SkyeWint's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Eric Freeman - See You Around]

Don't stop composing!

Zerobombers go everywhere, they annoy everyone, they've annoyed me as well. I mean, hey, I've gotten my songs zerobombed, and I haven't even made it to the front page once. You have. Through that, you've gotten fame (however long/short). Fame brings friends and enemies. In other words, you can get your songs massively uprated or massively downrated. Besides, if you go, can you improve from some of the excellent feedback some people give? (Not counting mine. I have no idea whether you'll find this good or not)

Also consider, if people are downvoting it, why would they? Maybe asking for feedback if someone rates your song down would be a good idea.

Now, as for the actual song...

First impression: I love the intro. It really starts up the song quite well, and makes it seem sad. It's quite good, that, the way it opens. I'm assuming it's a low pass up. The distortion was quite annoying, though.

Second impression: It's VERY repetitive. Doesn't vary that much, though the drums are driving. The distortion is still there, seems like it's driving a nail through my head. The beat stays the same... Sounds like this was done on FLS, judging by how it loops.

Third impression: It has stayed the same through the whole song. Nothing more I can say, aside from that the outro could use some work.

Overall impression: Once you've heard the first 30 seconds, you've pretty much heard the whole thing. It DEFINITELY needs some variation. I could see this growing though, if it had more of a tune than pretty much nothing... Sounds very much like pop music though. (Pop being most "popular" music, including rock, country, rap, and conventional pop.)

Good luck!

-Review Request Club-
-SWINT-

EricFreeman responds:

It's not people down voting because they dislike my song(s), it's all of my songs being systematically down voted every day. I pissed off someone with a lot of free time.

Also, you remind me on my girlfriend. I was listening to a deadmau5 album and she yelled at me for listening to the same song for the past hour. Oh well, I thought there was a little more going on in this song than you did: http://goo.gl/oS8qt

Sorry you didn't like the distortion. I thought it was a nice effect, but hey, to each their own. Also, I wasn't really sure what to do for the outro so I just put this generic one in.

Thanks for leaving such an in-depth review. And don't worry, I don't plan on stopping composing music in general. :)

[A Child's Game]

Interesting (2)

I love how many concepts you brought into this, and how interesting the overall track is. It has a very bouncy atmosphere, and holds to what the title calls it quite well, always a good thing. I honestly think there's not much change needed in the variation bit, nor in the instrumentation. As Xenophaje said, "All instruments seem to be played accordingly through the song, it never goes off key or tone, and its overall sound is pretty good."

However, my problem(s) come in with the fact that while it has a bunch of themes, it seems repetitive, and somehow, at the same time, it seems random. This can be good at certain points, but too much of it just makes me think "meh". I also noticed several points where it seems to lose/gain a beat or two, which hit me like a punch in the fact to wake me up from my musical stupor. Perhaps that was just me. But it's worth looking into things like that.

In the end, I think this could work out to be a really good piece. It just needs some polishing up, some more (less random) variation, and a bit of touching up on the instruments (it made my headphones distort a bit, though that was just in the beginning and they may have been too loud).

Good luck, hope this helped!

-Review Request Club-
-SWINT-

Tomppaah responds:

Thanks for the review! :) I'll surely take your pointers in to consideration when I start working on my next track. ;P

[EML - Skeleton]

The buzzing annoys me.

That buzzing... it makes my head hurt. >.<

Don't have too much to say about this... It's pretty repetitive, has a nice feel, I guess, but again, that buzzing. It is ANNOYING. Perhaps it's supposed to be electronic, but... that's a bit too much.

The buzzing at the beginning made me think that it was in a different time signature than it actually was - confusing. The tune is simple, repeats a bit too often, doesn't really go anywhere... It's kind of just boring. I would vary it a little bit more, if I were you.

I would also attempt to make the buzz slightly less annoying, but if that doesn't annoy most people, then alright.

Anyway, that's my two cents. I'd polish this up a bit, it could be alright in the end.

