samulis's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[- LD - Escaping Death]

Great!

Excuse my rambing constructive critique... I try to keep it organized, but thoughts come up as a listen. Oh, and take this all with a grain of salt, if you know what i mean.

Very nice piece here, but the description is off I think. Sounds more like the sun rising over a massive enemy host charging straight at you out of the sun or sailing into the eye of a magnificent storm. Too orchestral to sound tribal, I'm afraid... I would throw in some nice tribal percussion, vocals (chanting/staccato), and redesign the buildup (it sounds like a quiet morning on the prarie at first, honestly). After that, it's great (0:41 on), but still nothing tribal about it.

It's fairly well balanced, but I think it needs some more balancing to bring out the cymbals and such. Have some low and sharp hits in line with the cymbal, and perhaps put more reverb on the cymbal (it sounds too sharp honestly; alternately use a different sound). In addition, I think some more tenor drums would improve the piece greatly if you are indeed going for a tribal feel (if you have the EWQL packs, consider opening up RA and Stormdrum and seeing what the VIs within can do for you). At 0:41, you just have drum hits echoing the main line, which is okay, but seems muddled with all the hits.

As a piece of music in general, I think a lot can be done to it in general. A celesta or glockenspiel part to the start gives a great mysterious feel, as well as a high harmonic of the tonic on violin or a very deep variation of the tonic on double bass. Some timpani rolls lend themselves to this kind of music, but I would caution you to be careful with that running into the existent drum parts. You really under-utilize woodwinds (like me). Clarinets in their lower range offer a great mysterious feel, so do flutes in their lower area. Oboes sound great with calm/mysterious stuff. Your beginning is calm and all with that, but not myserious (hence the suggestion of the celesta/glock part there).

The high marcato strings might sound better as pizzicato or having the last interval a nice glissando. A lot of it almost sounds MIDI it's so stuccato and without feeling. Just changing the opening phrase (eighth-eighth-eightrest-eight-eight-
eight, I think?) to have a bit more phrasing (legato on the first, stuccato, stuccato, legato, stuccato or more to that effect) would certainly liven it up.

I also think the horns could use some work. If this were an army of natives and a dismal flight, there should be lots of glissandos and what not. I would personally drop an octave (you may not even have to do that with some of it) and have it on trombone, but you might hit your bass drums there. I would then have the violins echo that phrase at 1:09 and let the trombones/horns rest there.

I think you might want to listen to some of the score to Stardust by Ilian Eskeri. He does a great job with mixing tribal-esque with traditional orchestral and contemporary cinematic.

All in all, a very nice piece of orchestral-cinematic. I just think it could do with some more work and a different title. ;)

Keep up the awesome stuff, LD!
-Samulis

Breed responds:

Phew....where to begin. Imagery--I think it's spot on. It's not the kind of tribal you're thinking. I'm reminded of the scene in Indiana Jones where he grabs that idol then gets chased by a giant boulder and tribesmen. Imagery in music doesn't have to be represented by timbres that specifically relate to whatever culture is being depicted....although generally it is a good idea.

As for the rest, I don't have much time to freely compose these days. I wrote this in the few hours free time I had the other day; so no time for proper mixing, no time for adding tons of embellishments and background instruments, and definitely no time to make any longer of a piece.

Concerning tribal fusion with orchestral...it's definitely one of my favorite things to do. Check out my songs Entering Affairs, The Jungle Tribe, and Desert Spirit if you're interested in that, and I'll go check out this Ilian Eskeri guy.

Cheers!

[NP - Piano Sonata No. 3]

Excellent

Certainly the best piano piece I have seen... I'm sick and tired of newage piano musings... it's good to see something of broader and more impressive tastes.

Great work... it almost sounds Russian-Late Romantic to me. The dynamics could have been better, and I think the pedal could have been utilized more. In addition, a more rubato approach could have been taken to certain passages, as often times late romantic piano music ventures into a realm where time signatures disappear (often times through the tricks of 7/8 or 5/4). The last note might sound better if sustained and perhaps even have a rubato arpeggio above it leading up through the minor triad up an octave or two and perhaps even ending on a 7th to give that incompleteness often favored.

You express a lot of themes in this piece, and I seriously feel it would be an absolutely incredible piece to orchestrate as a purely orchestral work beyond a concerto (I would volunteer to do this, but I don't know if I have the time and it sounds like it's a recording, which is hard to work with). There are elements of dozens of artistic styles throughout both the Romantic Era and even so far back as late Baroque... from a theory viewpoint, it's a magnificent culmination of dozens of traditions.

Your use of dynamics and spreading of chords is very impressive. Because it sounds recorded, I give you EXTRA props. The transitions are seamless, which is more than I can say on some of my own works. By far one of the greatest pieces in the Orchestral selection of Newgrounds.

