mastermuffin's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Coat of Arms]

Great job, but minor details

Let's go ahead and start at the beginning of the piece. Really cool and really gives a good forshadowing to what is soon coming, but I wish you would drag it out a little bit before you went into the intro with the strings. It was just a little too much too soon. Milk out mysterious beginnings a little more. They just make the middle seem so much more intense.

Alright, now when you get into the "melody" which was hard for me to find which instrument had it, which has it's own affect to people, so I won't let it hurt any score, but you have this snare which actually bothered me to no end. A bit too loud and you need to use rolls a little bit more sparingly. They should be more of a gateway to the next phrase.

The spaces you used to quiet things down a little really made this song pop out and I really loved it. It gave it this wonderful feeling of contrast you don't normally see in songs.

So, just one more thing. I had a hard time with the quality, and it's hard for me to say that because quality can be blamed on many factors, such as money, speakers, programs, you name it. But one thing of the quality that was bad was the shortage of reverb. This is a song where (especially in the more quiet parts) a little resonance can go a long way in making more of an impact.

I have yet to even see if you have other things out, but might as well check because this song was overall really good with some small things that need some improvement. Good Work

Voltus responds:

Thank you for your feedback, although I dont really agree with your statement on the quality of the sounds. Every Instrument has at least some reverb or room to it and is generally out of a good sounding soundfont or sample library, I just didn't want to overdo it you know? If you are clustering everything together with reverb, the sounds don't stand out as I wanted them to. Maybe I also should have mentioned that this is my first orchestral/cinematic track ;)

[Passing Time]

Short, but sweet.

This loop is the kind I can actually listen to for a disturbing amount of time. Improv singing and rapping and what-not, but anyway, I'm a bit surprised at the 3/5 stars this has. The simplicity of the two major 7th chords (correct me if I'm wrong) and the background stuff behind those are well done and keep the song filled with melody. The bass is also groovy yet subtle with that groove. This actually gives it such a chill feel and I'm absolutely in love with it. I'm trying to come up with something wrong, but the quality of this song is so good and not to mention of how in flavor it is with my personal tastes. Great Job, bro.

[Nu Moon]

This is really dark, man. I love the bass hits that have little predictability to them. The strings that hold the entire song really bring suspense to the darkness. I also really respect all of the weird things going on in the background.

And you could probably see it coming, I have just two problems. One is short and sweet. The loop is a bit sloppy. The strings that hold sound like they go out and then back in. It kinda sucks because it's held the entire length, but when it gets to the end of the loop, it just sounds bad. Number two is that it's repetitive. On the third listen of this song, I did a little experiment. I went ahead and just skipped around the song. I was pretty much making my own arrangement at that point. In reality, you could have made this song about 40 seconds long, and have the same song except for a couple of points.

Everything I say negatively, you must realize I'm being really picky with it because it's already really good. I am certainly not a believer of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" though, so that's why I think it can always be improved. Keep at it, bro

tripledigit responds:

Thank you very very much for being honest and giving genuine criticism and tips. I really appreciate it and will definitely keep the flaws of my previous works in mind when i create new songs so that I can continue to improve and produce the best possible tracks in the future.

[Sufferance]

So it started out with the staccatos and I liked it. It sounded troublesome and a bit horrific. The held notes kept the same emotion going, but then the bass staccatos just disappeared. The reason I bring that up is that it dropped in the middle of a measure. I understand if maybe you're trying to get me to feel alone with the held notes because I became familiar with the staccato, but it really gave me a negative thought about the music.

After that, the bass staccato comes back, but it's a bit higher. I don't really like how it sounds anymore. It just sounds like it shouldn't be there. When the piano takes that over though, it sounds pretty awesome. The chords that the piano and choir do are beautiful.

I know you know what you're doing, but there's just little things that some people may be bothered by. You know your crap man. This is the second song I've heard from you, and I have been impressed by both. I'm now going to check the rest of your stuff

[Respite]

This song is absolutely amazing. It has a very cold wind to it, but warm feeling. I totally get the safe haven feeling. The only thing about this song that kind of upset me was the fact that you totally dumped the piano melody for two chime like instruments. If you kept going with the piano, or just not have used the chimes, it would have the same effect, if not a little more of an impact.

