Suspended-3rd-Chord's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[The Grass Can Be Greener]

w00t

well thought out and put together track. the rhythm track works really well with the main themes. I like the poppy melody on the saw synth, backed up the electric sounds, lyrics and vocals work well- i do indeed like the vocoder effect you use, pretty creative from my perspective. Drum beat is nice and original sounding, i like the samples you use. this could use some bassier sounds, the saw kinda works, but I would have turned down the course knob -24 on one oscillator on the clean sounding synth. not sure if it would make the mix sound muddy or more full. its already pretty damn sweet, it would be good if you made this a full song and broke this up into sections- maybe a chorus with some blasting drums with a phil collins esque reverb sound for the vocals!

Keep up the good work.

-Review Request Club-

MusicIsBliss responds:

hahaha, phil collins esque, i like it
wow, thanks for the positive reveiw

the main reason i didnt make the lead fuller was because i had made it oscilate between really full, and not so full. at some points it obviously made the song not as filling, but at those points the lyrics sounded sharper, and it added more variety to the song.

I look forward to hearing your reveiws from any other songs i send to the rrc

[FF7 prelude (DEMO)]

Listen to the whole thing guys

To the reviewers that say "this in every FF game" they need to listen to this entire track. Uematsu uses the same or similar arpeggiation structure in his other games, however, if you listen to the entire composition, this is distinctly from just FF7.

Quite possibly just a direct midi import, but I have no way of proving that, but I just wish people who make remixes add in their own parts and messing with the original composition to give it their own personal flair. It's still got a nice sound tho.

[KR- Sonic 2 Mystic Cave]

well....

this is one of my favorite sonic tunes, actually i like all the old school sonic tunes very much <3. You definetly have the same tune down indeed- but to the point where I have to question if you just straight uploaded a .midi file into FL studio and replaced it with instruments (which is not allowed, you need to make original remixes from scratch). the dynamics are fluid and the panning is spaced which makes me question that, lol. whether you did or not, you use the same instruments used in the original composition, and it doesn't have enough of your own personal flair; so don't be afraid too add your own style by messing with instrument selection and altering the melodies and rhythms yourself. if you did arrange this from scratch tho, great job doing it.

some more suggestions:
-There is clipping throughout most of the track put some compression on the piano
-Put reverb on the piano for depth(why not a model with a large room size and a good deal of decay to recreate a spooky cave theme?)
-Drums wouldn't be a bad fit
-That loudness in the end sounds unprofessional, gradually work your way into it or just don't include the increase at all

Well good luck, keep doing these sonic remixes but dont be afraid to experiment more.

-Review Request Club-

knuxrouge responds:

I don't use midis, I start from scratch and work hard.
I use a Brass, keys a Sytrus and String. I dont quite understand what you said about the panning, but I was testing with my growing mixing skills and I guess that was a result. I don't use effects alot, mainly because I don't see any real need to use them. I'm not too good at originality, I'm still working on that part. Its better when I have the main flow in mind in contrast to thinking one up. Thank you.

FPCs are a bitch to use for me, I use them sparingly. The loudness at the end was intentional as to add a bit of spookiness to the track.

All and all, thanks for your review.

[Jazz Scientist[Coldplay Cover]]

'tis good

I don't think I've heard this song before, sadly to say. Great improvisation man, some nice jazz solos of the over main chord progression, a very smooth flow. I also like those bold, warming pads and synths in the background. nothing much more to say on this one. you should have the kept the improv'ing going, kinda ended on a weak note at 1:40, might want to let that note ring out.

-Review Request Club-

[Cry - J]

not bad at all

i personally like your other one a tad more, but this one is indeed good. It does sound more poppy than jazzy IMO tho. the drumbeat is definetly not jazz tho. But then again, I suck at categorizing stuff. maybe fusion is the right genre? Not that NG has it.

The compositional style reminds me a little bit of Elton John. I really like the two chords you base this on, and how you shift from a minor to a major chord and work a melody around those seperately. your other stuff from what I've browsed over is more complex, but this one still gets the job done indeed. strings are a good background fit, they're nice and soft and mesh quite well with the piano. I do like some of the jazzyish riffs (I can see where it has some jazz influences, but the track as a whole sounds more poppy to me). I like the interlude section, the end was quite good. The organs were a great addition to carryout the main themes in the final sequence of the track. Drumbeat is good throughout, i like you're use of the snarerims, i would definetly include some toms and little fills to keep the drum section more variated. and once again, good use of dynamics.

not a lot of criticism here, no clipping with the piano this time, and I really like the organ sounds, but the one that plays the lower sounds is pretty cheap sounding in comparison. You might also want to tilt your hi-hat to the left or right speaker a bit more.

keeping making these type of tracks man.

-Review Request Club-

[Lost in a Cloud]

Pretty nice man!

this is the second solo piano piece I've listened to in a row. they both work great by themselves, but I will have different suggestions on this one; and I may contrast to just get my personal opinion across and try to contradict myself as little as possible...

