Arbiter's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[action WIP]

A fairly decent submission.

This is quite frankly a very unbalanced song - in terms of volume.
It seems you've either doubled your notes at 0:16-0:26, or you have the worst live-production I've heard in quite a while.
Either way, it doesn't really strike me as a good way of creating dynamics.
In addition, there's a clear lack of instrumentation - as you only have the one synth and some perc.
What I would do to it is to add depth by adding more instruments, let's say - a bass melody and a lead -- in addition, I'd perhaps modulate (change scales mid-song) for more versatility.

You also might want to create a more driving feel - by adding more percussion that plays basically at every beat - but in varied velocity - so that you can mark the places you want emphasized using the velocity changes.

Send me a message or something if you have any questions, or hatemail - if you thoroughly disagree : )

-Christian Sandviknes

DESHIEL responds:

Thanks that would be awesome :)

[The Pirate Adventure]

I don't see why this piece has so little...

Followers.

I'm giving this piece a review specifically because noone else has.

From all that I can hear you are currently using the Roland Edirol orchestra package, which I myself have quite some experience with.
There are a few key details I like, and another few I dislike about this musical piece in it's entirety.

To bring out the positive, there's alot of diversity and you are not bound by the time signature due to the lack of percussionate work in the song, until the end.
I'll assume it's in 3/4 or some timesignature much like it, which is very usual in this sort of music (ie: Pirates of the carribean).

The diversity between the themes are always a positive side, especially since you didn't stray too much from the initial feeling of the song.

I like this song, but the way it is presented is not among my favorites.
The production-level of the song isn't as high as I would like - but this is mostly because of the sample-package you are using.
The spiccato strings doesn't really sound like strings, because of the breathy tone in them - in addition they sound very muddy sound-wise.

In addition, the percussion was a tad too simplistic for my taste, but at the end it did conjure quite the imagery, which must be considered a positive thing.

From here, if I were you I'd start downloading a ton of free drum and percussion samples, and start messing around with them. The edirol percussion kit is rather bad, and even though it's simple to use in most settings - you shouldn't be defined by the samples you use, but by the talent you have.

As such, I suggest you try to broaden your sample libraries so that you remove some of the initial limits set by only using one sample package.

Please, I mean no offense by anything written here -- I am merely attempting to help steer you in the direction you yourself wish to take.

--Christian S.

CaptinEpic responds:

Wow thanks, i will look for some good drum samples. I appreciate your review arbiter.

[Magic of the Wind]

The standards of this place continues to rise.

With bright minds such as your own, I feel that since I started submitting here this sort of music has been becoming far more sophisticated and complex.
You, among others - are rising the bar for the rest of us.

As for the song, the song you have has relatively simple themes, without much complexities - but I enjoy thoroughly most of your instrumentation and orchestration, as well as your production value and diversity in between instruments. This demonstrated by the use of choirs versus the brass.
I also notice that you are quite heavy on the use of bells, which I personally am not too much a fan of, as they can be seen as quite overpowering.

I'd rather use them as a sort of mark, or building up a crescendo. In your case you used them more of an instrument, which is fine, but the velocity of each note needs to be reduced, in my humblest of opinions.
In addition, the bells aren't tuned properly - which will create dissonance in an otherwise most harmonious piece.

I also like your contrasting views in turning points like 01:12 and 01:25, as they tell completely different stories, while keeping to the overall theme as a whole - which is important in this line of music.

Overall, I feel that this song has been overlooked by the masses, and that's a shame.

Best of luck in your future endeavors, Ethan.

--Christian S.

Tainlorr responds:

Yes, the bells are overpowering, I agree. I was considering going back to re-mix this one.
Your comment seriously made my day, I'm so glad I could earn your attention. I try my hardest to keep pumping out new compositions, in the hopes that someday they might actually be used for something. And yes, all of the good work on Newgrounds is overlooked, that's just how it is.

[[KgZ] Blue Violet (Ep demo)]

Great song

I am really not sure how to properly review this song, but I'm going to try merely due to the fact that I feel it has been overlooked.

This piece is one that I feel has a certain chilling feel to it, due to the chords - which seem to be maj7 and m7 chords or something similiar.
This all creates an atmosphere of a certain jazzy feel - and accompanied by the piano which was extremely well written, I'd say that this piece is one of the few on the newground audio-portal who has captured the essential feel of fusion jazz. It's highly usable in gamesituations, and I feel that it deserves more credit than it has recieved.
Make no mistake by the rating - I merely reserve 10's for the utter perfection of music. But this was by a mile one of the best songs I've heard here.

So a good 9/10 and a 5/5
-Chris.

KgZ responds:

Wow, thank you very much Chris. Yeah I guess Newgrounds isn't into the jazzy oriented style of music, but it happens I guess. Thank you very much for the feedback.

[Ancient Discoveries]

Interesting execution.

