ObsidianSnow's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Our Special Place...Remember?]

Fantastic.

This is some great stuff...

You'd have a 10 from me except that the audio continued to crackle and fuzz up throughout almost the whole piece. I'm not sure what program you're using, but you should consider using a compression device as well as a maximizer if you can. Turning down your master volume is probably going to be necessary as well.

In terms of the music itself... damn. This is really nice. You've got some serious stuff going for you. I wish I could hear this without the cracking and fuzz, because it's beautiful. I can't say anything negative about it, which is rare for me.

9.4/10, 5/5, Favs. I'll DL, too, if you fix the audio up. ;D Let me know if you do that.

Power to you, lanky21!

lanky21 responds:

Due to some recent trouble with my computer, my music making is offline at the moment. But I'll go through and try to get them fuzzy gremlins out of my music as soon as I can. I really hadn't noticed it until you pointed it out, but now it's all I hear dammit! Lol. Thanks for the comments man.

[Chases Always Begin Quiet]

Chase?

I don't know about a chase, but some of your concepts here are pretty fantastic. The new piano sounds godly. And I think this is probably the shortest review I've ever written for you XD whatever - I'll make it up to you next time by trying to hit the character limit for reviews. XP

Power to you Mjattie... - and what with that unearthly piano on your side, too!

mjattie responds:

well, actually this is the sound of reason piano's, but I now have much more precise touch, because of the great piano keys XD Well, I'm happy that you don't write a super long review XD, I just find it a bit sad for you, haha... omg, don't try to hit the character limit...

power back!

[8 O' Clock - Mjattie (OM)]

Feeling it.

I don't have a whole lot to say about this one (shocker, I know).

You've nailed all the categories I look for in good music, so I can't really criticize. One thing I'd like to say though is that the vocals are extremely well used. I take it that you used the SR Gold vocals refill for that. Good choice - it's a decent refill, and it works for you here.

lol I just noticed that this actually loops not too badly XD.

Love the sounds and feel. Blew me away with the atmosphere. It's a mystery to me why you don't get more attention than you do.

Overall, a hearty 10/10, 5/5.

That's all. This review is done.
... Yes, really.

Surprise. lol

Power to you, Mjattie!

mjattie responds:

oh noes, what is this a short review??? lol... No, it's still the longest of this list. Well actually the vocals are from gmx dance vocals, not from SR. Though maybe the same vocals could be in different packs.

Well I'm also a bit disappointed that I don't get much attention but I'll get more (I hope)

And when is your new song coming out? (if you're making one)

thanks for the review here buddy ;)

[I Was Just Wondering - Mjattie]

Great sound!

Good stuff once again, my friend.

This one seems to have a bit of a different feel to it than your past works. The mix between the trance and (what I would call) electronic ambience is fantastic. I love the feel of the whole piece.

You're still getting better every time, Mjattie. It shows.

Sound mixing and the way they blend is next to perfect.
Flow is always one of your stronger points, and this is no exception.
General effect is outstanding.
Uniqueness is definitely apparent.
The music is appealing as always.

And thus, I really can't say much in the way of criticism.

Have you been looking at the tiny details I was talking about before? Personally it seems like you have been. I'm certainly getting an interesting vibe now that I haven't gotten from your other pieces...

Overall, great job with this one. 10/10, 5/5.

Power to you, Mjattie!

mjattie responds:

Yes I've been looking for tiny details and you were right about that: it really makes a difference.

I'm glad you liked it and that you can write so long but not give any critism (how do you do that??). XD

Well your review is nice:

It tells me every good part of my song and gives sais I progress every song, so I'll give you a 10/10 and a download for this review :)

Gr Mjattie

[awesom3 beat]

I'm sorry.

I wish I could give you more stars, but... look, I want to help you out here.

I think you were trying to make something a little unique here. Which is fine. In fact, that's a very good thing. Your problem is that it's too unique. Although each individual pattern on each instrument works... they don't work TOGETHER.

You still have to obey certain rules when you're writing any kind of music - even just drum beats. No matter how unique you want it to be, certain guidelines have to be followed or it just doesn't sound right.

If you want some more help give me a shout.

Sorry, djwizz. Work on your skills a bit - you've got some groove, just make it sound right together.

[Crossing the Mountains]

Whaaa!?

I just can't understand how you could possibly make it sound so perfect and realistic. The music itself is pretty spectacular, too... but mostly I'm blown away by how real everything sounds.

I have to know - how in hell did you manage to make it sound so full and realistic? Was it just rediculous amounts of mastering, or really slick patches? Or was it something else?

But really, this deserves the hearty 10/10 I'm giving it.

And hey, maybe we can find a way to collab sometime - I still need music for my flash RPG that's in the works ;)

Power to you, Scooter-16!

Scooter-16 responds:

Gee man. Thanks :)

Never thought anyone would actually say this. To answer your question: it involved, lots and lots of work and a lot of instruments in the background either responding to the melody or playing chords. Don't ask me how it came out as full sounding as this. Even i don't know lol...

Scooter-16

[Just one Soul - Mjattie]

Hell yes.

This is a trip in itself, Mjattie. I know I've already expressed that a bit, but I'll say it here, too. Just breathtaking. This really is some brilliant piano work. It has an extremely powerful flow to it, like there's no way it could go anywhere other than where it chooses to.

A bit of wierd contrast between the feel of the strings and piano here - the strings (even though they're awesome... and better than how I do them) seem a little too synthetic next to the piano. Not a big issue, and maybe you wanted it that way. Not sure how I would fix it, but if you figure something out, let me know.

That bit right at 1:34 really got my attention... I'd be tempted to use that kind of flourish on the keys multiple times, but I think using it just once was a much better idea. The effect was a lot stronger your way.

