SkyeWint's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Ignite This!]

Woo!

Great initial piano there! I enjoyed it immensely. The way it opens up works quite well, and the drums are very good. I heard a bit of wobbling in the background, was that intended? Whether it was or not, it still works. I think the section from 0:23 to 0:48 was a tad too long, maybe add a bit more in the background? The tune from 0:48 to 1:12 was still a bit too long without enough to back it up. I noticed the piano went in and out a bit, and I don't think it quite worked. After the section with not much piano, it goes back to the initial tune, which does work quite well. Once again, though, it's too long. The opening up from 2:02 to 2:06 works VERY well and sounds wonderful. Awesome work there. Afterwards, it's the same chording with a bit more added, until it goes to the second section to end. The very ending doesn't quite work though, there's a bit of random noise after it /ends/, too.

Overall, good good. Some sections are a bit long, but on the whole, it's solid, it sounds nice, I enjoyed it, transitions are good... The problems aren't too large, and once again, this is quite the good track.

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[EF - WIP (GS vs TI remix)]

Hmm.

The intro up until 0:43 was really repetitive and not overly good. After that, the wobbles were random AND didn't have much variation, quite a feat. The beat was definitely dubstep-y. I liked the chording from 1:15 onward, didn't hear it much before. What pad did you use for it? From 1:44 to 1:58, the wobbles seemed off-key. I still hear the background that was in the intro, it hasn't gone away at all, makes it seem REALLY repetitive. The outro wasn't that interesting, and it basically just stopped. Nothing very good there.

The drops were cool, though the one at 0:43 seemed to miss a beat or something.

I don't think there's that much original here other than the wobbles, other than that it's the same thing the whole time. Even the wobbles were repetitive, which wasn't that nice to hear.

Overall, it's really repetitive and pretty boring. I didn't like it that much in the end, unfortunately. If I were you, I'd bring it into a different key or something, add a tune rather than just muddy, loud, obnoxious wobble bass. And no. I don't like dubstep mud basses in many songs, in case you haven't figured that out. Here, it just doesn't work...

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GirlStep responds:

Ouch. Use some lube next time you plan on fucking me.

[Melting Ice]

8-bit again!

First thing I noticed was the background. It's VERY off-key. It switches keys midway, I think. If the other synths and background changed at the same time, then it would be alright. But it doesn't.

There isn't really much of a tune, just background and rhythm. The "tune" comes in twice in a row, like a loop.

There's a lot of work that could be done with this, I'd try making it a bit more interesting and less repetitive, if I were you. Extending a loop so it's at least 1 minute long is definitely helpful to make people less bored.

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DahDoctow responds:

Thanks for your reply! Yeah, I get sick of alot of my songs too. Whenever I start a song though I can only create like 2 or 3 sounds that are good, so my only choice is to repeat them... :C

[Facing Your Trials!]

Ok, it's definitely midi.

The instruments are very fake-sounding and don't seem realistic. While they're better than some I've heard, they sound like fake instruments trying to sound like real ones in this, which doesn't work that well. The transitions could use some work.

Once I got to 1:26, I thought I had heard it before. I went back, and what do I hear? The same thing. The outro was random, it sounded like you decided to end it and just slapped something together.

The drums need to stand out more, they're barely noticeable and pretty much not there.

Dynamics definitely need work, so do transitions...

I can't really say much more about this other than, FORMATTING. Please make this more of a composition and less of generic music. If you have actual sections, and format them into theme/variation or ABA or something simple like that, then it would help, rather than ABCDEF<blah blah blah>.

If you plan on making more music, I'd suggest getting a DAW, I recommend FLS from personal experience. After working with music notation software and then Logic, I was disappointed in how Logic handles note input. I'd recommend using actual midi sequencing instead of notation if you plan on getting Logic (or just about any DAW I've seen).

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CheckeredZebra responds:

Ah, formatting. I'll keep it in mind.

And honestly the 1:26 was just to show it can loop well, not as being something original. I find that Newgrounds doesn't like to loop my songs for some reason, so I have to put a repeat there. It's not meant to be taken that way =P

The dynamics are the fault of the software, as well, but I could work around this by making things go from "p" to "f" and make it more drastic.

And I hear FLS is amazing. I need to look into that.

Anyhow, thank you for the suggestions :3

[Sea of Destiny]

Oooh, oceanic.

The main ostinato stays there throughout the whole thing, it's always in the background, backing everything up. This definitely isn't repetitive, which I liked. The overall feel of it was splendid and would work awesomely for a movie/flash/game. Reminds me of Pirates of the Caribbean.

Now, quibbles, quibbles, quibbles. The intro just jumps right in, no real introduction to speak of other than the development of the ostinato that starts it off. There's no problem with the production that I can think of, so that gets left alone. Unfortunately though, while the song is awesome for listening to once without something backing it up, overall, it's background music for a visual. Otherwise, it gets boring after listening to it once or twice. The end kind of threw me for a loop, it just jumped right into the end and said "There, it's over. Shoo." Endings and intros are the hardest to get right though, so that's not too bad.

Overall, solid piece, quite good. I enjoyed it for what it was.

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TheBellmaker responds:

Thanks for the review! Most of my songs that I write are intended for BG music. None of them really stand on their own.

[What is This!]

Okay then!

After the 8-bitness of the last review, this is almost like a breath of fresh air.

The intro, I liked at first. It seems drawn-out and repetitive though, being the same thing for 23 seconds. The piano was pretty interesting, even though it still repeats the same thing until 0:40. That makes it more interesting. It's a very poppy piece, not seemingly intended to make sense. It just kind of ends at 0:57 though, which didn't seem that good.

