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15 Audio Reviews w/ Response

All 22 Reviews

Nice

This is nice, quite nice. It sounds VERY classy, like something you'd actually hear in an 16-bit arcade game. I'd really like to see you develop this into a full-fledged tune. 4/5 and a download from me! Good job!

vSmashv responds:

wow, thank you! Always fun doing something I don't usually do.

I'll see what I can whip together. Loved your music btw

Catchy.

Hey, great job on this tune! And piggybacking off what the one guy said below me, I do hear a bit of distortion in certain parts of the song. It sounds like a limiter clipping, or something of the like. Listen to it on studio headphones and you'll hear it.

What program do you use? I might be going crazy, but I hear some distinct Reason stuff in there in the nature of some of the synths. If it's not Reason, you can just affirm my craziness, hahaha. And if it is Reason, well ... I guess I got lucky, haha.

You lost points on Clarity for the distortion, and on Diversity because ... well, it's trance, hahaha. You actually did do a great job of varying it more than the average trance piece.

Overall, really good job!

Flashburn responds:

Lol no this is an FL track Im afraid haha... and hmmm Im a little upset that people hear distortion I may have to work on the EQ's for a bit...

thanks for the review

Great!

You have great realism in your pieces. What software do you use? I have yet to get the hang of producing orchestral sounds in this manner. Great job!

What I would've liked to hear was for it to go from the ballad into a fast march. The Defcon Zero melody would sound awesome in a film-score-style orchestral march. Have you heard 'Fountain of Dreams' from Super Smash Bros. Melee? That's sort of what I'm talking about. It starts out with a ballad intro, and then goes into a Russian-style march with the main Kirby melody. Something like that would've been really cool for this piece.

But that's just a preference thing. You get no less points from me for that. 10/10, 5/5. Awesome work.

DavidOrr responds:

I used Reason and the included Orkester sound library to make this piece.

Thanks for the review and support!

Long time no see.

Remember me? Probably not ... ;)

Yours is definitely BETTER than Chronomut's (no offense Chronomut ... really, nothing personal). I am dying to ask a question: Did you use LFO envelopes to control vibrato? Because, either the woodwinds/strings patches you used were REALLY good, or you did a good job at manually controlling the vibrato.

And if you didn't use envelopes, that's a hint there for you. Using LFO envelopes to control vibrato on strings and such will make them sound much more real. If you have Aftertouch on your MIDI controller, then it makes it even easier. Of course (and again, this is assuming you didn't use envelopes), it would probably be easier to keep using whatever kickass patches you got there. ;)

Overall, the balance, the realism, and the feel of this piece is much better than Chronomut's ... I'd have to say that those zero voters you mentioned are the only reason this one isn't rated higher than his. Good job.

Realmguys responds:

Thank you for the in-depth look at my song. The vibrato on the flute and violin are actually controlled in real time by a mouthpiece that came with my synth. I blow accordingly into the piece as recording or playing. The vibrato on the strings however, is just part of the patch sound I was using, can't really control that one.

My synth has aftertouch, but I find it rather unpleasant with vibrato or modulation.

Thanks again for your feedback. I will definitely look into your method of envelopes. Sounds very interesting for sure!

Glad you liked the song, have a good one.
-Ty

Well . . .

I like the feel of the piece . . . but quite frankly, the "Groovemaster's Rock 1" Redrum Reason patch is pissing me off hahaha. (I tried to say that in a good way . . . )

You have great originality in all your work . . . but the drums in almost all your songs sound way too sequenced and fake. You CAN make sequenced drums sound like a real studio kit, it just takes a bit more work.

If you output each drum seperately and put custom effects on each of them, you can get a much more original and realistic sounding kit that's taylored to your own style. Also try creating the beat right from scratch in the sequencer track using the pencil tool, rather than using the step sequencer on the Redrum. It tends to open up your sequencing and make your beats more fluid, rather than rigid.

For the most part, great work, but your drums are the greatest area in which you can improve. Cheers.

-Ted

Khuskan responds:

I'm proud of you for noticing exactly what drumkit i used. Drums are my weakspot, i've never been big on them and I suck at fills..

I never considered chaining out frome ach of the individual channels on the redrum, I'll think i'll give that a go in my next track. Also, i'm not using the step sequencer in redrum, i'm actually recording it on my midi controller, and understandably the fact you cant really play drums on a keyboard is probably what accounts to my simple style.

I'll try to get more friendly with that sequencer, and see what I can come up with for my next track :)

Nice Twist

If you take out the repetitive stringy things and give the piece more of a flowing, ominous feel, this could work really well as an Ambient piece. And you know how much I like Ambient. ;)

Otherwise, as a trance piece, this is a nice variation on the original. I like the breaks, and the rolling glitchy things are really cool. The little half-time thing could've used maybe some more work . . . maybe some more variation on the background stuff? Not sure . . .

I still think the original Fleets is the best song you've ever done. ;)

I know it's been a while, haha. Myself? Well, I've got some BIG projects coming up soon . . . If you want to stay updated on my music, add http://myspace.com/tedjohnston to your list of bookmarks, and if you have Myspace, add me!

Cheers.

