S3C's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[SIDCHIP - Hot Pursuit]

YESSS!!!

hey awesome track man. Love the lo-fi sounds I can see the red pixel car that looks like an ice cream cone chasing the green pixel car which looks like a tree. Man the melody works, the minimalistic style works, this has so much potential but it just needs a bit more. I'd add a square in there to play an intensive riff and maybe change up the drums patterns a bit more. I liked the phased bits in the beginning, the 808 drums are alright but I would personally prefer a bitcrushed kick and maybe some filtered noise for the hats and snare. Are you going for oldschool, 8bit, or both? anyways, its a great idea, I just think it needs more. i like music like this :)

SIDchip responds:

Thanks S3C,

I can tell you have the natural skills for this kind of thing. Thanks for the excellent suggestions. Classic descriptions of the car and tree! lol

8bit or oldskool? hmmmm, the eternal burning question.

Cheers for listening,

Sid

[Deadly Tremors]

well....

that opening texture was sick, lots of rumbling sub. Swelling was nice and it definetly has a nice dark feel. But for being 5+ minutes, its goes nowhere at all. The strings dont do the track justice. Theyre just a normal generic texture just playing one long note....

so youve got a nice bass texture filled out buts that really it. needs more for sure. Add some melodic stuff, maybe some detuned piano keys, some higher register background FX, throw them in some reverb and pan them. Continue with the strings, but build chords from them, something dissonant would suit the atomosphere. some subtle experimental percussion might work nice. But for 5 minutes, you definetly need to build upon what you got here.

Formalz responds:

Thanks Look at my other ones. Theres something you'll like. :)

[Tears of Remorse]

heh...

never expected to write this much...

anyway, put the chorus FX before the reverb on the FX chain-just experiment with it and see if you like it better. I almost want to say apply a mid and treble boost on the piano but the slightly muffled tone of the keys really serves the imagery in here quite well.

now on to the vision i get...

a father is returning to his quaint home in the countryside, away from the city....he knocks on the door, and see's his (ex) wife in her humble, dirty clothes, with two young children holding on tightly to her dress while staring at their father with large, innocent eyes....the father tries to apologize to his wife but she just scorns at him and says he will never be forgiven. next he tries talking and apologizing to his children but they do not utter a word, the father with a heart filled with blackness starts to cry as the mother shuts the door on his face. The remain portion of the piece shows the father crying on the porch while the young boy stares at him one last time through a window, and the mother comes over with a scornful look and closes the blinds. The greed driven past of the father can never be forgiven. But really what I invision here is two young eyes staring at me, that are so haunting. Haunting, yet so innocent and friendly.

Take care.

BlazingDragon responds:

*See below response*

[.:( Orion's Belt ):.]

To infinity and beyond...

First time I've had to use two accounts to review, and the a good song to do it on :D

00:36-00:50

The harp glissando was an excellent transition choice leading into this section. the support structure in this section mirrors the military oriented themes in the 00:04-00:16 part with the staccatoed triplet chords on the strings, accompanied by a fitting military drum roll rhythm on the snares. I like how you built up the piece, the lower horn tones introducing a powerful melody, and then the higher, louder brass boldly expressing the melody with its intensive articulations.

00:51-1:25

I'm glad you brought the previous themes back in, so you don't stray to far just yet. Now as progressive is this track is, is it alright If I may ask for more variation with the melody right here? Fill in the open beats on the snare, maybe augment the percussion by bringing in the tambourines early, just keep the melodic ideas the same, but restructure some of the parts by adding on to the rhythm. But those chords that connect into the next phase move seamlessly.

1:26-1:33

Not much more to say about this part, it loses some intensity to move right into the next part without being too abrupt. I should also say I've liked the pounding timpanis all along, and the added in higher end percussion works quite well.

