Karco's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Triple Gear]

Before verification... hah!

I noticed your thread on the BBS and I decided to give you a little 'welcome review,' which should be an especially nice surprise since you haven't been verified yet and your songs are only accessible through your profile. But I'll go ahead and give you a nice, long, first review! =D (I'd laugh so hard if someone beat me to it while I was reviewing. But then again, I tend to give long reviews.)

It definitely has that SNES feel... I felt the introduction could have been longer, but so far so good.

You have a nice melody there... catchy, video-gamey, 16-bit-sounding, no problems here. Definitely something I'd hum. Great for your first. It does sound a little random at times, though. Is this your second song EVER or only your second submission?

Your harmonies are all good and add extra harmony to the song. At times, however, I couldn't hear some of them, or you were lacking. Your bass, for example, was a bit quiet. I really like, however, the harmonies playing third-beats, you did a nice job with those.

Your percussion, I'd have to say, was the downside of this song. That snare drum WOULD fit the song perfectly, but sound quality made it not so, unfortunately. I hear a closed hihat playing eighth notes, but it's waaay too quiet. Your kick is just a little weak, too, except in a few cases - your transitions, for example.

Synth choice is great for the purpose of the song. Like I said earlier, everything's 16-bit sounding, and since that's what you're aiming for, it's a very good thing. Each harmony is played by a very fitting synth. My only problem is that melody synth of yours - I think you could have found a better one.

Your atmosphere that you give in this song somewhat reminds me of a battle scene on an RPG, certain levels on a platformer, etc. It's no surprise I think this fits nicely in a game, of course. Great job setting up that feeling.

For your second, it's great! I'm looking forward to more. Don't hesitate to send me a PM if you want me to review a song you've submitted - it's never too much! =D Why don't you stop by my audio page and review a song of mine? A review for any song among my latest 5 songs would be nice. Much appreciated, and keep up the great work. =)

[==(Lost in Space)==]

Is this where my song took you?

Hmm. It's still loading but I'm excited to see how my song inspired you.

Nice atmosphere you're starting with... echoes everywhere, and it definitely has that spacey feeling. The effect in the beginning is especially nice... gaah, you definitely beat me (by far!) in spacey ambience. =D

I like especially your choices in sounds, which add to the atmosphere you've set up. You also take your time with the atmosphere, building it up and manipulating it to fit the song perfectly.

Oh, irony... the things that occur to me... "atmosphere" in a "spacey" song. Get it? Bah, I need to excersise my sense of humor more.

Is that a melody I hear? Well, it's a note progression. And now it's fading... and now it's all back with percussion. Nice atmosphere again... and now it faded out again. And now it's back... and now it faded out again, this time for good. This is interesting, what exactly were you aiming at? It would have been nice had you had the section with the percussion last a bit longer, building and adding to it. You did fade out a bit soon, in my opinion... but it's still pretty good.

The song fits the description and title perfectly. I can see clearly your logic behind the title and description. Great job with this, SBB, you've convinced me to listen through your songs sometime when I have the time and download the ones I like. I've voted 5, too... so keep up the great work. I'm looking forward to more of your ambience! =)

[Final showdown (man vs. alien)]

Hmmm...

You start out the same. I love that introduction! Though it didn't detract from the song, I think you didn't need to add that new pad, though it definitely makes the song a lot better a little bit later.

What you've added between the last song and this one isn't that big, but the melody has definitely changed compared to the last song, and your harmonies add a lot.

New section, second half of the song. I like the sound of this! And a nice transition and buildup, too. Great harmony here between all of these synths. And now I hear some awesome new percussion which makes the song even dancier, nice job there. Is that a new melody I hear? You're great with those.

I especially like your style, with Music Stories and how they don't loop but keep going on, like a story... still, you can bring things back from earlier parts of the song, like an especially catchy riff or something to make it even better.

Again, you've mastered the dancy feeling. And for making music for only a little more than a month, you've mastered it quickly!

Your quality was a big problem in the previous version, though it's not that bad in this one. You've fixed things nicely, though it could still use work in a few places. You've improved it a lot here.

