Coop's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Euphoria]

Good ambience

A nice pace to this track, you certainly have a sense of decent timing, though the piano could be a little more emphasised, since there is such a range available to this particular instrument.

With how the rest of the track sounds aside from the piano gripe that I have, it's quite light and airy, with a nice flavour that conjures up happy imagery, so you've named it well :)

It's got a decent length, but I always though that ambient tracks needed to be good loops, in order to have a truly wide ranging purpose, which is the real issue with the track, otherwise people are restricted to the 4.49 length to make their pieces within. Granted, most of the works using this piece would be sorted within that timeframe, but as it stands, there is a little room for manoeuvre.

[Review Request Club]

DJ-Chilvan responds:

Thanks! This song was at 110 BPM, and I must say, it keeps an ideal pace. After a while, I did sense a range for the piano, but I just couldn't manipulate it at the time because there was some sort of writers block=P
The track is very dreamy, you can literally sit back, close your eyes, and drift away.
Yea, length for songs has always been an issue for me, but I tried my best to switch things up and fit things in accordingly. I'll try harder on my next track of this genre.

Thanks for the review!

[CKC - Amen]

A strange blend

I really have no idea what to make of the marrying of the vocal samples and the music, which sounded like it should be from an epic tale akin to Lord of the Rings. There could be so much more to this if I could actually hear all of the vocals, but occasionally it gets drowned out by the backing ambience. With that in mind, perhaps take the volume of that up slightly and reduce the music, just for balance. I kept catching snatches of it, but was unable to take it further, which was a shame.

I think that the epic sounding parts of it could have been tempered by some more rousing cymbal crashes, since they were a little on the quiet side. When you added synth / piano into the tune at about 3 minutes, I think that you need to perhaps make that a proper piano and develop this a little more, as such an instrument is worthy of far more than just a cameo.

[Review Request Club]

CKC2009 responds:

i havent got a real piano in my arsenal of VSTs :O

[SN | Bipolar | SN]

Borderline industrial

I like the way that I can hear things like ratchet's returning to their original position in the ending - it really makes them seem like the piece is just winding down and getting ready to start again, which is what happens when it loops.

I can compare the drum beats to the beat of industrial hammers, just landing in time to get this piece working to a steady rhythm.

I think that in the end, this track was just a little on the short side, but overall, you have really put some quality effort into it, with a long buildup, that did reflect poorly on such a short track. When it's all done and dusted, adding about an additional minute of music couldn't hurt you, so give it a go and see what you've got when you've done that.

[Review Request Club]

SessileNomad responds:

never really thought that, but i suppose this does have a slight industrial feel

[USB]

Rather obviously artificial

I'm sorry, but this piece appears almost as manufactured as the Spice Girls. I think that with the way that everything has been set up, particularly with the really fast plucking work up and down the chords, there is a real sense of there being something amiss on this track.

You could really use some vocals on this track, but with the way that you set out to get the track across could use some work as well. I feel that there's something amiss with that it's not really there with the traditional feel of a lead and rhythm guitar. The drums were good, but I can feel that the drums were picked out by someone who probably isn't a drummer - did you hit another drum with the cymbal hits? When you've got the high hat bouncing like you have in the track, it's not really needed, I'll admit, but there's no real massive cymbal crashes, which would seem to be needed two or three times to add punctuation

[Review Request Club]

Sawdust responds:

Well to be fair it is completely artificial. And I'm no drummer, I'm a guitarist though, but I don't know much about the science of guitar sound.

And yeah, I need vocals on this.

[Hell's Remedy Demo (2009)]

Great piano, perhaps too much bass

Not a bad start at all. The way that the piece starts to come to life, with the piano as the introduction, I was left begging for the piano to be carried on more. When the synths took over, it was a little anticlimactic for me, sadly.

When you gave us a few additional bits and pieces in the form of the percussion and changes in the tempo, I can certainly say that it worked, but with the time limit of this piece being too short, it didn't really go out there and set me on fire, after the pianos were taken away.

The best suggestion of improvement would be to make it loop better - the piano leading in and then not being heard for another minutes wasn't the best of tactics in my opinion, so it needs to be added elsewhere, to give the track more impetus, from one of the most powerful instruments known to man.

