T-rebel's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Hipster]

what's it got do with hipsters?

I found your kick drum was a bit loud before you brought the other instruments; you might consider tweaking the volume down a bit before the other synths come in. I liked the transition around 1:00, I got the feeling you were trying to get a sort of 'freeze frame' effect. I thought you could have held the last sweep from the previous section as part of the transition where instead you ended that note. Didn't have much of an ending, and while you were fading the synths out, you forgot to lower the volume of the beat with them. Personally, I've never been a fan of fade endings.

Overall, it's a decent track, but it could use a bit more variety in the beat. I think there were only maybe 2 variations throughout. Still, great choices with the synths for your melody, and generally good EQ work. I think your 2nd lead (afer the transition @ 1:00) is a touch too loud though.

Nice work,
7/10
4/5

BuggMusic responds:

it's got nothing to do with hipsters, just couldn't think of anything sensible for a name.

I didn't entirely understand what you meant with the ending, I just kind of took away layers which is what I do pretty much all the time. I think I really need some new speakers as I seem to be getting my levels very screwed up as you mention with the kick and lead being too loud. Thanks for the review.

[Metal Nightmare (Boss Battle)]

Heroic's just another way of saying BRASS SECTION

It seems from the last comment that you're supposed to make this for someone's flash?
I have 2 suggestions for making this more heroic without much reworking
(1) it needs to build faster, because VGM doesn't get the luxury of long build-ups. I'd suggest a quick transition at the 0:10 mark.
(2) After the transition, you should go for brass section backing. The timbre of Brass instruments is just pure win, and it'll detract from that despair-ish feeling.

If all else fails, you might just have to change your chord progression. It sounds like you're basically staying in harmonic minors all the way through, and if you transition to a major or a melodic minor you might change that. But I know you don't want to go back and re-write, so maybe just try the brass?

Hope it turns out well!

SFaPiL2 responds:

Yeah, I pm'ed SSJ3-Goku4567 saying that this wasn't what he was asking but to just give it a listen. Ironically, with the intention of making something for him I made a stream of other projects that had nothing to do with his request.

"But I know you don't want to go back and re-write": no no, quite the opposite. I'm sure you noticed the lack of time spent on it... I didn't layer it enough and the scale isn't really the "heroic" kind.

I need to think about the transitions you suggested me to take...

thanks a ton

[Hunted Hunter - WIP]

I like the mid-east feel this has.

Really interesting marriage of desert-wind style and with a bit of 8-bit beat and heavy guitar. I think they really work well together, with the exception of that sweep you have going. I think you should kill it at 0:20. It's really just lingering unnecessarily after that. Another thing you could try (because I think that sweeper is a preset from FL Studio) is to put that sweeper through Wave Traveller at 0:20, to make a ridiculous transition. I don't know how it'll work out (I've never tried scratching over a sweep) but it could be legen... wait for it...

...AWESOME

SFaPiL2 responds:

Wow... all these reviews. Thanks man. Yeah, I've been changing some things a while back. The sweeps are actually all done using Battery 3's reverse reverberation of a hall (if I remember correctly). I've just recently removed the sounds of the percussions generating the sweeps by overlapping it with an inverted non-reverb version of the same pattern. That idea of using wave traveller is... well... very sexy ^_^... I've been attracted to that plugin for a while but never actually had the time to give it a go.

I still need to add pads, some different beats and way more riffs. Oh, yeah, and add some synthetic bass in there to compase [EDIT: compensate] the lack of it (either that or EQ the bass of the 2nd guitar and tweek some things).

Thanks T-rebel. You rock \m/.

[Random 90s Music Loop (SFPL)]

Ace of Bass called...

...and they want their hidden track back! Also, it kinda reminds me of Night at the Roxbury. Altogether, not a bad job. I would change that detuned or chorus-FX'd piano though.

SFaPiL2 responds:

Really? I thought the piano was the thing that held it all together.

man... it sure is loud compared to the rest now that I'm hearing this track again.

[Sinister Plot (circus theme)]

I think I have a way...

At 1:03, take the major lift 1 chord earlier, and hold it for a full bar. Think of it as the transition to whatever your next section will be. If I were writing a next section, it'd have an accordion in it; just a thought. Good luck, man!

SFaPiL2 responds:

I'll try this out. T-rebel 2 d res-q!!

[Cloudfully]

You played Paschelbel's Cannon in D...