Overall another great song... you're getting really good, really fast! Another 10 and download from me, and I'm finally able to vote again, too, so you also earned a 5. I've just submitted another ambient-type song, why don't you review it? Thanks, and keep up the great work - I'm looking forward to more.

Music-story responds:

Yeah reviewed it. I added the new pad in the beginning of the song because DSMagnum told me in the demo song that it didn't have enough stuff going on. I liked that synth though since it added that whole alien persona. I really like that last melody I put it. I should make a new song just using that loop. Thanks again for your review. I need someone to master my tracks because I am still a newb with logic express. Is there no one on NG that doesn't use logic express 7? I'm done with music for a week or more so no new music, just lots of reviewing. Bye for now

[NH22 - Alternate Dimension]

Amazing! How long have you been doing this?

You start out nicely... some good atmosphere, gah! Where'd all of that come from?! You sprung a melody on me! You could have built all of that up slower... but it's still pretty good. Nice effects there.

You know, this really reminds me of Dimrain47's stuff... I'd check out the other reviews for this song and see how many other people said the same, but I tend not to view reviews for songs I'm reviewing until I'm done reviewing the song myself, so my views aren't flawed. ;)

Your melody is creative, and catchy. It's a bit fast for humming but it's something that'd get stuck in my head all day. I hear piano now... it's a bit quiet, and doesn't shine as much as I think it could. Overall it shines, and you keep it fresh throughout the song. Sometimes it's jazzy and sometimes it's rave-hard fast.

Your harmonies are great... they (and the melody, but mostly them) are what give the song the Dimrain47 feel that I feel they have. Also I have to mention that you have what could be too many, as your quality goes down due to what I feel is an excess of them. You need work there. Otherwise a simply amazing job here.

Your percussion is weak, there are no overpowering kicks but simply a closed hat playing sixteenth notes - another characteristic both your music and Dimrain's both share.

Piano now takes the lead more than before, and it's GOOD piano! Great job here.

Your synth choice is great, but is, I feel, the cause of the lack of clarity in this song, along with harmonies. You need work there. Your effects are never too much, though.

Eew, what's that ending! The song just exploded (bad) on me. Again, clarity will add a lot to your songs done right, and will kill them done wrong.

Overall an amazing song... you deserve a lot more than what you have right now! I'll stay tuned to your music... I'll keep reviewing them as they come, assuming I remember. Why don't you stop by my music and review one of my two latest sometime? Much appreciated, and keep up the amazing work!

[SR - Virtual Reality V2]

Calming, and mellow - great job with this.

You start nicely. I hear some very nice pads you're bringing in, and then a nice bass synth to back it all up. Very nice introduction, you've started this nicely. You do, though, take your time in changing things up.

You take a lot out and pull out the piano. The notes (and their tempo) complement your apparent intention of the atmosphere of the song, which is good.

Now you've got more pads, and your percussion is back. Looking at your other songs, I'm seeing a lot of Ambient, so I'm not surprised the song is like this. I wouldn't call it generic trance, but it's definitely a branch of the Trance genre in one direction or another.

Hmm, a drum roll. And now you've got a new riff which changes the attitude of the song around a bit, before it was reassuring and now it's a wavering in its certanity. Intended or not, that was a nice move there.

Everything blends together nicely, and it's very melodic, a certain plus to the song. I also have to say the percussion fits nicely to the attitude of the song, though I think you could have tried harder finding a closed hat that doesn't cut off as harshly as the one in this song did.

Some of the pads were, I feel, too similar, or used for too long - for example, one of the pads that plays a different note every measure I feel lasted too long in the song. You could have brought it in later on, replacing a different pad that you had in its place until then, and the song would have had more of an epic feel once you did. You could have even had it on top of the other pad, given you weren't sacrificing quality due to an excess of harmonies.

Wow... the song just looped, and throughout the song you go from a potential buildup to a generic trance song to a sort of "ambient trance" kind of song. I like it a lot... I hardly noticed the change until the song looped. Great job with this.

You know, you should come back to this style sometime and make more. It's great, and I think if you keep working on it you could get very good at this style of song. Heck, you already are!