I really like the pizzicato strings going throughout the whole song - as well as the whole rhyhtm.
I did feel that the percussion was too close to the listener when comparing to the strings, however - I didn't particulary enjoy listening to the string ensemble with only the one to two voices, I'd rather hear two solo strings, such as violin and viola splitting the voices.

As far as background music goes, this should do fine - but I'd like to see you write some marked melodies in the future whereas the chord progressions are sorta driven by the melody.
Though, as a first attempt - very impressive.

SantaBro responds:

Whoops, that was an older version... I just updated it with some changes to the percussion, it shouldn't be quite as dry and ugly now.

I'll probably make some more music similar to this in near future, if only so I can use my new samples some more. Hopefully I can take most of your advice into account then! Thanks for the review!

[Rucklo - Deeper Again WIP]

Nice!

I really liked the gritty bass, along with the melodic synth.
I wasn't too much a fan of the plucked parts - but I'd say considering what level NG is on compositional-wise, this is probably one of the better, if not best beats I've heard in the audio-portal.

Out of curiousity, what software are you using when creating music?
Anyhow, an 8 and a 5 from me mate.

Rucklo responds:

glad ya liked it despite the disliking of the plucks!
this tune is completley made with Reason 4.0. I got the lyrics for the full tune, and am currently trying to make something out of it. I edit and will continue mix in Cubase, with Reason Re-Wired.

[timid girl]

Close to perfection

At my time here at newgrounds, I have listened to oh so many musical splendors. But this short loop has gathered all the aspects I wish to hear in a song. It has high production value, with the instruments sounding very realistic to the degree where I no longer can tell the difference.
The dynamics between each instrument seems to be given a great deal of thought - as well as the versatility of the orchestra.

It fills the purpose of the song, being a cheery loop to work perfectly in the background of a setting.

So with this, I award this song one of, if not the only 10 I have heard on newgrounds.

Best of wishes, Christian Sandviknes

vibe-newgrounds responds:

I am honored to get such a praising review. Thanks for kind words. :)

[=The Lament=]

Hades0013 - The Lament

I personally like this sort of music, and compositionally speaking I find it quite good. If I'm not mistaken it's in Harmonic Minor?
The first thing I noticed about this song is the quality of the recording/composition. Is this a recording of the piano, or is it sequenced?
In either case I would try to either get a better mic, or I'd equalize it in another way. This is due to the fact that the low-end of the mix is completely lacking.
It sounds like you've completely removed some parts of the specter.
I'd really love to hear a violin/viola playing a melody over this though, creating a wonderous duo.
This aside, I do understand how you might want to make the melody simple, as I often have simple melodies myself.

Chris.

Hades responds:

Yeah, this was actually made using Fruity Loops, which is the cause of the lack of lower-end tones. You see, this is the only soundfont I could find for which I felt it actually sounded like a piano. The other sounds just wouldn't do. But the problem was that the soundfont had a humming sound in the background which I couldn't get rid of in any other way other than filtering it out, and the lower-end with it.

Adding a violin could probably make this song a bit different, but I thought that using any such instrument would go a bit too far with what I was aiming for, that being a requiem-like song. I just believe that using sad strings in such music is a bit too worn-out, so I decided to leave it at this.

Thanks a lot for the review, I really found your comments helpful!

[AirStrike]

Liau - AirStrike

Ok, I'm giving you points for the buildup and melodies, as well as your equalizing. These are all major points that help make the song you have here.
My first issue is the snare-drum, which seems to not be very suited for metal.
The second one is that you should probably have some mid-range pads, strings or something to cover, as it feels a bit hollow.

The guitar was beautifully played, recorded and composed.
I really like the bass riff, it was the thing that initially caught my interest.
I give you a 7/10 (I've grown meaner over the years)
You have my 5-vote though,

Chris.

Liau responds:

I agree with you on the snare issue... definately need to go hunting through my sample libraries for a new one! :P
Pads and strings... I havent dabbled too much mixing metally stuff with them, but I'll give it a try in the future!
Thanks!

The bass was the first instrument I picked up, and I always hated a boring bass line :P Glad it sounded ok! :D

Thanks!
Leo

[Castle Crashers The Crusade]

First review in a year, give or take.

It's not often I hear melodic video-game metal, but it's awesome when done right. Now, I love the melody you've got going after 00:12, reminds me of F-Zero in away. The rhythm guitar seems to be a bit off when it comes to equalizing.
It's not as clear as I would like it to be, but that's really no biggie.
Your quality has increased since I last checked out your stuff, and I wish you all luck in the contest.
9/10, 5/5.

-Chris

PS: I'd love a review on my newest piece ^^

DarKsidE555 responds:

I don't know, it just happened this time and I got goosebumps when played the leads the first time. About the rythm guitar. He, maybe it's because I just gave them a little taste of the mids. I also surround panned them a bit strange this time, so thats why they sound a bit more pushed in the background.

Glad that you think my quality increased...I have to say...I thinks so too. I'm finally on a level where I actually like my own stuff. :)

NO REVIEWZ FOR YOU! lol. ;)

Thanks for checking and voting! Good luck in the contest pal!