Ceevro's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[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! :)

[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

[A Story]

Hey, I know that sometimes mistakes come through, and you have to decide whether you're gunna redo the whole damn thing, or screw the mistake and publish. This has the potential to be an excellent, relaxing track. You might find that you're getting better reviews by playing with a metronome track over headphones. The composition is quite nice. You lose lot by losing the rhythm, which to me is always a do-over error.

Enjoyable, nonetheless!

-Ceevro

DjSkyFall responds:

i know but i probably should of added it wasn't a full on project, it was more of a quick inspirational work, atm I'm busy working on other tracks as well as one here on NG, so that's why i pointed out my mistakes, i hope this clears that up... but i loved your review and i will tell you this.. i will go back and re-do the song when i get the chance and fix it... Thank you!

[Battle with the Giants]

Well orchestrated, nicely done! I really did enjoy this! A couple improvements I could suggest though:

-You need contrast in the volume. Your instruments are going at a very steady volume, and so the punch you composed isn't getting played! Time to fiddle with the levels!
-The piano, while lovely, is a bit repetitive. See if you can't get a bit more out of it by making the arpeggios have a couple 'filler' 16th notes. You're in a slow 6/8 or a fast 3/4 timing, so you can mix it up a little by having the 4th arpeggio played in double-time. It would give the piano just a little more complexity.
-Finally, keep putting stuff like this out! It was awesome!

-Ceevro

Mawnz responds:

Thanks a lot for listening and for the good feedback Ceevro!
I'm not too familiar with making orchestral. Played around with the volumes a little, but I wanted it to feel as epic as possible throughout the song so I got a little stuck and only went for minor changes :P Just dunno where I should adjust the levels T_T
As for the piano. The only little variation I put in was for the calmer part so it could probably use a little more variation apart from that!

Thanks again, much appreciated!

-Mawnz

[Don't Mind (Unplugged)]

Hell, yup!

-Ceevro

Destrayop responds:

Hell yup indeed lol

[All Cut Up [Better]]

Respectable rhythm solo. Here's how you could improve it a bit: While recording, set a drum-loop to keep you in the groove. I find that click-tracks don't work for me, so I use an actual drum beat. You're speeding up/slowing down, which I think accounts for some of the lower ratings. As well, your distortion is a bit heavy, which is making it difficult to hear some of the more technical elements. I'd love to hear an acoustic version!

-Ceevro

Destrayop responds:

Thanks for the tips, man xD I've been hunting for some software to throw some drums in my tunes to give them more umph -- I've been working on different equalization settings to cut out that eardrum piercing treble that my mic just loves to amplify for some reason

Earlier acoustic version right here for ya :) http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/513540
As well as a melded version that's a bit easier on the ears http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/536490

I appreciate the review!

[The Intimate Growth]

I agree with Diogenisis, it's close, but not quite there. I think the pace is actually very suitable, and I can certainly appreciate what kind of effort went into this. You've got good change-ups, there's certainly enough variety in the song to keep me listening.

For fun, try this: Change all your instruments to realistic-sounding midis (depending on your program, that should actually be pretty easy), then stick a crisp hi-hat in at 1/16 notes, with a regular, heavy kick with extra reverb at 1/4 notes. To pull it all together, set a bit of reverb and echo over the whole thing.

I love the composition, and agree that it would be excellent as a video game track as-is. But if you wanna claim Drum N Bass...

Keep playing!

-Ceevro

Corode responds:

Thanks, I haven't been making music much after I released this, and yeah, the genre is opinionated by lots of people as something other than D&B, but that was the first thing that came to mind. Anyways thanks for the review and feedback, and you propose a nice idea :D

Thanks