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

[growing on me]

I dig

Like the guy said below me, I first listened to this several months ago (as many of your other songs as well)

I would say this piece shows some of your versatility. Most of your stuff (if you dont mind me saying) generally has a dark, creepy, or mellow theme and this track displays how you can do a good job at creating an upbeat mix.

Really like the synth development in here, those pitch LFO effects (?) are really awesome. Main melody is well constructed, and the themes progress well throughout and repetition is utilized nicely without going over the top. Some of the acid bits fit in like a charm. Beat is fitting but nothing special (as it usually never is for these genres) and I like the slight but long phasing FX on the hats. The automated part in the break area flows into the last part quite well, where all the synths and melodies can meld together adequately to make for an energetic finish.

no complaints here. maybe one minor technical qualm that doesnt make a huge difference, but maybe just a touch of more bass could be applied to the kick.

Good song, and a good game too! Although I could never get past level 10 I think it was.

snayk responds:

Thanks for the review! I have to say, you've got some of the most in-depth, accurate, GOOD (though sometimes intimidating to respond to :P) reviews.

I'm really glad you like the song! Thanks again.

[Endless Dream Final]

10/10

Very mastefully produced Firebolt! This is a very, very rare instance when I give dance/trance tracks 10/10.

I really love the emotion put into this piece, some great melodical ideas.

Sidechaining is real sharp in the intro. I really love that synth on the top, it has a nice futurisitc feel to it which works great in the introductory themes. The build is great, starting off with a nice kick, and those cool clap samples, and furthermore bringing in the hi-hats. So great job with the intro.

I really enjoyed the next section as well. Great keys progression (it sounds quite familiar, from that movie Night at the Roxbury I think) and the lead melody on the saw is a keeper.

Great job at keeping an intensive flow of energy throughout, and arranging and putting together all the patterns and snippets together well. Enough repetition to make the track danceable as whole, but progressive variations to keep the whole audio clip interesting.

Might I also add that the production is very crisp and well mixed. Good job at bringing out and mixing all the samples and synths to give a professional sounding, well defined sound.

Constructive criticism? I really can't think of anything in here in how you could improve. sorry, just returning an overdue review. Like said above, you did an exceptionally well job at producing this track and I honestly can't find any flaws-might just not be my genre.

I guess I can dig out two unneccessary criticisms hehe :P The reverbed hollow sounding synth that you start with is mostly a percussive element added to the track, it might be cool if you made bit of a melody out of it to add more diversity. Also, when you introduced the piano chord progression, some left hand, higher end melodies may add to the track if you just layed down a few notes. It would really bring out the more emotional side of this track. Again, these are just uneeded suggestions but may you find them useful in the future :P

Artists like you, Karco, and MrMilkCarton really make this type of music appeal to me. I'm thinking about buying Nexus and checking it out because I want to create dance music, but so far my attempts have failed. and I suck at making good sounding synths from scratch, so.

Keep up the good work man!

FlamingFirebolt responds:

wow thanks for the huge review! you dont see them like that anymore. (maybe karco :O )

anyways since you reviewed it point to point...
Why dont you give more dance/trance tracks a 10? okey its a more populair genre so it has to do something to stand out... but dance is the easiest genre to make ^^

About the sidechaining. to be honest it isnt sidechained! its some weird bass sound with a slight pitch change while the note is playing. that might sound fantastic and great but its just an preset Eqed a little... yeah nexus preset so go buy nexus now :P

About the intro. I really suck at intro's. i just do. i cant build an decent intro. so thanks you liked it. that sound (sounds like a synthesized version of some1 slamming a metal pipe) is actually a sample! so it might dissapoint you. and the beats you here in the intro.. are actually the same beat/percussion played trough the whole song. except the cymbal on the kick.

The key progression is really simple. something like G#, C,D#.. then drop the G# to the G. and theres the next chord. dance music is next to simplicity :)

does it sound crisp? maybe sharp?.. well the problem was, i had such an pain eqing the whole damn thing that i just made the kick and bass bigger. and on the lead and piano i 'deleted' the bass. so it stays seperate. it turned out better then i expected since it was really easy ^^

I dont really understand about the criticsm of the piano. Quote: ''Also, when you introduced the piano chord progression, some left hand, higher end melodies may add to the track if you just layed down a few notes. It would really bring out the more emotional side of this track.''
well its just the chord progression and the bassline only in that rhytme you hear. so yeah, i might aswell added some notes here and there but it kinda ruined it. since i was planning for more of an background thing and not as a main lead.

i dont know who MrMilkCarton is. his name sounds funny so i might aswell go check his Account. But being kinda compared with Karco is awesome. i love his style and i agree hes a great artist. but that doesnt matter to you :P

Okey, since this WHOLE song is made with nexus, if you liked some of the sounds go buy the damn thing! its great program and lots of people use it. (piracy i suspose). but the plugin is more preset work then really making your own Synth. ( but since you said you sucked at that youll do fine:) )

i will keep up the 'good' work!
thanks you liked it!
Your reveiw really helped me and its nice that there still song people around who WOULD bother to typ more then 1 sentence. you might be in the 'excessive' part of the group ^^.

