Karco's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Universe City]

Great, but it begins to drag on...

Good start... a bit of a cilched note progression but let's see where you go with it. Buildup's a bit plain, but once you take it into the melody it sounds really good... are those vocals from Another Feeling? Nice use.

Your melody works surprisingly well, despite the somewhat overused progression. Eventually you leave it behind for something a lot better. You keep it fresh throughout the song, which is nice. Not much to suggest here.

I like your harmonies and the diversity in them. Nice use of arps, pads, etc... and there are no clashing notes! It all sounds very melodic, which is good.

The song seems to drag on after a while... yeah, it's your longest but if you want it to be good it had better not get boring. Most of this was unnecessary, I feel you could have "condensed" all of the general ideas into a shorter song that would end before it got boring.

Your percussion, while good, is a bit weak and while I hear creative rhythms every now and then, I think you could have had some more of it. Still... for its purpose, it's good.

I don't get as much of a distinct attitude or emotion from this kind of song... still, it's good where it counts. I like it a lot... Voted 5, and downloaded. Looking forward to more! :)

EON responds:

Constructive criticism! Such a rare treat... I'd love to hear more reviews from you. It's your kind of feedback that helps me actually progress...

[Sanctity]

A plesant listen...

All right, I can get around to reviewing a third song of yours. Hmm... the opening doesn't sound like trance to me... aah, that's it. Now I see why you submitted it in this genre.

Your melody is nice though it gets a bit repetitive. You change the last of three notes all the time but it doesn't feel like it's enough, in my opinion. You could take it a step farther and maybe play the reverse, maybe instead of three notes going down in pitch it could be three notes going up in pitch. Aah, never mind - it's a bit late, but you changed it up. And it's good! The piano's a bit too quiet, though.

The harmonies are good, though a bit quiet. Not as much comments or suggestions, here... nice choice with the choirs, but I think you could have replaced one of them with something better. (And if it's only one choir, bleh - it sounds like two!)

The percussion is good and fits, but like your song Sunken Ship, gets boring after a while. There's also a bit too much reeverb from some of those drums, for example, your snare drum... just a little will suffice, you overdid it there. You chose your drums nicely, though... there's no kick drum, or at least it's really quiet - but the song does fine anyway.

You're a bit inconsistent with atmospheres, I feel, but not enough for it to show majorly. It's good, though... you didn't do as well with atmosphere and supporting it as you did with Sunken Ship, but it's still good.

Great song... I like it a lot. Keep up the great work. :)

Mataro responds:

This was kind of a crazy 'Ahh what the hell, might as well do it!' moment.. And that is indeed just one choir.. I just play 2 seperate notes at the same time to give a fuller feel :P

I quite like the feel in this song, and yes, the atmosphere isn't so consistent.. I'm a tad notorious for that. I just can't learn to stay in one style >.>

Mind you, I've gotten better at that :D

And finally the piano is really quiet with it's second melody, I don't know what that was all about o.O

Oh, and actually, the first version of the song used a saw >.>

Maybe I should have submitted that one instead, I think I like it more anyway xD

And I'm rambling, but to answer your question, a formant is a synth that is fed a waveform to emulate the sound of a human mouth saying a vowel. This gives the formant a weird 1 person mecha-choir feel :P

[Sunken Ship - Preview]

Terror, interest, and mysteries...

I'd like to see how that works out. Too bad the song has to load... >=( Yeah, now I see what you mean when you say that your audio page doesn't exactly do justice what you can do... you haven't submitted for a month and a half!

There it is. And it sounds good... nice reeverb and delay there. The piano doesn't quite sound in tune and I don't think you introduce it well but as the song progresses it takes its place and works out. Huh, weird chords, now... did you just switch from a major key to a minor one? Did you modulate the rest of the song to fit? It doesn't sound like it... otherwise, though, the piano's pretty good, and it works.

Good choice there, with the strings... somewhat predictable, actually, but maybe I've been listening to a lot of similar songs. They actually do a lot for the song! I like the note progression there, too.

