SinJim's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[(NUB)I would have hated myself]

Hated...

Wow, this is really, really deep. Especially given the story you have along with it. It didn't necessarily make me think of how I would think about myself when I'm younger. For me it made me think of how a passed away loved one would think about my life now if I was able to meet him for one day. Maybe a different perspective and a different view on the story that this song invokes.

Specifically (it's a bit personal) it meant him being not as excited to hear about it when I told him the story... I think it'd be devastating to be in this position (or the one you describe) and I think your song portrays this very, very well. Sort of like having a conversation with that person and them being like "oh, that's nice..." after you've told them how you live your life.

Meh that's me *throws razorblades across the room*. Anyhow, the piano in this song is wonderful and the strings really enhance the effect of the piano and create a really effective backdrop.

I really like all the parts. The only thing I wasn't too fond of was the repeating piano notes. One was around 1:05. I dunno if that was just you hitting the note a bunch before you really struck it but, for me at least, it didn't work very well. Might just be me, it also sounded like you may have done it with the software (an effect or something of the like). Either, or, it's a small nuisance in a wonderful song

Great entry in the competition and let me know if you update this song. Fav'd and good luck in the competition!

~SinJim

nubbinownz responds:

I know that feeling too unfortunately :(

[(NUB)Please Wake Up (Acoustic)]

Wake Up

Wow, I'll have to check out your other version. This song is really impressive and I like the progression and melodies you have going on here. With the title in there you get the feeling that someone's by the bedside of someone in a coma. I got the feeling that the person right beside them had fallen asleep and was reflecting, sadly, on all the times spent with the person in the coma.

Meh, that's what appeared in my head. I love this song, the sound of the piano, is it acoustic? programmed? sequenced? soundfonts played live? Either way it's impressive and while the parts aren't overly complicated the song really moves along nicely.

I think this is a really great song, Fav'd. Good luck in the contest, great job with this one and I'll stop by and take a look at your other entry in a bit.

~SinJim

[=The Lament=]

Lament

I really liked the sound to soundfont... Nice sentence huh?

Anyways the piano came off as being, how should I describe this... "old." To me it sounded like it was being played in an old attic by a lonely guy who only has enough money to rent out the attic to begin with. With you mentioning the "Open Window" I just had this image of a camera circling around a house eventually zooming in an attic window where this lonely guy is playing this piece glancing out the window longingly.

The melody and parts are simple but this really gets the job done and has a lot of feeling. Great job and good luck in the contest!

~SinJim

Hades responds:

The idea that came to your mind when you heard this should really be taken into consideration by FateProductions, I'm sure he'll find the idea useful! I didn't really think about the setting in that way, that sort of reminds me of 'The Composer'.

Thanks a lot for the review, and I also wish you luck in the contest, I'm sure that the winning songs will be quite interesting, seeing the number of submissions so far!

[Cayur - Achaia]

Achaia

First off, what's the title mean?

Wow this is a really great piece. I think it is a bit uplifting but it does reflect some sadness in it. I really liked it when you brought in the cello in the beginning but I wanted it to be prominent. Even if your theme and melody aren't necessarily sad, the cello itself will give that impression and I really felt that for the first part when the cello was there.

Drums are pretty sweet and not at all what I expected to come in. You did that with Addictive drums? Wow, I really suck with that plugin then haha. Nice job with them.

At times it felt like the backing strings conflicted with the theme you had going but for me, it didn't really bother me, it just caught my attention and changed the mood a bit.

I really liked when the piano picked up pace but I personally didn't like a lot of the sound effects. Until the shaker came in I wasn't too fond of it, but that's just me *shrug*

The guitar here was really good as well and the different drums that came in really changed the mood of the piece. The buildup towards the end was really good and I enjoyed that.

This is a great entry and I wish you luck in the contest! Great job!

~SinJim

sculpted-cold responds:

Achaea was a province of Greece. The song is about the Battle of Dyme where the Achaean forces were defeated. The story does have a somewhat happy ending, though.

This is from Wikipedia:

"In 222 BC, the Macedonian-Achaean army and the Spartan army clashed at the Battle of Sellasia which ended in an allied victory. This victory forced Cleomenes to flee from Greece and go to Egypt. While Antigonus took Sparta, making him the first foreigner to every capture Sparta."

A lot of the mood changes are supposed to represent the mixed emotions during the time of their defeat.

The first set of drums that come in I did with Addictive Drums. The second set are stock samples that come with FL Studio; I just tweaked them to my liking and pitch bent them.

Thank you for all the kind words. :)

[MAC 2008 - Monster]

Monster

I agree with the previous review that it sounds very similar to clubbed to death from the matrix. I felt like this needed a bit stronger buildup in it and a tad more variation on the drums. Maybe even a bit of reverb. I was also really wishing for a faster piano part at some point like a solo or just some sort of faster buildup. With the piano, I think it sounds a bit like it's sequenced, maybe humanize it a bit more.

If you do add a solo, I think it would fit in really well about 1:40ish where the background drops and it's only piano, it would be sick and I think you could do some awesome things right there.

Those a very small complaints, the song is great already. I loved the chord progression and melody, I think with a couple changes it could be really epic. The strings are pretty sweet and I think they fit well with the piano.

