Coop's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[~SW~ Memories of Better Times]

Awesome

What a great piece of ambience, that really grabs you and propels you across a great pool, staring up at the endless stars. Outdoor swimming at night can be fantastic, as you can look at the sky and just drift away.

Your piece strikes a wonderful balance with the various instruments that you threw in and contributed with. It seems so sad to say "threw in", because that would disturb the rhythm and the flow of the tranquillity. Progressing, through the will of the conductor is more the way that this piece went and you've done a stellar job with it. The piano is not overstated, yet it drives the piece slowly onward, giving the rest of the instruments a guide to work along and everything fits nicely around it, like the leaves on a tree.

You could stand to make this longer, by moving to another piece - some beat and a way to take the mood elsewhere, but this could easily be track one of an album that leads on to the next piece, which is different, with the drums picking up where the piano leaves off. I'd love to hear your thoughts on that side of things and even a next track in what might become a series.

[Review Request Club]

SkyeWint responds:

Hello, Coop!

I'm glad you like the song! This took quite a while to make. I was actually going to continue this, but that would have ruined the 'nostalgia' feel, so I ended up changing it. What I had planned was to add in drums and speed it up after the guitar part. As it is, I had to settle for this. I'll likely 'finish' this by making it a full song at some point.

Thanks for the words of encouragement! :)

[Offworld]

What a wonderful world

The wonder comes from the variation, for me and I think that our own world is wonderful, despite the fact that we still can't sing in harmony (or anything remotely close, for that matter!) The symbolism is nice with that reference, although I would have preferred it to not sound quite so messy.

The start, with the "ice crystal" introduction, it's fantastic. You really did harness the whole mood there, but I'd have said that you were gunning more for an ambience and as a result, you didn't quite hit it, as your piece just stood there and became overwhelmed by the many facets of the whole, singing against one another, as opposed to with.

The drums were pretty good and so was the bass to back it up. It just needed something to take control and direct the track a little more than I felt it was.

[Review Request Club]

Twone responds:

Thanks for probably the best review I've ever read or received haha. The symbolic elements definitely could have been expanded on, I didn't even think of that. Thanks for listening!

[Stargenx - Universe]

Not Metal

Rock perhaps, though I wouldn't have said it were a Metal genre staple, personally. You have a good use of the drums and the piano, to build a pleasant ambience and encompass everything. Then you paused after 1.50 and it changed to a more rock-based track. I'm not sure that it worked, but what the hey.

The development of this track could be taken two ways - firstly, don't make the pause so long, so that you end up with one track, rather than two halves, fighting one another across a void. Secondly, if you're going to split it, the first part can be made into a lovely piece of ambience, that can do more than just set a scene. The second part needs a better intro, to make it metal, put more work with the drums in there, as well as the bass, to emphasise the solo and also build upon it. Verse - Chorus - Verse should be the way to go with that, but also consider repeating the formula, to two choruses and maybe 3 verses, though some songs work well with 2 and 2. Lyrics would help, but even instrumentals have a format similar to this.

Get the basics right and you can go far!

[Review Request Club]

[T.O.T. 12]

Gaming, plus

Wow, the start of this epically long piece sounds very Mortal Kombat orientated - I expected someone to yell the name of the popular game franchise at some stage, so I upset the neighbours by yelling it myself, so satisfy the cliche. Then it came into some sort of 8 or 16 bit remix, with sounds that reminded me a lot of early Nintendo or Sega gaming after the first minute.

The scope of this track is one noted as evolutionary. It doesn't rest on its laurels and it is ever changing. I love the dynamics and the way that you throw in a drum solo bridge, just to get you to the next part, without breaking up the flow, as with the borderline chaotic nature of the piece, you do need to reign it back a little, to give it form and constrain it just the tiniest bit, otherwise it sounds like a poor medley of a few minute long tracks. The glue that binds them can make a unique focus.

I love the calmness of the "crystal" sounds that you put in there, slowing the tempo of the melody down and toning down the beat, so that it works well. The overall tempo of the song is quick, but the calm part feels slower and gives you time to breathe, even when you're building up to the next segment, which comes back in at a Mortal Kombat sound, with a smattering of Final Fantasy thrown in there. Certainly something I could have easily labelled as Video Games, but not to worry, Miscellaneous works just fine.

