Coop's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Aleos (Take2)]

Nice improvements

I think that the ambience of this piece has improved dramatically with the new version - you've got a sinister and scary overtone, but in combination with that, you've got a great way of showing that there is something else at work as well.

The atmosphere starts off dark, with the bell tolling and it only gets better, with the way that there seems to be more background depth to the track, not really allowing the piano to take the entire dominance of the track and giving something that sounds as if it should be within a crypt or graveyard - kind of like the smoke or fog, that seems to give off a haunted ambience in old church yards.

The subtleties of the cymbals in the background have not gone unnoticed and these sort of things just add more depth and dimensions to the track, especially in combination with the strings, that have improved nicely, since the first track.

I think that it loops pretty well, which is a very good thing, judging by the ambience of the piece all together. Please show us more of what you're capable of!

[Review Request Club]

[The Ancient Ones]

Good ambience

A very nice, calm, soothing piece, that gets the listener into a nice tranquil environment, presenting images that remind me of tranquil lagoons and a nice smooth flowing river basin that has small animals residing on the bank, without a care in the world.

I think that this is the sort of piece that games developers might use as the end credits roll. Not that it would be solely reserved for this sort of use, as there are bound to be scenes in movies, possibly as people get transported by river or by air to one destination or another. Of course, I'm only being speculative.

As I said in my review for your darker, flip-side piece, you could do with making this shorter and looping it, as this will give people that use it a much better chance to make it usable for their own requirements.

[Review Request Club]

Monkeydelic responds:

Thanks, nice picture you painted there :)

Once again, i'm aware that my songs are long, but it's a result of a natural desire to keep going, it's also a long time since I made this song, so NG wasn't exactly on my mind when I made it, also i'm not good at looping, as you call it, I don't really know what it is, my experience with recording is audacity and my instruments, have never felt the need to loop, but i'm sort of interested in how i might incorporate it into my music.

Thanks for the review :)

Namaste.

[Demon Voices]

Dark and mysterious

It's a nice sounding ambient track that gives us an impression of dread and perhaps a little foreboding. I can certainly see this piece having an effect if it were being used in games or movie pieces that had the requirement for larger than life fear.

The main issue with this is the length - you need to cut it down to size if you're hoping to get a more effective piece here. At 7.1 meg, it's going to put off prospective users who may have considered that for their pieces. If you made a slightly more condensed version, say to about half the length and made it loop better, you'd certainly be onto a winner.

[Review Request Club]

Monkeydelic responds:

Thanks :)

I understand what you're saying about the lenght, and i'll make a note of it, but i'm not sure if i'm willing to change it simply to make it more appealing to people who might consider using it, that's not my main motivation, and in my eyes takes the focus of the song itself, but i appreciate the input, and I can agree that the song is very long.

Thanks for the review :)

Namaste.

[[:Beyond Your Mind:]]

Tested by small children.

Well, as I put this on to play, my niece's face just lit up and she enjoyed dancing to it, so there's a thumbs up from the under 1's category. Personally, I felt that it wasn't too bad a track, having a slight downfall with the notes reaching the top of the scales in the intro and it causes a bit of static feedback, which is a shame.

I think that you've got a good sounding buildup to the techno part of the track - the beat was a little weak for D&B, so that could do with upgrading - possibly the addition of a bass solo would assist with this.

[Review Request Club]

julius33 responds:

Yea i didnt want to make the drums very distinguishable so they would ruin the songs ambient quality... And im gonna go with some more aggressive DnB next time ^^
Thx for the review...

[[Dr.S] Keep On Movin']

Not really rock

It's a good sounding piece, but I'm not sure that I'd class it as part of the Rock genre. You've got a good use of the synthesisers and the guitars don't really seem 'rock' enough for me.

I like the drum beat, it's got a good pace and the bass guitar seems a little drowned out with the rest of the track. If you gave that more power and then put the guitar in for a powerful solo, before you made that sound too synthesised, it would sound a lot better of a track.

[Review Request Club]

Dr-Slump responds:

Well I tried my best coop83. But I'll keep in mind what you said. It took me at least 20h to do this song. I placed the notes one by one on the piano roll, modified their velocity etc. It was a pain in the ass, but rewarding. I'm very proud of what I made. Thanks for the review!

[Alien Relations - BK]

Great vocal samples

I think that this is one of the best track that's come through the Audio Portal to date. It's a well rounded piece, that's got a nice pace, beat, melody and vocal samples all blended together in a very professional way. The sound isn't too harsh on the ears and I could just sit there listening to it over and over again.

