Music-story's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[(::Surfing On Color::) GWC]

Hey review time...logic pro?

Did you use logic pro for this? Sounds like you took a blend of garageband and your logic pro stuff to make this song. Nothing wrong with that. This is what I thought.

Good:
1) So the first instrument at the very beginning of the song was somewhat good. You used the filterbank or LFO or autofilter or something else? I like the fading in and out of this instrument.
2) 46 seconds I like that wind fx. Panning from speaker to speaker is a added bonus. Nice job.
3) 1:21 there were two new things. The drum loops which fit well. The 2nd thing I'll list in the "May need more" part
4) Great timing on the fade out of the drum loop which ends at 2:55
5) You seemed to mix up the volume of the drums a bit. Some diversity there.
6) 4:28 in comes the rising and failing oscillatory instrument. This part is the best part of your song. Maybe cause you actually put enough reverb on it to make the song not feel empty.
May need more:
1) 16 seconds in...hmm. I really didn't like that bass. Too generic. It seems to be EQ quite nicely though.
2) 1:21 that other new instrument...or fx just didn't fit right. It had some bad timbre.
3) 2:55 some wierd again poor timbre instrument comes in. The digital phone fx also doesn't make the song more attractive.
4) 4:48 to the end.... okay so this part is not that interesting. The bass reintroduction doesn't really help out either. Maybe some additional instrument because those two instruments just playing for essentially a minute is a bit repetitive.

To summarize, I first like to give you kudos for getting weekly 5. I think more work needs to go into making your instruments. They are somewhat generic. Also add some supporting fx or sweeping instrument for the sections of the song that felt empty. Anyway, I'm a supporter for whoever uses logic pro. My favorite music program (biased of course). I made a logic pro song recently...journey through space fixed. Tell me what you think. We can like help each other get better with our programs. 5/5 vote and 9/10 review.

Bye for now

FatKidWitAJetPak responds:

1) Yes, I did use Auto Filter, but I only used Garaageband for this song. I use Garageband for all my songs, but I do not use pre-set loops just so we are clear on that.

2) It is a star thing that Garageband has, it sounds really cool when you add it in at different points.

3) I thought of adding something to there, but I didn't know what. I saved it for later so it would sound like classic techno.

4) Thanks, it is hard to get timing juusst right.

5) Oh yeah, if you were to look at the sound edit on my Garageband file, you would see a lot of mixes here and there in the volume.

6) I AGREE TOTALLY, I loved it when I tested that loop. I origanally made it for a bass, but then I plugged it into a synth and put an autofilter on it.

As a response to your last bit, I agree that my instruments are generic. But, I was going for the classic techno look. This song probably felt empty because Newgrounds is just full of crazy trance songs like DJ-Nates" Beginning Of Time" If you were to put this in the 70's, you wouldn't of thought it to be empty lol. I will take a look at your Journey Through Space thing... the title sounds like some of my earlier ones.

And at the end of the song, it was supposed to make you not even pay attention to anything around you, put you into a trace. (Or give you ADD lol) It seems to work to.

Thanks for your review!

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

Review time

Hi. So a classical. I have not reviewed a classical for some time. Not that good at reviewing this kind of stuff, but here goes.

Good:
1) Fade in is nice and the clash is great too. The whole first 16 seconds is a well put mini intro. It reminds me of disneyland music.
2) 21 secs you have this twinkling instrument which gets reintroduced a bunch of times later in the song. I thought that instrument really brought out the magical feeling.
3) 1:33 The nice quite mellow part to a even quieter part at 1:41 is a nice theme change. 1:54 also adds to the diversity. I can see what you mean by making diverse music. Well now I know two people on NG that make diverse music like me.
4) How did you fit all these instruments in this song? My computer would have died on me from all the amount of memory needed to make all these instruments. However, I don't know if you make your classical instruments or get samples. I make my own instruments which really drain the computer ram space. Either way, nice choice on the instruments.

Hmm:
1) You got the nice diversity, but some of this sounds so disneyland cliche. It's like mini sections of this song I heard at disneyland already.

