interesting. My only complaint with the structure would be the fact that at the part at 1:30 stopped so quickly and suddenly at 1:40, when I expected it to stay going at least 12 more bars. I'm not saying this because it's my favourite part, but because it's the climax of the song, and it calms down so quickly leaving that part very anticlimatic. Variety on the other hand was sublime. The intro, other than the fact that I think it could use a soft bass pad, was superb and added to the suspense. Ending was also very well done, so good job over there.

The drums, wow... This song is calm, and you managed to make the drums so interesting yet still fit wit the calm atmosphere. These drums are probably one of my favourite drum lines I ever heard on Newgrounds, and trust me, I heard a LOT of NG songs. Variety on the drums was also amazing.

What I like the most in this would be the drums, but everything is so amazing. By the end of the song you left me like O.O. Really love this submission, just has a few nitpicks I mentioned above which you may or may not agree with, but overall I LOVE IT, so please, keep up the amazing work!!! A few more songs like this and you're going straight to my Favourite Artists list!
10/10
5/5
Download.
Fav'd as a song.

-Review Request Club-

Stargenx responds:

Wow... Thanks for the incredibly long, helpful and positive review! This song is mostly supposed to be in the treble which is why I didn't add a lot of bass instruments. I might re-do this song with more bass but I rarely have much time to work on music and most of my time is spent on my later songs. I feel guilty because I rarely get to extending/improving existing pieces. I'll get to that though, I promise! Again, thanks for the review.

[Kaleidoscope Eye]

Umm...

Yeah, not exactly something you hear everyday. I suppose you have some points for being original, but to be brutally honest, this song is rather dull. It doesn't have enough to keep the listener interested for 1:15, and even then the 1:15 that it plays sounds a little weird and could use work.

There was only one melody, and that's already taking a lot from the submission. The one melody you used was very simple and quite weird too. The instant I heard it I frowned, since it wasn't really that interesting and it was just plain strange. I think you should try using a better chord progression, add more melodies, and give your melodies a bit more of a hook to them other than just 4 different notes played again and again. Also, the vocals at the beginning really sound weird and the fact that they were played so early in the song puts you off to listening the whole song. I think you should remove them, or at least make some sung vocals instead, because the ones you have now are really eerie and out of place, not to mention hard to understand.

The instruments, actually scratch that, the instrument, was some weird synth brass with a strange note attack time. The fact that it plays such a simple melody doesn't help much either. Firstly, I think you should change the instrument you're using. This sounds quite bad on its own, and the fact that the note attack times are longer in lower notes than in higher notes doesn't help either. Secondly, I think that you definitely need more than just one instrument. The fact that you're using one melodic instrument makes the song feel very empty, so to fill up that little background depth I'd suggest adding some pads or something. Besides, having one instrument by itself is boring anyway :\.

The transitions on the whole aren't TOO bad, although I really don't agree with the transition at 1:00-ish. The song just stops out of nowhere, and then a fade-in played by seemingly different instruments, or at least differently EQ'd instruments comes in. I'd suggest adding a crash cymbal over there to end that part, or just fade that part out, before moving on to the fade-in. You could also just remove that part, since adding a fade-in out of nowhere doesn't sound too good. Also, the instrument at 0:22 could have been introduced a bit more smoothly, such as with a reverse cymbal or a fade-in of that instrument, etc. The buildup/fade-in you did at the end was well executed, but the fact that it really didn't fit and seemed very out of place ruined it.

The structure, like a lot of aspects in this song, is quite strange. You start with an intro with vocals, yeah, but then you introduce an instrument out of nowhere, fading out the vocals, and then to make matters worse, you add a fade-in which didn't fit much with the submission. The variety isn't too good, since you only have one melody which keeps repeating itself, so as I said above, this definitely needs more melodies, and better melodies at that.

The intro is eerie. Namely the strange part of the intro is the fact that it starts with the vocals that really don't sound too good. Maybe you should take away the vocals altogether and add a simple drum buildup for the intro. As for the outro, the song feels as if it's not finished. The buildup leads you to believe that there's more to come, yet just at the end of the buildup, the song simply stops, which unfortunately doesn't provide such a good ending. Maybe you should go for the usual trance ending and add a crash/splash cymbal. Your call.

