Echo's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Draesdne Adaas]

NGADM Review:
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As always, great instrumentation and orchestration. You've got well developed themes and sufficient development to keep the piece interesting. Even though it tends to feel a tiny bit disjointed sometimes, it progressed pretty much consistently in most cases, so kudos.

Mixing got a bit muddy at points, with some instruments struggling not to get drowned out by the others. Also the piece kind of ended too abruptly for my tastes, and I felt like it could have gone on to much more. While I understand the time constraints in question, I think this particular aspect could have used more work even in the given time period.

All in all, it's definitely not a bad piece, and it has a good number of excellent qualities, but it did have potential to be more than it is.

Score: 7.8/10

samulis responds:

Thanks for the review, Echo. No amount of time would ever make a work of mine any longer tbh. I stop them when I reach the point of "if I go any longer on this, it's going to turn into 1,000 unrelated themes in a row". If I made this any longer, it'd get worse and worse.

[Memories of a Forgotten Land]

NGADM Review:
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That violin is just godly. In fact, overall, most of the instruments in this piece are just fantastic. You've got great instrumentation, and you know what to do with it. Melodic content is pretty great, as are harmonies and orchestration.

However, the piece lacks a certain recognizable and memorable theme that sticks in the mind and makes it re-playable. Despite it being quite emotional while your listening to it, it's not a feeling that sticks once it's over, as would be the case with a truly effective piece.

Overall, great piece, and lots of potential. I love what you did, but I still feel like it's missing that one small something that would truly make it fantastic.

Score: 7.8/10

MichaelJ responds:

I suppose it isn't catchy, if that is what you mean. I didn't want it to be repetitive, just expressive.

[In the end]

NGADM Review:
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The piano is just beautiful. You've got excellent melodies, excellent dynamics, and a piano that sounds entirely human and not robotic at all throughout. Unfortunately, the drumset just doesn't fit in with it and sounded kind of weird and abrupt when it came in.

Composition wise, the development of the piece is a bit lacking. You've essentially got one unchanging theme that doesn't really go anywhere, and the ending itself is a bit too abrupt and generic for my tastes. Could definitely use more work in this regard.

Overall, a decent piece, but not exactly your best.

Score: 7.6/10

BlazingDragon responds:

Unfortunately, this ended up being a piano improv with some instruments thrown on top rather than a thoughtful composition. It was literally written in a couple of hours. Agreed that it is not my best. :-/

Thanks for the review and your work in the contest!

[The Last Prince]

NGADM Review:
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The first thing I noticed about this, and what probably annoyed me most throughout, is that the instrumentation and orchestration seemed a bit too artificial and robotic. Don't get me wrong, you've got some great melodic ideas, and you executed some of them quite well, but they just didn't seem to come together to form a cohesive whole. It's a mix of rough transitions and undeveloped themes, that just didn't pay off well. Also, there really needs to be more focus on variety, as the majority of the piece was just repeated patterns with some new patterns added, leading up to a finish that was essentially just an end of a normal pattern, and not particularly impressive.

However, as individual melodies, they are pretty well constructed. You've definitely got a good grasp of what you're doing, and the instruments themselves did come together when considered as sections, so good work on that regard.

Overall, with a bit of work and dedication I sincerely believe you can improve drastically. You've got the potential and you've got the skill, so just take your time and try to start ironing out the small problems that could ruin a song, and you'll be writing great music in no time.

Score: 7.6/10

TitanMusic responds:

Thanks for the review!
I was really disappointed by how this turned out but I guess that is my own fault haha!
I'm working on getting my stuff together so hopefully I will improve from this
Thanks again.

[lost in time travel]

NGADM Round 3

REVIEW:
Not bad at all. Once again, you succeeded superbly in making the song very very energetic. The whole thing was a whole symphony of noise, wild guitars and stupendous drums. The intro instantly set off with a nice fast-paced rhytm, which you mantained quite well for the whole song. Tansitions in general were great, as were the melodies, although these got a bit repetitive at some parts. The transition into the main section was particularly great, with a good drum beat to help it along. Drums throughout most of the song were great, as they provided a nice backdrop for the music to rely on. As for Blend, the instruments blended together quite well, and there wasn't any dominance for power as is often the case with such genres. Outro was awesome as well. Overall, great song, loads of potential, keep it up!

SCORE:
Intro = 1.5/2
Outro = 1.5/2
Blend = 2/2
Transitions = 2.5/3
Bass = 2/2
Originality = 2.5/3
Drums = 2/2
Melodies = 3/4
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Score = 17/20 = 8.5/10
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Note: You guys know why i'm doing this...

Darklight

HighBallers responds:

thanks you brah

[Some Cheesy Trance Thingy]

Very very nice.

