SkyeWint's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Feast]

STEP. YOU HAVE MOAR MUSIC. I LIKE IT. I SHALL GIVE REVIEW.

'Da Good:
-Sweet tunes *usual*
-Sweet mixing *usual*
-Sweet instrumentation *usual*
-Sweet percussion *again, usual*
-I really liked the realism you tried to give it with the little slides and trills every once in awhile. Very nice.
-Loops perfectly. Sweeeet.
-OMG YOU KEPT THE WIND CHIMES AND CYMBAL ROLLS DOWN. HOLY CRAP.

'Da much-longer-not-as-good-improvement-s ection-that-I'm-going-to-get-very-nit picky-in-so-sorry:
-Ok, so you tried to make it realistic. Now I'm going to have to poke you for that. The stringy instrument from 0:39 to 0:49 seems to be somewhat unrealistic and harsh to my ears.
-I think the tunes were extremely similar throughout. This is particularly noticable from 0:29 to 0:39. I think that it could be improved by having a bit more of a solo on the long whole note - could work on the Zourna, but I think that part's fine. It's mainly the flute-ish instrument (which has a little whine that was a bit harsh, similar to the stringy instrument from 0:39 to 0:49) that could use some more solos other than the single one with the stringy instrument.
-I feel like there should be a little bit more variation in the background percussion, awesome as it is. It's mainly the same basic rhythm (though there are a lot of patterns, as I saw in the screenshot) throughout. A change to another type of rhythm would be nice, as well as keeping interest for longer. :D (not that it matters too much, it keeps interest pretty well anyway for a minute-long loop)
-The string slides, while awesome, feel a bit odd when they're going down at first. This doesn't really need to be changed, but I thought I should at least tell you that it's a bit jarring at first listen. ^_^`

Overall, you get a 4.5 star review, a 5 star vote, and my official stamp of awesome on this song, because honestly, all I had to criticize were little nitpicky things that don't really need improving - just a little tweaking.

...oh, also, for some reason I think that it would be really awesome if you added a guitar in. *blink*

-Swint-

Step responds:

"STEP. YOU HAVE MOAR MUSIC. I LIKE IT. I SHALL GIVE REVIEW."

You don't just radiate awesome. Awesome seeps out of every pore in your body. Man, I love your reviews, thanks so much!

"-Sweet tunes *usual*
-Sweet mixing *usual*
-Sweet instrumentation *usual*
-Sweet percussion *again, usual*"

Woo :3. Although I'm going to admit from now, I really didn't mix this much. This is just a loop that plays in the background so nobody will pay attention to the music much, therefore I did the mixing quite quickly and carelessly. To be honest, the whole loop is quite half-assed. Only took me four hours!

"-I really liked the realism you tried to give it with the little slides and trills every once in awhile. Very nice."

Haha great, and the awesome East/West sounds didn't fail to deliver either!

"-Loops perfectly. Sweeeet."

Awesome. That's a must since this'll be looping for an incredibly long amount of time so it's a good idea to make sure it flows smoothly when it loops.

"-OMG YOU KEPT THE WIND CHIMES AND CYMBAL ROLLS DOWN. HOLY CRAP."

YEAH. WHO AM I AND WHAT HAVE I DONE WITH STEP?

"-Ok, so you tried to make it realistic. Now I'm going to have to poke you for that. The stringy instrument from 0:39 to 0:49 seems to be somewhat unrealistic and harsh to my ears."

I thought you'd mention that. To be honest I didn't want the flute to play its second repetition on its own so I just kinda threw in a random instrument to help. It didn't really fit well in here (if you head over to my track 'Morocco' and go to 0:26, you'll find it fits a lot better here]. I think it's more of a problem of context rather than the actual sound itself. I might try and change it to a less harsh articulation in East/West.

"-I think the tunes were extremely similar throughout. This is particularly noticable from 0:29 to 0:39. I think that it could be improved by having a bit more of a solo on the long whole note - could work on the Zourna, but I think that part's fine. It's mainly the flute-ish instrument (which has a little whine that was a bit harsh, similar to the stringy instrument from 0:39 to 0:49) that could use some more solos other than the single one with the stringy instrument."

