Step's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[~BH~ Cell Potential]

Yay! Now I downloaded 33 of your songs :P.

I'm still on my everlasting quest to find a song of yours which doesn't deserve 5/5. So far, no luck :(.

As usual, melodies are great. Loved the melody at 0:12, and 1:11 was really cool. Still, 2:00 was by far my favourite part of the song: it was the main reason why I reviewed this :P. The rythm change was so awesome, and it had a very catchy melody with a very awesome synth playing it. Speaking of synths, my god, these must be one of the best Sytrus synths you ever made so far. Such a huge variety of synths, and they fit really well in a boss situation. It's really hard making a boss theme without it being a rock song, IMO, but you pulled it off very well.

I don't know why you say you're not usually that good with transitions; these are perfect, as usual. New instruments were introduced greatly, and there were superb gradual buildups around here, especially the one at the beginning. The variety and structure is what's bothering me a tad bit over here. This is just SO varied, it gets a little random. You should pick a chorus where the song plays all the instruments and melodies together, and repeat it a few times during the song after some alternate melodies play. This seemed to start introducing new melodies really randomly, especially around the second half of the song.

The intro was fantastic, I don't see what sirtom didn't like about it. Really good way to start the song, and I liked that plucked synth you used over there too. The ending was almost perfect (you've probably gotten used to how picky I am with endings...). I think you should repeat that choir melody 4 times at the end instead of two times, and start a reverse cymbal right before the last note, and the reverse cymbal ends as the last note is played, since I think the last note needs more importance. Maybe a reverbed kick in the background when the last note is played too.

Drums were really nice and varied, with great samples. I just think that they were much too soft for a boss theme. They need to be much louder and mightier than right now.

Another great song of yours. This does have a few problems, namely the ending, the drums and the structure, but that won't stop me from giving you a 10/10. Awesome job!!
10/10
5/5
Download.

-Review Request Club-

ErikMcClure responds:

Back when I made this song i had no idea how to make powerful punchy drums. I should really try something like that. Thanks for the review :D

[Dr. M Fever]

A lot like the original, but great nonetheless! ^^

This is really like the original, with all of the 8-bit sounds (it would've been cool if you took a totally different approach and made a techno/rock/classical remix of the song instead :P) but it gives me some really nice memories, and it's done really well too. Good job!

The instruments were 8-bit wonders, and although, like I said, sounded a lot like in the original, were done really well, and there was a nice variety to stop the song from getting boring. Obviously, I can't credit you for the melodies, but what I don't agree with you in is leaving them exactly the same as the original. It's not obligatory, but adding your own personal touch to the remix's melodies would certainly sound awesome, maybe just a little different notes in the background, transitions made with your own notes or a few notes to answer to the original melodies. Still, you don't really need new melodies when this remix sounds so awesome without them.

Good job with the transitions, there were loads of drum rolls to transit from one melody to another smoothly, and I liked how you introduced the drums at the beginning, with that brief drum roll; it stopped them from coming in suddenly or anything and sounded great. The structure and variety here are practically the same as in the original, so I can't comment about them :\.

I didn't like the fade you used to end the song. I'd rather you had the song loop instead, or at least made the fade last longer, since this was just sort of an abrupt fade. Maybe you can even add your own ending to it and make it a proper song.

The drums were out of this world. I forgot if that was how they were in the original, since I haven't heard it for ages, so I don't know if you made them or if you used the ones from the original, but if you made them yourself, I'm extremely impressed. They fit so well with the song, had excellent samples, awesome beats, and were varied amazingly. Excellent job on the drums, if you made them.

It's a really good remix, and I enjoyed it quite a lot. You should take away that fade ending though, and either make it loop, turn it into a song with a proper ending, or implement a longer fade. Another thing which put the score down to 9 was that the instruments and structure were almost exactly the same as in the original, and although it did give out a nostalgic feel, a remix is a remix, so by giving it a completely different instrument choice and maybe a few changes in the structure, I think this remix would be better off. Still, everything else was great, so awesome job, keep up the great work!
9/10
5/5

-Review Request Club-

Cosmos8942 responds:

-Just got back from a bad and boring day at work-

So I sit down, log on, check my messages quickly, jump on here for expected reviews (since I didn't know how long it might take) and behold that nicely detailed review. Now then, let me see...

