CurvyPixel's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[(CS3) - Stroll on Tenth A]

Smoky film-noir greaser

Hey camoshark,

--Production--
The overall sound of this song is full and nice to hear. There are some interesting dynamics I particularly liked about the production, for example the acoustic guitar. I wasn't sure whether that was panned to the right, but it had that nice "off-to-the-side" vibe to it, but not without alienating the user.

--Experience--
Stroll on Tenth Avenue brings nice espionage-esque feelings with it. The combination of the soulful brass with the smooth'n'easy basslines creates that fantastic spy-like vibe.

--Style--
Very jazzy, almost as if you're watching a film in black-and-white. The Shiva flute was a nice variance in the song, to add a bit of melody, and also to bring that oriental flavour to the piece.

--Wow Factor--
You always bring that masterful touch of composing to your songs, and this is no different. Supersteph's knowledge also comes in handy in bringing your songs from dry form to adding all the effects and stuff, I think. It's nice.

--Personal Tilt--
Refreshing. A very jazzy feel about it that portrays the feeling of secrecy and film-noir. I see that you've likened it to a detective story, and you pull that off with aplomb. Need I say more? Very smoky, beautifully composed song. Thanks for letting me listen.

--Production-- = 17/20
--Experience-- = 19/20
--Style-- = 20/20
--Wow Factor-- = 15/20
--Personal Tilt-- = 16/20

OVERALL SCORE: 87/100

Benjamin

--REVIEW REQUEST CLUB--

camoshark responds:

Hey Benny, nice hearing for you, sorry about not replying in the last few weeks, wasn't really into replying, even thought I read your other reviews.

Also, sorry about your account loss (or password loss for that matter).

Anyways, review :

Thanks for doing what you do, I always enjoy structured reviews. Speaking of wich, I also see you modified your structuring, wich is also a good thing, I guess!

One detail I notice most of the time is that my rating for the wow factor always stagnates around 15/20, wich bugs me a bit. For that, I'm asking you: How can I upgrade this score?

Thanks again for the thorough review, it's helping me get better and better every week!

Cheers

[One Tune Nation]

Not quite, but close

Hey Semaphore,

--Production--
Fair, to say the least. I feel the bass was unnecessarily sharp and loud, like a pure saw almost. The song had a bouncy feel to it, but everything felt out of proportion and not full. The sounds were clear and crisp, though, and it had a good-feeling vibe to it.

--Experience--
The song slowly builds up from the light to the intense. It's interesting how this song progresses. It definitely has a journey to it, but the problem is that the journey ends so suddenly. We need a less 'jolting' ending to it. It just seemed like it halted to a stop quickly and without warning.

--Style--
The style begins interestingly, then goes into more house-like fare. I understand that you're trying to combine ambient with it. But it sounded just like regular house to me. The attack and release for each of the synths was too low for ambient.

--Wow Factor--
I was impressed towards the end, but at the beginning, the sounds were so unbalanced that I couldn't figure out what happened. It didn't bring amazement at all. And we are just starting to bob our heads when it fades out.

--Personal Tilt--
Needs more length. I was just waiting for it to pop. I also don't think you quite pulled off the whole "Ambiehouse" thing, it just sounded like house to me. Maybe a longer buildup with more interesting ambient sounds before the house beat came in, would be good. Thanks for letting me listen.

--Production-- = 12/20
--Experience-- = 15/20
--Style-- = 14/20
--Wow Factor-- = 12/20
--Personal Tilt-- = 12/20

OVERALL SCORE: 65/100

Benjamin

--REVIEW REQUEST CLUB--

Semaphore responds:

I do feel almost the same.

It was my first try to do something housy but I stuck in ambient and these soft instruments don't really fit into the song.

I picked the wrong melody for a harder track.

But I'm fine with the mastering, I tried out new techniques and I think they worked, especially for the bassline =D

It was a stage I had to explore and in the future I will be prepared for some more housy songproduction ^_^v

thank you very much for your review CurvyPixel

[Unconscious Mind Render]

Very abrasive

Hey sapoman,

--Production--
The sound fairly filled the ears, with the interesting groaning sounds filling each ear. The whole thing felt slightly empty, however, with slightly weak vocals and interesting panning effects. Needs a bit more loving care taken to making things better to listen for the listener.

--Experience--
It was very dark and moody, with clashing drums and interesting effects. The use of the different sounds led to an unrelenting atmosphere of darkness, which might be off-putting to most listeners. I was certainly feeling the dark vibes, and not liking.

--Style--
The style is dark and abrasive, with depressive tones. The lyrics I feel did not make congruent sense, from "hypnotism" to "hate in their eyes" to "rendering the mind at a higher resolution". It didn't carry any meaning except for maybe a higher state of consciousness, but I didn't feel you brought that along well.

--Wow Factor--
There's a very underwhelming quality to your music, as if you didn't take care to understand why WE might want to listen to your music. It's dark and very introspective, but you need to explain that more to us through your music. it needs development.

--Personal Tilt--
I disliked the unrelenting feel of the song, which was dark with no hope of light. You need some light parts to contrast with the dark parts, make them even darker. Some work needed, but I think you have potential. Thanks for letting me listen.

--Production-- = 10/20
--Experience-- = 2/20
--Style-- = 7/20
--Wow Factor-- = 0/20
--Personal Tilt-- = 1/20

OVERALL SCORE: 20/100

Benjamin

--REVIEW REQUEST CLUB--

sapoman responds:

I guess this song wasn't for you. It wasn't meant to have any light parts. It deals with the subconscious, which has no rational meaning. Trying to box it into something light and happy was definitely not my point, and neither was it supposed to relent in any way. To describe it from my point of view:
This song is raw, provokes questions, and is supposed to make you feel uncomfortable. What is its true meaning? Your subconscious mind may help you to answer, but you have to be in between dreaming and wakeful states. I wrote this song dozing off, and then waking up right when I was about to fall asleep. I would then write another part, whether it be a bit of lyric or programmed sound. I followed this simple plan until the song was done, so it is an experiment. I guess I should have explained further. Anyway, thanks for the review. Sorry it wasn't to your liking.

-Jon