Strangely enough, behind the strange melody, strange synth, and strange vocals, there are some suprisingly well done drums. I think the drums were great. The beginning of the song had drums which were hard to keep track of, but from then on, the drums were enjoyable, so good job with that.

Overall, this is quite a unique submission but sadly it's more 'weird' unique, rather than 'wow this works' unique and I believe it needs a fair bit of work before it can be enjoyable. Sorry for the particularly harsh review :'(.
5/10
3/5

-Review Request Club-

TheSongSalad responds:

Thanks for the honest review man. This was really a one off submission I did when I got inspired to do it by something. Thanks for the really great review man.

[SN | Obscene Amounts of Steam]

YES!

Definitely your best track, man. I absolutely loved it, from beginning to end. I think your songs really got me interested in glitch/IDM :P. Excellent job, you excel at this genre, and every song of yours always has something fresh and new to keep your listeners interested.

The melodies, wow, as usual, your melodies are extraordinary. The melodies really set off the creepy and suspenseful atmosphere, and although they were only played by one instrument throughout the whole song, I never got tired of them. The beginning melody was very catchy, and from then on it evolved into so many different yet effective melodies that it left me amazed. You had a very good amount of different melodies, and I really liked the fact that throughout the song you switched between soft/calm and hectic so smoothly instead of keeping to hectic or keeping to soft, since it made the song very interesting. Yeah, nothing wrong with the melodies but then again, that's how it usually is with your songs anyway.

There was only one main instrument, but as I said, it never got repetitive since it played such awesome melodies. Maybe you could add more than just one distinguishable (unsure if that's a word) melodic instrument, but strangely enough the instrument you used gives itself its own depth and sounds great on its own. What I'm trying to say is, the song sounds great with one melodic instrument, although it wouldn't hurt to have 1 or 2 more. As for the atmosphere you evoked, it was brilliant. Again the crazy and glitched drums fit so well with the ambient melodies, and the atmosphere is beautiful. You could add a few more sound effects such as wind/steam effects (hence the song name) or you could throw in one of your awesome pitch bent vocal phrases if it doesn't ruin the atmosphere xD.

The transitions are great. As I said, this song had many changes from soft to hectic, so it's impressive that you managed to pull off such smooth transitions. The reverse cymbal you used provided some nice transitions too, and 1:26, although it may seem a little abrupt since it switches from loud to soft so suddenly, was actually a really awesome transition, and the echoed sweep complimented it well. I liked the buildup at the beginning, where it started with the main instrument, then the drums (or should I say fingers xD) came in, the main instrument and drums got more powerful and then with a reverse cymbal you reach the first climax of the song. Buildups and transitions are awesome.

The song structure is unique, and that's what I like about this song. It doesn't have any fixed chorus, but simply drifts away with different melodies, without sounding random. Variety was very good, so yeah, structure/variety-wise in this song is a win :D.

The intro was superb, as Darklight said. Still, I think a few nitpicks could improve the intro slightly. Maybe adding some long and reverbed sweep playing first, and then the melody comes in as the reverb of the sweep dies away. Maybe adding some other element to the intro such as a soft kick, wind or something close to a heartbeat could set off the mood too. Still, overall, awesome intro. Outro, as Darklight also said, was amazing, and I can't complain about it.

That percussion left me :O. The finger tapping at the beginning was insanely original, and added so much to the submission. Seriously, where do you come up with these ideas? The other drums were obviously out of this world. I mean, towards the end, the drums got so hectic and crazy that I had to listen to them more than once just to understand them xD. Yeah, drums are brilliant, what else is new?

Overall, I was really amazed. No wonder you think of this as your best submission, because I think it is, or maybe tied to 'Lost, But On Her Way' which was also an amazing track. Well whatever, keep up the great work, when it comes to glitch, you're the only one in the site who does it properly as far as I know. Sorry for the long review, it's sort of standing out in the middle of all the other short RRC ones xD.
10/10
5/5
Download.

