blackattackbitch's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[It Ends Here]

I just noticed that I've never been able....

to give you a really thorough review like I've done for others. So here it goes:

A really high-energy song, I love that! This song kept me on my toes!

The DBass Staccatos in the beginning kinda blend together, the release envelope should be tweaked just a bit to bring out the attack on those Stacs. The violin stac sounds a little synthy, may I recommend papelmedia strings? They've always served me well when it comes to staccatos, plus they serve as a viable alternative when my own string staccato just doesn't cut it, you know?

The brass also sounds a little weird, really synthy but not really fitting for an epic classical song like this.

I have to say though, this song is fucking sickening!

at 1:05, that was a really good idea, but you may have stayed in that section a little too long without sufficient change.

2:04 the brass solo was a little too sudden. In addition, you don't have the right brass to be able to pull off a solo like that. Also, the section after that may have been slightly too long for a bass drum hitting each beat. But that's just me, I like my songs full of energy.

I'll refrain from discussing arrangement and note choice because frankly, that was perfect. Those are the main reasons you're gettting this ten. This song is probably one of the most well-put together pieces I've heard. 5/5 10/10 downloaded and faved. I have the urge to build on this song, but I have to refrain from that because I have my own epic song I'm working on.

It just hit me why the violin stac sounds so synthy initially. It's because the staccato attack is so high, it sounds more percussive than string. Which leads me to another recommendation: lower the attack on the stac when there's a lot of space between notes, raise the attack when it's playing rapidly.

Finally, last thing: Could you do me a favor and check out my song Ready for War? That's the song I'm working on right now, but the WIP is uploaded onto my profile already. It's my own attempt at epic.

masterjiji responds:

longer comment, longer reply. theres some karma for ya.

yeeah, the straight-up brass in GarageBand leaves much to be desired.

now that i hear it online, i agree with your violin assessment, and defend it by saying that the EQ changes slightly from GarageBand to iTunes and then to online here on NG. on GBand, it had no attack whatsoever, so i cranked up the high end a wee bit. point taken.

unfortunately, GBand is rather picky on what instruments it will take, so i doubt papelmedia will work.

eh. @ 1:05 i thought (for some odd reason) that having a mildly calmer section was a good thing. i was writing this with a slight direction towards my high school wind ensemble and mayhap combined orchestra, and i know for a fact that they and many other high school bands would not be able to keep up that kind of energy for the entire song, so... there you go.

and yes i will.

woah. this is possibly the longest review i have ever written. it took me 10 freaking minutes... i type slow. crud.

[Organization XIII (KH2)]

Woot! First review!

Glad I got to it when I could.

Right around the middle, the limit on the polyphony is causing the choirs to click out. It's barely audible, but audible enough. It's really audible around the end.

Oh and I must ask this question though, did you use a midi file? Because I'll appreciate this song more if you did it by ear.

And the last thing: I made a recomp of the Edea Battle Theme from FF8. I woud like you to listen to it and tell me what you think. I did it completely by ear. Hard as shit, I have to say.

Sorrow-316 responds:

i had Help from a Midi, But very Little ammount of it.

[-< War of the Zarcans >-]

Hehe, nice job giving yourself a 4. *shakes head*

You've gotta make it a little less noticable, man. What, you thought I was just gonna listen and leave? Hell no, I leave massive reviews.

That said, this is a nice ass ambient song. It really captures the essence of space-age spooky. Did you use samples or did you synthesize everything? Because if you synthesized even some of this, this is the best synth job I've ever heard.

I usually leave critical reviews, but this leaves nothing to be critiqued and plenty to be admired. Good job! This sounds muy profesh!

CyberPot responds:

hehe, thanks for your review. The reason i gave myself a 4 was... well i clicked the wrong button so to say, it happens sometime lol. Some of the sounds are synthesized and some is samples. I like to mix things :D I really didnt think anyone would like this, but apparently you did, and i appreciate that. I useally dont make ambient songs, but trance and dance etc. You can listen to some of my other songs if you want :)

-CyberPot-

[MH16: After Party]

I've never made a pure techno song in my life

or anything like a techno song, so unfortunately, I really can't give you any advice. My bad man. But it's not a bad song.