Actually I was working on a rock/techno remix of this one but no matter where I went with it it just didn't feel right to me so I stopped with that one and flowed on over to what you hear now. It took me a little bit to get it all said and done but I think I passed ^^.

On the 8-bit "wonders", yep, it took a little while (and some minor help from an old friend of mine) but I eventually got most of the instruments boxed in just right so that they sounded more or less as the original did. Which was, of course, pretty much the point as I like to keep the original feeling of a piece rather then remix it into an abrupt mess. Unless of course that abrupt mess can be formed into feelings like the original, then by all means I'll do just that lol.

Crediting me on the melodies is a nono so I fully agree there but I am really quite happy that you noticed the percussion here. There was some 'drums' in the game itself but it wasn't incredibly complicated...so I...um...complicated them >:]. I still have a long ways to go with the other instruments but for some reason I am always able to hear what percussion to place into a piece and where to put it in. Just sort of plays through my head ya' know?

Finally that ending I felt, at the time, to be fairly good, not a loop persay but, as you said, also not a 'complete piece'. Looking back perhaps a longer fade was actually in order but since it sounded right I left it in there. Good thing about the fade is that since it is so short the song restarts without you really noticing XD.

But most of my pieces are remixes of one type or another (minus Fleeting Times and a couple others). I do attempt to hold true to the original but I understand what you are trying to say. I will work on making pieces more complicated and remixmasterful (hoho) which keeping the base feeling out front and felt. Its not an easy thing to do I think but I find no real reasoning to remix something and have it feel completely different from intended. A remix is there to compliment a piece with somebody elses ideas, not take the piece, rip it to shreds, and feed it steriods till its soul is gone.

-Tony-

What can I say =\. But thanks for the incredibly long review, its the longest and most enjoyable one I've had in quite some time. Nothing quite like coming back from a hard day on the job and getting cheered up because you [me] found something worth doing. Excellent :3. Oh, and I hope this answer is long enough. Not really really detailed as I am somewhat tired and dropped my brain out the window on the way back home, but I do hope its enough :).

[Midnight Illusion (DP&KP)]

Slightly repetitive.

It's definitely a cool-sounding song, but it didn't go through many changes and was the same thing for almost the whole song with some changes in the background.

The main melody was really awesome, ambient-ish but full of action at the same time. From 1:37 onwards, there was a rather good buildup, so nice job over there. I just wish there were just a few more alternate melodies, since it would fix that variety problem. Although I loved the part at 3:28, by the way. The piano and ambient-ish melody played by the pad in the background had contrasted so much with each other since they were each in a different rythm, and it took me a little while to get the rythm back again, but it still sounds cool and fit a lot with the 'Illusion' feel you were going for. Loved how the piano got faster after, too and eventually went back into rythm with the pads again.

Really amazing instruments. They fit a lot with the name, and sounded excellent. The one playing the ambientish melodies for the whole song sounded extremely good, and the quality of the piano was nice too. I really enjoyed the high-bell-ish instrument towards the end of the song, it was really cool, and played a nice melody as well. Wish I saw it in other parts of the song though, it felt sort of like it came out of nowhere as it is now; just suddenly appearing at the end of the song without a trace of it in any other parts of the song.

Very good job on the transitions in the song. There was a nice number of effects around to transit from one melody to another, and new instruments were introduced really well. Good buildups, and nice song structure. It's the variety that needs a little fixing over here. The ambient-ish melody that first played at 1:37 kept playing and stayed the same for almost the whole song, and it would be better if you changed its notes a little around some parts of the song.

Also, as for the length, this does need to be shorter. I mean, heck, this is probably the longest WIP there is on Newgrounds XP. You should remove some repetitive parts to not only make this song shorter, but also take away the reptitiveness that this song has. The intro was good, with an awesome beat, but it was very repetitive. You could either remove a lot of that drum beat at the beginning, or give some more variety to the drum beat.

The ending is OK so far, but very abrupt. I'd say you should firstly repeat the last melody with the bells 4 times instead of 2 times, and after the fourth repetition, end it with a proper ending note (depending on what scale you played the song with; E.g. if it's in G Major, end it with G).

The drums were awesome with really, really good samples, and they were just the right loudness. I liked the reverse kick around the beginning, too, you don't usually hear many reverse kicks in songs, and it fit brilliantly in this song. The drum beat was superb as well, and fit excellently with the song. The only thing I'd complain about in the drums is that they were very, very repetitive. Practically almost the same for the whole song, almost. This definitely needs some more alternate drum beats here and there.

