samulis's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Fight the Movement! ~P~]

Quite good! Loop is nice and seamless. :)

I think this would benefit from some added orchestral percussion to supplement the kit- gong, clash cymbals, etc. just to give it that punch during the orchestral parts. The drums in general seemed a bit quiet for a rock mix, but hey, I don't know much about those other than the few pieces I've heard around.

In addition, it'd be interesting to see the orchestra do a bit more- maybe even have a contrasting alternative section in the piece. The brass in the second orchestral interlude also seems a bit weak on firepower and muddy. Maybe use some staccato patches or something and a bit of good ol' poly-rhythm to bring it all home, or maybe some counterpoint of some form to create a sort of call-and-answer effect between the brass and violins/violas (which are conveniently on opposite sides of the stage). :)

Keep compos(ed/ing) and good luck!

Phyrnna responds:

Thanks for the review! Honestly I do agree with your points. The song could be improved with more time put into it. I'll probably expand on it more and work it a bit more!

Thanks for the review!

[Setting Out]

Hey man,

Some really brilliant composition here. This REALLY sounds like something I'd hear in one of those old RPGs (with better sounds of course, nice EastWest touch). You really used the idea of the motif well and I thought the motion and dynamics were excellent, although I feel you could have built up the climaxes even more, especially with as strong a brush available as EWQL SO, even if that is taking a bit of leeway with the RPG style (limits of polyphony and all or whatever, I don't know- I'm certainly no expert on this genre).

I think the piece was overall very professional composition-wise... I would expect to hear this in a game most certainly! There's not much else to say. :D

Keep Compos(ed/ing)!

BlazingDragon responds:

Hey there,

Thanks for the input! As far as climaxes, I've found that I often make them too 'busy' sounding, throwing in so many elements that everything begins to combine into a thick, muddy wall of sound. I think I went a little too conservative in an attempt to avoid that. Hopefully I'll find a good balance one of these days.

It's always a pleasure listening to your work, and I'm happy to have received a review from a composer I respect. Good luck with the NGADM! :)

[Coin and Haggle]

Sounds very relaxing indeed. Not exactly what I'd call medieval... certainly has a folk tone to it, but it seems to have a modern influence on the syncopation, harmonies, and percussion (especially the middle section).

The composition is nice- rather plain and simple though. Medieval music would have a lot more in terms of counterpoint with various melodies and "choruses" of instruments. It's strange if you listen to a lot of medieval music, it's actually very complex with what the melodies and countermelodies are doing, often in a very prescribed format, especially as it gets into the Renaissance and the land of ultimate musical complexity, Baroque.

The instruments are well selected, although for a more authentic sound you might want to find some sort of folk harp or bray harp and maybe even some viol samples for the strings to really match the sounds of that era.

The main issue I have with this is dynamic contrast. While I understand you want to keep a gentle ambient mood, most of the music for ensembles in Medieval times was about certain choirs of instruments (e.g. a recorder ensemble with a soprano, alto, tenor, and bass recorder, or a sackbut ensemble, with soprano, alto, tenor, and bass sackbuts, etc.). The largest ensembles were simply multiple groups of these that would bounce the melody back and forth (i.e. the crumhorns would start, then recorders would take over, then sackbuts would take over, etc.). This way, the melody, however bland or boring, would sound new each time. While having samples of these isn't possible (or always pleasant sounding), a similar idea can be adapted for the modern orchestra- passing the melody around between instruments and instrument families. In addition, having the instruments be louder for a bit or quieter for a bit is always a good idea to create more contrast. At least for me, it doesn't make me want to press play again other than for the sole reason of writing this review.

The next thing to consider is a contrasting B section. You DO have a middle part which is rather unlike the start and end (which are clearly both of the same stem), but it doesn't have much to it- it's kinda like a "drum break" when no one is really certain what is supposed to be happening and I think that space should either bring the song into a new key temporarily and a new melody, or at the very least have some sort of interest and melody to it.

You guys definitely have some great ideas, and I look forward to hearing more of your work.

Keep compos(ed/ing)!
-Samulis

MichaelJ responds:

Wow Samulis, thank you for the awesome review!
You're right, I guess I have no idea what medieval music is. I'll definitely be returning to this review to reread that explanation.
I have been looking for a new harp, but I haven't found one I am happy with yet.
Oh, the B section. I really had a hard time figuring out what should happen there. It is definitely just a confused drum section. I think it will be easier to fix when I have studied a little more music theory... Maybe I will go back some time and redo it.
Thanks again for this useful review!

