S3C's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[acoustic reflection]

Nice

I'm really feeling this one

=The Good=
-Great chord progression, does indeed reflect sadness but has an underlying sense of hope
-I like the solo over the top. Nice and simple to go with the modes, minimal sliding but effectively placed. Overall well constructed solos.
-Crisp guitar tones
-Good rain samples to help with the imagery

=The Bad=
-Your soloing could use more variation- you seem to use the notes F#-G in succession a lot try G-F# or different two note theme. After you slide down, you also seem to always want to slide up again, making your solo a bit cliche. Don't be afraid to slide down a note, and then slide downwards again. (its really not that big of deal)
-Around 2:34-2:43 you were picking your notes really hard which resulted in an undesirable twangy sound which really didnt fit the song
-since you ended on a minor chord, maybe some thunder would be nice to finish the song

waiting2exist responds:

thanks for the feed back, i liked that you added in both the good and bad

[The Secret Forest 2]

checking back

yep, this one's better I think! much thicker, its got a juicier sound, and I really like the addition of the flute. I especially like when all the instruments play during the end. Either I was being to harsh last time, but it seems this time around the fast parts and trills on the instruments flow a lot smoother. I just think the piece cuts of abruptly and it would be more suitable for this piece if you ended on a more tonal , sustaining chord.

Keep up the good work!

kjhf responds:

Thanks for the excellent review last time - you helped me see the flaws, and I patched them up this time :)
The ending was a bit experimental I admit, but I like it.
Thanks again
-kjhf

[Milk{Deep Blue}]

Very Intense!

Another great trance by you! And its got ambient in it as well, which makes it a great blend of styles

=The Good=
-Sidechaining is real nice and powerful
-Kick packs lots of energy
-Chord progression is interesting and sequenced well
-Amazing synth development, original sounds from what I hear
-Good, smooth transitions...I agree the one at 3:12 was great
-Favorite part: I love the ambient break section at 1:45, very peaceful, great pads. The FX really add that extra imagery which you usually dont see in trance tracks...I can see some type of journey to a cavern located miles within the deep blue sea
-Great emotions, lots of imaginative ideas in this track
-Very tranceable and danceable!

=The Bad=
-You're clap/snare needs more definition..might be an EQ problem (less mids on the saw in the background) or maybe if it had less reverb it would be more apparent
-The snare buildup was quite standard in the end, I thought maybe you could mess with the rhythm a bit

Ideas: 9/10 Diversity: 9/10 Clarity: 9/10 Overall: 9/10

Great stuff. one of the best trance tracks on NG!

Mrmilkcarton responds:

Thats for the awesome review. The clap use to be louder but during the mastering it went down I should of payed more attention.

[Mesothel]

I can get you better sounds

try looking up Fluid GM. It's a nice soundfont, it has all the midi sounds-except they sound much better. I can get a link if you're interested.

As for the composition, well it works- but it is very generic and predictable. Try to mix up the drums more -two snare hits every four bars maybe, alternate the hi-hats with ride rhythms, use 32nd notes to get some HEAVY METAL DOUBLE BASS \m/, toms, etc. I think the guitar could use a bit of a more complicated structure, or atleast a lead solo over the top to make things interesting.

But its not bad really. Anymore uploads coming from you?

Haggard responds:

"As for the composition, well it works- but it is very generic and predictable"

It was the first song we played together in the band (which doesn't exist anymore btw ;) ), so we needed something very simple. Just to practice the "playing together".

Your suggestions for the drums sound very interesting, though. I might expirement around with it a bit to see how it works out.

A solo is out of the question. I'm not good enough to play (or even write) even a simple solo. :(

"Anymore uploads coming from you?"

We'll see. ;)

[2'29'']

3.77!?

scores of 4 and 3!? THIS IS MADNESS! Those were some of the most wonderful chord progressions I've ever heard! Great job at giving this remix your own *awesome* personal flair, I dont see anything wrong with this. well, i guess it was a bit quiet tho, but it works!

