alternativesolution's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Chikawah]

Very unique sounds! Your entire composition is very upbeat, and intriguing. Lovely melodies :D The way you mix styles is a very good thing. I was definitely pleasantly surprised at 0:10 and again 6 seconds later. I love the drums right at 2:04!

The transition at 1:00 was nice. However, there is a lot of distortion/clipping (when the bass and drums play together?) in your track, too, although the distortion might intentional. Even so, the mix is still quite rough.

The major downside of this track? Not much dynamic change. Everything stays at about the same level, with the same level of busyness, and gets pretty monotonous after listening a few times. A little repetitive after a while, too. Luckily the effects and melodies you've got help offset that for the first time around, if you're not listening critically.

The best about this song is its funk, plain and simple - of which your song, is not, that is to say! Simple? No. This is a very messy but very cool-sounding track.

FrankMunoz responds:

My thoughts exactly,
I did have a deadline though. I added more than half of that track in the last few hours so I am honestly pleased with what I produced. The main thing I felt wrong with the piece was the dynamic range as well, but all is well that ends well.~

[Painted Dreams (Studio)]

I really like the soft harmony going on in the beginning. :) Makes me feel floaty, and everything sounds like it's in its place. Enjoying the view, with a definite appreciative tone, with a hint of wonder.

Then...later, a childish sort of hopefulness, with a certain eagerness, although kept in check. The dreams are wild! The imagination is not limited.... until you wake up at 1:50. You then reflect on your dreams for a moment, wondering if they can come to life, after all....and so you decide to paint them, with your own actions.

Of course, I haven't seen what this music will eventually go alongside, so that is just my interpretation. :) I think the sudden change at 1:49 did sound off, with the drastic shift in mood, but this is a film score, after all!

Really great work. If I had to pick a favorite, it would be the first section before the overlap. It's relaxing yet energizing at the same time, and I find that pretty cool.

deadlyfishes responds:

The shift in mood is only because of it being scored to picture. Thanks for understanding that! You are pretty close to what's happening here, but if you took a second to look at the orchestral score, there are some notes as to what the music is playing to. Thanks for your review!

[FD - Lurking]

Oh man. The atmosphere here is just incredible. The whispering vocals at the beginning and end really add to that. The very last few seconds of the track sounds rushed, because with this type of music you have created, I think the ending that would best suit this would be slightly drawn out or sudden and dramatic. This one seems to land smack between the two.
As for your guitar work, it is great; bass is very cool, and percussion wonderfully mixed ...everything about this piece just screams "ATMOSPHERE!!" - which completely suits the art piece that inspired you. Well done!

ForgottenDawn responds:

Thank you for your insight. It may sound rushed because in fact I had very little time left to finish my entry and I was already fighting many adversities and annoyances, like my headphones failing at the last minute or constant black-outs and internet shutdowns. So in the end it was kind of a miracle I actually managed to finish it in time. I could have made it better, and I think it's a decent piece but not great or memorable. 'Till next time, and thanks again.
//FD

[Undine]

Such beautiful composition. I saw the artwork, too, and I think you did an excellent job of relating the music to it. It's soft, and mysterious... The subtleness of the song adds to the wonderful atmosphere you have. The vocals - which are nothing less than stunning - are mixed beautifully. They made the song haunting, and extremely emotional. And when you add in those strings.... *sigh* All my feelings, man. ALL THE FEELS.

Fave fave fave.

Also, something very minor - that key at 1:13 is definitely too loud, and sounds out of place. It detracted from the mood for a moment...but just for a moment. As for your harp...just...lovely.

This is a piece of music I can wholly appreciate. I really do hope this land a spot on the Aim album :')

SilverPoyozo responds:

Sadly collaborations weren't allowed so it was disqualified D:

Well, anyways... Thanks, thanks, thanks!A lot!
The instruments were pretty unbalanced here but I'm glad it didn't ruin your enjoyment of it.