-firebolt-

[Nav - Perfection (v. 2)]

Nice bit o' funk and bass

this is a nice cheery track with a nice spin on DnB (actually I really see nothing DnB about it O_o, what subgenre would this be?) with great happy vibes and an overall pleasant feel. I could see this in a 70s sitcom where a skinny black guy with a pencil moustache is walking to school, greeting people as he walks on the sidewalk with his spinning dancing moves.

haha, I think I recognize and like the James Brown samples. it does give the track a nice touch. Decent bassline (especially the chromatic sections in transitions where pulled off nicely) and chord progression, nothing to special but it flows well. What I really do like is the melody. It's extremely catchy and rememberable. THis will get stuck in my head and I will end up humming it!

Nice synth work, simple cheery synths that work great with the track.

I have to agree with the below reviewers on the kick. The beat feels fine, to me atleast. It's got a good groove and nice samples-except the kick. Something feels wrong about, like there some random artificat added to it or someone punched a hole in a bass drum. I would prefer a different acoustic sample.

a bit outside your normal range from what I've heard you post on NG- but its nice! keep it up and continue to explore different styles :)

Nav responds:

Haha, this is technically something like breaks? Maybe, not too sure. Its just supposed to be in-game music! Also lol pencil mustache.

Yep, the drums were all James Brown, thanks about the catchy part! It just sorta came to me :)

The kick was from the same sample as the rest of the percussion, so chances are I will change it!

Thanks for the review! I am trying to branch out so I can learn! :D

[Drive me Crazy]

you did this all in GB?

iv so, decent beat, with good piano melodies.

The distorted kick is pretty nice, but could have more boom. You don't really have a bassline in here (atleast from what my headphones can hear), so may EQing on subass or laying it with the sub in GB would be nice.

The intro was pretty cool. I like that percussion in the background, and the left hand melodies carry a nice catchy melody, while the chord progresion wasnt too interesting and overalll simple but it does fit the genre. Good job at sequencing the themes and translating the melody on to the new clicky synth (which I cant say I really liked to be honest, it could probably use a subtle EQ cut to remove some of the higher frequencies). Strings and brass flow pretty well, it would be pretty easy to lay a rap over this.

I do like the piano solo section. It does seem a bit empty and could use some quiet strings that slowly flade in about 8 bars or so before the buildup. I also think that the major chord arpeggiation felt like an uneeded filler around 2:46ish, and didnt need to be in there. If you switched the last chord to a minor it might make the buildup back into the main beef more interesting.

The last section was good! You included one more melody, got the hi-hats rolling, and made it generally the most climatic part which is usually what a song calls for.

So overall, nice composition, not any errors really. and its mixed pretty well. Although, the last part around 3;22ish seems a bit "busy" and you may want to mess with panning, and different levels of reverbs so that your instruments sound like theyre coming from their own places and not fighting for room, making the track sound fuller and more clear. I wish I could give more specific tips, but I myself am no mixer.

I like you're sitting room melodies track more (which I was actually listening to earlier today!) but this one is fresh too! Certainly more refreshing than most mainstream rap beats. Keep it flowing.

timpinisucks responds:

Wow. Most comprehensive review I've ever recieved. I'll definitely keep all that in mind. Thanks for taking the time.

[~{HN}~ The Roads Ahead]

yay!

I can finally fit this into my favorites since its generally closed to being finished!

I already reviewed the first portion, its still solid!

Smooth transitioning into the second part. I really like the direction you took with it and gave your track a dark, wicked quiet yet powerful, twist. As the nobles eat and dance in their castles, living their safe and regal lifestyles, their lies an evil yet powerful
wizard in the chums. He's cooking up an evil plan to take over the city and capture the princess. </generic RPG storyline> Yeah, I love it. Magnificent playing on the harp, each note leaving its presence and fluid dynamics to accentuate the movements. My favorite part would have to be with the clarinets come in at 2:04 to add some sadness to the track.

as a matter of fact, I don't see the problem with it ending here. I dont know your personal intentions for the piece-but I think the track has done its purpose in exploring the goods and evils of what it reminded me of atleast.

anyways, great work, cant find anything wrong with it really, and its certainly above average so 10/10 for you :D

Twistedtechnology responds:

really? i personally feel it kinda just.....ends... rather suddenly and almost unresolvingly.

