DavidOrr's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[{Heim} The Legend]

Great work!

Ive already given you my ideas I think, but I'll leave you a written review in case I forgot anything. I agree with benyue - while there is a theme, it it hard to pick it out from all of the other material unless you know what you're looking for. You have loads of wonderful stuff here, but sometimes you need to give the listener a nudge in the direction you want them to be listening :)

Some points of thought:

1. A motif doesn't have to be melodic - you can have an instrument or rhythm-based reoccurring theme. For instance - if you begin a piece with a gripping oboe solo, and then take out the oboe for 50 bars, when it comes back the listener will draw the connection, even if the melody is different.

2. Sometimes when I'm writing music I try to see how many times I can slip in the same motif. Beethoven was an absolute master at this - his 5th symphony is a great example. If nothing else it's a good exercise to try, and will get you thinking about intertwining lines and themes vs stacking them left to right.

Your music has such clarity, and has some clear Elfman influences in places :). Can't wait to hear more collaboration projects!

JeffHeim responds:

Hey Dave! First of all- thank you for the lengthy review!

That's a very interesting point you brought up about how a motif can be established not only by notation, but by tambre and rhythm as well. Another example of a great rhythmic motif is in Stravinski's Rite of Spring. The guy was an absolute genius- a master of rhythm.

Haha yes- I was on quite an Elfman kick when I wrote this piece. I'm not surprised you noticed :)

[Falling off the Planet]

Nice work

You've got a nice piece here, Phil. Very atmospheric sounding - would do great on a newage soundtrack!

Your sound samples are passable, but I think you'd do well to purchase something of higher quality such as Garritan Personal Orchestra (a moderate step up), or something like VSL Special edition/EWQLSO Gold (both a large step up). Your budget will speak for itself, but it will reflect well in your music.

Also consider doing a little EQ work. Most of the instruments sounded very thin and airy - which is suitable for the atmosphere you set. However - you're severely lacking your low end, which is an important element and tool you can use to shape your piece. I firmly believe that even ambient and ethreal music (like this) should still have a progression. You have just shy of 3 minutes of material, but at the end of the piece I wasn't quite where I was. There is some development of the theme you introduce at the beginning throughout - but I think you're only sratching the surface of what you can do. It's a very pretty theme - don't be afraid to play with it!

All in all a nice piece of work, hopefully I gave you a couple of thinking points (if nothing else). You have a good feel for the orchestra - make it do what you want it to.

5/5
David

PhilVille responds:

Excellent stuff! ^__^ I really appreciate this advice and your right this piece leads to my next piece. "Judging philosophy by Abuse" (just posted it) and it comes from "Tear us from Thanatos" its pretty much a string of songs pretty much ^^

Yeah your right I did kinda neglect my low end. I'm gonna keep working on this and more hopefully I'll develop some better technique ^^ I hope to get a nice set up like the one you have QL is awesome haha

[My concept]

Bravo!

I definitely heard Chopin Ballade in G minor at the opening there! Wonderful piece through and through, I especially loved the first few minutes. You've got such a great command of the strings. The textures were full but I was able to hear each part clearly.

I would've loved to hear a breif recap of the opening material at the end before your final chord- I think that would've tied the entire piece together more thoroughly. Just nit-picking things, what you have now works as well :)

Great work, I can't wait to hear more!

[{BT} Dance till Dawn]

Nice Melody Throughout!

Hey Ben! I think this has a lot of spirit which is great for dance music. Your writing style would create a really unique sound for the genre!

I'm not sure this is quite dance music yet though. Most every dance song I can think of has a driving beat in the background. You have one in the background, but it's really, really difficult to hear. It gets clearer as the track goes on, but people looking for dance music would probably not find this to their taste until they got a few minute into the track. My recommendation would be to listen to some of the original electronic dance music written (check out Robert Miles) and compare your tracks to them. I found Robert Miles a huge inspiration when I was starting out!

This is a great start Ben, I love that you're experimenting with other genres!

David

BenTibbetts responds:

Thanks David. Robert Miles... OK. Yes, I really need to boost that bass somehow. I'll work on it.