I'm quite impressed with this. I usually give out more "hmm" comments, but I can't find any little mistakes. Maybe I'm just a inexperienced classical reviewer, but overall this was a very well made song. Kudos. Not sure what you mean by Ocean's Odyssey suite though. Your making a sonata or something based on that theme? 5/5 vote and sure why not (I rarely ever give a 10 review except for exceptionally well made music) a 10/10 review. Keep up the good work. Oh and how long did this song take to make?

Bye for now

NickPerrin responds:

Hey man, thanks for the review and glad you enjoyed it! Now, to answer your questions!

I never would have been able to fit so many high-quality instruments into one track at a time before, and I always wanted to, so I acquired more RAM to be able to run more. Lots of RAM. I'm running approx 3.5 gigs of RAM now, despite the fact that on a 32-bit OS each application can only use up to a max of 2gb RAM, which I learned after getting the RAM. In any case, I'll probably upgrade to 64-bit Windows XP so I can use all 3.5 gigs of RAM for music, meaning even more tracks (which I still want, since the piano in my symphonic library takes as much RAM as several other instruments, and it sucks to have to sacrifice instrumentation because of hardware limitations).

The whole "disneyland" feel as you called it, is intentional. This song is supposed to be playful and not take itself too seriously while still possessing musical merit. I wanted to attempt something with that "playful and adventurous" orchestral sound, for example something like John Williams' Back to the Future score.

By "Ocean's Odyssey" I mean a suite of orchestral pieces I am working on that will consist of 6 pieces/movements. Part 1 of this suite is up here already, it's called "The Vision", make sure to listen to the revised version though! The suite is in a much darker and more serious tone. The last 2 or 3 movements might even have moments that are especially grim.

In regards to how long it took - I made everything up to 1:26 one night, left it for a few days since I wasn't sure where to take it, then finished the rest of the song in one night and uploaded it!

[PianO RolL]

Okay I'll rev. this one

Hmm, interesting song. It's different from the usual type of techno on NG. Here are my comments.

Good:
1) I like that instrument (not sure if two instruments are playing) right at the beginning of the song. Very happy sounding. Plays a fun beat too.
2) 1:35 I like the crystallized piano. Only last for a brief moment. Why? That was the best part.

Not sure:
1) 13 seconds in and this very quiet piano comes in. Make it louder maybe? I can hardly hear it. The piano beat is also a bit off key when it plays with that happy techno instrument.
2) So I think you need a background sound because the song feels empty. Maybe add a heaven like instrument with lots of sustain. You could implement that nice piano at 1:35 more into the song too.

A short song so not much to talk about thus a short review from me. I think you should expand on this song. Put some more reverb on your instruments and include a background instrument....now you got a much better song. Also longer song with new instruments later introduced. That's all I got to say. 5/5 vote and 9/10 review.
Bye for now

cartoon781 responds:

Thanks ALOT for all the compliments and pointers on how to make it better. But I cant find my melody file so i cant fix it. I looked everywhere. Im going to try and make it over but first Im going to keep looking for it. As soon as i get it done ill let you know.

[Energy - [viz]]

Hey long time no see

Cool, a collab. Let's see how it went.

Good:
1) Happy intro. I always like happy stuff.
2) Happy hardcore with lots of white noise. 41 seconds in I like that percussion.
3) 54 seconds hah. Is that someone vox? Anyway the bass is very nice. Few fx here and there work well too.
4) Fitting. Energy vox for a song named energy. Where did you get that vox?

Hmm:
1) !! at 13 seconds I think the transition was too quick. Quiet to super loud. Maybe a smoother transition in your future stuff.
2) 1:34 I was expecting a bigger climax, but the same stuff. I suppose the song is pretty short so you didn't need much diversity.
3) Hah. Okay the cheering loop is good for lots of songs. But a cheering crowd to applaud the end of the song is a bit strange

This was surprisingly easy to review. Lots of energy made it fun to review. The problem is that you boosted quickly into the climax which forced you to drag on the song at the same energy level rather than build up. I was hoping for more with that strange vox part. Only bass/percussion/and vox? Add another instrument on top to build up to something. Anyway, this is a huge improvement from your older stuff. Well done (goes to dj-unknown too) and I finally posted that trance song of mine. You get 9/10 rev and 5/5 vote

DJ-VIZ responds:

Yeah everything you said was 100 percent on...

