Knuckstrike's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[C23~Blue 15]

Amazing. Every song seems to sound better and better.
Even though you have way more knowledge about music like this, here is my stubborn opinion and critisism. :)

INTRO
I love it. I'm always a fan of simple intros, so I'm certainly not negative about that. It's really different from the rest of the piece though. Maybe you could get some piano or similar sounding instruments in the rest of the song, so the intro is more of a preview?

GENERAL SOUND
As I said before, the piano sounds amazing. The orchestral instrument gives it the idea of a song instead of a string of notes.
You always have really different music lines. Great originality. Where do you get all that inspiration from? I'm really jealous.
Of course, when the beat starts to come in it starts to sound like a full song. As I haven't carefully gone through your previous songs I can't say what familiar elements are in there, but I do want to say that I really like it. Especially the higher part that starts at 1:26. That's probably what I like most about this song. I always like catchy bits that get stuck in my head. If something like that works, you can always expect a high mark from me.

The quiet part is something really different. But because you used something of the first part in it, this part works. I can't explain it differently. It is a welcome difference from the first part.
I think it's the tension that's the same as with the first part. (And of course a few of the same series of notes). Anyway, This part is pretty close to the catchy part in terms of good-soundingness.
It's also a plus that you didn't make this part drag on too long. Not because it's not good, but because otherwise a great part of the song will become slow. You already have a pretty long intro, and I wouldn't like if a too big part of the song will become as slow as some of your other songs.

And then, yay, bell sounds. I don't think you'll ever forget where the bells are in FL10 :D. You manage to find a place for them in your songs very often, and I'm happy that you do. For me that's the biggest characteristic of C-23/NLC.

As with the intro, the ending is long. With the intro I didn't really mind, but I thought the ending dragged on a bit too long. My unexperienced ears didn't get bored, but did find it too long.

TRANSITIONS
The hit at 0:22 is a great transition. It gives full attention to the extra instruments put in there. I felt like you could've done something a bit different at 0:43 though. Maybe the same sound but a few times in a row? Something that doesn't make it sound like you put three intros in the same song, separated by a hit of a drum-like instrument.
The beat going faster from 0:54 to 1:04 is a classic transition. Although I hear it really often, it does fit there. For originality, you could make a different rhythm. This is nitpicking though.
There isn't a transition between every part, and I really don't mind. In fact, I think it would be irritating if there would be a transition every time. So great job on that.

I'm getting to the final thousand characters now, so I'm finishing my review. Know that I think this is maybe your best song yet. It isn't one that fits into the style of music I like, but It still definitely deserves a 9. You can hear each of the six hours you put in it.
By the way, I'll get to reviewing your other songs soon.

Review request club

KrisKrosNL responds:

This is the longest review you've written. O_O

Achieve inspiration...through determination...=)

Thanks for the feedback. I really DO want to make each transition different, but I don't have other samples. =\

[Final Fatasy 7 Overture]

This is my first time reviewing like this. I hope the review will turn out okay.

INTRO
The start is really good. The ladders work well with this piece, and the calmness you start with works well as an intro. It gets a bit boring after a while though. To an unexperienced listener like me it sounds as if the part from 0:00-0:48 is almost the same ladder all the time. If you could start with putting that extra instrument at 0:49 in at half of the current intro (0:24) It wouldn't sound as repetive.

GENERAL SOUND
You can easily count the amount of FF games I've played on one hand, so I'm not familiar with the kind of music. I've never heard this song before either, so I had to search for the original.
I like how you made the music sound a bit fuller. The extra instrument you put in from the start fits just perfect with the whole song.
Because you made it sound full from the start and didn't put that many instruments in later the surprise of orchestral instruments wasn't as much as in the original. It didn't make it worse than the original though. Just softer. I think it would me more suitable as background music now than it did before.

ENDING
A compliment here on how good it loops. The original didn't loop as well as this. It's not too different from the rest of the song, so not much to say about this.

OTHER REMARKS/OVERALL
Even though it lacks the climax of the original, I really enjoyed listening to this piece. The only thing you may need to watch out for is that parts don't drag too long, or it will get boring. You did a great job though. It's not easy to make a special song out of an intro.

Review request club

Rinibra responds:

Thank you so much!

[How to be a Monster]

It doesn't sound like something serious, especially now I've read the author comments. However, you want a real review so here is one.

I'm not starting off negative. It's your first audio submission, so it's nice that you want to sumbit something. It's also good to hear that the younger ones are interested in Newgrounds as well. :)
It was short, but 470kb is still pretty small for audio. Good job on that.

