SeeD419's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Thank Our God Cornet/Trumpet]

Well

I hate to give you such a low score, but I'll tell you why this isn't to my liking.

I'm sure this sounds great in person, but the recording is pretty flawed. It sounds muffled for the most part and I can hear a lot of crackling. I'm not sure if it was intentional, but there's a strange panning going from channel to channel and it sounds really out of place for something like this. It wouldn't suit something like a trumpet recording at all, which, in my opinion you would want to be as crisp and clear as possible I would imagine.

I played the trumpet for a few years, as does my grandpa, and it sounds like you know what you're doing. The trumpet playing itself isn't the issue at all - I seriously think you need to invest in a different recording medium. Now back in the day when I recorded guitar tracks, I used a shitty mic and windows sound recorder and it sounded a lot like this, although I've since changed and started doing electronic music instead - thus - I have no recording advice for you...

Overall what I'm trying to say is that I'm not insulting you as a musician, but I'm not really sure what advice to give you either. I'm not sure what the best way to record a trumpet would be really, but whatever microphone you've got doesn't seem able to handle it. I'd consider buying another one if you'd really like to clean this up and continue to reach out to others with your music. A crisp and clean version of this would be fantastic.

I noticed the mild echo you put in, and it sounded good with the recording. It was just so muffled, crackled, and panning left to right so much that it was almost impossible to enjoy as it stands.

Keep at it though, and I hope I'm not coming across in any way as insulting. I'm just being honest with you as to why I did not enjoy this much and trying to give you as much constructive criticism as possible.

AccountableMasses responds:

yeah.... but used a crappy mic from wally world and windows recorder and got a better sound out of it. Or a video camera then ripped the audio that way.

So went to buy another one from a music store and man....
This one picks up everything!

Anyways, yeah, still learning how to do and master recordings. Not sure about the mic, that half the problem....the place I record is there other half.

Was aiming for a church like sound where I play sometimes at church on Sundays and used alot of filters just to cut down on background noise....

I've only been playing again for a year, but used play back in high school, and that was like 11 years ago..

Again, thanks for the review...
maybe should buy that horn mic after all.

[Þú ert það sem þú gerir (DEMO)]

Well done

The first impression I get from this within the first 5 seconds is very good. It starts of sounding great and doesn't waste any time at all. The guitar sounds nice and distorted, and not in an obnoxious way at all. The drums are very appropriate and the changes in them were to my liking. The notes in the main melody make the riff very catchy.

As for the second part, also well done. Sounds quite catchy, and the melody is great. Totally sounds like video game music to me.

The third part, more calming, was very pleasing to hear. I like how the song seems to have multiple moods to it all within one relatively short piece. The drum work you did at this part was outstanding, and the extra guitar seemed to blend ok...maybe a tad overpowering though. The cutting of the drums at the end was appropriate and the ending was good.

Keep up the good work.

-RRC-

TheUprising1 responds:

Thanks for the review!
I really put alot of work into all of this, especially the drums.. good to see someone noticed, lol. Though I don't get how it sounds like video game music, but hey, that's a good thing, right? :D It's some kind of character theme (even though for real life, in case that makes sense) after all!

- TheUprising

[Scrap X Village]

Hmm

Seems like an interesting enough ambient kinda electronic track. One of the synths sounds like an FL sequencer to me. I could be wrong but I don't think I am. Of course, that's not for the entire song. You added some interesting vocal samples as well.

Although not very long it seems like it would loop rather well...not sure if that's what you intended or not. If not the ending is rather abrupt.

Not really much else to say about it. I don't find it really attention grabbing, but I don't find it obnoxious either. Would be a great track for a menu in a flash game, I think. Keep at it.

DXsamurai responds:

thanks for the review i guess it could a little more. i'll see what i can do

[Stargenx - Spring Breeze]

Not bad

Well it's pretty soothing until about 1:35. The intro is rather appropriate and the 3 different piano melodies seem to blend together pretty well, especially with the pads in the background. The laidback percussion was done quite well, in my opinion. The whole piano main melody is the highlight of the song in my opinion. I think the notes were chosen rather well.

At 1:35 you introduced an electric guitar sounding instrument, and I think this is where the song tanked. If it were me, I'd turn down the volume on it, or pick a different sounding guitar. The one you have sounds far too harsh to my ears, and really ruins the soothing feel that you created. Maybe even a flute for that exact same guitar part would have sounded better, I think.