The left hand (especially at the beginning) reminded me a lot of "Fantasie Impromptu". I thought that was really interesting... it worked out really well for you, too.

Overall:

In terms of music, this deserves a 10/10 every time. It works amazingly well. But if I had to suggest one thing, I would say work on the ending - maybe slow it down gradually and give the piano a similar feeling as the beginning (maybe a bit simpler)... You know, just to lead the song and the listener up and out into space. With this one, you'd want to end on a soft note, but with some intensity (maybe a high 7th for a bit of dissonance with that feeling of not being sure if the song is over). No biggie, though. The music is still bloody brilliant.

In terms of mastering, it's mostly the strings I think might need looking at. If you remember what I was talking about in my review of "Edge of Lies" about the tiny details leading to that unique attitude... The piano wouldn't need a lot of work to get there. It's really pretty close. The strings, again, might need some more. Mind you, it's a small detail.

In terms of enjoyment... Full marks. 'Nuff said.

10/10, 5/5, Favs, DL. Love it.

...lol, sorry for the long review. I know you asked me to try and keep it short this time, but I couldn't help myself. XD

Power to you, Mjattie!

[Edge of Lies - Mjattie]

Very professional.

You've already heard a little bit from me on this, but I figured I'd review and put a couple new things out there. Excellent mastering work... it sounds like you might have done some work in that department in the last couple days. Sounds brilliant.

Sounds much better with the new ending. Doesn't feel out of place any more. Nice work on that.

Honestly, I would never be able to tell the difference, in terms of quality, between this and just about any of the music in this genre made by people who make a living off of it.

Just trying to think of something I can suggest for you... It's difficult, I have to say. ...I think it's at the point now where I have to get picky about the finer details.

I have absolutely no mastery in this topic at all, just as a forewarning. But it has to do with fine-tuning your patches to a level bordering on insanity. The music might sound unique and recognizable as "Mjattie's music", but the sound of the instruments and patches - their attitude, as you will - still seems generic. Getting to have that "attitude" in the sounds is something that I'm not sure I'll ever master with elecronic music, so I don't have much in the way of specifics. Just something I think you should start working towards, if you haven't already.

There's only one thing about this that I've managed to figure out. Try playing with the "expression" wheel on you NN-XT's. It took me quite some time to figure out what it actually does, because the effect is so tiny. But on the overall music, it has a massive effect. Just like a lot of the smaller details I know I have yet to discover. Experiment with things that you've ignored before, and figure out exactly what they do. Then use that to give it that final polish. (Just a tip: using the expression wheel on the NN-XT seems to use up a fair amount of CPU for some reason. So just be careful with it... btw, try experimenting with "breath control" and "aftertouch" as well.)

Don't worry at all about the criticizm. Seriously, there are only a handful of people who are any good with that, and I am certainly not one of those people XD. ...You'll probably hear more about that in upcoming reviews of mine, especially as I work on that aspect myself. You've reached the next tier of music, my friend.

10/10, 5/5, favs... Btw, I like the name ;D lol

Power to you, Mjattie!

mjattie responds:

wow, that's a buch... Really thanks!

You really know how to type XD...

The thing about the knobs on nn-xt is that I actually don't look at them XD, but I should try to work a bit more with those XD... I couldn't really hear what you did with expression in "Mountainrise" though...

I really should create my own style, you're right... But it's kinda hard to keep your own style but not seem repetitive...

Thanks man for the suggestions, small critism etc. You're really a great bud!

5/5, 10/10 for the review XD

[Semi-Dark piano song]

Good concept.

But it needs some better mastering. For one thing, it has way too much sound panned to the left - I'm getting almost nothing from my right headphone, especially with the piano.

Also, the intensity just isn't there. I can hear the attempt toward proper dynamics, but a lot of the intensity of the music is being lost in the lack of mastering. The more intense parts sound too soft (which is different from too quiet, but I think the whole piece needs an extra notch of volume... I ignored that for the most part, though). Play with your mastering, maybe look up some tutorials online (youtube's AcePincter has some great ones, and he covers several different programs), and I'm sure you can turn this into something a lot better.

I really did like the music. Don't let my criticizm cover up that fact. It would be nice if you extended on this song... it seems a bit short.

Loved the use of instruments and the flow of the piece. Melodies were extremely well written, too.

Out of curiosity, what program did you use? (I use Reason 4.0, if you're wondering)

all in all, good work. 8.4/10 from me. If you were to make the changes I talked about, then you'd easily have a 9.8 or higher.

Power to you, Wajah!

Wajah responds:

Thanks for the great review. I used an old version of Garage Band for this song. I have used reason before and really enjoy it, but i haven't got the money for it yet. Again thanks for the constructive criticism.

[Bells and Piano - Mjattie]

Really smooth...

lol - when I heard the first little section it immediately made me think of "The River of Shadows", if you remember when I made that. But it immediately became much more than that.

The harmonies, chord progressions, and melodies are fantastic here. Just phenomenal.

One thing that I might suggest involves the bells. They sound just a little bit odd - like you've lowered their pitch a little too far or something. I understand that you want that middle to high range with them, but it just sounds a little off. I would suggest adding some lower range chimes to help bring out the bells a bit (and to build tension and intensity!), and also to either put the bells back to their regular range or use something similar like vibraphone, which has something of the range you seem to be looking for. You could alternatively spend some time getting the bells to sound a little more realistic, if you feel like putting that kind of work into it.

That's a really small issue though, and it's not something that a lot of people are likely to notice. In all, I really love this song. You've got a lot of really cool things happening here. The effects are a little weird, but I like the way it works. Weird makes it different, and different is always nice.

Overall, 10/10, 5/5, favs. Yet another brilliant creation.

Power to you, Mjattie!