The percussion is definitely one of the highlights. You cleverly chose and used your samples in this song, and I'm hearing some creative rhythms there. It does get a bit boring, though, and I think you could have faded it out along with a filter of some kind to progress the song, as, say, the piano took on a new note progression, along with some nice chords.

Your atmosphere in this song is great! You definitely get that "sunken ship" feeling, which is great. Other than the weird piano chords, every aspect of your song contributes to this atmosphere. It sounds GREAT in the beginning, as it all comes in, though, like I said earlier, it got boring and you could have progressed it and built on it a bit more.

Honestly, I'm not all that good at reviewing songs like these - well, not as good with them as I am with, say, Techno/Trance/DnB/etc., which are generally easier to review. So this isn't as long of a review... but hey, I wrote a few paragraphs, right? I'll soon get to reviewing... how about your song Sanctity? It'll be a bit, though, so don't be surprised if you see a review for this and your first and not for that yet. Overall, great job with this, I like songs like this a lot! And this definitely deserves better than a 2.50. PM me when you submit something new, I want to review it. =D

Mataro responds:

That review is plenty long, I assure you :D

There isn't much I can say about this other than "I've fixed that chord progression part, and when I finally figure out how to end the song, I'll sunmit it" :P

Thanks a ton for the review! ^^

[Light Hearted Journey]

I'm going to do what you did, and...

Start with your first, review your latest, and review a song from a different genre from your latest. It was a smart thing of you to review my songs that way and you deserve likewise for it. :)

Nice opening... so far, the guitar fits perfectly and doesn't get boring. Whoops, is that a slip in sound quality? Still, it sounds REALLY good! Much better than my first, even though it was my first EVER and this is apparently your first REAL attempt... still, great song. This deserves a lot more than one review, (two once I'm done with it) a score of 3.82, and 48 downloads.

Your melody is kept fresh throughout the song and never gets boring. The guitar you chose for it holds a distinct feel to it, too, that adds a lot of emotion to the song. I like this choice a lot! You're very good at composing melodies, it seems.

You also have very good harmonies - no clashing notes or anything. Just out of curiosity - how much muical theory did you know when you made this? Because it's great. Your synths were well-chosen, though at times they were a bit choppy in transitions.

The percussion... well, I'll admit the drums did take me by surprise. But they fit, and much more than your standard techno - kick, open hihat, clap, open hihat, kick, open hihat, clap, open hihat, etc. - would.

Now, the atmosphere... I love that atmosphere! It holds such a... well, Light Hearted feel to it. It's hard to do so early in your music-making days and yet you work it out perfectly. I can't wait to listen to your latest and hear what you're able to do more than a half year later.

Great job with this, it's really good. I've voted 5... now on to reviewing some of your latest.

Mataro responds:

Well, I haven't really got much to say in return, other than I can't really take credit for the melodies.. I mean, I wrote some of the notations and I modified them to roll along a bit better, but I was using GarageBand which comes with LOADS of loops >.>

So mainly this was just my using loops, changing the instruments to how I wanted them and then playing around with it for a couple of hours to get it how I thought it should be :P

Thanks alot though!

[NightHawk22 - Tiekondyrogha]

143 downloads and NO reviews?

Wow, it seems a review for this song definitely IS overdue! =D Well, here it is.

While the song is loading, I have a question... what's the reasoning behind the name?

Yep, it's definitely from while you only had a basic understanding of FL Studio... and yet, it's very melodic. Your introduction was, frankly, horrible, but as the song progresses I'm hearing arpeggios and guitarwork and basses and everything... wow, it's great!

Your melody is good, video-game sounding, and is fresh throughout the song, as you always keep it. It is, however, a little bland in the beginning, though it gets better. When you've got fast, random notes playing, it does sound a bit random but for the most part fits. I don't hear creative rhythms, though, it's usually eighth notes, or quarter notes, etc., and exceptions, while present, aren't common. And then, those exceptions, (I'm talking about that laser synth and then the synth that plays lead after it) use synths that don't fit at ALL. And then, after that part, the lead synth feels too quiet. You're VERY good with melodywork, but try to work on those creative rhythms and synth choice.