Overall it's not a bad tune, and I think it deserves a much higher score than what its at, so I'm assuming you just got zero bombed, which is unfortunate. Regardless, keep up the good work.

-RRC-

Stargenx responds:

Thanks for the review.

Yeah, I've been thinking about changing it, but I need to add length to the song.

[This Dreary Existence]

Fantastic

An extremely well thought out trance anthem. If you threw this on Trance Nation I seriously wouldn't even know it wasn't a big name. The track is fast paced without being obnoxious, and the melodies change flawlessly. The transitions are nothing short of beautiful.

The effort you put into this really paid off, and the length of the song is very appreciated. The variety of melodies and synths are just really easy to get lost in for the entire 10 minutes, and I don't at all find myself wanting to change the page or do something else - and that's what makes a great song.

It seems to lack that extra just insanely amazing melody to push it over to a 10...but I downloaded this, and what keeps happening with songs like this is that I play them later and they grow on me and I wish I could have rated 10, lol. So who knows what I'll end up thinking a week from now.

Either way, this is a great piece. It takes you on an interesting journey, a journey I'll be experiencing again sometime soon ;) Keep up the great work.

TheBellmaker responds:

Thanks for the review. I actually thought the length would kind of detract from its overall appeal, but I seem to be wrong.

Glad you liked this song! And thanks for the vote/dl!

Enjoy your trip through this dreary existence.

[{EpP} Complexes]

Nice

Quite the tease, aren't ya? Sounds fantastic, and something I'd really be interested in listening to. But NO, you upload a MINUTE and ask us to review :/

The intro really sets the mood and I think it was done very well.

I'd love to hear the full version of this - the wobbles sound great and I'm sure the sub bass would be fantastic in this. Everything that you wanted to blend and flow sounds like it does extremely well, and somehow has a chaotic feel to it simultaneously.

The synth sounds really good, right when we're really getting into the song - right before you FADED IT OUT!! >:( Damn you for not giving us a full song.

Can't wait to hear the full version of this. Keep up the great work.

8/10 for being a tease...and writing in the comments that you wanted to tease the pubic.

dj-Jo responds:

lol
thanks :D

just to say though, the whole thing is 4 mins long. XD

and yeah, it was SUPPOSED TO BE PUBLIC lol
I hope this preview worked to get people wanting to buy my album :)

[Silent Night Alto Sax Solo]

Hmm

The tempo does seem a bit too quickly, and the notes don't flow as soothing as I would expect for such a piece. I youtubed Silent Night to make sure I wasn't crazy, and I'm not. This doesn't seem to have that same calming slow effect that the original we know and love has. I'd suggest re-recording with a much calmer and slower mood.

There seem to be multiple other issues with the recording. Why does one part sound so choppy? Is that you doing that with the instrument? Or is that a recording flaw? I can't tell, but I'm going to assume it was a recording flaw because it doesn't really sound very appropriate for such a song.

Just in the first 8 seconds of the song you can tell a dramatic difference in the way this is played. The first time you hear those notes they sound more bright and have a punch to them. The second time you hear the exact same notes, they sound much better. They flow better and don't have much of a punch to them as they did the first time. That's the kind of style I would expect to hear throughout the whole song.

:10-:12 Sounds choppy and distorted. I'm going to go ahead and guess this was due to some recording issues, but in a song of this manner, it really destroys that calm and peaceful mood with the random seemingly LFO'd sax.

At :16 It sounds like you took a breath, but you didn't fade out the note, so it sounded desperate and not all that soothing. I would definitely work on trying to make everything flow and blend together really nicely for a song like this.

:20-:28 Sounded much to quick as compared to the original.

:30-:37 Didn't really sound in beat to me. It felt like you were jumping around on tempo and just holding notes at different random lengths that didn't necessarily correlate with the original song.

:38-the end Sounded just about perfect, despite the fact that you held one note a bit too long. There's nothing wrong with adding your own twist to a song, but doing a cover of a song like 'Silent Night' that everybody knows, you should try to maintain as close to the song as possible, and only add your own twists here and there, otherwise it's hard to tell what you were attempting to personalize, and what was just simply an amateur mistake.

