FlamingFirebolt's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Eurodisco (Overboard)]

Funky chiptune?

So i heard the first few hits and it didn't sound that promising. But immediatly at 0.12 it became tons better. I love that background synth by the way, really SID commodore 64- like. The snare fill is really 'retro' . There are some things i like and ofcourse something things i don't.
+ points
SID!! WOO
Beat is simple but effective
Nice choice of combining old with new(?)
Feels bit 80's somehow
-Points
Sometimes the notes didn't feel right. And at some points the vocals are obvious pitched. In the chorus, i didn't like the second half of it, it feels false compared to the others but it keeps the flow nonetheless. I expected more eventually since it's a pretty long song and you must keep your 'audience' entertainted, and you can't use the same thing over. It seems like you didn't contineu building it in my oppinion. But, this style is kinda hard to review
just a personal touch - Make the bass more funky ;). It seemed like you were going for the old disco feeling but somehow missed it. uniqeu genre maybe? i don't know i just love the sid sound :D.

Now i should say thise before i review this, but i've never heard of Mitch or Dane, Neither Shanon Hurley. So i don't know howmuch you added/improved it. Since the sid was composed you mean you didn't make it yourself but only sample it?

Tips: Oddly enough, i don't have much tips for you. Since it's like, you combined 2 genres while i can only keep my mind on 1. It does feel way more disco-ish though. Maybe thats the problem (with me ) that it sounds a bit weird. Maybe you could add more chiptune-awesomeness. This is a unique and awesome blend! Maybe consider making another counter melodie and maybe a break ( with the vocals and pads or something ). It's a pretty solid song but it feels like it could do more.

-final judgement-
8/10
This does the complete opposite of what i expect of this site, not being generic ( SORRY NG! :( dont hurt me ). It feels like something new while actually using things from the past. Combining chiptune with something is cool, i've heard some songs like Chiptune+dnb which is awesome, or Chiptune+dance but they tend to be more chiptune-ish. Nonetheless, keep experimenting with the SID or hell don't. Just keep on making music i;ll be looking forward to your next song :)

-Firebolt-
Please check out my song :D

Ic3m4n responds:

Wow ! Thanks for this huge comment! I think i understand what you mean. Maybe some additional harmonics could do the trick (to make the chorus more changeable).. i should really rework this track...but that must wait a while -.-
But i agree with most of what you said...i will keep that in mind, when reworking this piece.

[} Crump NC {]

Noisecontrollers? oh well.. good choice

Now i love the noisecontrollers. Especially there melodies and crump makes no exception. I like how you copy it just to show off your kick. very nice choice. well anyway,
First thing i noticed is. That the song sounded too slow. Maybe higher the bpm, its a small but necesary touch :p.
The main synth of the crump melody, ( the sqaure-ish one) is actually a preset in Nexus. I don't know if they actually used it but its damn similair. Maybe you could check that out just for fun i suspose, it will not add anything. Anyhow!
YOUR KICk
yes thats the main reason of the song. I'm currently listening with my headphones so i can't judge it on bass. But the main sound sounds pretty good. I like the bass in it, but not the 'clicky' sound of the bass. You might be better off using a sampled kick-click on top of that bass. Just a suggestion. You would give it a bit more attack and more structure, basically making it better ( if done correctly ) with such an easy sample. However there are tons of disadvantages then making/sampling it your own ofcourse. But i think you could try.
I give it an 6 or 7. But an 8 for the choice of melody :p. I am wondering how you did that kick though. :) Doesnt smell like 3ocx :p.

-firebolt-

theta4 responds:

Yeah, I copy melodies a lot to hear what my kicks sound like. It was kinda slow.

Also, I don't feel like paying for Nexus. It sounds like it's pretty powerful, but I use ZynAddSubFX for pretty much everything. It's also free. And I'm using LMMS, so Zyn comes free.

This is an older kick, though. I've gotten mildly better.

As far as for how I made this kick, I used a variety of EQ and distortion plugs on a kick made with expodrum (expodrum's a free VST from xoxos). That's how I make most of my kicks.

