descara's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Cite des Enfants Perdus (Piano Cover)]

Nice! Very sweet and mellow. The arrangement sounds rather pianistic, despite what you say :) If you've got a score I could perhaps say some more on the subject.

Mainly just two things I reacted to in this track: the pauses at phrase endings get pretty old quick, and kinda ruins the flow of the piece. Other than that, it's really a bit on the bassy side mixwise, I'd EQ it a bit.

Some more variety could perhaps be nice in arrangement technique, but it definitely works, especially given it's length.

pftq responds:

Thanks - the pauses and bassy-ness I think might come down to preference, as I was thinking of whether or not to address this while editing. I just ended up liking it more with the pauses and the some of the effect you get from letting the lower keys reverb into the mix.

The variety was probably what I meant about the arrangement - as I find it very difficult to vary my left hand while playing, so I had to keep the changes pretty minimal. Glad it still worked though.

The original score is in the credits to the movie - there are three distinct songs. The one I'm trying to cover is just the last one with the strings. Annoyingly enough, this version isn't on the OST which has a less peaceful version of the song.

[The voice inside]

The intro was just beautiful.. later on the reverb kind of muddles things up, I guess this is probably done in an VSTi but if it's on a digital piano you can use less reverb in favour of more sustain pedal to get a big sound with muddling things up.

I thought the transitions could use a bit of work in this piece, they kind of halter the flow right now.

Anyhow very emotional, evocative writing! Good stuff :)

NordicHazard responds:

thanks for the advice! i'll work on it! i'm glad you like it!

[King Bosa]

Great stuff. I really like the somewhat desolate mood this track in the more tranquil sections.

The vln - oboe duet at 0:28 (or eng hn or w/e) is very nice in colour, but the writing and voice leading could be slightly better.

01:06 is awesomelly energetic, but the transition up to it should have something maintaining more of the energy. Also, a single violin will never be heard over brass chords in real life at that dynamic.. beef your melody up! Also, the orchestration otherwise is a bit meh, very much lower middle register, and somewhat little space between the brass parts from the sound of it, but it's hard to tell exactly what should be done without a score.

Still, loved the atmosphere of this, good job!

samulis responds:

Because this is program music, much of the standard ideas of spreading and orchestration can be essentially thrown out the window (in my opinion) to accommodation the need for an emotional feel- in this case, provided by small intervals the higher register in contrast to larger intervals in the lower register, with very little in the middle. This creates an exceptional feeling of darkness and loss. If I had the middle filled up with chording or counter-melodies, it would detract from the pure beauty of the upper register. It is also a common belief that close chords make a more chaotic and bolder sound while broad chords make a cleaner and less painful sound... that is why the brass are so tight.

I might try touching up the transition into 1:06, perhaps making the timpani much louder.

Regarding the violin, you are correct. However, this is digital music and for all we know, the violinist could be standing on the stage as a soloist or have a mic hooked up to his instrument... the only purpose of his melody there is to accentuate the motion of the chords.

Thanks for the review and for pointing out some issues, I will consider making some changes to the piece after the contest or such. :)

-Samulis

[The Falcon Armada]

Hah, I love the jumpy feel and cheesy orchestral hits of this track. Ending is hilarious. The synths are great, good job.

I think you should clean up the intro somewhat though, there are some unnecessary dissonances that don't really do anything but muddle things up. Also, the Dm/A begs to be resolved to an A. Trust me, it will really heighten the intro and increase cheese levels immensely.

Sorry though, this is nothing but plain 4/4, albeit with something of a swing feel to it ;)

DuttonsaysHi responds:

Well thanks for the analysis man!

And I get what you mean, I plan to go back to it some day anyway. There's a few things in the melody at 1:30 that I'd like to change up, as well as some stuff in the end. So I'll twiddle with the orchestral opening as well :D

And yeah that's the point :P using 4/4 on a 3/4 time signature gives it that swing. completely intentional. Thanks for the review man!

[-Orr- The English Kingdom]

Marvellous energy in this track. It didn't really give me King Arthur vibes, but great nonetheless!

The piano somehow felt a bit oddly placed in the mix at times, and I found myself really wanting more of an accent on the first of the fortissimo chords rather than the same dynamic throughout them.. but in general the production is just wonderful. Makes me want to have Hollywood Strings and Brass, now I just got EWQLSO without close mic positions. FML.

DavidOrr responds:

I used (and still use) EWQLSO for several years, and it's still a solid product even 9(?) years after release. Hollywood Strings and Brass are wonderful tools, and definitely have a more authentic, organic sound to them. They're very versatile, and the level of articulations included is quite deep. The only downside is that they're extremely taxing on the computer though (HS more so than HB)!