Haggard responds:

Thanks! :)

"well, i guess it was a bit quiet tho,"

You know, I really had to laugh at this sentence! :D

[The Secret Forest with bells]

not bad

Not too shabby :P

=The Good=
-Good ideas and melodies to base a track off of
-Does remind me a bit of a character running through a forest
-The tubular bells are nice, I'm glad you included them and made a melody out of them in parts
-I like how at the part at 00:43-00:46 the themes jump from one voice to the other

=The Bad=
- I thought you used way to many rests, and in turn it disrupted the flow of the song.. Keep the cello moving more, especially when you got all the instruments playing together, I thought the sudden halt at 00:35 was too sudden
-I thought the trills and fast parts on the strings were too random, as they came in without you really building up and didnt really fit with the rhythm schemes.
-The sustained violin note at 00:45ish sounded like the piece was going to end, I would split that note into, and make the second note a different one in the scale to retain the suspense
-a centered, contrabass with sustained notes would make the song sound fuller
-I think a flute would go great witht the forest themes

Ideas: 7.5/10 Diversity: 7.5/10 Clarity: 7.5/10 Overall: 8/10

could benefit from a bit more fluid structure I think, but all in all, nice track, keep it up :)
-

kjhf responds:

Thanks for the review!
As said in my previous version, the rests are intentional. It's not just a forest, but a "secret one". It's held back. If you want a story - the rests are the guy running and stopping to look at the surroundings. I may fill that in if I do another version and take your points into consideration.
Again, thanks for the review
-kjhf

[In The Headlights (Unfinished)]

I love it

This is a great piece.

=The Good=
-Love the guitar, reminds me a bit of Foo Fighter. Some really nice chord progressions
-I'm glad you muffled the EQ in the beginning for an intro, kinda reminds me of waking up in the summer with the radio on in the background
-Lead guitar riffs are awesome, and I like the FX you had on them
-Drum samples are pretty legit...what samples do you use
-Good use of toms in the beat

=The Bad=
-Since there's no bassline, I would EQ more bass to the rhythm guitar section to full out your sound
--Pan your lead a bit more to the left or the right I'd say
-Some (more) reverb and a slightly louder volume for the drums might make them sound even more authentic
-A solo somewhere in hear would be great

Ideas: 8.5/10 Diversity: 8.5/10 Clarity: 8.5/10 Overall: 9/10

Good stuff man, I'm gonna check out more of your music.Keep it up.

Strycnine responds:

Yeah I thought -exactly- the same thing about the summer radio effect :)

I havn't really tinkered with the EQ yet but Bass, vocals and drums to come!

Hopefully going to finish it by saturday!

Thanks for the thoughts :P I'm thinking of using this for my band

[Evil Is Coming!!!]

Pretty decent for a 2nd try

The beat and composition is alright, although nothing amazing. I like the 8bitish synths and the arpchip-but your EQing is weird. You can barely hear the kick and bass, give it more bass and mids but EQ them differently to get a better sculpt of sound. I would make the snare louder too, just bring out your drums in general.

keep working on it, hope these brief tips help you out some way.

cullum14 responds:

cheers 4 da tips, il put dem in mind 4 my next song

[forever Loop]

Reminds me of Mario

Hey this is pretty good. A little short, but a nice energetic, happy melody played on a fresh organ and keys, underlined by some nice reverbed pads. I like it, good work with this jingle!

mariomusicmaker1 responds:

thanks a bunch for the review. ( getting rarer by the week ) :'(

[Growth in C minor]

Goes with the video suprisingly well

Wow, when I first heard the song I didnt expect it to go well with the video, as I personally thought it would be something with a more relaxing, yet curious theme but you did a great job with sequencing it to the movie.

You're really good at making the voices flow smoothly across the rhythm section. The timpanis do a good job at sparking some sense of seriousness while the glockenspiel/mallet percussion come into alleviate some of the stress, which moves fantastically with the video.

No criticisms on the composition itself- there's no lower end really, a contrabass or lower cello would be great to make the sound more fuller. except I think the brass could use more dynamics, especially more louder notes as they kinda off shy themself under the strings.

also, why do all the classical composers on NG compose in Cmin!?

good song man!!! good luck in the contest!

MusicalRocky responds:

Yeah, I figured most people would think of calmness when they saw the video. I saw the distortion and dark colors as a sense of a darker theme. Plus I just love writing in minor :P

Voicing is always something I'm careful of, glad you noticed it ;] Yep it's a glockenspiel haha. :D

The lower end (basses, cellos, trombones, bassoons) is there, but quiet under the motif-esque eighth notes of the upper instruments, sometimes they're loud though, like in the beginning. Also the chords would sound significantly different without them, you'd be able to tell.

Haha C minor is cool! Also, I don't compose in it too too often. It's both Winterwind's and Mjttomb's favorite key though. That may have something to do with it :P

I'm glad you like the song! Thanks for the good luck wishes :D

-Rocky