FairSquare's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Restabilize]

I like it!

First of all, i really like the atmosphere in this song. I think the atmosphere is really important in ambient songs, so good job on that :)
But as you can see, the score i'm giving you is not a 10/10, but a 9/10. The reason for this is that i really don't like that first, bottle(ish) sounding synth that comes in. Later in the song it fits a bit better, but i think it jumps out too much.
However, the next synth that comes in is perfect. It just fits.
The FX (the sound of the sea) that comes in is pretty soothing and fits well with the mood of the song.
The choir/synth that comes in at 02:24 really adds something to the song and is just.. nice sounding :p
When it's all playing together it's really soothing and gives the feeling like.. like you are swimming in an ocean.
Everything around you is clear, blue water. Fishes are shooting past you and they are so pretty! They have all kinds of colours and look! In the distance you can see a whale coming towards you.
This should be a bit scary, but for some reason you trust the whale and you wait for it to come closer.
It's pretty close now and you swim to the side of this gigantic ruler of the ocean.
You're swimming side to side with this amazing creature and it feels incredible. It makes you feel small, but safe. Like a little bird, under the wings of it's mother.

But let's continue with the song :p
I've told you what i think of this song in it's current form. The next thing i'm going to do is to tell you what i would've done. Note: this is based on nothing but personal preference and thus this doesn't affect your score. I don't even know if it's helpful.. but i'll do it anyway :p
So yeah, i would've done the intro the same. The only thing i would've changed is that synth, but you already know. And maybe build it up a bit more, in terms of velocity. The second synth that comes in is perfect, so i wouldn't change anything about that.
At 01:03 i would've put a legato type of synth that plays long, high notes.
After the sea sound, on 01:22 i would bring a snare in. A deep sounding snare, with reverb. And maybe a tiny bit of delay.
I don't have anything to add to the rest of the song, i would just leave that as it is. Maybe add some hi-hats, but i'm not so sure about that.

So yeah, that was my review. I'd make it longer if i could, but now i just ran out of things to say and continuing with writer would just make this part of the review.. nonsense. Or gibberish. It wouldn't add anything.
On the other hand, i don't think you'd mind a little piece of text that actually says nothing. Maybe you'll even like that, yeah, i think you'd like that. No, no, i KNOW you'd like that :p
And look at me, writing, like there's no character limit at all.
Speaking about character limit, i have 1,326 characters remaining at this point. I don't think i can fill all of this space, but i'll do my best.
What to talk about now? Wait, what was i actually talking about before?
Oh yeah, that's right, nothing. I was talking about nothing. I'm pretty good at talking about nothing, but you may have already noticed that by now.
Whoo, less then 1000 characters remaining, i'm good.
But i can't really talk any longer about nothing, so i'll just make a little rant about what ambient music means to me. How i think that ambient music should be.
Well, i think that ambient music should always have atmosphere. It's already in the name too. Ambient. Ambience. A feeling or mood associated with a particular place, person or thing. Atmosphere.
Also, ambient music should make you think. It should make you imagine things. The best thing is if it can transfer you to a whole new world, a whole new universe. That happened to me too when i was listening to this song. I really felt like i was swimming in the ocean and it soothed my mind. It felt relaxing.
You know, i don't know what wrong with me, spending so much time on a single review xD
But i know you'll like it and read it with a smile. That's what counts, right? :)
There are currently 91 characters remaining. And you'll see that i have too little characters remaining to fini

alternativesolution responds:

:D Thanks!! Indeed, I did read it with a smile :)
I absolutely LOVE your images ! I was listening and reading your review at the same time, --I never got the same images, so it was pretty interesting to hear your story & I'm so glad you took so many characters I mean all of them to say it. As always, getting feedback from you is like ...taking a fresh breath of air on the most beautiful day ever xD
And yes, you are helpful =] I don't think I would've added snares, but I like your idea on the dynamics change...although I can't really change it because I made this before my hard drive crashed . Good thing I saved the final render somewhere eh??

[SN | Obscene Amounts of Steam]

Outstanding!

First of all, i LOVE the reverb on the drums. In my previous review (on your newest song) i said that your songs have this spacious feel to them. That's probably because the amounts of reverb you use on your drums and other instruments/synths :p

Yeah, i don't really have any criticism on this.
You know what i'd like to hear though? A song from you without giving most attention to the drums, but more to the main melody. In most of the songs that i've heard from you, the drums are asking much attention from the listener. Not that that's a bad thing though, i just wondered what it would be like if you focused on something different than the drums.
Anyway, keep up the good work!
10/10
5/5
Mussirus

SessileNomad responds:

when i focus on the melody..i generally feel like the track is a bit boring, or its a dance tune xD

[SN | Beautiful Arrhythmia | SN]

Cool!

