TheBenjerman's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[This Is War]

Very nice!

This piece is pretty awesome! I will review the whole thing. I have a pretty good idea of what you did and what Supersteph contributed, but it is easier to look at the piece as a whole. Nice texture, good sustained momentum, good build! Now for the review. :-D

Alright, mixing is important, and something to work on. The piece came off as a little disjointed, and most of that was because the levels on your instruments were a little off. Mixing is a tough thing to learn, but it will come with practice. Here is a good example: when the double bass section comes in at the beginning, it grabs the listeners attention, and when the cymbal comes in, you get all excited for what comes next. You expect something like what happens at about 1:00, but instead, you get this kinda quiet piano. I love the piano, but it throws the build off a little because it is so quiet, and the cymbal is so loud.

Now for the melody. Being able to write a good melody is essential, and it is very hard to teach. You seem to have a good melodic sense, but you might want to focus a little more on form. First, you seem to want to keep it changing all the time, and to have every instrument playing as much as possible, at least towards the end. This is a habit that is very common, but makes for muddy music. There is nothing wrong with a melody that repeats itself a number of times. Actually, it is usually suggested. Don't worry, we won't get bored. For instance, from about :58 to 1:40 or so, the marcato strings play something like 5-6 themes, one after another. This is just confusing, because we can't figure out what you are getting at. One or two themes would have worked just fine. You'll get a better sense of this eventually though.

Alright, now the instrumentation. Good job! I like your choice of instruments, although I think it is a little odd to have the only non-orchestral instrument be the drums. Not bad necessarily, just something to think about. They were very effective though. You had good use of the sections up until the main theme came in, at which point it might have been beneficial to share the themes with some other sections.

Overall, I really like the piece! I really only review things that I think have some major potential. You're doing well! And you can take all of this advice with a grain of salt if you want. You're the artist, do what feels natural to you. If you have any questions or want anything from me, feel free to shoot me a pm at any time. Again, great job, both of you!

5/5, 9/10

GronmonSE responds:

Mixing is super hard indeed. Most of the volumes were adjusted by Supersteph I think. He threw the piano all the way to the back, whereas I prefer it on the front, where you can actually hear the melodies and progressions.

Most of my other songs are very repetitive when it comes to melodies. I wanted it to change after every section to keep the listener interested, but I see where you're coming from.

Drums...well...I used another guy's loop for the original song, the drums on this one were programmed by Supersteph :P

Your advice is super helpful and I wasn't expecting a review from you, much less a lengthy one. I'll hit you up if I need assistance, thanks!

Your music is amazing by the way.

[Midnight Shadows (WiP)]

Schnazzy Start!

Hello sir, very nicely done! I don't know what sort of thing this will turn out to be, but I have very high hopes! High production value (I especially like the swooshes that lead into every other tom hit) although a few extra tweaks would give it some more sparkle. A little more work with mixing for instance, to give the piano and voices more of a dynamic and "performed live" feel.

Sounds like a great intro to a great piece! It is very filmic, maybe epic-movie-trailer-esque. Think Globus. It will be hard to balance, because the length of your intro suggests a piece of decent length. It is hard to sustain a really huge texture for a long time, and you have just led into a really huge texture. I have confidence in you though. X-D

As a final note, if you want to make this REALLY pro, the choir and upper strings are what sticks out as the most noticeably midi to me, and they might benefit from something to cover them up a little bit, like a pad, some extra verb or eq. or gratuitous amounts of similar samples. :)

This TOTALLY rocks dude. I will reserve the rest of my comments for the finished version. I'll keep my eye out for it, but if you want a review on that too, shoot me a pm. Again, sweet work!

TheBenjerman

Step responds:

Wow, thanks for the lengthy review!

"Hello sir, very nicely done! I don't know what sort of thing this will turn out to be, but I have very high hopes!"

Thank you :D. I have high hopes for it too, so much that I gave out the FLP to a certain number of NG members to see what they could do to help me out, then send it back to me so that I can determine a final version of the song. I really have some high standards for this, and I hope it turns out well :3.

"High production value (I especially like the swooshes that lead into every other tom hit)"

Lol, glad you noticed such a little thing xD.

"although a few extra tweaks would give it some more sparkle. A little more work with mixing for instance, to give the piano and voices more of a dynamic and "performed live" feel."

I'm crap at mixing, so I've actually considered looking for some female vocalists on NG who might be able to take place of the woman choirs in this song. I doubt that'll be easy.

"Sounds like a great intro to a great piece! It is very filmic, maybe epic-movie-trailer-esque. Think Globus. It will be hard to balance, because the length of your intro suggests a piece of decent length. It is hard to sustain a really huge texture for a long time, and you have just led into a really huge texture. I have confidence in you though. X-D"

Haha thanks xD. I don't have much trouble making long songs, my problem is *starting* songs, although here's a pretty good start IMO so I'll definitely make it as varied and epic as possible.