Thank you for your suggestions. I will keep them in mind next time.

Also, my favorite Noisecontrollers song (as of now) is Shreek. You should check it out.

[~EnV~Demo Mix 2!]

Great demo's

I like where's this going. Great ideas. Still waiting for 'Set me free'.

Anyways, ... SO MUCH SIDECHAIN !

Envy responds:

hmmm everyone seems to be waiting for that 8D

[Karco - Abyss]

Amazing

Experimental ambient ey? Hmm sounds like dark ambient to me.
I like the fact that it keeps 'evolving'. Like progressive ambient? :S
Small changes are added atleast each 16 bar or so. And the piano on top is briljant. Without it the song would collapse. And the 'choir' samples sound really fluctuating. I can't really explain but they don't sound real. Yes i know if it's nexus, it's synthesized. But there soundfonts that don't fluctuate. The wind effect are nice. You added some other fxes aswell. I wonder howmuch reverb you used :/.
Well i must zellers. He said i sounded like an underwater journey. And oh yes. It's like playing Bioshock or something.
And special note to you: I heard each thing there is to it in the first time >: l since you said that in author comments i heard the song closely. ( HA in your face ).

-firebolt-

ps. I want that piano damnit >: l

Karco responds:

That piano's in Nexus2's Dance Vol. 3 expansion! :D

Hmm, funny thing, it's not a choir. :P If you listen to the preset itself playing individual notes, it's a solo singer, but I had it play two notes at a time, which explains the choir-ish feel. And since this all was a big experiment anyway, I don't mind if you don't think the choir sounded real. It didn't have to. ;D

The underwater journey feel was EXACTLY what I was going for... which is why I called it Abyss (that, and the fact that the pad preset I used had the same name XD).

Weird, second time someone mentions Bioshock to me. I really should look it up. :O

Thanks for the review FlamingFirebolt! Glad you liked it. :D

[Somewhere in Nevada]

Awesome

The intro is maybe a tad to calm. with the weird percussions and the bell-like synth. But then suddenly the reese kicks in! :O amazing. Altough i expected it to have a little more bass. The whole rhytm is amazing. The variation is good. I like the fast-paced effect it has. Altough, i suspose i won't see this in any madness game. YES, it's paced, has alot of good DNB stuff. But it isn't really Dark/evil like in the most other Madness song's. And it doesn't have that 'Tough battle' feeling to it. If you know what i mean. It's, almost too happy for that lol.

-firebolt-

Please check out my new song! :)

WritersBlock responds:

Lol, yeah. I'm actually working on making this more madness-like. I've taken out the other synths, so there's just the light plucking tune at the start and the reese, but I'll probably mess with the pluck, pump up the bass, and add a bunch of weird junk in there, so hopefully it might stand a chance in the comp.

Sure, I'll check by your new song sometime. ;D

[{DjF} Gravity]

Sounds cheesy ^^

Intro is oke, overdone but alright.
I really dislike the weak synth. In the intro and those chords doesnt help much either. But after a while it gets better. ALOT BETTER. But after such a massive breakdown the chorus is such a let down!! Try to imrpove the chorus ALOT more. Like adding hihats ealier and more fxes. More background synths to keep it alive. It needs to make people either dance or wave there arms in the air. If you would make the chorus better you got yourself a great track. The varation is great. Breakdown is awesome. You've got some good ideas but i think that it's isn't aswell executed as you wanted it to be. Just a hunch.
But oh god, i want to remix this. With what program did you make this? I presume FL. Not sure about that tough.
Please come in contact with me :).

-firebolt-

Please check out my new song too!

Dj-Final responds:

FL.. you would be correct, thanks for the honest oppionion, i'll definitely work on this and make it a little better, the intro honestly sucks i put no effort into it whatso ever. But this is why i have people to review my stuff so i know what i need to do for my next piece or even this song. and i'll definitely work on this and add some stuff and try to make it not so simple i guess.
Thx boss.
DjF.

[-={DJ-PHX}=- Crafted In Heav 2]

Hmm oke..