Well, it's a good song, and it fits a lot with the name. Excellent melodies, fantastic instruments, cool drum beats, awesome effects, and nice song structure, but what really concerns me is the intro, ending and variety. Fix those, and you would've gotten a 10 from me (although it's too late now :P). Still, keep up the good work, this was a brilliant collab. Awesome job! Oh man, this must be my longest review yet! O_o.
8/10
4/5

-Review Request Club-

Kalapsia responds:

Thanks for the long review, and thanks for the nice compliments. The only reason this is a WIP is because I REALLY REALLY want to make some alternate melodies so it doesn't sound repetitive. I do agree that the ending is abrupt because I barely worked on it. My transitions aren't that great since I don't have a decent breakdown to make it sound less repetitive, which I'm trying my best to work on. So yeah I agree this song needs variety!

[Race On (WIP) [SFPL]]

Rather generic...

...but that doesn't necessarily make it a bad song. Good job!

The melodies are the most generic parts of the song, for example the one at 0:20, but they're still nice melodies, I just heard similar ones like 5 times before :P. I think that for this song, the melodies need to be more fast paced, though. You could increase the tempo some more, or use shorter notes. As for the instruments, they're perfect, and there was a nice amount of instruments. I think this needs some effects hear and there though, like an engine revving, tires screeching, audience cheering, you know, that kind of stuff :). Loved the effect at 1:55, by the way.

The transitions were very well done. I noticed a lot of effects like reverse cymbals and stuff which moved from one melody to another really well. Wish there were more buildups around the song though, like maybe some huge reverbed kick plays as the melodies stop, then in the background you hear the main melody fading in, and then, after an engine revving sound effect, the melodies play to their fullest again. Buildups like that usually work well in race songs like this.

The structure of the song is well done, and this never felt random, but as you said, around the middle it did get rather reptitive. You could introduce an alternate melody over there playing instead of the repetitive melody after that melody repeats a few times, or you could add some background accompaniment and effects to remove the repetition.

Good intro, it did feel like a countdown, but I think you should add a '3... 2... 1... GO' vocal sample playing in the intro too, to give added 'raciness', as Coop83 put it :P. The ending, as you said, was abrupt. It ended with a cool effect, but you should make the main melody start playing by itself at 2:44 without any drums or background accompaniment, you repeat it like 2 or 4 times, and then you end the song with a final reverbed and delayed ending note, along with the effect you did and maybe a slightly reverbed kick/crash cymbal in the background.

The drums had good samples, and good beats, but they weren't varied at all. It was the same thing from beginning to end, with maybe a few parts in the song when the drum weren't playing. Introduce some counter drum beats in some places. Also, I think the drums need to be more fast-paced and action-packed, to give the song a more race-ish feel.

To summarize, it's a great song, but has quite a few problems which need fixing in the final version. This needs more racing-car effects, needs to be more fast-paced, could do with a '3... 2... 1... GO' vocal sample at the beginning, needs variety around the middle, needs a less abrupt ending and more variety of drums. Still, the melodies, although a little generic, were catchy, this had great instruments, awesome transitions, good effects, and nice drum samples, so in general, not a bad job. I'll be waiting for the final version ;).
8/10
5/5 - because this song got rather 0-bombed.

-Review Request Club-

SFaPiL2 responds:

God bless you man ^0^. AWESOME REVIEW!

Yes, the melody is rather generic U__U (even though it wasn't influenced by anyone), but I'm not creative enough for now. I must say that I focused more on the effects and transitions rather than the actual melody + structure.

The sound effects part is a tough one to do since I'm not supposed to place copyrighted samples in my songs (damn, I got banned from the AP because of that, hence my new account SFaPiL2 =__=). However, I'll surely add a voice sample of me with the "3...2...1...GO" thing... let's give it a shot ^__^.

Anyway, I'll be following your tips like a cook book.

Thank you loads!!

[Marathon Infinity]

*Scrambles for the volume dial*

Wow, this is a really cool song, if not just a little, erm... loud. Other than that, this really impressed me.

The melodies, as you said, are really awesome, and catchy enough to stick into my head for quite a while. You really chose a good song to remix. The saw lead you used here was really cool, and drove the song to a very fast-paced feel. What I liked a lot over here was your use of that sound effect which plays at the beginning along with the saw lead, it fit really well with the song.

