Coop's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[[dj-Jo] Electric Cove]

Good sounds

Wow, this piece is powerful and it throws you in at the deep end, grabbing you bodily and hurling you towards the bridge. After two run throughs, I'm already feeling the track and I can sense where breaks occur, so it's connected with me, which is a great start.

Even considering that the tune starts rather loud and "in your face", I'd say that it does have build up patches and the part where you faded practically everything out in the middle to drive back in with the pace and tempo was fantastic. Subtle and brilliant are two superlatives that I can use for that piece of composition.

Looking forward to hearing more, good job.

[Review Request Club]

[[FR] Siege]

Calm, yet very pleasing

I'm very impressed with this piece. The way that you give us a calm buildup and I feel that it's going to be something else, until it seems that you're being pulled along between star systems, very reminiscent of the time I spent playing EVE Online.

I can see this sort of tune being used for various pieces set in deep space, but also in underwater realms, as in the right environment, they give me the impression of being an "inner space realm" of their own.

It may have been a little short, so consider upping it to 3 minutes or even slightly further than that, you could end up with a brilliant piece that really can take you places from your own desk. Of course, the other solution is to axe the buildup and make it more of a loop. I'm not sure that would do your work justice, in my eyes...

[Review Request Club]

[2011 Rabidsquirl Voice Demo]

Someone needs to hire you

Dammit, I really hate it when I hear the repertoires of good voice artists. Makes me seem so average. If I had the recording equipment, the wherewithal and the time, I'd show the industry... probably fuck all, but you know, a guy can dream, right?

A good script - did you take it from various pieces that you've done, are doing, or just write them, because you've got a good imagination? I think that some of them are made better by the additions of sound effects, music and other effects, but what I'd like to really know is what equipment you have for this and what program / programmes you're using to give this the professional touch.

Still, I really do hope that someone gives you a chance and you'll make good progress in this line of work soon.

[Review Request Club]

Rabidssquirrel responds:

Thanks much for the review!

As for the script, I stood infront of my mic and tried to think of any type of voice I could do. Once I figured out a voice I could do, I would either freestyle something or quickly jot something down to read off of. Did a long recording and picked and chose what I thought would be great. Some lines are mine, some are old audition lines or from parts I've already filled.

As for equipment:
MXL 990 Condensor Microphone - $60
A.R.T. Studio Preamp - $30
Wires that connect them - About $25

Not really that expensive of a set up for the quality that comes about. :) For mixing, I used Soundtrack Pro, which was mostly unnecessary as it could have been done in audacity. As for the effects and music, I just looked for royalty free SFX and tracks. I always use Freesound.org for SFX. <3 them. And royalty free music you can find on Newgrounds, or from a simple google search. One of my favorites is Freeplaymusic.com :)

Thanks a bunch for the review!

[[FR] Void]

Good start - better ending needed

You've built this piece up nicely and put a lot of effort into it. The one issue I have is that this isn't carried on into the piece, more it just seems to peter out and fade away, as opposed to staying strong, when you need it to.

What I'd suggest is leaving the first movement alone and extending the piece to about 3-4 minutes. Build up to something bigger, don't just let it fall apart in your hands to the finish, as that would be a cruel waste of your talent.

Perhaps consider turning down the heavy bass beat that you get going in the middle of the track, just for a better balance and go from there, seeing how things go.

[Review Request Club]

[A Bowl of Spaghetti]

Spaghetti Western!

Something that I certainly see a group of horsemen riding into town - kind of in the vein of the Knights of Cydonia video, if ever you've seen it. Throw in a little messing with the track, to modernise it, like Moby did with the James Bond Theme and you end up with a nice presentation.

It's a little short and I'd consider making something more out of the whistled section, throwing in a few more notes, with a compliment from the bells as some sort of solo, to give more support to the origins of the track.

The only other change I'd have made would be not to include the beat so early - keep it sounding Western for a short while longer and then fade something in, to blend it all together.

[Review Request Club]

Rampant responds:

Knights of Cydonia... I'd probably recognize it if I heard it, but I can't quite remember it off the top of my head. And, of course, who doesn't like updated versions of the James Bond theme?

I'm glad that you and others think it's too short - usually that's a good sign that people want more! - and if I return to this track, I'll probably add more bells, because you can't have too many bells, right? Along with expanding the dubstep elements, and maybe changing up the mixing a bit.

Thanks for the review,
- James

[KKS - Contact]

2112?

I like the fact that there may be an homage in some way, shape of form to Rush's iconic album and seven part song that defined the band's rightful place in rock immortality.

Anyway, moving on to your piece, the hissing noise seems to pose a slight problem, though i would suggest that a little tweak is made, to either change this to a sound of waves, or tone it down ever such a little, so that it doesn't conflict so much with the music itself.

I'd have considered doing some vocals with the piece, perhaps a little narration and giving a little something else for the listener to get their ears around.