The song is very melodic, and that's great! Your harmonies are well-thought out, and there are no clashing notes. Synths are well-chosen, and are very diverse, which is something I don't see as often as other good harmonic qualities... you're good at this! No criticism here.

Your percussion is the main part of the song that needs work. I hear a kick every beat, a clap every other beat, and a closed hihat playing eighth-notes... you need work. And, those are presets from FL, aren't they? I hope you've gotten better since you made this... try to avoid using FL presets, and look for better samples on sites such as findsounds.com, etc.

Unfortunately, you don't get much of an attitude or atmosphere in this song... this is because you chose some of the wrong synths, and because there aren't many creative rhythms. I can only suggest to improve on those and keep trying... it'll come on its own with experience.

For your second song, it's great! You have great potential - I wonder how many people have said that? Never doubt that you do, you have more than most of us. :) Keep up the good work.

NightHawk22 responds:

thanks and congrats for being the first person to review this song!
Well, what spurred on the name was...
i don't know really, i just thought of the fort ticonderoga and thought, i'll just screw up the name as much as possible.
I will admit, it was very random. Back when I made this, i was into making crazy rythems that fit the key, but didnt really fit the song, with a whole bunch of shredding all over the place. Thanks for the tip about the fl presets. I used a different sample for the kick on my new song.
Which is not all the way finished, so i wanted to hear some input before i got too far. you can find it on http://nighthawk22.pbwiki.com - my first attempt at an audio portal b4 i found newgrounds. The new song is titled Twilight Trance. If the site asks for a password, it's 'techno'. thanks again for reviewing,
NightHawk22

[_-={Constituting Realities}=-_]

Unexpected style of song, pulled off well.

This is very different from most of your other songs that I've heard, Maestro... your more recent songs include full-on orchestras - this is very different and I'll have to say is a good change of pace.

Like I always do when reviewing your songs... my story will come last, after my thoughts musicwise.

Your song opens on a somewhat grim, "emotionally numb" feeling. You build on it well, with your other instruments - including but not limited to your choir, orchestral strings, and sound effects.

Melodywise, I have no criticism for this song... your rhythms and notes match the attitude the rest of this song gives perfectly. Knowing your style, your choice with the... all right, I unfortunately don't know what the instrument you open this song with is called. But your choice with it is unexpected, working nevertheless.

Your harmonies are simple, but they work. No specific criticism here... but a bit more effort with them would have added a lot, in my opinion. A note on the choir - it seems a bit simple, and though it does develop later in the song I think I can offer a few tips on how multiple parts in a choir work, being a member of one myself... send me a PM if you're interested.

All right, storytime. This song, actually, really resonates with me - or rather, it would, a few months ago. It's a long story why that isn't relevant to this review... but that this song has that quality is especially nice - from my view, anyway. Unfortunately, this song resonates with me so much nothing else comes to mind! If I try, all my thoughts lead back to that story... even a brief summary of it is too much. Still, I'll try.

My story is of one who has been through a conflict with another which has ended a long time ago. His current state of being is an inner conflict within himself - the outer conflict is long gone, and he cannot will himself to forget about it and move on. He wants to and yet cannot, as the other side of the inner conflict is his heart, gone against his better interest for another cause. Gone are the emotions he used to know, replaced by frightening new ones he cannot accept. And now he waits, patiently, for the solution that will not come.

That's my story. My subject is vague on purpose, as it's not him who we are focusing on but the inner conflict. Great job with this song - how did it get all the way down to a rating of 3.33? I've voted 5, and downloaded it. Keep up the great work, I'm really looking forward to more.

MaestroRage responds:

I would greatly appreciate any advice or tips you want to throw my way concerning the choirs.

The choirs in this were very simple for a purpose, see the choirs here are meant to be lonely, simple and haunting. A solo voice was thrown in to illustrate the man's spirit and voice in the story itself. It is difficult to produce a song of simplicity if you have a very complex choir.

