Nimble's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Breakups In Winter </3]

Damn.

That sucks bro.

The lyrics and chords sometimes dont match up,which feels weird,but thats a good thing,except at sometimes(like the bridge to the first hook and the first hook itself) sounds like the not matching up isn't intentional.other than that,when you're making songs,you could try using different chords and modulations. it'll make it more depressing if you put in diminished chords in addition to the ones you already have.

i can relate to this(it's happened to me before) and it sucks. hope you have a happy rest of the holidays,and may your new year be better than this year.

[Piano Power]

Techno? oh,there it is!

Hmm.There really doesn't seem like there's much of anything special. it's a simple chord progression,that repeats,a simple unce unce drum beat,and the synths repeat alot of the ideas posted previously by the pianist.

i suggest in changing up the song alot. maybe you throw in a bridge progression right before the synths take over,make the piano solo a bit shorter(when i saw this was a techno song,i was confused,until i started actually hearing synths almost halfway through the song)and keep the piano in when the synths come in too! i mean,the song is called piano power,and even though the piano has a whole minute solo,the title should imply the focus,and it doesn't seem like it,really.

i also suggest in trying out drum fills at the end of melodic phrases because honestly,unce unce gets a bit boring after a while.

and finally,try to syncopate/switch around some rhythms that the piano has already instated if you're going to use them for the synths too. i try not to repeat phrases unless theyre choruses,or the main point of the song,and if that melody is your main focus of the song,thats cool,but in my opinion you should at least switch around the note values when the synth comes in,because the funnest thing about a melody is that there's more than one version within the song.

honestly,this is just run of the mill techno,with nothing really innovating the genre. i say try a bit harder.

kaiser185 responds:

Thanks for the feedback, and I get everything you are saying, so I guess I'd better address each point separately.

-Melodies and varying up the parts: This is a work in progress and many of the repeated parts are just there as placeholders, when I eventually finish the song I do plan on inserting a couple of new melodies that I didn't quite finish in time for this release, I mainly released this as a way to gauge the community's interest and to gather feedback which I cannot thank you enough for giving me.

-The beat: The drums and all the percussion is a placeholder, unfortunately I was getting some help with the drums but that person didn't come through so I ende up using a generic 4 on the floor till I finish the drums.

-The piano (or lack thereof in the later parts): What you heard is roughly about one third of the song, so I do plan on using more piano in the later parts.

-Switching around rythms and the like: As a newcomer to the whole music making scene I haven't really tried with having a dynamic or large set of rythms within the song, but I do plan on switching it up in the final release.

-Reusing melodies with different synths: I do try to vary my song as much as possible but since I'm going on a vacation I wanted to atleast finish a part of the song before I left, I will however say that they are like that for a reason and to ease transitions between syths and the piano parts.

And the two major concerns:
-That there isn't anything special and that it is just run of the mill techno:
I'd love to have a witty comeback or proof that would render your argument moot, sadly it is mostly true what you say, I do however state that I am fairly new to this genre and although I'd love to innovate and whatnot I still am by no means a master of composition or of anything musical, so I can't really go ahead and try to innovate without really being a "master" of something, which I hope I will be one day, but for now I'm quite proud of my music, and I see it as a personal accomplishment to get this far. I am constatly trying to get better at this, and soon I might become quite skilled at this, but for now I am doing my best with minimal knowledge.

This hopefully adresses your points.

-kaiser

P.S. I do understand that you may feel a bit mislead by the genre, however it really doesn't fir anywhere else and long piano intros/solos are becoming, if I may say so, part of my style of composing.

[State of Confusion [A-C]]

Huh?

I like it. It's very well made. I like how every phrase you try to add something new.if this is a recording,you guys sound pretty professional.which is an A+ trait to have. the thing i don't understand though,is the title of the name.usually,i only name my songs after i've completely finished them.this doesn't necessarily sound like you guys are confused,nor does it imply anything of the sort. perhaps have like intentional mistakes throughout the recording,or chords that just dont fit into the song.this sounds alot more like something you would listen to on a drive throughout the country,in my opinion. also,work on volume levels and dynamics.this song only has one volume right after the intro,which is loud. maybe tone it down a bit,and build up to a super-loud breakdown? other than that,you guys are on the right track. Great job!

Autumn-Collapse responds:

NimblekidX,

Thanks for your feedback! A long time ago, the song sounded more like a person was in a state of confusion and so that's why we named it that. But as we became better musicians, we made a lot of changes to the song after the fact and we haven't really bothered to go back and rename the song. It's just how we refer to it. We'll take into consideration that the name might not necessarily fit the song anymore.

As for the dynamics, I guess that the song exporting out of the studio didn't translate as well-- we mastered it so that the volume would increase and stay at a certain volume so that the song never clipped, and I guess because all of the audio is so loud it all stays at the same maximum volume that we've allotted for it to reach. We'll go back and fix it so that the volumes and changes in dynamics can be heard.

We're band students... we never hear the end of it from our director if we don't put enough dynamics in either our performances or creations. Thanks for pointing that out though!

Sincerely,
Autumn Collapse

[| Christmas Magic |]

Very well written Piece!

I enjoyed every moment of this tune. as a fellow musician,the first half of the song honestly sounded like it came straight of the nearest contemporary album,which is a really good thing. you seem to everything at a balance. the only thing that i would improve on is giving more of an impact.yes,you had dynamic changes,but were they dynamic? i'll leave that question to you. Merry Christmas to you too!

[~SW~ Depth Charge]

Nice Catch!