This is a great entry in the competition and I really liked it, good luck and great job!

~SinJim

Scribbler responds:

Now that you say that, I can definitely hear the similarities though I don't think they are too jarring. I agree, the build-up could in essence be enhanced though I think steady drums are essential though "a little" variation would be nice.

Thank you for the review, it means a lot. I appreciate it.

[The Darkest Place of All-MAC8]

Darkest

Ever feel like you've got someone who has your song bookmarked and just comes back at 12:01am every night for their own pleasure...

Anyways, this is great, Flash. The ambience really shines through here with all the effects like the bells and other random noises in there. I can really envision a town from the middle ages that's been somehow cut off from the rest of the world for 800 years until present day, but have somehow barely been able to sustain themselves.

That's the sort of impression I got from here. It's like the people are still alive but they are barely just surviving. Feel free to expand on that haha.

This is a great change from the other song and really fits well into the competition theme. There's a lot of good entries and this one is especially good. Great job and good luck!

~SinJim

[MAC8-Michael's Theme]

Theme

I agree with Darkside in that it's a bit short and needs a tad bit of an ending. Good god you could expand on this so much and you need to let me know if you upload a revised version of this. It does end abruptly and I think you should expand on it there. The chord progression is awesome and the melody you choose melds really well with all the instruments you used (I really liked the horn).

I really just want you to expand on this because it's so great by itself and I think it can be better. The quality is great and the piano is top-notch. Did you play this and record it, program it, or sequence it?

Hmmm I-III-VI-I I'll have to take a look into that.

Great job, let me know if you update this, off to check your other submission.

~SinJim

PS - Who's Milchael?

Flash-MX responds:

Hey Sin thanks for the review!
I will be expanding on this soon, the same with a few of my other tracks.
When I was recording the piece, I was only able to record one hand at a time (until I get something bigger than 25 keys, I'll keep doing this), but the rest of it was played and recorded.
Its a great chord progression, the Minor really sticks out which I like;

Michael can be anybody to be honest, I just wrote it as a theme for any kind of flash game/movie alike.

Thanks again!
Will check out your submission to the MAC as well,
Peace

[{-^MP^-} Waves of Glass]

Waves

Damn boy, you been working hard huh?

This one really has some power behind it and - hurray bongos!! The piano was pretty sick as well, especially the last part. You sequence or play that? This one loops pretty well also *nudge nudge* flash programmers.

I did not expect it to evolve into what it did when that first crash came. What's with you and these short songs eh? You know my complaint there, although I think I'm going to be Faving this one.

As always, great beats, great variety in instruments and great complexity in the rhythm, melody and others. Can't really complain about anything on this one (except the length).

Nice Job as always!

~SinJim

PS - You doing the MAC?

Musical-Pants responds:

Well you'll be pleased to know that I plan to make this song longer!
This is the second demo, I plan to delete this and release another version soon.
In answer to your question, I did sequence all of the piano.
And do you mean MAC as in computer? Or something else? Pm me.
Thanks for the review!

-Pants

[[3nL] - Techburp]

Good.

The main synth line and melody in this song were great and catchy as well. The buildups were ok but you could have made them better with some more pads. The line you introduced in the beginning I think maybe should have come back into the song. It was pretty sick and could have helped in the buildups etc.

The drums were okay, but you need to vary them. Add more effects and fills as well. The drums got really repetitive but with a few different aspects, you could really make them shine through. Also, when you break it down, try changing the drum beat from a 4-on-the-floor maybe to something a little different. It'll give the feeling that the song has slowed down a tad. Anyways, basically more effects on the drums, variation, and fills (snare roll, etc - just don't use the snare roll over and over haha).

I also think you need a pad in here as well. You have a sidechained pad in there but you need some background noise when everything breaks down. Maybe a dark pad could work or something a little less busy than the traditional trance bad.

All in all, good job but this song could definitely use some more work. Keep it up!

~SinJim

3ndL3ss responds:

yeah, as i said in the authors comments this isnt my final version, im working on this song as i write this response lol, and your review has given me a lot of help, this is just the review i wanted to see lol, thanks for that. pads, ill use some pads and drum beats i was just working on haha =P, but thanks for your review, was really helpful and ill certainly take it into consideration!

hey do you mind sending me a PM telling where you think the pads would be good?? thanks

[3nL]

[K-Dm|Zajed - Annihilation]

Annihilation

Wow, sick collab. Most of the hip hop I've come across recently really wasn't anything special but you guys really put a lot of effort into this one. The strings are well done and don't repeat too too much. The drums are sick and, while they could have a bit more variation and fills, they work very well. The crashes and toms put that epic feel in there that you were getting at and the subtle touch of piano was really awesome.

Haha, this is way more advanced then all the popular stuff. Nice job guys, I'll have to check out your other collabs. While i don't frequent the hip hop genre, this is going on my favs list. All you need now is some vocals, but who doesn't right?

Again, nice job. 5/5, 10/10.

~SinJim

K-Dm responds:

lol thx alot man

ur right we did put alot of effort into this one

well compared to our other collabs neways haha which actually still turned out good

so ya we really like the way this one turned out

K-Dm