alternativesolution's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Midnight Ocean.]

Beautiful!

Diverse sounds, clear mastering, and wonderfully emotional. this is clearly an underrated piece of music. Fived? Yes. Fav'd? HEck yes. :)
I really love your progressions and the piano is just so beautiful sounding! Sounding just smooth and clear but full of life is definitely something I can appreciate. Good job on this one, sir. Also, I've been listening to your other tracks and just want to let you know ..well, that I have been listening. Keep making great tracks like these, man!

Pushbar responds:

Thank you :)

[FS: Nothing But Space]

Atmosphere

Mildly mysterious beginning, the drums came in really nicely, especially with the melody. That was very good rhythm-wise. I like the electric piano feel with the drums and that effect that came in (1:50). Sometimes I felt the melody started off great, but didn't turn into anything memorable. Like there was this awesome build-up, and the first few seconds of melody were good, then I got lost, and then it got it nicer again at 0:50.
Once it gets around 1:13 you have this really nice tone going on; like not quite depressed, but kind of, and reflecting, maybe on the past or some kind of decision..I felt a tiny bit of loneliness there.. and so then you build up again (I was expecting more for some reason, but I was like, oh, it's about to end :o) and so it ended. I think the last few ending notes should be stretched out a few more seconds or something, like it's too quick for the feel you had, as if it were cut short D: Like, that's it. End song. Done.
Except for that part, what strikes me the most about the rest of the song is your structural flow-->excellent. You have nice flow and my favorittteee part is the intro :D It just sounds so...mushied together in goodness in this way that makes my ears super happy :P
Ok so I did end up writing a lot haha. I didn't get much sleep last night (oh these exams) so forgive me if I missed a few things. Good jobbbbb, sir, on this one.

FairSquare responds:

I know what you mean about the melodies. But a memorable melody is often a very simple one and what i like most about making music is making melodies. So yeah, i put a lot into them and maybe that's what is keeping them away from being memorable. I don't know, i'm just saying stuff :p

And yeah, the ending was a bit abrupt. Happens to me sometimes and it's surely something to keep in mind :)

Thanks a lot for the review :D

[/M: Enrichment]

Excellent sound

"I'm not 100% satisfied with the outcome of this; but then again, what artist is ever content with their work?"
True stuff!
First off, veryyy nice intro. I really like your transitions...they're not in-your-face and obnoxious, but nicely developed. What isn't nearly as smooth as the rest of the piece is your outtro. It did clear up toward the end, but that last note kind of left me hanging in a not good way. The bass is pretty nice, which I can especially appreciate. Effects and filtering are excellent and helped keep the variety in your song. Your melodies loop smoothly for every repetition, and they're not too catchy, but 'just right' in a way. So like, when I have my next term paper due, I think I'll be listening to this btw :)

Mich responds:

I did take my time to make the transitions smooth, so I'm glad you noticed that. AS you may notice, I actually made sure to introduce another riff when the melody was fading out, which makes things seem less empty. :)

I do have a bit of trouble making decent outros now you mention it. I usually don't like fading what's going on out, so I try to make some sort of "ending variation" on what I had playing... which doesn't always seem to put an end to the song in that much of a good way, I suppose.

Glad you like the bass, although it's one of the things I wasn't really content with; I think I sidechained it too deeply to sound 'natural'. This can especially be heard near the end of the song, when the mix isn't so filled up with other things to conceal it.

I spent quite some time automating those filters and whatnot, so I'm glad that didn't go unnoticed.

The melodies not being that catchy may be because I strayed from the typical dance chord progression (I'm sure you know what I'm talking about), so they might be less memorable. However, after having listened to the track to quite a few times, the main melody does tend to stick around (at least for me).

Good luck with your paper, and thanks for the review!

[FS: The Start Of Something New]

Sounds epic at some parts, nice buildup

You fixed the synth! Sounds much better now, more pleasant. I think the intro is the best part here. I feel like the ending didn't work out as much, like it was kind of weak. too weak. You have some good melodies and your drums are awesome, the bass feels too powerful at some parts but that's probably what you were going for :p I feel kind of like you now, I can't quite say much. It's good, and keep doing what you're doing! :)

FairSquare responds:

Well, yeah, i kinda agree with you on the ending that it was kinda weak. Ah well, i'm too lazy to fix it and i wouldn't even know how :p
Thanks for the review miss! :D

[FS: Endless Fun]

It IS my fault!

I'm glad I told you to continue with this style!!
..Funky ;D Your drums are my FAVORITE! And then those brass synths... urgh. Why are they so damn attractive?! Hot rhythm, bold variation, and a totally different awesome style (that is still recognizable as pure FS). Your 'random melodies' are not so random this time, they are simply AWESOME! I love that digitally sounding synth toward the second half of the song, and that break around :20 is so badass >:D
I like I like I likeeee~! CONTINUE!! HAHAHAHA!!!

FairSquare responds:

Haha, i can't remember the last time i saw you this enthusiastic about a song of mine :p
But i'm really glad that you like it that much, since you're the reason i started making this :D
Thank you thank you thank you!

