camoshark's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[RAC5 Born Again]

Eastern temperament...

The Sanshi intro was pretty deacent playing, thought maybe playing a bit more rubato (playing with a free tempo) would've helped making it more expressive.

My main problem with this song is the pitch. Now listen here, I'm well aware that eastern music uses a different temperament, wich for a country as far east as Thailand would be so off that it would make western men bleed their ears out, but even there I'm still sure the segment at 1:30 is still terribly off pitch. It really hurts the song since the rest is really great (tought I didn't really like the druming at 0:42, but that's just my point of view, no points taken there.)

Anyways, great submition, and GL!

Cheers,
Samuel Hébert

SoulSecure responds:

Off pitch? No, nothing's off pitch, what you're hearing is either the bass line clashing with the guitar riff or the weakness of the guitar showing through at that spot (both are done intentionally).

The bass riff at that part clashes harmonically with the guitar a little bit. This is my artistic expression to represent the modern turbulence with Communism in Thailand (they think it's god-awful and don't even allow communist parties to participate in elections) as well as just a musical preference of mine that some things are meant to sound wrong.

Edit: Also, most of the music that I'm interpreting in that part stays at one quick tempo.

[Jazz Metal Guitar Solo]

My ears are BLEEDING DX...

...you sir are so out of tune it actually hurts my ears!

But other than that, pretty good solo, some notes seemed to be out of key, except maybe if that was intentional, of course.

I didn't really like the part with fuzz, and it wasn't because of the actual fuzz. You were preparing a pretty good solo, and then at the moment you put on the fuzz, you hid behind it and didn't really do aything original after that. Truly saddening, but it's OK, it's Christmas after all! ;)

The first part made me think of Hotel California, and befor you put fuzz in the background, it kind of made me think of Pink Floyd. :)

Anyways, Merry Christmas!

Cheers,
Samuel Hébert

JDClose responds:

Not out of tune at all sir, just way out of TONE. That's because my recording software is junk, and so is the pedal I use. I could have lugged my Marshall stack upstairs and recorded through that, giving possibly the best tone on NG, but I'm lazy (especially after the amount of eggnog I consumed). I absolutely hate fuzz, but since I put no work into this at all, I didn't care about it. Also, it wasn't prepared, it was improvised, I laid down a simple jazzy track and went to town. Also, I now have a new guitar to record with, so all my recordings will get better. I did mean to use out-of-scale notes, such as notes from Hungarian Minor and Harmonic Minor.
Thanks for the in depth review, I always like to know where I need to improve (though I always hate having to spend time to improve)
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,
FROM CANADA!

[Wavin' Waves]

Feels more like Funk

I didn't really like the song, but I'll do some objective criticisme.

First of all, as my title implies, the song fits more under the Funk categorie than the jazz category, thought they are somewhat similar, but the instrumentation feels too acidic to fit in the latter.

Secondly, from the second half till the end, it's just a random set of chords played with the same rythmic. The main theme's progression felt like it was simply the fifth cycle with fancy effects around it.

Of course, those effects were quite classy, I'll give you that, put the song needs meat around those, otherwise the song is quite empty.

Anyways, to resume, verify you really are in the right category, and give a bit more meat, as it isn't just the chord progression that makes the song, and it can never replace actual structure.

Happy Holidays!

Cheers,
Samuel Hébert

HumanDrumMachine responds:

Thanks for the review
I got to admit this isn't really jazz, but it's also not funk because funk is generally based on 1 or 2 chords.
The second half isn't a random set of chords, I don't remember how I did it exactly but it was something like 4 times a tone up, 4 times 1.5 tones down, repeated
It chose to keep the song simple and easy to listen to, that's the reason it's a bit plain

['`Beautiful World'`]

Renaissance would be more fitting...

... if not for the clavecin (or whatever it's called in english), of course!

Speaking of the clavecin, it didn't really suite the genre, you should've used a luthe (once again, I've learned my instruments in French, so I don't really know instruments in english, sorry...) It was also overpowering, should probably be lowered down.

Nice use of conterpoints though, the pieces really fitted one in the other, it gave a really nice progression to the song, wich is what every composer who takes himself slightly seriously should be looking for! :)

The only negative aspect of the song is really that the clavecin that starts at 0:21 and the bass that follows really don't match the wanted style, sounds WAY too electronic.

If I were someone who hadn't read the author's comments (surely 50% - 70% of Newground's community) I'd think the song was electro with a nice classical intro at that point. And that cannot pass in my book.

On a more personal note, the string entry at 0:47 wasn't quite how I'd have liked it. Even if the song was in 3/4 the whole time, the main theme there felt more binary than ternary, and that detail bugged me.

So, for a quick recap, slight adjustments in style, instrumentation and volume, and of course length, and this song's ready to roll!

Cheers,
Samuel Hébert

Naerbu responds:

Ooh so you're French? I don't know what a luthe is and I can't find it on google(did you mean lute?), but I think a clavecin is a harpsichord. You are right, and when it comes in, it seems sudden, right?

Thank you very much for the compliments and I'll fix the volume of the "clavecin" :P and I'll replace the bass with a more realistic sounding one.

[Carol of the Trolls]

Hmmm...