-Review Request Club-
-SWINT-

eatmeatleet responds:

buzzing? Hah it is more like rolling. Software I use wasn't able to detect the pitch it is in so I just used whatever it was. Maybe you are right but I just don't hear the disharmony. Yeah, it doesn't go anywhere, I was kind of unable to continue it. Thanks for review

[-*CaSH*- Redemption]

Very relaxing.

And very well-made. I honestly can't find a complaint to throw against it. This is VERY good. Please continue this! I'll list exactly what I like and hope for in the final, 10 minute version.

1: I love the fact that this is actually organized, the outro is similar to the intro, the main part of the song is formatted in ABA (I believe), and the whole thing has a "groove" to it. I hope the whole 10-minute gig will be formatted as well, in a large ABA, instead of having five-six segments that are transitioned, but not formatted.
2: The instruments. They blend together quite well, and just "fit". I don't see any problem with the piano, the instruments all seem pretty realistic.
3: The drums. My only small problem is (yeah, I found something I don't like. :P) that it's not very constant-sounding. It seems to be more random than steady, I know it's a loop, but... still sounds odd and not very consistent. I do think that you have an interesting style with them though, so take this or leave it, it won't ruin the song in any way, in my opinion.

Overall, wonderful work!

-Review Request Club-
-SWINT-

camoshark responds:

Thanks for the great review, one week early furthermore!

Yeah, the song's structured, though I wouldn't classify it in A's and B's, that reffers to the melody line, in this case, I'd put it more A-chorus-B-chorus.

The whole song will be multiple themes, but with a connecting line, and a recurent theme, so it isn't just a bunch of songs mashed together, while not always being one really long developement of a single theme.

The drum parts are, in fact, NOT loops, rather grooves that I wrote myself. It's just impossible to write down a realistic drum part, so I wrote down a few patterns and added a few fills. The drums are actually not enough diversed for my taste...

Thanks again, I'm glad you enjoyed it that much, it proves I'm doing something right here!

Cheers

[Water in the Sky]

Like FLS much?

Pretty good. I have to say, I like the way it opens up. I'm guessing you used FLS, based on the drums. It's a solid song, mainly based around the single looped chord changes. I love the piano that comes in at 2:45. I've always loved pianos, started playing them over eight years ago and never stopped. The picture it paints is quite calming, and very high in the sky, it's uplifting.

I don't particularly like the fact that it is only based around the single looped chord changes, though what you do with them is quite good. My main qualm concerning that, though, is that there aren't many melodies. It's kind of the same thing over and over.
I don't like the way the main synth comes in starting at 2:59. It just seems to thud its way in instead of sliding in smoothly.
Finally, the ending makes me go "wait... what?" It just ends, not on a harmonic note, but an odd note, suggesting that you did all loops without ending notes.

Overall, good submission, some errors that could use some brushing up, and I like!

[Welcome to Zebes]

Smooth loop.

Instrumentation: Great.
Length: Great.
Tune: Nice and relaxing, while still making me think "Ok, let's get going!" Sounds like a wonderful starting theme to a game.

My problem, however, comes with what I've said in many other reviews. Not much structure! After less than a minute, I thought "...is this going to end?" It doesn't have variety, nor that much interest in it. At about 1:10, it seems to repeat. The bass and drums never really change, nor does the chording. It just gets... boring. I understand it's a remix, so there's not much difference you could do. But I've heard remixes that completely change songs so that the melodies are still present.

Overall, not bad, I'll have to listen to some of your other songs.

MeteorManMike responds:

Yeah, it's always hard to add my own flair to a classic tune. If I just throw some improv at it, there are always the guys who take offense to their favorite video game track being ruined.

Thanks for the review!

[My Sinful Rose]

It's definitely video game music.

I have to say, the song is quite enjoyable overall. It's mixed well. It has many instruments, nice variety, quite well put together. It kind of reminds me of LoZ at some points, reminds me of some other game at others. I can't remember the game off the top of my head, however. Maybe Saga Frontier..? Anyway. I definitely enjoy the song.

Now, unfortunately, all things have problems. And here's my main problem with this song.

