Arbiter's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Top Gear Symphony No.1]

Cerrax - Top Gear Symphony

First Impression; "If this is East West, perhaps I've been ordering the wrong thing"
The string samples sound REALLY fake---And I believed the drum's NOT to fit in at the beginning. I loved your brass part, and it sounds more real than most things I've heard here.

Some of the other parts were done nicely, however.
I don't think the techno and the orchestra fit well together, what I'd like to see here is a pure-orchestra version with a bit slower tempo.

Christian S. (Arbiter)
You're more talented than most people here, and I see you've been submitting to Rama's "ThaSauce".
I'm a friend of some of the people over at there.
Anyways, To me you're a welcome addition, but there's as with the most of us, still room for improving.

(If you believe me to be harsh, Remember that I'm more strict to experienced authors.)

I'd like you to see some of my soundtrack works over at my NG-Page, perhaps review a few ?
I'm looking forward to any reply :)

Cerrax responds:

Thanks. I actually like the harsher reviews. It gives me stuff to work on for next time :D

Basically everything you said has been covered by other people on OCR and ThaSauce (you should submit stuff!) This was a piece I did the same day that EWQLSO came in my mailbox so I didn't do a very good job with the production end of the song :P

Thanks for the review and I've actually been meaning to review your stuff, I just haven't had time! I'll see if I can review some of them today!

[-Orr-Stormy Seas]

DavidOrr - Stormy Seas

First Impression "Sounds Warcraft 3, Sounds Edgen"
Ok, This piece is one of my favorite 10 at newgrounds, and even though I've expressed my feelings for it previously.
I'll do it again.

There were some progression with the high strings, which I just couldn't quite like, as they became a bit too thin, if you had some low brass to back it, it would be awesome.
It had amazing quality, and great melodic work.
And excuse me for my bluntness, but it's too bad for me those fuckers just won't come up with my copy of that package.

You're as great as always.
Your friend, Chris.

DavidOrr responds:

Hey Chris! How long has it been since you ordered the software? There is nothing worse than waiting for something to come.

I'll go in and add some low brass to back the string melody, it will probably help give it even more a climax. Why didn't I think of that?

It's quite an honor to hear that his is among your top 10 favorites on Newgrouds! Thanks for the review!

[FFMQ - Doom Castle]

GrumbleDuke- FFMQ Doom Castle

First Impression: "So...oldschool"
Which I absolutely love, while every other person sit on their fancy computers with HL2, I'm sitting on the floor with some liters of coffee, and we're on with the SNES.

However, your samples isn't exactly the "best".
The drums sound a bit washed out, due to little bass. I like how the guitar sounds, is this hypersonic or something?

You certainly got some talent as stated in the Favorite Author List. Good luck in the contest my man.

Ps: Check out my three songs if you haven't ?
(Won't regret it hopefully).

-Arbiter

Grumbleduke responds:

Guess I mised this one, oops...
Oldschool music revamped is/was/shall forever be the way foreward. I know my samples are not brilliant (as I use GarageBand which everybody seems to knock mercilessly), and I know why the drums are a little washed out too; treble reduction. It was that or horrible tinny cymbals. The guitar is actually a default GarageBand MIDI sound with a few tweaks for added grrr. I like that one a lot; unfortunately I can't put all my music up here with it in to show you, as most of it has been contracted for the personal use of employers (who paid for it to be written).

It's happened again; I was certain I reviewed your stuff, but it appears I have not (I lose track sometimes). Better rectify that.

[RGH: Climate Storm(Remix)]

RyeGuyHead- Climate Storm

First Impression; "Sound's professional"
Ok, this is one of the pieces that actually sound professional at this webpage.
There was some clashing at the chords, making a poor chord-structure in the beginning.
But later on it was really driving.

It's overally a nice song, giving a FPS-feeling.
Should be ideal for a flash-movie.
I'd love to critize more, but I really can't find that much I dislike.

Great Job RGH.
I'm glad I saw your advertisement
9/10, noone has yet recieved a 10.
Well, see some of my tunes if you find the time.
SoundTrack'ish for movies :)

Fived.

RyeGuyHead responds:

A flash movie would be ideal

Thank you

[KoT - Mightnights]

Killer_Of_Trolls - Mightnights

First Impression; "This can get interesting".
I like your use of bells, reminds of me of MaestroSorrow's fetish for those things.
What I believe was your strongest essence in this piece was actually your string work, they didn't sound too washed out as most Edirol Strings do.
I recognize these things.
I believe you should have had a contrabass in the deep octaves to have a steady line so you wouldn't get the empty holes.
That's the con of this song.
It doesn't really go any far, and has little variety.

I believe at point your string section's came in, you should have done a Timpani-Roll continued by some slow and dark percussionate works to compliment the bells and the strings.
The piano should have been sustained, and in a lower octave, as well as perhaps having some chord-left hand.

Do not at any circumstances believe that I dislike your music, as I don't.
I just felt that you didn't quite finish this one.
I believe you should have used the fullstrings a bit more, as well.

As for my samples, I've been using various soundfonts for percussion, as well as GigaStudio 3.0 for the two first song's percussion.
What you heard in "War of The Mice" is actually the same sample package as you use.
Edirol HQ Orchestra, legally of course.

Slayer-of-trolls responds:

Thanks for the review and sorry for the late reply. I'm actually using a different sample set for the this one but still thanks for the advice. I've got a few more pieces in the works. Do you have MSN?

[Names]

Love_Hate_War - Names

First Impression: "This got some promise..."
And you didn't fail to deliver the goods.
I loved your drums to compliment the piano, as if gave this even darker feeling.
The vocal-names was also fitting to the title.