-Review Request Club-

SessileNomad responds:

i love your reviews long or short

while the track's name involves steam...i was focusing more on elements associated with steam, warmth, wetness, that kind of stuff, i thought of this track when i was taking a shower, and when i got out there was a ton of steam all over the bathroom, so yeah xD

i have another 'drumkit' set up with odd recorded precussives, you'll have to wait for that one though :)

last drumkit is the amenbreak, pretty common in this genre

lost but on her way is close, but it has some quality issues that i havn't addressed yet, but yeah they're pretty close

thanks for the review man, great review as always from you

peace

[.:A New Life v2:.]

It was terrible...

...Terrible that it lasted for such a short time, because damn, this is amazing! Yeah, I feel guilty reviewing this after I worked a little on it too, but what the heck, 99% of it was made by you and great job on that, because this seriously sounds superb, and if the Berklee guys don't like this song, then they must be mad. D: Brilliant work, this song is just epic!

The melodies are probably what make this piece shine the most. The melodies are simply beautiful. Loved the chord progression you used, it's a nice change from all of the generic chord progressions here on NG, and I was also impressed by the great harmonizing you did over here. I really liked the harp glissando and violion glissando at 1:20 and 1:34 respectively. They really added a lot to the submission and were great ways of introducing new instruments. 1:35 would probably be my favourite part from the whole song since it was so full of action and epic, complimented by the wonderful melodies and awesome harmony. The detache violins were a nice touch and really got the song to its climax, before calming down for the outro. Amazing job with the melodies!

The instruments, wow, what VST did you use? :P. OK, lame jokes aside, the instruments were perfect quality, as expected, and added a lot to the submission. I noticed a few EQing problems, but that's probably just good old Darklight not knowing the difference between EQing and twisting shiny knobs xD. Still, not much of a problem. Your instrument choice was extraordinary. Loved the pizzicatos at the beginning, they started the song up perfectly, and I also really enjoyed the strings you added, esepcially the high strings towards the end of the song which really set the mood. The harp was a nice addition, you could've added a little more of it in the song, although I doubt it'd be that easy. Piano was great, and the double bass added a good amount of depth to the song, so yeah, awesome job ^^.

The transitions are all smooth and flawless, and no transitions felt a little abrupt. At first I didn't like the transition at 2:03 since I felt it skipped from loud to soft too suddenly, but the more I heard it, the more I liked it, and it sounds fine now ^^. New instruments were introduced extremely well, and as Haggard said, the gradual buildup from the intro to 2:03 was fantastic. Perfect transitions, perfect introductions to new instruments, perfect buildup, do you do anything wrong??

The structure is extremely well done. Sort of how life starts small, but gets larger and larger until it gets to the end where it slowly fades away. It's a bummer that the song is so short, I suppose the new life you were talking about must've been a short life. The variety is very good, since you kept on introducing new elements to the song leaving the listener interested till the end. The background rarely changed, but I think that sort of joined each melody together to avoid making the song random, which was cool :).

The intro, as Darklight pointed out, was a great way to start the song up, and the pizzicatos immediately get the listener interested in the song. As for the ending, it was also perfect, and I can't find anything wrong with it, since as I said, it sort of depicts life fading away.

I'll leave the paragraph talking about the drums out, since I'd basically be criticising myself =/.

This is indeed an amazing song, and I really enjoyed it. The climax of the song is amazing, the melodies are beautiful, harmony is flawless, instrument choice is great, transitions, wow, buildup is awesome, structure and variety are superb, intro and outro are excellent and the drums are great. The only downfall is the fact that the song is so short. I don't know if you have some sort of limit for going in to Berklee, but if not, this song would really benefit being at least 3/4 of a minute longer. Other than that, songs like this are what the Audio Portal needs, if you could submit a version with the guitar too, that'd be great! Keep up the amazing work, have fun in Berklee xD.
10/10
5/5
Download.

-Review Request Club-

GronmonSE responds:

I thought I used to get long reviews before but damn, this is a new record.