Awesome work!
-Samulis

[AGP2 - 1 - a bit of pressure.]

Contemporary Jazz?

Not even sure where to put this... it's an interesting enough piece.

At 0:57 there's a brief moment of dissonance, and various bits after that... I don't know if it's a style choice, but it seems odd.

The instrumentation is questionable... and chords probably should be wider at parts. At some parts, it sounds almost like some modern slower jazz piece... Regarding instrumentation, it's all over the place. Some parts sound like they are too high for horn (if it's jazz, it probably shouldn't have horn and the part should be played by trumpet) and should be on flute or such... Also, the brass seem distant to me while the guitar seems close... it's probably an issue only with the sounds, but it's unsettling. Some more percussion... a traditional kit part would be fitting. This is much more jazz than classical theory wise, to be honest. Some more chording (instruments backing up the melody with the tonic and other chords) would be nice in some parts, and other sections have instruments moving too much, creating a disjunctive feel between chords.

Theory wise, it's interesting and unorthodox (not a bad thing). I can't really comment too much on it...

All in all, a lovely piece.

Keep up the good work!
-Samulis

Calamaistr responds:

I like how you struggle to come to a conclusion on what style it is, lets just say its my own style ;)
Somewhere inbetween classical lounge, jazz and electronic influences.

[A Costly Gift]

Myserious and beautiful!

Sounds almost more like Ambiance at some parts, but I reckon classical fits best.

My only constructive feedback is that at 0:56 when the strings die out, have some sort of fade or transition (cymbal roll?) to keep the energy or it all just dies right there.

A flawless piece theory wise in my opinion. Expressive yet mysterious, I like it!

Keep up the good work!
-Samulis

RiverK responds:

Thanks for the feedback! I think that's what I was going for. It builds up to a climactic point before an abrupt end, and then a low carry-out.

[The Meeting of a Friend]

Nice work. :)

A nice song with good flow, but there are some parts I think can be improved.

The timpani could be used with some nice rolls slowly building up at a low velocity/volume. The opening arpeggio is nice, but there's some odd hit at ~14 that really messes things up. Consider a crescendo-ing cymbal 'roll' leading up to ~14 and the start. After, the melody is nice, but I think you should consider looking outside of woodwinds at perhaps having French Horn take the melody for a bit for some diversity in the song.

All in all, a nice piece. I have few comments.
-Samulis

AMadJester responds:

Thanks for the comment. I know it ain't perfect, I'm really not happy with the timpanis and such. There's also the program I'm using wich lacks a bit (I can't do percussion rolls and some instruments can't do good crescendos) but I could do better. I tought about adding a counter-melody but I never had time for it.

[Two Song Starts [WIP]]

Not classical, but...

... a nice start (sounds like Micellaneous to me). :)

The transitions are abrupt and the song is lacking in instrumentation... your friend should consider working in some more low strings and some percussion (REALLY needs percussion at the way it's going). Also, he should consider spreading out his chords more, they are too close and thus offer dissonance at some points. One other thing to look over would be endings... neither song has a proper ending... now, I don't know if this is some sort of reduced demo or something. For the first song, the reverb seems a bit off at first, with the instrument coming in at 'odd' times (hard to describe, did he record this?).

Since it isn't orchestral, I don't have much else to add, since it's out of my range.

Best of luck to your friend, tell him to keep up the good work. :)
-Samulis

FKProductions responds:

Thanks so much for your words, but this is completely a misunderstanding (my fault).

I was only uploading this so a friend could hear it, its just two ideas for separate songs. I am really surprised I got a review on this and not many of my actual songs :3

I have worked much more on both songs. The funny thing is these used to be together :3 that's why I wanted to show my friend. Because it had been troubling me, why the original song wasn't working. Then it became obvious, they were two separate songs! Yes, I was having trouble with the delay on the bass, fixed, they weren't even songs so had no intro's or endings, they were basically just phrases :3

Anyway, thanks so much for the review, and sorry about the genre mix up, I was in a rush. I would remove this song but I value the review too much XD

[Epic Intro [Wingo]]

Nice start...

A very nice start, but the low end is WAY to muddy. Consider using less reverb on the lower end. You should also make the cymbal louder, so it stands out.

I would love to see this orchestrated. It seems a lot of people are too afraid to work with more than just piano and strings. That's what divides epic cinematic music from a nice start. Consider having trombone play the lower part of the piano and trumpet or horn take the upper part, with stuccato strings or stuccato woodwinds (clarinet) playing the rapid notes in the upper part. The big rule with 'loud crashy-bangy classical' as I call it is make sure things are at an appropriate 'Pep Band' level... in other words, F or FF for the melody at the least.