This certainly isn't a new idea,but the approach of tackling it sure is!

i certainly love the synths you used for the melodic lines,they sound so angelic to me,in a way,because of the slight delay/chorus effect you may have added in. the chord progression isnt uncommon but the harmonics were well pulled off,which i appreciate.

i dont really like the arpeggiating synth in my right ear half the song,since it's a bit on the high pitch scale and it hurts a little after a while,but that's just me.also,the song really didnt have much dynamic contrast,which is fine since you're experimenting,but you shouldn't forget about these things while experimenting.

overall,i like it.it's a new approach on the ambient style and the miscellaneous sounds together.good work.

Review Request Club

SkyeWint responds:

Glad you enjoy it. The melody lines are some things I really liked on this song.

I don't quite understand the arpeggiating synth problem you had. I'm fairly sure that wasn't only in the right side... Do your headphones not do the high register very well? I had tested this on multiple headphones/speakers, and it seemed to sound good, but... Oh well.

As for dynamic contrast, would you rather have it have only one volume - loud - like most songs?

Thanks for the review overall, I'm glad I could entertain differently than what you've heard before.

[RMX-Those Chosen By the Planet]

inb4 FF2012?

I love the beginning,and i always loved sephiroth's theme,so this is a lovely arrangement.

i like the synth you used for the bassline,and the the bass drum ringing in my right ear is awesome,although it didnt really have any dynamic contrast,contrary to the bass synth,which has plenty of dims and crescs.

one thing i like about this is that the feel remains the same throughout the whole remix,which i enjoy personally,although i like syncopated rhythms,i like some kind of stability in the mood/rhythm of such syncopation.great job on that.

one thing i didn't like really was the fact there really wasnt much dynamic contrast,except for maybe once in the whole song.another thing is that you didn't hint at his battle theme,which was what i was hoping for,but oh well.

to conclude,this is a beast version of the crazy bastard's theme,and although there isn't much to talk about(and the fact this songs' a REMIX) it's still a nice presentation of it. good work sir.

Review Request Club

mikkim responds:

Yeah, I definantly could have given it more dynamics. And I actually think, going on top of that, I could have given the drums some time on the left, and some time on the right, so that it would be even cooler. Stuff like that is why I like getting reviews. So that when I go on to make my next song, it sounds even cooler. Thanks for the review. :D

[[dB] Sleepwalker]

Comical Ideas

i absolutely love how you used the accordion because,the title and the instrumentation makes me feel like the story behind this is about someone who is a chronic sleepwalker. i enjoy the the rhythmic tone you gave the song as well,and the drums,although repeated at some points,sound good.the structure and such are extremely well built.

i dont like how there isn't really much of a change throughout the track,BUT seeing as this is hip hop,i just thought i'd say to mix it up a bit,people who may rap over your tracks may never see it coming.

overall,well done,i want to hear more but i never have time to go in depth on artists and their tracks.

Review Request Club

Decibel responds:

Cool - Thanks for the observations :)

[Eric Freeman - See You Around]

Damn..

it's always sad to see a fellow audioman leave the ranks :(

if you're leaving because of the 0-bombs,just know that scores dont really matter on NG as much as you would think they would be.(at least in the AP) hell,my first song was a 4.17,and then it dropped to a 2.88 an hour later. i was devastated. a few days after seeing the loads of 0-bombers,i had decided for myself to not care about scores. not a single song of mine is above 3.5 anymore,and i really dont care,because the scores dont matter,it's the song and it's content. i hope you understand.

anyways,you and i are alike in a way. i started making music with almost no knowledge. of course i read up a few books on Music Theory,but in the beginning i was just like you.

onto the actual review.

Firstly,i like the synth you're using for the chords. it adds to the feel of sadness.also,it's a very good backing track for potential melodies,which im kinda sad you didnt add a 'real' melody. i like the reverb on the single note there too,it's

mostly,the only 'bad' thing about this track is the fact that it offers no true melody and it's repetitive(as most techno is,but alas) but that is probably it.

Overall,what a tune to go out with a bang. it feels like you're just walking away with a sunset behind you,which i think is pretty cool looking but saddening,to say the least.

Review Request Club

EricFreeman responds:

I know everyone's telling me to not worry about score because it doesn't really matter, but I just have a problem with that. Your most popular submission of 2011 has less than 100 views and no reviews. I know score isn't that important and it's review score you should care about, but when your songs go completely unnoticed it just kind of sucks.

Yeah, a lot of people were looking for a melody in the song, but I have no idea what to do for that. Usually I just hit my keyboard until something sounds good but nothing was really working this time around, haha.

Thanks for your review <3

[A Child's Game]

Woah.

Just the feel of this song has me going back years,to when i was a completely different person. im glad those days are over though.

anyways,what you have here is something that easily sounds like a character creation theme in an RPG.it's good and all,but it's not too interesting to keep listening in.also,it could use a bit more percussion,not note-wise,i mean push those faders up higher. i can barely hear the snare.thats all the bad though.

the good,is of course you manage to keep a nice,cavalier tune for the whole song and dont eventually lead it to a serious state.also,this song was VERY well composed,for the length of said song. like i said,this would be perfect for a Creation theme or a simple town square theme,as that's exactly whats in my head. a town,bustling full of people running about and making it to their destinations. but the city itself looks a lot older than what you would think,with city walls barely intact,the angel at the top of the fountain in the middle of the square about to fall off... like a modern day camelot,with decay.

overall,great song. i cant even begin to write something so good,yet simple.

Review Request Club