I think I'll just say "thanks for making the drums" awesome :3

Thanks for the super uber long review. I haven't made it to Berklee yet, cross your fingers!

[Aeon.]

Cool :)

Sorry to ruin your perfect 10 score, and I'm also sorry for taking so long to review back, but here's the review returned for reviewing my song "Land of Kings".
This an epic composition, and although it sounds a bit cluttered and as if it was made in a hurry, that's not much of a problem, since it sounds awesome!

The melodies are great. I liked the contrast between higher notes and lower notes of the strings, and the melodies towards the end were becoming really awesome and epic. Unfortunately, as you already know, this is rather short. I'm sure that this already-awesome submission would benefit a lot if you added at least 2 minutes to it. But still, it works as a loop and although I think it'd be awesome if you turn it into a song, I suppose it's not such a problem to stick with this as it is now ^^. The background depth and harmonization is superb, no problem there :). Well, yeah, no issues with the melodies, loved them!

The instruments are awesome quality, but you said you used East/West, so that's sort of expected :P. Maybe you could add a few more instruments, such as more woodwind instruments, and possibly a little more power on that brass, since I think you kept the strings as the main instrument a bit too much, and I always enjoy classical songs which incorporate a variety of different instrument as the instrument carrying the melody, so possibly when/if you make this longer, you could add some woodwind solos, some parts where the strings skip to the background and the brass becomes the main instrument, etc. But it could be me, I'm a fan of brass :P.

The transitions on the whole are great, but the only transition I don't agree with is the one at 0:29-ish. It seems to skip from loud to soft almost out of nowhere and really abruptly, so perhaps by slowly building the song down you could make a smoother transition to the softer and calmer part. Or you could just remove it and continue with a really epic part, since after that very powerful buildup from 0:17-ish to 0:29, I expected some epic climax, but instead it just skipped to calm, which was rather anti-climatic. Still, other than that transition, transitions on the whole were great ^^. New instruments were introduced well, and the buildups in this song were extremely epic and well-executed, and it's the buildups that shine in this song, IMO.

I can't really say much about the structure since this is a 37-second loop, but it was a pretty good structure. The intro plays, it does a long buildup, skips to soft and does another smaller buildup. There were some anti-climatic parts, but the structure was decent on the whole. Variety was superb, nothing to complain about, since the submission never got even slightly repetitive. The intro was a slight bit abrupt, but that's expected because this is a loop. It was a pretty smooth loop too, although maybe you gave the buildup at the end a tad too much power, since yet again the loop from the powerful buildup to the intro was slightly anti-climatic.

The drums are really impressive. There weren't many different types of drum sounds, but the drum sounds that you had were great and fit well with each other. The drums were also nicely synchronized and lined-up with the melody and rhythm, adding to the powerful and epic buildups thoughout the song. The drums were also very well varied. If I had to say anything about the drums, it'd be that I think that (at the beginning of the loop, mostly) the drums were a little too quiet. Other than that tiny defect, I think the drums are perfect and the drums and melodies seem right at home with each other.

Overall, it's really impressive for a small loop. You had loads of variety in the drums and melodies, the instruments were awesome quality, and the melodies themselves were well done, played along excellent harmonization and background depth. Just a few defects make me give you a 9, but keep up the great work, and thanks again for reviewing my submission! Oh, and sorry if there are any typos, I'm in a hurry and can't re-read my review.
9/10
5/5

-Review Request Club-

Animith responds:

Well first...wow, thanks for the awesomest review I'll ever likely receive. Don't even BEGIN to apologise for ruining my score or anything crazy like that; given the amount of advice you've given I wouldn't have minded you giving me a 2.

I'm definitely thinking about expanding this into a fuller song when I have the chance to, and if/when that gets accomplished there'll be a lot more instruments/changes between them. I just didn't want to have too many changes in so short a loop in case it just ended up being a little jumpy and cluttered.

I'd have given the brass a more obvious part, but it got to a point where I couldn't think of a way to get it back to a loop-able level, which is why the end transition is so quiet in comparison; I needed to get the song back to a quieter dynamic. Of course the saner solution to this would have been expanding it into a song, but instead I chose to make a trade-off between climax and loopability. When I revisit this I'll definitely give the buildups of the song more justice than they're given here.

