Karco's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[_-={Garden of Memories}=-_]

I said I would review this one!

And it's been a while since I have, too! I've been waiting for Authority of Darkness so I could leave a monster review on that one, but seeing as that you haven't submitted it yet, I'll review this instead. ;D

First off, your woodwinds, in the front. For the most part, nice job with them, though personally I don't like those long held notes (more than a measure or so) - it feels like more composition could have been added there with a bit more effort. It would have been pretty neat if you could have added a simple harmony part for the section of the song with the most energy, perhaps with a different woodwind instrument? It would have added more detail, and perhaps have better captured the harmony of the environment you've made this song for? ;) But other than that, the instruments chosen and melody are both great. :D

As for the guitar (which is what that plucked instrument is, right?), it's great - though I don't like the second base of the mellow strumming progression - for example, what plays during the second beat of the song (the whole song, that is) at 0:02. It doesn't quite fit with the rest of the song in my opinion... it's a nice attempt at dissonance, but I don't like the sound of it for some reason. :\ Also, I don't really like the fourth base of the progression - the 1st in the scale, the home tone - it fits just fine, but I like to hear things other than the home tone for the concluding base note, as an extra melodic effort. ;) It fits just fine as is, but I think there were more melodic and enjoyable possibilities for that point. Last, praise! :D The dissonance I hear, for example, between 0:37 and 0:40 (it goes off the scale here, doesn't it?) was pulled off nicely - I've heard similar things done before in songs like this, but it hasn't gotten old with me yet. ;D

Strings are nice, no complaints, but I'd like to bring something up - having listened to your music for a while, I'm beginning to recognize the "East West" sound, here it mainly shows up (to me) with the strings, and more the lower they go. They just have a recognizable sound I've heard before, which is a bit of a disappointment - rather than having your own, "MaestroRage" sound, which is always present in your composition (though LadyArsenic did some of it with this song, right?, you have an "East West" sound, made present by the sound of the instruments you use. Try to have an original sound, it's great - I don't really know how the East West instruments work apart from what you've written in your reviews for them and in your definitions (Key Changes and such), so I don't think I can suggest anything, but keep an original sound in mind. You want to sound like yourself, not like your instruments. ;)

That aside, I have to say, the higher strings are awesome when they play along with the woodwinds! :D I only wish they were a bit more audible, in places, they become hard to hear. :\

I didn't really like the ending, considering this was a peaceful night theme, I would have enjoyed something more based in the mid to high ranges, rather than with low strings in the low end and the guitar in the middle area. :\

As for my story, I'm drawing a blank this time. I've been running on an irregluar sleep schedule lately - sleep late, wake up kinda early, sleep early, then sleep in again - and I'm kinda wiped out right now. :P I do get a landscape but it's nothing special and I probably wouldn't do it much good describing it now. ;) If I think of something good later, I'll be sure to send you a PM, but I'll have to skip it this time, sorry. D:

But other than that, I really enjoyed this song! 5/5, and 9/10, keep it up, both of you! I'll be watching your website... >:) (And refreshing, too. Staring at a screen and doing nothing wouldn't do anyone any good. XD)

MaestroRage responds:

All good points Karco.

Though i'd like to state that I can do nothing about the East West sounds XD. I mean I could easily go buy a new library, but money is really tight and doing that is going to blow future plans into the water for years.

I should probably do some research and see how I can modify the sounds... perhaps blend in different strings of various sections? Who knows, there are many things I havn't tried yet.

LadyArsenic lay down most of the melody, in fact the first half is pretty much entirely her. The later half is my take on that melody with some twists. We discovered later there was a reason this song sounded so familiar to us. As you may be aware now, the melody comes from Dark Cloud 2. Though we didn't realize it, we went ahead with it anyways. So I guess this song is now classified as "Remix"

The ending was thrown in kinda last second. The song originally was meant to loop, however due to reverb levels, cutting it off at the end to loop, made it sound very... ugh.

I guess i'll have to find a way around that first.

No need to apologize Karco, I greatly appreciate the time and effort you put into your words, i'm thankful for anything you put down ^^.

Thank you for the review, and the support, we're glad you liked it!

[Mirage 6 (Short Edit)]

Returning the review...

Pretty nice stuff you have here. :P I rarely review because it's tiring to do - my reviews get really, really long every time. This is good, though, so I'll give it a shot. :P

Great start, I hardly ever hear songs started like that. :D Nice intro section, it's got a fair amount of energy, possibly a bit too much? You don't want to start with too much energy, otherwise you've got a long way down to go to your first breakdown, which can be difficult, or nowhere to go if you want to build higher while keeping a good progression.