For your first piece of 2012, you've set the bar very high. Keep working at it and raise it ever higher!

[Review Request Club]

Rinileki14 responds:

I really enjoy the fact that you critiqued each section in depth, thanks for that! I actually had this under the video game genre, but in the end the only part that legitimately sounded like a V.G. was the 1st and 2nd section. I may change it back though, Thanks again!

[Chill Loop #1 (Edit)]

I do like

Short, nice, calm and it loops well. What more really needs to be said?

...

Oh, I should probably go on here, so here goes. There is a good deal of variation in the form of a nice range on instruments, though mostly percussion. I could certainly see this piece being used as a nice menu tune for some futuristic piece that involves something like flying or perhaps WipEout style racing, for example.

There is a scope for expansion of the piece, perhaps allowing for more variation to be thrown in, perhaps with something either woodwind or strings focused, to give a little more of a difference to the piece overall. You would need to be careful, so as not to destroy this careful harmony, as you've already displayed, but I feel that you're more than up to the task.

[Review Request Club]

[DJ Dela - Elite (Original]

Nice, but a little bland

I like it and I can see why certain people would think it's Dubstep, with that one specific sound that sounds like something repeated rapidly and altered all at the same time (sorry, my vocabulary lets me down at the most important moment sometimes), though this to me and certain other users is rather characteristic of Dubstep.

That said, the piece that you present us with does sound a little repetitive and at a fast walking pace, it doesn't do anything to liven up through the duration of the track. There is good variation with the melody, but it doesn't seem to grab the beat and make it change, or compliment it enough, which is a shame. Some additional work on the beat, perhaps a bass solo in the middle would be the way forward, messing with the tempo and perhaps some of the other aspects of the track itself, to see if that takes the melodies anywhere.

Certainly a lot of potential to this track, but it's not quite pushing me into a pigeon hole for this sort of music, be it Techno, House, Dance, Trance or any of the other sub-genres that you guys have created over the years.

[Review Request Club]

DJDela responds:

I'm sure you're talking about that little wobble piece in there. :)

Yeah, the style might be confusing since I wanted to do a mixture of both electro and some house. I first started the project with some ideas for a complextro song, but ended up making this.

Thanks for the helpful review.

[Octavia's Vision]

Modern Classical

Hmm... I can't really think of any other words to describe how it sounds, but with the almost Drum n Bass drum beat being accompanied by the strings, it's certainly quite powerful.

When the track progresses into the snares and the more rapid strings, you've got a great dynamic there. I love the blend and the way that the piece presents to all. I could have imagined at the first thing that I was at a recital, though adding the drums as you did, as opposed to kettle drums, which seem to be the majority of percussion in an orchestra gave it a different taste, to shatter that illusion.

There is room for improvement, perhaps a little piano, to stamp more classical on the piece, as I feel it gets a little too far from the origins across the piece and maybe change that reedy sounding instrument (Clarinet?) to a flute, for more impact, as it would certainly give you a new facet to explore.

[Review Request Club]

TheBellmaker responds:

Thanks for the review%uFF01

My plan was to have all string instruments in this piece as well as the percussion, so some of the instruments I used were not entirely accurate (hence the reedy sounding instruments which was actually a viola). I'm probably going to try this again with more orchestral instruments, such as a piano or a flute.

Thanks for listening!

[Alto - Get High to Forget]

A little depressing

This sounds like you're already high on marijuana, while singing the parts in this track, as it makes my brain feel that things have been slowed down. It's very confusing.

I like the idea that there is a little actual singing in this, as opposed to just rapping, so it sounds better than a lot of hip-hop already.

I think that the best way to start this song off, to give a great symbolism for it all would be to start with a good RnB beat, decent pace and good feeling, while reducing the tempo slightly through the track, as you relax and smoke, letting the drugs take effect. Symbolism can creep into music as well.

Not my favourite, but I get the feeling that I'll learn to dislike it if I have to listen to it many more times...

[Review Request Club]

hellbound182 responds:

wow thanks for the review, much apreciated man
have some really good pointers there.