samulis's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Memories of a Forgotten Land]

Good emotion in this, a nice sense of motion and wonder, but I really think you could benefit from a few things... first, a nice rhythm going on during the "pacing' part around 2 minutes, just a light frame drum or bass drum. Second, choirs dude- some "ooo" in the altos would go perfectly. The harp is a nice touch, but I think the passage around 0:50 could have had more embellishment and motion to it in the harp line.

Overall a very good piece. I am glad to see someone making a serious effort at music of emotional value. :)

Keep compos(ed/ing)!

MichaelJ responds:

I actually experimented with a drum there, but I didn't like. In my opinion, it took away from the mood.
I did use choirs in the piece, maybe they weren't loud enough? They start right at the beginning and then return at 1:34. Now that I listen, I can't really hear them anywhere other than the beginning. That is probably a good thing anyway, because my choir samples don't sound great.
You're probably right about the harp's section. I guess I like to keep things simple. Maybe I'll play around with it a bit.
Thank you for the review, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[History?]

HOW DID YOU NOT LAUGH?!?

The delivery is the best... reminds me of the famous review by Axeman13...

SkyeWint responds:

I INSERTED ORANGE JUICE UP MY NOSTRILS, OBVIOUSLY.

I also just realized that I oopsed on another word. Oh well. :D Forgetting to pluralize one word isn't too bad among all this!

[Fanfare of the Emperor]

Where's the bass my friend? You desperately need some bass trombones and tubas!

Also consider less tutti and a bit more movement within the chords. Things like turns, passing tones, etc. This can really create a good melodic flow within even the strongest tuttis! You might also want to consider having multiple strands of melody and such.

If you haven't heard it already, Bosa's "King Samulis" is a fabulous example of good brass writing, especially the first minute and the last half-minute.

BrokenDeck responds:

"Where's the bass my friend? You desperately need some bass trombones and tubas!"

I used the drums for bass lol. I didn't think that there would be tubas or bassy brass in a fanfare environment. Any lower brass and I think those instruments (a big tuba for ex.) would look cumbersome on those svelte elves. lol

"Also consider less tutti and a bit more movement within the chords."

I only have five fingers per hand dude :P

[Path to Glory (Reprise)]

Gentle, anthem-esque. Sounds more classical than cinematic imo... where's the f'ing organ dude? XD

Good work on harmonies and voicing in this. I really like the phrasing around 0:39 and the brass soli afterwards. I just wish there was more reverb on those strings... they cut out so suddenly for the lush sound they have.

All the best & keep compos(ed/ing)!

BrokenDeck responds:

Thanx! Good luck to you too! ^_^

[Journey to the Edge]

Wahoo, another Finaleite! :D

Garritan is one heck of a beast to tangle with to get a good sound out of and you did a plenty fine job doing that... better than I could with the default sounds!

I like the general atmosphere of the piece, and it's clear you put quite a bit of effort into this, and although the sound is not the best, the composition is quite good.

Keep compos(ed/ing)!

WingoWinston responds:

It's all about Finale. Thanks for the review man!

[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

[In Memory of Buoy]

SO MUCH TROLL!!!

Bosa responds:

get that goat away from my bridge