Ceevro's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Made of Stars (Unfinished)]

Well, you are indeed a better electric guitarist than I....And I disagree with TheDoor6: I think your ending is very deliberate, and a sudden cut-off is a valid musical choice. Mozart was criticized often for it. I kinda wanted the piano to continue in some form throughout the song, though. Like it was the building block for the song, and then it just vanished. It's almost like it didn't need to be there, and was just an add-on thrown in to prove to the judges that you could use one.

Finally, there was one thing I felt was really missing from the vocals: Intensity. There was no spot in the song where I could hear you really pushing your voice to the max, as any good rock song should do. One thing I've learned about singing is that if there's no razor's-edge note or progression or speed line...SOMETHING that taxes you to the absolute limit of what you can sing, the song ends up sounding a little too easy. I wanna hear your voice crack with the strain! This is RAWK, dude!

All-in-all, very well orchestrated, flawlessly clean guitar riffs, and good save on the computer mixing. I know how bad it sucks when your equipment fails in the middle of a project. I've had a freeze that erased 8 hours of recording. That was a bad day.

-Ceevro

MetalRenard responds:

I absolutely agree with you, I was not satisfied with the vocals in this at all, I couldn't seem to find that thing you were talking about, that edge, it just wasn't there for this song. In all honestly, I lost inspiration for this piece after writing the main guitar riff and the rest was just done as I went along. I'm not pleased with this track like I have been with others in the past but I'm glad I got through to the next round of the contest with it.

Trust me when I say that my next one will not be the same though, I've really pushed myself in the vocals for the final round of the underdog contest and I love what I've come up with.

Thanks for the honest review!!!

[Return of the Banished Barbers]

All that jelly, and no toast!

[Up and Up]

Thoughts while listening:

Great dynamics in the opening effects. The 'bell-type' effect attacks a bit too fast...kinda harsh...syncopates with the beat in an interesting way. The mainstream wouldn't like the syncopation, but those in the know would love it. Change-up is harsher than I normally like, but that's personal preference, and this actually works well. Too short.

Those were my notes while listening. And here's my commentary:

You've been doing this for a bit, clearly. You have a very good sense of melody, and to work that bell-line over those drums in such a complex way was either extremely skillful syncopation, or a dumb-luck error in computer composition (I do jazz, so off-beats are kinda a showy-offy-thingy).

I hate to say this, given the difficulty most people have in finding/becoming one, but you need a vocalist. For this piece, anyways. It's got a great, airy-type feeling, and my brain wanted a soaring vocal so badly, it started to superimpose a female Celtic singer overtop. At least a choir FX. Something to bring it just a little more into reality, and out of the computer-scape.

All-in-all, solidly composed, a bit on the short side (I realize it's a loop, but I want more of it!), and quite toe-tappy.

asid61 responds:

Thank you for the input!
The short intro got to me a little, but I wanted to get to the melody faster. Plus, I couldn't think of anything to put in that would still sound good.

Vocalist... not sure on that. Not much of a vocals guy, and I don't know what I would add. I might looks for a good synthesizer then.

[Ecco512 - Forget the past (v2)]

Listening...so far, love the airy theme...drum build-up/intro is too Nickelback...do like the overlay of the chords with the orchestral, but it sounds like you didn't tune your guitar precisely. Don't sweat it...I've had to redo whole songs because I forgot to tune up first.

Now, the melody is pretty repetitive, and you're a bit over-distorted. Try adding a second guitar part in harmony with the first.

Nice alteration at 2:41...change is really sudden though...could use a build-up/lead-in to the changes. Change to clean distortion at 4:10 kinda comes outta nowhere there...

OK, so those were my notes as I was listening, and here are my overall thoughts:

Solid concept, nice chord progressions, great mixups. But this track feels incomplete and underdeveloped. I can tell that you're a solid guitarist who has put in a lot of hours to play like you do, and as one guitarist to another, this might sound a bit harsh, but it's with the intention of helping you get better - if you are playing the same thing over and over, it is not a solo. That's the rhythm part. When you were chording the solo bit, it actually sounded like it was time for the real soloing to begin. I'm willing to bet that you would actually have come up with a better lead line if you had improved the whole thing.

Next: I can't hear anything at all resembling a bass-line. Your low-end is completely unfilled, and if you want epic sound, you need to fill the whole soundscape. Trick for poor-man's-bass: Play a bass line on your guitar, and use a tone-modifier to drop it down an octave. Barring that, you can also achieve a poor-man's-bass by running a guitar bass line through a female to male vocal transformer (your software has those things, I guarantee it).