Like I said above, this is only background music so I really didn't focus much on intricacies. You're totally right though, but basically here I just wanted to establish a general sound rather than actually make a complex, changing melody. In fact, the leader originally thought I'd make this with just drums, so the fact that I added melodies on top is already a step above. I wish I could vary them all but a guy only has so much inspiration juice xD.

About the whiny sound of the flute, I see where you're getting at. Some EQing should do it.

"-I feel like there should be a little bit more variation in the background percussion, awesome as it is. It's mainly the same basic rhythm (though there are a lot of patterns, as I saw in the screenshot) throughout. A change to another type of rhythm would be nice, as well as keeping interest for longer. :D (not that it matters too much, it keeps interest pretty well anyway for a minute-long loop)"

Uh huh, I focused more on adding subtle fills here and there than actually changing the sound of the drums or the basic rhythms. I dunno, I might try varying them a little more but I wanted to this to have a certain consistency in the drums so that they can flow better, if you get what I mean. Changing the rhythm in the drums is pretty easy in a full-blown song, but it's harder in loops I find.

"-The string slides, while awesome, feel a bit odd when they're going down at first. This doesn't really need to be changed, but I thought I should at least tell you that it's a bit jarring at first listen. ^_^`"

Haha yep, they are a little jarring, it's true! I just hope it doesn't stand out too much in the stall.

Regarding the guitar, there is an oud which is similar to a guitar, but yeah an actual guitar might fit. Moroccan music is inspired by Spanish music after all!

Anyway, thanks a lot for the awesome review and, of course, the stamp!

[MPC: Enlightened Soul]

Good day. I heard you wanted a review.

DA GOOD:
-Fairly good sounds, considering this is with a sound font.
-Also considering this is with Mario Paint Composer, holy crap man. You need to get a better system for making music, seems like you could do some really good things.

DA NOT-SO-GOOD:
-Ok, first of all - you might want to give this a bit more of a consistent tune. As it is, the composition is a tad random and monotonous. There are a lot of backgrounds that seem rather copy/pasted, and there's no particular "tune" that sticks out. If you listen to some higher-quality songs from artists (even pop music would do), there is always some kind of 'chorus' or general tune that they keep to. In classical format, there are generally two or three tunes. You also may want to try changing the chords every once in a while too.
-Try using some more natural changing of volumes, as well as bringing out of the less-easily-heard percussion. In MPC, I don't believe you can really "mix", so I can't talk much about that, but... at the very least, like TroisNyxEtienne said... volume control.

Keep working at it! Even though this isn't that good of a song, I do see potential - try looking up Anvil Studio or MadTracker. They're free DAWs that I've heard are quite good - though I have not used them myself.

-Swint-

[Pragmatic]

Here. Have another review.

Ok, first off, let me say. You are trying out 5/8 time. Yes. Just, yes.

THE GOOD:
-Great 5/8 beats in there.
-Your sounds and mixing are pretty nice, as per usual.
-I love that guitar in there. Really nice job with that.
-That outro. Really, really nice.

THE NOT-SO-GOOD ('scuse me, I'm going to get VERY nitpicky here, 'cause I don't have a ton to poke at):
-I feel like the intro is a tad dull until about 0:33, I feel like it could use some other kind of tune there.
-The breakdowns at 2:02 and 2:55 seem like they're too close together to me, considering the song's style.
-No transition at 3:55? The break between the two sections seems a tad awkward.
-The tunes in this, while good, get a tad repetitive and feel somewhat uninspired after a little while - I think there should have been some different chording and different styles of tunes. Perhaps you should try some different kinds of instruments as well, more 'natural-sounding' ones. I've noticed that your music is always very electronic - why not try something with piano or more realistic strings?
-That outro. Really really nice, except for that chord at the end. I feel like it would have been better with just the bottom note.
-Finally, my one issue with the mixing, and actually, one thing I've noticed about your music in general - it is overfull. The climaxes and loud bits are mainly because of so many instruments layered together, it's hard to hear each one individually. Now, this is *not a bad thing*, if you were intending it. However, it'd be nice to be able to have a cleaner sound where all the instruments are easy to hear. I noticed in this song chiefly at around 1:45, 2:42, 4:45. They are three extremely similar-sounding parts - 1:45 and 4:45 being pretty much identical, I think.

