stunkel's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Esperanza de la Vega]

Geez man... What is this madness that you have created. East/west gypsy has incredible guitars. That alone may have just convinced me to get them... Regardless of how good a VST or AU sounds, learning how to use it well is more than half of the battle, and you did something awesome with it. I remember you mentioned that you weren't using the grid in Logic when you were making this. Which I think is just ridiculous, because the song does have a whole new world of realism to it. I'm sure it was difficult to do, but it definitely paid off. It's like someone is actually playing without a metronome. I think you took a big risk doing an almost solo instrument piece for NGADM, but I think it paid off. It's great that you went out of comfort zone to do this, and you have been with every single round, and I don't think it has turned against you yet (Except for last round maybe, but it still paid off because you were the highest scoring contestant!) And for not being a guitar player, this is just fantastic, even if you were a guitar player, this would be very impressive. It's so hard to choose who I want to win in this whole contest, everyone is making impressive works and are pouring their hearts into these songs. I really think you have a great shot at winning the entire thing though. Good luck man, you nailed it again :P

-Ryan

SoundChris responds:

Thanks a lot stunkel for that very helpful and monster detailed review! I decided to do some solo instrument track because in the rounds before i made stuff with many instruments and lots of tracks. Because the last time the critique has been that the judges were missing a recognizable main melody i decided to focus on realism and composition. So if you think it would sound real this compliment makes me happy :D

To be honest - to compose without the DAW grid was pure horror, but i really think it improved the degree of realism a lot (but it was very time intensive). You never know how things will go in the NGADM because all the contestants made pretty nice pieces but i still have hope that this journey could go on a little bit longer. This contest helped me to improve and discover many new aspects of music. I always think to choose a new genre helps to grow as a musician... and the possible styles and genres out there are just very appetizin :)

So thanks a lot for that great review of yours! All the best,

Chris

[She Was Picking Flowers]

Your music is awesome. I've been keeping my eye on you during this competition, and you have impressed me more than anyone else. Like honestly... what is this style?!? It's celtic with an electronic twist to it. I have to assume you want to do some video game music in the future, because this stuff sounds like something that I would hear in Super Mario Galaxy in some parts. The production is awesome, and mixing is full and clean. This song is so calming but it goes into an epic direction so well and just gahhh. The music box at the end is an awesome idea, the sample was decent, but I still enjoyed it :p Great work man, I really hope you nail it for the judges. This just sounds incredible. I'll be keeping my eye out on you

-Ryan

steampianist responds:

Keeping an eye out? sounds painful dude... Ahe

Lame joke aside thank you for the review and yes I like ost tracks from video games. Cos videogame music allows you to be as surreal as you want almost impractical for live instruments (unless you use a keyboard/piano). Oh and btw this style is called surrealism

Again thanks for reviewing

[Retro Funk]

Damn dude, nice work! Sounds solid :3

8BitPICE responds:

Thank you! You have great songs as well!

[Streets of Whiterun Vocal]

I don't know the original song, but this is just beautiful. Great vocal production and harmonies. You have a beautiful voice and I can see you going places :) Great work and good luck in NGADM!

[The Tomb Shaker]

This wuz gud but I didn't hear a shaker newhere in dis song. After all the song is called The Tomb Shaker. -10000/5 stars.

But seriously. This is great work. The change in the beginning was much better in my opinion in terms of realism from when I heard it last. The songs demonstrates the possibilities of what you can do with the Dan Tranh very well! Sorry for the short review. I promise when I do the encapsulation review it will be much longer :)

5/5

Step responds:

"This wuz gud but I didn't hear a shaker newhere in dis song. After all the song is called The Tomb Shaker. -10000/5 stars."

nu nu nu u dont get it lol. dis sung is about a tomb-enthusiast who shakez his ass all day long. not about shakers lol. stoopid.

"But seriously. This is great work. The change in the beginning was much better in my opinion in terms of realism from when I heard it last."

Yeah I like it better too! Thanks for that suggestion.

"The songs demonstrates the possibilities of what you can do with the Dan Tranh very well!"

That was the whole point of it so I'm glad that came across well!

"Sorry for the short review. I promise when I do the encapsulation review it will be much longer :)"

Woo, looking forward to it. Thanks for the review man!

[NSP: Evil Clones]

Does NSP stand for Ninja Sex Party? :P

SilentMrDave responds:

Name Still Pending :P

[Lover's Lament]

Hey Bass! Congrats on getting 2nd/3rd in the first round of NGMT! This song is very indeed simple. In my opinion you chose the perfect instruments to create a monochromatic theme. That muted plucked harp in the beginning is exactly what monochromatic is to me. Very nice double bass playing might I add! It's too bad you weren't able to brag about that in the voting because I'm sure you have gotten a few more votes for live playing. You pointed out the intonation issues, but there were only a few times where it came up, and it didn't really bother me too much to the rest of the piece. I know the the contest was to make it simple, but maybe it would have been cool to hear another instrument in there to change it up a bit. Maybe throw in some piano chords on it's own. I feel like it's repetitive, but in a way where the entire pieces dynamics or ideas don't change enough. Nonetheless, this piece is a great representation of the monochromatic theme. Great playing and great composing. A well worthy 2nd/3rd place! Great work!

-Ryan

bassfiddlejones responds:

Hey man! Thanks for the review. I'm glad the monochrome theme really came across. I was indeed hoping for a few more votes, but I'm very happy with the piece and my placing! I probably could have added some more variation, but was going for as simplistic as possible. Glad you liked the piece man, thanks again!

[The Monochrome World]

FIrst, off. Congratulations on winning the first round of NGMT! The voters seemed to choose well this round :P This meets the themes standards perfectly. I'm not sure if you were going for one color or no color, but to met it sounds like there was no color, if you went for that, then nice work! You pretty much touch up on everything in your description that needs to be changed. The violins are a bit cheesy, they are a bit high-pitched at times as well... I would have liked to hear my variation in the piece though. The piece isn't repetitive note-wise, but conceptually it is. Just message me if you don't get what I mean, I can explain further DX Maybe it would have been cool to hear some piano take the lead melody and the violin take a break, that may have helped tone down the cheesy-ness a bit. But anyways, this was an awesome piece and was well worthy of winning this round! Great work!

-Stunkel

EvilRaccoon responds:

I think I get exactly what you mean. Thankyou very much for the feedback, it helps significantly!

[Dawning]

YAY NEW SONG :D

ChasingPresence responds:

:DDD

[The Quietlands]

Hey Neon :)

So this piece is pretty awesome. I'm really happy it placed in the contest. You deserve it, especially with an awesome piece like this. The piano work is fantastic and your instrument choice is awesome, which says a lot since you only had so many instruments to choose from! The only thing I can really criticize on is that the song gets a little repetitive. Mainly the bass in the piano, but perhaps that's what makes it sound so monochromatic... Overall, this is a solid piece! And it definitely deserved a spot on the top three! I hope you join in on the other rounds of this contest!

-Stunkel

Neon-Bard responds:

Hey Stunkel!

I really appreciate the kind words and feedback! It's good to know that I chose my instruments correctly, I'm glad it all worked out the way it did. As others have pointed out, the repetition can be a tad too much, so I understand where you're coming from. I'll definitely have to keep this in mind for future songs! :)