"As a final note, if you want to make this REALLY pro, the choir and upper strings are what sticks out as the most noticeably midi to me, and they might benefit from something to cover them up a little bit, like a pad, some extra verb or eq. or gratuitous amounts of similar samples. :)'

Hm, those samples are from East/West Symphonic Orchestra, I didn't think from all the sounds you'd find those sounds midi-ish xP. Although I agree that they're very dry; East/West Silver's samples tend to be a bit dry. I'll add a little reverb to them.

"This TOTALLY rocks dude. I will reserve the rest of my comments for the finished version. I'll keep my eye out for it, but if you want a review on that too, shoot me a pm. Again, sweet work!"

Awesome, sure thing. I don't want to push you into reviewing it, but if it's OK with you then feel free :P.

I'll drop you a line when it's finished :).

Thanks again for the amazing review!

[Children of the Sky (NEW)]

Gorgeous

Absolutely beautiful. I love the texture. Simple straightforward themes with simple, straightforward orchestration and harmony. Very effective, and a pleasure to listen to from start to finish. I customarily write long, in-depth reviews, but I find it hard to find anything to nit-pick here. Maybe watch the attacks on your string samples, some of them seem to be slightly too abrupt, but I find it hard to say even that. I want to write something like this!

Lush, gorgeous.

5/5 10/10, fav'd

Setu-Firestorm responds:

Yeah, and even the horn attacks are a bit punchier than I'd like them to be in the beginning.

Thank you for taking the time to review, though. I appreciate critique from fellow composers. =)

[-{EP}- A New Beggining]

Nice start! You may be on to something here.

I like where you are going with this, and I think you may have some classical potential (I know you've got the whole Trance/Dance thing more or less in the bag). This piece is particular interesting in that the production value is so good for a first classical submission. Usually the artists get better at writing before they realize that straight-midi strings really don't sound all that hot.

So, I'll throw some suggestions at you now. First, very nice sounds. Good production value there. The piano was a little goofy, not sure if you wanted it that fluffy, but overall it was well mixed, and the verb covered up the strings enough to pass fairly well. You could alter the velocity of some of the midi instruments a little to make it closer to a live performance, but there are all sorts of little tips and tricks that you'll figure out, I could spend all day describing them.

Everything follows the chord progression fairly well, and it is pleasing to listen to, which is more than half the battle. You don't have a definitive melody though. You have an alberti-bass-like figure in the guitar/bass, but that really serves as accompaniment, and you almost have a melodic line on accented beats later on in the song. I would suggest starting with a melody and building everything around that. It can be hard to do things the other way around.

In summary, it is pleasant, peaceful, and enjoyable to listen to. You could stand to work on a few things, but hey, this is a nice piece all by itself. I suppose I could have said more, but all of these things are really up to you to decide. Do whatever sounds good to you, it's your music. I would not have reviewed this if I had not thoroughly enjoyed it, and thought that you have potential. If you've got any questions, hit me up.

4/5, 8/10

[Anna]

Sweet suds!

Very nicely done! You've created quite a neat groove there! Epic, flowing, yet chill and kinda suave. Congrats! I have one or two things you might think about when producing this sort of piece. I thoroughly enjoyed the composition aspect though, so I won't say anything about how it is written. :)

First, I would watch the sound quality of your individual tracks. The strings are high in mid-range frequency, and this cuts through in a way you might not have intended. This can be mended with a little bit of eq, and doubling the strings with either more strings samples or something else to help balance you out.

Second, the texture is quite involved and awesome, and everything ends up piling up in the middle, making it hard to hear all of your elements at one time. I would suggest using panning and reverb to "move" your sections around sonically. I won't go into too much detail, but you can arrange your instruments like an orchestra or live ensemble; pan the violins to the left, the cellos to the right, add more reverb to the horns than the other instruments to move them to the back. If you want to get more in-depth, draw out an aerial view of a concert hall and draw your sections in. Then move the tracks accordingly.

Just a mixing tip or two. Take them how you want. I love this piece, and would not have written anything if I didn't think it was nearly perfect to start with. I give you mad props.
5/5, 9/10

[The Spy {ARG!}]

You rock my socks!

Really nice! You've got that uber-cool, but still upbeat flavor on lock. Simple but very effective. The Guitar/Bass combination is just right too. It is very easy to go overboard when doing tracks like this. I've got just a few little possible tweaking suggestions.

First, the low brass hits are an integral part of the piece, and really add to the badassery. I would suggest boosting them just a little, not in volume, just punch. You are almost-but-not-quite to that gritty, low, crunchy, awesome hit. It would really just be a little sound-design project. You could double it an octave lower with more brass, or something else that has punch.

Second, the drums are just a little flat. They are well programmed, but they SOUND well programmed. If you cut off the tops of the velocity, and boost some others to more closely mimic live drums, the drums would draw less attention to themselves, and make the rest of the piece shine through.

Just a few little suggestions. Take them with a grain of salt. This loop is genius! I love it, and I wouldn't have reviewed it if it weren't a totally top-notch loop.

BTW, the organ at the climaxes, and the call-and-response with that little woodwind section really make this piece for me. 5/5 10/10

ARGMusic responds:

Thanks a lot for the return review! :)

I suppose I could play with the EQ on the brass, and see if there's something I can lay under it (maybe a good synth brass for the punch).

