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lemon42

39 Audio Reviews

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Just, wow!

You managed to take me right in with that intro! Phenomenal. It was just really slow and very calm and built up perfectly. Maybe a tad too long? I guess that's a matter of personal taste.

All the instruments seem to be brought in seamlessly and very slowly, which amplifies the epicness effect on the listener.

One thing I'm really disappointed about is that what seems to be the chorus of the song only comes at the end and really doesn't stay long. I'm not saying it should be longer, but maybe come in quicker? I wasn't expecting the intro to take so long.

Sadly there isn't much to say aside from that, the intro itself takes a big chunk of the song. I could describe how the song flows but doesn't really add anything to the review.

Those drums were epic too! Did they come from Evolve? Great music man, great music!
Can't wait to see what you've got cooking next. Keep it up!

Warhector responds:

lemon42, thanks man :D
There is nothing much to learn other than make the music, I guess. Thanks for reviewing. The epic drums is not entirely from Evolve. Only the bass drum. It may be possible to add a first "chorus" before the last build up? Intercept in 02:49 maybe... and shorten the intro a bit. I think I shouldn't edit to much tho.

Interesting for sure!

It's nice to see some compositions with some different instruments every once in a while, really refreshing!

Before I start though, I just need to say that this is my first time reviewing an orchestral piece. I find it very difficult to say things about it so I'll try to be as concise as possible. Sorry for any accidental slips.

I must say I really enjoyed this track. It feels right and has a very simple theme. It kinda takes you to some sort of adventure, maybe on a jeep in the desert going by, and seeing the native populations living on the sides... wow.

I have one question though, were those off-key notes intended? It kinda disturbed me at first, but then after listening without actually paying attention to the track they weren't really noticeable. Are those intentional, to accentuate the eastern side of things maybe?

In any case I really like the way the song just goes from full blast to slower bits to faster, all of that seamlessly. It's quite a challenge to create transitions that don't feel too brutal, especially in orchestral.

For being so short on deadline, you did good too! Great stuff, can't wait for more! :)

Step responds:

Heyyy, thanks for reviewing!

"Interesting for sure!"

Aw yisss.

"It's nice to see some compositions with some different instruments every once in a while, really refreshing!"

I agree. Instrumentation is one of the main things that can distinguish your piece, and while I don't have a huge amount of samples at my disposal, I try and make an effort to make my pieces a little less "standard". Keyword being try...

"Before I start though, I just need to say that this is my first time reviewing an orchestral piece. I find it very difficult to say things about it so I'll try to be as concise as possible. Sorry for any accidental slips."

It hardly looks like your first time reviewing orchestral, don't worry about it!

"I must say I really enjoyed this track. It feels right and has a very simple theme. It kinda takes you to some sort of adventure, maybe on a jeep in the desert going by, and seeing the native populations living on the sides... wow."

The whole "takes you to some sort of adventure" thing might be because I try and give my tracks a bit of dynamic motion. Having dynamics is important if you want to tell a story.

"I have one question though, were those off-key notes intended? It kinda disturbed me at first, but then after listening without actually paying attention to the track they weren't really noticeable. Are those intentional, to accentuate the eastern side of things maybe?"

Hm... well, the only off-key notes I can think of are the vibrato notes on the Dan Tranh, which were in the samples themselves. There are also a few notes that sound "dissonant" when played above the chord progression, like 0:19. Those are intentional; I wanted them to sound off-putting and ominous, and what better way to do that then to make them sound ear-piercingly dissonant ^_^.

Other than that I'm not aware of any other off-key moments. I'm half-deaf and I suspect that it's a detriment to my ability to recognise tones and pitches (because I also consequently can't sing at ALL) so I might be missing them. Or maybe I'm just stoopid :3.

"In any case I really like the way the song just goes from full blast to slower bits to faster, all of that seamlessly. It's quite a challenge to create transitions that don't feel too brutal, especially in orchestral."

Haha that's something I do ALL THE TIME. People have complained about it in the past sometimes actually. Sometimes I get reviews telling me that my changes from soft to loud and vice versa are too drastic and overblown. I kinda like hearing that dynamic contrast though so I don't think I'll ever be able to get out of the habit.

"For being so short on deadline, you did good too! Great stuff, can't wait for more! :)"

Thanks a million for the helpful review! I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Amazing!

What can I say, I never really listened to liquid DnB before, but I must say I really enjoyed this.

The overall composition was simple and based on a bass-line and a brass instrument... exactly the kind of thing I'd listen when I'm not in the mood to do much. Really deep and emotional. The start made it even better, by starting with a synth and some muffled drums :)

One thing that did bother me though was the mixing. I mean it was fine, everything was right, except for the bass. It seemed to overwhelm the whole track when it came in, and it made my subwoofer go crazy.