I must say, it took me a while to figure out what to say, mostly because the chime thing is very minor and took me about 5 listens to really be bothered by it. I've been listening to the song plenty, mostly because it seems to not get old, and that's pretty awesome.

You did a good job man.

tripledigit responds:

Thank you very much for your words and for taking the time to give an honest review! I'm glad you enjoyed what you did.

[Catalyst]

Sounds pretty tubular, man.

I don't have too many problems with this, but when you have the staccato strings going at the beginning, the drums don't match. I understand that it might make it sound more chaotic, but it just sounded sloppy until the tremble strings came in and made it a "clean" chaos if that makes sense. After that build up after the chaos and into the more somber part, it sounds absolutely fantastic. I counted only two chords even though I might be hearing things and there's actually only one. Either way, it's pretty great. Keep it up, man.

Basset-Hound responds:

Hey Thanks for the review. I appreciate it!

Most of my music is a bit sloppy. I try not to record things too out of place but I prefer a few mistakes over a flawless computer generated piece. Makes it more imperfect and human.
The whole song is indeed only two chords :)

[Breaking Out]

I like the melody, though the quality of it is lacking. What do you use? I understand the need for some percussion in the piece, but what you chose is just too much. The cowbell was not a good choice, nor was the overuse of the bass drum.

The faulty percussion aside, I enjoy the actual melody part. The chord choir going on there was real good, and for a bunch of notes, it didn't sound all mashed together

Iviqrr responds:

Thanks for the feedback, I'll try to look out for that stuff on my next song :)

[Western (MatchTwo)]

An overall good piece. You got a good meaty middle if you can understand that. Even though you start out strong, you able to bring out the melody to be nice and big. It looped very well, with the ending dieing down from the powerful middle to match the beginning.

After the melody, though, you have a wind instrument in there, sounds a bit like a pan flute, that does its thing at the ending, but once it loops, it just disappears. If you're wondering what to do, I suggest taking it out at the end. I'm just not a fan. One more thing, then I'm done. I really wish I could hear more from the guitar as a more of a counter melody during the most of the melody.

Overall, you've got it good, but I think it could still use a little more work. Good job, though

F4LL0UT responds:

Thanks for the feedback. Well, personally I can't complain about the loop as in my opinion the accented first stroke of the guitar covers the sudden interruption of the other instruments' reverb pretty well (certainly well enough for such a little casual game mainly meant for tablets and stuff). If I wanted to improve the loop I would do it differently though, i.e. by accelerating the fade out before the song ends or moving the missing reverb to the beginning of the song.

As for the counter melody - I think that would not have worked too well in this short and simple piece, especially with the kind of melody I chose for the trumpets but yeah, it does sound like a good idea in general, will keep it in mind should I ever return to this kind of stuff.

[Road Demo(FeedbackPlease)]

You've got a good chord progression going on here, and I especially love how it breaks down about 2:15, but guy below me has a point. Now, being an instrumentalist, I don't think you necessarily need a vocal part, but just a melody in general. Sure, the progression is good on it's own, but it's only icing to a nonexistent cake.

Also, I feel like the solos in there went a little off from the main theme, or feel of the progression. The ending was kind of lacking, but at least you know to finish it if not when.

Overall, it has potential, but the piece is only a piece. Make the cake after the icing, and make the decorations fit the whole creation.

LimeDisciple responds:

Nah man, he was right. This was just a demo, and I'm not a good enough vocalist (yet) to lay down a solid lead vocal recording. I wanted to just put something together in a day and work with, presumably because I was bored, this was around 2 years ago. However in that time I've attempted to practice my vocals and become better. Going to put a nice track on it here soon, and I agree with everything else. Thanks for the review brother, rock on.

[Skyrim Falls]

Reminds me of a more modern/future themed elder scrolls game. My problem with this is that it starts at a nice part, but it kinda sticks there. It's musical progression man. I notice you go down to more sweeter parts that feature piano, which sound pretty good, but it goes back to where it was. I say, if this were a more classical themed, it would have a climax near the end that would make everyone get on the edge of their seats with goosebumps. Summary of story: Show more progression and bigger moments. You should have a soft medium and powerful part. I only got soft and medium. Other than that, this was a great piece that really had that skyrim feel. Good job!