kevs91's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[65% incomplete]

Wow.

First off, this is easily the best song I've heard on this site (and from a great number of other places) that I can remember. Maybe its the best I've ever heard. I love the jazzy feel of the horns, the layered electronics, the great bass stuff, the percussion, the voice-everything is pretty much perfect. Its alot of stuff, but its put together perfectly and I really needed to listen to it a couple of times before I felt like I heard everything-and that is what makes a great song in my opinion. You really vary it up too- the beginning is different from the middle and the end is different from the rest. But its not random different, and that really shows how much time you spent on this. Honestly one of the few songs I've felt compelled to put on my ipod and listen to from this site.

I do hate you for not finishing the ending though. :/

Anyways, amazing work. Let me know if you finish this, certainly.

snoballandthmonyshot responds:

wow yourself...
thanks for those words, glad u liked it. won't get finished unless i start it again as i've lost the file for it. is a shame, i like it too but production wise it sounds like shit compared to my last couple, didn't get the opertunity to tweak the production plus i had to use some shatty prog to convert to mp3 and it took a battering, whinge whinge
;ped

[Fleeting Times]

Very good overall, but a few things...

Well, to begin with, the percussion was a bit weak. It wasn't particularly well put together, and it sounded really soft. This sorta hurt the track, because it really seems like a more reserved sounding song could've used some nice contrasting, hard hitting percussion.

Otherwise, the main melody and structure were both good, if a tiny bit repetitive. You did vary it up quite a bit, but it didn't really go anywhere. I kept expecting some big conclusion or exclamation mark or something to come up, but it didn't. Additionally, the ending was weak. A poor transition into what seemed like a tacked-on outro.

Still, I did like the overall sound of most of the voices you used, and there went together perfectly. It's pretty sophisticated sounding actually, and seems like its very well written. So you did do a very good job with the main parts of the track.

Keep it up.

Cosmos8942 responds:

Starting at the top,

Wow, someone that says that the percussion was weak. (Do you use vista...I noticed on my friends computer that with vista running that things just seem to sound different...but probably just me ><). You know, you are the only person that has said that the percussion was weak, but to each their own.

Agreed there :), it took me too long to put the main part(s) of the song together that I don't think I am going to be making something this complicated for sometime. Ending are not really my strong point though, I am much better at the introductions to songs then what I place in at the end. I have no idea why this is...but with the edit button in place I might go and revise a couple things.

Well...it seems that there is just a couple things wrong with this piece, and those can be fixed easily enough, thing is I kinda like it the way it is...so yeah >.>.

Thanks for the review though, almost always appreciated ;]/

-AJ-

Now onto my next project...

[Sick and Dark]

Pretty good.

Honestly, I didn't care much for the very beginning. It set the mood well enough I suppose, it just sounded sorta annoying. However, it is brief, so its not a really big deal.

Otherwise, the track you've got here is very nice, with a very good bass sound that really drove the song. The layering wasn't fantastic, but you did a good job and I did hear some things on the second run through that I didn't pick up at first.

My only other criticism would be that the track never really seemed to go anywhere. The end is pretty defined, sure, but there isn't much variation or build up to give the song structure.

Still, you have a pretty neat sound going here, so good job on that, and keep it up.

[==(A Falling Leaf)==]

Good.

Ok, I loved the stringy vox-like synth pads in the background. Those things can really expressive, and you use them well. They are very nice, and really fill out the track.
I didn't really like the bell-like synth because its a bit repetitive. They do change up some, but its still tough to have them going at a pretty short melody for a pretty long period of time. For example, I listened through one time where I just focused on this synth the entire time, and even though all the stuff going on around it was good, it got really repetitive and pretty annoying. Its not so bad if you don't focus on it, I guess, but still. Maybe make the entire track somewhat like the end- the bell synth plays that same melody, it is just faded out and in more, making it less annoying.
Also, I did really like the percussion, but I think they are a bit too quiet. I know this is only my opinion, but I think they are pretty worthy of showing off-so why not do it? Maybe have them build up in volume towards the end or something. They just felt buried alot of the time, I guess.

Otherwise, I really like the depth of this track, and the easy going feel is nice. All the synth sounds go well together, so good job on this one.

[Eat This]

Just a few tweaks, maybe.

The only real criticisms I've got are that the percussion is much too repetitive and that there isn't alot of depth to the song. The percussion just gets to the point of annoyance- even when it seems to be changing sounds, that same pattern just goes on and on, it seems. I know this is a symptom of most drum and bass songs, but for a six minute song, it just gets to be too much. Also, most of the time, there just isn't much to the song. Most of the time, its just percussion, guitar, and a bass sound. When there is a pad in the background, something else drops out, like the guitar or bass, or percussion elements. Again, this doesn't really hold up well because the song is so long.

All that said, I still really liked this. The riffs were nice, the track was moody, aggressive, angry, and it changed moods effectively and surprisingly. It was the embodiment of a temper tantrum, to me, except maybe a bit scarier. I actually liked the vocals, they added to the track at the best parts, and were dismissive when they didn't. I never felt they took away from the song, so that's good.

Just one more thing: this is a long song. It could do without the drum loop intro, honestly. That part was a long 45 seconds. I'm sure you could find other parts to trim down, too, if you were so inclined. But that's just me, I guess. Maybe its suited for a shorter, even more aggressive mix? Dunno, but again, this is a really nice track, even professional sounding. Very, very nice, with a great mood.

I'd say keep it up, but it seems like you've been doing this forever, so you're not exactly going to stop, right?

WizardSleeve responds:

I absolutly agree with you on the drum front, it needs alot more variation, and most of my dnb tracks (at least the modern ones) are all about the variation on the drums and nothing else really matters that much.. however this one i spent most of the time trying to get everything to sound right and alot of people thought doing more to the drums would have been overkill.

I plan to have 2 or 3 new versions of this track though, all with more drum edits.. one of which will be a shorter mix.. maybe remove the first intro.. make the second intro half length, the main bit the same...

another version is going to be a version that my friend has done.. i dont know what it is going to sound like as i havent heard any of it yet, but his production is alot better than mine...

the 3rd version is going to be a combination of all the best ideas.

and yeah i wont ever stop, i love music, listening to and making it. One day maybe some one will pay me for it, or that game i was doing music for will get started up again and i will get known.. till then i'll just love making beats!

Thanks very much for the review

[[Kriz] - Revolution of dreams]

Woah, good.

I liked the subtle crowd noise in the beginning. It made the track stand out instantly, whereas without it, the very basic bass line would have left a poor first impression.

The piano, in particular, is very good. It was a very wise decision to only have the piano going at parts-because if it had played that melody over and over the entire song through it would have gotten pretty tired. The string sounds are good, the synths are good, the percussion and bass are good, if a bit pedestrian in composition. Most importantly, all the parts in this song play very well together, and they form a really energetic, danceable song with a nice melody. Top notch stuff, much better than most of the stuff on here by far, and its only your second submission!

All that said, I do have a problem with how unoriginal this track is. You do the whole dance-y techno energetic track extremely well, but there isn't much more to it than that. There isn't really anything in here that I haven't heard before, or that made me sit up and go "!, that's an amazing idea", you know? Still, this is only your second submission, so it could very well be that you are getting the fundamentals down (and they're here, leaps and bounds over lots of other stuff) but I hope in future tracks that you really try to think out of the box and make something that is completely your own.

Anyways, a very nice, energetic track, keep it up.

Kr1z responds:

wow excellent review, thx for ur time :) !!

ur right, right and right, its dancey, but not very much more then standard dancestuff
as my experience will raise, originality will raise too i hope :D

[-TD- Worried]

good, effort shows.

hey, this is a very serviceable techno song.

the layering at times is very good, and the melodies do work well together for some pretty cool harmonics, although the background synths do get a bit repetitive at times. the progressions in this song help make that not a big deal, and the breakdowns are all very well placed and well executed. the one noise at 2:25 sucked though. that one was probably the only bad transition/break.

the percussion wasn't really anything special, so if you were to dedicate any more time to this , that's where i'd suggest you go. also, if you were to put some more into this, i'd consider some lower end pad-like synths that could add some real depth to the main synths and only help with the layering.

finally, the fact that you were worried about something doesn't really show through at all, to me. in fact, it seems like more of an excitable piece than anything.

regardless, very good job. maybe this isn't the most unique sounding song, but it is very good. so keep it up.

[Let's Move It!!!]

Pretty good for a first try.

This really isn't too bad, especially for a first effort.

There are some interesting sounds, and a pretty intense but repetitive rhythm.
The layering was really exceptional for most of the time-the heavy parts with tonnes of layers were the best parts of the track, by a long distance.

Other times, though, it seemed like you relied a bit too much on generic sounding synths or clichéd robotvoices to try and keep it interesting when really they had the opposite effect.

You've got alot more talent than most people when they start out, so I'd hate to see you turn into another maker of generic sounding, repetitive techno- which you come dangerously close to doing alot with this track. So take some time to really experiment with your sounds and structure, keep it diverse, and always be sure to be original. That's pretty much all the advice I've got.

Anyways, a very solid effort here, so good job, and keep it up.

If you have the time, would you kindly stop by my audio page and review my newest track, "Maybe We'll Find Retribution"? I'd appreciate it very much, thanks.

And you can find it here: http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/view.php?id=1450070">http:
//www.newgrounds.com/audio/view.php?id=1450070

Gabber-God responds:

Thanks man!

I worked my ass off on this song! I totally agree with everything you just said! I'll try to make something more "Fuller" and stuff.

Thanks for the constructive criticism !

[this song doesn't have a title]

niether does this review!

sorry for the lame joke.

anyways, this piece isn't very good.

one thing i did like was the hat-it was cool sounding and really formed a good rhythm force for the song, whether it was going super fast or slower.

there were a buncha problems, in my opinion. there was at least one point where the stronger percussion was off beat.
the punchy bass sound was also pretty corny and annoying. the same can be said for the faster synths-very preset sounding, very repetitive, and just not all that interesting.

it sounds like you had an idea of what a trance song is "supposed" to sound like, and it seemed like you afraid to deviate from the norm or experiment at all.

still, there was a pretty clear effort to change things up, which is pretty exceptional. so there was some clear effort, even if it didn't seem like you spent a lot of time on this.

so keep it up, and if you have the time, stop by my page and review my newest track, "Maybe We'll Find Retribution", if you don't mind. i'd really appreciate it, thanks.

bibotheking responds:

thx for the advice, but i did not notice any percussion off-beat? some of the percussion was on the afterbeat, but not off-beat...

[I Don't Love You]

a good effort

this is a pretty good, interesting piece.

the pulsing synth to drive the rhythm in the beginning was a very good decision, and really suited the song.
the inclusion of the piano behind the synth voices was also a good choice-it made it less random when the track turned into a very piano driven piece later on.
overall, this piece is very well composed aside from a few piano complaints, so keep that up.

my main problem with this piece is that it doesn't really sound different or special. alot of the voices-percussion especially-sounded like preset sounds. there was nothing in this track that really distinguished it from most of the stuff on this site.
the piano sometimes is a little random sounding, and there were a couple times that it was completely off beat. the chord choices were also a bit questionable, at times.
for such a lengthy track, it doesn't really change up enough to hold my attention, at least. the percussion is the worst offender here, as it often is in these types of songs.

so overall, this is pretty well written, but is repetitive, sometimes questionable sounding, and never really original sounding. still, it would seem like you are new at this, so keep working at it.

if you have the time, could you stop by my page and leave a review for my newest track, "Maybe We'll Find Retribution"? i'd appreciate it, thanks.

Dexi responds:

I'd love to review your track. Thanks for the review. I'll keep that in mind when I make more tracks for NG.