Any idea what the speech goes on about? I had no clue what it was saying, but I could hear a few references to God and other few things. I'd be awesome if you could just post a transcript of that! :)

That was the only problem I could note however. Everything else was just perfect. You nailed it!

ShiftingConix responds:

Thank you so much for the review! :) I will put the lyrics down in the description or you can look up eckhart tolle from being upset to (it will pop up after that). And it's the first minute and a half of his speech. But will put the lyrics somewhere!
Now, I am fairly new with mixing and mastering so I can see how and why the sub bass was overpowering, because if it wasn't overpowering, it was basically non existent. But thank you for your review! I'll be sure to put the lyrics up soon! :)

A lot of unexpected in here.

I actually really liked the way it changed the whole way throughout the song, it didn't remain the same all the time. One thing that does bother me though is the few inconsistencies. It may be just me, but again this is my own personal opinion, so please don't take my review as the ultimate critic or anything. I'm just another musician reviewing someone's stuff. I'll get back to them later.

Right. Anyway, the overall track was quite good to be honest. It seems to follow a rather chaotic scheme, but yeah it does spice up some things. The mixing could be improved, seemed a bit harsh on some ends. Maybe a tad long? I felt like you were trying to incorporate a ton of ideas in there and cram them in.

The instruments used seem to fit properly into the song. I think I can hear a few presets (Harmor maybe? I'm not entirely sure.) in there, if that's the case you may want to learn how to make your own synths. Don't worry though, presets are fine to use, I use them often, but often modify them so it doesn't just sound like the out-of-the-box patch. I may be wrong though, so I didn't really count that in the score, just wanted to mention it.

So, back to those inconsistencies. The first thing that kinda bothered me was the spazzy lead you had at the first buildup... seems a bit off key? Then there was that drastic change of tone where you bring in some completely different chords... I'm not too sure about those. I don't really think it fits in there. However, you did a great job on the second one at the end :)

Overall... good track. Could be improved on some bits like the mastering or maybe trying to fit in less ideas and develop just a few ideas at once, and make a kick-ass track out of those. I felt confused when listening to this track, it just went left, right, left, right... though may just be me.

Please continue making music, it's the only way you'll get better at it! :D

Voltus responds:

Hi Thanks a lot for your review.

Yeah well the song is all over the place harmony wise but it actually are all modi of each other so (in my opinion) it blends rather well. And yes there's a shitload of Ideas in that track, because I dont like to hear the same 4 chords for 2 minutes in a song (personal issue I suppose :D).

I'd like to state that I didn't use a lot of presets in this track, actually the only one is the raiser at the start (but you correctly recognized it's a Harmor) the rest is tweaked all by myself, The main bass at the start for example is a gms bass I did. so theres that ;)

Ok on some systems the area around 10k might be a little harsh, but on my monitors everything seemed to sparkle along nicely. but yeah i get where you're coming from when i crank up my headphones, so I might fix that in future, I'll link it to you too if you want then you can reconsider your thoughts about the mix and master then ;) also maybe the newgroundsplayer has something to do with it. I dont know ^^.

So anyway, I'd love to get some reviews on my future tracks from you because you seem to have a rather different few on how music should sound like which I think is really interesting. With only praise you will stop developing as an artist and I don't wanna be that guy :D.

Thanks again, and hope to see you soon ;)

Glad you're back!

First of all, props on the track. I really enjoyed listening to it.
I think you did a really good job on the mastering, maybe a bit harsh on the highs, but it might be my speakers playing a trick on me... dunno.

I must say I really liked how the track starts. Smooth, gets into different tastes and brings different things in.

The vocal sample was really unexpected haha, I thought it wouldn't drop for a second... seems it did, awesome! Playing with people's minds is exactly what makes a really clever breakdown and instant adrenaline right after.

The whole chorus bit was simple, but was just perfect. No need to be over-elaborate. Breakdowns are actual breakdowns and not just the same melody transposed into another octave/key or maybe the same thing playing on other lighter instruments. You brought in a completely different synth to play a slower melancholic bit, and bam! Epic!

The ending... well a classic decrescendo of intensity, not much to say about it. I could have seen something slightly different there, but fits nevertheless.

Overall good track, exciting, but could be improved on some ends, mixing wise and maybe in the end too. I'm not really sure how, but it feels like something's off or missing, it just feels too classic, nothing really interesting or new to give you that weird but refreshing aftertaste.

On a more personal note, thanks for coming back. I always enjoyed your new tracks so far, can't wait to see more!

Acid-Paradox responds:

Thanks for the review!

The intro and the ending are like that for a reason.It gives time to the DJ to start beat-matching the track before it reaches the build and the ending is for letting him know that the track is gonna end.

