Nomader's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Graveyard Shift (Loop)]

Drum and bass for the win

I love drum and bass, it's a fantastic musical genre that's overlooked by the mainstream. This is only a six second loop, so I can only critique it so much, but I'll do what I can.

If you're going to expand the loop, I'd look at pushing the synth back a little bit and actually bringing out the drum and bass which has a fantastic beat. It's really a driving force in this little snippet, and I'd suggest playing around with it and seeing what you can do-- that said, it might sound horrible, but I'm sure you can be a good judge of that.

The synth is catchy, and well written. I love the end at around 0:05 where it does about a second's worth of descent, establishing itself perfectly to start up again in the beginning. It's nice work.

I'm giving this a somewhat lower score, because as it's only six seconds, I don't think it's really a "10" material, but it's definitely the start for some fantastic groundwork for future endeavors. If you're thinking about expanding this one, it definitely has potential. Nice work.

- Review Request Club

[Triumph v2]

Good effort

The song definitely reaches a fantastic happycore high with the melody. When it starts at 0:12, it really makes you want to just start dancing and jumping around, and as it continues to build and repeat throughout the song it really showcases what happycore's really good at; a wonderful club beat. I'm also a big fan of the movement you put in there for the melody at 1:12, which contrasts excellently with the melody you've already built up.

The song really starts out with some trouble in the beginning, however-- it could be my speakers, but the bass comes off as sounding almost like some sort of croaking frog, moving back and forth. It's not the best sound for a dance or trance song to have, but I see where you were going with it-- a catchy bass line plus the moving melody would be fantastic. Is there a way you could edit the bass to maybe not bleed so much? I'd like to see the song where it was more like 2:26, where you have the echo effect going. Instead of putting the entire song in a softer sound though, why not try and have the simpler bass with the happycore melody playing on top?

As I listen to it more and more, the bass actually seems to get more and more catchy, but it still bleeds a lot. Again, this could be my speakers, but it's the only thing that's keeping me from really getting into it. Good luck, and great work!

- Review Request Club

[Pablo'N'Cezanne - Sundance RMX]

Simply Wonderful

It's been awhile since I've heard a dance song that I feel is "uplifting", but if there was such a song, it would be this. It just has such a brilliant beat, and it feels as if the music consistently strives to go higher-- I love the song at around 1:50 when the higher synths come in and really drive the song upward.

The best part is when the heavy uplifting synthesizers come in (and the great background beat). My favorite moment of the song probably comes down to around 2:32 when the main hook comes in... and what a hook! It just makes me smile listening to it, and it's rare that I hear a song like that. Well done.

The weakest aspects are when it's just the drums: the beginning is especially weak and around a little bit around 4:05, the music itself seems to be drowned out by a rather weak synth beat with a drum accompaniment... those were the only two weak spots I really had with the whole piece, so hence the ten rating.

I can't stress enough, that hook was just simply divine. A job very well done.

DukeLukeProd responds:

Thanks so much for your review. It's indeed one of the best melodies I've ever come across in the dance genre. Check ou the original song, it's gonna make you smile even more ;) (Just found it on Youtube btw)

[[MvS}(2)Frozen Alone]

Masterful

The audio portal is so troublesome. I'd love to be more critical of the things I listen to, but it always seems that I run into too much quality... anywho, the last time I reviewed one of your works was February of last year -- I figure it's time to get back on the Maestro (and LadyArsenic) bandwagon.

A duel huh? Well, I do hate to say this, but I think you lost Maestro... Mandi's felt more natural. No disrespect or anything, but the haunting environmental effect was just devastatingly effective in the beginning.

I figure that although artists like to read compliments all the time, we reviewers should be critical too, so a few things of note -- these are both minor comments and are both addressed at Maestro:

- I felt that the high strings (probably intended to increase the drama in the piece) at around 2:07 were a bit... shrill. That might've been the intention, but I think it also might've been my speakers -- I adjusted them and it seemed to feel much more natural.

- Though I love the bassoon, I don't think it worked as well in the piece as the oboe did in the opening. That just might be out of my personal preference though.

As for compliments -- well, you guys know that you're great by now. I don't need to inflate your ego. :D

Cheers, and good luck!

[[S:C] Gigantic Pentameter]

There's potential.

I'm kind of a classical music nut, so I thought this was an interesting little fusion.

What I imagine, is that this could be quite good if you did a few things to it... right now, the song lacks an x-factor... punch. I'm not a big list fan, but I think it would do here.

First point: You should have transitions in the song. Imagine it as if the music's battling back and forth, and use the different types of song to emphasize different instruments. Have one phrase with a louder string section, and then slowly pull them back to bring out the beat -- this can go on for awhile. With a few tweaks in the hook, you can make this song go on for awhile with good quality.

Second point: Speaking of volume, for some reason, the volume in this piece was... surprisingly quiet. I'm not sure if it's just me, but I had to turn my speakers up all the way to be able to distinguish the sounds. It should be a bit louder probably.

Third, and final point: The strings sounded... hollow somehow. I'm not sure if you were using a sample or not, but they need to be brought out a bit more. The beat seems to always dominate it.

Haha, that's all the criticism I have. You have the makings of a master here; just finish it off!

SymbolCymbal responds:

Hey awesome! first review!
Thanks for reviewing.
lol im not sure what an x factor is but i do realize this one needs more punch to it.. im thinking that for a punch that i should maybe change the percussion sounds and effect but not so much the rhythm..ill have no idea what that means until i attempt it... the suggestion for battling back and forth gave me some great ideas for song structure.. i guess if i was an MC it would have occurred to me to do that. im thinking of adding a bridge and also taking the song into 2 MCs. one MC would have the personality of a man about to make a deal with the devil during the baritone and upright bass part. And during the off time piano and crying strings part. the actual devil, making his offer.:just the personalities .. not the actual lyrics.

