crimsonblod's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Unknown Love (piano)]

Enjoyable

So first off, the transition at about 5:10 was... Sudden. I really enjoy the song, and the various themes are great to just relax to. I enjoy how much is going on because it's not chaotic, it's harmonious. I loved all of it so it's hard to focus on a particular part I liked more than the others. You already mentioned the volume thing, but you may want to tweak the stock piano a bit. I personally think this would sound much better on a concert piano with a slight echo, especially because this is mostly just the piano. I do enjoy how rich the piano sounds though, I just think the slight echo of a concert hall would do wonders for this. Other than that, I've got nothing. It's a great song, and I'm going to look at your other compositions. Great job mate!

[B7 Lance Battle Final Remaster]

Loved it

So first off, the song is amazing. Everything is perfectly balanced. The tones are rich, and the intricacy is incredible. I especially love those personal liberties you took, adding an extra rapid few notes to the solos here and there. I can't remember if they were in the original, but this is a fast song and you made it feel a hundred times faster. I love how everything comes together to emphasize the most intense moments in the song.

One of my favorite parts of the song is 1:13. Everything comes together for a nice break. Everything sounds great, but the song is so intense my ears need a break right about there, and it's a perfect fit.

And just so you know, I didn't notice any unfinished notes in the solos this time :-P.

Great job mate! I'd leave a more critical review, but I'm not a good enough musician to notice any mistakes here. Hope to hear more from you soon.

-Crimsonblod

["Positive Vibe"]

Wow.

Catchy is the right word. It's got a classic techno rhythm, a simple treble, and a wickedly ragged bass. And the mastering is INCREDIBLE. I've got this thing on max volume on my headphones. Absolutely no static. Something about this song seems live, rather than something in a recording. At least until the piano solo, then it takes a brief interlude into the world of too pitch perfect to feel live. I can't tell what that sound is in the background. But part of me thinks it's what makes it feel live. I think it's just a combination of all the loudest notes fading out. The entire song makes me bob my head, and the percussion kicks with a subtle clap, rather than the stereotypical bass impact. The ending isn't my style, but it's still done well. No complaints here.

All and all, great song mate. Keep it up.

[Collide (Cover)]

Great Job

Seeing as it's a cover, I can't offer much compositional advice. And you're playing ability far exceeds my own, so I can't offer more advice than keep at it. You've got some great talent here. And the best part, it isn't raw. And if that was you doing the singing, great job. You hit all the right notes in all the right places. Each wavelength seems to be exactly where it should be. I personally like this more than the professional song. It's much cleaner. Less wasted sound. There's too much going on in the original for my tastes (don't get me wrong, it's great), but what you have here is a great cover. It's simpler, in a good way, it's strong in the right places, and in my opinion, the guitar doesn't drown out the voices. Great job mate.

[A Piano's Testimony]

Great.

I have to say, I love your bassline. The way it flows into the next repetition is flawless. You hit the nail on the head with the word fluid. The song itself is simple, and nearly pulls that off for the entire song. But I just can't listen to the entire thing without losing focus at one point, which to me makes this a very good ambient song, because the composition itself is simple and deep but it's hook is just a tad shy of flawless. With the right game/movie to focus on, I'd imagine this would make an incredibly rich background sound.

And as a side note, the plucked strings were a nice touch. At least, I think they were strings. At about 1:01.

This was a great song, and the planning of this really shines through the majority of other songs I've heard. Great job mate.

Crimsonblod

[[GZ] Dream Trance]

I enjoyed this.

Hmm... Where to start. There is alot of raw potential here. You're GREAT, but your talent is raw. But that part you already know.

Very few songs can get away with such a repetitive core for the song. That particular arpeggio, is complex enough to get away with it. You got an incredible song from what seems to be one instrument. It's rare that you have the ability to create a memorable bass line from the same instrument you have for your treble. Very rare. I love the falling in and out feel of that arpeggio you've got here. It creates the illusion of increasing, and decreasing distance from you and the amp. If yer a science guy, think the Doppler effect. On that note, never forget just how much physics goes into making a good, harmonious song. Just like light, with it's constructive and destructive interference, you can have notes that either harmonize perfectly, boosting the strength of the sound, and the depth of the piece. However, the reverse is true. When notes just don't sound good together, they "destructively" interfere. They can sound incredible separately, or even one after another, but together, they just cancel each other out. Now, only the concept of interference works out that way for music, but you see where I'm going.

