ObsidianSnow's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[<MWA> Don't Forget [DEMO]]

Review spree time!

That's right, I finally have the time to review all the things you've asked me to. I'm going to go full out on this run, too - I have some (sort of) new review methods, so check out this link to read about that if you'd like: ( http://obsidiansnow.newgrounds.com/ne ws/post/268177 ) (without the spaces)

Alright, here goes:

My initial comments: I like it. And I love the bass! It really sounds like you took my advice last time to heart - you've done a good job with it.

Flow: Yeah, I'm liking how this one works. I'd have liked to hear the rest, but hey, I'll take what I can get. Good work.

Balance: Everything in this category was great. Panning and levels were all just great, so I really have nothing to say here.

Themes: =D ^^ I couldn't have asked for more - except maybe for it to be longer... ;P

Effects: Great work with the phaser and your textures. It sounds full and rich while not being too busy or muddled. All your voices were well done, too.

Extra: [+0.04] Awarded. Great professional sound.

Overall: Solid. You get a very high-ranking [9.92/10.00] from me for this puppy. [5/5]. [10/10].

Power to you, MWA!

mjattie responds:

thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :P

well I can send you the original version or just let you buy the cd xD BECAUSE I'M SELECTED FOR THE EP2!!!!! :P

lol

[Inside The Acid Falls]

Hmm. Not too bad.

I like your author's comment, btw.

Ventoche might be a bit of a dick to give you a zero rating here, but he does have one point. It's a bit too repetitive.

Now, in ambient, repetitive is ok - but this is a little more upbeat than your typical ambient. As a result, what you've created is more like several layers of textures rather than an ambient atmosphere or song. It sounds good, but it gets a little annoying. Try putting in a simple little melody that just pops in to say hello once in a while, and it'll probably be much, much better.

Now I get into my typical review format:

Flow: The repetitive nature of the song got you a couple points down here. Other than that, the flow was alright. If it had some melody to define it, I could rate this section higher.

Balance: I liked the balance you got out of this. Everything had it's own space and didn't really get in the way of anything else much. Good work here.

Themes: I'm sorry, but I can't say you had much here. Your "textures" cam out ok, but there was no real theme to the piece because it had no melody. The textures did work well together, though.

Effects: I don't really have any complaints with your effects. There was nothing extraordinarily original about them, but there doesn't have to be. You got a got score from me on this section.

Extra: I couldn't award any bonus, unfortunately. (Questions on my review method? http://obsidiansnow.newgrounds.com/ne ws/post/268177 (without the spaces))

Overall: Not too much to say here. You seem to have some potential. [ 7.36 / 10.0 ]. Btw, a tip from me: don't respond to the jerks. There's no point. They probably won't read it anyway.

Not too bad.

Power to you, Kriticke!

[bellicose.]

Enveloping sound...

You're getting really nice sound out of this one.

[Remember that if you go to my very first news post on my page, you can read an explanation of how I review]

Flow: Great during the actual piece, but the transition from back to front of the loop leaves a little to be asked for. The way you've done it makes it seem like a preview of a larger project, rather than a project on its own. I will admit that other than that, I like the way it flows.

Balance: I don't really have anything to say on this one, except perhaps: Full marks. Awesome work on the balance.

Themes: There really only was one theme, but it was coherent throughout the piece. Given how short this piece was and that it's a loop - I can safely give you a solid score here.

Effects: Loved them. They were well used, added a lot to the piece, and gave the whole thing a really lush sound. Full marks.

Extra: [None] --> look at my first news post for an explanation of how I do this one.

Overall: I liked the piece, despite how short it was. My only real complaint is the poor transition between the front and back of the loop. It was just a little too much like watching a VHS play, stop, rewind, and play again for my liking. However, given that this was my only complaint, I think a solid 9.51/10 is in order.

You're getting a 10 and a 5 from me, here. Good work, but make sure you look into that transition.

Power to you, John-Gaden!

[Fredgy - Dream Away]

Nice tune!

Some awesome stuff happening here. Definitely something I'd put on my playlist.

Flow: Awesome. The piece progressed through some really distinct stages that were all unique, interesting, and enjoyable to listen to. Full marks here.

Mastering: Great work here, too. Everything sounded full, rich, and clear. Full marks.

Balance: Good transitions in the balance between voices, and nothing was ever overpowering / overpowered. Full marks.