All I can really tell you is that some of the melodies need to be refined, but I don't even know if that's necessary for a techno song.

It has a pretty good beginning, I'll definitely say that. Ending may be a little too abrupt though.

Oh and if you could take the time to check out my newest song (not uploaded yet, but it will be called souls of steel and its an update on my other song tension. It'll be uploaded in a matter of minutes.), I would really appreciate.

And lemme see what I can do for your score.

FairSquare responds:

Thanks for your review!
I'm going to check your song out now.

MH16

[[\A Solemn Night/]]

Excellent song, excellent!

Only problem that I can think of, which I'm sure that everyone would agree with me, is that the flute sounds weird. I'm not sure whether you intended it to be that way, but it doesn't seem to follow the beat too well.

By far, I like the dynamics that you infused in this song more than anything else. Makes the song sound really beautiful.

Beautiful chord choice. I can't make any suggestions on that front. In fact, I'll be honest, I can't really make any suggestions at all on this song, it's really that good. Piano melody was a great choice, string and string dynamics were exceptional except for the fact that they sounded just a little synthy on sections. I'm not really worried about that, because it's still a beautiful composition.

I can sense just how much work went into this song.

Meaningless suggestions to improve song

Possible addition of a little cresendo at the end to finish it off.
At 1:29, I notice that the strings blot out the flute. Not a big problem, hell it may even be my headphones, but that's what I noticed.
More dynamics with the flute. Also a slight reduction on the breath of the flute.

That's all I can think of. 10/10 5/5 favorited and downloaded. Excellent composition!

paradoxphenomena responds:

Well, I was experimenting a lot with this piece. For the most part though I'm glad it turned out the way it did. I know the flute sections need more work. However, given more attempts I'm sure I can get it better, I just need to keep at it. Thanks as always for those improvements, meaningless they may seem but it goes a long way to helping me spot many a bits I tend to miss. Always glad to hear from you. Thanks for the great review.

[Undreamed]

Whew, I thought it was gonna be pure techno....

Now I can actually do a good review

Chord prog: The first prog was pretty much standard, I've seen way too many dance songs with that chord prog. I like how you varied it at 2:00 though, good choice with that.

Drums: The only thing to address would be the bass drum, it's actually too deep for your average trance song. Everything else about the drums is pretty good though, I wouldn't say great though.

Good melodies though. And I also like the choice of synths in this song. At the end though, it becomes a little cluttered. Also, I would like you to bring out the synths a little better. They're pretty quiet, to be honest.

Sickening intro, I have to say.

And I would like you to use a bit more automation in your song, as well as LFO. You're excellent in melody and harmony, but in electronica, you need a little more than that.

So that finishes up my review. I leave you with a request to check out my stuff, preferably the more recent stuff, as that's all I really care about lol.

Nekoprism responds:

Talk about a review!
We'll take great care of checking everything you said.
AND! We'll definitely be checking your stuff too.
Thx a lot!

[Arg (In E minor)]

This is really good.

The only problems I can pick out:

The release on that accordion (I'm thinking that's what it is) is a little too short, even with the reverb.
The song is pretty repetitive.

But aside from that, this is an amazing orchestration. And you have really good samples, man. Really good samples.

Good intro too. And good outro. Those are probably the hardest things to do in a song. Trust me, I know, it took me quite a while to get those right.

camman007 responds:

Hmm well i disagree with your problems, but i respect your opinion and thank you for the review. Yea the intro/outro was tricky as I originally just had this for piano, and the idea of switching the theme with all the instruments came and it worked, but i agree those are very tough

[You Make Me Feel Like ...]

I was gonna jump on you....

For classifying it as pop, but then I realized that it doesn't even matter. This song is fucking hilarious!

And aside from that, the music is amazing! I can't even turn my critical ear on because I was laughing so hard.

(harder....harder....don't tell me you're already done! Fucking golden!)

Okay, now time for the serious review.
Great instrument choice. Vocals sound comical though. I don't know whether that was intentional or not, but if you were going for a serious note on that part, didn't go too well lol.