Now, my "NOT-SO-GOOD" grouping is mainly just nitpicking. This is a really good song for me to need to do that. ;)

You've gotten a lot better, and that's just looking at the songs on this account. I checked your old account, and you've gotten a TON better compared to those.

-Swint-

P.S. Your songs Brooding and Eternity Remixed now have reviews, as I had promised. :)

[Jinn's Calling]

Now THIS is a good loop.

THE GOOD:
-*Insert usual compliments about diversity of sounds, good mixing, and cool tunes here*
-I love the ambient feel of this. It's really good. Maybe you should try doing stuff like this more.

THE BAD:
-Length. But hey, I'm assuming you spent like, a half-hour on this, tops. And it's a really good 20 seconds.
-...2 wind chimes in 20 seconds? Really? You know that just trading off a wind chime for your usual cymbal rolls won't make me not notice it... :P

Not too much I can critique in this, so only a short review.

Good work!

-Swint-

Step responds:

"Now THIS is a good loop."

That is very good to hear :3.

"-*Insert usual compliments about diversity of sounds, good mixing, and cool tunes here*"

*insert multitude of thanks and showcasing of gratitude*

"-I love the ambient feel of this. It's really good. Maybe you should try doing stuff like this more."

You know I've always wanted to make a progressive ambient track. I've tried a tonne of genres already but if there's one I haven't tried yet, it's ambient. It's got an entirely different approach from a lot of other genres and it's probably quite hard to make too, but hopefully I'll be able to make a full-blown ambient track in the near future!

"-Length. But hey, I'm assuming you spent like, a half-hour on this, tops. And it's a really good 20 seconds."

Well I'd say about an hour or two was spent on it. I didn't want to make this longer since it'll only be playing for a few seconds while the spirit is saying something to travellers :P.

"-...2 wind chimes in 20 seconds? Really? You know that just trading off a wind chime for your usual cymbal rolls won't make me not notice it... :P"

My God, you read me like a book. D:

Although I admit I did want to make the wind chime sort of signify a rise in intensity; perhaps I should have just added it to the second half of the loop only instead of the first and second half.

"Not too much I can critique in this, so only a short review.
Good work!"

Thanks a lot dude, I really owe you!

[Dance of the Jnun]

Feedback? Sure thing, why not?

I only have a short amount of time, because I should totally be practicing my driving, but I'll give a short review in that time.

DA GOODZ:
-Great sounds and mixing as usual.
-Good tune once it gets into the song.
-I love how it's more ethnic-sounding while still being dance-like.

DA NOT-QUITE-AS-GOODZ-AND-COULD-BE-IMPRO VED-STUFFZ:
-The first 10 seconds seems a bit random, after that it picks up and sounds really cool.
-Could use a bit more variation in the tune, though this is just a minute long, so it's not too bad.
-Speaking of it being only a minute long, it needs to be longeeeer.
-And of course, there is the classic overuse of cymbal rolls that you always do. I detect one at 0:10, one at 0:30, and one at 0:50 (well, approximately those times). Interesting that you'd space them out at about 20 seconds apart. :>

Now, this is really good so far, and the main thing is - EXTEND THIS PLEASE. You'd have to put in some variation with the tune, but judging from your previous works, that shouldn't be a problem.

Also, trying out new scales, eh? Fun fun. :) Hope you enjoy it - I highly suggest using jazz scales, they can produce some really interesting results, especially when it's classical orchestral jazz. :D 7th and 9th chords are pretty!

8 stars because it needs to be extended. Desperately. Oh, and the little weird intro bit. But that's not as important.

Keep up the good work!

-Swint-

Step responds:

Whoa man, I haven't seen you in ages! Thanks a lot for reviewing, your reviews are AWESOME.

"Feedback? Sure thing, why not?

I only have a short amount of time, because I should totally be practicing my driving, but I'll give a short review in that time."

You rock :3.

"-Great sounds and mixing as usual."

That's great! People have often told me my mixing is good and I honestly don't know why. I know VERY little about mixing and when it comes to EQing I just go with whatever sounds good. I guess I'm just lucky! As for the sounds, East/West of course :P.

"-Good tune once it gets into the song."

Good to hear. I had had that tune in my head for nearly a week.

"-I love how it's more ethnic-sounding while still being dance-like."