I'll have to point out the obvious though: your cousin is barely hearable. If you can tell him to talk clearer and a bit further away from the microphone it would sound less horrible to the ears.
Maybe you could post the "lyrics" in the author comments so we know what he's saying.
It wasn't completely unhearable though. I managed to hear everything after listening to it a few times.

For next time, it would also be better if there was a bit more time spent on the story. It didn't really have an end. But what bothered me most was the "and then, and then". I guess you can't help that with a story written by someone so young, but it does take away from the quality.

Review request club

JimmyTheCaterpillar responds:

Lol. Thanks Knuckstrike.

[Rejection]

The intro is great. It's original, and it makes it possible for the music to kick in after that. I don't know what it has to do with the rest of the song though. It seems a bit odd that, after a rejection, a happy house song plays.

That doesn't take away anything from how good the song sounds though. I like how happy it is, and the different sounds put in this song sound good. Especially the voice in it. I liked the interrupting notes you put in at 1:48 and onwards too.
The beat is just right for a house track. It's not too loud, but certainly present.

Although you can't prevent the song from getting a bit repetive with a house track, it's a bit too much. Maybe you can make the voice say something else sometimes? Or you can make an instrument disappear, like you did at 1:25. That bit sounded really good.

Review request club

[[NLC] Truth]

It starts off with clear bell sounds. This is almost a habit of you. Not that I mind though, it's nice to have some sort of personal thing that often returns in your songs. Again it makes a good intro. Something calm which you can break later with percussion.
This bell sound didn't give me pain in the ears at the start, but it was good that you slowly took it out. For start because it gives that difference between calm and percussion, and because the song sounds more like a D&B track because of that.

The softer part after 0:48 sounds well. I don't know why you picked that race car sound, but it actually fitted there. A good addition.
What I like less is the drums coming in at 1:01. It throws the song off a bit. I don't know exactly how to explain it, but it pulls in all the attention. That, and each time a hit of the drum sounds just before the start of a new beat, which sounds a bit irritating.

I really loved the drums at 1:55 and onwards though. It's not spectacular, but a good beat before the end. When the electronic sound comes in at 2:18 it becomes the best part of this song IMO.

I liked the ending. It wasn't just a fade-out, you kept one instrument "alive" and stopped the rest. Maarten's idea of an echoing snare drum would make it even better though. After all, nobody's perfect. ;)

Apart from that drum thing it's a good song. You picked the right instruments to mix together. The main melody is good, something I hadn't heard before. Actually, the whole song doesn't have familiar elements, apart from the structure (calm part, loud part, calm part). Originality is always a plus.

Review request club

KrisKrosNL responds:

Ha ha, that bell is something you always hear in my original work. :P

I was looking for a good transition, so that race car sound came into being.

I, myself, feel uncomfortable about the drums at 1:01. I should have changed the beats. -_-

Thanks for the review. A drum problem solved is always worth it. :P

[Lance Battle RMX WIP]

This is one of the most remixed songs of all pokemon games. Rightly, because in my eyes it's the most epic Pokémon song. Not to mention the one I have the most memories of. I have heard this over fifty times in both the original Pokémon Silver version as well as in the more modern Heartgold game, so it's nice to finally hear a song from you of which I really know how the original sounded.

I love how at the start there is a difference between the clear bell sound and the more dark sounding instrument. You should definitely keep that in the final version, if you're going to make one.
The best part in this song is the part from 0:25 to 0:40. Amazing how well the climax builds up. A climax that sounds like it's faster than the rest of the song is the perfect build-up for the chaotic part that comes next. In fact, it would be a great build-up for almost any part that's the main part of the song. Whatever you're going to do with the part that comes next, keep this build-up in the song.

From here on it seems to get more and more chaotic up until the ending theme. I liked most of it, even up until 1:27. From 1:23 to 1:27 it still sounds structured and epic. But from 1:27 and onwards (until 1:49) it's too chaotic. And the notes are too high at the beginning of that part.

I wouldn't mind if you delete/rewrite those 22 seconds entirely. I think it is supposed to act as the end of the piece of music, but you don't need that since you have the quiet battle end music which already acts as an end.
That ending song is just fine. If you would put that right after the epic/hard part it may give a nice surprise effect.

Just an idea: you can also try to cut off the last four seconds and keep the volume of the ending the same as the rest of the song. I don't know if you want the last note to echo or not.
It's probably a bad idea, and I don't say you should. I was just wondering if that would sound good too.

Anyway, this is for me the best of all your songs. It's a song I have always liked, and you did well remixing it. You should keep every instrument you used. They all add to the epic feeling this song has, and is supposed to give.
I don't mind that it's chaotic: it fits with the majority of the song. Be careful with that part just before the battle ending theme though. It gets a bit too chaotic there, even for this song.