The transitions were well done too, and I heard quite a few reverse cymbals and effects to transit from one melody to another. Good song structure too; this definitely was nowhere close to repetitive. I just don't like the length of this song. I don't know if it's this long in the original since I didn't hear it, but even if it is, you could give some more length by throwing in a solo, maybe some buildups, and even adding a few of your own personal touches to the melody giving it new notes here and there. This is varied really well, so repeating the main melody a few more times (maybe with different instruments in the /third/fourth repetitions as well) wouldn't hurt. I liked the intro, the effect started the song up really well, and so did the reverse cymbal after, plus this looped perfectly, with a nice effect at the end.

Drums weren't that special, but they did the job just fine over here. They weren't varied much, but had good samples and fit nicely with the loop, and that really isn't much of a problem because this is so small, although if you were to make this longer, be sure to introduce some counter drum beats.

This is a really good remix, and I enjoyed it a lot. Practically, the only small problems which made me give you a 9 was the length and the slightly too loud volume. Keep up the great work!
9/10
5/5

-Review Request Club-

sumguy720 responds:

Thanks for the review! I appreciate your time.

I usually do better with shorter compositions and loops because they're easier to manage, and one doesn't need to spend so much time inventing variations. I'm not surprised you're not blown away by the drums, they're mostly built in FL studio loops, which is what I default to for some parts of my songs. I didn't really put a lot of work into the percussion this time... I'll work harder on that for my next release.

[The Ice Queen's Palace]

Doesn't sound like much is going on over here...

Until you turn the volume up...

I hadn't heard the melodies, not because they were non-existent, but because the volume was so low. Then, I turned the volume up and I heard really nice melodies. In short, you really need to increase the volume of this. The instruments were an interesting choice, and fit a lot with what you were going for. This sounds a lot like a soundtrack to some fantasy game.

The transitions were OK, nothing too special, but not bad. The structure wasn't that good since this did feel quite random. You should introduce a fixed chorus which plays a few times in the song. I quite liked the intro, but the ending was strange, since it felt as if it was unfinished.

Overall, it's a nice song, but what mainly put your score down was the volume of the song. Other than that, good job.
8/10
4/5

-Review Request Club-

sarias responds:

I dont agree with you on the structure, but thanks for the review non the less

[Welcome to W0RLD]

Nice!

Wow, this is so fun to listen to. Keep up the great work, it's really well done!

The melodies sound familiar, but that doesn't matter, because they sound so great. They're very catchy and happy, plus they fit with the song in general very well. This needs more alternate melodies though. Instruments were an 8-bit wonder, never had 8-bit instruments sounded so awesome.

Transitions were fine, and there were some good buildups in the song. One problem though: the rythm change at 1:25 was a good idea, but came in too suddenly with a rough transition, so you should follow Haggard's idea of the fading beats. Good song structure, but the first buildup kept going on a bit too long IMO. Variety needs working on a little here too, since this does get quite repetitive, with only one melody. As for the intro and outro, they both were fine, and this looped really well too.

The drums were perfect for 8-bit with really nice beats, and were just the right loudness. May I ask which VST/Drum Kit you used for those 8-bit drums? They sound amazing.

Overall, I really enjoyed this song. Keep up the amazing work, looks like you're good at Industrial AND 8-bit too! Good job!
9/10
5/5

-Review Request Club-

PuffballsUnited responds:

There's a comment about that transition again. I guess it really was too fast. I used 3xOsc for the instruments annnnd.... Chaos Stomper for the beats. I think that's what they'd be called anyway.

[No Parking]

Wow!

This is just so amazing. I really don't know why, but somehow I really really enjoyed this. Good job!

I'll start with the melodies. They sound quite unique, and even though they're not exceptionally catchy, they fit so well together and sound great. Some melodies sound really good, especially the ones at around 1:11 and 1:55. The bass was OK, but I think it needs more variety.

What impressed me the most over here were the instruments. So much variety, and each instrument sounds so great. The bells impressed me quite a lot over here, and the saws were cool as well. Good job with the instruments, they were great.

Excellent transitions, the melodies flowed excellently together with many drum rolls and stuff to switch from one melody to another. A lot of instruments were introduced with buildups as well, and that impressed me quite a lot too. Really good song structure too, and even though this song is quite long, it still didn't get repetitive at all.