Volume: yeah the volume on it is pretty low because i had so many individually written lines involved in this.. i created the whole musical (orchestral scenario) aspect of this in reason 4.0 using the awesome orchestra sounds on there. i then imported it into logic studio where i had created the beat and made the mix.. the beat alone takes up 7 tracks...im going to work on condensing it and maybe even remixing the orchestral part in reason and then trying it again... your completely right about the strings sounding hollow.... i tried to make them ambient but i kinda failed... they dont stick out enough with dynamics... the rhythm of the strings is rarely heard and it kind just has a solid note even though the strings are doing 64th notes.. THAT is going to be quite the bitch to fix.. but im definitely going to put alot of attention on that.

If you would like an MP3 of the original orchestra piece just pm me with your email address.

EVEN THOUGH you gave me a five-(ubastard)-lol.
I do give you a solid 9 on the review.. Very helpful insight there. THANKS AGAIN!

[Solus- Night of Longing]

This is quality.

Saxophone in any form = Greatness.

I won't say this is song is greatness, mind you, because I get the feeling the sax is synthesized, and unlike music from a lot of genres, I think jazz is really something that has to be... played to get the real feel for it.

But as far as a synthesized jazz goes, that's pretty damn good. And if I just sit back and relax, this is perfect mood music. And even though the sax is synthesized, I love it anyways.

If Newgrounds had more songs like this, it'd be awesome. Cheers and good work!

SolusLunes responds:

Now you just need to wait until I finish notating this out for myself. I'll play it eventually, because I has a saxophone :D

[MH16: Hopes And Dreams]

Impressive

It's been nearly a year since I've done anything on Newgrounds, but I figured for a song as good as this, I might as well come out of retirement haha.

This is definitely an impressive mix. You blended together a nice repertoire of instruments from totally different groups, and the opening strings (that continued throughout much of the piece) worked to open the song.

I'll focus on my problems with it, because overall, the work was excellent. Compliments really aren't needed when you've attained this level of work.

The end was the largest sour point for me. I understand how this could be used in a game or as a loop, but I like it more when people craft songs for an individual listen. Though using cymbals in the end was satisfactory to end the work, I think maybe the strings from the beginning dimming out slowly in a decrescendo would've had a better effect. That's just coming from someone who loves strings though, so don't take that as an insult against your ending haha.

The instrument in the middle (some kind of wind instrument -- it's been awhile since I've done this kind of listening) that started to build in the music around the :20 mark was very well done, and I'm happy used a more traditional sound instead of a more modern guitar or something like that. The contrast between the old and the new in percussion and that instrument (whatever it was, it worked) was well done.

Congrats! This is an excellent piece of work, and I'm glad I chose today to randomly look at Newgrounds. It was worth it for this.

FairSquare responds:

Now that's a review!
And yeah, maybe i could have made the ending better and smoother, but i'm not going to change this song.
I must thank you very much for this review. It was very helpful and nice to read.
Thanks!

MH16

[Tremble]

Outstanding

For a long time, I've always felt your songs lacked the loud, full sound and feel that many of your counterparts' songs had. Though moving, I could never pop a song in of yours and truly feel... epic.

I should probably re-listen to your music.

This was incredible. From the piano to the Duduk (thanks for writing that out in your "Fun Facts" -- if you hadn't, I would've had no idea what it was), this song had every ounce of "epic" drained into it, and I loved it.

The softer parts (especially where the Duduk took center stage) were amazing -- simply because there was such a huge build-up gathering for the larger parts. And the larger parts never missed their target -- everytime was spot on.

My only problems with the piece are minor things of preference that I'll list here for fairness's sake.
- I think the song would have been best left unresolved -- though I enjoyed your ending, I think for this case, leaving us on the edge of our seats would have been the better option. Then again, I like the idea of suspense in a song, so this should do the trick for most.
- The very beginning (where you introduced the background) was a bit weak in comparison to the rest of the song, but if you're going to have a weak section, put it at the start -- by the end, nobody will remember it because it's so awesome.

The catchy phrase after the "weak" intro portion was outstanding -- and I can't say enough about the Duduk. To say "haunting" is putting it lightly -- it gets at you.

This is music at its finest -- and that's one outstanding keyboard you have.

[A C i D . L i V E . O N E]

Not bad.

Usually, I'm really against this sort of synthesized beat -- it usually sounds too fake, and rather annoying.

This is one of those rare exceptions.

This is techno to its core, synthesized to the max -- I enjoyed it. The sound almost seems like it's coming from old video games at some points with a nice beat in the background... and it sounds great. It all meshes together really nice, and I truly enjoyed it.

Great work!

TB-303 responds:

T h a n k s . f o r . t h e . f e e d b a c k !

I t s . n i c e . t o . k n o w . t h e r e . a r e . s t i l l . A C i D . f a n s . o u t . t h e r e !

)

[Halo Theme]

The notes didn't quite do it.

The one problem with the idea of the Halo Theme with a rock twist is that it already is sort of a rock inspired song.

I thought that using the more staccato style notes as the melody didn't really work. There were a bunch of a mistakes throughout (though the bass stayed perfect...), the melody never got high enough, and it sounded like some of those notes were being cut off.

Still, I give you points just for trying on such a dastardly recognizable song -- I know I could never play it anywhere near as good, so I have a deep respect for you.

G'luck in the future!