Overall a very good song. Hey, any chance you could stop by my audio page at http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/view.php?id=1828837 sometime and review (specifically) either Lost in Time, Phantom Zero or my song And So This Story Goes? A review for more than one would be nice, but only if you're feeling especially generous. Hah! I'd normally ask you to review either of my two latest, but I feel a review for either of the aforementioned three songs would be more helpful from someone who apparently is good at a similar style. Much appreciated, and keep up the great work.

[{Losing Touch}]

CPU Problems? That's too bad. =(

Still, though, I can barely THINK of making a song as good as this, anyway, and you did a pretty good job with this. If you nearly maxed out your CPU, that means you must have been trying hard in my opinion... 10 under effort for you. ;)

Your melody is pretty good, and I can see why you'd call the song happy hardcore though I wouldn't call it that. This actually reminds me of your song Flying Away a bit. One other thing is when the lead synth changes for the second time, it sounds offbeat, though it's definitely a good attempt at creative rhythms. ;)

Your harmonies are good, though lacking. I'm assuming you weren't finished with them and would have made them even better than they were if it weren't for the CPU. Still, they're well-done.

Your percussion is great as always and I'm hearing that awesome kick which seems to be a staple in your style lately... I'm too lazy to check your other more recent songs. =P

Your synth choice and drums are all very good, no problems here. I especially like the synth that comes in, for example, at 0:50, and fades out around 0:58, great choice there.

You definitely gave it that "rave" feeling at times... great job there. Nothing else to add.

A good song for something you couldn't finish! Keep up the good work, I'm looking forward to more. =)

[Pianos (Unfinished)]

Hmmm...

Hate to say it, but all I'm hearing are random keys. Sorry. =\ Normally I'd leave a much longer review but I really can't say too much about something like this.

See, when you're making a piano song the notes have to have HARMONY with each other. You know what I mean? This song isn't in any particular key from what I can tell, and as pointed out below, all of the notes are alone and you have no chords or anything. Again, all I'm hearing are random keys pressed with no particular intentions for a song.

So... keep trying. =) PM me sometime if you want me to show you how to make some good piano stuff.

HiniberusDelius responds:

I just wanted to try somthing out, I'll probably use a piano in one of my up coming tracks. I'll keep you in mind for when I need to use the piano again though. Thanks and much apprciated.

[Formermom:THESPREAD]

Wow, formermom, you're improving!

This is definitely better than the last song of yours that I've listened to. (Cry Beatnick 2.0.) It sounds like... what, ambient DnB or something?

You start out a bit annoyingly... but after the "infectious vocals" the song gets a LOT better.

You're using melodies and harmonies all over the place, and they make sense, too. Your percussion works very nicely. I have to say, I'm amazed, formermom! You've jumped far! I'll go in-depth now.

Your melody... it's much better than last time. Mind you, it still could be better... there are notes you could potentially switch around as for the most part you're making half steps between them which doesn't sound very good melodically. Still, it's a big improvement.

You're using many more harmonies in the song and they're much better! They make sense and there are few clashing notes. The only problem I have here is that eventually they, coupled with the percussion cause things to get a bit too loud later in the song. You could have kept things at the same volume.

Your percussion, I have to say, is amazing! I've just listened to Cry Beatnick 2.0, and it's ridiculous how far you've come in a few weeks! Ridiculous good, of course. I especially like the thing you do with the snare drums, where it plays eighth notes and goes up in pitch every now and then. That was an especially unexpected move and it worked well. Your percussion is especially unique because it hits and then fades out through a certain pattern of drums... then hits and fades again. This is especially unique and is quite a nice touch.

Your choices and uses for your synths and other sounds are much better... there are a few, however, you could have replaced with better choices - for example, the choirs don't really fit, except for that one pad (cloudchorus or something?) that fits fine. I hear FL presets, but hey - you can choose your synths much better before and that alone is a big step. Unfortunately, your choices in synths and other sounds are one of the two things (clarity is the other) that makes the song much worse than it potentially could be - should you have tried just a LITTLE harder here, the song would have been MUCH, MUCH BETTER! Just stick to this style and work on this and your quality and you'll be as good as I am!