Really relieved that you said that because that was precisely the one thing that I was worried about when I set off to making this track. I've got to thank East/West Ra's wide variety of ethnic instruments and the awesome phrygian scale for making me achieve that ethnic sound.

"-The first 10 seconds seems a bit random, after that it picks up and sounds really cool."

Ah, that was intentional. I wanted to achieve a similar effect to the intro of this song.
http://goo.gl/iRpyY

The song had originally began at 0:10, but the team leader of the school project I made this for asked me to add around 10 seconds before the track starts which are softer and slower than the rest of the track and will play while the dancers are getting on stage. I thought that I should try and achieve an effect where the intro is a sort of jumble of instruments and then the track gradually starts making more sense, if you get what I mean... you probably don't, haha.

"-Could use a bit more variation in the tune, though this is just a minute long, so it's not too bad."

I agree with you on that. My simple answer to that is... I was lazy :3. I didn't really have any bright ideas on different melodies to use in this track (I wanted to add a new melody after 0:45 and then re-introduce the main melody for the ending, in fact). So instead of doing that, I did something else.

I'm sure you noticed that despite having roughly the same melody throughout, there's a lot more variation in background elements. Alternating melodies supporting the main melody and drums are much more varied than the actual lead melodies themselves, so I think that sorta kinda maybe makes up for the same melody used for a whole minute.

"-Speaking of it being only a minute long, it needs to be longeeeer."

True dat! Still, the team leader asked for around three-quarters of a minute for song duration, so I'm already pushing it a little. This is for a dance that will be used to support a play that we'll be making for the project, so even though I want to make it longer, that'll be stretching the dance out for too long I think.

"-And of course, there is the classic overuse of cymbal rolls that you always do."

ARGH you noticed!

Dammit man, I swear I'm trying to use them less. I really am trying xD.

"Now, this is really good so far, and the main thing is - EXTEND THIS PLEASE. You'd have to put in some variation with the tune, but judging from your previous works, that shouldn't be a problem."

I might revisit this sometime but it'll be in the distant future. I still have three more Moroccan tracks to make before mid-May, so it's going to be tough!

"Also, trying out new scales, eh? Fun fun. :) Hope you enjoy it - I highly suggest using jazz scales, they can produce some really interesting results, especially when it's classical orchestral jazz. :D 7th and 9th chords are pretty!"

Oh man I LOVE 7th chords. I swear sometime I'm going to make a chill-out ambient/experimental track with heavy use of piano and fill it with awesome 7th chords.

As for jazz scales, I'll have to ask camoshark about those. He knows jazz more than the back of his hand.

"8 stars because it needs to be extended. Desperately. Oh, and the little weird intro bit. But that's not as important.

Keep up the good work!"

Thanks a lot for the review dude. I really love your reviews.

[Eternity Remixed]

Well, I promised I'd review this one, didn't I? Time to make good on it.

DA GOOD STUFF:
-Amazing sounds, as usual.
-Really, really good intro. I love the panning guitar sounds, and particularly like the dry->wet switch at about 0:14.
-I love the chopped vocals.
-Great break at about 0:39 to 0:58, I really like the arpeggios leading into the pad.

The unfortunate not-as-good stuff:
-First of the two major flaws I found in this, the transition at 1:24. You already know this, I'm sure, but I feel like there could have been some much better ways to transition. Or better, change the chords to be a more easily-used sequence. The vocals can assumedly be transposed or pitch-shifted, and so can the guitar. I'd also suggest some kind of sequence like what you did leading into 0:58. Obviously, it would have to shift into a completely different chord sequence, but it works a lot better than the crossfade, which seems more like splicing two different songs together (and only doesn't completely because the instruments are the same in each).
-The second major flaw is in the second section. It drags on for FAR too long with almost no variation. I generally don't like songs with lyrics for exactly that reason - no variation except in vocals. Unfortunately, this doesn't even really have that... I would suggest having more variation, extra tunes, some more "sparkle" on the top (arps), a different drumbeat every once in a while... for such a good opening, this section just seems out-of-place, dull, and quite frankly, pretty crap compared to the rest (not to mention the rest of the music you've put out), even though it has the great sounds from the first part. Also, the end of it, the delay and reverb of the
-The last thing that I thought I'd comment on is pretty minor. I noticed that the kick was really hard to hear in the first section. Might want to bring it out a little (very little) amount or give it more of a click (the Fruit Kick is useful for an accompanying click at low volume, I've found).

