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

[MusicBox - Forest Theme]

intensive :[=]

this is a pretty good loop, does indeed fit for the forest hunting theme. I can imagine some tribal warriors sneakily circleing a tiger and ambushing it to bring home to their families for dinner.

nice use of percussion. The timpanis/bass drum/log drum whatever you are using is really sick, lots of varied dynamics, well variated battle-esque rhythms and the heavy hit at the start of each bar just adds some hair raising emotion. shakers/rainsticks add the nice ethnic feel, maybe try making them a bit louder, and if you were to continue with this make them play more consistently. some mid range percussion like a conga would be a good fit for a forest theme.

anyways, sick percussion, maybe if you were to make this longer it could use more melodical content. Some sparingly used strings and maybe a solo pan flute would be could addition in here.

good sound quality, interesting loop, keep up the good work!

MusicBox responds:

Wow, thank you. You seem to have a high sence of art.
I am really pleased of your compliments.
I haven't got a pan-flute, but maybe i'll ty out a piccolo-strings mixture.
Your review really helped :)

[Fairy Fountain-Glitchified Mix]

only 3 reviews 10 downloads!?

this is pretty damn sick dude, love the glitched drums.

The filtered saw in the background is real slick, the 8bit synth is a nice fit, and my favorite part of this track is the drums. I love the sound of them, and the effects that you put on them. (maybe the entire drum section could just be a tad louder tho to maximize its effectiveness) basskick probably could use more oomph at certain parts- but from hearing your mastering/mixing skills on other works its probably just me and my headphones. the beat is pretty sick, it just sounds a bit sloppy when you end on the blastbeat IMO. Strings/choir carry the drums quite well, I would love to see a longer version of this track, maybe with some less intensive but more melodical verse sections, and then bring in the rapid drums back in during the chorus.

awesome job here dude!

itsameyayo responds:

Thanks for the inspiration, I might continue this one, but it'll have to be a lot later, I'm on a tighter schedule these days :)

-ImperfectDisciple

[A Night Underground]

yo kevs

I think the best two words to describe this track would be "weird" and "different". Quite an original track right here. i cant say i'm a huge fan of the ideas in this track to much until the climax point, but its got quite a unique touch, which I can definetly respect. The textures and synths are not the most attractive sound, as they were a bit too fuzzy and mostly noise-based (maybe try putting a more noticeable sine wave in here to use a smooth base). thats just what I personally like, but its a nice vintage sound (I believe you said you use an 80s keyboard of sorts?). I do like the noisy drone around 1:05, at the gated/chopped synth around 1:55 adds a nice creepy touch. everything was sequenced quite well with the drums and variated quite well enough to the climax point. there was no real chorus secton from my perspective, if you took like a rock/metalish touch by utilizing the melody at 2:10ish and the laying it down on a heavy distorted guitar I think that would be pretty damn tight, and then maybe after bridge into the 2:40ish part.

and then the main climatic part was very enjoyable- i really like that drum beat a lot, nice use of claps and layered hi-hats- I find these beats more catchy then the march-esque beats that you seem to use more often from hearing a few of your tracks, so IMO maybe it would be a cool if you had just one track that used them more consistently? the smooth gated synth works quite well, and I like the noise-based synths in the background. conclusion is pretty decent too with the keys and strings harmonization, maybe put a touch of reverb on the keys to add some depth tho.

pretty sweet track tho! respectable style indeed.

kevs91 responds:

Thanks for the very in-depth review.

The general noise of the synths are by design...it's just how I prefer them to sound. Obviously I need to work on balancing that out with some less noise more substancey sounds.

And yeah, I know that I really should improve on my drum tracks. Of the two things I'm working on now, one has the more typical marching beat that I tend to use, but the other has much more movement. So I think it's just a matter of putting in some more work on the drums than I'm used to.

I like the climax too because it's the same synth sounds that are used throughout the song, just with the arp on to make that cut up sound. (same thing with the 1:55 synth you talked about).

Again, thank you for such a great review.

[[TMM43] Robots?]

intesting TMM!

good vocoder intro, the house melody with the simple beat after was kinda weak, but not overly drawn out, when you get down to buisness 0:19 I was able to get into it. I really like the melodical side of this track, good use of the clicky kicks, and robotic sounding synthline- very suitable for this month's Mac. I could definetly do the robot to this!

Its a tad repetive, but not boring and variated enough for the timeframe to be an interesting track throughout. Maybe a thin trance chip to mimic some robotic beeps would be a cool fit, and I would love to hear you make a section with a vocoded solo!

overall nice job with this one man, good luck in the contest.

[[DG] -Come On-]

brasshop

nice groovy brass diddly you got goin on here. I like those effects panned to the side, and the vintage snare especially when you do the pitch rolls. Beat overall works well, maybe could use more variation in your next version, maybe try to laying your clap with the snare every now and then, and include more dynamics.

Composition is solid tho, enjoyable brass riffs, good chord harmonization, I like the fading synth effects. and the plucked strings in combination with the bowed parts. i wish there could be better samples/patches, but whatever. if you can, try putting more boom in your bassline, if its synthesized, trying lowering the coarse knobs and see how it sounds. atleast the kick and bassline are well distinguishable tho, so kudos for that.

pretty nice mix of orchestra and hip hop! keep up the good work.