[[NGADM]Variable]

Wow man, you have really come a long way since when we first met!

Some major improvements over your other pieces- I can hear the drums. I really like the section from c. 1:00 until 2:00 (gosh, that 1:47 is gorgeous). Solos are great and full of good melody without getting too "bop". Backgrounds sound great!

I really think you need more reverb on that sax to give it some more life if possible. If you ever have some cash, consider getting something like EWQL Spaces, that's some of the best reverb I know.

All in all, a very well constructed piece... I can't really find much to nitpick about it aside from instruments and reverb... it's very very solid compositionally, at least to my ears (I'm not much of a jazz guru, so you'll just have to wait for Camoshark or someone like that to pop in).

I wish you the best of luck in this dude, you worked a ton and it shows!

Keep compos(ed/ing)!
-Samulis

Nimble responds:

Haha, it's been quite a while since we've met, eh?

I will get to adding some well needed reverb to the sax- one rendition of this song the sax had too much reverb so i cut down on it, i think it might've over-shot.

Thank you for the feedback and review nonetheless Sam :3

[First Flight]

The use of diminished chords is interesting... harmonies are definitely interesting. I think there's a lot of contrabass missing from this piece, even at 1:27 when everything comes in. You should definitely consider adding some instruments to fill that register, even if it's just doubling the cello part like in olden times or reinforcing the tonic. The lack of a motif you mention here is acceptable in cinematic music, so no worries on that. :P

When you hit the climax, I think there might have been clipping, but I couldn't tell- could just have been the cuivre sound of the brass. The ending is nice and calm, but feels a bit disjointed from the rest. Also, the end feels kinda sudden... the climax is so brief, it's like you reach the top of the mountain and then a wind comes up and carries you back down to the bottom.

I think some gentle glockenspeil arpeggio/ostinato stuff would add greatly to the calm choir + strings you hear at the start and end. I also think, for the choir, maybe an "oo" sound might be nice to try instead of "ah". "ah" has a bit harsher sound I find.

I'd like to see a bit more reverb on the voices and strings so they'd ring out at the end like they would in a hall, unless that's something else. Actually, more reverb in whole could help it, notably on the staccato part.

Speaking of the staccato part, while higher sounding "tribal drums" are all the craze with cinematic, consider filling out those drums more- bass drum and timpani, good solid classical staples of the bass. I think a well written timpani part with some good rolls and patterns could help the piece melodically and also fill in that bass range.

Other than that, this piece is excellent and very bosa-esque. ;)

Keep compos(ed/ing)!
-Samulis

[Epic War Drums Track ~P~]

Reminds me of some of the old Civ III Ancient music for some reason. They had a lot of the "ethnic drums" stuff going on.

[In Memory of Buoy]

SO MUCH TROLL!!!

Bosa responds:

get that goat away from my bridge

[Qui manducat]

wow. You stay in perfect pitch throughout the whole thing! Amazing job on singing this- sends a chill down my back while I am sitting here tonight. Definitely makes you rethink writing complex music when something so simple yet beautiful can exist as old plainchant like this. :)

Troisnyx responds:

Eh, thanks -- I'm glad it turned out okay. Bigger thanks is due to the One who inspired the melody.

It does, doesn't it? I used to be fed this diet of happy-clappy music that even as a teenager, when I came across proper plainchant for the first time, I wasn't sure about it. Now as a cantor, I chant these things quite frequently on Sunday Masses -- and there are others like me who are singing at a time when people think cantors are dead or a thing of the past. And what joy it gives! :D

[Painterly]

Hey man,

This sounds like an electronic or pop song with orchestral instruments... not an orchestral song really. Try to cut back on repeating patterns... remember that each instrument has a person behind it, it's not just a pile of notes you copy and paste or whatever- write a melody for them that flows and has feeling to it. Your production is getting better.

[A Second Chance]

Hey man, good work!

-I really like your work with percussion here, you're starting to use it more creatively. :)
-Try using less repetition, or vary things (such as have one rhythm for four bars, then another, then back to the first, and so on), especially on the loud fast strings where the robotic sound of the non-round-robin strings shows.
-There are more instruments you can always explore with! Strings are step 1, but what about more woodwinds, and brass? Nothing wrong with experimenting. :)

I say you should keep working on this, as with my usual motto:

keep compos(ed/ing)!
-Samulis

Luc0z responds:

Thanks for this, my next one will feature less spicatto strings and more brass, woodwind and percussion instruments. I look forward to see what I can come up with :)