And the drums are a little too quiet, but I couldn't seem to get the levels right for the beginning; they either seemed too quiet or they totally dominated over the strings. And yay that this wasn't repetitive! That's always been something of a huge problem for me...though I guess it's hard even for a repetitive person to be that repetitive in the space of 40 seconds :P

Thanks again for taking the time to write this epic review. I really, really appreciate all the advice and pointers you've given.

[MH16: It's Time]

Love it!

I think this is one of your best songs, or at least just as good as 'Nowhere to Hide'. I really enjoyed this song, and I'm also impressed as to how well it fits with the name. I definitely wouldn't have thought of a better name for this. Man, the more I hear it, the more I like it ^^. Keep up the awesome work man, one or two more songs as good as this and you're definitely going straight to my favourite artists list! Nice job!

The melodies, wow. They are so catchy. That's what I like about your melodies. They're so simple and easy to listen to yet they do their job really well in your songs, and are always catchy and have a great hook to them. The melodies in this song are no exception. Piano melody at the beginning was very catchy, and the melody at 1:02 was by far one of the best melodies I've ever heard for a long while. I was also quite impressed by your amount of different alternate melodies. The song never even got slightly repetitive, with new melodies coming in, and each one matching so well with the next. Harmonization was also great, and it's a mystery how you harmonize so well without ever having any experience in music theory :S.

Still, I'll have to agree with alternativesolution about those chords. They sound too 'robotic', despite the fact that this is played by instruments that can be played in real life. In other words, try and humanize your songs a little. Make the notes in the chord not all starting at EXACTLY the same time, maybe configure the velocities a little too. If you use FL Studio, to do this, go to the piano roll where your notes/chords and hit Alt+S to open the strumizer. Then, configure the knobs slightly to change when the notes start, when they end, how long they are, the velocities, etc. Here's an example:
http://www.mediafire.com/?dyjwhimq2kz
Also, you can even quantize and randomize by hitting Alt+Q or Alt+R respectively, and playing around with the knobs to humanize the song a little and not make it sound robotic...

The instruments are fantastic quality, especially that piano. As for your instrument choice, I really liked it. I liked that bassoon, or tuba, or bass flute, or whatever it was, at 0:28, it was a nice touch, and I liked the flute, too. That xylophone or whatever it was at 1:17 was also really cool, and added a lot to that part. The background depth in this song is also very good, with the strings providing a nice amount of depth to keep the song with just the right fullness. Maybe at 1:02 you could add some piano playing some arpeggios or something in the background, but that's probably just a matter of taste. Nothing to complain about when it comes to the instruments/instrument choice, awesome job!

As usual, your transitions are brilliant. Every instrument came in very smoothly, and all of your transitions were smooth and epic, especially the one at 0:59. The song flowed extremely smoothly, and I especially liked your buildups. The song built up smoothly, since you introduced new things gradually and one by one, and then built down pretty smoothly too. Good job with the transitions, they were extraordinary, and IMO a song with transitions as great as these is always an awesome song.

The structure is very, very good. The only thing I'd complain about when it comes to the structure would be the same as plasticmanticor's complaint, that I think it's a bit of a bummer that you faded the instruments out and let the piano come in without adding some sort of climax. The fact that the instruments faded out when the listener would be expecting some sort of climax was quite anticlimatic, so maybe some grand finale with all the instruments before it gets to the piano part at the end would make the song a bit more epic, in my opinion. Other than that, the structure was extremely good. Variety was great as well, because as I said above, you had many alternate melodies, keeping the song varied very well.

Hmm... running out of characters. I'll continue reviewing with my alt, DarkShadow166. But come on, 4000 characters is nowhere close to enough for a decent review xP.