Some excellent harmony work in here, you start off simple and get a bit more complex as the song progresses. Well variated, slightly saddening piano melodies in the lower and middle octaves, really love the melodical progression around 00:35, and the tranisitioning into something renassaince classical sounding. Great job throughout really, I can't say much more. I also like the little bluesy runs like at 2:47. Good use of fluid dynamics, too.

On the last submission I reviewed, I said reverb is uneccesary because it was just a cheery, funny piece. Since this track is more serious, I would definetly add some reverb to increase the depth and refine your sound to a more polished note. you might want to put some compression on your piano to, because it causes some clipping when you hit the lower lower chords. (if you're using the compression preset it won't limit everything) I also said in my last review that there wasn't a need for more instruments; in this too there isnt an absolute need as the piano is enjoyable by itself. But I really think you can compliment your ideas in here and make this a more powerful track by putting some nice strings in the background to carry out your themes even more.

Great piece Jurian!

-Review Request Club-

[I Like to Hit Things]

Good show chap

this works quite well as a standalone piece. it could be used in some lighthearted and funny play or flash of sorts, like a mime riding a unicyle or something. But it's definetly a joyful composition throughout despite you saying it lacks variation. real nice catchy rhythm scheme, joyful higher pitched melodies with the graceful lower tones, overall an excellent composition. some nice tasteful dissonance in here too, which helps the mood. tempo slowdown was well executed, and the arpeggiated chord you ended on was beautiful.

one thing this could use is some velocity and dynamics variation. as long as its not percussion its not a big deal with me, but it'll make your sound more authentic. reverb is not really needed here, although if you slap some on you could create a more "live" feel. i would usually say add strings or another instrument to accompany the solo piece in this track, but this is already very entertaining by itself that the piano accomplishes the job alone.

-Review Request Club-

WritersBlock responds:

Thanks for the comments. I'll probably put some more attention to the dynamics and expression. Cheers for the review. Very helpful.

[Boss Fight Number One]

Very Good

this is pretty sweet, but some of the sounds and harmonies could work better together. The backing filtered synths don't sound to great with keyboards upfront, you might want to select a different sound. The harmonization seems a bit awkard around the transitioning at 00:13, it might not be a fault in the actual composition but the synths classhing. its not too bad in the second half, so no real beefs here.

One aspect of this track I love are the kickass, fast paced battle suitable melodies. The piano riff in the intro is sweeet, you establish it with some nice melody, use the "galloping" triplets, and do a great job of using the same theme and harmonizing. I really dig how you have the super fast arpeggios, with a nice guitar (or whatever) chord progression to back it up. the ending is abrupt, you might want to slow it down before it ends, or atleast end on an extended chord/note. I would definetly love to see some phrasing done here, and here the same portion that you used in the intro, but that's not necessary for a boss battle piece.

Mastering work...could use some polishing. I mean it's nice and full, takes up the stereo, but the panning, is weird? I like how the piano flies around my speakers, but it kinda takes up too much space from the other sounds. Like the main synth you used, I can't hear it all during certain times. And the drums could be a tad louder, and the closed hi-hat should be panned to the right a bit.

But who cares? This is pretty sweet man.

an1ma7ion responds:

Thanks! I need a little encouragement to get me though the day

[8Bit Cutscene Loop]

Hardly has an 8-bit feel

The main melody is the only part that sounds geniunely 8-bit. the bassline has a tiny bit too much depth to sound 8bit (might just be me). My favorite part about 8bit tracks are the drums, so it was a bit disappointing to not seen any bitcrushed drums in here :( I recommend you google and download the program bitcrusher, so you can make your drums have that 8bit feel :)

as far as the composition- it's on the plain side and nothing to interesting. The lead melody you use sounds pretty nice and could work as something catchy, but it doesn't have a lot of instruments to support it. I would definetly like to see a more varied progression, and possibly some extended high pitched notes; just like one or two more synths in here. As for the drumbeat, its nothing interesting but it fits for this type of style, but it would sound much better if add some driving sounds to accompany it. Also, woulnt hurt to throw in some hi-hats as well for good measure.

its on the simple side and could use some more work to refine an 8bit sound- but its not horrible, keep trying :)

Dark-Frando responds:

Ah, I wasnt aware that such a program existed, I'll look into it and see what i can do, thanks =)

[What Is Love (8-Bit Mix)]

haha nice

cant remember this song 100%, but this is indeed a great original remix. love your 8bit sounds- its well mixed and you adequately used the lo-fi synths to re create an old school feel. The notes and track is sequenced perfectly and you might want to throw some noise for the snare sounds and a bitcrushed (louder) dancekick, it does feel like its missing something a bit, no semi-pun intended. The lead solo/riff at 2:11 and other places there is a real nice 8bit bell sound that you utilize, it would be cool if somewhere else where this part was used a saw synth with extended notes would be a nice choice. well, just suggestions, cant find anything wrong with this one. nice remix, keep it up!