[The Love of Marion]

Very well mixed!

The mix is so clear, I'm very impressed! As usual, Hania provides a beautiful performance. I loved the modulation at 0:24! It made me do an aural double-take (I replayed that section :D). The rest of the track was pleasantly predictable. It definitely works, but I think another prompt modulation would've built intensity further. Food for thought!

Great work both of you, I hope this isn't the last collab!

5/5

Bosa responds:

Thanks! I have to admit, the song is rather plain throughout its entirety - I guess I'm to blame when I rush music production :(

I assure you, this is not the last collab with Bosa and Hania.

[A Twisted Hello]

Welcome back

Nice work TT! I remember listening to your music a while back, it's good to hear some new things. I love the combination of instruments you have going, they all compliment each other very well, especially that deep bass line.

I think you could make the lead synth have a bit more body. Listening through my headphones, at times it feels a little tinny without much thickness. Just an idea, but I think it'd give the whole track a little more body.

Great work, nice to see you here again!

5/5

Twistedtechnology responds:

thanks! glad to be back! The lead instrument had a natural fliter panning going on so thats why it seems tiny at some points. couldn't figure where it was coming from so i left it alone lol. It probably oculd use a bit more body, but with this computer, running too many things at once gets it goin glitchy.

as i progress (again) more and more thickness shall be injected into the songs XD
~twistedtechnology!

thanks for the review and the vote!!

[NH22 - Corrosion]

Nice job!

Very cool piece you have here, I love it when it went in double time at the beginning. I think it could've been even more effective if you had the piano part repeat, to help give the music more coherency.

Perhaps you could try adjusting the progression somewhere in the piece- it seems to repeat the same i VI vii for the whole piece. Maybe add a section in the middle where it changes? I think that'd keep the listener engaged.

Great work!

5/5

If you have a moment, I'd love your thoughts on my latest piece, -Orr- Colony!

[HoT-16-The Temple of Time]

Bravo!

Dripping with emotion. Very nicely done throughout, I'll try to give you some constructive ideas as food for thought!

The opening bells seemed a bit dry to me, I love adding reverb to bells because it compliments their natural sound qualities. The break at 3:15 is very nice, as is 3:34. I love the flute entrance at 4:04. I think you could bring down the volume even more here- it'll help make the proceeding buildup feel much more powerful. Overall, the music feels a bit flat- perhaps you could bring out some of the upper-end to give more sparkle.

All in all wonderful work, I can't wait to hear more from you!

Setu-Firestorm responds:

Every new project I take on is a new opportunity to try out new mixing techniques (I never received any official training for it, and everything I do know is all from trial-and-error).

I really need to read up on that.

Thanks for the feedback, and the advice.

[[Buyj3llo] - 8(s)]

Some great ideas here

You have some really nice ideas here. I love the ambient effects you have scattered throughout!

Around the 3:00 my interest was lost. I think you could try expermenting with adding new instruments or a new melody to keep things interesting. The recap at 3:12 was nice, but maybe you could add some more to it.

Great work, keep it up!

5/5

If you have a moment I'd love your opinion of my latest track, -Orr- Colony!

buyj3llo responds:

more/ better melody. I really need to work on that.

Thanks for the review. I'll check out your track, I'm sure it'll sound great.

[King of The Mountains]

Great imagination

You have a great imagination, and this is very apparent through your music. I can see what you have pictured in my mind. Great work!

You have a few spots where there is some distortion- mainly in the brass. 0:43 onwards has some spots. Try lowering the levels of the brass a bit to avoid that. Your bass drums are also distorting slightly.

Perhaps you could try adding in a little reverb for some added body. All in all very nice, keep up the good work!

5/5

If you have a moment, I'd love you to have a listen to my latest piece, -Orr- Colony!

masheenH3ad responds:

I want to Thank you for taking some of your time to review my work. I am very grateful. : )

I think I over do the volume of my brass and my bass drums. and yes I didn't realize that it needed some room, so I will consider adding some verb too.

Thanks again for your great review. I learned a lot.