CheckeredZebra's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[A Heart as Black as Night]

I really, really like the composition and the balancing in this piece! However, sometimes it seems a bit overly out of sync in some areas, especially from the beginning to the middle. It could just be the the fact that playing some of these rhythms would be extremely difficult. Or you could have done that on purpose and I'm just too snarky. Either way, it's keeping me from giving a 5/5.

Not that 4.5/5 is shabby at all, though. This is a very good song and I really like the attention to the sub voices (like the low string rhythms).

SilverPoyozo responds:

Why, thank you very much!

I actually had to do this in one evening for a contest, and that part was indeed a bit hard to record so...yeah.It always irks me when I listen to the beginning section because of that.
But still, thanks for giving it a listen.

[Still Alive (Portal)]

I quite liked it, I enjoyed the piano personally. =P Though it should slowly lower in volume as the song goes on up until its solo (or whenever it has variation).

However, 1:00 felt too jarring/off to me. You had these complicated layers of rhythm right before it, and suddenly all the instruments were sort of banging the same thing. Having one of the melodies counter with the main tune or having a background instrument play something that was off-beat would've made it transition better, I think. :]

Aside from that, the improv sections were all nice. The odd chords worked fine and really gave depth to the piece. The performances were pretty spot on. SO...4/5 for me. This must have taken a lot of time, and it shows.

SMES responds:

Thank you for your review! And thanks for taking the time to give some good suggestions. I do like the idea you actually suggested about an off beat counter melody. It would be very cool, might actually put it in.

Thanks again for your review =)

[Ancient Machinations]

*Listens to song*
*Shivers*
*Gives 5/5*

I wish I could give more constructive criticism than that, but I cannot. The percussion and instrumental hits at 26 really got to me.

Rampant responds:

Mucho gracias! It may not be ultra-critiquey critical feedback, but your review made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside :D

[Insurgent [MSB] (NGADM)]

I'm not really a dubstep person, but I really liked this! Although, I felt the "wuuh" female voices, while a really creative idea, were done a bit oddly and they stuck out a bit too much. Toward the end though they felt pretty natural.
Well, as natural as dubstep is, haha. Probably not the best word.

Either way, loved it.

GrantBowtie responds:

Haha thanks I'm glad you enjoyed it despite the fact that dubstep isn't your cup of tea : )

[king OF cirme]

I don't even know why, but this is amazing (aside from the nifty volume mixing changes and such.)

So amazing I can't even think of anything to write about it, which is a rarity. My reviews are normally long and picky.

13098609846 out of 5.

bryce responds:

i am honoured sir

[Rising of Fake Good]

The intro starts off a bit uncoordinated, but in a good way. At around the 8 second mark, it comes together, which is pretty awesome sounding! :D However, after that it goes back to feeling a bit too uncoordinated =P

You might want to try a more structured melody after second 8. (I suggest listening to video game tracks as they are fairly easy to follow) Sort of like a constant theme, if you will. =P Basically, make the melody more tight, and possibly even more predictable. If you just REALLY feel like the rest of the song should sound a certain way, then by all means, do it! Don't be afraid to follow what you hear in your head.

On another note, your harmonization are different, but it's definitely not in a good way! I'm glad you didn't just stick to one "happy/Generic" sound. Waaay too many new composers do that. I encourage you to keep playing with off the wall harmonies! Some of the most beautiful songs use notes that clash with eachother. (But I wouldn't try that until you've gotten more practice. I'm in college and only just got into that stuff, haha)

Now, a way for you to immediately improve is to give your songs different rythms. Most of the instruments you used work well together, but they all play either the melody or something that directly follows the melody. Try having a long, drawn out sound on a low instrument, for example, instead of it doing almost the same thing that the melody does. (Make sure the note works with the rest of your sounds and harmonizes).
Then, have another part on a different instrument. (An easy one is straight 1/8th notes if you want to do something simple that gives your song a more flowing or epic feel.)
Don't limit yourself to one thing; let the other instruments explore the song and let them have their own, unique roles! That way they can shine, too =) And I absolutely promise that, if you're making the notes sound good compared to the others, it'll sound TONS better if you just do this. (Unless you're doing something really crazy . O.o)

PS: Since it's a chant, don't be afraid to throw some choir/voice instruments in there, too. Perhaps one could come in somewhere in the middle?

Anyhow, hope this helps, and I'm glad you have a lot of fun making songs. I know I do =) Keep up the good work!

E123metalman responds:

Thank you very much, one of the main things I tried to do was put the Cello Section as the voice, this will be fixed in a redux(Viola... ugh) There is a voice option on my thing so I'll try that, but I wonder is a Bass Voice good or a Tenor, as the song is very tenor/baritone sounding. I know I really messed up on some thirds(probably stress). You should check out my first one too, it in my opinion sounds better(irony) Just because of how the sounds mix and how the tuba can go with the melody and sound amazing. It really adds a soul to the song.

[Sanctuary]

I'm writing as I listen, so bear with me.

I was hooked since the beginning. Your use of instruments made the sense of a "sanctuary" immediate.