Overall, this song has an awesome first minute, but then just turns into bleh. I'm giving it 3 1/2 stars for the great beginning and the overall well-mixed, clean, and good sound. As I said, this is the only song of yours that I don't like as much. :<

Hope you can post something different like this that's a bit better! I really did love the first part of it.

-Swint-

[Brooding]

Ambient? This seems less ambient than some of your other songs, actually, rather than being the most ambient. I suppose it has less percussion than some of your other songs, which would make it more ambient, but...

Ok, the first thing that struck me was how in the first minute, it really has a soundwash that overwhelms.

Let's see now... normal sectioned review? I think so.

THE GOOD (also the short section where I say what I like quickly):
-Amazing ambient percussion.
-Amazing background soundwash.
-Nice tune and melodic ideas. Particularly beautiful background melodies here for me: 1:37-1:36.
-Nice idea with the distorted pad towards the end.
-Cool pluck-like effect at about 1:17 and in one other area that I can't be bothered to find the time of right now, since I'm a bit pressed for time. But the message gets through, hopefully.

THE NOT-AS-GOOD-WHICH-I-THINK-COULD-PROBA BLY-BE-IMPROVED-AND-HERES-HOW (Also the-really-long-titled-section-that-I -drone-on-in-frequently):
-I noticed a bit of a mixing issue with the kick drum that's somewhat reversed (I assume you used WaveTravlr - I think that's the name of it xD). I'd guess that it's a bit too quick of a low frequency - it cuts out some of the other frequencies for the half-second that it goes. I love the effect of it, but I think there needs to be a little bit more mixing - I'd guess toning down of the low frequency on it a slight bit, checking for some higher frequencies in it might help as well.
-The overall atmosphere of the song doesn't really change overly much. It's really, really pretty, but just goes on and on. I think a break down or a slight tempo change is in order. A chord change would be lovely.
-The cool distorted pad towards the end stops suddenly, and goes into an ending that does seem somewhat uninspired, though it is one of your better ones and certainly isn't bad. I actually like the last strains of the chords, and it definitely works for one of your mainly ambient songs.

Overall, once again - awesome job. Just a few things that could make it better - and the biggest one is more a tip for artist style overall than this song in particular - I'd gotten it myself from my composition teacher a little while ago, glad I can pass it on. :P

G'day, and good luck in the future! Looking forward to more of your work!

-Swint-

RunningShadows responds:

Hey thanks for the review again. Maybe I should of said spacey or dreamy instead of ambient.:) I used gross beat on the bass drum to get the cool reverse effect, will have to check out the mixing on that. I do agree that it may be a tad repetitive. Composition teacher you say? I've really been meaning to dive into a music theory book I bought, now that it's summer I have no excuse. Hopefully our songwriting will improve a bit with this, also got a massive book on mixing so it should be a productive summer.

Seriously, thanks for the reviews!

[Caecilian]

Ok, honestly, when did I forget to fave you as an artist? You have some seriously original stuff going here. Now, before I review this specific song, I'd like to diverge into a few comments on your overall style. I've noticed that all of your songs, while being highly original and all having unique aspects, are all similar and made in the same way - there's a consistent feel to all of them that has not changed at all (except in Eternity Remixed, but I won't get into that in THIS review).

I think the main thing that ties them all together is the format of the rhythms - the main backgrounds are all fairly linear "one-two-three-four" flows that can easily be felt. Just as something for you to think about - maybe try making something with a different flow, no easy flow like that, but something a bit different.

The other thing is that the instruments in all of your songs (aside from again, Eternity Remixed) are really, really similar. Maybe try using some different pads and try to give a feel that's more "celestial" rather than "deep" at some point, or make a more driving song? :) Just a thought.

Now, the song...

THE GOOD:
-Very nice dissonant melody.
-I. Love. That. Sound that's behind the longer guitar theme, you can hear it mainly at the end (though it's not the hissing, it's in the recording of the guitar before - just harder to hear). I also love the initial pad-like sound that opens the song and plays a major part in it. It is just so dreamy - I feel like it's some guitar feedback that you made into a pad, though I could be wrong.
-Chord progression sounds really, really cool.
-The main theme in the guitar is also really good.
-Sweeeeeet break at 1:52. That was VERY nice.