Great idea about the accented notes -- I'm putting those into a revision as I write this :). The main reason the piano is in the piece is because I originally scored it out for small ensemble (Piano quintet plus flute, horn, and one percussionist). I had the opportunity to rehearse, conduct, and perform the piece. During the process, the piano felt like such an integral of the arrangement that it felt wrong for me to take it out as I orchestrated it.

Thanks for your review!

[King Samulis]

Great track!

A few things I reflected over:

I've heard a few of your tracks, and it'd be nice to see you expand colour palette a bit - some soft woodwind harmonies could definitely have found their place in this track. Also, perhaps some more varied use of brass in general - piano brass harmonies can be very suspenseful.

The production of the track is splendid, no worries there. There were a few times when I'd wished the lead instrument was more humanized, but not often.

One thing I reacted to about your arrangements - there's some, but not very much contrary motion. Parallel motion and overall direction can work as a great build up device but contrary motion can give this very satisfying, solid feel. I don't know if it's something you keep in mind while writing, but if you don't, start to, it pays off!

One last thing, and it's a bit of a matter of taste - but to me the raised 7 - raised 6 movement at 0:39 really stuck out in an unsmooth way.

Okay, time for me to stop nagging about silly things and listen to it one more time!

Bosa responds:

Thank you for the advice, my friend. These are all things that I need to work on in the future, and I appreciate your experienced input. It's good to hear from someone who knows a bit about music structure.

[Towers - Castle Exterior]

Quite nice! I liked the writing, and the mix is pretty good. However, the midi programming is a bit of an eyesore (earsore? :P), with hammering of notes at the same velocity and lack of expression data/aftertouch on the clarinet (and bassoon, though it's really the former that's noticeable) getting rather tiresome. I dunno, maybe you were going for a retro-ish feel, but right now it feels too synthish to be convincing as realistic, while being too little synthish to add any charm to it. Er, I hope that makes sense.

Aside from that, I felt the orchestration was a bit at times - when things got a bit more intense around 01:00-01:20 it'd been nice if that'd be reflected in the orchestration, perhaps doubling of the bass line in higher registers or a more grandly orchestrated melody.

Ironclover responds:

I love your review, The thing with the Clarinet is that I wanted a Monotone feeling to it. Admitting I do think it sounds too synthetic. I aimed for a Medieval Electro-Classical theme. Thank you c:

[Instinct]

Love the writing on this track, great dark atmosphere! The mix felt a bit off - the leads are really, really loud compared to the bass, especially around 00:27 and around 01:00 where the same synth comes back. Not as bad on my speakers, but somewhat jarring in k240s.

Bass had a bit much noise on it for my taste, could've perhaps been taking down just a notch.

Awesome track anyhow! Favourited.

z-raven responds:

ah yeah, i had some problems mixing the bass at certain points. still working on it for my next tune. :)

[Dreams of Promise]

First off, you really have to get new strings. There's more than decent-sounding free soundfonts, take a look around the audio forum and/or google for a bit and you should be able to find some.

A little about the composition:

It has its qualities, especially the first piano section. The chromatic movement is very well done - however, chromatic, falling lines like these are hardly uplifting! Still, a nice touch, and it does give the track that airy, dreamy feel you talked about, just not in an uplifting way.

The beginning is too thinly orchestrated - it really needs something to glue it together, as the arpeggio strings can hardly stand on their own. Something as simple as long, sustained notes, either in a low or high register would really enhance it.

In the middle section, where the arpeggio stops, the track loses much of its momentum, though this wouldn't be that bad for the first few measures if the piano could be heard more. Again, the orchestration here is very thin and rather unconvincing - add notes in the strings to fill out the texture!

One last note - the track is very, very quiet. It doesn't have to be super-loud, and of course there should never be clipping, but it certainly should be louder than this! You can always compare to other, similar tracks to get a hint of where it should be.

I hope you aren't put of by the critique, but rather that you can take some of it with you to your next track and keep on improving. You clearly have some good musical ideas, which really is the most important part!

SmashedFish responds:

Alright, sorry for the slow response- things have been busy, and even when they haven't, all that's pretty overwhelming to someone who knows next to nothing of musical composition. Regardless, though, I am immensely thankful that you've taken the time to write such an in-depth criticism out. I've a question about it, though- regarding the soundfont, how might I get a new one with Anvil Studio, or should I get a new midi editor altogether?