Man, I wish I had your voice.
I have diversity, yeah, but nothing I have is as pleasing as this.
But hey, you've got three years on me! Maybe I'll catch up. ;) Haha
I really do love this voice, and frankly the rest of your voices as well.
Keep acting, PLEASE!
-Jacob
I'm not a member of RRC, but that's how I stumbled upon this.
This is a really, really nice piece. Calming, uplifting, yet deep and artistic.
The ambiance and piano work together beautifully to mold a thought-provoking background.
Pros:
The piano, though simple, was more than lovely. The ambiance was well manufactured, but without the keys this would be too calming. Instead, you gave it life - and I love that.
Cons:
I really, REALLY would have like a different ending. Better yet, a loop. This is the kind of song you keep in the background for awhile as you create or contemplate. It's harder to do that when the ending is a bit harsh, and you hear the piece start and stop every 3 minutes or so.
I also would have loved a climax. Maybe some strings or a stronger, synthetic bass as well as a sudden rise in dynamic. The heart-beat style kick would get a little louder, slightly more frantic, and the song would really begin to go somewhere, until finally fading away, and perhaps a lighter ending with a higher frequency ambiance and some light tinking on the piano - finally looping into the beginning once more.
I understand this could contradict the chill and ambient vibe you were striving for, but the song honestly seems to have taken a different route to begin with.
Regardless! I liked this a lot, and I'll be listening to it again. :]
Thank you for sharing!
-Jacob
Thanks! That was a great review with a lot of good information, and I'm glad you liked the song :3
Thank you!
Not a lot of diversity, I'll admit, but your natural gravel and undertones makes up for it tenfold. People love that sort of voice, so you essentially encompass everything that I lack.
Stick to that strength. :]
Yes, I am working on diversity, as of right now it's not my strong suit at all. Without diversity, a voice actor could just be an actor in front of a microphone, really. So it's very important. However, even more than diversity, I am trying to focus on honing the voices that I do, and improving my overall acting skills. Acting itself is the most important thing to me.
Thank you very much!
Whoa there, Ladybear!
For your first composition, this was very nice. You've displayed a great feel for layered melodies and instrumentation. The marimba (or, I believe that was a marimba) was fantastic, and really kept me listening. It was just... Calming. Yet somewhat driving, and uplifting. Eliciting that sort of emotion in a piece can be difficult, but you did very well.
That said, there are definitely many areas you can improve.
1. Mastering Mastering Mastering!
Though Edirol may not have the highest quality samples, you can still touch things up a lot with proper mastering. Adding reverb is one great start. With the music being as damp and breathless as this, it can actually make my eyes water when wearing headphones - and that's not pleasant.
Experiment a bit with the Mixer, using things like equalizers and reverb and all that other fun stuff. It'll add a huge dynamic to your music, making even lower quality samples sound professional.
Another huge problem here is too make sure you don't turn Edirol up too high. I'm not even sure if this was the problem, but the buzz that started coming in around 2:10 was awful. I've never had the issue, but I'm assuming it has to do with the settings on Edirol. It's better to turn everything down and just raise the Master Volume when you export than to try to turn certain instruments up too high.
2. Melody.
You did have great melodies here, I won't deny that. However, they either vary too much or too little for them to be memorable. The marimba was fantastic, but the way it switched up made it more difficult to follow and much harder to remember later on. I've listened to this song about 4 times now, and a couple of hours later I can't remember much about it. Heck, I'm still trying to remember a lot of it. :L
The best route to take there is to either capitalize on one particular melody and make it simple, even repetitive; or to pick an instrument to really bring out, and move it along through several captivating melodies. You did a decent job of both to some degree, and I'll admit it's a lot easier to correct this stuff in hindsight, but I really feel like you could improve that aspect a ton.
3. Limit your instrumentation a bit.
This kind of goes with the melody. You had the strings trying to take melody along with the mallets, and it honestly took away from it. If your melody is primarily mallets, try to keep the strings simple - moving along as a chord progression more than as a melody of its own.
I'm sorry for the lengthy review, and I'm especially sorry if I sound harsh. This was actually VERY good for your first (I presume) piece, and I really look forward to hearing more from you. :]
PM me if you have any questions!
Wow!!! I'm really grateful for the review! You're not harsh at all; I rather want to know my weaknesses than just to receive "Good Job!" without knowing what to improve.