Themes: The piece had distinct themes which were played on throughout the entire piece. They could be followed and were not confusing, while still maintaining enough variation that there was always something new to listen for - which meant that I was actively listening throughout the piece. Full marks.

Voices: Everything fit together nicely, and sounded good. No complaints, and full marks.

Effects: Great. There was active use of a range of different effects, all of which added to the piece in a positive way. I liked the use of "here we go", too. I only have one suggestion: You use a kind of noise run during the buildup to the first climax (right at the end of the intro). This works really well, except that in this case the pitch begins to fall again just before we enter the climax. This might have worked well musically, but the fall lasts a little too long. As a result, the climax was... well, a little less climatic than it could have been. Not a big issue, but something I noticed.

Extra: I have a bonus system for reviewing when I find meaning in a song or something indicates that it has just a unique/extraordinary quality in it. Note that the highest score I'll give to a song without bonus is 9.90/10. In this case, it did give me a bit of a shiver in one or two places. [Bonus = +0.04]

Overall: A fantastic piece, well put together and generally well done. With minimal noticable issues, I put this piece at a very solid 9.92/10

Which means that you, sir, recieve a 10, a 5, and a shiny gold star. (Once my carrier pidgeon finally figures out that it's supposed to take things to other people, anyways)

Great work.

Power to you, Fredgy!

Fredgy responds:

wow thanks for this HUGE review haha :D
nice :p
glad you like it, and that you looked at everything, not like some people do :p

[Leave the World Behind]

Eh...

This... umm... Let me make this blunt. (But don't feel discouraged - I'm not sparing you any ugly on this one...)

The drums sound horrific. I understand that you wanted a really gritty, hard sound from them - which you got - but it had absolutely no relevance to the music itself, and clashed in such a way that I just wanted to run and hide in the section around 1:00. You probably should have stuck with a more normal sounding drum kit.

I've heard this melody (one that's least extremely similar) before, too - I can't remember the song, but I do remember that it was played live for the finale at the Basel Tattoo (I was performing there) in Basel, Switzerland this past summer. It may have been an MJ tune (R.I.P., MJ - you were weird, but we loved you, and you were important for the development of the music world). Look it up.

As soon as it got to 2:06, I lost almost all hope for the rest of the song - did you completely randomise the notes of that solo, or did you actually put in those notes yourself? Because it sounds like a little kid hitting the keys of a piano pretending as though he knows how to play (I mean that in the kindest way possible). It didn't get better before the end, either.

Speaking of the end, it's far too abrupt. you need an ending that makes sense - because that one really didn't.

In short, there's a lot of work I think you need to do before this sounds good. I'm going to assume that this is completely original - in your own mind, at least - for my marking here (out of fairness)...

Unfortunately, I'd give this about a 5.64/10 on my scale. You have a nice theme, but it's just not working right now. Do some music theory and listen to professional music of this genre. Look at some tutorials. And then try again.

Because I think you can pull this off if you do.

Power to you, daniel-mcl.

daniel-mcl responds:

Here is how I made this song:

(1) Buy new laptop, discover that it comes with something called Garage Band
(2) Choose a random drum loop
(3) Record each track by picking out a synth voice and "playing" it using the laptop keyboard, i.e. you press "A" for a C, "W" for a C#, etc.
(4) Publish with no editing whatsoever about thirty minutes after step (1).

I don't listen to pop or rock music, so I wouldn't have any idea as to how common the melodies are, but given that someone else thought it sounded similar to something from a video game I'm guessing that this is a pretty universal melody.

Note that I was using builtin laptop speakers so I also have no idea what anything below the treble range sounds like. However, given the average quality of a randomly selected portal submission I decided that this wouldn't be out of character to submit. I'm afraid I have neither the time nor the inclination to become a professional rock guitarist, but if you'd like to reorchestrate this yourself, then by all means take it.

[DJ Kat - Jungle Rain]

Nice sound!

I really like the overall feel of this one. Fantastic musical work - I like the shift around 2:15, too. Adds an interesting new direction and flow to the overall piece.

This was mastered well, but I might ask for a little higher bitrate on the mp3 - it's compressed a little too much for my taste.

Also, you could probably blow a lot of people away just by putting in the odd unexpected progression change here and there - there wasn't quite enough of that in my opinion, either.

All in all, I really like the tune. 9.46/10 from me. Nice work.

Power to you, Jcat13!

[Cast From the Stars]

Yes.

I like.