In this song you've finally achieved an actual atmosphere, unlike your other songs that I've reviewed which don't really have that quality. This really gives me the image of a boss fight in certain video games, and sounds like it can be easily looped. It also sounded like you could have kept going, intstead of ending with that pad. The song could have been a few minutes longer should you have continued it and kept to the same standards.

Overall a very good song and a HUGE improvement. What have you been doing these past few weeks? Your songs must have been improving a LOT! So keep up the good work and PM me if you ever want a review for a song you've submitted.

formermom responds:

Probably the longest review I have ever had LOL

&& Yes I know it kinda does wreck it with those quire voices!! and I mixed it a littl etoo much, but i'm going to come out witha second verison cause I love this song:D

[The Race [short version]]

Melodies/harmonies need work, drums are great!

Well, I need to start by telling you that you start WAAAY too loud. I had to turn down the volume... try not to let that happen later on.

Hmm. You start out a bit plainly and simply, which isn't good. You could have used a bit more throughout the entire song, as it feels a bit empty. Do you know what I mean? Good points include a nice buildup into the melody and good transitions throughout the song.

Your "melody" is really just a bassline. And an overcliched one at that, too. You didn't even change it up at all, sticking with the same three-note sequence. Try to be a bit more original with it next time.

Now I'm seeing more harmonies coming out, though quality's being sacrificed now. You're making a mistake I used to make, which was that you wanted to give yourself somewhere to build up to, and took out too many harmonies in the beginning. The end of the song with all of the harmonies is good, and you don't suffer from a lack of them there, though. A suggestion I have for you is to instead have NO harmonies in the beginning, have DIFFERENT ones. Maybe have a quiet, mellow section in between the beginning section and the ending section to make the end seem even more fast-paced, if that's your style. Just a few thoughts.

Your drums were the best part of this song - you did a very good job with them compared to the impression the other parts of the song gave me. They do wonders for your transitions and buildups, which is good, though they get to being a bit too quiet later on in the song. It sounded good before you introduced more harmonies... that doesn't mean you shouldn't have as many harmonies, but you should try to figure out how to keep the harmonies there without interrupting the drums. ;)

Synth choice could definitely have been a bit better. The bass arpeggio you have throughout the song (you start the song with it) is good, but you could have chosen that a bit better, I think. The first harmony synth you introduce could definitely have been better-chosen, I think that was the worst choice of the song. (It's all relative, though... halfway decent on its own but bad compared to your other choices. You know what I mean?)

You had a bit of a cliched attitude I see all the time as I review, and while you could have built on that I didn't see that much in the song. Your drums did most of it, of course. If you had built on that with better synths and variation in your melodies and harmonies, the song would have sounded MUCH better, I'm sure.

Overall it's decent. I'd vote 3 or 4, but I don't want to lower your score... so I'll 5 it. =D Why don't you stop by my audio page and listen to a song or two of mine? A review for either of my two most recent (Aster Revisited or Lost in Time) would be especially appreciated. Thanks, and keep up the good work.

Fico responds:

Thank you for your review,it is *really* helpful.
I will try to change my style,following your notes. ;]
Cheers. ^^

[Turnbit]

Been a while.

I thought I'd stop by and review your latest. Let's see what you have today.

Wow, this is nice. No clear, defined melody, but you've set up some really nice atmosphere here. Hah... are you kidding? If I make songs like these, I call them masterpieces. You call them 'a quick little track.' Darn it, I still have a LONG way to go... >_<

Like I said, there's no melody but everything in this song blends perfectly together... it all sounds great together. Not much else to say about that.

Gah! Is that glitching, or what? Nice little surprise there. And now you're fading out... aww. I was just beginning to really enjoy it, too.

It's really a unique song... I can't really review it like I review other songs. (I give my opinions on melodies, harmonies, percussion, synth/drum choice, and atmosphere/attitude in a standard review of mine.) How could this be a quick little track when it sounds like a ton of effort went into this? I have seriously no reason to give you anything less than perfect 10s, so that means you deserve them! Nice job again... I'm looking forward to more.