Your bass synth is good overall. Good choice for the sake of this song, however, I think it didn't have enough going on in the bass area and too much in the low mids, which means that it didn't have as much boom, but still took up the same amount of room in the bass area as it would have otherwise, leaving little room for the kick. :\ When making basses, you should choose between a mid bass (something that plays low notes but doesn't have any bass to it, leaving the most amount of room possible for the kick, see my song Falling Farther (Trance Remix)) or a bassy bass (something that has a good amount of bass boom to it, while leaving room for the kick). Try not to go too far in between, kinda like you did here. :\ In the end, you want no distortion/clipping/crackling/etc., which is still something I have trouble with myself. :P As for your actual bassline, it's close to, but not exactly the same as, the 1-7-6-6 (going down the scale) bassline which I find good, though extremely overused, which sadly kills it. :\ It's a bit too close for comfort for me... you might want to make a more complex, melodic bassline than that. ;)

Synths and composition are all decent... one synth I especially like is that somewhat distorted synth playing in the mid ranges... a creative touch, which is nice. :D Great idea with the triplets here and there, too. It plays a bit too much, though, there should be more parts in the song without it... I get tired of it easily. :\ Maybe you should work it into your progression so the song doesn't start with it, but it shows up later on to build energy before the breakdown? Your pads are good, too - they're simple, which is good for the sake of having your own sound (see next paragraph). I THINK I recognize that lead from Nexus? The Store N' Forward expansion? I might be wrong, but I've heard it somewhere before... once again, refer to the next paragraph for why that's a bad thing, though in this case I think it fits your sound and this song.

I don't think your bass-ish synth that you introduce at 2:02 was a good choice, sadly. :\ First off, I feel I've heard it somewhere before, which is never good. It bends the sound of this song, which should be yours (your style, etc.) to the sound of that synth, which isn't. If you've got your own sound or style to your songs, that's one more thing people can like about your music. ;) Of course, don't rush yourself in trying to perfect it... I'm still trying to find mine. ;D Second, I can't say it fit that well. :\ Third, it's another synth that's somewhat, but not fully, a bass synth, which is a problem - a good rule of thumb to follow is that you should only have one synth playing in those ranges at a time, for the sake of leaving room for the kick, or just for the sake of avoiding distortion and clashing notes, which can happen in the low ranges even if normally they wouldn't clash. Otherwise, either the kick will get buried, or it'll distort the song along with everything else with bass to it.

Drums could have done with some polishing. The kick didn't distort, but ended up getting buried under your bass synth (and the other low synth in the second half of the song). The clap was overpowered by the rest of the song, and I think I recognized it from VEC. Once again, don't rush yourself in developing an original sound, but try to steer away from using raw samples to using heavily FXed and/or original samples. Hihats were good, though also quiet. No complaints on FX and crashes, great job there. :D

Out of space, continuing in a PM... XD

[==(Distant Oceans)==]

About time you submit something...

I don't remember off the top of my head when you submitted Northern Lights but it feels like forever. D:

I like that synth (rhodes?) at the beginning, what it plays, etc. You seem to build the song around it, which is nice - it works as a nice base. The high-pitched arp is awesome! :D Great job there - overall synth, delay, everything. I can see some slight dissonance with it - if you had cut that held note at the end of the arp pattern in half, and then lowered the second note one half step (kinda like what you did later in the song, except you raised it waaaaaaaaaaaaay up high) and then fitted the song around it, it could have sounded pretty awesome. ;D

Drums are nice. Personally I don't like a reverbed kick drum too much, as it muddies up the low frequencies, but since there's nothing else down there, I suppose it's ok. :P The snare reminds me of your snare in Celestial Swamp Life for some reason, maybe it's because I listened to that one a few times today. :P Could you give me a few tips on making good snares like that? Whenever I try to make a snare like that, it ends up being obnoxious and waaay in front. D: Rides/cymbals/etc. are nice, though I hear something playing eighth notes waaaay in the background, that's a bit too quiet.

Choirs are pretty awesome, I hardly ever hear you use those... they actually help the atmosphere quite a bit, you should use them more. :P That flute is definitely "soaring," well-done there. :D

I like the bass synth, though it's more quiet than subtle if you ask me. Raising the volume might have made it a bit too loud in some other ways... maybe you could have done a bit more work on the EQ here?

I didn't like the ending, unfortunately, it was a bit sudden for me - you didn't have to do the special pattern for the ending, you could have just played the normal pattern and it would have worked out fine, I think. :P

A shorter review than the kind I usually write, but I tried and I was never much for reviewing ambient stuff anyway. :P Great job, great atmosphere. 5/5, 9/10, keep it up! ;D

[Binary Rain]

So I was browsing the BBS...