I set out to make something resembling an early Final Fantasy battle theme, and then got inspired to do the spy thing--that would be why the drums sound like they do. ;p Guess I never revisited them, and I probably should.

Glad you enjoyed the piece. ;)

[Empty Your Mind]

Sweet Suds!

Alright, first off, I love the funky/chill mood of this piece. You got me interested from the very start of the song with the vocal clips and synth strings. I really like the instrumentation of the whole piece. You bring in some gritty bass, but keep that funky slap bass synth. I also like the switch from electric piano to acoustic, and your ending the piece with the vocal clips again was a good call. I have a few things you could look into if you want that might help you improve the piece.

To start with, I like the feel of the strings at the beginning, but you might want to make them just a little more synthy, or a little more realistic. You are right in that area where people wonder if they are supposed to sound real, or are for an effect. I have been extremely guilty of this numerous times.

Second, I am going to draw attention to that awesome slap bass line because it totally sells the piece for me. You have a pretty good quality synth bass there, but it is a little bit flat in terms of variation. If you change the velocity on the individual notes to closer imitate a live slap bass, you would add an extra level of grooviness. You also might want to play around with notes that do not land right on the beat, add a little artistic flair, but I won't go too far into that.

Third, I really like what the electric piano adds, but I would cut it down just a little bit. It kind of plays all throughout the little sections it is in. If you play back and forth between the instruments a little more when you add instruments, it should help this piece flow even better. You do more of this about halfway in, and towards the end.

To wrap things up, I'll say the vocal clips are totally rad, and you could play around with them even more, say in the little breakdown in the middle before everything starts again.

I really liked your piece, and these are just my personal suggestions to be taken however you want. I'm certainly not asking you to completely rewrite this piece (unless you want to) and if you disagree with my comments, I'm not offended in the slightest.

I only review pieces that really impress me, and I really liked yours. Good Job!

5/5, 9/10, Props.

Cuzone responds:

Thank you so much! This is the most extensive, comprehensive and intelligent review I've ever gotten. All your comments are spot-on, especially where it concerns the strings. I think I like the fact that you can't quite tell if they are meant to be real or synth, I think that's why I set the attack on this instrument to zero (or close to zero).

About the variations on the slapping, I would definitely do that if I weren't so eager to finish this song and release it here.

Again, thank you very much.
Timraband

["Collab"]

Thank you.

I've been waiting to hear something this crisp on NG for a couple of years now.

Very nice job with the mixing. The levels really make this work, and you've got them just right. The beat is in the front, and everything else is secondary. That overpowering kick is sick. The pizz adds a nice touch too. The only thing I could really comment on is the lack of bass/bassline, but it really doesn't matter that much, cause this beat is ILL.

I'll be watching you.

Peace,
TB

DCF responds:

Thx alot. It always feels good when people analyze my music. It has a bass though. It's just in the very deep frequencies.

[NinjaSkillzLoop (Upbeat/dark)]

Great potential!

I really like your ambient feel. Really chill but still kinda edgy. I think you could do a lot with this!

I have a few suggestions:

First, you really only have about two chords in the whole loop. A more interesting/developed chord progression would make the full song version a lot more engaging.

Second, you have a nice blend of sounds, but you have no real melody. It's really just a texture at this point. Now, I wouldn't go crazy and make some really complicated melody that runs the piece, this tends to be a major NG mistake in my opinion, but if you add a little more melodic material I think your piece would be even better held together. An overarching melody in a higher register would work well I think.

Third, you may want to consider a more regular, steady beat. Your drums are just a little bit erratic, and that makes your rhythm less clear.

Just some suggestions you might want to think about! You don't have to listen to them at all, this is my personal opinion on the matter.

Oh, and I would not be reviewing this at all if I didn't think it had really great potential. I want to hear the full version!

Peace,

TB

djninjaskillz responds:

I like how you mentioned it was more of a "texture," that would explain more of what i was going for on here, I made this with the mindset that this was suppose to add a layer of depth to somebody's project, not be a standalone song, and actually, i started this as a song, and i looped this to get a feel of what i'll go for next and i like it so much that i just made it a stand-alone little piece. :3

but otherwise, i know what you mean about the two chords, i usually start adding chords once things pick up but like you mentioned this is more of a texture that i was trying to keep in the same place. ^_^

i agree with drum parts. lol.

but yeah, i'll hit you up when that song gets finished. :P thanks for the input!

[The Land of the Forgotten]

Sweet Suds!

Dude, this is officially really awesome. I love your synths, that beat is super hard-hitting and the whole thing is totally badass.

I have a few comments about what you might do with this next:

First of all, I would experiment with some reverb for that synthy guitar string at the beginning, love the combination, but it is the closest aurally to the listener, and also very midi-sounding.

Second, I would see if you could turn it into a little longer, more developed piece. You have some awesome grooves, but you could easily tell a bigger, more epic, more outrageously awesome story if you introduce another theme or two and use some harmonic development.

Again, just my opinion on your sweet piece. This is all constructive feedback, take it with a grain of salt. I only review things I thoroughly enjoy. You rock my socks!

9/10, 5/5, DL'd