The ending was not what I expected it - I pictured something more joyous and perhaps a little more celebratory than you gave us - quietening down and just not really giving us all that much to listen to. To be honest, the majority of the last part was practically silence, so it served little purpose, except to elongate the piece. Coming is peace should not be with such a sense of nothing - there would either be trepidation (fear of not being accepted), or celebration (let both races live in harmony), to give impetus to the piece.

[Review Request Club]

KKSlider60 responds:

I welcome every possible interpretation, as it's a way for me to expand a concept and build up another one in a similar way, with hopefully some improvements. I've actually heard Rush's Cygnus X-1 some while ago, and I frankly didn't like it that much even if that was considered avantgarde for the time it was released. I instead liked better The Villa Strangiato, the instrumental track. I've learned that "progressive" doesn't always mean "better".

But my main inspirations still lie in 70's and 80's Ambient/Electronic works, like Tangerine Dream and many many more. If you want to perform vocals or narration on this track, feel free to do it, I'd be quite honored. :D

About the ending, that was only my interpretation of a concept translated into sonic texture, or atmosphere. I tried to emphasize that sense of eerie and charming wonder, you're landing in a whole new world with different kinds of vegetation, realities, fauna. I imagined this scene: you're slowly descending through the various layers of atmosphere, and then you delicately hit the ground; now, the astronauts hit the floor of the new world, take a few steps and they freeze in silent awe and contemplation. I wanted to emphasize this exact feeling, the contemplation of nature, may it be terrestrial or extraterrestrial, and I thought that only a textural, meditative ambiance can help setting the right mindset. Meanwhile, a strange-looking creature timidly pops out from some tall "trees" and stares at the astronaut... The rest of the story... well, it's up to you if you want to continue it, because for me it's already over. :)

Anyway, many thanks for your review and insight. Glad you enjoyed it :D
KKS

[Lightstep]

I'm not that impressed

Yes, this was a decent sounding piece, but you've got one massive issue, which is the counter melody grating against the rest of the track for the first few minutes and it really made my head ache. Granted, I'm not the world's biggest fan of dance music, but something needs to be done to fix that.

Later in the track, without that nagging distraction, you end up with a nice sound in the middle area, let's call it the bridge, because then the annoying sound came back and took so much away from the song, that I was left feeling unfulfilled by listening to it.

Work on the counter melody, to blend it in better- perhaps lower the pitch, or experiment with something to make it less annoying to the sensitive hearing of the few, please.

[Review Request Club]

[Ironesque Valley]

Slow start

Don't get me wrong, this is an awesome piece, but it took that long to get going, that I seriously thought I was falling asleep. You could save maybe 2 minutes in the early going and not a lot of the track would be lost.

The piece seems to be split into a few movements - I like that as well, as 2112, by Rush is the same. The one thing I would say to you on this is that the "breaks" just seem to drag on a little and it does detract from the whole image that the piece has.

I'm trying to picture what I might see in some sort of piece backed by this sort of ambience. The set of Logan's Run maybe, but without so much of a crowd. Perhaps an observation dome, where someone is gazing out into space, in search of inspiration, or a lost ship, approaching port.

I'd love to see someone with the balls to take this on, as you've given it the thought to make a piece like this and the only limitation I can see is that the size of the piece might mean that the movements have to be separated out, to give the piece a chance of some graphical accomplishment.

[Review Request Club]

FatKidWitAJetPak responds:

Haha, I think that falling asleep thing is a good thing :P

I do understand how the size can be shortened or at least split into different tracks, but I feel that this track simply explains my entire depressional bipolar like attitude during my first semester in college. Simply put, I want to make this a musical form of fact, a history if you would, of my depression. I want to compose what I felt. Thanks for the review!

[Kazmo/DLN - Neon (Sonik E]

Well composed

Nice and calm, for a tune that I seriously thought at first impressions was going to build up and blow my freaking head off. I love the subtle use of the piano and the way that you incorporate the bass with everything else, to make this tune what it is.

Normally, I'd have said that 7 minutes is too long for a piece of this genre, but no, it works so well and I can't see how I would change the piece myself. The beat is consistent and even when it loops, it fits together well, with only a slight subtle change. Would it be too much to blend the two together, rather than giving a discernible start / end to the track? Perhaps vocals would be the way forward, but not much, lest you spoil the ambience.

[Review Request Club]

DreamEater responds:

Whoa, thanks so much for the review Coop! I'm really glad you enjoyed my work! :D

Most Progressive-House today seems to be all about wrenching around with the ugliest sounds you can find... until you come out with something kinda listenable; I can definitely understand why you expected to have your head blown off. lol

The whole idea of this edit was to do quite the opposite though. I really wanted to nail a nice, pure, and almost angelic sound with this one. I completely agree vocals are a definite way forward for this track, but probably nothing too track dominating. I miss the days when trance and progressive was about listening to beautiful music/ Doing lightshows. So I really strive to consolidate my sound, and start to re-inspire a generation. :D

thanks again for the awesome review my friend. I can't wait to read the next one!

~Dj Sonik