[pet's ghost]

real nice sound bro

I would have to agree with fatkid though, definetly raise the master volume just a tad tho, it gets at a good distinguishable level around the middle of the track tho, but it probably took a little too long. you should also try to put a bassline and center it in the middle of the track, (or center the lower guitar frequencies) to put a nice warm tone to balance the panned guitats on.

i like the guitar chords quite a bit, some interesting harmony bits, dreamy and happy chords sequenced to make a moody feel. some natural harmonics would work wonders in here, i would have kept the soloing going just a tad longer in the end. The clean chorus tones are nice, and dont bring out any unwanted tone so decent clarity here.

pretty good track, would be nice to see this developed into something further, and maybe raise the volume just a tad too.

LfunkeyA responds:

ok, ok, i was being a bitch in that last reply :P, i'll post a fix

[Through the Winter]

Jolly good show

very cool composition man! sounds like something you'd see in old school holiday themed show on PBS. haha

you caught me in the intro with the nice suspenseful sounding violin and moving bass tones in the background. woodwind sections sound nice, my favorite part is when those graceful arpeggios come in around 00:31ish.....Then you add the horns in around 0:53 to give it the winterish touch with a major melody; orgasmic legato at 1:06! nice job transitioning back into the main themes, and good work with making this composition diverse and well variated with lots of different feelings sparked, cant really find anything wrong with this one. maybe a pizzicato section and some choir ahhs would be great to layer this in too! i would recommend jingle bells too since its a winter piece, but I'm just going overboard now.

Keep up the good work!

[Forest Melody]

weee

sounds more like a village theme, i'd have to go with divixmage. still a pretty good piece, with a great childish tranquility type of feel. it actually reminds me of a Nickelodeon Junior kids show, when they frolic through their homes playin hide and seek lol (i dont mean this in a bad way at all).

cheerful nylon string chords in the background, melded quite well with the lead flute melodies and slowly moving string sections. I like how you rhythmically wrote them, it kind adds a "skipping" type of motion to just compliment the over all themes of the track. so solid overall composition; it just ends to abruptly, you need some conclusion of sorts (or just loop the track) , maybe slowdown the rhythm guitar in the background and then end on a nice major chord.

overall instruments used are not the most authentic sounding and could use more stereo usage to make it fuller track, but there's no real unwanted sounds in here so I cant say thats a real flaw. though- if this was forest-esque I would just personally be looking for some deeper, bassier sounds, maybe a tribal touch like a pan flute (like you mentioned below), maybe some mallet percussion and some actual ambience, like crickets or such. I think it would be a good idea, no? This is still a nice, serene audio piece here tho man!!

r0bz0r responds:

Wow, well firstly, thanks a lot for your in depth review. You've made a lot of good points, and I'd definitely like to go back to the drawing board on this one. I do agree though, the instruments do sound too artificial, and there could be a more "hollow" sounding flute.

Eh, I'm reviewing my own work! But anyway, thanks again for the review, it's always good to have someone tell me how to improve :3

*ranks your review as helpful!*

[§haded in Blood (Bad Man Inc)]

I wish I was this badass

Such a great track! This could be used in a movie with three guys riding Harleys with long beards and leather jackets riding down a highway, then busting into a building, firing machine guns at their enemies, working there way through unflinching and expresionless.

anyway, I absolutely love the main riff, interesting construction, its not a generic chugging riff at all. I love how it starts off as the palm muting part and then turns into an interesting arpeggio. The lead guitar has some pretty sweet harmonization and soloing. I like the tapping sections followed by the tremelo picking, very well executed and utilized- not overly fast, sloppy, boringl. A lot of the solo guitarists from what I've heard on here at NG just try to play as fast possible and as much as possible to try and show off, which I usually cant respect as much. so its really nice that you included the slower parts in your solo and then worked into the more intense bits. ditto for the drum parts, i like the triplets on the ride cymbals.

your production is also crisp as fook, real nice distortion tones and clear, authentic sounding drums. the lead should be made more distinctive IMO, i would have panned it a little more to the left or right and then added a touch of reverb. but really good EQ to make everything sound fresh- what guitars and effects do you use for your production if you dont mind saying?

Yeaaaa!!!!!!!

Bad-Man-Incorporated responds:

Thank you very much for the in depth review. I agree with the leads not standing out. haha.

I've been really working on my lead playing, as I have no real prowess really, when it comes to soloing. I play pretty much the same scale all over. My main reasons for wanting to learn more leads are...Variation, and Metaljonus. haha.
IT was suggested by a good friend,(DarKsidE) that I learn some more scales. He's right,
and Metaljonus : http://metaljonus.newgrounds.com/ is the best friggin shredder I've ever heard, I look there quite often for inspiration to keep practicing. (thanks Jon) haha. And I don't even think he is showing off. I'd like to see it though.

I read an interview with Randy Rhodes once, that pretty much said: "if you are a good rhythm player, practice rhythm. If you are better on the leads, practice leads, as one type of player will always be able to find another..then, you make music together" Or some shit like that. I've pretty much lived by that...practicing my rhythm more than leads. However, this is 2008. If you can't multi task, then you can't keep up. I ain't that old yet. haha.

Anyways, glad you found the recording nice and clear. I'm still searching for a good bonecrunching tone, but this is satisfying for the moment.

My guitar, is an old ass beast. 1984 profile. Mint though, and I'm running through a pod 2.0. These were basically just some stock settings. So I'll be uploading lots of experimental crap. haha.

Thanks again for the cool review and support, man! Sorry for the huge story.