MrBellington's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Don't Touch Me, I'm Frightened]

Hi there. I think this track is coherently constructed, and basically pleasant, however, to me, there isn't really anything that emotionally connects to me. Presumably from the tags, it's meant to be 'sad', but there's no real suggestion of melancholia in the track, nor are there any real melodic ideas that grab you, resulting in a bit of a stale, lifeless atmosphere. It just needs a bit more punch. Hopefully you can work towards making it better. Good luck.

[10000 Soldiers]

Hiya, I think this is a basically decent piece, with a clear tone, but it could do with a bit of jazzing up. Excite us with some variation in your percussion, for example. I think one of the issues with the track is it has a bit of a flat atmosphere, it needs some zest, something that elevates it, something that hooks you onto it, something that makes it more intense. Maybe some different harmonic lines, or a change in tempo, a soft passage. Good luck with your future work.

N1nj4X responds:

Hey, thanks for the tips, I will remember!

[Northpoint Fantasy]

Well put-together, enjoyable and well-produced.

[Sleigh Ride]

Sumptuous. Excellent production and arrangement. Fun and bouncy, engaging from start to finish with lovely little frills, structurally coherent and good use of instruments. As a previous reviewer also noted, a very fresh and crisp professional sound with good use of the whole soundscape. I'm familiar with GPO IV and have heard some utter horror shows which utilise that sample library. Enjoyed listening to this. Good stuff.

DavidGrossmanMusic responds:

Thanks for your review. I've used Garritan instruments ever since I started writing music with Finale almost three years ago, and I have also heard 'horror shows' from pieces written with them. Just as an orchestral conductor can have the best orchestra and still produce a bad sound based on his or her skill level, VST produced audio files can have the same issues. It all comes down to a combination of a musical talent and the ability to mix outside of a sound library or notation software to get the sound you really want - ignoring the improvements from skill and experience between the music I wrote a year ago and the music I'm writing now, the unmixed music from last year sounds flat in comparison to the mixed music now.

Again, thanks for reviewing and I'm glad you enjoyed listening.

David

[Macromind]

I thought this was a pretty fun piece and coherently put together, with those slightly cheesy, typical sci-fi progressions. Really enjoyed the middle-end section in particular. Enjoyable. - mB

vezanmatics responds:

Yeah, I was definitely going for something tropey.

Thanks for the review! :D

[Piece for Piano and Cello]

I thought it was engaging and professional and enjoyable to listen to.

Basset-Hound responds:

Hey Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it.

[+Quid Pro Quo+]

Hiya. I think the underlying structure of the piece is good but I think it could do with some unifying element in the there that hooks it altogether. It's a bit disparate. There's nothing that really tugs on any of my emotions. Hook me in! Make me uncomfortable or scared or sad or whatnot. For example, I think the transition about 20 seconds in from your lovely opening violin line to the dissonant french horns is a bit forced, and the those two phrases seem to have nothing to do with one another. I also think you overused block chords quite a bit and it stopped your track from really coming alive. Sprinkle in some more interesting musical lines.

I hope this criticism is taken in the spirit in which it's intended. Good luck with your future work!

KeyVine responds:

Thanks for the review! Yeah, the two parts don't go together too well because I've had the first part done nearly three months ago and I didn't know where else to go with it nor did I want to make it too short. The block chords are a result of me not wanting two voices with the exact same melody or chord structure. Perhaps my previous orchestral piece, +Tears+, may tug at your emotions a bit more.

[In da tavern]

I think this is pretty good for what it is, can't see why no one's rated it yet!

The 'hey!' is pretty corny, that's probably half the reason I like this track. It's got a nice old-school, a bit cheap, a bit silly, a bit of fun kind of feel to it. Good stuff.

[Not just a Dream]

Cool you use the same sample library and software I do!

Really confidently written and engaging piece of music, coherent from start to finish. Good stuff!

From a production point of view: I thought the mixing was solid in this piece for the most part, crisp, easy to pick out individual instruments though at times it sounds a little narrow, particularly at the louder, brassier, percussive parts. Could've pushed some of it out to the wider channels to give it a bit more 'boom!'. At 0:57 as well, I feel it was *begging* for a stronger bass presence to really drive it home.

From an arrangement point of view, lots of different instruments to keep interesting, obvious string ostinatos to help bind it together, I like your use of the clarinet as well, and the piano towards the end is really nice. In fact I think the ending and the beginning are my favorite parts, lovely little progressions, chimes and glocks give it a nice feeling. The only drawback is the lack of that intangible little something, a core idea or hook or whatnot, that makes it transcend.

Good luck with your future work. ~ mB

[Emotion Epic Story of Her]

Hiya, I thought your piece was pretty solid, well put-together, mixed fairly well. It had the correct structure for the modern day 'trailer' sound, and the basic pop chord progressions that you'd expect.

To give a criticism: In my opinion, I felt it lacked a bit of emotional heft, the kind of heft you were going for. I think you could make better use of dynamics to give parts of your composition more impact. For example at 1:55, I think you could've probably made it a bit louder, maybe doubled some layers, added some stronger percs, particularly if you're going for the 'trailer' sound. I would say however, that I think the modern day 'trailer sound' is generally a pretty faux-emotional experience, it's trying to sell a film, get you to see it, rather than get you to care about characters or what's happening to them. It's interesting that you suggest you're writing about past memories and whatnot. I think if you write about stuff that's personal to you, *your* past memories as opposed to past memories in the abstract, you'll probably write stronger compositions. As I said before, I think you did get the basic 'trailer' structure down, kudos there, but I didn't get the sense of narrative that you talked about in the description.

Good luck with your future compositions! I hope you get better and better with your practice.

SteveSyz responds:

Yea thanks for the feedback! This was my first shot at trying to do something emotional so here it is haha. next time ill keep in mind to shape my music more movie style than 'personal style'. im still using basic instruments so once i get my music packs hopefully it will sound better. thanks again!