[FS: Playing Around]

Still sounds recognizable as a FS/Muss/MH song,

But this one definitely has a different touch to it. I'm very much liking the strings =) They were introduced very nicely and cleanly with that slight crescendo. And that additional synth that joins afterward...it's perfect...and that next one too XD You just have very good choice in choosing your sounds, your choices have definitely improved in terms of hearing each synth clearly and individually, which is a major plus =D
Your intro is to the point and bassline is pretty straight. Can't say too much about it since it just sounds good :p As for the ending, it was nice, it sounds like the song could just stay finished as a loop, or continue right from there, which in my head is hard to do sometimes :P
I like the funkiness this has, like it holds a certain playfulness, sweetness, confidence, and class to it in a weirdly said way XD And it has so much to it already that I hardly noticed it was a minute and half pretty much. I think you should continue with this sort of style, it sounds fresher and I just like it a lot =D

FairSquare responds:

Well, i was thinking of continuing the song but then i didn't felt like it anymore :p And looping it.. nah.
Thanks for the review! And in what style my next song is going to be.. i don't know. It's always a surprise to me too :p

[FS: ReBirth]

Nice mixing

I think the drums are a little too intense for the type of atmosphere you had before you introduced the beat. More like...it didn't suit too much the melody you had going on. Unless the drums were just overpowering in terms of loudness :p Speaking of the melodies, there were a bunch of mixed melodies like you had in your songs as MH16 :p Which of course makes the song busy and interesting to listen to, except this time felt it was more random? But not random. I don't know quite how to explain :p On another note, I think your best synth came at around 0:40. It's refreshing to hear. The intro is very nice too. I think the best aspect is definitely your mixing. There is a very nice balance of bass and treble and everything is clear. About the ending, it was really abrupt! It looked like it was about to take a few more seconds to end, but then, it was just over :o Maybe a little slowing down before the end? Or removing the drums a few measures early.. unless that is totally intentional :p

FairSquare responds:

Well, the idea with the drums was to smack you in your face :p
Like.. ''Hmm, this is nice *yawn*... WOAOHA DRUMS''
And i know what you mean with random, but not random. My earlier melodies were a bit more.. logical i think. And more predictable. The reason for that, is that with my earlier songs i always knew how the melody should go before i actually made the melody. That sounds vague :p
I mean, with my earlier songs i made the base first and then a melody on top of it. When the base was finished and i played it, i could already hear the melody while it wasn't there yet.. still sounds vague, but i can't explain it better :p
Now the difference is that i didn't have that with this song. I really had to figure out the melody.. it didn't go automatically as usual.
It's a good thing i guess.. :p
And that synth that comes in at 00:40 was there before the little break too :p Only with a different effect and a different role in the song.
The ending is a bit abrupt, i admit. I'll keep that in mind for my next song, to build it down more. Don't really feel like changing this song, but thanks for the advice anyway :)
Thanks for the review, you nice person you :D :D :D

[Muss: Dalliance]

Good rhythm!

I like the synths chosen! :D Together they have a very nice sound. Along with an interesting beat, and the piano was refreshing! My favorite part is around 1:50 with the intro of the new synth. It has a slightly different style than what I'm used to hearing from you..but man! I'm liking it. It has a good variety of...sound, like nothing sounds too repetitive or dull at all, I mean I could listen to this several times straight XD Excellent mixing too. Listening to this is very pleasant ":)

FairSquare responds:

Thanks! :)
I really do my best to prevent my songs from being boring :p
What to say, what to say? I don't know :p
Just, thank you :)

[The Shaolin Story]

Nice!

It has a good sound and your vocals are great. The transition from the very start to where the music enters is surprisingly smooth. && I think it's interesting where you got your inspiration. The feel is much more different than what I get from most hip-hop, and like SonicJ says it does feel kinda old-school. I definitely like it; I won't get tired of this too quick. Keep it up man =)

aliasf responds:

i appreciate the review! and im glad you enjoyed it....i just got into college now so im trying to make some time to finish a mixtape so be on the lookout for that when i finally complete it....thanks again.

[Muss: The Beginning]

Still has that classic MH16 sound :]

Nice! I can easily say the best things about this song are sound quality and progression. Your instruments were very well chosen--> that piano fit those drums which fit those synths ...and it didn't sound very much like your old songs, when each instrument had their own beautiful melody but some of them repelled each other, resulting in melodies not being fully appreciated and/or drowned out by the other instruments which sometimes don't fit as well or might just need some tweaking.
Also, the progression is very nice. There is contrast here and there with volume and panning, and genereal rhythm changes that make it sound much more song-y. At first I didn't really like the 1st synth at :20 and I thought it was too loud, but I've come to like it as a spunky change, refreshing. The loudness just adds to that.
I especially LOVE that build up at 1:32. You worked the sounds to give that RUSHH feeling and it works beautifully! And, your intro was absolutely amazing btw :)

FairSquare responds:

Haha, yeah, my older songs were way less structured :p
And i'm glad you liked it so much :D
But where is the criticism? xD
Haha, nah, just kidding :p Thanks so much for your review! :)