Honestly, I would love to get my hands on this and arrange it if you would permit me.

There's nothing mechanical I can really comment on... it's mainly mastering and instrumentation, and that's only suggestions.

Keep up the good work!
-Samulis

[Medieval song]

Not medieval, but nice. :)

Although this is a rather long song, I tried to listen to as much as I could and I can tell you from experience that this is not at all medieval, although it would be very fitting in a game made about that era (a common misconception due to the use of orchestral/cinematic music in games). Reasons why include the use of seventh chords, instruments not available at that time, and the use of varying tempos and melodies, especially counter-melodies (music until the early middle ages was so simple in comparison to contemporary pieces that it generally didn't even have chords, but only one melody!).

I thoroughly enjoyed the use of percussion. You did a nice job accenting the piece and the various themes. Most of all, you have a great mind for coming up with moods that flow nicely through various feels.

For your credit, some parts remind me of the soundtrack for Age of Empires I and II.

There's so much material, I can't give too much constructive feedback without killing myself, but you need to look at your transitions between themes and see how you can 'lead' and 'hint' at new themes right before they come in so they aren't so abrupt, especially the string part at the end when the other melody just... stops. At the beginning, at 0:17 when the melody changes, consider having a flute or other instrument play the first melody like a Round, which is accurate to the Middle Ages coincidentally. Also, you don't make much use of cymbals or gong crashes, which can help separate themes. In addition, I didn't hear much in terms of timpani rolls, which are greatly helpful if you keep them PP to mP and in the background for making a nice dark overlay. Don't be afraid to consider using more than just trombone/brass for the theme starting at 1:27, having a trumpet play the melodies' higher extremities might be nice, and some form of counter melody (although the timpani is very nice). The transition after that phase is clean, thanks to the wideness of the final chord.

You did a nice job on this, don't be too modest. I may look over some more of your stuff in the future if I have time.

Keep it up!
-Samulis

zacriac responds:

Thank you i really apreaciate your feedback :)

[Shattering Of An Empire]

Great piece

A lot of folks like classical, it's just there aren't that many who bother to step up their game to write orchestral classical.

This piece really was great. You used phrasing excellently and the rhythms/repetition was used well.

My main concern is with the way you build it up. At the beginning, you have the start of an excellent climax, but you drop it. To get that climax feel, you should consider using a cymbal crash and such.

You might want to make the melody louder, as the strings sometimes cover it up. Also, it can't hurt to have trumpet or french horn doubling it up higher (i.e. and octave up). There are clear phases, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but in a song where you're trying to move things from part to part, it can feel weak. You should consider looking into some transition methods such as cymbal crashes, short drum/percussion passages, and the like.

It might be nice to see the strings doubled at some points by a Celesta, Chime, or Glockenspiel to give it a new touch. When the strings come in at 0:34, it might be nice to see them doubled by French Horn and stronger as a sort of 'claxon call' feel. The horn would then drop out before the interlude at ~0:57. When you repeat that initial theme in the 1:15 region, consider mixing it up with new instruments playing or parts being moved around. Also, a low trombone part with a legato quarter note than stuccato eight playing a low version of the root/tonic of the chord at the start of each measure (dun dun... dun dun... sort of feel).

The measure interlude at 3:16ish is odd... perfect spot for a cymbal crash or the like.

You did a good job with catching a good feel throughout the song. It goes between various feels in a good order, although I would consider bringing back a version of the initial theme at 4:29 before the clarinet ends it.

All in all, a great piece. Keep up the good work!

-Samulis

[Cthulhu Rises (Halloween2011)]

Excellent. :)

The song sounds great, but there are a few things you might want to consider.

First off, the Timpani/Pitched Taikai Drums are honestly underused. There are many opportunities for rolls that would add greatly to the build-up. Second, some of your stuccato strings work in the 2:00 area might be added to by playing it down an octave or two on the bass as pizzicato (the quarters starting at 1:45).

The melody on horn/brass is nice, but it might be an interesting twist to have the second measure have the second note different (F or Eb perhaps), then back to the original phrase, then another variation to counter. Don't be afraid to twist your melodies more when they repeat. A counter melody on trumpet or such over this would be nice if it can be done.

A snare and some more percussion might be appropriate in spots, but that's a choice of style.

There are a lot of good things about this song, I don't have really any major complaints, but there is certainly room to add. Great job on this, it really is an excellent piece. :)

OrphenFire responds:

A helpful in depth analysis of my music is always appreciated! I hadn't thought of modifying the brass melody for the second measure. And you're right, a counter melody on trumpet would have really added to the musicality of the piece. I'll take these suggestions to mind and apply them to my next composition, whatever it may be. Thanks again (: