Bezman's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[The Pineapple Song]

digging the vibes; needs tighter timing and polish

I really liked the mellow vibes that the tempo and the scales you used provided.

Around 20-30s into the track and also at around 1:30-1:50, you kinda seemed to lose the timing a bit. Not terribly, but enough to make it seem a bit sloppy.

The whole thing could have maybe benefitted from some better planning - maybe punctuating the song with a few quick scale thingies, like you did at around 2:05.

It was fun to listen to, but would need a bit more polish and solid structure before I could really say it was good.

[The Watermellon Song]

I kinda disliked the tune

First: your guitar skills are pretty incredible. I hope you keep practising and assume that the stuff you upload is just a tiny portion of your output.

The start, specially, of this is great. I can't really play guitar myself, but it seems like there's a lot going on.

My favourite part is probably the last 15ish secs, where you take your foot off the distortion and allow us to hear some clear notes.

I don't know if this is your own composition or a cover, but I wasn't too keen on the tune itself - it just kinda seemed predictable and didn't really do anything I found very interesting.

Sorry I can't be more specific.

Stay funky and keep playing.

~review request club~

FrozenSheep responds:

Its my own composition but the whole song is pretty much improv, so the predictability is expected

[-=LJC=- Laudanum is delicious]

Some crazy feelings

I liked the piano sound - the reverby sound and the simple melody kinda reminded me of something like the ghost piano in the haunted mansion in the Saturn game 'Shining the Holy Ark'.

I did find the focus was on the melody for too long for my liking though and the melody kinda over-short.

Really enjoyed the trippy bit. I specially liked the way it sounded while it ended.

I reckon you should revisit this, maybe shorten the 'intro' and get to the trippiness earlier, then play about and mess around more at that stage.

Stay funky!

LJCoffee responds:

Thanks -

Never played 'Shining the Holy Ark' but I'll take your word for it.

This was all put together over a few hours one day so I really didn't take as much time as I should have developing things. Your comments are quite valid and very helpful - I think that I'll take the advice that I've been given so far and rework this piece.

I'll drop a line when I submit the next version.

Thanks a ton!

[Pesticide (YTM Speed Loop)]

half-way

I liked the way it began, specially liking the first few notes of the melody starting at 14s. The drum roll at 46s works quite well.

I liked the sorta staticcy, electriccy buzz you have going on, but after a few minutes, it did get slightly annoying.

My main gripe, I suppose that a lot of it feels awfully sparse. Specially after the half-way mark, it seemed that it was all too indistinct with too much repetition.

Will check out the original.

[kindacool]

bopping

Starts off with a cool beat, but pretty much as soon as the 2nd, higher-pitched, drums layer comes in, it gets a sorta tropical-y sound.

The melody has a funky vibe, that I could see myself dancing and cracking coconuts to.

I don't much care for the instrument you use for that main melody. It sounds kinda too 'synthy' and the aural equivalent of 'blurry' if you follow my meaning.

Also, if you cut off 6s, it could actually loop fairly well. Seems like a missed opportunity.

At the end, with the descending, then re-ascending loop, it felt like an ideal point to launch another layer and melody. I suppose that might have made it too long for the Audio Portal though...

Lastly, I think there are a few points where playing with the 2 output channels could help make the tune more interesting. Specially the ending - that's a prime spot to try and get the 'spinning' melody to feel as if its rotating and spinning all around us...

Still, it's a kinda funky tune and had me bopping along. I just dislike the instruments you use.

cheesebizkit responds:

that cracking coconuts comment really, really helped me personally. thank you.

[kindafunky]

no real sur

Essentially, there's just not enough going on here for my liking.

There seems to only be 3 layers - the beats, the 'funky' melody with which we begin and the 'scales'.

You use some interesting-sounding instruments and I like the way you morph the sounds. But I just feel like there's no progression; no real surprises to be found.

cheesebizkit responds:

thanks

[deathbeat]

Racingbeat...

It really is a car-racing tune!

The start kinda sounds like an engine revving up, whilst portions are kinda like tyres squealing.

The 2nd 'half' specially, just makes me think of a car accelerating along a straight, maybe through a tunnel, whilst speedlines fly by.

The cheering crowd kinda complements that impression.

Can totally see a film for this and may have to try animating it at some point in the future.

Not much to criticise. I don't like the name much.

Also, it ends kinda suddenly - could maybe fade out for longer?

Great tune though.

cheesebizkit responds:

nice insight thank you

[Pink Floyd - Money (cover)]

fact

The guitar seems proficiently played, but I don't find this particularly enjoyable to listen to.

Mainly because it just made me wonder why I wasn't listening to the original.

Without the vocals, it felt a bit empty towards the end.

Whilst a cover that takes a song and puts a new spin on it (like Muse's or even PCD's 'Feeling Good' covers) the fact that you used the backtrack just didn't allow you to that, had you even wanted.

You are a great guitarist though.

FrozenSheep responds:

thanks :D.

i'll consider that the next time i try to do a cover

[Yellow Mustard]

laughed, guffawed and chortled

Terrible recording. Noise and whatnot.

Great joke though. I like the riff on what sounds like a bass guitar in the background. Gives it all an 'anxious' feel.

The end is pretty funny.

I saw it in Frenzy's flash and laughed, guffawed and chortled.

[StringMix]

Great fusion

I really like how you play with the 2 channels to keep it interesting.

I have 2 complaints.

First - though personal preference - I found that until I plugged in headphones, the violiny sounds were overpowering. I liked the end where they were removed and the slow stings could 'breathe'. I'd have liked it if you'd played around with the start/end, carrying that on a bit longer.

When I plugged in the headphones, the little plonky sounds that sorta sound like 'crystal rain' or something like that, made me smile.

There really is a lot going on here.

Second - I felt it could easily have been altered to loop perfectly. With maybe a few bars of lower volume at the start, it'd just have sounded like it had faded out, then in again.

I realise that maybe you intended it to be a piece to be listened to once, rather than looped maybe 10 times as I've just done, but not looping it better just seems a shame.

Great fusion though. Really enjoying listening to it!