I'm having difficulty determining if by troll you reffered either to the little blue/green monsters or if the song itself was a troll! ;)

The song itself was kind of hard to the ears, wich was probably the point, and I'm pretty sure you didn't let some wrong notes for nothing, LOL.

At certain points, the song sounded more like drum n' bass, with the gorey sounds and all. Not sure what they were, but I don't really want to know...

Anyways, nice christmas carol, if you must know it's one of my favorite!

If I don't review another one of your songs, Merry Christmas!

Cheers,
Samuel Hébert

sorohanro responds:

You know, I'm having difficulties myself figuring out the trolling aspect :))
Actually, most of the sounds used are now for free download on Tonehammer website (used here the hellium choir, baloons, some stomping on ice and snow and the "sick" library). Go get them, you never know when you'll need them. Those are awesome for sound design.

Thanks for review.

[There Was A Time]

I'm not used to review this style...

...But I enjoy this song, so I'll give it a try!

Nice intro, with the bus terminal, did you do the recording, or you simply take from somewhere?

I'm really not used to this style, so I don't really know what to look for, so I'll use my musical experience to judge, as I'm not ready to simply base my reviews on "Does it sound good?".

The song itself felt like it could have been much longer, thought I'm not blaming you for not extending it.

From what I hear, certain sounds are too distorted, to the point I have trouble identifying what note is playing (thought then again, maybe that's what you wanted).

Overall I liked the song, and from me, it's a rare thing for electrical music, so take it as a great compliment!

Great song!

-Review Request Club-

Cheers,
Samuel Hébert

Naerbu responds:

Thanks for the review Samuel

I took it from the freesoundproject website. In fact, I should probably credit them in the comments.

I'll fix the distortion in the next update :)

[Fine, Be Like That]

Standard chord play

Besides the unoriginal chords (50% of today's pop songs use these chords), I can't realy blame you for using them, as they do sound great.

The guitar intro sounds pretty good, thought I can't identify what the instrument in the higher register (the one that plays once every time, not the moog-ish instrument) is supposed to be, sounds like a distorted piano or something.

The part at 3:12 is the part that's bugging me. It's completely irrevelant with the previous part, and could have either been introduced more smoothly, or been cut alltogether.

Also, as a side-note, from 4:24 to 4:29, the moog-ish instrument seems to have been cut off...

On a good note, the song was briliantly balanced, and the instruments used were top notch (even thought I don't know what certain are supposed to be)

To resume, Sounds and balance are great, just check your transitions, and -that's just on a personal note- use maybe more original chords, for more authenticity.

Great song overall!

-Review Request Club-

Cheers,
Samuel Hébert

thatbennyguy responds:

Hey Samuel,

Great review. You are spot on with your praise and criticisms; I spent a lot of time balancing the sounds but hardly any working transitions. I also usually use different chord progressions, but I decided to just go with the formula this time round, the tried and true. This song focussed on the vibe more than originality, so that's a good calculation. :3

Thx for your wonderful review,
Benjamin

[Rock-Shuffle Blues Backing]

Not much to say...

...It's a standard blues, played in it's most standard form. There really isn't anything to say about it.

The only thing I could add is that this isn't a MINOR blues, since it's form should then be:

I-7 | I-7 | I-7 | I-7 |
IV-7| IV-7| I-7 | I-7 |
VIb7b5 | V-7 | I-7 | I-7/(V-7) :||

Not trying to douche around or make myself look like a know-it-all, just sayin'...

Great standard anyways, I could compare it to the Abersold of Blues, if you get the comparison. ;)

Cheers,
Samuel Hébert

sorohanro responds:

Thanks for review.
From what I think, minor blues is not a specific form including VIb, but just a blues in a minor tonality (not like "C-Jam Blues" which is in C major). As for VIb (with or without b5), this is a substitution than can be used or not, depending of the form you want to make. As well you can throw there a II or another substitution to add more color.

Thanks again for review. Quite flattering to be compared with Aebersold :)

[-Dancing Flame-]

Not salsa, but enjoyable anyways

Great song actually, sounds like a spanish-rock orchestral song. Sounds nothing like salsa I'm afraid, but I'm sure your dad will enjoy.

And BTW, you went in the opposit direction of salsa : you took your trumpet/trombone samples to make it sound like saxs, when actually trumpets and trombones are the brass used in salsa...

Anyways, I'm outof time to write anything else, hope you dad will love!

Cheers,
Samuel Hébert

Step responds:

Yeah like I said, I know very little about salsa, especially about the trumpet/trombones being used in salsa.

Anyhow, I'm happy it works out despite it not sounding like salsa. Thanks for reviewing!

[Thracian-Jazz]

Truly awesome!

This is one hell of an inspiring song. It's so rich in culture, it gets immersive, as that I can't hear nothing else when I start listening it.

I've listened it regularaly for the past year, and it's come to help me understand the musical culture of the region. Doing so, I'm currently basing my term composition project on mid-eastern music, of wich the first part will soon be posted here.

But last friday, my friend gave me a challenge to make a modal jazz in 7/8. I immediatly thought about your song, and even after not listening it the whole time, I still think it sounds alot like your song.

here's the link: http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/liste n/379380

Hope you like it, I feel you should know I got inspired by your song.

Cheers,
Samuel Hébert