Quite fast paced an energetic, its got a nice mood to it, even if the song is a bit empty at some instances. Especially during some transitions, which apart from some cut off ones, were mostly good. The instrument samples are of a high quality at least, and they were used to their own capability quite well, with nothing trying to compete against everything else. The melodies at some moments really made me bob my head, i have to admit, and despite this being a trance song, its about as varied as you can get, with little to no repetition throughout. The drums as well, were well used and gave the song a second depth, nice work. Unfortunately, you had to spoil all this with a pretty abrupt outro, and i can't even say that it looped well, because the music just suddenly cut off. Still, besides this, this is a very good song, with a lot of potential and a great use of melodic harmony. Nice work!

SCORE:
Intro = 2/2
Outro = 0/2
Blend = 2/2
Transitions = 2.5/3
Bass = 2/2
Originality = 3/3
Drums = 2/2
Melodies = 3.5/4
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Score = 17/20 = 8.5/10
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Note: This is your review from the NGADM Round 2 and as always im posting it here for your convenience.

Darklight

mr-jazzman responds:

Yeah. Honestly I really didn't care, and I think it came out in this one. That's why Highballers won, and I'm not surprised. I'm actually GLAD he won, because I really need to focus on other things atm. I've got an album coming along that should blow this shit out of the water. Thanks for giving me an honest review besides!

[White TIger Shark]

Not bad at all.

You definetely made the song energetic, if that was what you were going for. The intro instantly set off with a nice fast -paced beat, which you mantained quite well for the whole song. The transition into the main section was great, with a good drum beat to help it along. In fact, transitions in general were great, as were the melodies, although these got a bit repetitive at some parts. AS for Blend, the instruments blended together quite well, and there wasn't any dominance for power as is often the case. Outro was awesome as well, and left me hoping for more. Overall, great song, loads of potential, keep it up!

SCORE:
Intro = 1.5/2
Outro = 1.5/2
Blend = 2/2
Transitions = 2.5/3
Bass = 2/2
Originality = 2.5/3
Drums = 2/2
Melodies = 3/4
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Score = 17/20 = 8.5/10
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Note: This is your review from the NGADM Round 2 and as always im posting it here for your convenience.

Darklight

HighBallers responds:

thank you brah

[Muss: Dalliance]

Not bad at all.

It's very good, and extremely catchy, even though it was a bit bland in terms of instrumentation, meaning that it could use more depth to it, especially in the background synths, which were way too faint for my liking. The intro and outro were both great though, besides the fact of the lack of instrumentation. Melodies were original throughout, and there was a great sense of variety along the song, with just enough repetition to keep the user feeling that he knows the song, but enough variety to keep the user thinking that he doesn't know it enough (if that makes sense lol). Transitions were mostly smooth as heck, so no problems there. Drums could've done with a bit more variety though, as they got a tad repetitive towards the end. Other than that, great song, loads of potential, keep it up!

SCORE:
Intro = 2/2
Outro = 2/2
Blend = 1/2
Transitions = 3/3
Bass = 1/2
Originality = 2/3
Drums = 1.5/2
Melodies = 3.5/4
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Score = 16/20 = 8/10
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Note: This is your review from the NGADM Round 2 and as always im posting it here for your convenience.

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FairSquare responds:

Thanks for that :)

[Muss: Memories]

Not bad at all.

Its a great song thats for sure. I liked the way the instruments just seemed to blend in together, even if the samples werent of a particularly high quality. Unfortunately, the blend of the song was somewhat ruined by the overally bland drums, which besides being faint, were also a bit too repetitive. Also, a bit more variety could've been appreciated in the other parts of the song too. Intro and Outro were really good, despite being a bit too abrupt. Other than, that, this is a good song, decent quality but with a potential to be much more.

SCORE:
Intro = 1.5/2
Outro = 1.5/2
Blend = 1.5/2
Transitions = 3/3
Bass = 1.5/2
Originality = 2/3
Drums = 1/2
Melodies = 4/4
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Score = 16/20 = 8/10

Note: This is your review from the NGADM Round 1 and as always im posting it here for your convenience.

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FairSquare responds:

Thanks :)

[CKC - Human Revolution]

Brilliant.

This a simply superb classical piece. The atmosphere you set off at the very start, with those nice synthy effects, was simply great. It caught my attention instantly. The whole piece has got a nice sense of tension throughout, and the brilliant choice of instruments does nothing but highlight that great sense of atmosphere. The voice was a nice afterthough, as it blended fairly well with the rest of the piece. The drums were well thought out and played, although they could have had a deeper feel to them, if you get what i mean. However, the song is sadly lacking in the depth factor, same as your opponent's.There were no instruments playing secondary contrasting melodies to give the music a deeper feel. Other than that, id say this was relatively perfect. Great job!

SCORE:
Intro = 2/2
Outro = 2/2
Blend = 1.5/2
Transitions = 3/3
Bass = 1.5/2
Originality = 2.5/3
Drums = 1.5/2
Melodies = 4/4
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Score = 18/20 = 9/10

Note: This is your review from the NGADM Round 1 and as always im posting it here for your convenience.

Darklight

CKC2009 responds:

thanks a lot :D