[Review Request Club]

Echo responds:

Hehe, Don't worry, this is only the final minute of the song! There's plenty more piano in the rest and most of it has melodies akin to this one. However, glad you enjoyed that melody as it took us quite some time to get it right.

Tks for the review
Darklight17

[[Assios] - The Office Remix]

Beginner's guide to Techno?

I just had to stop and laugh with how you put the vocal samples into this piece, showing us where each part starts and stops, with the "Trance" and "Bass" quotes. It's an interesting piece, that really does have something a little light hearted and "twinkly" in the mid section, before joining in with the bass, which changed the dynamic of it entirely.

With how you've done the final phase of the song, be careful, as the tune sounds a little crowded and as a result, it does get a little difficult to follow the constituent parts. Taking something out of there may have helped by allowing the piece to become slightly more expressive.

[Review Request Club]

Assios responds:

Thanks for a great review ^^

[Minimalism (Day of Trance #3)]

Minimal is the key here

This is a nice piece, especially considering that the way you've created it doesn't really have that much variation, so as a result, you wouldn't expect me to be raving about a track that was nearly six minutes in length, due to me being a real stickler for variation throughout the track.

As I listen to this piece, I can really feel the expression of the author come through. The bass is fast and thunderous, while the way that the melody blends in for the introduction is really nicely done, presenting a much more balanced track than you might have expected without reading the notes or listening beyond the first minute.

I thought that the pauses were too long at around the 1 minute mark, so that was the only real blemish on the piece.

[Review Request Club]

jxl180 responds:

Thank you for your great and helpful review. Always appreciated.

[(FMC) -=Bowser Armageddon=-]

Reminds me of the Alton Towers Averts :P

I like this track - the way that it sets up for something epic, slightly scary (the way that you built this up with the piano was absolutely fantastic, complete with the foils of the synths and the guitars) but overall gripping and pacey.

I love the way that this is something that could be played during some sort of Boss Fight Sequence for a VG Flash. I don't think it could be included in the game, as the ending was a little subdued and you tend to prefer loops for things like this, so it does have a target audience, so to speak.

I think that this would be very well presented if you could do a second piece to explain the aftermath of this, since the rapid pace indicates the fight, but there is just an end, with little explanation of what happened to the hero after the fight. Did he survive? Was he crushed beneath the bulk of Bowser, as he collapsed, exhausted?

[Review Request Club]

FunkmasterCatking responds:

I actually had an elaborate battle/flash movie mapped out in my mind as I was making this. I have no flash skills, however, so they're just ideas.

And you raise a good point, the outro is all of a sudden and doesn't really tell what happens exactly. I might go back and redo it at some point, if I were motivated enough..

Thanks for the review!

[Life is the Drug - BK]

Good work :)

I like the way that this song never seems to stop - it's like you've got a definitive setup for it and as one part seems to be drawing to a close, you change the direction of it on a strange tangent, allowing you to take the piece elsewhere and with such style that it all blends nicely into one. Even when the track comes to a stop, I get the feeling that it's about to carry on for another few minutes at this nicely balanced pace.

Personally, I think the best part of this piece is the bassline, as it's the undertone of all of the track, despite the rhythmic changes that happen over the top with the melody. Relatively few instruments have been used here and as a result, you've got a great setup for the rest of the track to build from.

With the way that everything else pans out, you could seriously consider adding something more to the track in the form of perhaps a bass solo, since that would add a new dimension to the piece, in my ears. The quieter parts of the melody may sound like a bass solo, but it's pretty unchanged, so why not give that a go?

[Review Request Club]

Bracksta responds:

great suggestion :), i should make a bass master remix :)! As always thank you so much for the great review, ideas, and compliments :). I love you guys, you maka mea soa happia!!!

[Celestial Palace]

Regal fanfare

A very royal welcome from this piece, as we are hailed in to fanfares, synths and bells. That certainly makes for an interesting combination of instruments that gives this piece a particular feel of being something that has been created by royal edict.

I think that with how it started out, I wasn't expecting this, until the fanfares came along, up until then, it just sounds like it could be something to do with Legend of Zelda and so forth. With the way that you've presented it, I quite like it and can see it being deployed for any medieval sort of flash project, so there will be artists out there searching for an ambience of that kind, so good luck to you with looking for people to use your work.

[Review Request Club]

Birdinator99 responds:

That's great man -- I actually thought you wouldn't like this one! Guess it's all good though :).