[Blinding Drive]

It's cool that you're coming up with your own themes for your stories! I like to do that a lot. So, for the song - I think your composition is not bad. I liked when the strings came together at 2:20 until 2:35 - really gave that boss theme feel.

As for your instruments, they could be mixed a lot better - nothing was really too muddy or trebly, but your sounds don't mesh together very well. Let your sounds complement each other! Several notes clash together unpleasantly - at 3:08 for example - melodically and rhythmically; but I can see some pretty decent ideas under the chaos. I think with further development of your music skills, your mix could be improved, and your melodies given a chance to shine.

Overall, a haunting, danger-filled theme indeed...a composition suitable for the events within a story. Good luck with your book !

Blacklawn responds:

Thanks! Considering the things you said, 3 stars seem like a pretty low rating, though :/

[~SW~ City of the Clouds]

Wow, I can really hear the effort in this one! Yes, your mix is not bad at all! It's great!
I like how the moods change within the song while still sounding like it's part of the same piece. I enjoy these cinematic-type/movie/game pieces because of this reason. And it helps to maintain interest!

So, your instrument choice works out very well. Nothing really clashes at all. The part at 1:41 sounds a little random while at the same time dancey, but the randomness doesn't last for too long, and after another listen, it begins to grow on you. Funky :D The soundtrack to "Moonview Highway" of Mario Kart immediately came to mind. And that guitar in the final segment...I found myself bobbing my head a little :)

You let the song calm down fantastically after all the energy, which is very, very good (transitions are superb!) However, what I think would work well for this song would be to extend the ending by a few extra seconds. I feel like the sort of ending you've made merits a longer fadeout; let it decay, even for just a bit. It sounds like it suffocated instead of leaving you with that floaty yet earthy feeling from before.

Which brings me to my next point - the atmosphere you created has a very earthy-feel to it, with just the right amount of airiness to it. You get it right from the introduction. It's terrific, and I can see how the art inspired you! I think my favorite sections were definitely the first two. The build-up to the third part - Starlight City - is just amazing, and I can't get over it.

Great description, by the way. It's nice to hear what listeners think after hearing a song, but I can't give you much else, since the art, along with what you've written, does a pretty amazing job at describing what you're going for -- which happens to be exactly what I hear.

Just...very well done. 5/5.

SkyeWint responds:

I HAVE ANOTHER 22 HOURS I CAN FIX THE PROBLEMS YOU MENTIONED! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA xD

Seriously though thanks for the review! ^_^

First of all, the effort in this is, surprisingly, less than in some of my other music (most notably Dimethyltriptamine and Birth of an Astral Nation) - at least, when it comes to hours spent in-program. I only spent 31 on this as opposed to something like 87 on BoaAN and 99 on DMT. There is a lot in this that I put a lot of effort into though, time isn't the only way to figure out effort.

The instruments took a long time to decide on, but fortunately Omnisphere has just about everything I could possibly want. Those organ solos were probably the most fun to make, to be honest. xD The 'guitar' at the end is, surprisingly, another synth that has SO much wack on it that it's totally insane.

When it comes to transitions, I don't know. I guess I've always been good at that, to be honest. People have always commented on those as being super-smooth and good. I definitely agree about the ending, I think I'll edit it a little bit along with a few tiny things about the mixing that I noticed upon the export.

All the airiness was a thing that I really wanted to do. To be honest, considering I had made a lot more down-to-earth and spacey themes, I thought doing something involving the sky would be nice. Also, since you're judging in the NGADM, if I get into it (tempted to use this as my audition instead of the one i had originally submitted), I'm definitely going to be trying out some different and cool stuff.

About buildups: I actually consider buildups and their reverse to be extremely important in transitions. Here's how I think of it. Music has a flow - as a musician it's my job to find that flow and follow it, nudging it in the direction I want it to go to and trying to herd it a bit so that it can grow, but in the direction I want it to grow. If you can figure out the flow, making transitions takes almost no effort at all. :) I'm glad you liked the buildups, those were some of the best parts to make. If I were to pick a favorite part, it'd probably be 1:54-2:56. Sound effects feel so nice to put into a piece, lol.