1:34-1:40

Sounds very magical, this is when the track starts to feel less "Star Trek" and more "1980s (or early 90s) Disney Classic". It was quite a big transition from the last parts, and it helps add some variety to the score as a whole. You never fail to continue to include GREAT melodic ideas, I love the rapid flow of the plucked bass and drifting woodwind melodies.

1:41-1:53

Sounds very disney like! Oustanding use of chromaticism to lead right into that giant, epic chord and powerful point! The glockenspiel melody works real nice undereath it too, it reminds me of a tiny creature at the top of a huge mountain or something....which goes into my next point

1:54-1:58

Haha, I love this short clarinet bit! It's very friendly and gentle in it's nature. The whole track could be a bunch of gigantic animals such as lions, rhinos, giraffes, and elephants dashing through a huge, open double door (with all the epic and widely orchestrated instruments), and this short solo section represents a mouse slowly crawling out after all the big animals have ran through. Hah, I like this part a lot.

1:59-2:13

Another beautiful harp arpeggio. I really like the soothing aspects in this part. Great job sequencing the bass strings and brass into the next part. This section reminds me of a sunny, green field with a beautiful flowing stream...

2:13-2:39

And then black clouds cover the sun, the sky darkens, the grass and flowers rot away, the clear stream of water is filled with dirt (and blood?). The chord movements in here suggest evil, and some form of conflict yet they resolve to quiet a content and triumphant state. Really liked this part! When from real light to dark.

2:40-2:59

And I really like this section to! Back from the dark and into the light. Probably my favorite section of the entire track. Very beautiful and soothing elements in here for sure. The hart plays extrememly graceful lots of dynamkics and emotion in here. Love the glock on the stressed beats, awesome harmony, the skipping rhythm on the bassline sounds excellent and joyful, and I absolutely love how the strings and horns cut in and out.

So...that's what I think of "Orion's Belt" ! It took me for an exciting ride, that's for sure haha! I really hope this gets used in a quality flash.

3:00-3:33

Excellent, the climax of the song, great job with building on the main themes- but including more energy. The timpanis and support structure seem to be brought out more to put a strong layer of emphasis, and I like the legato strings buildup in between. Very climatic, oustanding job with this area.

I will have to move on to reviewing with a third account LOL!

[Nub&Scribbler - Our Mistakes 2]

Great stuff

I'm really enjoying the guitar playing in here, it really does add a lot to nubbinz's kickass drum style.

Breakbeats are crazy and the glitch FX are all over the place. I especially like the retriggered and bitcrushed parts.

The guitar melody fits the mood like a glove, I think unlike the guy below. Maybe if you adjusted the decay control on the reverb a bit more it would really sift into the atmosphere. Also, my only qualm with the solo is that it could use some more diversity, I would definetly like if you picked it up a bit and included some legato riffs, or if that's not where you want to go atleast some emotional bends. Recording yourself harmonize on the guitar too may really build a more powerful finish.

Also like the piano interlude, great addition.

Good stuff here, I hope to see more from you guys

[Scribbler - The Broken Keys]

Pianos

yes I agree with Nav and NickPerrin.

Some good piano sounds:

DSK Acoustic Keyz
Steinway Soundfont
4Front Piano Module
Piano samples by blackhole12 (www.blackhole12.newgrounds.com)

I second making the reverb deeper (if there even is any on the piano) to thicken the sounds.

The piano composition was nice, but nothing really powerful for me. Some more varied dynamics might help the job, and also accompanying the piece with some thicker strings (fill in the chords, this could use some more movement in the bass area) in the background or a maybe even a lead flute or oboe would sound nice.

overall nice work, peace out

[Heaven's Tears]

hey dude

its me again lol. another nice song here.

I think you did a decent job with the drums. The beat was nothing amazing, but the song calls for a simple, laidback beat, which you arranged quite effectively. I didn't think the clap was a very fitting sample for the style and a snare (which you did indeed use in the second half) would be more suitable IMO. Also, when you picked up the pace of the hi-hats and made the beat seem more rushed, I didn't think it was really needed for the song, unless you were going to pick up the energy on the instruments and drastically change the course of the track. Oh, and good windchime percussion to in transitions. It's a good choice to take the crash cymbal's role.