This is a solid idea, and can be expanded, reworked, and mastered well. Don't give up on it, but do do some more work with it!

Cheers,

-Ceevro

R4R

Ecco512 responds:

Hi!
Nickelback? Interesting I never listened to Nickelback.:)
It was my first recorded song 2 month ago. I wanted to try my new soundcard, but I didn't have any experience with studio work. I've played everyday in this summer, and recorded things. maybe now I could make better mastering/mixing, (but I am still shit in solo writing:)

I used guitar pro RSE bass. It's a good idea with the bass, yes it has these functions. I am planning to rerecord it later, but before it I want to buy new strings, and ask someone to set up my guitar right. I see more potential in this song this song too.

Thank for this review, and your time.
You helped a lot. :)

[Sorcerers Path - Cale Unleashe]

Shiznit! I am absolutely blown away by this! I have no clue how I would even go about attempting to make something of this epic kind of quality, other than to hire an orchestra (you know me, acoustic recording all the way...I'm too tech-stupid).

That said, first thing's first: You nailed it. So don't worry about that part. And here's why:

First, the mix is impeccable. Thing just leapt out of my speakers. And they're my crappy built-in laptop speakers!

Second, while the sort of low-pitched dubstep-sounding wubs sounded sort of anachronistic next to the orchestra, for a video game I can think of nothing that brings out just a hint of sci-fi better. If that's not what you were going for, you could possibly get a more orchestral sound with low tympani rolls.

Third, the pace is just right for battle. Gotta hand it to you, often times the most difficult part of getting a song just right is choosing the right tempo.

...I get the feeling that you've done a few of these.

R4R

SoundChris responds:

Thanks a lot Ceevro! I am glad that you liked the production - especially since this is something i am always not sure about. I think i stil needed a far better production but i hope i will learn a lot in my audio engi studies i will start in 2 weeks :D

The low dubstep sounding stuff were hybrid effects - downers, risers, hits and stuff. I always wanted to use those sometimes since in my previous projects i always focused on a classical orchestra cinematic style.

Thanks a lot for your kindness good sir. Youe review was highly appreciated :D

All the best!

[Shiny Little Gloom]

Something about this track just gets me. I LOVE the super-relaxed, jazz-type feel. The bridge was so simple, yet perfectly suited...most people try to make the bridge more complex, and you turned that ion it's head. Now for the improvements part: the whole mix needed some dynamic range. The volume and tone remain the same throughout, which left it feeling a bit like elevator music. I'd also like to push for some vocals. Specifically, it almost needs a little girls voice telling a creepy story. This would be a MARVELOUS track for narration.

-Ceevro. R4R

Azhthar responds:

Glad you liked it! I knew the problem with the dynamik rangebut this was a bit of a problem of the instrument I choose. Actually I did some extreme velocity editing to the metallophone but it has nearly no velocity response... Then there is the huge tailing of that spacy reverb... If I just do a volume automation it just sounds so unnatural. Actually I also tried different instruments and a music box also suited that track quite well and there was way more possibilties in the dynamics. Actually this changed the feeling of the track completely making it much more "mellow" or "soft" in tone and I didn´t like this very much. I definetely agree that this is more kind of a background track. Some narrative vocals would be nice. Do you know someone? ;)

[The Abyss]

Full marks here, man! I wish I could do orchestral stuff myself, but my mixing programs just never seem to be able to give me anything even close to realistic sound....I don't know how you did it, short of actually hiring a durn orchestra, but this could easily be seen in any epic movie soundtrack.

DamienFleisch responds:

It's like most other forms of music, just takes some tools, practice, and time :)

Thanks for the review!

[Cats]

LOVE the distonic sound of this! This is now the soundtrack to every interaction I will ever have with a cat. They're totally like this...

-Ceevro

motakay responds:

Haha! Thanks! I am glad you liked it! :)

[Piano Strings]

The beat is groovy...but you've simply not got enough complexity in this. It could be so very much more.

-Ceevro

[Fill It Up (Inst.)]

Love that! Only thing that could make it better would be real guitars (but perhaps I'm a bit biased)!!

-Ceevro

Stavier responds:

Thanx & yeah, this is probably the most realistic sounding guitar I got since I'm not good enough of a guitar player or anything :P