I was getting so tired of working on it that I just sumbitted! considering I havent sumbitted in months...unfortunatly my big climax was so early, and it was really hard to introduce something even bigger... I enjoy the break with the deep club bass and the sliced vox, maybe shouldve added it in again somewhere....

Well done (goes to dj-unknown too) and I finally posted that trance song of mine. You get 9/10 rev and 5/5 vote

-- I made this by myself, well I guess dj unknown gave me some advice on it, but this wasnt our collab maybe you skimmed through my commentary, but anyway were working on a collab, I hope turns out well.... Thanks for taking the time to review and Ill check out your song deffinitly

[Karco - Contrast]

Review time

Hey, Karco. Okay. This song is long. Long songs takes so long for me to review. :)
Okay here we go.

Good:

1) Like the beginning. I said it time and time again...always like them spacy splash fx sounds.
2) The very low bass in the beginning has a cool triplet pattern going. I'm not sure if at 28 seconds the low bass is still playing. The techno bass is over powering it...or maybe there is no low bass?
3) Yeah so no climax but this quiet part is actually relaxing to here. Has a tad bit of suspense involved too.
4) 2:21 okay so that bouncing bell sound starts to change. I like the rhythm played.
5) The climax is good. I like the percussion that kinda rises up when speeding up. Some filter you put on that snare like roll?
6) 5:08 yeah I like this part. Nice lead instrument. Funny thing is your best part is only about 20 seconds long. The shortest section in the entire song.

OK:
1) That intro is quite long. I know this is your style and my music style is much different than yours so I guess I can't argue.
2) 1:53 I was expecting a climax from that intro. It instead got calm.
3) Opps I missed this before. At 1:31 this instrument comes in (kinda sounds like bouncing bells) which I like....but the pattern drags on for a very long time. Even through the quiet part.
4) You knew this was coming. The song starts looping pretty much after your climax. I don't mind. Makes my reviewing easier. :)
5) Too much stuff at 4:51! It feels messy....but you got the chaos feel done right.

Overall, this song reminds me of Pulstate's trance song. Are you trying to create the whole atmospheric like trance similar to his stuff? This song would be enjoyed by real trance fans. I'm not a real trance fan because of the very low diversity involved. However, you did portray a very nice environment for the listener. Do you use a different music program now? I'm in a rush. Had to cut the review shorter. I'm sure your other reviews already discussed everything good and so so in this song. Good stuff nonetheless.

Bye for now and again good job on getting this on the top 5 weekly. Oh, I'm not very good at reviewing ambient so I probably won't review your other one which looks like to be the better one (#1 weekly).

Karco responds:

Heh, that's kinda how I feel - I often take up to half an hour, sometimes more, when reviewing just about any techno/trance/dance song. D: Like usual, I'll respond to your points one by one (I have some scrolling to do, actually, this is a long review XD)...

Good:
1) Thanks. :D
2) They're not triplets, it's playing a "rolling" pattern on the second, third, and fourth sixteenth notes of the beat, as in ___-two-THREE-four-___-two-THREE-four -___-two-THREE-four-___-two-THREE-fou r. :P There is no low bass, it's all the same synth, but in the intro it's filtered.
3) There are actually two climaxes in this song, you probably meant something else, maybe a buildup?
4) It's a filter. Come on, don't tell me you don't know what a filter is... >:( I like the rhythm too, though. :D
5) Do you mean the high pass filter? And the snare like roll is actually a kick roll. :P
6) Ha, it is pretty funny. :D I could have made it 32 measures, actually, but then it would have been boring, and the LAST thing I wanted was to have people complain that the awesome climax was too long! XD You know what they say... good things don't last.

OK:
1) Yep, it's long, it kinda represents the direction I originally intended for the song before those uplifting elements worked their way in.
2) Ah, that's what you meant. Trance songs usually go down before going up again, and I was already pretty high in energy at that point. It wouldn't have made sense to go higher. ;)
3) No you didn't. You mentioned it in the "Good" part. :P It does last a while, though, I'll agree with you there.
4) Yep, it does loop. I like medium-to-long outros. :P
5) That would be the megahuge buildup before 5:08. XD It is a bit messy, but I wanted to build the most amount of energy possible before the highest point (energywise) of the song.

It reminds me of Pulstate in places, too. :P Atmospheric/uplifting trance wasn't originally my goal, but once I reached the transition into the first breakdown, I realized it was a good idea and kept going with it. :P I still use FL Studio. ;) Don't worry about cutting the review short, it's long enough already. :D

Thanks for the review, glad you liked it! :D (And you don't have to be good at reviewing music to give a song a review, look at all the one-liners I'm getting. ;D)

[(::Lucky 7::) GWC]

I agree with the last review.

That beginning instrument is definitely a garageband loop. 32 seconds in yes that is another loop. I won't hammer you on using loops. This is only NG and plus the loops are royalty free. Here is my review.

Good:
1) Well you managed to mix the loops in a intriguing piece of music. It's like ambient rock or something. :)
2) Yeah those drums that I used before too in my old stuff. It gives the rock feel a bit. Plus how many people on NG actually make their own drum loops? The simple drum n clap loops and snare rolls I can see people make on their own, but a whole complex drum pattern would take quite a long time to make.
3) 48 seconds in I like the whole fx stuff going on. Quite the ambient feel....not techno.
4) 1:20 Okay so your only real techno part that only last 8 seconds. It was good while it lasted though it was only a drum loop playing.

Hmm:
1) The song doesn't progress anywhere. It's like music to sleep to or chill to. Ambient I see this a okay aspect but techno....urm no no.
2) Hah It almost loops perfectly. Normally this is good if this was labeled as a loop rather than a song. Songs need a clear ending and this one didn't have one.
3) I know before I said I wouldn't hammer you on using loops, but really you should make your own unique instruments rather than take the easy route. The difficulty of making this song is low.

Overall I don't mind the tune. It's a bit repetitive and not really techno like but I like peaceful music too. Didn't you get the new logic pkg with logic pro 8 and the rest of the goodies involved? It's a steep learning curve from GB4 but you have one of the most powerful (and affordable at the same time) music programs. Take advantage rather than keeping it simple. If you want to make real neat techno songs use the ES2 synthesizer. That is your best friend. Incredibly versatile and just amazing.
Bye for now

FatKidWitAJetPak responds:

I get the loops from the library in Garageband, but then i change them around to where they sound really cool. And/Or make my own pad to play them in. It is not ambient because ambient means soothing and symbolic type music. This is a chilling tune, but some techno is chilling. If it were ambience, then I would have a lot of pads in there, which I have more synths in the song than pads.

Thanks for your review!

And In will try the ES2 synthesizer if I can figure it out and it is for the mac.

(Understand please that the loops are customized, and not pre-set!!!)

[Awesome Is 0verrated [TEST]]

Review time

I'll try to give help. So here are my comments.

Good:
1) I have not heard that kind of percussion pattern. It sounds neat.
2) Bass has some dance feeling to it. Kick goes well with the bass as usual
3) Crescendo of the lead instrument is a good enough buildup
4) I don't mind the loud atmospheric accents eg at 1:15. Transition seems to work fine.

Hmm:
1) Do you really need the accent of the lead instrument to start the song? Just enter with the kick and percussion.
2) I don't know, but I don't like the sound of that lead instrument. Makes the song sound all kiddy like...a huge shift from your more darker mood in the beginning
3) So it's a demo/test. I suppose you will fix that strange silence from 47 to 53 seconds?
4) 1:02 I think you should change that oscillation pattern. So many songs on NG use that exact same pattern and its starting to be very unoriginal now.

Yeah your on the right track for sure. Trance will always be repetitive, but I always like to hope that you will add in some new instruments and new composition in the final version. That is a strange title you have though for a song. Keep it up. (Demo get a 8 cause not finished yet...I'll still vote 5 as always)
Bye for now

DjZombAid responds:

Help is always appreciated =]

1) Thanks, im quite fond of it too =]
2 - 3) Thanks and yes i find this necessary
4) Glad you dont mind.. on second listen it is quite loud.

1) I like it (not that i totally understand what you just said =])
2) I know.. but i'm still quite fond of the lead =].
3) Yuh, but their will be silence just shorter.
4) This is a personal choice and yes it has become rather generic but still..

Sure, this was just a draft for feedback so i can change the course im heading at.. now i have this info i will take it with me and modify =]. The title was just random, too tired to think of a more suitable one =].
Thanks for your 5 and *very* helpful review =D

-Aidan.

[Karco - Rush (Demo)]

Eh?

Not sure if you want me to review the reversed version or this forward version. I decided this one. Here is my review...should be shorter since less than a 2 minute song.

Good:
1) Party feeling...check. The bass sounds pretty cool. The kick and bass combination works quite nicely.
2) The higher pitch instrument is playing some kind of tune I'd hear in a anime. Nothing wrong with that since I WAS a anime fan before. I lost interest in it though. The storylines are all the same and the harem just makes me sick how girls are seen as people with no minds. My friend (who is a feminist) would kill me if she saw me watch a harem. :) Anyway back on topic.
3) 1:13 I like the soothing instrument. I think you had it playing before but I couldn't hear it.....see "uhh" category
4) The song doesn't seem that repetitive....but then the song is short. If you do add a intro and ending make it different melody wise.
5) well you said you didn't have a ending but I did like the "ending" of this demo with the chimes.

Uhh:
1) So back to that soothing sound. I couldn't really hear prior to 1:13.....unless it actually wasn't playing at that time. I think it was though.
2) I'm not feeling a RUSH. Oh well, title change? No big deal

Not much else to say. I guess when the final version comes out I could review that. Though you did say this demo is pretty much the final version omitting the beginning and end. Why would you make a reverse one though? Bye for now

Karco responds:

Either version is fine with me, and a shorter review is ok - this is just a short demo, after all. :P Going down the points one by one...

Good
1) Glad you think so, they were probably the hardest parts of the song to work with.
2) XD
3) It was playing through the entire song. ;)
4) That's the thing, if this song's going to get finished, I'm going to have to do a LOT more work. :\
5) Hmm, that just might be how it'll end. :)

Uhh
1) It WAS playing, but it was just a filler synth - there would be a bit of an empty feeling without it.
2) Think beyond your first impression... listen closely! ;D

Nothing's final yet, we'll have to see. ;) I made a reverse version because I liked Rig's idea and wanted to give it a shot. :P Thanks for the review!

[Kriz: Fluctuations 2]

Okay a review

I love happy stuff...including happy hardcore. Yes, I've been waiting for a song like this. Here is my break down:

Good:
1) The beginning was very magical and the whole "fake" buildup got me excited. Finally you break into the real buildup into the main theme. Good job
2) Bass sounds deep and slightly modulated. Cool and happy sounding. Claps tend to not over power too. I might mention though that it is very hard to hear the crowd. That is the crowd cheering in the background right?
3) This song is all about the lead instruments. Your backup melodies are pretty plain no offense but that lead instrument sounds pretty neat taking my attention away from the more boring stuff.

Hmm:
1) 1:26 the return to the magical part was nice, but nothing new really happened here. It's like the same except a long dragged out buildup. Normally this wouldn't be bad but since your song technically only has a theme and variation of ABAB there really isn't enough diversity going on.
2) Use more instruments. You didn't use too many but that can help in diversity

Overall there isn't much to say because not much to talk about really. I can add on the nice use of your filter bank and a good touch on the white noise to bring filling to the song. I didn't like the 1:26 and later, but that's just me. I get bored very quickly so I like continually changing music. I'm sure many people like this song for its happy feeling and catchy simple beats but than you seem to have more haters than fans. Happy music will always be my favourite and I hope it is yours too. :) Oh and when I say simple I don't mean bad. Tiesto uses a lot of simple beats and they sound great. By the way, how many "cents" off of zero marker did you put on that lead instrument. It has a very slightly poor timbre which actually makes the song sound better than if it was perfectly in tune.

Bye for now

Kr1z responds:

Great review :D
Thx for the Good: compliments and the Hmm: tips
Ur right about it being simple. U could say it's slightley repeative, but only more trained listeners will hear this.
Anyway, thx for the tips, thx for ur time!
Bye!

[Karco - Apology (Trance Remix)]

Open mind review I think

Hmm, well I'll try to open up my ears more. My mind is already crammed with useless school stuff and this isn't like some debate thing. I am open to new original content though if that's what you meant. I could of listened to this song more closely with my new expensive BOSE headphones, but I need to hear the phone ring too. :) Listened using my average speakers.

Good:
1) Explosion, silent swooshes...Yes the good ol space theme. I'm quite a fan of these types of fx sounds.
2) I like the juggling panning bass. Has a nice mellow feel to it. A gentle journey through space.
3) I think you got the kick volume just about right. It doesn't really distract from the tune and it isn't overly compressed. Simply a soft kick.
4) 45 secs and enter the piano. Sounds like a grand piano with only a tad bit of artificial reverb. Keeping instruments more natural sounding is something I usually hear in classical and not trance. I say that's a good idea away from the norm.
5) I noticed both pianos are initially filtered or a decrease in volume and than after 1:29 both increase in volume. Also you did that percussion hit fade out at 1:52. I think you said in a previous response to a review I gave you that you like to do that kind of stuff now. Even at 1:40 you do some other kind of fade out. I suppose I get what you mean by open mind. There are a bunch of little tweaks you did in this song that may go unnoticed by the casual listener. I won't list them all cause I'm lazy.
6) This part had me wondering for a moment. At 3:40 the lower piano and bass change. The high pitch piano didn't change its composition which almost masked the changes in the bass the lower pitch piano. Your making this a tough listen for us listeners.
7) Heh. There is that percussion fade out again.

Ify:
1) Well that intro was like fx and percussion only. Quite a long intro too. (22 seconds) Maybe add in the bass quicker?
2) I would not have guessed the 3/4 time. However what I didn't like much was the piano pattern at 1:06. Those two pianos didn't quite mingle well rhythm wise.
3) Well it's trance. What more can I expect. However, I like to point it out anyway. This song is quite loopy/repetitive.
4) This song requires me to listen too hard instead of just enjoying the ride. I guess you can continue making "open minded" music, but it requires the listener to think too much. Make close minded songs too. :)

Overall I thought it was good and different. Different is usually a good thing I think. 9/10 review.
Bye for now

Karco responds:

You have Bose headphones? Lucky. :P I could have gotten some really neat Sennheiser headphones if I had wanted them, but I figured I need the right resources - which I DID ask for - before asking for what would make the overall sound better. ;) Responding to your comments one at a time:

Good:
1) Glad you like the FX, though this has nothing to do with my old space theme. Actually, it's been quite a while since I got my inspiration from there. :P
2) Yep, the mellow feel was what I was trying to get with this one. ;)
3) Once again, you nailed what I was trying to get! :D
4) This is a remix of an all-piano piece, so I had to do it justice by keeping the all-piano part of this song realistic. ;)
5) Are you talking about the sidechain? The piano sound ducking under the kick, and coming back up until the kick hits again, at which point it ducks again? That was one reason I asked to listen to this song with an open mind. There are others. ;)
6) Tough listen? XD Well, sorry about that. :P Read on, to Ify number 4, for an idea about that. I had the bass arp up like that on the third beat for a conclusive feel while the piano was still there... once the piano had left, though, it felt a bit less conclusive to me. Perfect for my purposes. :D
7) Yep. I've been ending songs like that lately. Looks like you like it, which means it isn't getting old (yet :P), which is good. :D

Ify:
1) I needed to leave myself somewhere to go, and I don't think starting right off with the bass would have been as good of an idea. Oh well. :)
2) Yep - when listening back to the original, I found that parts were in 3/4 time, and parts were in 4/4. I decided to go with 3/4 time, for convenience - as I could mix the 4/4 parts in there easily.
3) I haven't been giving myself grief over diversity lately... I kinda lost all of my will to make music a while back and the only way to finish anything is to give myself a break here and there. My standards have been a bit lower since it happened... funny thing is, my stuff since then sounds better to me than the stuff I've made before it happened. o_O
4) Here's a thought: Listen to this song once, picking up all of the unique parts, the quirks, etc. - then, after that, now that you know the song, you can listen to it again... and enjoy the ride - nothing will take you by surprise, grab your attention, etc. ;)

Glad you liked it, and thanks for reviewing! :)