MrBellington's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Halindir - Vanaheimr]

Very very nice piece of music. Lovingly mixed and well put-together. A track that draws you in and lets you get lost in it. Great work.

[Mountain]

Hi there. I thought this was nice enough, and it would be unfair to dismiss it because of dodgy samples. But that said, I thought the composition was average enough, with some decent arrangements. I think it could've been spiced up a bit though. Change the tempo, shake it into a different key, give us a clear little melody, really tell a story... that's what cinematic music is all about, and it's what I feel lacks in a lot of 'cinematic' music people produce. Producing cinematic music is about telling a story. Having a sense of narrative and knowing what you want to convey. I wasn't particularly able to conjure up any images in my head listening to this. It was basically pleasant but I think it needs to grip the listener more.

Good luck with future work and keep making those improvements!

Fuzzy-L0g1c responds:

I understand what you are saying. I wasn't specifically trying to conjure up a story or pictures in one's mind as much as I was trying to create something different than what I typically do. It does have a subtle key change (F mixolydian to D minor, meaning that the seventh diatonic tone goes down a half step), but I'm assuming that you mean something more dramatic and unanticipated. I hope that in the future I can grip the listener more by going out of my comfort zone. Thanks for your feedback.

[The Path to Everything]

Definitely has a modern 'uplifting' thing going for it with the simple pop progressions, layering, repetition and piano arpeggios. And of course nothing wrong with that, I thought it was pretty pleasant easy listening. The flute was likeable. A little more energy in the mix and perhaps trimmed a bit would've improved it. Good stuff indeed.

[She is Lovely]

I enjoyed this as a piece of music, it's technically accomplished, mixed well etc. but I'm not sure I can quite relate it to the image. Certainly it more than hints at what you might hear at the climax of a modern blockbuster or animated film. I can hear struggle and determination for sure, but love and passion, appreciation of this lovely girl... I think tone is a bit too powerful and the texture a bit too full as a standalone piece. However, I assume there's some softer sections to come as it's a work in progress, so it may well fit in neatly bookended with other stuff. Good stuff.

[In Search of Alice]

I feel a bit odd reviewing a 5 year-old piece, but I shall do so.

The general sound and flow of this piece is quite nice, the first 30 seconds are a good introduction. The choice of instrumentation/synth is appealing for the most part, there's some variety throughout the 8 minutes, which is almost always essential if you're going to write a track of this length. Towards the middle-end, the track picks up some energy.

There's a couple of things you could work on: while I think this track, like the other one, is coherent in what it's trying to do and there are certainly no glaring mistakes, there's still that lack of a thread tying the whole thing together. There are individually appealing bits, but it doesn't have that almost intangible quality that carries you through a piece, particularly something that's meant to be cinematic.

But if we try and break it down into more tangible components: I think while the general sound here is better rounded, more focussed and more natural than your other track, I still think a lot of the progressions are quite weak. Think of really great piece of music and think of how each section does two things (a) justifies itself by making a point of some sort (b) carries you into the next section. Great music almost sounds *effortless* in how it does that. I think you need to work on crafting more engaging melodies, understanding your chord progressions, and filling out the sound a bit more. I think it'd be a good exercise to analyse specific parts of the track to clarify what I mean:

(1) 0:00-0:33 - I thought the opening was really nice with its piano line, had a bit of a wandering quality
(2) 0:34-0:48 - Synths overlay the same idea.
(3) 0:49-1:20 - Here is where I spot my first real problem. The piano continues playing the same thing, in the same tone. A solo violin overlays a repetition of the synth and piano. It makes it feel like more stuff is just being lumped on rather than organically joining the mix. While of course there is room for repetition in music, it's not clear what the main idea is here, and the ingredients aren't really gelling. And the violin arrangement isn't that good, it needs to be a more dynamic. You could've used this opportunity to craft a strong identity for your piece, something that could help be the glue that links it all together.
(4) 1:21-1:37 - The same problem, with a cello now thrown on. I feel like it was crying out for fuller chords at this point.
(5) 1:38 - 2:25 - This whole section suffers from some not very engaging arrangements. Again they feel like 'bits' rather than part of something more organic.
(6) 2:26 - 2:56 - This bit injects a bit of much-needed energy and where the track generally picked up.
(7) 2:57 - 3:41 - This was a nice diversion from the other stuff. But again some understanding of chords would've gone a long way to helping fill out the sound. For example at 3:45 you basically have, or at least the track suggests an inverted open-voiced E minor chord, but you've only put in the 3rd and the 5th. Adding the 'E' note (root) would've made that more powerful. Personally I would've used a standard uninverted Em, with a strong G whole note which carries down to half note Gflat, then down to half note E. Then moved to an inverted CMaj chord. Yes, not an amazing progression, but has a little zest, and crucially fills out the sound a bit.

Again, understanding how and where to the right thing is something that comes with practice, and there's an intangible quality about good music but I hope those examples help to explain what I'm getting at, and that this review is of use to you.

[Cold Night]

Lovely little track. Evokes absolutely what you were going for.

F4LL0UT responds:

Thank you. :)

[Ghost Train remastered]

Really evoked that carnival atmosphere, excellent introduction and that middle choir section is really quite good, and the ending too. A *tiny* bit of flab could've been trimmed, but this is a really good piece otherwise.

I would've been nice if you had some stronger samples to really bring this to life, but it feels unfair to penalise tracks for that. I much prefer a strong composition with weak samples to the opposite. Good job.

[The Tides]

Hi there.

Nothing terribly wrong with this piece, it's listenable, but there's nothing particularly engaging in there, bar a brief refrain for piano near the end.

You're going for a big, 'epic', full ensemble sound but you're not utilising the ensemble very well. But it comes with practice. I'll give you a specific example however: I think the solo violin doesn't work here. It sounds out of place, because it's a very 'incomplete' overall sound. You have a full french horn section, full violins doing those staccato 16th notes, bass notes and reverse cymbals, and then some very very quiet trombones and a bass that doesn't have enough presence, and they all seem to be mixed at the same volume. It's just a bit messy.

I recognise the EWQLSO bass drum. You need to EQ out that high frequency because it sounds really off in this piece and doesn't work at all.

Don't be discouraged, I offer the above in the spirit of self-improvement. That's all we're all trying to do at the end of the day. Good luck with your future work.

EnDotter responds:

Hey hey! Tnx for your comment man!
Im still really new to composing so i dont really know much about it. Your feedback is just what i need. I will try to pay more attention to the details you saw as not so good.

Again, tnx a lot!

[Der Wechselbalg (remastered)]

Charming piece of music. Got a very cinematic sensibility. Would benefit from some more clarity in the mix, and a little bit more energy at one or two parts. Composition-wise not much to find fault with, a few production flaws stop it getting another half star from me.

Good stuff.

[The Weapon]

Well-written, well-orchestrated, well-mixed and enjoyable to listen to. Very little to find fault with. I often find this kind of music - which does visit a lot of Zimmer/RCP tropes - often becomes a banging, simplistically-written unappealing mess when done by amateurs and semi-pros, so kudos for pulling this off and making it enjoyable. It's energetic without being overbearing, has variety and isn't just relying on fat drums to generate power. Between this and some of your other work, you've made me a fan and I'd love to collaborate one day.

Mattashi responds:

Thank you MrBellington :)
I would love to do a collab with you one day! I'm glad you enjoyed this.