Alright first off..
The intro is bad. There isn't really an intro. Maybe next time try adding a smooth intro.
The beat is weak and lame. Lack of punch and bass in the kick and boring hihats doesn't help the track. I would love hearing a clap or snare.... Some distort on that synth that comes in around 0.28. Probably because of the low freqeuncy's in that synth. Try eqing that away and compress it . That might help.
Bass is dull and to be honest, is there a real bass? Well yeah there is but it needs more volume. Piano is nice. Counter melody is good. I should remove partly the beat there if i were you. Alright, fix the ending too lol.
I hope you take some of my advice in your next track. You still have a long way to go :) So keep it up.

-firebolt-

Please check out my new song :)

unrealdark responds:

I know I need to do more than that, But I can't fix much about it, I only use the 'Stock' stuff in Fruity Loops Studio, And since I got nexus I only can change a few things, to let it sound real nice.
I will change the kick later, because I used the stock one, I only EQ'ed it though. :P
Still need help with my vengeance samples, if that's done I can get a monsterious kick + leads.
But thanks for the information, I will keep that in mind for the next Updated Extension.
And sure I will check your songs out, only not today though, I am to bussy atm. :)
Thanks for the constructive review! :D

[Happy B-day, Nav!!]

Happy bday indeed :D

Woop Woop! Partay

Happy b-day NAV(ji11)

loogiesquared responds:

Part-ayy!

[{-^MP^-} Techno Funk! V2]

Amazed...

I keep in mind the lack of mixing due to your speakers and headphones.
None the less, this is an amazing track. I barerly hear such good stuff around here on NG. First of all the variations are very intresting and GOOD. It defies evry endless repetion in most tracks. I really love that violin and the filtered synth/arp. And the bass and guitar are a nice touch too. Top notch music, too bad you couldn't really mix it good enough :(.
I always have some sort of complaint about every song since im very nitpicking :p.
And because this song isn't perfect, ill say that the beat needs some imrpovement. And sometimes it just doesn't feel right in my oppinion. Maybe it's just because the beat changes with every melodic change too. So it sounds like different songs sitched together. If you would have a constant beat going tough all of this it would be more of one whole part.

I really liked this track, good job. The harmony between the genres are amazing. Keep it up

-firebolt-

Please check out my new song.

Musical-Pants responds:

Yeah, the beat changes a few times doesn't it?
It was bound to happen without a central chorus I could revert back to, plus I didn't want the song to be repetitive.
But i'm pretty satisfied with the result, it doesn't take off in any complely random directions, it just feels like a lot of different intruments are taking their turn adding to the rhythm, as opposed to only a few instruments repeating over and over.
If you have any further suggestions or comments please pm me.
I'm really glad you liked it, thanks for the review!

-Pants

[+Factory+]

Its something different then your usual work

Oke, first of all.
Congrats on your 100th submission!

Anyways,
The track seems very 'loud'. With some harsh sounds like that lead synth.
And ofcourse the bass. The bass is kinda deep and i love that panning sound.
The drums are cool too. Something different. Altough i would like to have that snare/clap whatever it is a bit louder. To get that pumping feeling a bit more.
The quality is oke.. i mean i don't know much about this genre. But it sounds hard to Master it :P...
Anyways, for the Challenge i would rather go for an longer bassline (which i mean like the standard 4 bars or something in FL ). This is more of an riff. Which might get boring easily. But you fixed it with some different melodys. Might it be better if you changed the synth like here and then? For some more diversity?
Or must you use the same synth for Envy's challenge?
It's fast paced, aggresive and hard, Just like a factory..!?. Sometimes the drums kinda get drowned by the other sounds. but nonetheless a great track :)
Good job Writersblock

-firebolt-

Please check out my new song! :)

WritersBlock responds:

Thanks for your review.
I did find this tricky to mix together, and I originally had a longer bassline planned, but thins one was more catchy, but I couldn't get as much melodic diversity. I could have changes the synth around a bit, and at one point I put the bass riff to the lead instrument, but other than that, it was the same all the way through.
Cheers for the comments and compliments.