FairSquare responds:

It's time.. to finally respond to this nice review. I waited way too long with responding, but eh, i'm a procrastinator.
I'm so happy you like this song so much :)
And about my harmonies and melodies.. i have no idea how i come up with those all the the time. I mean, i just start a song and when i like the beginning i get into a sort of.. trance. And then everything i do goes almost automatically. Often, when i revisit an old projectfile i think.. 'Wow, did I do that? How did i come up with that?!' xD
And about the Mediafire link.. it's not working :(
Thanks for the tips about humanizing my songs :)
Seriously, reviews like this are so nice to get, thank you!
On to the next review...

[[dB] End of the World]

Wow!

Seriously, for someone who uploaded such little songs to NG, this is really impressive. If I had to hear it without knowing how many songs you uploaded to NG, I would've guessed you uploaded like 50 :P. Boss job, man, sounds awesome! However, it still has a few issues, which is why I shall proceed to act like an assy critic...

The melodies here are fantastic. As Haggard said, the fast-paced piano and slow pan flute provide an interesting contrast, leaving a powerful effect. The fast piano seems to represent you 'running for your life', while the pan flute seems to represent a 'hopeless' feel, as if the world is going to end, and running is useless. I'd say the pan flute melodies were the coolest, but the piano was well done too. I also liked those four bass notes you added in the four bar piano loop, they're a small thing but they seem to make a huge difference on the amount of tension that this song evokes.

Harmonization was very good, and considering you never took any music lessons, either you made a lucky guess and managed to harmonize well or you're a born natural at harmonization :P. The only thing I'll complain about is the lack of alternate melodies. There were only 2 piano loops, 1 pan flute loop with a few changes, and then on the other hand you added many different things like pizzicatos, varied drums and changes in structure, so although this is quite well varied, the fact that you lack different melodies does make it slightly monotonous to listen to.

The instruments are all great quality, except maybe the piano, which I would agree with Shoephly in. The piano sounds a little rough, maybe you can EQ it a little to get a smoother, less 'broken' sound, or maybe change the piano sample altogether. Other than the piano, instruments were awesome, and I'm also extremely impressed by your instrument choice. Pizzicato strings, pan flute, piano, choir, drums, wow... They all seem to contribute to the story and emotion that this song tries to depict. I can easily imagine myself running from some huge thing that's about to destroy the world with this song. The choir was a very nice addition, as well. Pizzicato strings were extraordinary, I think you could add a little more of them around the song.

By the way, this song needs mastering. Are you using a limiter on your master? If so, take it off and master the song, since the pan flute is way too quiet, the piano is too loud, and the drums sidechain everything making the song on the whole sound cluttered and weird...

Transitions on the whole were very good. The only transition I didn't like was the one at 2:43-ish. The drums switched beat out of nowhere - almost randomly. Other than that, the transitions are very good, and the crash cymbal that you added was awesome and made great transitions. The transition at 1:51-ish was awesome; the way it suddenly stopped and then reached an epic climax was perfectly executed and IMO fit with the song really well. New instruments were introduced well on the whole, and the buildup at the beginning was cool.

The song structure at times seems a little messy, as if new things come in when they're not expected to, and at times the variety needed some work, but overall the song is pretty well structured. Intro was awesome, especially since you started it with the fast piano and the reverse cymbal was a nice touch, but maybe you should add more reverb to that reverse cymbal, you know, give it more of a ring to it. The ending, wow, I loved it. Since the song name is '*End* of the World', it's important that this has a good ending, and the powerful final note sort of depicted the world falling and exploding in a giant ball of flame xD.

The drums are out of this world. When the beat came in, I was like *wow* O.O. It fits well with the song, and it was well varied too. I liked your kick, it was very powerful, and the sticks that you added were a nice addition too. Good job!

It has quite a few defects, but has such an original style I had to give it a 10/10. Keep it up, man!
10/10
5/5
Download.

-Review Request Club-

Decibel responds:

Woah, yet another hell of a review from the review master himself ;-)
I dont know how im going to write as much as u but ill try dammit.!

Yes i do submit little songs on newgrounds but thats because i get writers block and i work very slowly, not to mention school in the damn way, it my dream to make 50 songs, and i would like it if u review every single one of them. ;-)

Its true, I also agree with haggard about the piano and the melodies in my opinion are some of my best work, i fiddled for hours to make that but it finnally came out correctly.The pan flute and pizzicato strings were added in order to make the song good and non repetetive, not to mention the choir whih was very well done. lol im modest XD

The alternization sucked, yeah, but hey gimme a break im just startin to make good musik, ps, a DnB song Comin soo ::P

My Fave part was teh drum solo which i love doing...