I listened to the actual song. The only real difference is different instruments. I know this is an arrangement, but you didn't really change much at all except for some of the drums (I think. Can't exactly do a side-by side comparison that easily). Remixes I tolerate, if they change a song a lot. Arrangements I tolerate, because generally they also change the song quite a bit to arrange it for different instruments and order the sections differently to put it in more of a format. Again, this basically takes the song and puts it into different instruments. Not enough to make it original.

My other problem, which is comparatively minor, is the song itself, I guess. It just... goes on and on. By the time I hit the 3 minute mark, I was slumped back in my seat thinking "does this even have an ending, or has it been looping?" This is a problem with many songs these days. They don't have much form. I'd reform it so that it's a bit more organized. Then I'd be perfectly happy. But then, that's just me. Music is mainly to please yourself, right?

-Review Request Club-
-SWINT-

Shanath responds:

Ah, I agree with most of your points. I know I'm not very original when it comes to arrangements but I wanted to keep the original feeling of the song while just keeping it instrumental. Since I don't think there was a non-vocal version of this song ever released; I could be wrong, though.

Anyway, glad you liked it and thanks for the actual critique as well. Too many reviews don't really seem to point out the faults in someone's track. Thanks for taking the time. :]

[==(Time Lapse of Clouds)=]

I much like some of your other things better.

While admittedly, yes, this is actual "ambience", it isn't a good song alone. It's much more background noise. I don't hear any problems with the song itself, but it doesn't go anywhere.

It just goes on, and doesn't end, it seems like. It doesn't really have a "beginning" or an "end", just a middle. No real development or much variation at all.

[MC10]

Let's see.

This could definitely use more. While it's mixed well, has a lot of variation, there are a few problems with it.

It has no real structure. It just "goes". I know you have the animation to stand by it, but as a stand-alone song, it doesn't quite work. Again, while mixed well, it doesn't quite "work". I think that the inherent chaos and randomness that needs to be in the madness series, while it works great to fuse the "madness" in the music for the animation, for the actual song itself... alone, it doesn't work.

The song is good. It could be better though. Having a bunch of cool sounds and putting them together so that it sounds "good" doesn't mean the song is "good".

Perhaps this is personal preference, but I much prefer it with the animation than without. By the time it hit the 3:30 mark, I kind of just was like, "is it over yet?" It doesn't seem to have an end, and just goes and goes and goes and goes kind of like the run-on sentence that I'm using as a ridiculous attempt to make my point clear, because after all, run-on sentences that don't have much point are annoying, when they aren't in context. Much like this song. It is good with the animation, but without the animation, it's like a run-on sentence that's out of context and doesn't work right.

That's my two cents. Take it or leave it.

cheshyre responds:

I really enjoyed your comment! Think what you will about the song, hopefully it made madness more enjoyable. I really liked your run on sentence! It made me laugh. Thanks for the 9!!!

[Drawing Blanks]

Still good, but... still also meh.

I don't like how the guitar just vanishes at about 3:00, seems too sudden. Then it comes back in surprisingly. There also seems to be some distortion on the guitar.

The intro threw me for a loop. I thought it was at a completely different timing than it actually was.

Drums are good. The guitar is pretty good, aside from the distortion.

Some of the transitions could be improved, as well as the length of some of the sections. Some sections seem to just drag on and on...

The outro could use some work. It seems to leave a big empty patch, making me think, "Wait, it's over? I thought it would drag on for another 20 minutes."

The last thing I have to say is that it has the common failing of many songs in this day and age. It doesn't really have structure. It just "goes", without a real format like ABA, ABCA, ABACA, etc.

Honestly, I think you have a lot of potential, a lot of good ideas, but it needs more form. I'm still learning form, admittedly, but... this could be so much more.

Overall, to anyone who reads this, don't let it be said that this isn't worth your time. It most definitely IS worth your time. Everything can be improved, and it's always worth the time to listen and learn from mistakes, whoever makes them.

RunningShadows responds:

Thank you so much for your advice!