Coop's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Something's Missing]

A little too basic

Sorry to say this, but it just seemed like there was something missing. The piano loop is simple and effective, but there was something else I was expecting here, that didn't really get to hear. The vocals were unexpected, but all too brief.

With the addition of the strings, I thought that something else was going to bloom forth from the track, but I was sadly denied. A flute solo would have made this track, but alas, it was not to be. Perhaps something else could have been done to vary it, but I think that it just didn't quite reach where it started out pointing towards.

Good use of soft drum beats to keep the track going and as I said before, the backing strings are nice. The solo for the strings was the best part of the piece, but it lacked the killer touch of other parts of the orchestra. This is clearly not a piece for brass, so it leaves us with woodwind or percussion. I couldn't see this accomplished by xylophones or glockenspiel, so give the woodwind section some consideration and see what you make of it.

[Review Request Club]

GronmonSE responds:

i c wut u did thar wit teh pun

Ahem...

Something's missing for a reason :P Emptiness, repetition, tension. That's what I based this track on.

Not a fan of wood instruments, but I'll consider them next time.

Thanks for the review!

[Brittle Nature (WIP)]

Borderline Industrial

I really could think of this piece as Industrial, if the beat was anything to go by. Perhaps some sort of amalgamation of Legend of Zelda and Metal Slug, where the industrial sounds just seem so mixed with a video game that it can't be the medieval setting of Zelda any more.

I think that you've certainly got a lot going for this track - it loops pretty well and has a nice perpetuation, so it continues to roll along nicely, though I couldn't listen to it all day, which is a shame. Perhaps more variation would combat that. Something like a darker, more menacing sound than the 8-bit keyboards, perhaps? At least in a solo or somewhere, so that you can break it up and get the flavour of the piece across.

[Review Request Club]

Kirbyfemur responds:

At the moment for what this song is going for i'm sadly not planning to change the 8-bit sound. It's just been implanted in my brain that that is the sound i wanted for the particular instrument. The newer version has some slight changes that might have added a bit more variation to this. I may post it into the review request club for the next batch.

Anywho thanks for the review! =3

[HouseTrance [Box-Killa]]

What's the difference?

A great blend of the two, despite the fact that I'm still oblivious to the difference between the two styles here. I think that you've got some real talent for these genres and with three phases that you subtly change to, with the rewind and the fade out / fade in, it all seems to come together nicely.

I think that you've got a great sense of being able to convey difference pieces within a piece here and I'd suggest for the main part that you give us two or even three different pieces as expansions of the samples that you've got in here. If I could hear each piece that sounds like it belongs in a song of its own on its own, you'd be onto even more of a winner here, I feel.

[Review Request Club]

[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. :)