-tedJohnston

AdmiralConquistador responds:

WOW, Ted! LOOONG time no see my friend, where you been man? Back to review my fleets remake eh? Haha, I'm glad you liked it, but you think the original is better? I figured I had improved every aspect with this remake, the synths are better, the arrangement makes more sense(except for placing the slow-mo part at the end, that was dumb), the mastering is 1000 percent better, I dunno. I agree the half-time could have used more work.. I was getting tired boo-hoo, hehe. Anyway, thanks for coming back, now on to some more quality Reason tracks!

-ac-

everyone can remix mario...

very nicely done...the fast part was the best part of this song (and probably the most worked on, am i right?) the beginning part of the song could've used alot of cleaning up...it just didn't "sparkle" like the rest of it did.

anyone can remix game songs (i've had a fair share of my own)...you should really try some original compositions, i'm sure they would sound awesome.

good job. cheers an g'day.

-Ted Johnston

Stage3-1 responds:

You nailed it. The second part took the most work, and the first part did not sparkle. I blame it mostly on the tone of my guitar, Jackson's cannot get a good clean tone line in. I only wish I could have got the clean sound I have for Mario Bros. 2. Thanks for the review.

interesting...

Congradulations on A-Bot 2nd Place!

quite an interesting piece...first off: criticism (dun dun dun). the guitar(s) was/were atrociously out of tune (but i'm exaggerating, 'cause i'm an audiophile...even slightly off-tune is considered tone-deaf to me hahaha). but yes, everything was slightly flat...and that distracted me from the overall enjoyment of the piece. the drums were also too fake sounding (i use Propellerhead Reason, so i recognized that kit the moment it started playing). your friend could've added distortion and effects here and there to the drums to liven it up and get a more unique sound. the main guitar riff also sounded too...generic, should i say? and finally, this song is DIEING for some lyrics. you seriously need to write words to this hahaha...the melody is just asking for it. well, all these things added up to the points i docked (Clarity, Diversity, etc.)

now: the praise (yay!) the overall melody was very happy sounding. definitely lifted my mood! the evil laugh at the beginning and the sound at the end definitely hinted to the cow dieing, and added a great deal of humor to the piece. very well done! it's moments like these that just make the listener smile! really cool.

if you just work at the little technical things here and there, you could start cranking out some crazy sweet music! keep it up!

good job! cheers an g'day.

-Ted Johnston

P.S. GIVE US LYRICS!!! all together now: GIVE US LYRICS!!! GIVE US LYR-

Scribbler responds:

Wow!

Finally, someone who actually takes time to listen to EVERYTHING in a song and tell the author. It's people like you who make me smile. I love it when someone picks at everything in a song. Even when he mentions all the bad things... ļ I just love it.

First off, thank you for the congratulations, I appreciate it. Now, about the guitar being out of tune, I totally noticed that, along with Evil-Dog. But, I just assumed that nobody would really care since the majority of listeners on Newgrounds are teens who just like "loud" music. Thanks for noticing. This means that from now on, I am going to have to pay attention to that. I love a good challenge.

I agree that the drums do sound a little too fake but like most musicians; you usually never know which song of yours is going to be a flop and which is going to immensely please the crowd. This song was actually a shocker. Actually, it was the first time. I presented the "rough" version of the song to a few of my friends on a forum I frequent a lot and they absolutely loved the song (along with "Joining The Parade.") So, this time around, it is the second time that people actually enjoyed it.

I agree that the riffs sounded a little too generic but at the time, I just wanted to actually finish a song because there are too many songs that I never finish.

Lyrics, ah, another soul who mentions this. Originally, this song was going to contain lyrics but due to time constraints (provided by me) and lack of patience, I decided to just submit this to the portal. If you listen, you will notice a little repetitiveness. This is why. Your are about the 30th person this week alone who demanded lyrics... I guess this means something. Maybe in the near future, I will produce a NEWER version of this song along with some lyrics and what not.

When I created this song, my ultimate goal was to make the listeners happy and smile. I love creating an image for my listeners with sound and music. This may sound weird but this is one of the reasons why I like certain Eminem albums. I don't listen to rap but I love the skits and sound effects. The use of crowd chants, keys jingling, and what not, create a clear image in anyone's mind.

To be honest, the laugh and crash were originally not going to be added into the song but upon listening to the track with these sounds, I was pleased. Lucky for me I added them. :)

Thank you, your review was a great source of inspiration. Lyrics... I will try to do. I am just so pressed on time right now.

Again, thank you so much!

sampled sounds?

jeeze, you got first also? hahaha congradulations!

i do agree with the other guy that you have too many sampled sounds in this for it to be original...sorta takes away from it being first...it would've been a nice fourth-placer though, with your First Round being fifth.

since there's alot of use of sampled sounds (and since i don't know FL that well...) i can't really give a sincere review of this song. good try though.

you have alot of talent, i want to see what you can churn out if you really work hard. keep trying! cheers an g'day.

-Ted Johnston

Sarerfrertg responds:

Haha thanks for your review..
But I don't use FL.. I use Magix Music Maker.. :D

nice

dude, this piece is really nice...nice and clam. have you ever played pikmin before? it just reminded me of that game...like a space scene hahaha. anyways, the piece gives a really distant, detached, type feel...it would be really cool in a space scene in a cartoon of some sort.

keep it up dude! cheers an g'day.

-Ted Johnston

SPaZGHoST responds:

Thanks. I did this on my clavinova while I was bored.

No.

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