Your songs never fail in making an atmosphere. There's something about your songs that create this spacious feel and i like that.
However, i don't feel like this song is really special. It is very good yes, but you can do better.
The voice is cool, but i'd like to hear more of it instead of just 'Beautiful' :p
Drums are excellent as always, piano sound and the pads behind it are good.
Let me know when you created the next part in the series :)
9/10
5/5
Mussirus

SessileNomad responds:

will do

i thought about making more vocals, but i decided against it, tried to be subtle with it you know

thanks for the review brah

[Piano Nocturne]

I really enjoyed this

It doesn't happen everyday that i find such a heartfelt piece of music. On or off Newgrounds.
I love music like this so much and because of that this review is really biased. Constructive criticism is what i should give you, but praise is what you get. And i guess you won't mind that.
Sometimes i write stories in my reviews, that fit with the song. I feel like doing that for this song.
But first, i want you to know why i love this composition.
The sound of the piano is so beautiful and warm. It is played with so much feeling and it's like you've put your soul right into this. The dynamics are excellent and the timing is too.
Now, i'll let your music create an image/story in my head.

A boy walks through a street. It's late and he should be in bed at this time.
However, he isn't in his bed. No, he walked away from his home. He walked away, to escape.
Usually, when a boy like this one walks away from home, it's because he's angry or upset with his parents.
But this boy is different. He isn't in a fight with his parents. Not even with his older sister this time.
This boy is running away, because he feels like no one understands him. He feels like he has to deal with his problems all alone, and that there is no one to help or support him.
Now it's starting to rain, but the boy doesn't seek any shelter. He just keeps on walking.
Meanwhile, his parents are very concerned. They have no clue why their little boy, whom they love so much, has walked away. The boy has never talked to them about what's bothering him, what his problems are.
It's starting to rain really hard now.
The boy starts running.
A lot of thoughts go through his head. Where should he go? Where can he go?
Suddenly, the boy stops. He completely freezes.
''Why am i running away from home?'' he asks himself.
Then he realizes that he is actually trying to run away from.. himself. His problems won't disappear. And why would he run away from the only place where he can solve his problems?
A tear rolls over his cheek when he turns around and starts walking back.
Soon he will be where he belongs. Soon, he will be home.

Well, i don't know if that made any sense, but i just typed along with the music. I hope you'll like my story and if not, i enjoyed writing it ;p
Keep up the good work!
10/10
5/5
MH16

ProudAardvark responds:

Thanks for the great in depth review and story Muss, 'much appreciated!

[Spy Theme (Loop) 2]

Short review this time :p

Just a short review this time, but i just want to say something :p
What you have here is pretty good and i could see it in a flash game if it was a bit longer and if it looped better. And with that, i mean that you can hear too much difference between the beginning and the ending. You can easily tell when the song starts over.
Now here's what i would do if i made this:
I would repeat the section from 00:05 to 00:10 a couple of times (without the reversed cymbal that is) and maybe add some little FX's. Then i would add a melody on top of that and make some other chord progressions. After that your song lenght should be around 1:00. What i would do next is build the song down a little, so that it sounds a bit like in the beginning. Ah, about what i said earlier that you can too easily tell the difference between the beginning and the ending of this loop: i know how i should say that now. The transistion between those two parts is too big. So that's why you should build the song down a little at the 'ending'.
Just wanted to say this, no need to review back :)
8/10
5/5
MH16

Step responds:

Lol I would've rather preferred if you reviewed one of the submissions which I didn't spend 15 minutes on xP. But thanks for the review! I see what you mean about the bad looping: I thought the reverse cymbal would do the trick, but unfortunately it still isn't a perfect loop. You have some good ideas for turning it into a song, and I have a few ideas too, but I doubt I'll turn it into a song because I already have another spy theme which is a small loop too, and if this one is turned into a song, it sort of sticks out from the first one, unless I turn them both into a song :P. But whatever, I'll see what I can do. Thanks for reviewing, and I will review back, I hate receiving helpful reviews because someone took their time to be awesome and write them and they receive nothing back, and besides, I like reviewing awesome submissions :).
So be prepared for a monster review >:3.

[Morning Horizon]

Impressive!

Man, your sound quality has improved alot since i reviewed your 'Musical Evolution'. Everything is so much clearer and prettier now :D
I think i won't be able to write a long review now though. When i write a long review it's mostly because i have to explain what could've been better and stuff, but this will be very hard for this song. The only point for improvement that i see is the ending, but you already said that in the authors comments.
Ah well, i'll just listen to the song again now and i will describe my thoughts about it while listening.
It starts with a beautiful flute melody. Hmm, maybe this could've been played a little more dynamically. With that, i mean different volumes for different notes and it sounds a bit static. Maybe you could've placed some grace notes in it.
Then, the horns join the melody, giving it a more full sounding sound and there are staccato strings in the background which drive the song a bit more.
The drums come in and what you've done here is pretty brilliant. Because the first couple of times i didn't even notice, but you left the flute out here. I didn't even noticed it stopped at first. But the horns play louder and 'push' the flute out of the song. Then, after a reversed cymbal, you bring the flute back in which has a really cool effect, because it sounds very powerful.
Then, at 01:03, the song gets a bit calmer. I like that. I think it's important in a song to have those calmer moments, because it gives the less calmer moments more power.
The drums come in the song again, followed by the flute. And now, the song comes to an end. There's not much that i have to say about the ending, because you already know that it could be much better :p

Oh, this review turned out longer than i expected. Ah well, that's not a bad thing.
Keep making music! :-)
9/10
5/5
MH16

Ps: If you're going to write a review back (please, don't feel obliged) wait 'till i uploaded my new song which will be called 'Lonely Plains' :p

Step responds:

Man, your long reviews never cease to amaze me, MH16! :D.

