JPRixdorfer's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

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Fun stuff!

Lol! I listened to the first chords and scrolled up, expecting midimachines name. Then I read the description. I talked to him about that minor subdominant he used in his last two submissions and now you come along doing the exact same thing with 8-bit style music... funny stuff :D!
You combined 8-bit melodies with some solid drums, they come out nicely, have a lot of pressure and both parts fit well together. The only complaint i have is that you don't ever change the chord progression. A b-part to this a-part would have made it a lot better. At least you don't drag it out for more than you do, but this has potential to be even better! Keep it up!

Or4nges responds:

Yeah his song was catchy as hell. I had to do something or it'd never get out of my head. But thanks for the critique too! My biggest problem when writing a song is failing to change the chord progression once in a while.

[N/A - Game Over]

Boring

This is very lame. The square solo doesn't change even once, the chord progression is what I'd call overused, no surprises, no nothing. The noisy bass rides one single note, hardly ever changing in sound aspects, the drums are more than generic. This whole story could have been told in one minute.
It is nicely mixed and mastered though.

Mrmilkcarton responds:

The bass could only play one note without sounding retarded. I guess you don't like my poly rhythms either. :( It was more about the creation of the bass rather then the song. This was just a place to download it if someone wanted.

Just because I got #1 top 5 doesn't mean I deserved it.

[Sorohanro - The Last Surv]

niceee

Is this really a Zither? Sounds more like a Dulcimer to me, both great instruments though. I love the bassline, it spices up the simple (but well fitting) chord progression a lot and provides a warm feel! I'm not a fan of the duduk, with all the tiny ups and downs - something I usually can't stand. But you managed to not bug me with it, so big up!

sorohanro responds:

Well, it's actually a music maker, those cheap ones that you can find in toy stores, sampled for Kontakt 4+

"The Music Maker is a dulcimer designed as a child's toy musical instrument. It is supplied with a guitar pick and some sheets that slide underneath the string telling you which strings to pluck from left to right. Featuring such hits as "Darling Clementine and Aura Lee etc ...."

http://www.boldersounds.net/music-mak er-v2-p-105.html

[Angeline]

very good

First of all: Your singing is great! You have a great voice and are out of tune just a teeny bit, just the amount that makes it alive (I hate auto tuning!), but doesn't make it painful to listen to at all! Wonderful!
The song has a great atmosphere, it instantly puts me into some southern US state on a hot summer sunday - though I've never been to the US :)
The lighthearted and joyful feeling the song provides is a bit of a contrast to the lyrics that are actually pretty sad. But that's just perfect, because in my experience every relation to a woman turned out bittersweet.

Great job!

Stampini responds:

Hi, Thanks for taking the time to listen and thank you for your very kind comments.

[2'29'']

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Haggard responds:

Thanks very much. This is the best review I've ever seen. It's so well written and you obviously put a lot of thought into how to phrase every sentence of this masterpiece.

If there was a nobel price for reviews, I'm sure you would be the undisputed winner!

[DJ Dela - Elite (WIP)]

i come to listen every now and then :D

Overall a solid song. The part from 1:00 onward is the strongest. Very nice sound, good harmonies, surprising 7th chord (I think? I know what you did there, I just don't know if it's called that).

You are kinda right about the post 2:00 part being like another song. If you make the chords return to the ... uhm, tonica (in english too?!) you know the main chord, every now and then, you would draw a stronger connection between the parts.

My main complaint would be the bassline in the starting part. You should scratch or redo that, it's harmonically off, but not in a good way.

Full score for sound, points off for harmonics. I'd like to hear this as a refined complete track though!

cheers!

DJDela responds:

The bassline at the begging might be changed, but just slightly, I don't hear what's wrong with it though.
Maybe this time some "offharmony" is good. :P

This is just like a preview so the part at @2:00 will continue with that melody again so that it draws connection just like you said.

Thanks for the review.

[No Homers Club]

8-Bit Brit Pop anyone?

I'm gonna assume that it was all your voice I heard. You really went all in with that, amazing! All those background vocals... hell of a piece you produced there! The song comes with a rock solid pop structure with an extended square-solo and a couple of spicey transitions. You like changing from major to minor on the subdominant, dontcha :D? Your epic final in placebos did the same.
All in all nothing to complain about here. Amazing job. Awesome!

midimachine responds:

yep, my voice. man i was thinking about the minor subdominant chord change and laughing about it the other day; was gonna sing the "got it right" line from white dwarf over the very last part as a joke but decided not to haha.

[Placebos (8-bit)]

great, but...

This song is 98% awesome! The sound, the chord progressions, the buildup, the little details, sometimes just in the background, simply wonderful stuff! Finest 8-bit epicness!

Now here comes the part where I lack the terminology to exactly describe what is wrong with it. It would be hard for me to write about it in german, even more so in english: well, sometimes your lead melodies are just off. At about 17 seconds into the song the chords go in C major, while that lower lead stays in minor (by playing D#). There are more examples for events like that on the entire song

Now, I'm not sure this is wanted or not. The build up and the excellent and unique choice of chords let me think that you would hear out something like this. But it made the song a little less enjoyable for me. sorry . "just" 9/10 :D

midimachine responds:

Got your PM before I read this and it's all good :) I tried changing the D# to D and F# and both sounded surprisingly bad and really altered the mood and dynamic of that part of the melody for worse. I think the tone I got from leaving the D# in keeps the mood way more coherent. Sometimes when you use modulate a chord progression like that, excessive consonance within that chord feels like dissonance when compared to the rest of the song... But not always!

Anyway all I'm saying is that I left it like that intentionally and I'm pretty happy with it! But now the 2 part harmony at the end of that section over the C major chord at the end of that section is bugging me. I've listened to this song way too much to trust my own opinion, though :V

Thanks for the review!

[NGADM r1: f4p;f4c]

yessssss!!!!

Why isn't there moooarrr like that in the AP. It's always dubstep this, dubstep that, but never a decent breakcore tune.

The melodies are kinda weak, the drums coulda been more present, but who gives a fcuk?! Awesome programming dude! AWE! SOME! Second half blew me away. Dang, it's hard not to swear too much when this is running in the background...

midimachine responds:

it's all i'm good at lol

there's probably not much of it in the AP because people find it really aurally offensive, apparently.

[<MWA> Lucky You (Ngadm)]

Holy cow!

First of all: I'm here for 1 1/2 months, listened to quite some songs, but I'll open up my favourites section with this one only now!

I love 7 or 5 time signatures, only a few people know how to make it work. I think you even made it work for people who don't have too much experience in music. It's exciting, but not odd at all, it just flows from the beginning.

The song with piano and cello was great as it was, but you put in those short electronic sections like a pro cook using just the right amount of spices, they leave me craving for more!

The harmonies are extremely well put together. The choice for going major in the third chord is just the kind of surprise I love! The solo cello is playing very softly, adding a lot of atmosphere, making things more interesting, but keeping the piano in foreground. I really learned something here: Having a solo instrument doesn't necessarily mean, it takes the biggest cake... THANKS!!!

Final verdict: This is the most unique and best song I've heard here so far.

mjattie responds:

I'm glad to hear that you've opened your favourites section for this song :)

It's funny how you compare me as a composer to a cook xd never heard that before!

It's nice that I helped you with the foreground and background and solo thingy!

thanks a lot!