Your story rings true for many I am sure, so many people are infliced with this condition, it pains me sometimes to think on all these problems cropping up, with no immediate solution to them.

Everybody grows up with turmoils and difficulties, but sometimes it's just not fair to the degree. I've seen so many friends wind up in some very horrible places, one even being shot for it.

It just makes you wonder.

In any case, thank you for the review, I greatly appreciated it, once again don't be shy to drop me a pm and be all like "LOL JOO FOOL TEH CHIOR IS NUT LEK DAt!"

And i'll respond with

"LMAO ON MY ROFL WAFFLES!"

we'll bond like men, it'll be jokes and giggles until somebody insults somebodies mother. It will happen, I have foreseen it.

Thanks again for the review, i'm glad you liked it ^^.

[Back to the End]

Good... but gets a bit repetitive.

This is, I assume, the song you were having trouble with on the BBS? Hmm, now that you've submitted it, time for me to give you musical advice! =D

You open quietly... you could have developed your song with strings at the 5th or 9th measures, but apparently you didn't. Great job with note choice, I don't hear clashing notes. Do you know any musical theory?

Your piano is well-chosen, and its sound fits very nicely. The reeverb is a nice touch, too. ;)

You tell a story with this song, which is very nice. The lower harmony, playing a steady two notes in one measure every four measures, complements the upper part, which seems to wander and go off on its own, in a bit of a musical journey, dream, etc. of its own.

Admittedly, the song gets a bit boring after a while and it feels repetitive. I could see you building off of this with some chords and clever pianowork, and I honestly wouldn't be surprised if you did - judging by this song you probably know how. So do you? Had you taken this song a step further, I feel you could have mantained your intended direction and emotion while making the song an overall better one. Just a thought. ;)

I don't have much else to say or suggest about this song... I've said plenty already. I hope my advice helps! :) Why don't you stop by my audio page sometime and review my latest, After The Nova? Much appreciated, and keep up he good work. :)

Claxor responds:

Great, a long review! :D
It was pretty much me fiddling around, so as you said I could have worked more on it, building it up and chording and stuff :)

I'll work more on writing a piece some time :), it's great fun just improvising (or semi-improvising) around, seeing where you end up :P

And yes, I know music theory :D

[BeatisComingRMX (demo)]

Good... I have a few (NOT!) suggestions.

And by the, I mean I have a LOT of suggestions. Hah.

Hmmm. Pop? I'm not much to review pop, but I'll give it a try.

Well, the singing is nice, decent... it could use a bit more variation. More highs, more lows... don't be afraid to stray FAR away from the base melody! As long as it makes sense musically, of course. Hah! Right now, it sounds EXTREMELY plain and boring.

Your harmonies are nice, and fit the song. They could be a bit more diverse, though. Again, you suffer from a lack in diversity, changing them up only a little in the last four of eight measures. And, then, you don't necessarily have to go crazy with highs and lows - you could, for example, have all of your harmonies play the same note every beat, for emphasis... (you might do the same with your singing) but it seems that's not where you're going with this song. Basically, you need more variety in your melody and your harmonies.

Your percussion is simple... you could DEFINITELY use better samples! Do you use FL? Try finding a drum loop on findsounds.com and slicing it with the Fruity Slicer... you should know how to do that. Don't you? (Just drop me a PM if you don't.) It would definitely help a lot... it sounds right now like you're using presets from FL, and I wouldn't be surprised if you were.

The attitude I get from this song is twofold. The first is an attitude I'd get from a video game of some kind, as it would fit nicely in one. That's from everything without the vocals. With the vocals, it sounds like a suppressed song that should be a rave song! I can easily see this with huge, hardcore percussion and bass, loud, brutile (yet still clarity-retaining and not overpowering, hah!) harmonies, and your melody sung with... more variety, of course. XD You might not be going in that direction but it gives me one atmosphere and leaves me wanting another... I'd suggest staying consistent to one attitude! Just a thought. ;)

Hope all of this advice helps... go ahead and PM me when you've submitted the full version. Keep going with this, I'd like to see how it turns out. =)

EchozAurora responds:

This is a RMX, and those are definitely not my vocals.. LOL (I'm a dude).
As for the rest, I keep thinking about doing something with the percussion, and I might, but at the current moment, the main focus is the guitar. I'll try to make improvements using this review though... and I'm still not sure this is pop.