Yep, I noticed the buzzing sound when the instruments' volume starts to increase. I thought it was just my earphone. I'll try to fix it later. Hmm.. I figured that I overdid the input of melodies. Got so many melodies running in my head and that I tried to merge them all in one piece; I got excited, I guess. My Bad... Instruments used were Celesta, Flute, Full Strings, Concert Piano, ContraBass and Viola. I know, it's an overkill.. Hahaha... I was trying to experiment on different instruments, like what they sound like, what happens if I mix it with this and that, etc.
I don't know what a reverb is (I know it might make me look stupid but, that's the fact). I still need to research on that. Ok, I'm already tweaking the mixer to see the effects on the instruments. It does make a difference. But, I still get confused on assigning channels so, more tweaking I guess. Must put in mind; KIS = Keep It Simple.
Again, thank you very much for sharing your knowledge! You're such a big help! :3
Watch out, Bill - you've got fangirls coming your way!
I really do enjoy this track, for some odd reason. Everything in it is so sloppy, yet it manages to come together beautifully. I listen to it faithfully. Good work on this, man.
thanks Jacobcobvbvcc
You's pritee.
I liek dat.
Not bad!
This certainly shows some potential from you. My main recommendations are that you bring out melodies, and turn down the kick. Plus, there needs to be a little extra something to pull in the listener. Maybe a heavier wobble with some layers, or something of the sort. Either way, you definitely need to turn up the melody.
As for the kick... I actually think you may want a new kick altogether. The one you're using is very, very damp, almost to the point of hurting my ears. If you have any of the Vengeance packs, I'd recommend looking around for a kick with more of a punch - and less of a pierce.
Anywho, this really does have potential - and so do you. A lot of the production aspect was very professional. The only major flaw is, again, the velocity distribution. Just fix all of that, and you'll have a great breakbeat dubstep piece.
Good luck!
-Himynameisjacob
Cheers man, one of the most helpful reviews I've got.
I like it!
This was very, very well done. The style doesn't completely appeal to me in that it doesn't have a standout climax, but I figure a cover isn't meant to deviate from the original. Either way, it was incredibly well produced, and that end of things is the hardest part of composition - so this deserves at least a 10.
As for vocals, let me know if you'd like a male version. I hadn't heard of the band until now, but I could definitely learn the song if you like. Obviously you won't need to use them if you decide they're ill fitting, but I'd be more than happy to record myself and give you the raw version to do whatever you'd like with.
Great potential.
This piece has so many things going for it. I love the concept, and I love most of the implementation. My only real issue is with the bass drop. Sure it's dirty, but it needs more substance. It's very hard on the center, with nothing but the drums playing otherwise. I would recommend layering two slightly different sounds, panning one toward each ear - or possibly adding a Dimension Expander to the current bass. Study the bass that xKore tends to use. It adds so much substance to the song, and it'd make this one of the best songs I've ever heard.
Anywho, wonderful work. :]
Im personally against heavy basses man and why would i copy someone else style if i can make my own??
But yeah , most drops tend to be empty man
Fantastic.
I have one problem with this, and that is your vowel pronunciation. I would recommend elongating (upward and downward) your mouth when singing a bit more, sticking the the main placement of the ee, eh, ah, oh, and oo sounds. I would elaborate further, but it's really difficult to relay over text, so I'll just shut my mouth. Oh, but a little more vibrato would be lovely, too.
Otherwise, though, this piece was amazing. I really, truly felt it. The piano was almost droll during the introduction, but still captivating enough to keep me tuned in for the real start of the piece. One thing that remains constant throughout all of your songs is the beautiful tone of your voice. It's harsh enough to pierce into the listener's ears, but also soft and soothing enough to make us yearn to stay.
On a side note, this is one of the very, very few submissions to the Newgrounds Audio Portal that I could listen all the way through. That doesn't happen often. Even the top 30 tends to become a bore after a fair minute or so. To be honest, I can only remember listening through your songs and Chris O'Neill's. Otherwise, they tend to lose their luster after the first run-through of the main lick.
I can't say I remember any of what I just said, so this review is probably discardable. But, I'll keep it, and leave you by saying that I really do love your music, and James' works as well. I'll always be on the lookout for what you two will come out with next.
It's all in your head.
Age 28
Kansas City
Joined on 4/23/10
The DOJO 
I wish I could drink... 
Stuck Out 