Nomader's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[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)

[[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

[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 !

)

[Rave Bowser]

I'm smiling.

This was always one of my favorite songs in that entire game... and it was always the most memorable.

I'll start off with a few problems. The good quality beat that you had in there was a bit too loud for my tastes -- it was tough to focus on anything else in the remix, and I think it ruined it just a tad. :D

The best part was hearing such an awesome song again (points for that), the opening (one of the best openings I've ever heard), and the string-sounding instruments for the melody of the song... really truly worked.

This song is a remix of a masterpiece -- it doesn't quite live up to what it's remixing, but it's still pretty awesome.

G'luck!

kairi6384 responds:

Thanks for the tips and the support.

[I Am Sorry I Am Slipping- Bare]

The lack of variety...

There's only one thing that I thought brought this piece down from being truly great... the lack of variety in the instruments.

Imagine, say at around :52, some background violins could come in, or maybe some other instruments -- the piano would be a magnificent opening, and it would be an amazing piece.

I kept on expecting an amazing entrance, a whole orchestra of instruments... but I felt a bit disappointed... it's just such a beautiful piano piece -- with anything backing it up, it'd be so amazing.

Still, as a piano player here, I loved it anyways. The chords sounded great, and the music sounded crisp (If it turns out this isn't a piano, I'll feel stupid. :D). The tune's catchy, and it's something that I'll probably remember a day or two from here.

The lack of variety and a rather repetitiveness to the song bring it down -- it's so close though!

DeusExMagna responds:

No, it's not a real piano. Just about everything I do is digital-- hell, I don't even know if the fingerings required to play this on one piano are executable.

As for the repetitiveness, hell, maybe you could work on it for me, and you use the piece however you want? Like, it'd be yours? I don't know what to do to it.

Thanks for your kind words, and for your critiques (even the ones I disregarded-- hah! I chuckle at me). It's great to hear some thoughts from a fellow musician.

[Synth Tears]

It was okay.

This is an example where a song, though not totally awful, fits squarely into its genre and squanders the possibilities it had.

The beat throughout the song is simply put, somewhat annoying. The sounds seem as though they intentionally clash with each other, and the beat (the synthesized sound at an even pacing) grows tiring after the first time someone hears it (starts at around :24).

The lone bright spot was at :45, where the transition sounded excellent -- just for that quality, I boosted my score up a point. :D

I know that the potential's there! But it just isn't showing itself in this song -- I'll have to wait for the next one. :P

Take care!

omgitskatman responds:

Fuck this music shit. Its over for me everyone. DJ KatMan has resigned.
Fuck you Immune an everyone with there bull shit advice.

[D-Kay: Red Square]

Not bad.

For a genre I don't care much for, this isn't half-bad -- in fact, I enjoyed it, which completely surprised me.

As I listened to the song, I didn't really go for the synthetic sound you had at the beginning (the beeps and boops), but as soon as you brought in the strings as a background at 1:07, things just started to go up. You moved away from a traditional mediocre dance song to an impressive mix of genres, and for that, I loved it.

During the more string-part that started at 1:07, the beeps and boops sounded a ton better with a more traditional background -- however, the 1:44 odd sort of cymbal/drum/synthetic stuff didn't do it for me (it lasted about ten seconds as a transition). I enjoyed the more traditional sounding drums at 2:00 though.

This piece shows that you have true potential -- I'll be looking to see it the next time you submit.

Take care!

DJ-DKay responds:

Nomader,
Thanks for actually taking the time to write a quality review!
I personally think the beginning synth is pretty cool (I made it myself), but to each his own.
And yes there will be plenty more on the way!

[Sonic Megamix]

Amazing beat!

This was overall, one of the better video game songs I've heard -- a job well done indeed!

For starters, I loved how you used repetitive beats to make good quality transitions in the piece. It worked really well, built you up for the next section slowly, and really makes you focus on the rest of the song instead of when the song changes... I didn't really notice them until I focused -- which is a good thing.

The length of this piece is certainly impressive -- eight minutes! But I enjoyed every minute, even though it is heavily synthesized (something I normally don't enjoy). The high pitched synthesized beats really do the song justice, and I thought that you mixed them nicely.

Thanks a bunch for puting this up -- I loved it!

CrimzonWolf777 responds:

thx for your review. glad you enjoyed it! ^_^v