[DJ RISE- Blow Your Mind]

DnB... I like it. Make more. =D

Huh. That's a new way to open a song like these. So far, so good... though the second synth could have been a bit quieter... it shreds the song. Not at all good.

Wow, there's a lot to this song! It seems this is going to be one long review, now...

Your melody is good, it fits the idea of the song. Definitely gives that RUSHED!!1 feeling. XD You chose your synths nicely, but again, one could be quieter. Creative rhythms, good. Not much to say.

Harmonies add a lot to the song, even though from what I can hear there's only one! And then it's often trading places with the lead synth as there's no real melody but two harmonies which fooled me in the last paragraph into thinking that there was a melody. Hah!

Your percussion is easily the highlight of the song. Cleverly chosen samples, well-used rhythms, it's all here. You could have made them a bit more clear, though... I'm only hearing a snare drum.

Again, you give it that GREAT rushed feeling and build on it very well. I could suggest, though, having a bit of diversity... a second, quieter melody, for example, in between the two big, rushed sections. It would add a lot of diversity to the song and easily improve your score. Try to do that, it helps a lot, from what I know.

A great DnB.... keep up the good work. =D

DJ-RISE responds:

LOL. THis is a vevamp of a song I did a few albums ago. I don't do much DNB/Jungle. LOL. Although I love the huge tracks with the bass that just blows your clothes off. PENDULUM! MASOCHIST!!!!!! Aussie! LOL.

I have only made two or three tracks lik this (including this one). So I don't know what would make a great track. LOL. I just go by ear and what I want to add.

So I expect there to be a lot of thigns that need to be altered to make it bearable. XD ROFL.

Thanks for your review. I'll use this review as reference if I make another similar track. Ciao!

[DJ RISE- Psy-Ence Fiction]

Hah, weird song. =P

Hmm. You open up... unpleasantly, I guess. >_< Weird, industrial-sounding effects here. And now I'm seeing percussion... but that sound effect that loops in two beats or so still annoys me.

Huh, unpredictable, here. You just went NES. And the song just got a LOT more melodic, which is nice.

There's no real melody to this song... but rather it seems to me like a bunch of harmonies that sound like a full song together - and that takes a lot to make!

Industrial sounds are back... gaah. I honestly didn't like those.

For a collection of harmonies, it's a really good one. There are no clashing notes and often it all sounds decent together. You chose your synths nicely... no problems here.

Your percussion is just a kick and a snare, from what I can tell... and yet it fits, with the NES and all. Nothing to offer here... it could have been a bit more detailed.

I honestly don't get any sort of atmosphere from this kind of song... maybe it's the song, maybe it's that I'm reviewing this in the early morning. Probably it's for the same reason that I don't have anything else to say... bleh. Just a question - what was your motivation behind this song?

That's it... overall decent, I'll give you that. =P Keep up the good work.

DJ-RISE responds:

'Hmm. You open up... unpleasantly, I guess. >_< Weird, industrial-sounding effects here.'

I was originally trying to make an industrial DNB track.

'but that sound effect that loops in two beats or so still annoys me.'

LOL. I thought it fit into the DNB feel I was after. But when I changed direction I just left it. LOL.

'Huh, unpredictable, here. You just went NES. And the song just got a LOT more melodic, which is nice.'

What is 'NES'?

'There's no real melody to this song... but rather it seems to me like a bunch of harmonies that sound like a full song together - and that takes a lot to make!'

Yeah I didn't put much effort into a melody as such as I couldn't decide on a lead synth.

Your percussion is just a kick and a snare, from what I can tell... and yet

'what was your motivation behind this song?'

LOL. I have no idea. I didn't really have much. I just worked on it when I was bored shitless. XD I thoguht it was a load of crap really. LMAO.

Thanks for your review. Ciao!