NickPerrin's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Guardians of Old]

Why hello fellow 101% Run arranger.

Great work, nice arrangement with a fantastic atmosphere and full sound. Really has an earthy vibe which was a nice change from the more spacey feel of most of the album. Plus I'm always a duduk fan. The ending is very well executed. Lots of fun overall, and reminds me I should upload my HoaH arrangement here! Cheers.

Step responds:

Hello there fellow 101%er!

I'm glad you enjoyed it man, it feels great coming from you! The album does have quite a bit of a spacey feel in a lot of its submissions but it does have quite a lot of orchestral too! Darren takes full responsibility for that :3.

Oh god yes, duduks are incredible. I love them to bits, and I think they're my favourite woodwind instrument. The flute is my favourite standard woodwind instrument though.

Thanks for dropping by, man. Your arrangement is absolutely phenomenal and this reminds me that I haven't favourited you on Newgrounds yet. Shame on me!

Thanks again!

[Europa]

Love it. I don't currently have the time to write out a full a review, but you've got a fan. Good luck in the contest!

BTW, I've never heard of low volume being a symptom of a computer that isn't powerful. I have no idea how the two could possibly be connected in any technical situation ever. In any case, I really do like the dynamic range of this piece.

TaylorS responds:

I use Finale 2012 and Garritan Personal Orchestra 4. It seems that the whole thing is based off how much RAM your computer has and I can't seem to find a way to increase the volume without clipping occurring. I'm not very wise to the technical aspect of these audio programming so any advice would be appreciated.

[Somnolence, orchestral fa]

Great work.

I enjoyed this one. Easily the best entry in the orchestral MAC contest so far. Of course, NG loves its big, obvious & overblown epic tracks more than thoughtful, slowly-developing and more challenging music, but at least you'll have my love if not the contest's. :)

Some thoughts - the orchestration seems a little flat. Perhaps this is just a case of difficulty making an accurately colourful mockup with virtual instruments, or the limitations of the smaller and fairly homogenous-sounding ensemble you've chosen, but the overall texture, while suitable for the melodic/motivic material, could use some variation - mainly if used as an entry for a contest that will highlight the idiomatic nature of ALL orchestral music.

The musical ideas themselves are obviously headed in an original direction, but sometimes fade into atmospherics in terms of interest, rather than always being fully engaging material (note: engaging doesn't always mean FAST/EPIC/STUPID/ETC to an experienced listener, so no need to sacrifice the mood you're aiming at). This is something I'm sure is just a matter of improving your craft over time, so I can't really give any advice on it.

Anyway as I said, I enjoyed it and listened fully through, keep up the good work!

I think I'll put something together for this contest too... see you around!

sinequanon responds:

hey nick, it's great to hear from you again. your points are well taken and merit considerate response.

on orchestration, I believe deeply that each musical conception must be realized uniquely to the expectation of its materials. in this piece I'm challenging listeners to experience not color, but nuance within color. with a sample library our means are limitless, but it would be dishonest given the dramatic arc of this particular piece to interrupt the relentless musical introspection with extraneous elements or instruments. I rarely hear consistency in the audio portal since it seems composers prefer indulgence, and in a sense this is a direct response to that.

this is contrary to most listener's expectation of a musical ROYGBIV as opposed to, say, seven shades of blue. it could be that I sabotage the piece's success by deliberately throwing a wrench into the standard conception of orchestration here, but ultimately I would rather educate or at least give pause than win.

that ties into the atmospheric element as well. this is meant to be listened to intensely, not passively engage the audience by working overtime (i.e., overdone brass sections and crazy percussion) to keep their interest. if you take note of and follow the musical elements (such as the mournful melody and all of the motives it contains, the unsettling tremolos embedded in the inner voices, the harmonically uncertain opening and its subsequent references - there are others) you'll find that nothing happens the same way twice - the materials are consistent, but their interaction is constantly evolving. to me, this is both atmosphere and constant interest, if I may also assume from the listener investment enough to profit from that understanding.

I don't mean to disagree - in a sense, you're absolutely right, and you capture and articulate a pervasive perspective. I appreciate reviews like these above all others. looking forward to your entry!

["The Last Ship"]

Excellent.

As others have probably mentioned, extremely reminiscent of Howard Shore's work on the LOTR films.

Fantastic string voicings and use of minimal melodic content. The atmosphere is poured on extra thick in this one, owing also to the very appropriate production choices giving it that vast and distant far-mic'd sound.

Great stuff!

BrokenDeck responds:

Hey thanx man! Good to hear from ya again!

[Guardame Las Vacas]

Nicely done.

Nicely arranged. The mix of textures seems spot-on, and the source material is great so the piece flows well.

In terms of audio production, I feel that the guitar should take a more emphasized place in the foreground, as it is the focus of the piece and drives everything forward, while the orchestral elements are behind it and "lifting it up" so to speak.

In terms of the musical arrangement, as I said before I feel the choice of textures and orchestration is effective. Nothing feels out of place here and it flows smoothly, accenting the solo guitar piece to nice effect. However, I think a lot more could have been done than simply doubling the chords and melodies behind the guitar - perhaps some contrapuntal melody lines, some interesting harmonies with the guitar parts instead of always doubling, and perhaps use of more articulations than mostly legato playing in the orchestral instruments to give a new feel to the piece, and exercise the variety available with the additional instruments.

Hope this is all helpful!

Overall I definitely enjoyed it and it's a pity the zero bombers have trashed the score - voted 5 to help you back up!

masheenH3ad responds:

Hello! Nick,

I want to thank you for taking some of your time to give my work an awesome review.

Regarding the score, these numbers means nothing to me as long as I can share my pieces/musical work and get to know what my listeners think about it I couldn't ask for more! :)

Your pointers are very helpful. Rest assured I will take it all into my consideration. My listeners opinions are very dear to me. :)

And also thanks for backing me up! I really appreciated it. Thank you so much!
- Paul Adrian

[-[ Funky Loop ]-]

It's a damn shame..

... that your computer died before this could be finished. At least what you have left is a poppin' groove that we can all enjoy. Great stuff, jumps with solid composition and instrumentation (love the horns from soro).

I'll keep it looping for full song length anyway! Keep up the good work!

FlamingFirebolt responds:

Hehe, I wish i could have worked out some kinks on this one though... The brass sounds way too real and too dry for my taste. Maybe i should have added some saturation or whatever.
Anyhow, that is in the past now. Recently i've been trying to make another funk song. However, i need a REAL drummer. I don't want to use another loop. Sadly, real drummers with proper recording equipment is hard to find.
But yeah, thanks you liked it. Love your stuff too btw!
-Firebolt-

[The Good, The Bad and The Ugly]

Awesome.

I was just listening to Morricone's work a lot lately and then this pops up.
GENIUS I SAY!

FolegAlmighty responds:

Haha, I was having a big Morricone kick when I recorded this, too!

[Castlevania III - Beginning]

Awesome.

Very nice rendition of arguably my favourite Castlevania track ever.
Great guitar tone and arrangement.

But, it's the North American version... if you re-did the version from the Japanese cartridge this way, I'd probably give you my kidney.

Keep up the great work!

Stage3-1 responds:

Japanese version eh? I worked mostly from Akumu's list of NSF's. Can you hook a brother up with the Japanese version and I shall have a listen. Thanks!