Erkie's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Berceuse]

Zippity do dah

Dark for a kid's song, but then again, we tell them fairy tales, which were at one time horror stories.

The melody is fantastic and my favorite, you manipulate it well and blend it into many other elements (like the choir), you give hope, you set up intrigue, then nestle it back down with dark turns.

The bass beats are pronounced but the percussion remains untapped, you mostly use quirked out cymbal taps and sharp snare hits, which is very complimentary when the song is really going. At 1:43 I can certainly appreciate the minimalism but small breakdowns like that with beats only leaves you a large opportunity to do something more, but then again, the way it only lasts about ten seconds, then busts back into the melody warrants what you did originality. Dunno, I'm torn.

Very well done

Quarl responds:

I'm all out of faith, this is how I feel. I'm cold and I am shamed, lying naked on the floor.

*Blush

[Rig - Sol Food (3min version)]

Smooth

Simple beat, nice melody and great structure, curious innocence with that edgy loneliness we all know space has.

[+Barricade+]

Too much going on.

I agree with the industrial thing, but I wouldn't say so just because of the beat.

A lot of these elements you chose and treated are very rough, and when they match up together they mask the rhythm and general direction of the song and leaves a kind of want.

At 2:02, this is necessarily a breakdown, but it in of itself could be a complete song, this section actually sounds very good, but it's simply masked when the other elements return to mask it.

Just need more selectivity and trial and error.

The slow fade out at the end feels incomplete only because I didn't really get to hear what warranted an ending.

Great stuff though -- better to have a lot then very little like me.

WritersBlock responds:

Thanks Erkie. I was quite happy with the breakdown, to be honest. Thanks for the criticisms and such.

[Burning Bright]

Ding.... dingding ding ding ding

Gorgeous chime work, and I heard a silent undertone of some other kind of wind instrument playing along with, along with some vox and I'm sure maybe some other little easter eggs. Those are masterful little details that give such a basic thing more body and volume without being a show off and you'd have to listen to loudly to get the full benefit.

I do agree, however, with the guy who pointed out the amen mixtures. Even with bass bouncing around, I get the basic idea of that bridge after the first 20 seconds, but it is minutes later until the changeup.

But those elements paired with the violin churning in the background gives it an aphex dnb feel.

I would've left the chimes out of the breakdown in the middle, it seems like the perfect place to put in a mindblowing orchestrated section that melts back into the amen, then chimes.

Triskele responds:

Thank you for the awesomely helpful review :> I owe you a couple, get to that soon D:

[20thousand]

aah

Very somber ease, I get the images of some guy burnt out after a long day walking home down a sidewalk with a clouded head of thoughts with the sun setting into twilight.

The drums are quiet, yet intricate without being overbearing, and you don't rely on filters or any kind of special effect, it's just the sole sound of the drums themselves.

I don't even think you need to add anything or change anything, it's very mellow, very smooth, nice stuff.

Triskele responds:

<3 you sir. I'm pretty proud of this myself, glad you're feeling it too

[Solus + SBB- Switchback]

yazoo

I liked the piano opening, and I agree with the last guy on the percussion lead in. A few cymbals taps is all one really needs when you have a spiral staircase opener.

The melody in the beginning is very good, brings to mind a hero solving a crisis, then when the main beat kicks in it starts up a great flow, even though you have a lot of elements going on once, you show reservation and control for how it sounds.

The hard synth that comes in at 2:01 kind of throws me off a bit, only because everything is soft and smooth and nice, if it were a bit softer or even had an echo of some kind it'd blend easier.

The high pitch synth going off in the background doing its own little solo was a little excessive, the wobbles really evened it out.

Solus and SBB can't do wrong.

SolusLunes responds:

And truer words have never been spoken.

[Juggernaut (loop)]

snazzy

Nice manipulation, although it's just extra notes to each pluck, the way you contort them and maintain a simple beat gives it the best replay ability.

I suppose in the entirety of a song it'd have to be a bridge or a surprise breakdown, since its intensity and function as bass would probably get compromised by anything other then the drums.

I've listened to it about 20 times now.

[Solus- For Schala Remastered]

Game music.

Although I'm not a big fan of the synth sax (snoballnthmonyshot is the NG sax hero), the piano work is fantastic.

The mood is very stable; not hopeful, not helpless, with only small undertones of heroism, which must define the character or the situation your character is in.

In my own head I got the sense of someone trying to rise up out of the gutters.

Well made even if it isn't in my taste. It's just that damn sax.

SolusLunes responds:

One thing to say about the sax: >:(

...I'll have to record myself doing the sax part, it's not particularly complicated...

[=Reclaiming the Wastes=]

I'd fist fight an anaconda naked to this music.

Very jungle percussion but it mixes well in contrast with the bass. (Not that I hate themed instruments, I'm a heavy beat mixer).

Then as the sitar-like string work breaks out and the drums change, it has kind of an American in an Arabic themed land feel.

The echo work feels a bit excessive only in the sense that gives me Starcraft flashbacks/electronic composers in the 90s vibe, and it washes out the presence of the other rhythm based elements.

But the rhythm changes at 1:14 and the guitar stabs at 2:27 change up the atmosphere, chase/urgency and unveiling something evil prospectively, are good mood changers.

Hades responds:

Haha, I must admit I really chuckled at the image from the title. XD

The 'American in an Arabic land' feel that you mentioned, actually is exactly the one I was aiming for with this song, because the general idea was representing a person that is facing a completely new world that is a lot more dangerous than he thought it would be. I didn't really feel that the echo was over-the-top, because the story I used as a basis for the song included the world being devastated by nuclear war, so I wanted to give the deeper instruments that dark, menacing touch.

Thanks a lot for your input, I found your comment most helpful!

[-=LJC=- Grinsomnia]

snaresnaresnare

Straightforward, clear, well developed, thought out and executed.

Honestly, I'm more for structurally sound and morphed beats, but that's only through personal preference and constant experimentation. The whole "map a snare and change its pitch and properties" a la Venetian Snares/Hvartski/what have you seems rather... easy? Although I can condone it to accentuate frustration in any song, and the extent and sweat one uses to butcher a beat, then reanimate it into something else is admirable.

But beat making in this particular situation is quite pleasant against the piano, I can also tell you crumbled some filtered beats in for a nice boom.

The piano itself tries to elaborate on itself, or the atmosphere, but it seems rather independent to what's going on at times.

nice work

LJCoffee responds:

ErkiE! I completely understand your comments - as far as mangling a few beats go, it is easy - sort of. No more than any other percussion though. I always like hearing from you - it usually seems like there's an underlying sense of honesty in your comments and I think that's great.

Thanks again!