...and I found this song. :P I normally don't go around reviewing just any song (usually because of the time it takes, look at my other reviews XD) but since you don't mind a two-line review, what the heck, I'll write a short one by my standards. :P

I like the style in this one, what would have been nice is if you had used a more trebley snare, to add to the rhythmic feeling. :P But even without a trebley snare, the drums and bassline are great and give the song a nice, different "chilled-out" feel from what it would have been without them. ;)

I think I hear a little bit of distortion with the kick? But it's no big deal.

The rain and thunder FX muddy up the mix a bit, too, cutting the low frequencies a bit would have done them some good.

Definitely an enjoyable listen. Keep it up. :D

Anima-Theory responds:

The snare and kick...in fact all the percussion are passed through a DIST. That's te distortion you hear. It's not clipping :D

Thanks for the review man :D

[Miles away from the sun]

Well, it's going to be a big one...

As my reviews for songs like this are always big. Goodbye, up to half an hour of my time... D:

Your intro is pretty good, though it lasts for too long. Progress things faster, instead of adding one synth or changing the drums a little bit once per 8 measures or so. :P If you want a longer song, though, find better ways to stretch out that progression - keep the bass on one note until you introduce the actual bassline along with some other melodic/harmonic part. Good idea, having the hihats play, but not consistently, for the sake of progression... it keeps the song interesting while leaving yourself somewhere to go. ;D

Your bass synth is on the offbeat, which has been done waaaay too often and shouldn't happen in trance songs like these. There are tons of great ways to use a bass synth to make an awesome trance song, and this isn't one of them. It's an icing-on-the-cake thing - you can have a good song with a bass on the offbeat, but a good arped, sidechained, or even gated bass would make the song that much better. ;D Your bassline pattern isn't original at all, I've heard it one time too many - it's the 1-1-6-7 bassline pattern and I've fallen prey to it myself, in my song Rush. XD The synth itself is pretty good, no complaints...

I hear a pad in the intro, and it appears to be playing the bassline. Thing is, half the time, the bass keeps its note, and the other half, it changes with the pad. When the bass keeps its note, the pad plays the bassline and it results in clashing notes... here's a good rule of thumb: don't let two low-range synths or instruments play different notes. It results in clashing notes, even if they wouldn't normally clash in the higher ranges, and possibly distortion.

Drums are pretty nice, with a house influence to them and a pretty original sound, though I think I recognize those open hihats from VEC. :P The kick isn't one that's supposed to have a big boom, which isn't quite my taste in kicks, though it works just fine and is pulled off well, save the little bass that it does have, which is drowned out... see the paragraph on EQing. When it's not playing on the beat - transitions, etc. - it's used well, too, and the rhythms are good. The only exception is where it hits at 2:16 or so - it sounds a bit random, as there's nothing after it until the buildup less than a measure before the next section. It sounds kinda like a mistake to me, actually. :P The clap is well-chosen and not overpowered or overpowering... and the crash is just a little bit quiet, but it's no big deal. Hihats, open and closed, are also good choices, and not too quiet or loud. The snare is good too, though it doesn't never becomes loud enough to make a good buildup. It's always a little bit overpowered... this sort of thing could just be fixed by raising the final volume it goes up to in the snare rolls. Your bongo-ish drums in the beginning are great... kinda disappointing you don't use them later on. :(

Your synths are all great, I don't recognize a single one, so at least to me, you have your own, original sound. :D Composition is nice, too - trancy, and not overly powerful nor calm to the point of being boring. It's consistent, which is good, but not repetitive, either. Rhythms are unique, and not repetitive, too, which is great. I like your choice in piano, too! :D Way to use a filter with it, too... I really ought to try that sometime. :P

As for the overall structure, progression, and pacing of the song, you do a good job fitting a peak, breakdown, and a second peak into four minutes. :P I would have liked to see a good buildup between the breakdown and the second peak - oh well, the song worked fine without it. ;)

The mixing/EQing sounds fine in the upper ranges... sadly, down in the lower ranges, I hear ridiculous amounts of bass! D: It's probably the low pad (which, now that I think about it, you didn't really need, and if you HAD to have it, could have EQed better) and the bass. Careful there - nearly always, you should need only one low-range synth or instrument at a time.

Great job overall, I'm out of spa

whirlpool responds:

Sence i pretty much responded to you on aim, theres nothing for me to talk about here x_x

I AM NOT OUT OF TEH SPACE!!!!!