You have a great song here. It could use refinement, but in the way that my advice won't help much. IT needs to be fuller. You have a healthy sound, and a built to last style. But give it something more. You have the first three dimensions. Height, Width, and depth. But give it the fourth. Make it fill up a meaningful amount of time. The clip is great standing alone, but imagine this attached to a longer piece, maybe 4 or 5 minutes. If you changed the ending a tad, to make it flow with the intro better, it could be a pretty darn good loop. But you've got the talent for more in this. Work on fleshing this song out. It's a great test of the waters, but don't stop working on this tune because you've got a warm reception. Take this great idea, and pump every ounce of awesome you can out of it.

I looked forward to hearing your music again,
Crimsonblod

GrayZ responds:

Firstly, thanks for the epic review :P and secondly thanks for been easy on me.

I'm so glad you like my piece and I totally understand how its not long enough and only works as a clip, I just dont think i'm good enough yet to turn it into a 4-5 minute piece, but i will try my hardest to fulfil your musical needs with my future work! :)

thanks :D

[Behind the Lies]

Wow.

The intro is a bit slow, drawn out just a bit farther than that particular sound can go. Even just a few seconds shorter could make a big difference. I can't tell if the background grain is intentional, or just the ring around a fairly well, but not perfectly, mastered file. The song is beautifully simple, but still maintains an illusion of complexity through the incredibly rich voices of the bass throughout the entire song. Then that solo, is incredible. Simply elegant, like the best piano solos out there. And the bass comes back in flawlessly. Not to loud, not to soft. This song has a kick, but one of the rare ones you get not by volume, but by the natural convergence that occurs when perfectly harmonious wavelengths reach the same place at the same time.

This is truly a beautiful song, and I look forward to more from you.

rwert responds:

Thank you for the review and you will hear more from me soon.

[[DJP] Space Indians]

Great Modern Take

This is a great variant from the stereotypical "Indian" music. The drums kick much harder than you would normally get (I would prefer the bass drum to kick harder though), so great job. In the intro, the lowest not you use on the synth has alot of weight to it. You're missing that growl on the lowest note you use to accent the bass drum throughout the entire rest of the song, maybe you lost it mastering the track to allow the melody to show through?
My favorite part shines around the 40 mark. An epic intro to a solo, and it's kinda like what I use to break off into a treble solo when I play piano. It works well, sounds great, and fits the style of the song. As does the rest of the solo. I like the ending, alot. But maybe you could have added a couple seconds of silence at the end? So it would either loop over itself more smoothly, or so it gives us a break between the end of this song, and the beginning of the next. Without a slight pause, it just sounds like a confused melody the suddenly forgot what it was doing and started over.

All in all, GREAT song. I loved it, and it brought a bit more variety to my library.

Thank you mate,
Crimsonblod

DJPureSuffer responds:

Well thanks alot for the nice long review! :D Yeah, im looking for new drum VST's. ill get that better soon hopefully. I suppose a little breathing room at the end could never hurt too :)

Thanks again!

[Tendril]

Wicked.

It's been a long time since I've run across something that made me crank my volume up to 10, let alone the uncharted world of 11. First off, the mastering is so completely smooth... You have so much going on in this song, and at first glance, it seems almost too full. But then it hits you, every single instrument is carrying it's own harmonious solo, bouncing back and forth between realms of conscious awareness, playing with your perception of each and every note. I can't pick a single favorite part, let alone a single instrument. Every time I listen, another sound piques my interest, keeping me listening intently as I track each and every note. I love how each synth has a totally unique sound, coming together in this myriad of chaotic, piercing harmony. And now, after 20 minutes, I just noticed the snare-like(or maybe cymbal?) clap in the background, bringing my attention to the kick of the bass. And man, how everything seems to kick at the same time. That's a nice touch.

Well, I could go on and on for hours about each and every aspect that catches my ear here. The song is incredible, I could listen to it over and over, and I certainly will. Every note has it's place in this song, nothing's out of place. It even loops near flawlessly, (the end could use a measure or two more to smooth out the transition from end to beginning). And that, is all I can offer in terms of improvement. You'll need a much better musician than myself to find something else to improve on here. Spectacular job mate, I'm eagerly waiting for more.

[{dj-N} Theory of Everything]

Interesting choice of intro.

I was going to say that the piano was a bit too electronic of a sound, for that intro, then it hit me. Literally. That bass packs a punch at high volumes. And it flowed perfectly from intro to body. GREAT job on that transition. I like how it's got an every other beat, it feels like there is different timing on the beat, but maybe that's an illusion of the in and out feeling this song has flowing throughout. Like you're on a slingshot, stretching back, then hurtling forward, then bouncing back to do it all again.

I enjoyed every aspect of this song, and I have no complaints. You've mastered your styles, so there isn't any advice I have to give. Keep rocking mate.