The orchestration was carried out marvelously and sad emotions were well generated, I think it fits perfect with the title. I'm really digging the piano melodies once again, you really good with sequencing your chord progessions. Strings were well layered, and flow well in the background. Flute and the electric piano sounding instrument really help add to the mood too, and when the flute harmonizes it sounds kinda of relieving, as if someone has reached heaven. It also loops flawlessly, as I mistook the intro for the ending.

hey, ditch the FL keys. I can name three free piano sounds that will sound better off the top of my head, DSK Acoustic Keyz, 4Front Piano Module, Steinway soundfont, there's even some realistic sounding piano samples that you can load into Goldwave on blackhole12's blog (www.blackhoie12.newgrounds)

so good job here once again! the mixing could be done a tad better (mess with some panning, variating reverb levels and EQ-which I wish I could give more specific suggestions but I'm no good at this stuff) but overall this was a great piece.

BlazingDragon responds:

Thanks so much for the extensive review and all the advice! The piano sounds you listed especially help, because I just reformatted my computer and lost pretty much all my soundfonts. That's why I had to use the FL Keys and default kick, snare, hi-hat and clap.

As you and a previous reviewer stated, I agree that the faster hi-hat part just doesn't fit. I will keep that in mind for my next work. I'm glad to know that it looped well, as I spent a lot of time trying to think how I could execute that. (I had to ditch some percussion, include the flute note and strings at the beginning, and some other stuff to make it work) I'm glad someone recognizes the work I put in to make that happen. :P

As far as mixing, I am just starting to learn how. I only have the FL Studio 8 demo, and have to make each song in one sitting (A huge pain) because I can't save projects. I just read about how to automate different aspects of a song yesterday, though, so you should hear a little more panning and such in any of my new songs from here onward. I'm a newb when it comes to EQ and mixing, though.

Thanks again for the awesome review! I seriously appreciate it. :D
~BlazingDragon

[(WF1) Trippin' On Reality. 1.5]

My response to R-Ill

He makes some good points, so I will lay out a similar structured review to his. And be honest too ;)

1) I thought the drums were pretty good, good snare and kicks movement. I like the ranging pitches in the hi hats. The only part were they sounded iffy was towards the middle, were there was a lack of an interesting rhythm. Maybe keep a reverbed snap somewhere in the background to flow along with the beat. The kicks transition was pretty sloppy, make sure you are quantitizing. But otherwise I feel there was nothing wrong in this department.

2) I didn't find the the strings to be cheap at all...in fact, they don't sound uber fresh, but they are very fitting for this hip hop style. They did sound a bit weak though, and you could make them stronger by making a chord out of them, especially in the lower ranges.

3) Main melody was decent (even though there wasnt really a central theme) , but nothing extreme. It would be easy to flow with.

4) The piano was okay, I didn't think it was amazing. The melody was pretty simple, but fitting. I like the harmonization with the bells, that was pretty cool.

5) Well I wouldnt favorite this, but I've listened to it three-four times already and it hasnt tired out my ears.

6) bass might be able to do with a tad of compression, but I wouldnt be able to point that out myself. I hear no clipping or distortion, but of course there is other uses for compression. What I will say though is that the bassline was pretty boring, and needs more of an interesting rhythmical structure to make the bassline more catchy. Instead of just laying down a note at the start of the bar, try doing a 16th-16th rest-16th before each hit, split a note into two-if you dont know what I'm talking about I can show you on MSN.

7) A bit of panning and more mixing could be done I'm sure to make it sound more professional, but I'm no one qualified to give true advice in this department as I suck at the enginnering aspects of music. I will say though, its good enough done for my tastes and there's no unwanted noise or crackling from what my sound system recievies, and all the instruments are satisfactory defined, so dont sweat it.