Overall I think you need to re-record and possibly invest in a better microphone as the recording doesn't seem to sound as crisp and clear as I'd like it to. Mainly the note hold length and tempo was the main downfall, in my opinion. The echo effect you added wasn't overdone at all and probably added a nice full tone to the clips that did sound okay.

Keep at it.

-RRC-

AccountableMasses responds:

that was the most in depth review ever had... thanks!

[Tick Of Thounghts]

Interesting

Well the beginning is quite pleasant to listen to and sounds very ambient. At about :20 the song takes a turn into some very strange atmosphere, which is somewhat interesting to listen to.

The percussion around :40 doesn't really sound like it belongs to me, and I think it could be either taken out, or tuned to blend a bit better. I suppose your reply could simply be that it was supposed to sound that way. The only reason I say this is because this almost reminds me of something I would make...and that's exactly what I would say, lol.

The change at around :50 was really refreshing. The percussion sounds great as does the synth, and it just suddenly ends. I think it ends far too suddenly personally, and it seems rather unfinished or rushed. I'd like to see the song extended, because I was really just starting to get into it and I was just left with nothing. Kinda like...well...we won't go there...

Overall it's a decent little ambient tune. I can't say I don't enjoy listening to it, because I do, but I think you can really do a lot more with this. I like what you've put together so far, and honestly if you released an extended mix that was around 3 minutes long, this would be going straight into my iTunes library. It's original, pleasant, and calming to listen to.

Keep up the good work

-RRC-

DXsamurai responds:

Thanks For the review. I might try to make it longer if i can but if not....I guess thats it. At :40 it was suppose to sound like that, lol. SO, i'll see if i can extend.

[Christmas (Alt One Four)]

Not bad

Well I'll start this off by saying that the beginning sounded extremely trendy and didn't really stand out from any other trance song I've heard. The piano notes were well thought out, but just sounded so generic alongside that synth. The drums followed much of the same lines.

When the bass line came in around 40 seconds it was extremely refreshing to hear. I like the sound of the bass quite a bit. The synth line that followed on top of that was also very pleasant to listen to, and I'm really glad you switched it up from the melodies in the intro.

The bridge with the piano was somewhat expected. The piano notes sound great, but I think it's a bit hard to focus on the beauty of it with that happy synth line in the background, but that's me personally.

The outro could also obviously use some work, as the song seems to end rather abruptly without notice. Maybe a fade out would be appropriate here?

It doesn't really sound very christmas themed to me, but keep up the good work nonetheless.

-RRC-

aryst0krat responds:

Thanks for the review! We'll definitely be referring to this when we do our rewrites.

[The Pain (Rah)]

Interesting

Well I wished you had posted the lyrics for us to read first of all. The vocals sound good for the most part, and the lyrics sound creative from what I can hear.

The guitar part wasn't bad for the most part. Probably the greatest part about the song is that you added additional vocal notes over the top of the track, which sounded really great.

The only hole I really see from the song is any form of percussion - so if you're looking for something to add, I would definitely start there. Then if it still feels empty add a bass line to it.

The piece you have here is certainly a great start though, and it doesn't sound bad at all really. It's certainly one of the more original things I've heard in the audio portal, and I commend you for doing your own thing.

No comment on the scream at the end, lol...not sure that really belonged.

Overall a decent track. Keep up the good work, and I'm interested to hear what you end up adding to this.

SoulSecure responds:

Ah, it was originally supposed to be a folk song and that's why I didn't want any drums but as I moved along it became more... Well whatever it is, instead of folk. It's a really awkward song for me, yet natural at the same time, being from an area where bluegrass runs rampant.

Yeah, vocal harmonies, layered vocals and such are some things that I love doing but not too many of my NG submissions have them. My love for the sound of it comes from harmonizations in music like The Ink Spots, Ray Charles, other older artists and also is highly influenced by orchestral music and System of a Down.

About the scream: I got this idea, back when I started working on my new album (which this song belongs to), to make a separate album with songs that are about the feelings that the bosses in Metal Gear Solid 3 are named after; The Pain, The Fear, The End, The Fury, The Sorrow and The Joy. After some deliberation I decided to do the idea but include the songs in the album instead of separate. So, the song is all about pain, there's a painful scream at the end, I feel good about having it there. Plus, it helps to tie in with the song that comes after it in the album; The Fear (which is up on NG).