THE NOT-SO-GOOD:
-I feel like the end is weak, considering the rest of the song. I mean, I love that guitar there, as I had said before, but there's not really anything to back it up at the end other than the hissing and the background noise. It also seems to come in at an off-beat time, which threw me on my first listen.
-The drums seem a bit dull. I mean, they're good, but they're a bit too background - I'd have liked for them to do something interesting at one point. Same goes for the bass. This isn't the biggest thing, and would be quite difficult to pull off without making it feel disconnected from the rest of the song, so don't pay any mind to this if you think it's insignificant. :P
-I'm not sure what the main point or theme of this song is, it kind of just... goes. It's beautiful, and makes for some really nice background, but I'm not kept as interested as I could in what's going to happen next. Again - this is fairly insignificant, because it is still quite interesting.

Honestly, the most not-so-good thing about this is the ending. It's too long and dull for the rest of the song. :\ But other than that, great job! I look forward to seeing what else you'll come up with!

-Swint-

RunningShadows responds:

Yet another incredible review, I can tell that you love to write! Yeah we get stuck with the whole 1-2-3-4 with four chord changes kinda thing a lot. Now to get on to the technical side of the song, I really wish we were capable of turning the guitar feedback into a pad, but alas we did not. It did take quite a bit of tweaking with a VST though. That has given us ideas though, so thank you! We also do love to make dreamy, melodic sounds and that is what we base our music around for better or worse.

Yes, the end is a bit uninspired and long, totally agree there. As you can tell and have pointed out quite a bit, we need to work on ending our songs in a more unique fashion. Thanks for complimenting the break at 1:52 by the way, that was one of my personal favorites.

The drums are simple and do repeat a lot, same goes for the bass. These are flaws, not sure if it's due to laziness or not feeling inspired, but we need to work on that.

I'm glad people seem to have taken a liking to our music, it's pretty flattering. I think this is our third account now because every so often we make a song that blows all the old ones out of the water. Looking bad, they're all terrible, so it's nice to see positive reactions. Not to mention the fact that when working on your own music you become blind to how it sounds to others; some of the worst songs I've made I thought were the best things ever while working on them.

So again, thanks for the massive review, it helps a lot.

I'm gonna have to take a look at some of your new stuff and write up some constructive reviews, we are in a bit of debt.

[moodcraft - Moodcraft]

Hmm... It sounds cool, but there's a bit of a problem.

Good stuff:
-The sounds are awesome, I love the bass, too. Guessing Buoy did that.
-Rhythms are good. They keep some interest.
-The break from 1:08 to 1:25 is awesome.

Not-so-good-stuff-that-could-be-impro ved:
-There's just about no discernable change for the first 1:08. This really takes out almost all of my interest almost instantaneously. After 1:25, it just gets boring again, being pretty much the same only with a guitar solo over it.

Things I recommend:
Since your sounds are great, you need to work on the composition. While house music does generally have the constant pulse beat, it doesn't need that all the time. Having the beat be this constant, I see more in Trance or Dance music. Try varying the beat a little bit - you could add something on the off-beat, flip it and have the kick on the off-beat to mix it up a bit. Just a few ideas.

Another thing is similar - the baseline could use some variation. It's an awesome bassline, but holy crap, it never has any variation at all. Makes the song kind of "dead" to not have any variation in what seems to be the main feature and tune of the song.

After this - I'd also recommend changing up the 'feel' of the song a bit, giving it a bit more of a high and low. As it is - it's a flat line with one little blip in the middle.

This song is good, but it's dead - needs a lot more variation. I can't see that it has too much potential without reworking the base due to the problems I had mentioned.

Good luck in the future though, you have a nice solid base of sounds and mixing to spring from!

-Swint-

moodcraft responds:

Talk about repetition, you go on about the same thing for paragraphs ;) But I agree with all of that, of course it's not that serious a project though: we were 6 people when we made this (I and another guy was doing a kinda informal Reason course that ended up with me and Morten going on on our own). This was the first thing we did while I was teaching people a few tricks and we were really just starting to get our hands dirty. We spent maybe one session on it and I only submitted this to have something up. But thanks for the feedback sky :)
- Jonathan