Thanks for tha review
<Deejay>

[MH16: Lonely Plains]

Not your best...

...But the fact that it's not one of your best doesn't make it a bad song at all. This sounds really awesome. Still, I know you could do a little better than this, so what I'm trying to say is, this is an awesome song, but not so much of an awesome MH16 song :P.

The melodies are really nice. There are some parts in the melody where I expected the notes to go higher in pitch but they didn't, although that may just be personal taste. The melodies are extremely well done, and very majestic indeed. Piano provided some good depth to the song, although some small piano solo somewhere instead of keeping the piano mostly in the background would be cool. Maybe somewhere towards the end you add a piano part with some strings in the background before getting to some epic climax. I liked the string part at 0:58-ish. It's good to not always keep to brass as the main instrument but vary a little, since it gives the song that little extra variety to keep the listener enjoying it to its fullest.

As for the instruments, obviously great quality, that's what's expected from Edirol I suppose :D. What I'd ask for would be a flute. I don't know if you did add a flute somewhere in the song (I'm deaf from one ear so I can never be too sure...) but I'm not hearing any flute... I was practically begging for a flute to come in somewhere :P. I think that if done correctly, it'll make the song even more majestic and flow even more smoothly than it is now. I think a pan flute might be even better at this case, to give that sort of 'natural' or 'primitive' sound, if you get what I mean. If Edirol doesn't have a pan flute sample, I can send you one if you want. Anyway, other than the fact that I think this song needs some more woodwind, I think the instrument choice is very good. I didn't expect choirs in a song like this, but I was surprised how well they fit. By the way, I think the instruments need some more EQ-ing (unless it's my speakers).

The transitions are all really smooth. The only thing I would complain about when it comes to the transitions is that I think the reverse cymbal that you used in this song cut off a bit too quickly. Give it a little more reverb to it, since it sort of ends out of nowhere almost, and I think some more reverb would do wonders to some of the transitions in this song. New instruments were introduced very well, although maybe a buildup at the beginning would be better. Maybe start with brass only, and then introduce the piano, then the strings and finally the drums, instead of starting with the brass, piano and strings altogether and then introducing the drums after. I think by gradually introducing new instruments at the beginning, you'll make the intro a bit more interesting.

The structure, as always, is flawless. The song was very well structured, and the variety is also excellent. There were many different melodies, and the song never got repetitive. The intro was also awesome, except for two things. Firstly, as I said above, I think the intro could do with a more gradual intro, and secondly, maybe starting it with a bit more ambience and then moving on to the part at 0:06-ish later would be better (for ambience, you could do stuff like birds chirping, leaves rustling, some wind effects, maybe a river splashing in the background, some subtle ambience with the strings, maybe, etc...). The outro is perfect, except that I think the final note could use a crash cymbal to accompany it and give it a bit more importance than any of the other notes.

Gah, running out of characters... Anyway, onto the drums: I don't really have much criticism for them. They were nice and laid back, complimenting the majestic and calm melodies, plus the beat was nice, they were just the right volume and they never got repetitive. Samples weren't really anything too special, but it's not much of a problem when the beats and variety are so good.

This is an awesome submission, with great melodies, excellent structure/variety, etc, and although it's not your best, it still rocks. Keep it up!
9/10
5/5

-Review Request Club-

FairSquare responds:

:O <-- that was my face when i saw this review, because it's incredibly long :p
Also, i find it hard to respond to long reviews like this. I don't really know why. Anyway, there's a lot of useful advice in your review that i'm going store in my brain and i'm sure i will use it in other songs. Heck, i might even edit this song, if i'm not too lazy :p
But seriously, thanks for this review. Btw, i didn't use any Edirol in this :p Oh, and your speaker is fine, i just suck at EQ'ing and mastering.
Once again, thanks!