These are called DJ friendly intros and outros.Check the popular tracks on beatport or itunes, you'll notice they all do this thing.

Cheers

Sounds good to me!

I really like your ideas in there. While the starting choir pad instrument was slightly cheesy, I really liked the direction in which you drove the whole track. That simple arpeggio at the start fit perfectly, especially with that lowpass filter on it going progressively.

I'm not sure about the drums at the minute mark though... those sound human, like some kind of beatboxing. I feel it sounds slightly odd in that context but it didn't feel completely out of place either. I might have gone for something different though, but then again, this IS your track! :)

I like how the whole pressure just goes off when you go into a simple kick pattern, that really helps the track breathe a bit more and decompress so you can have room for another buildup.

To be honest, I really enjoyed this track! I especially liked the outro... it just gave it that little ending feeling. Sounded great, flowed in nicely, and felt more than up to par!

Kudos on the track man!

Octrox responds:

Thanks a lot for the review :)

Fairly good to be honest!

I'm typing this as I'm listening so please excuse if this review doesn't feel very organized... anyway!

That starting melody was really different from anything I've heard recently, it drives along a whole different kind of rhythm than what I'm used to hearing around the portal. Really nice, kudos to the original creator!

Everything sounds good on a whole, there are some things that sound a bit out of place at times but it's better than what I've heard from you before, you're definitely improving! I love the way it has that progressive feel to it, makes everything so much more engaging for the listener!

I hadn't heard the original before, so I took a listen, and I quite frankly prefer your take on it! I especially like the way you play with the cutoff of the notes.

The complextro bit sounds slightly out of place, you've got an awesome progression going and then your whole thing gets broken by that completely different arrangement... not that it's a bad thing either! Thing is, the transition is very brutal and unexpected. Since you went for a progressive track all the way till the complextro bit I definitely wasn't expecting such sudden change!

I'm not really sure how I feel about the lead that gets all over the place (2:25 and 5:10), it sounds strange and... just weird. I'm not sure if you had trouble mastering it or if it was the desired effect.

Oh well, on overall it's nice. The outro could have been a bit more elaborate but considering the whole direction the track kept going it somehow fits.

Great job, especially on that start!
Keep it up!

ljkDICKJUSTICE responds:

thanks for giving some feedback!
yeah, i'm really proud of how the lead synth turned out, that was my favorite part making this song! :P it was really hard for me to fit the complextro part into the song as a whole but most complextro drops tend to do that, and yeah the buildup was done on purpose, it was a really experimental thing on my part with some random sidechained vocals!

Definitely sounds like something I'd hear in a video game as part of some kind of city in the desert, lost in the middle of the sand.

This is just great. It really feels true. Where is that voice from? I'd die to have something like that.
The drums and everything really fit together very snuggly. Did you record the congas or did you use samples for it? Sounds reallly good.

Overall great work, keep it up!

HellSpawnIV responds:

the congas were a mix of of the Ra percussion samples and my own recording of congas i have. The voices are from the East West Voices of Passion collection. Thanks for the review :).

Far from perfect, however, it's a very good start.

First off, before anything, avoid putting out songs when they are at very early stage. People will usually prefer seeing a finished product than rough unfinished demo of the song you're working on. That said, let's move on to the actual review.

I found your drums very rough. The snare sounded louder than the kick, but that might be my laptop speakers playing a trick on me. The patterns alternated which is good, kept me a bit more interested than if you would have made a simple pattern.

The melody itself... well there wasn't much of a melody. I could only hear a bassline and chords playing. I found the bassline to be quite boring, it was just not very interesting. Maybe it was it's linear progression that simply didn't do it for me. :(

Now, the chords... the chords. I thought they were rather repetitive. I liked the twist at the end but the overall pitch progression is still the same. What I suggest is alternating chord patterns and adding a melody. Unless you did it on purpose, I suggest you have a melody to drive the song and have chords do the background work. In that case, then yes, you can have them repeat. A good example is Radiohead's "Everything in Its Right Place". Chords make up the whole song, and they're constantly changing, making the song very interesting to listen to.

I think this song lacks substance. It's very bland. To improve on that I suggest having more instruments and harmonies playing at the same time. Of course, you can go all minimalist and play very little but it only works out for some songs. ;)

That said, overall it's good but needs lots of work. It kind of reminded me the kind of stuff I made back when I started out. It's missing a hole that only experience will teach you how to fill. This has potential, it just needs more! Please, do continue to make music and get better at it :)

Scouted! :D

Simplicity. This song is so simple, I think that name suits it perfectly. Not that it's a bad thing.

lemons~!

Pierre Bondoerffer @lemon42

Age 26

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Paris, France

Joined on 12/1/11

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