Good = very yes. (In case you were ever into HomeStarRunner)

It was a nice piece. I enjoyed listening to it, and the slight 8-bit element to it made it just that much better for me. I love good, solid, 8-bit music. It was a nice touch.

I don't have much in the way of suggestions on this one, as I'm not quite as experienced in making trance music... But if I had to ask for one thing from this piece I'd have to go with an increase in the amount of tension present. More effects, buildups, and "explosions" in the music would be great. Essentially giving it a slightly more dynamic impact would be nice.

Other than that, I really can't say much. 9.77/10, 5/5. Good work.

Power to you, Bracksta!

Bracksta responds:

thanks for the great review, there needs to more reviewers like you.

[<MWA> Peace Inside Me]

Awwww yeah.

The sound was the first thing that hit me (still haven't finished listening, writing as I go) was the clarity of the sound. Some sick mastering here, my friend.

You've got a fresh feel to this one. The themes I usually hear in your music were so invisible that for a second I almost thought it was a different artist. You've definitely grown, MW (Since that is your new name now). Completely new feel, and a new name to boot. I'm really enjoying this one.

Good, strong beat... Nice underlying themes... Solid melodies... A groove that gets me moving a bit... Overall, great excecution.

The only thing I would go so far to suggest with this one is with the bass. For some reason I just want it to take up some more space... you know, give it a wider, more expansive feel (I have no idea how you'd do this, btw. Let me know if you come up with something, yeah?). I also kind of want it to make my chest vibrate a bit... you know how that happens when you're at some crazy dance party and the music is up loud and that bass just reverberates throughout your entire body? If you managed to put a bit of that in here, I'd be flipping out and drooling, probably.

Man, we need to finish our third collab, here (Shhh, I didn't say that! What are you people talking about, third collab? You people are all crazy. ;P ). I think I'll pull it out now and give it a bit of a push. Maybe it's finally ready for its 15... seconds, probably (lol)... of fame.

Sorry about not hitting the character limit on this one the way I said I would last time, but... It's really hard to do that (mind you, I did hit the 7000 character limit on my FABT RPG Collab thread in the flash forums. ;P ).

...But I'll keep trying to hit that limit, MW. Just you wait.

...One day...

10/10, 5/5, Favs. Keep that stuff coming!

Power to you, MW!

mjattie responds:

haha Ian XD

The bass is hard, and I can't figure something better out... I guess I'll have to experiment some more with it...

Man don't try to hit that character limit XD I think it's deadly XD

Shh, what 3rd collab? You're crazy... XD (bye the way, we could start a new one, since you find it hard to work on this one ;), I don't really mind)

I'm glad you like it :)

[Fondest Memories]

Song = :D

You almost got a 10 from me on this one. The audio still has a few cracks and a bit of fuzz in it, but it's much better in that district than in some of your other work. It's almost unnoticeable here.

Atmosphere: omfg. Beautiful.

Flow: !!! ^^ :D

Balance: Great. Could be marginally better, but I don't think there's really all that much space for improvement here.

Effects: The reverb and delay are brilliant. All your textures are really well done, too.

General: I WANT. For it to give me a massive, soloing climax at the end, and then to drop back into a gentle ambience to pull me out into the far corners of eternity, that is.

9.92/10, 5/5. Favs. PM me when this one is done, yeah?

Power to you, lanky21!

lanky21 responds:

Funny you should mention the ending. I had this big, accoustic guitar break out planned for the finale that I eventually removed because I thought it may be a bit too overpowering considering the mellow flow of the rest of the song. Perhaps I'll put it back in and see if I can't make it work. Thanks for the great comments!

[1207 Silvercrest Dr.]

Good.

Hmmm. Once again, you seem to have an issue with the audio giving off some fuzz and crackle. Compressor, maximizer, less master.

The piece itself is well done. Very good atmosphere... But it does seem apparent that it was left largely unfinished. Perhaps if you're using Reason I could help you out a bit - personally I can hear a number of ways you could accelerate this piece into techno. Let me know if you're interested.

8.8/10, 5/5. Nice work.

Power to you, lanky21!

lanky21 responds:

Right now I'm using Magix as I'm really an amateur at music making and its interface is very simple and easy to learn. As for the fuzzy crackles, I think that's largely due to the system I'm working on. The speakers aren't that great, so sometimes I hike up the volume of my sounds to get the bass or heavy beats that I want when I really shouldn't have to. Idk, I'll look into it and see if I can't get that fuzziness outta there. Thanks for the review!