SinJim's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[-Rucklo Rave- |[Glou]|]

Rave

Wow, for a first attempt...shut up. It was great. I only really wanted a bit more punch on the kick. It may just be personal preference but I wanted the kicks to hit a tad harder to match the sick melodies you have going on. Also your drum work and effects are spot on and they really help the piece meld together.

Very Niice...!

~SinJim

Gloudas responds:

Awesome, glad to hear you liked it :D
Yeah, I actually tried to make the kick as powerful as I could without it overpowering with headphones, but it still sounds a bit weak on speakers :P It kinda surprised me how different how the song sounds with speakers as opposed to headphones, so it was kinda strange mixing and mastering the thing.
anyways, thanks for the review, I'm gonna go give your weekend entry a listen

[The Weight of the World]

Heavy...

Great piece here. You did a great job with the piano and I really liked the riffs you played. Although it could be a bit more varied, it wasn't the center of the song so it worked pretty well. It gave flavor to the piece. I also liked your choice of instruments with the violin and (the strummed instrument - be it a guitar or another one). It worked well and gave it a "European" feel (French or Italian -ish). I don't know if that's the right description but hopefully you get my drift.

The violin, while being nice, I do wish it was a different software instrument. Although, you usually can't help that if you're on a budget and can't pay out your butt to hire an actual violinist like we would all love to. To me, it sounds like the violin goes from quiet to loud every stroke, and sometimes you really want to make it sound as if the violin is being stroked on the bow continuously. You might wanna open up the sampler and try fooling around with the attack and/or release times (most likely the attack). Then again, it might just be a personal preference.

In terms of the idea behind the song, I really got where you were coming from. Not only is this an interesting concept but it really shows through in the song. I feel as if a character in this song really is making some choices that involve the weight of his world being put right onto his shoulders. Being innovative and actually working towards progress is something that very few people can really attest to and this song fits very well with that theme.

All in all, I really enjoyed this piece. I think (for me) if you fixed the violin, it'd be a great masterpiece. Awesome job and keep some pieces like these, be they inspired by philosophy or tales of epic proportions, coming for all of us to enjoy.

~SinJim

[Cerulean Fire]

Fire

The song is excellent. You have a great blend of all these different elements and they oddly fit really well together. I think, however, that techno is not the right genre for this song. Seems to me more like Drum n' Bass. Like the use of the atmospheres and I liked the chord change towards the middle of the song.

The only thing I didn't like was the rain drops. For some reason, they didn't seem to fit well. Maybe the sample ended abruptly or something, it just didn't sound right. You might be able to use the cross fade tol to cross fade the samples or even just fat it out so it doesn't sound odd.

Other than that, no complaints, nice job!

~SinJim

BewareOfTheBassist responds:

Thanks! You're probably right that Techno isn't the right genre for this, but I'm thinking that Drum N' Bass isn't quite right either, but I don't know. As to the drops I know what you mean, but I'm not sure that I'll post an updated version on NG, though.
And to clarify this in general, I use no samples, although the atmosphere textures and raindrops are preset on my computer

[L'Amore Perso (Love Lost)]

L'Amore

Well in terms of how good this song, you can refer to everyone else's comments that I agree with. The instruments you chose really make this shine through. I also really liked the subtle tempo changes, that really pulled it together for me.

Going to be hard to beat in the competition. Excellent piece here. Fav'd, good luck in the competition!!

~SinJim

MusicalRocky responds:

Hahah I'm glad you liked it!
Pianos are really beautiful instruments, and I had never gotten the chance to use solo oboe before, so I took it! Went well, I believe :P
The rits are really important because what they do is draw out the emotion in the ends of the phrases they appear in, thus the anticipation makes the beginning of the following phrase feel more emotional as well.

There are a lot of good entries this time around, and I wish you luck too!
Thanks for the review, the fave, and the 10 :D

-Rocky

[[DG] -Fallen Hero-]

Fallen

Kind of got that reflective sadness feel with this piece. Is that a french horn you used for the lead? Worked pretty well and sounded relatively real. The strings were pretty sweet but could have used a bit more in the bass end. You did an excellent job with the percussion and the harp at the beginning was awesome. I wanted the harp to come back in at some point.

For this being your first time in classical, you did an awesome job and it sounds great. The feeling of the song doesn't necessarily pull at your heart but it is definitely something that brings on a melancholy feel in remembrance. I think you did a good job and I'm not one for make-me-cry-I-cut-myself songs so I really enjoyed this.

Awesome job! Good luck in the contest!

