deadlyfishes's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Tales Of Zale]

Hey Helloyourbored,

I really enjoyed this fan rendition that was inspired by Tales of Zale! If you are not familiar with who I am; I'm the composer on the Tales of Zale series, and I wanted to say you did an awesome job with this piece.

I really enjoyed the atmospheric themes here. There are some varying moods here which is quite fitting to the Tales of Zale universe. It's really emotional and heartfelt throughout, and there is a lot of musical ideas here which is also great.

It was somewhat difficult to focus on the music with some of those sound effects, but it did help the entry sound more cinematic, making it sound like there is another media counterpart to go along with this piece, which is essentially what film music is.

The samples are not top-of-the-line, but I could hear through them and can really identify your talent in composition. Someday, when you get some really great sounding orchestra libraries, you'll be making high quality cinematic works in no time!

From a compositional and thematic standpoint, I do think there is room for improvement in terms of establishing a solid thematic musical motif. It's great as background music as it goes on, but a lot of character can truly shine when your piece of music has a very enticing musical theme/motif, even if it is very simple. In cinematic music, this is very essential as thematic elements help to support and compliment the story and plot of it's visual counterpart. Even if you are not writing to picture, keeping this in mind will help you create some wonderful cinematic pieces.

I enjoyed your track and I hope you continue to explore your creativity.

-Matthew

Irish-Soul responds:

I would just like to say that I am 100% honored that you left a review on my song! I have seen other music you make and it is very impressive. I also saw the FL studio makeup of the actual ToZ 2 soundtrack. The skill you have is truly amazing. I aspire to have the skill level you are at. I can also understand why there would be such difficulty implementing this into the actual episode.

I am sure you went soft on the review for my song, for I'm sure it had many other mistakes. I have never made a cinematic song before so this was a HUGE learning experience. GarageBand was one of the hardest obstacles to overcome. I would also like to thank Hikuaran and yourself for this opportunity to join the contest with a song. Thank you for leaving information for a beginner!

As far as musical motifs go, I also agree. Next time I make a cinematic song (Or most songs for that matter) I will focus on creating a motif that will be strong. Thanks for pointing that out or else I may have never noticed that.

Thank you so much for leaving a review!

[Mendrion]

Very nice game themes here. Guitar playing is very solid and the lead melody works extremely well for what you're trying to accomplish. I think adding more layers should've came in a bit earlier instead of at the very very end. I'd personally like to hear more variation in the middle, or maybe some sort of development or "B Section." Other than that, this should serve it's original function as game music very well. Great job!

Blacklawn responds:

I didn't want to stray too much away from the main theme, but you might be right.

[King's Drive Audio Play]

Wow, well that was pretty intense... Everything was really well done! I didn't know really what this was at first, but I was taken in within the first few seconds. Things got real for sure! I never really heard much like this before, and I must say this is really awesome! I want to mention some specific things from the story, but I don't want to spoil anyone.

Amazingly, for the length it was perfect how everything came together.

VoicesByCorey responds:

I'm really glad you enjoyed it Matthew! Hopefully we can have you work with us on the next project!

[I Think So]

I think what you have here sounds really nice. I understand you're just using soundfonts but I try to see past that when listening. You can still make your piano and whatever sounds still sound emotional. Even if you are playing in the notes with a MIDI controller or not, there's a lot you can do with velocity editing and automation. I think some of the textural sounds-capes you have created using orchestral instruments fits well with the music. It may be a little pop-ish for my taste, but it sounds nice and that's what really matters. I feel there is a lack of melody and with this very strong chord progression, there is more than enough room to come up with a simple, yet effective melody for your piece.

I know for one, I am not the kind of person to go back and fix things like that since I just take it for what it is and move on to another project.

Take it or leave it, that's my two cents.

I would really love to hear more from you. See if you can spend some time trying something a bit out of your comfort zone. Push your boundaries a little, who knows it might spark something great in your writing.

If you need any technical or music related advice let me know, I'm always glad to help.

Krichotomy responds:

I just placed all the notes with a mouse. I do have a keyboard that I can hook up to MIDI but the keys are just ON/OFF buttons so it doesn't allow for much expressiveness. I intended to go back and vary the volume of the piano notes but the project files don't work right anymore.

I'm not aware of soundfonts having a velocity adjustment.

This music is intended to just be variations around the main note progression and I didn't want any melodic elements standing above that.

Out of my comfort zone = jazz. Grin.

Thanks for the advice and the offer for more advice.

[Awkward Sex]

Musically inept; an example of bland production

At first I notice the bland and generic use of preset-like synths. It doesn't sound like you actually mapped out those 16th notes yourself, because the harmony you imply is overall, monotonous. Moving on to more layers which again are the same type of preset-like monotonous synths. There is no real connection between the change of texture and is still overall the same harmony. The drums are from the popular drum machine, the 909 drum samples. Although drum samples and loops are pretty similar to one another, this one in particular is really uninteresting and does not spark any interest whatsoever to the listener. The only thing that could possibly grab anyone's attention is the title of the song "Awkward Sex" At the 0:50 mark, a sine-wave like synth is brought into the mix with atonal harmonies, probably not intentional since atonal music takes a lot of understanding of tonal music so that you could avoid any tonal center using only non-related pitches in a way that creates "textures" rather than harmonies. Throughout the rest of the song, new synths which are also presets pretty much follow the same natural minor harmony that you've been implying the entire time. No real melody is established and no interesting harmonic chord progressions are introduced although sometimes great music that stay within one chord can be very interesting, sadly I cannot say the same for this track. To be fair I'm giving this track a 2 because you stated in your author comments "I could listen to this on loop for quite a long time." If you made this for yourself to listen to and enjoy on loop that is good that you are making music for the right reasons. Also, people who think they could enjoy this more than 30 seconds should not be making music, but trying to learn and understand it more so that they don't get reviews like this one.

TheDevilWearsWill responds:

I think its pretty darn good for having fruity loops for only a week. I enjoy criticisms when I know they would help. It just seems like you're comparing me too much to everyone else, maybe even including yourself.