As it comes back in, it's pretty random, and doesn't transition well. Overall, so far it's been pretty repetitive and random, not that well made either... I like the arps supporting the song, but they don't really work when they are repeated constantly. It does another one of those false endings at 1:52, which I didn't particularly like.

After the 2 minute mark, it kind of falls apart.. It loses what semblance of form it had, and just randomizes itself. I feel like you used an arpeggiator, which I personally don't like.

So, some pointers.

1) Have some more order to the song, so that it doesn't seem so random.
2) Have some chording underneath so that it's not just arps and some piano.
3) Have a less simple beat, or one that's a bit stronger, so people have more to latch onto.

That's all I have for now. Good luck!

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xxxZigZagxxx responds:

I appreciate your constructive criticism. I appreciate that you took the time out to review this submission and I'll address each of your queries in turn :)

Repetition is one of my key enemies in the fight to produce good-sounding songs. Not only beautiful songs do I want, however, but also something that challenges the listener in a nice way. I think the harshness of the synth and the sparseness of the arrangement are the things that undo this piece.

The feel that I wanted to get across is that of dissonance, but also a driving melody behind it. Something you could really groove to. But it seems that when I listened to it a couple of hours later under a more critical view, it didn't stand up to the litmus test. The random part in the middle is supposed to alienate the listener, then bring them back to the earth again, which I think served its purpose.

I did use an arpeggiator for some portion of the song, that's because I thought it had a nice sound when assembling. It turns out that 3 minutes of repeating this same synth can have a wearying effect on the ears. I did have some order to the song, but I realise, after your wise suggestion, that there needs to be some traditional verse-chorus-verse-chorus structure that people are so familiar with in order for people to warm to my wacky beats. But sometimes "wacky" even equates to downright stupid, so that's somewhat foolish of me.

I wanted this song to go in a radical new direction for me, to stretch me beyond my limits. In that I believe I succeeded, but I think I now need a more definite approach, such as with more chords, a more complex beat, or a strong one. The points you bring come across as valid and clear, and I appreciate your honesty.

Thanks!

Benjamin

[Pugilator]

Whoah.

That is a very odd opening. There's a lot of static. It seems very /different/. Opens it up quite well. When the fat bass comes in at 0:09, it really makes the song. I don't like the seemingly off-tune note towards the end.

I notice you like echo synths a lot, that and reverb. So do I. It makes the track seem a lot "deeper". I really enjoy how it opens up and builds. That and the flow that seemingly goes up and down throughout. I like the polyphony in multiple keys at the middle, around 1:38 onwards. One thing I noticed that I REALLY like is the rattling in the background. Makes quite a feel. That and all the pads in the background. The transition at 2:17 is REALLY good. It stops and bursts open again to the main theme. It has a nice outro section, kind of getting up and going with the main arps, that and the chording. It seems really towards the very end though... I noticed you kind of used my idea of pitch bending at the end, only going down instead of up. :P

Overall. Awesome feel. Awesome ideas. Much better formatting than your other songs. Much, much better. I think this deserves a 10/10 from me. Great work!

A few other questions not quite related to the song.

Uca Pugilator is your only source of inspiration? o.0 How odd. I wouldn't have thought that it would make such music.

Now, my other question is... since I'm guessing you use FLS, would you perhaps wish to make a cooperative song? Our styles seem similar enough, and I do respect your music. You're one of the better artists on this site.

Anyway. Please make more at this quality! They're awesome!

RunningShadows responds:

Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it. Yeah, I've been working on biology research on uca pugilator, and it got me into writing this song.

Yeah I would be down for working on a collab. I'm using FL9, not sure if the version matters. But I think it could work.

Thanks again for the review!

[Actualized]

Hmm.

It really opens up too quickly, in my opinion. I find intros to be tricky, but this doesn't really work all that well. It just fades in and "wham" with the drums. The piano-ish sound at 0:28 sounds really good. I think the drums could be a bit better. The transition to a different key at 0:43 made me look up, it was REALLY good. Those transitions make me sit up and feel a lot better.

I don't think this is a very sad song, it seems really happy to me. The bell-like synths at 1:30 (That's when I noticed it the most) feel really nice. I really think this has a cool groove, and nice tunes, along with the chording. I like the synth that solos a lot. Don't know why.

The outro definitely needs some work. Like most songs, it just ends. Blaaaaah.

Good luck!

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sumguy720 responds:

If I had it my way I would have it play forever-- unfortunately I'm not so good with goodbyes. It was just time to move on! You're right though, completely. The outtro could be a little more convincing than it is.
The beginning was also a trouble area. I kinda wrote the middle before the rest of it so I just wanted to get started. I think I could have done better there, but I will have to work on that in a future version. Good observation.

The song isn't supposed to be really sad, it's a lot more complicated than that. There are all these swimming emotions of idealized possible futures and a world in which everything is different than it is now. It's supposed to be wistful I think, if you wanted to use one word. Maybe a smidge hesitant.

My main goal was to go CRAZY with the chord progression, melody, and bassline. The part at 43 was the hardest one for me, but it took a long time to work together. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Thank you for your review!

[ECHO - A Little Push [MD]

Oooh, sweet.

Makes a pretty intense song. I think it would definitely work for an intense, dangerous area song. I like the effects that come in every once in a while. It would definitely work for a soundtrack, I can say that.

If I may give a bit of advice for making things like this though, make only one pattern for instruments instead of 112. That may help you clean it up a bit. It's what I do.

It's extremely theatrical, my only issue is one that, if you've read my other reviews, you'd expect. No form. It's a great soundtrack, but as an individual song, it's simply drama, and after listening to it once, I'm pretty much done. It's rambling on without much form or an outro. Other than that, though...

Really. Damn. Good.

Please make more! I do hope that you can incorporate some more compositional elements in your music though.

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