The description was just there for people who were having a hard time figuring things out. I'm always happy to hear if someone can hear a story in my music though, even if it's not mine! After all, I try to make my music have some kind of story behind it as well, so that people can close their eyes and just "see" things because of it. It's always a cool thing to hear about that.

Anyway, now that I've made a response about as long as your review, thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks thank you thank you thank ye kindly muchos gracias and gesundheit. Your review was really helpful and awesome. Looking forward to the NGADM! :D

[Metanoia]

Toward the middle you've got some nice style! It's always fun to hear originality in this genre. I really wasn't expecting a lot of what I heard. And may I add that incorporating those strings in the latter half just worked really well? :D
For some reason in the first half, the sounds didn't mesh together nearly as well as other parts of the song. I think the rhythms of each synth just didn't complement each other as well.

I like the part near 1:40 :) After there the song just seems to pick up very nicely. Your progression is not bad at all. You do the rare thing of having repetitive chords actually work throughout the whole song by including lots of variation, and not cheap, lazy variation, either. The piano was nice.
The ending is sudden and completely unexpected - and empty, at that; the song probably could have been lead to its conclusion with even just a few seconds of indication of its end, right before the piano plays its final notes.

Overall, a very, very good first attempt at electronic music! :D

bassfiddlejones responds:

Thank you for the review! As I said, I don't do too much electronic music. Perhaps I'll have to try and get back into it! I appreciate the kind words and constructive criticism!

[The Forest]

Oh, atmosphere. :D Very subtle, and pleasing to listen to. I like this a lot. Ah, right from the start I felt a little chill. You did a good job with the sounds and overall ambiance.
The ending was the only thing I don't like, as it felt like the end wasn't supposed to be abrupt, but ended up turning out so, anyway.

SoTJake responds:

Well, yeah it actually should be a loop that's why the ednign is so abrupt.

Thanks for your review though. :)

[Transformation]

Oh, very nice stuff :D You got me right at the intro. And the atmosphere is wonderful. The looping is not bad, and oh, at 0:13 was just great. It felt too quiet and somewhat empty exactly two seconds later, though, even for the tiny build up you created. A letdown, but a tiny one, at that.

This tracks seems to emit a very Linkin Park vibe, for reasons I can't explain, because I don't know them yet ^__^' Perhaps stuff from their Reanimation album, which I love to pieces. Something about the chords and ambiance, maybe.

So you've got this awesome rhythm and it works very well. Nice melodies, too; I like that you reintroduce the theme toward the end - it never really goes away. I can't really get over how much I like this. So just, good job in general! Interesting description, by the way. :) There's nothing better than having something to read or look at while listening to a piece of music, letting the story play out beside your ears.

[The Outlier (AIM Entry)]

Whoa O__O

I see how the art has inspired you! I think it's just a shame that I really can't hear a word of the lyrics. I they are pretty great, really, so I'm glad you put them there. I understand this is supposed to be a pretty chaotic track, but I think the chaos worked against the song because after a while it doesn't sound so tough anymore. It's like trying to maintain that rage and craziness, but the lack of dynamic variation leaves you at this level..level. The transposing arps help offset this somewhat, though, by keeping the tension in its melodies high.

There's this toned-down part between 1:50 and 2:16, and that helps the song, but by 2:16 there isn't much of a 'rush' when you introduce the vocals again. That loud filtering synth could be turned down some, and then maybe with a small transition to lead the listener back to 2:16. Just some suggestions.

Overall, pretty insane track. Props for nearly making me jump when I first skipped through the song!

Lich responds:

Thanks for the review.

Trust me when I say that I try to keep my vocal-work more understandable than some of the other artists in the genre :P Anyway, like I said below I did end up getting rather lazy with this track and pretty much copy&pasting the first half to the second half, didn't help me in the long-run but hey, it's still a full track.

I did have some problems with the automation regarding my main lead and I really couldn't think of what else i could do for 1:50-2:16 so I just left it at that.