[CTSG2 - Morphin' Madness]

Heh, awesome! :D

Another one finally finished, and an excuse for me to increase my review count with a relatively effortless review. Right? ;D

These final products are really becoming stuff to look forward to, I enjoyed every second of this one. Though sadly the transitions became a bit less flowing as the song (if you can really call it one :P) progressed. Yes, mine included... XD

And like before, I'm going to continue with my part and see where it goes, if anyone's interested. :P

zacko555000, your part was pretty cool as well. ;)

As before, auto-5, 10, and download. Great job, everyone! :D

[CTSG: Shapeshifter]

Finally finished, eh?

Even though I've listened to most of it plenty of times while making my own section, it still sounds awesome every time. :D Download, 10, and 5, just because I can. ;D

Great job to everyone, we had some truly impressive artists working on this! Though the fade-out was a bit of a disappointment... ah well. :P I'll be sure to add something to the next one... >:)

SolidElectro responds:

That would be great Karco!

[==(Northern Light)==]

As always, impressive from the start...

I recognize this style of yours - you seem to have quite a few different styles, depending on the song. :P It's changed, though, namely in the piano. I haven't seen you use piano like that yet... or, at least, I don't remember it. ;D Throughout the song, it's awesome. :D

Synths in the beginning sound a bit thin, which is ok in the beginning, but later on in the intro, not so much - you could have done with something in the low range, perhaps that pad played two or three octaves lower, or maybe a different one? Piano in the low (C3-C4) range would have either sounded awesome, or horrible, I don't know which for sure. The atmosphere in the beginning is really something, if you had preserved it perfectly throughout the song, this would have been a masterpiece. (Though any ambient song that fully masters an atmosphere would probably be a masterpiece, right? :P)

The squareish bass synth is a bit too sharp, in my opinion, and more trancish than ambient. It hurt the atmosphere quite a bit, in my opinion... there are other bass synths out there that could have done this song a lot more good. That it played a melody - which wasn't bad, but nothing spectacular - didn't help that much, either. :\

Drums are good, no complaints. I especially like your use of that ride starting at around 2:25 or so and until the end of that interlude (and in another interlude where it's used similarly), but it's really hard to hear, and probably would have been better off being a bit louder.

I hear quiet gated wind FX, and I like it - it could be just a little bit louder, though, as I can barely hear it like this.

That's about all I've got to say, I enjoyed this one! :) Downloaded, I fived it when I saw it earlier today, and here's a 9/10. Great job. :D

[[GF]Beginning[GF]]

Sounds good! :D

Finally, you submit something new! Here's a review, as always:

First off, the intro isn't so good. You have a moment of silence between the reverse cymbal and the rest of the song... it doesn't sound too good to me. :\

Kick and the other drums are all sounding good, as is your bass synth - no complaints, nice job here. :D They're all very unique-sounding.

The vocals are weak in my opinion - you have only one sentence, repeated over, and over... you could do with at least one other sentence throughout the song. That one sentence gets overused throughout the song, and begins to sound old quite quickly. So, careful there. ;)

Melodywork is great, I found it interesting that you did it with the bass. It made the song a bit more boring than it could have been, but you did a great job pulling off the whole song with just one synth! :D

Nice going with the part in the beginning of the second half, the claps are a nice touch. By the way, what is VEE? Some sort of samplings off of a German playground? (They shout "Vee!" as they go down the slides! XD Kidding.)

The biggest problem would have had to have been diversity... it's also a big problem of mine, so now I can see where all my reviewers are coming from! :P Having the entire song only use one synth was a very original touch but also hurt diversity tremendously - you might want to make it more interesting somehow, instead of just one melodyline, one synth, one sentence, etc... see what I mean? ;) I feel this song could be shortened to something around half the length, and that alone would help the diversity quite a bit. ;)

I enjoyed it a lot, one of the more original songs I've heard in a while. Nice job, and keep up the great work! :D

GroundForce responds:

wow you lil reviewmaniac you!!! lol

wow very helpful review!

thank you very much for your GREAT effort!!!

VEE is a sample CD from Vengeance (Vengeance Essential Electro)

THX³ mate

[GF]

[{SD} - Tempest]

I already reviewed this song in chat...

...but, you know, I thought I'd comment on that commentary of yours: Kinda flattering you called my thoughts a "seal of approval." :P It's actually a good thing to do, regardless of skill, but you don't need to get it from me every time. Otherwise we'll eventually be making the exact same stuff with a slight difference that would be whatever's left of your style. XD

The kick distorts a bit compared to the version you sent me, too, so I thought I'd give that a mention. Be careful there. Try lowering the volume or messing with the lower side of the EQ. :P

But overall, though, great job! :D

ShirkDeio responds:

Thanks again, man! Yeah, I think I'll tweak the EQ a bit :D