Yeah, that time I didn't have East/West Symphonic Orchestra. Looking back it sounds so horrible and if I had to spice it up with East/West it'd actually sound like a Classical song and not just a bunch of free soundfonts :P.

As for the flute that could've been played a bit more dynamically, I agree 100% with you. All of the velocities in this song remained the same. I worked so little on this that I didn't feel like changing any velocities xD. But yeah, humanizing is something that I have to find the patience to do. Now that you mentioned it, I really could've added some more trills here and there to the song.

Wow, thanks for the compliments ^^.

Yeah, I agree with you that a Classical song isn't a Classical song without some different moods in the song.

The ending :(. I was just so lazy. I mean, I got tired of opening so many FLP files lol xP. But now with FL9 I can mute tracks in the playlist, which helps me render the songs smoothly, because before if I rendered so much orchestration at once, it would refuse to render and greet me with the welcoming message of 'Out of Memory'.

Haha, thanks for the awesome review! I *will* review back, and I *am* feeling obliged :P. I mean, it's awesome reviews like this that give me the inspiration and support I need to not give up. Thanks again for the awesome review, and can you do me a favour and PM me when you upload Lonely Plains? I'm eager to hear what awesomeness you can come with next ^^. Glad you enjoyed the song.

Long Responses FTW, hehe.

[SN | Felix^3 | SN]

Atmosphere

Blackhole said that 'it's really missing the atmosphere'. I don't agree, this song has a very nice atmosphere. The choir(?) and the bass notes the piano plays create this atmosphere. Oh, and the drums too. Also, i love the effects you use!
But why am i giving a 9 and not a 10?
To be honest.. i don't know. Well, i do know, but it's nothing specific. I just feel that this could've been better.
But, once again, you've proven that you're a really good producer. Keep doing what you're doing and good luck in the NGAD :)
9/10
5/5
MH16

SessileNomad responds:

yeah its a choir, i really liked it, looking back, i think this whole track needs some more bass...

i liked the effects i used as well :) i wish i could have done a bit more manual glitching but deadlines and whatnot : /

thanks for the review man :)

[SN | Bipolar | SN]

Really good!

I enjoyed listening to this song :-)
The intro is perfect and leads those nice pads in. The drums are good, but i would've made the snare drum a bit more warm if you know what i mean. But only in the beginning, because later in the song it fits perfectly.
I love how you glitch everything, but still keep a quite calm atmosphere. Oh, about the atmosphere, you did a great job on creating that.
I did expect more of a climax though, because i feel it building up and up, but there's no real climax. It gets calmer instead. This is good too, but i really would've liked an 'explosion'. I hope i'm not being too vague :p
About the ending.. i really liked that.
It seems like the song stops at 01:57, but it didn't play an A note to resolve it yet. I was like 'Please let there be an A, let there be an A, let there be an AAAAhhh..''
Then i heared it. It was a relief. Sort of :p
Once again, good luck in the NG Audio Deathmatch. I'm wondering if this is the last time i'm going to say that :p
9/10
5/5
MH16

SessileNomad responds:

that A note thing really made me lawl, dont worry i try and end all of my songs on tonic

yeah i feel ya on the lack of a climax, i really spent a lot of time with the drums, automations and shit

im glad you liked it man

peace out, have you heard vanguards track? its really good

[SN | No Purpose Flour | SN]

Dude :O

Man, my jaws just dropped. Fuck.
This is really awesome stuff. I'm trying to think of some critisism now, but i can't. This is just excellent!
Good luck in the contest. I don't know who's your opponent, but he's going to have a real though job beating this song. If that's even possible.
Gonna add you as a fav. artist now.
10/10
5/5
MH16

SessileNomad responds:

horray new fav :)

i like your stuff too ill be sure to add you

jaw dropping is good xD

[Fertile Grounds and Open Skies]

Awesome

This is really awesome. I can only find 1 thing to critisize and that is that hi-hat (or is it a ride cymbal) that comes in on 00:12. But i can't really describe what i don't like about it. It's like it should build up a little more, or that you should play a bit more with the note velocities. Maybe it's just too loud or too.. sharp? I don't know. Not really helpful, but yeah :p
About the rest of the song.. it's awesome. Also, i know that it's drum and bass, but i would love to hear a melody on this :p That's just personal opinion though, not going to affect your score.
The effect on the voice is excellent.
The drums are good. And i love the really fast hi-hat (if that's even a hi-hat :p) that comes in on 01:09.

Good luck in the deathmatch man!
10/10
5/5
MH16

SessileNomad responds:

its a ride, but idk what exactly to say about it, i actually thnk i equed some of the highs out of that xD

well i do have melodies, bt there kinda quiet, and there pretty much done with pads and fading acid sounds : \

good luck to you as well man