And one final note: I'm sorry if I used the word "part" too often in this review. It's my new word that I use very often while reviewing. :)

Best of luck with your final version of this song.

Review request club

KrisKrosNL responds:

I'm planning of removing the end part (it just doesn't sound right).

The part after 1:27 will be removed from the final version. :P There will be a similar, longer rhythem playing instead of a lame stop.

This is probably the longest review you've written for any of my works. :P

Thanks for the review.

[[NLC] The Liberaten]

This is your first non-remix, right? It must be hard to think of a song like this by yourself.

This has a very simple intro. That's fine, and fitting for an intro, but I would've liked some more instruments to back it up later. During almost the whole song only one distinctive instrument plays. Your melody can be amazing, but it will still get repetive if you do that.

I don't know why, but there seems to be a difference in how precise the time between two notes is from 0:28-0:58 and 0:59-1:33. I like the second part more, as it seems a bit more professional and tight there.

Then came the "effect spamming", as Maarten said it. I don't know how to call it, so I'll just name it like that. It wasn't irritating, but to say if it sounded nice... not really.

I don't like this song as much as your other songs, mainly because there is less in it. It doesn't sound as full as your other songs. It's not a bad song, as there isn't a thing that's really bad about this song, but nothing attracts me to it either.

Review request club

KrisKrosNL responds:

Yep; non-remix.

I couldn't add extra instruments since my old laptop couldn't handle the amount of RAM it was using. Now with this new laptop, I'll try to make it sound more specific.

Indeed, you've noticed the off-key zones. I've already noticed this but never payed enough attention to actually correct it. I'll be working on the re-noting.

[City Vibes]

I like the creepy feeling it gives at the start. Because of that there was a large difference between the intro of the song and the rest. Not a bad thing though.
After about halfway down the song it became a bit too flat and more of the same, so I didn't like that part as much.

After listening to it a few times, I finally noticed why this song was called city vibes. Nice use of the sound effects. :)

Everything sounded well, there was a nice build-up, and the sound effects thrown in keep the song entertaining, so this song definitely deserves a four. Either make it a bit shorter, or indeed make it more powerful.

Review request club.

Hikari responds:

I love you

[Not Enough {Dj-Abbic}]

The starting beat is fine. Just a beat is a pretty nice way to start. What I do have, all the way until 0:53, that I did get a bit bored with the basic beat that almost stands on its own. If you cut half of this, I don't think it would take away anything from the great quality of this song.

When the real melody came in it immediately starts to sound better. It doesn't sound very clear, but the electric and a bit distorted sound it has sounds nice with the rest of the instruments. Again it continues a bit long, but because this has a bit more to it it doesn't sound as irritating as the starting beat for 50 seconds.

I like the slower parts. I normally have that with a continuous loud beat I turn my volume down, but I don't have that with this song. The calmness of some parts cause that. It's also a climax for the somewhat louder parts. Good job on this.

One of the climaxes builds towards 2:45, definitely the real house part of this song. I feel like that's the core part of the song, and it's really good. The variation of instruments makes it exiting, almost like the beat is faster there. And that's something I like in a song. The title doesn't say anything about this part :).

The ending is very creative. At first I thought it would just be the music playing softer and softer, but that isn't the case at all. Awesome work on that. It is something I haven't heard in a song before.

The only flaw about this whole song is that a lot of the parts go on too long. The whole part from 4:15 to 6:37 is basically the same, but with an instrument left out every thirty seconds.

It's a really good song overall though. It almost deserves a perfect score.

Review request club

DjAbbic responds:

I understand what you mean by the intro/outro being very long. I made it that way because I followed the standard club layout (long intro and outro for easy DJ mixing), but now I see that 4:15 to 6:37 is just a tad too much :P. I might change it but then again, I might not.

Thanks a lot for the constructive review! I really appreciate it.

[Lux Cannon]

A good variation of sounds.

The piano you start off with sounds nice. But really from the point when the beat comes in it really starts to sound like a complete song. The melody at that point is great. You should let that sound a bit throughout the entire song.

A dark part followed next. The original melody/sound was hearable there, and the instruments you use sound well. It was a bit monotone though, some sounds here and there in that part would give it some extra power.

And then there was the real dubstep. It's always good to try ad experiment a bit, but this part differed a bit too much from the rest of the song. That was because of two points:
- It was much louder than the rest.
- The original melody was hardly distinguishable.
I didn't notice any mistakes, and the sounds you used were ones I hadn't heard before. So that doesn't make it a bad part. It does make it a part which you can improve.

The end was pretty nice. To let the original melody come back sounded good. I hoped for more of an ending though. Now it's basically the same as the intro, but then with a fade out.

Still, as a whole it's a good song, with enough variation to keep me interested.

Review request club