You might want to do as DavidOrr said and get a better piano. The pause was great, because it let the mind breath a little when analyzing the music, and the guitar was a nice touch to the song.

I haven't heard anything else than this from you---but this didn't disappoint me.
I believe you have a future in music, if you don't already have gotten signed.

I'll give you a e-hug if you check out my page :)
Christian S. (Arbiter)
9/10 - 5/5

Love-Hate-War responds:

Yeh, sorry about the piano, it's a VST, it was free, its the best i could do with my finances =P Thanks for the review, a 9 means alot coming from you!

[Introduction, Rondo et Scherzo]

MusicalRocky- Rondo et Scherzo

First Impression: "Why is the pauses so damn long..."
Anyways, this piece I feel is a bit empty, though well produced. It's mostly just chord playing, and it's VERY predictable.
Mostly because you're following some classical-styles.

If this is you playing the keyboard, as it's not a real piano. It's rather impressive.
And even as sequenced, it's quite good.
And you're 15 years old, giving you an advantage later on, because just think about what your skill will be in a couple of years.

It's like some other piece I heard today not that diverse, and I would have loved to see several different tempos and styles.

It's one of the better pieces on NG, but there's room for more.
Anyways; If you find the time. Head over to my page. I've only got two songs up, but according to my comments thus far, it's rather nice quality songs. (New to this site)
I wish you all the best in the future.
-Christian S. (Arbiter)
8/10 5/5

MusicalRocky responds:

Um I thought the pauses helped with the unpredictability :(

Lol um...Empty? Maybe the long pauses and pedal made it sound echoey, but it's not empty haha. Mostly just chord playing? Well, what in any music ISN'T chord playing?

No, this is a computer-generated performance, with sounds from Garritan. With my dynamics, tempo variances, and pedal usage, I aimed to make it sound more like a real performance.

I didn't do any of the sound quality of the song lol. That was Klace.

More tempos, eh? Well there are like...10 different tempos, with ritardandos and accelerandos all over haha. And with my slow, improv-like intro, rondo-ish themes, and heroic parts, I think it's got quite enough different styles in it :(

I'll swing by your page sometime. I'm kinda busy at the moment lol. Well, as you can see, I disagreed with a lot that you said. Thanks for the review though.

MusicalRocky

[Without Limits (Fixed)]

NightVision - Without Limits (F)

First Impression; "This isn't classical"
And I was right, First off, You need some better string/pizzicato strings. I liked your piano and some of the string-buildings.
But I really disliked the pizzicato sample.
Your drumming was good, but it had another quality level than the rest of the song, making it imbalanced. Lo-fi Strings and Hi-fi Drums.
It just clashed.

I think this song would be worth a 9-10 with some vocals to match your R&B tag.
This is really Fusion between Classical and R&B, but I feel that it fits more in the R&B section.

Anyhow, Great song. 8/10.
Ps; Check out my stuff, will ye? SoundTrack/Classical.

Christian S. (Arbiter)

nightvision responds:

This is great, having the diverse reviews that i've recieved. Each time you do this, it helps me understand the collective response, and it tells me what I need to change. Thank you Christian S.

[One Last Goodbye V.2]

DJ_Dinero - One Last Goodbye V.2

First Impression; "Okay, A piano. Sounds R&B"
But you've certainly proven me wrong.
I think the pauses was a bit long, but that's really ok. I like how you play them (If that's not sequenced, that is)

But this has the diversity and variation of a real piano. Though it was a rather low quality recording/sample. This section later on gave me this feeling of "It's gonna be ok", but I disagree with the flute thing that SoulStrings came up with. This song need's a lower string support. Full String Ensemble to fill out void.
It doesn't have to be dominant.
Just giving a more wide and full musical picture.

The ending was pretty straight forward, but worked just fine.
Keep up the work my friend, and you will reach out to the Video Game industries.

Ps; Check out my two songs for more SoundTrack references. Review's apprieciated as you know ^^
-Christian S. (Arbiter)

snazzypadgett responds:

Thanks for the suggestions on how to fill in the "void" on the frequencies the piano doesn't cover! Yes, you're right, when I add strings, they don't have to be dominant, I can just use them very lightly to fill in those gaps. I am considering doing this, but I wouldnt submit it here. I might submit the orchestral version though (see 2 reviews down).

I'm glad the emotions I meant to give you worked out :) The sadness, the nostalgia, and the middle section's brighter side. It's a good feeling to make somebody feel happy or sad through music :)

I'll definitely check out your songs!

[Imperion]

Dj_Padman1 - Imperion

First Impression: "Wrong Equalizing."
Ok: I hear alot of synthwork has been done, and I like alot of your idea's, but the club-kick drum has overpowered the song alot, making everything sound staccato.

The synthwork was the best part.
Your padwork was pretty straight forward but rather good. The equalizing on the Kick drum needs lowered bass, and a bit higher treble.
If you use FL, You can do this with the Parametric EQ.

The snare drum later on introduced for something, but it just never came.
Anyways, Good Song overall, don't get me the wrong way, this was one of the better trance song's.

-Christian S. (Arbiter)
Ps; Check out some of my music, will ye?:)

dj-padman1 responds:

Wouldn't the kick drum overpowering the song be a question of compression?
Thanks for your advice, I must go and have a long hard look at that kick drum!
The snare drum was an incidental sound, you may or may not hear a handclap that plays on the 2 and the 4 of the bar for most of the song.
I will certainly check out your music, I think I actually have listened and voted, but I didn't review, so maybe that will change.
Thanks again :)