8) The only thing that possibly could do with a touch more of reverb is possibly the strings. (synths? I don't hear any in here, except the one at the end) However, from what I know hip hop isnt a genre that necessarily needs all its instruments drowned in reverb, unlike say ambient.

9) people are giving you good scores because, you well, make good music and are courteous enough to leave reviews. It has nothing to do with your voting power I'm sure (and besides, its really not even that high compared to other people!). much people have been supporting you since day 1, when your voting power was low. Besides, you always hand out 5s anyway regardless of your review score, so that wouldnt even make a difference :P Now THATS the truth.

10. Oh, I also love that cool swelling synth you use in the end, it adds a real nice spice to the track.

So yeah man, great job for a first attempt. Better than my first attempt at hip hop for sure! I'm sure it could use some polishing but its good taffy in its current state.

wyldfyre1 responds:

now THIS Is a looong constructive review hahah.Thanks!

[Glow Worm]

Real nice groove

yep, that synth you start with feels nice. The bass is nice and rumbly and would well suit a rock style. Synth strings layer the track nicely and flow well, with some decent leads. Beat is cool and upfroint, going with the melody work real well.

That vocoded synth at 00:58 is sick, and really struck me when it came in. It really adds a genuine spice to the track. It feels a bit too overpowering when the notes swell tho, maybe a subtle EQ cut or some low pass filtering may help sculpt the sound a tad better.

and man, you're really impressing with this synth work! I love that synth that enters at 2:00, and great utilization of the sliding tool. Very catchy stuff right there.
Now even though that synthline was very catchy- and its not a huge deal, but it would hurt to variate the riff just a bit when the synth strings come back in just to break the repetitiveness. Just one or two more changes in that area would make the track more diverse for the better.

5:00+ minute song, I enjoyed the whole thing and wasnt ever tempted to fast forward through. Favorited, keep up the good work, I really really like this.

Syntrus responds:

Hey thx dude I agree with you. I'm thinking some lyrics would help break up minimal diversity of the track. Thx for the review. After reading it I moved the song into Rock for "soft rock"

[Ambient Evening]

Beautiful

It's really amazing how such a small piece of music can pack so much emotion. I must have listened to this 20 times or so already and I haven't yet gotten tired of it. Some beautiful playing with nice dynamic control, I feel an overall sense of relief with an underlying tone of sadness. Can't reallly put in words, but you really constructed the chords well to generate some emotion. I also like the bassline and rhodes in the second half, and the addition of the subtle strings really helps to highlight the moods.

For advice, well I think many directions can be built from this little excerpt you have here. Maybe rest your right hand for a while, let the left hand arpeggios roll by for a few bars solo, and then bring a new lead melody on a different instrument like a soothing woodwind such as an oboe. Then you can use the higher registers on the piano to play chords every four bars or something. I would certainly make the strings more apparent and louder, and possibly thicken them up by spreading out the voices and building sustained chords to work as the background layer. Some ambience such as rainfall may help with the scenery, if that's what your going for. Maybe even a slow beat on some drums like hand or ethnic percussion would sound good in here, but it could possibly ruin the mood that you established in the beginning. Just a few suggestions, depends on where you want to go with this. I do believe this has the potential to be a very powerful piece, so keep up the good work and keep me posted if you release a new one! Thanks for sharing with us.

BlazingDragon responds:

This piece holds a lot of sentimental value for me, so I really appreciate the thorough review and advice! I like a lot of your ideas, and especially agree about the strings. I think I will bring in some deep strings with open chord voicings and run a woodwind through some FX on the computer for a melody. (Like lots of reverb and such :P) I've also thought about some ethnic percussion like an Indian hand drum, but I do think it may destroy the mood if executed poorly.

Thanks again for the advice and review. I'll keep you posted on any new developments with this song. :D
~BlazingDragon