~SinJim

DzGuy responds:

Hey thanks for the good review. :D

If you're talking about the instrument that comes in after the strings then that was actually a trumpet. The one near the end of the song was an instrument just labeled as "brass ensemble" so I have no idea what that was lol.

Glad you liked it!

[Everyone Cries]

Everyone Cries

While the quality could be better, I think it really works for this song. I like the rain in the background, but I think you could cut out the crying when the lyrics start. Or just make it sobbing instead with words while the lyrics are running. Just a small gripe of mine *shrug*.

The piano melody is pretty sweet and the contrast with your voice really makes it sad and kinda creepy haha. The song itself sounds like something you'd here in an older horror movie in an elevator. That's the kind of feeling I got from it, it was really morose.

Nice job on this one, if you fix a couple things, it'd be a perfect ten. Good luck in the contest.

~SinJim

jackbliss responds:

Thanks man! Getting a decent critique from a good musician like yourself is always very uplifting. You have inspired me to remake this song with modifications someday soon :-)

[The Captain's Theme]

Captain's theme

Wow, you really expanded on this piece. The second part you added really changed the mood (I feel like this captain is shipwrecked on an island). Also, the ending really kinda gave hope to the feel of the piece. The whole time it was rather sad and towards the end it was like the clouds opened up for the sun to peek through a bit.

A really love the additions you have hear. You didn't make it too long but you lengthened it enough and ended it for a fitting theme. I'm not sure about the first thunder strike, although as I listened through for a second time, I warmed up to it a bit. Might just be me though.

You really paint a picture of a character that is in some rough waters (heh...heh...) and I can really imagine the sort of person this guy is and how his luck takes a turn for the worst but in the end, hope shines through.

You really finished this one out and I wish you could submit this one because it is awesome and I think it would do very, very well in the competition. I'd say ask maestro, darkside, or rufio if you can submit it since you technically updated it.

Anyhow, nice job on the song, it's going on the fav's and hopefully you'll find it in yourself to ask about submitting it as an update. I don't think it'd be unfair.

~SinJim

[{MAC8}Essence of Time]

Essence

Wow, great job on this one. It's difficult to believe that your prominent genre isn't this one because you really did a great job on this song.

First off, the drums: holy crap nice.

I do agree that the buildup was a bit long but it worked well for me. The choice of pads/strings you used really fit the song and the piano pulled everything together.

At 2:45, wow everything got 10x better. I was really amazed. The theme you've got going and have described for the song really showed through and you just nailed it in the end.

I think you should shorten the intro a tad and this would be really epic. I also think you should put a sweet (a bit more complicated) piano riff in the end buildup.

Great song, fav'd, and good luck in the competition!

~SinJim

Mrmilkcarton responds:

Well on the note of the long intro I wanted to give it a bit of length to convey more of time passing by and nothing amazing happening in your life. Then at 2:45 everything takes a turn and well if I kept this sound through out the sound it wouldn't convey sorrow as much as it did earlier on.

Thank you for the review.

[Thunder Tree (Finished)]

Thunder Tree

I agree with darkside on adding some rain to strengthen the ambience aspect of the piece. Also you could throw in a couple (not too many) more thunder strikes in there as well. The bells a really nice and are really nice in contrast to the thunder you had going early.

This one's not heart-wrenching but it does it's job and could fit well into a movie scene or game cutscene.

Good luck in the competition and great job!

~SinJim

giovanni808 responds:

Thx :D

[.:~| V3: Maeror MAC8 July |~:.]

Maeror

Nice percussion work there. Wow I'd love to have a good bagpipe software instrument, where'd you get yours, it sounds really good. Definitely fitting as a highlander's funeral. The chorus samples you used there were really good and the mood of the piece was really...ominous.

I found that it was a bit short but I was also satisfied at the end. I don't know if that makes sense. I guess what I'm trying to say is that it could do with lengthening but it works really well as is.

Also around 0:50-1:00, there were a couple clicks. They weren't a really big deal, but they caught my attention and I was like, "huh?"

Anyways, I really like this song and you really portray a different aspect of the competition's theme. You really differentiated yourself from the crowd with this different sounds and I think that'll help out a lot in the competition

Great song and good luck in the competition!

~SinJim

Draqo responds:

Good ear, those clicks were due to the renderer which are somewhat of a nightmare. This was one of about 20 outputs which was the best so far, but damn, nice catch on those clicks.

I use EastWest/Quantum Leap software for this and all my future works except for Phoenix Chronicles as that is a hybrid of soundfonts and VST's.

Thanks for the excellent review. :D