samulis's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Crimson Night]

Gorgeous!

If only my music were this epic sounding... I would enjoy some sort of high 1-7-1-5-1-7-1-5 eighth-note violin melody during the epicness or a variation on the original guitar motif.

I thought this piece really was a masterful mix of production and emotion. I can tell how much effort you put into the velocities, flow, and so on... I'm really glad to see you enter such a gorgeous piece in this contest!

Step responds:

"Gorgeous!"

Wow man thanks! This review made my day!

"If only my music were this epic sounding..."

Epic =/= good! Yours is one of my favourites, it reminds me quite a bit of the Journey soundtrack. But yeah, I wish I had time to review yours.

"I would enjoy some sort of high 1-7-1-5-1-7-1-5 eighth-note violin melody during the epicness or a variation on the original guitar motif."

Maaan I had that exact idea myself (except not 1 - 7 - 5) but I just can't get it to sound right. I think it'll add some good harmony and in the epic parts it'll add even more intensity, so it's a good idea, but I'm too crap at music to get it right :3.

"I thought this piece really was a masterful mix of production and emotion. I can tell how much effort you put into the velocities, flow, and so on... I'm really glad to see you enter such a gorgeous piece in this contest!"

Thanks a million for all the support. Good luck to you!

[Through Twists And Turns]

Great work here! A large amalgamation of various elements and styles into something that sounds like a mix of an orchestra and a carnival band with a toss of "Godzilla Eats Las Vegas" in there for good measure. I enjoy your command of the waltz style here through a broad range of styles into jazz.

My main wish was that the muted trumpet in the start was more of an accordion sound, more befitting of the feel I would think. I found your orchestration interesting although wild... it has the 'rambling' feel of cinematic music due to the constant shifts. Mastering was very nice and all the sounds at least sounded quality and mixed cleanly.

I have not seen any of your work before, and I am glad to have seen a quality piece such as this first... I wish you best of luck in the contest and with all your other works, if I have time I may check more of them out!

Keep compos(ed/ing)!
-Samulis

[Mio/Homura]

When a song sends a shiver down my back in the first 20 seconds, I know it's going to be a good one.

Reminds me somewhat of Baba Yetu, the menu music for Civilization IV. Perhaps with the addition of more instruments- horns, timpani, orch bells, and doublebass, etc. it would be more incredible. I can imagine a killer horn part echoing the vocals etc.

You did an amazing job through all that was arrayed against you... I could never have pulled off that much and that quality of music in the time you had.

Troisnyx responds:

Baba Yetu.... I can only dream of hitting that level. T_T *sob*
If you are on Skype now, please, let me speak to you.

[Old Dust]

Love the mix of piano and strings, however cliche. The strings coming in at 0:27ish are nice and well orchestrated, although I feel as though something is missing... perhaps you need a legato english horn or cello motif/counter-melody somewhere in there before the melody comes in on violin/viola sectional (something light and heartfelt). 1:32- the brass can do something more than simply quarter notes. Perhaps create a counter-melody "answer" set that they reply to the strings and such.

Another thing to try would be adding light timpani here and there, as well as some nice low strings to balance out the mix. Don't be afraid to add more instrumentation and try some variations where things drop out and other instruments take up the lead, perhaps in new keys and so on (I can imagine some really sweet counter-melody stuff on piccolo involving quick notes and tremolo here and there).

Keep compos(ed/ing)!
-Samulis

[~SW~ Star Nuclei]

Sounds as gorgeous as it did when you showed me the first draft! I've been waiting to hear this finalized for a while.

As I always say, your music sounds like the Age of Mythology soundtrack. :P

I honestly wish I could give more critique, but this isn't really my realm of expertise, although it's great to listen to.

SkyeWint responds:

Hey there!

I'm glad you think it sounds gorgeous, and still feeling a bit odd that you keep comparing my music to Civ 3 and Age of Mythology. :P

It's alright if you can't give that much critique, I'm glad you like it so much!

[Asperges Me]

You gotta stop making me cry, Trois... I spent six months trying to get away from writing dark music and you're shoving me back. :P

I don't understand how you are able to pump out these resonant, powerful pieces, each one so mighty yet so calm in its own ways. If you had a better mic, I would seriously imagine hearing these at concerts.

Keep compos(ed/ing)!
-Samulis

Troisnyx responds:

I'll be honest -- I don't understand it fully either. I'm okay with melodies, but when it comes to lyrics, I've never been as active as this for several years. I had a drought of lyrics from around the time my mother died, right up till.... well, lately.