The main melody's introduction at 1:30 was perfect and only continued from there.
Only actual composition qualm is that, at the 3:20ish mark, when everything calms down, I would have gone into a very noticeable and beautiful melody there and ended it at that. While that tends to be a no-no in composition to never bring up something you don't plan on repeating, I think it would have had a very positive and lasting effect on the audience, perhaps leaving them with that bit of the song stuck in their head.

Anyhow, the instrumentation was also great and creative. I wish I had these sounds! Everything was mixed beautifully and this is far more than what I could ever have done.

10/10
5/5

Step responds:

Wow that was quick. Thanks a lot for reviewing back. Much appreciated.

"I'm writing as I listen, so bear with me."

Haha no problem. I do that too sometimes!

"I was hooked since the beginning. Your use of instruments made the sense of a "sanctuary" immediate."

Phew! I'm glad you think so - it took me a while to think of a good name for this. Before, it was just called "Orchestral Idea" but I thought that didn't have as much of a ring to it *cough* :3.

"The main melody's introduction at 1:30 was perfect and only continued from there."

Great! Although, this doesn't really have a main melody. You can perhaps call the intro's melody the main melody since it's repeated again at the end, but to be honest instead of having a main melody in a climax that I repeat a few times in the track like I usually do, I decided to try and vary my style a little.

"Only actual composition qualm is that, at the 3:20ish mark, when everything calms down, I would have gone into a very noticeable and beautiful melody there and ended it at that. While that tends to be a no-no in composition to never bring up something you don't plan on repeating, I think it would have had a very positive and lasting effect on the audience, perhaps leaving them with that bit of the song stuck in their head."

Hm... I wanted to end it with the beginning's melody because I thought ending it with a totally new melody might feel a bit... unsatisfactory if you get what I mean. Although I see where you're getting at, and I agree it was quite uncreative of me to end with the same melody I started with!

"Anyhow, the instrumentation was also great and creative. I wish I had these sounds!"

Haha, these are East/West sounds. Believe it or not, getting better sounds actually helped me a LOT more than I thought it would. If you listen to my very old song "Ready for Battle", made using crappy free soundfonts, and then you hear the first song I made with East/West a few weeks afterwards, "Cobra", the difference in quality is massive :P. East/West is by far my favourite VST and I'd highly recommend it to anyone!

"Everything was mixed beautifully"

Thanks! Mixing isn't my strong point but I did work hard on it nevertheless.

"and this is far more than what I could ever have done."

Well, I dunno about that, but in any case I'm really glad you liked the track. Thanks a million for the insightful review and hit me up if you ever want to exchange reviews again!

[Sygnus]

Aw :c

I hate to be a downer. I really wanted to give this an extra point or two, but could not. The mixing is great, the instrument choice good, the feel very calming.

But, the chords are so overused. I have literally heard this countless times. Not only that, but they never really change. It's the same thing over and over, although you masked it REALLY well and kept my interest throughout the song, which takes skill. I'll definitely check out any other work you've done, but I honestly cannot give this more than a 7. Either way, I hope you keep making music :)

christho responds:

Thanks for the review! I'm fairly new at music so i'm still learning a bit. I'll keep in mind what you said.

Christophe.

[MoL- Stuff of Legends]

Missing something, but still amazing.

It'd be a GREAT piece for some sort of RPG. I'm seriously in love with this, and it loops REALLY well. The one thing it's "missing" for me though, is that it needs a bit of extra "umph."

Perhaps add a new part near 00:52 that hasn't been heard before, since you're using a lot of the same keys. Or, simply add an extra layer for when 1:06 comes, like adding a direct harmony to the melody to give it a more fulfilling "epic" feel. Since the sounds used for the melody at that part are so smooth, it needs a bit of something extra to hook the listeners. (Sorry, I don't know fancy musical phrases D:) That's it, really. Just make that one part at 1:10 feel more epic, and you'll have a perfect score. This is a well done piece :)

I really like how you used a rough guitar sound to contrast the overall smooth feel of it, too.

*adds to favorites*

MeteorManMike responds:

Yay, I got a favorite! XD
I'm glad you think this would work for an RPG, I'm planning for it to be a boss theme if I ever produce my game. Maybe if I decide to lengthen it/rework it, I could give it that... extra "umph". There's actually an arpeggiating brass at 0:52, I turned it down so it wouldn't freak out my processor... A little too much I guess... But thanks for the awesome review and I'm glad you liked it!

[Dinner Rush]

Good, but repetitive at times

I like the parts in it, but after hearing those parts so many times it loses a bit of what it had. Try editing out the parts that repeat so many times, and I can see this as a fairly nice song. The transitions are nice, make sense with eachother, and are VERY well composed. The problem is you beat the life out of them XD Also, it doesn't really end and doesn't loop well.

However, I can see this as the background for something.

Espiongold responds:

The ending was a failure because I was trying to give 4 different endings, so you could in a way select your own, the one that fits best, however when I listened to it after a few days away from it I realised it did not give that impression, and your expecting a change that was not included.