If I did do anything about it, I wouldn't have faded out the vocal sample toward the end. The way that the sounds are set out, it reminds me more of Flight of the Navigator, on the balance that it's more modern than Close Encounters, but the sound is sci-fi enough to warrant the films of the 70s and 80s that seemed to define a generation.

[Review Request Club]

Bracksta responds:

lol, wow you are smart man i would have never made that connection to the 70's and 80's :D. thanks for noticing my effort and giving me such a great review and boost to my passion to music. i appreciate your time, hope to hear from you again :D

[Sg720 - Tonight]

Not bad at all

A little issue with the louder background notes having issues with reaching too high on the sounds they produce, so you get some sort of static-life feedback, you have still managed to produce a damned good song.

I think that on balance, there is a good beat and a decent melody, though the beat is what really keeps me here, so more work is needed on the melody - it sounds a little one dimensional to me and could use a little more of a shove into the dynamic, perhaps with more instruments that have power, as opposed to what sounds like a collection of backing instruments, which would be a shame.

The way the beat is so powerful at the start, I thought that it was going to be an industrial track. Perhaps in order to affirm the belonging on the trance scene, you need to give it more of a kick in the direction of tempo, upping that and giving the listener less time to think and be choosy, as the trance crowd is quite fickle.

[Review Request Club]

sumguy720 responds:

Curses! Why did I chose the trance crowd?!
Bollocks.
BUt hey, so It doesn't seem like I can really do a whole lot on THIS song with your criticism, but I'll make sure to sprick and sprock my next song so it's a little more catchy, grippy, annihilate that whole thinking aspect of the song and make it just feeling!
Gosh that's gonna be hard. I think I just need to keep trying and we'll see if it's any better in the future!
Thanks for the review.
More push, more shove, more power, MOAR AWESMOE!
And my mastering, always my mastering! AAAH I MUST IMPROVE!

Right. THanks. :)

[LB - Your Beauty Defined]

Good use of strings

I've always liked the sound of strings combined with Pianos - ever since I listened to Queen as a small child. This piece is slightly different from those beginnings, but it stills trikes a powerful chord within.

I think that this is a nicely arranged piece that really gets into the sound and feel of a well laid out piece that sounds tranquil and triumphant. The imagery that floats around my head is such like the farm worker, relaxing on a grassy hill in the middle of summer, with a wheat stalk protruding from his mouth. The whole feeling should be not a care in the world and that's pretty much what you've given us.

A nice sound from the flute solo and the way that it compliments the harp is very nice - some very powerful instruments that you've chosen to use there, which can be unwieldy, but this is a good set up and none of them become too controlling of the piece, working kind of like a relay team to get through. Brilliant.

[Review Request Club]

Lublub194 responds:

Well then. Haha. That's awesome of you to say so :D

Thanks for the amazingly spectacular review!

I'm glad that it took you on a journey to see what you saw.

Thanks for the review :D

[[DX] Haunted Hip-Hop]

Nice sound

I think that it's a little short and lacking in variation to really be up there with the cream of the crop, but you've certainly produced a very nice sounding piece of audio here.

The main place that you could improve is to give more variation - stretch the track out longer and return to just the bass line, then add things like a melody solo to it (just the one instrument, for a change) and do something different with it, that grabs the attention.

Working on making the piece loop better would also be a good benefit to you - the fade out / fade in isn't the best of intro / outro combinations that you could have used. There is a good 'haunted / creepy' sound there, so with a few more bits and pieces added here and there, this will be one that climbs a lot closer to the top of the pile.

[Review Request Club]

dx5231 responds:

I'm usually bad at making variations... I guess I gotta practice more.

[4:20am]

An interesting concept

Deciding to write a rap because you can't sleep. I'm not really sure why you did it like this, as it seems to be nothing to do with the fact that you can't get any sleep, rather is based around the generic layout of a rap track - chauvinistic, slightly coarse and not really giving a damn about what people think.

I think that there's some good sounds there, with the way that the voices have been altered a little and the way that you're almost rapping in close harmony with yourself, giving people a good sounding track that is carried pretty well, by the rest of the melody and beat, which is certainly a plus point of the track.

Personally, I'd have made better lyrics for this track and perhaps had some sort of duet (kind of like Alicia Keys / Jay-Z for their latest track) and take it from there.

[Review Request Club]

DumbassDude responds:

Thanks for the review.

I actually improv'd this at like, 4am out of pure boredom, so I wasn't really thinking about the big picture.