Nice intro, sightly on the generic side, but well done anyway. Good transition from the intro to the main melody too. The ending was a fade ending, and although fade endings don't often come out well, this did and I can't imagine hearing it end, so the fade was a superb idea.

The drums were awesome, I have nothing to complain about in them. They had good buildups, drum rolls, excellent samples and beats, plus they were varied enough not to get boring. Excellent job with the drums. Loved the reverbed kick as well.

This is a really cool song, with very few defects. I don't see why this didn't get any top 5 or top 30, it's so well done. Keep up the great work, you rock at producing! :D.
10/10
5/5
Download.

-Review Request Club-

sumguy720 responds:

Yay! Thank you!
I've gotten close, but this doesn't have enough weight to withstand the weekly Tuesday night zero bombings! It's okay, I don't intend to get famous or powerful and rule the world or anything, I just like making noise.
I'm very happy with the things you pointed out. Some of my goals in this were: 1. To not make it too repetitive, 2. To vary the percussion more than I usually do, 3. To practice my buildups and transitions, so I'm glad to hear that you liked these parts. I also worked for a long time trying to get the instruments to share the soundspace well, this has many many hours of mastering and tweaking behind it-- Nobody has noticed before!

I can't really imagine hearing it end either. Maybe when I'm on my deathbed I'll write an ending to all my music.

I will take these elements and continue to practice them in my music.
Thank you again.

[Asinine Display of Faith]

We should invent the Heavy Industrial genre now :P

This is really cool, and I enjoyed it a lot even though this genre never impresses me too much.

The melodies were OK, and I quite enjoyed the guitar solo you did. This is quite glitchy in general too, which is OK with me. The guitar sounded very real... it probably is, and the vocals were really cool too. Could be more understandable, but sung really well, with some awesome effects put into them. My favourite part was definitely at 0:14, glitch and vocals never sounded so good.

The transitions were very good, and melodies flowed really well. I liked the guitar string scratch (or whatever it's called, I'm not an expert at this kind of stuff) you did at 0:26 and at the beginning too. I also liked the transition to the guitar solo. Great song structure and variety too. The intro was really glitchy and awesome (seriously, how much glitch can a guy put on his vocals? :P) but the ending was much too abrupt. You should make this song longer to maybe 2:00-3:00, and then try and give it a better ending.

The drums were very varied with really really good samples, and they fit really well with the song. I only wish they were a little louder. Oh, and did you make the drums yourself or were they premade? They sound really professional.

Good song in general, I really enjoyed it. Glitch, industrial and heavy metal; strangest genre combination I've ever heard. I'd never imagine it to be done this well either. Practically, the main problem over here is the length of the song, because other than that, this should've made it to the top 5. Keep it up!
9/10
5/5

-Review Request Club-

nihilisticeq responds:

The drums were amen breakesque loops that I glitched. I just used a glitch vst because I really have no idea how to make electronic music, I usually only make metal.

[FFX_Battle_Theme [Box-Killa]]

Nice remix!

Good job. Quite an original idea: turning a boss theme into a mellow ambientish song, plus you succeeded really well over here.

I didn't play FFX yet so I didn't hear the original, but I know how final fantasy boss themes are, and they're so action packed. I'm impressed that you managed to turn something like that into such a relaxing song. Good job. Choice of instruments was great as well. My only concern over here is the variety of instruments. It feels like it's missing something right now, and I think that it's best to add more instruments. An addition of a piano would be a good start.

The transitions were great, with smooth flowing melodies throughout the song. I'd suggest more drum transitions though, like drum rolls and stuff. Good song structure with awesome variety as well and many alternate melodies to stop the song from getting boring. Nice intro, and good way to introduce the drums, but as for the ending, instead of a fade, IMO the song would be better off as a loop, since fade endings very rarely sound too good.

The drums were so-so. Beats were excellent, so was variety and the drums were never introduced too suddenly, but I don't think they fit too well with the song. The kick was a little too hard, snare sort of stood out in the song and was too abrupt, plus I think there needs to be more samples.

It's a good remix, making me want to hear the original. You've got a great idea, but I just wish for variety of instruments, variety of drum samples which fit with the song and a better ending. Other than those, keep up the good work!
9/10
5/5

-Review Request Club-

Box-Killa responds:

yeah, the only problem tho is that the bass drum makes the song sound really whole. Without it it feels kinda empty.