Glad you liked the harp, i was quite fond of it myself...and i was expecting you to comment on those clarinets XD I figure you'd like those :)

Anywho, thanks a lot for the review!!! and teh votes! If i do end up puting more into this im sure you'll be the first to hear about it XDXD

[Nav - Space Sequence]

Goodies

I already talked to you on MSN regarding this track a while ago but I'll review it too.. I first thought it started off kinda slow, but listening the second time around I can really feel a groove with it and easily let it loop without getting tired of it.

Some very good synth production as expected from you Nav! The square (?) ones you open with fits well in the buildup. I really enjoyed the backing chord progression too, as it was my favorite part and element of the track. It was one of the chord progressions that stuck really well with me. and when the snare rims came in, I had to get up and dance a bit. The rest has a real crisp, refreshing trance sound.

as far as it sounding spacey, not a whole lot much IMO- as I'm used to space music having weird, creepy synths and dissonant melodies and such. It does have a sort of a friendly type of farewell feel to it tho, so I guess it could be used in a scene where a spaceship takes off from Earth. It actually reminds me a bit of the old school Streets of Rage series for the Genesis.

nice samples and mixing too, I dont think I can find a complaint with this one. Other than the bassline was pretty simple and repetive, but I didnt find that to be a problem really.

I really do like this track so I think I'm going to reorganize my positions tonight and put this in my top 4. Keep on it, I hope to hear more from you soon.

Nav responds:

Haha, sorry about the title. Rig made it. I thought it fit, but then again: I was thinking of mathematical "Space," and a simple sequence, of numbers (or chords)!

Thanks for the great review! :)

P.S. Yep, that's a square!

[Waste the Day]

wow!

This one's real fresh! I love the dorian scale over the funky beat. I like the FX on the beat too, whatever that is that you use to make it sound kinda glitchy. Then you bring in the piano for the more emotional parts. I like the reverb FX too.

Synths production is always nice coming from you. This could be used in a scene while the main character walks down an alley fighting off creatures....Wish I had more to say, but its goood!

Gillenium responds:

Thanks for the review! Finishing this song was kind've a bittersweet moment, because I ended up combining parts from 3 different projects to make it happen. So, now I have two projects that need new percussion and new hooks. Oh well... The beat has been cooking a loooooong time. It was attached to a Rob Dougan-sounding track that I didn't know what to do with, so I just transfered it over.

I also continued a personal trend of not correcting my piano improv. That's exactly how I played it the first time through. Has a few mistakes, but I think that adds a human element to it.

[(_RGH_) CTSG3(Metal Newscast)]

Haha I agree

I agree with the guy below me, it does sound like a newscast! A rather serious one at that.

I love the guitar sounding thing and the synths. Pad works nicely in the background and progresses well. Beat is well done and thought out nicely, I especially like the triplets on the kick. Cool samples too. synthmetal = win!?!?!?!? even some nice orchestration in here.

Only criticism is I think the kick should be a bit more powerful and boisterous....maybe louder and more mids for a heavy metal kick?

anyways, good job with this one. everything flows and gels together real well, not to mention it loops flawlessly

RyeGuyHead responds:

i can definatly amp up the kick...

[Arpegio Study no 1]

Nice!

Those were some spooky chords in the background, I like the acoustic sound, sweeping sounds nice. I think your lead tone could be brough out more tho with some fancy FX. Let me tell you, I'm pretty jealous cuz I suck at guitar now, and when I was decent, I could only sweep pick downwards (except I could sweep maj7 chords upward, but that doesnt count). Keep up the good playing!

sorohanro responds:

:)) spooky chords ... well, the story is that i wanted to play two different arpegios, but by mistake i played those and sounded good, so i built the tune according to the mistake :)))

anyway, there is also the backing track for recording solos, not only guitar, can be also a kazoo solo
thanx for review

[~:{W}:~Ocean Side Chill(demo)]

Yes!

I like this one a lot. Great choice of chords, and good amount of rests to let the ambience works its way in and do the job. I like how you combined the keys with a synth and added the delay effect, very good sensiblity! Beat is interesting and flows smoothly, its soft to fit the themes, and the ambience background with the waves and chirping adds that extra sparkle that really makes this track a nice one. I also really dig that hollow, swirling texture. Great job. Only problem, its too short! Might want to make a longer version with a bass in here of sorts, like a nice juicy sine pad or somethin. Anyways keep up the good work.

Geigamg responds:

^_^ a bass pad hmmm? Damm that'd sound perfect.. Its a thrilling review you gave me, You heard what i wanted people to hear im still working on this one =S but ill try get it done soon =] thanks alot for your time ^^