steampianist's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Overworld Song]

7.4/10

I'm a fan of 8bit and 16bit music

I like the overall warm and laid-back vibe of the song.
Your arrangement is very nice and i love that lofi drum you used paired with that portamento pluck in the intro.

Your mix is also good. Usually, 8 bit tracks can be harsh on the high ends but you manage to make this track very warm and without severely sacrificing the high freq.

That said i felt you could've done so much more with this 3 min song. I did not mind the repetition however you could've added more melodic themes or motifs especially on the 2nd repeat.

The lack of a new theme just made the song a bit draggy for me.

So overall not bad but can could've been better

BeeFef responds:

I think one of my main weaknesses in composition is getting to a certain point in writing and not knowing what to add next, especially if I'm coming back to a certain theme instead of doing a new one. But at least I'm glad you thought I nailed the mix, as that's one element of making electronic music that's been taking me longer to get right. Thank you for your review and I hope I get some more detailed reviews from the people who did my KO round submission, as that' something I didn't make it through

[Nothing To Hide]

The harmonic colors are so pretty

ZipZipper responds:

no you are

[Vader Bells - Imperial Christmas]

I love darth vader and i love this

sorohanro responds:

Cool :) Then you should watch the video also:
https://youtu.be/bLJIQ1thbFo
Check my news in the next 3 days for a contest regarding the video :)
Thanks for review and Happy Holidays !

[Tick Tack]

Dude there are a lot of ways to define insane and this is definitely insane. i love how its tense all though out which gives me a pretty picture of a family just enjoying a nice christmas eve dinner when suddenly a stranger comes in and well you know... anyway even though the ending was somewhat pleasant i just could not shake the feeling that something is wrong and at first i thought the ending was a bit abrupt but i listened to it again and i notice the strings was a perfect cadence hehe good job i love the ending actually tense yet pleasant

thank you for this and Merry Christmas (but i do wish it was a bit longer)

Azhthar responds:

Hey! Thanks a lot! I´m really glad you like it ;) It would have been a bit longer but the holidays didn´t give me that much time... The end is indeed a little problematic. I did some very rapid mastering and the compression I used had a too high threshold for the quiet tones and tailing at the end. So, it´s a bit cutoff which sounds weird. Realized this too late and wasn´t able to change it yet. Also I always added some quiet dissonances at the background and have a minor second played simultanously in the basses. I think this might give the feeling that something is wrong without being able to point the finger on it... It was an experiment ;)
Merry Christmas to you, too ;)

[The Overworked Elf]

The overworked elf.. wow i can relate to this so much also i notice your recent composition seems to revolve around a single motif and you either arrange them to a new instrumental, variate it, and develop it. Its very effective to make a catchy track but you still keep your ending signature which is an imperfect cadence which btw you can introduce a new motif and do the same process of variating it developing it and arranging it to new instruments and so on

Regardless i still find this very catchy and i loved it. thanks a lot and merry christmas

ZipZipper responds:

(This was also rushed) but yes I am even more dumb and predictable now omg help.

[Percussionella]

wish it was a little longer and maybe a slight a variation but i really liked this good luck on NGMT

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

Thank you! I'm glad you liked it :)
Yeah, I swear I will do something similar in the (not near) future, but with tons of more effort put into it.

[Ticking Clocks]

Very Interesting

BenTibbetts responds:

Thanks. :)

[Chuckles likes children]

Masterfully done my friend. you were able to keep a dark atmosphere but with a very upbeat melody i really like the change of modes at 2:02 and at 2:30 but i feel like youe run out of ideas on the ending thats just me though maybe a waltz version of one the dominant motif here wouldve been great :)

also i love the horns you use is it live or a sample library if its a sample library what did you use?

anyway i really love this one. good fucking job

Azhthar responds:

Hey! Thanks a lot!You and ZipZipper mastered the music I want to do even before I knew you two so it means a lot to me to get such a positive feedback! The brass I used was the brass symphony series by soundiron. If you thought it was life horns it means they did a graet job in sampling :)

[The Mostly Monsters Trail]

I really love the variation on the main theme/motif and great use on the sfx really adds to it but the highlight for me here is the harmonies :)

but i think a bassline would really make this more solid. you dropped the bass

ZipZipper responds:

Drop out :(

[The Infinite Cosmos]

Nothing like a good rock song about rocking.

MetalRenard responds:

I know, right? :D
You can feeeeel the cheeeeeese. But I had fun!!!