Now on the orchestral part, the dynamics should have been stressed on that part. Instead, you had a few sections that were way too quiet and a few sections that weren't loud enough. And the guitar shouldn't stand out in lieu of all the epic instruments in the background.

But I have to say, I absolutely love this song.

10/10 5/5 faved and downloaded.

Nice mastering except for the orchestral part.

If you don't mind, could you check out my MAC9 second entry, Wine & Candlelight? I would appreciate that.

sorohanro responds:

Thanx, really appreciate your words.
I edited today the info's about the track, so, check the "listener's guide to the penicorn's epic journey through love songs".
No serious things intended ;)

[Sons of the Exodus II: Procne]

Very good song

You have a very indentifiable style in your chord progression choices sometimes, I may have to steal that progression lol.

In the beginning, it sounds like the bass note is on E at the start of the chord progression but later in the song, you realize that the chord progression was supposed to be C-D-E-D. That said, the piano melody is perfect in the beginnning but there needs to be something that clearly indicates the bass note. Maybe you could include a bass choir as a part of the pad in the background, which by the way sounds REALLY sick.

I don't know what piano you use, but it sounds really good for songs like this!

From 1:31 to 1:44 those two chord/scale changes are way too sudden. I would suggest smoothing them out by changing to a more favorable chord/scale or altering the final chord/scale before the change just slightly as to aid in the change.

And I have to say, that was a very smooth ending to the song.

Lastly, I know you don't know music theory and you just go by ear. Well neither do I lol. I just know a few of the terms after spending mucho time on this website. Like you, I was just messing around with what sounded good prior to that. Technically, I still am lol. I just did a lot of experimentation.

And that song Wine & Candlelight is finally finished, mastered, chorused, flanged, chopped, screwed, and raped. Check it out if you want to. I didn't bother resubmitting it though so you won't be able to review it, but I know you said you wanted to hear the finished product so I'm just lettin u know.

Til next time, sessile.

P.S. the piano volume sounds just about right to me.

SessileNomad responds:

well weather you think your a good music theorist or not, you probly the only person who reviews my songs from that standpoint, which i like, its a different way of looking at music

im not sure what you meant by the scales at 1:31, did you mean the chord progs from the chior being too sudden, or the change in the measures at 1:41?
the measure is only pitch altered one step up, if thats what your sayin

my chord prog method is actually quite machine-like, i always base the progs off of my melodies, which is good on one hand because the melody and choirs never really clash(somtimes), at the same time it leaves me somwhat limited in what i can do with them

ill def check out that track for ya man

thx for piano vol, i thought it wa fine too

peace man thx alot for review

[10th November]

There are very few songs that I can't pick apart

in my reviews, but your song breaks that mold completely. Everything about this song, including it's name, is sickening. Now let me attempt to break apart this song:

Good mixing of the bassline with the bass piano. I have to remember that technique for later songs.
On :29, that random high key shouldn't really be there.
Sickening drum beat. I would have liked a little more variance on it though, as well as less areas where the drums completely disappear. Instead of eliminating the drums on those sections, have the drumbeat tone down or become quieter on those sections.
As one other person said, the strings could have sounded a little more realistic. I, personally have a vast choice of strings and most of them sound suitably realistic. Try using papelmedia strings if you don't have the money for better strings. Otherwise, get EastWest or Miroslav, ya know?
Really good piano melody, I really like it, except for the aforementioned random high note.
I love the fact that you varied this song so much.
I think that finishes up my review. This really is an exceptional song, and I hope it stays at the top of the Hiphop-modern list for a very long time. (I say that because even though my song is at the top right now, I know it won't stay there for much longer, especially when it comes time for Weekly Best to come around.)

This ten is well-earned.

C-Enterprise responds:

I like the way you review, very critical which is a good thing.
Anyway, the high key it's still correct even if it's so up high that sounds a bit particular, that's a matter of taste i guess but i like it eheh.
About the strings I'm going to check out the ones you told me even if I have some left that sound better like in "life's choices".
The disappearing of the beat is made because the guy that rapped on this wanted it to be like that so well it is like it is, I like it somehow because it gets your attention on the melody itself a bit more, but i get your point.
Thanks for the big review hope to see some other reviews on my stuff ;)
peace