So now you play everything in D major. I used to do that too and it was loads of fun. BUT... 7 minutes of happy-go-lucky triads is a bit too much, man...

I liked the piano solo at 2:48, even though it wasn't complicated, it was a nice change of tempo and it broke up those triads a bit.

On the whole, your tempo changed a lot. (You wouldn't want to hear this with a metronome next to you). On the other hand, your diminuendo is bit too gradual and subtle. When you want to transition from an upbeat section to something a bit more somber ( > ) you should try making it more obvious.

It always seems more obvious to you when you're playing it, but an audience doesn't notice these things as easily. If you listen to classical pianists, they exaggerate diminuendo to the point where they become hard to hear.

pftq responds:

Good suggestions, thanks - I agree my piano playing is not that refined, will try to work on that. Overall, I was really just putting down thoughts to notes and wasn't expecting this to be a final product

[[SD] Fuzion]

Meh...

It's really well mastered, and it has an awesome intro (like the first 5 seconds), but it almost instantly fell apart for me when that clarinet-sounding synth came on. To me it was a total red herring for a trance-type track.

I didn't find that there was much complication to any of the melodies you used. I don't think there were too many changes in chord progression or key changes either... just the same kick punch and major/minor over and over again... the only thing that really changed was the synths you used to go over the same melodies again. Also, the offbeat bass was overused and NEVER changed up again after the intro.

7/10
4/5

SupraDarky responds:

Yeah if you don't like that synth right at the start, then I can see how you won't like the song. The song did change up halfway through though, including the bass.

[Groovekiller]

What was that spanish guitar you sampled?

Just wondering what the original was?

Also, I don't know what you think went wrong in rendering... I could only hear maybe 2 places in the whole song where a track might have been clipping. That's about as close to studio production value as I've seen on NG.

I think you could probably stand to shorten ths track by a bit, IMO it kind of makes the spanish guitar sample seem tired after 2 minutes, even if it is super fucking catchy.

Last, I thought the last 2 minutes of this track were totally epic. That break beat at 2:17 was completely mind blowing. You fully deserve tops for the week. Shit, if this track doesn't make the all-time list I'll be disappointed.

Awesome work mn,
10/10
5/5

Anti-Citizen responds:

This is the original.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUBiyR 5siQs
But i ripped it from this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-eits utpOc
From 4:21

And the rendering thing was kinda set up as a sort of joke.. because.. you know.. shit's glitchin' and such.. ok so its not funny. but anyway. thanks for the review. :D

[Tether Your Consideration]

Definitely Dub Step

Also, definitely AWESOME.

You, sir, are a master of mastering. Perfect sound levels throughout. You did a great job balancing so many different synths without making any of them stand out too much. At the same time, it never got cacophonous, either.

The other thing about this that stood out was that you went out of your way to make sure this track would be original and constantly evolving. Even with all the variations, there were still clear themes that ran through the track. That gave a nice continuous flow.

Add to that: beats as flawless as I've seen on NG. I especially liked the compression on the snares (either that or they're one sick preset). Nice variations in the tempo and seamless transitions.

5/5 | 10/10 -- COUNT IT!

InvisibleObserver responds:

I think the louder repeating snare is 2 sounds mixed together to form a 'new' one. I'd have to open the file to know precisely, but I can tell you its not a tacked in preset. :P

Have a peak at Building and Significate Epitome, they are wandery-evolving as well in nature, though generally speaking slower paced. They might be up your ally. I guess let me know and I won't make the mistake of recommending them to you again. The cleverness being why would I anyways. Hur-hur.

Thanks for the comments on the beats. I've been really amping up my time spent on mixing and production, and this is probably one of my more recent peices where I spent some focus time on the percussion... b ut that being said this song is more textural and wandery in tings I spent alot of time on. I think the drums are nice and well enough done, but I don't think they are quite "take your pants off, drop your jaw" amazing.

Have a listen to SessileNomad 's music, he writes IDM (break-beat/jungle off shoot) which is home to very complex and fast percussion.

[-When I'm Gone-]

Nice beat, nice mastering

I thought this comment really summed it up for me:

"the beat is hot, the ryms hmmmmmm its ight"

But, I'd add that I thought it was really well produced and mastered all 'round.

aliasf responds:

im tryin to explain what goes through my mind when im walkin with my head down and thinking at the same time and how its like a journey but if you dont get it then dont sweat it