I..... I'm just honoured that the piece spoke to you. Thank you. <3

[A hero in action]

Good work on this. :)

You did a good job at orchestrating the strings part, but you could have added more percussion to this- anvil, a bass drum at fortississimo to make it pop, crash cymbal at the start of each pattern, etc. In addition, you could have easily lengthened the piece with a simple B melody following the great beat you had going! Until you get a new computer and/or get your setup fixed up, best of luck on your other projects.

The piece is overall rather quiet. Consider looking at the mixing/mastering styles of Cinematic works as a basis for that "pop" that is there in action scores.

Keep compos(ed/ing)!
-Samulis

ALECXACE responds:

believe it or not I mixed this on some horrible skull candy "inked" ear-bud headphones
just got some MDR-7506 cans and getting some sound monitors so i can finish this properly

thanks for the encouragement :D

[-conclusion-]

It seems with each composer on NG, you can look at a piece and go "This is a _[insert name here]_ piece!"... I think this piece is what I would call without a doubt a Waterflame piece- that fast, dynamic game theme that reinvents orchestral music for the electronic listener. If someone ever asks me "who is Waterflame?" I will point to this piece.

Composition-wise, this piece somehow reminds me of some of my older works, which had that strong video-game feel to it compared to the Romantic Era vibe my stuff seems to have now (maybe I should try to write like that again). Things like repetitive figures, I-V-IV progressions, awesome arpeggio pizzicato strings parts, lots of english horn, drum set going wild, horns roaring. It's overall a rather simple piece, but the instrumentation and variety keeps the listener "in". :D

This piece has so many faces it's impossible for me to really give a comment on the form or style other than you managed to keep the flow very smooth as you journeyed from part to part... some parts sound like dance, other parts sound like trance, others like orchestral-step, and others like orchestral epicness... I really think that's the thing that makes this piece great, the many facets- if this were a game menu theme or credits theme, it'd be killer.

The one flaw I found was the ending... it was just... off.

Everything was well produced and mixed in this... besides, I suck at mastering too much to comment on that. :P

Great work on this, keep compos(ed/ing)!
-Samulis

[Eerie Escape]

Welcome to NG.

I found your piece rather interesting... it presented a solid chord progression (you write chords before melodies, yes?). I find it more a melancholy piece in general, it's not particularly scary or spooky, simply dark and rhythmically interesting (although yes, Johnfn is right- you should try to use your melodies more effectively- for instance, you often throw in a brand new melody/motif and one thinks the song is going to go somewhere different and it returns instantly to the original progression).

It reminds me of more contemporary compositions with a lot of repetition and arpeggios and such. I enjoyed the overall tone, but it never reached an effective climax in my opinion. What you need is more deep strings, fuller chords (be it through woodwinds or middle strings), and a solid melody we can identify ASIDE from the chord progression. Also consider voice doubling, or having multiple instruments play a part together in unison or octaves.

You certainly have some good ideas for your orchestration, you just need to pick up the rest of the orchestra here and try out some different instruments than strings and percussive strings. Many composers now favor strings over other groups, but I find woodwinds and brass can present feels that strings cannot, and also play as dark or as soft as any string section.

If you want to go into more scary music, you'll need to practice writing darker music, almost to the point where it is ambiance- very deep strings, chaotic off-beat hits, all sorts of percussive nonsense (hehe). You'll also need to use more brass. The structure of scary music is complex- sometimes it is very very open with full octaves and such, symbolizing the unknown and a lack of comfort; sometimes it is very very close with intervals of 2nds and minor 2nds and all sorts of odd chords, symbolizing closeness and a confined feeling.

Try experimenting with chord patterns that evolve into different patterns too so you can add elements of motion to your songs, and then try bringing in more parts! The worst you can do is learn something and have to start a new project... I have dozens upon dozens of works-in-progress just sitting in my compositions folder that I never finished because I was hit with a neat idea while working on them.

You should also look into your mixing/mastering a bit more, so instruments that bear elements of the melody don't get buried under others that don't.

I can't wait to see more work, you have a promising style. :)

Keep compos(ed/ing)!
-Samulis

[Dot Dot Dot]

THIS IS THE MOST AMAZING SONG OF THE 21ST CENTURY!

I am practically rolling on the floor laughing... awesome work on this! An excellent tribute to an amazing piece of VA work.

Adam-Beilgard responds:

And we all know that the 21st century is the greatest of all centuries, so that is some compliment!

This particular VA is one of my personal favorites, so I'm glad I did it justice!

Thanks for the review!