Bezman's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Elastic Baalbeck]

Oppressive, kinda scary. Monsters in a factory.

I felt it sounded more mechanical than anything - like it was all clanging pipes, steam escaping... and the droning harmonic noise sounded kinda electric...

The 'pulsating' noise made for a bit of a harmony and the 'beats' were all complex and never felt old - always feeling kinda more like random noises than an actual tune (as you no doubt intended) but were always right on the beat.

Loop is perfect.

I don't see how anyone could find that relaxing!

This shit is oppressive and kinda scary!

It'd be perfect for a game where you're in a dystopian environment where a run-down factory has beasts and monsters running around in it.

==
I can't take much of this, but it'd be perfect for a fear-filled part of a game.

Arnas responds:

Alright thanks. Some say it's nature music and some say it's futuristic. Nope. It's not relaxing. If you want relaxing try Liquid Basik. I don't like this as much as I do Liquid Basik because I usually prefer calming music

[m- Sashao's Journey]

Kinda like Actraiser or Sa.ga. Start ruins loop

The whole thing makes me think of horse-riding. I think the odd beats at the start contribute to this, (the 3 beats, then 1 kinda like a horse's hooves?) as does the melody. Anyway...

Yeah, does remind me of the Sa.Ga gameboy games and the tune is simple, gratifyingly retro, and still fairly pleasing. A wee bit of variation in there.

Also reminds me of Actraiser and another similar Snes game.

I heard a wee bit of noise in this track when the melody was in full-flow. Listen out for it. Got irksome.

Liked the way you altered the beats at the end.

Not too keen on the start - it sounds cool, but it makes the loop a bit obvious. It is a near-seamless loop though.

==
It's a cool tune. If I were to ever try and make a game similar to Actraiser, I'd definitely check this out again.

I just find the way it begins a bit irritating. Started getting on my tits after around 3-4 loops.

BMC-Audio responds:

hey, thx for the review. im really glad you liked it. i know for some reason the end got messed up and didnt loop... but i also thought the beggining wasnt too bad, i can understand how it could get a little annoying though.
i didnt notice the noise you were talking about...oh well. ill try harder on mastering next time.

thx again. il check out ure stuff.

-mawkeetus

[Some Short S**t]

beautiful start, but went nowhere

Interesting scale.

I love the sample near the start and also the simple melody goes well with a feeling of launching off into a beautiful peaceful environment.

I didn't like how some of your notes kinda 'stuttered'. If you listen to 0:14-0:17, you may understand what I mean.

Anyway, this could be beautiful if extended and a simple piano melody was placed on top. Found myself sitting down for some one-handed playing whilst having this on repeat.

Some wierd instruments could also work really well - some 'alien' sounds...

==
It's a beautiful start, but went nowhere unfortunately.

Platinum-Chrome responds:

thanxz good lookin out

[We Die Fighting - My Hero]

great voice, spot-on guitar, terribly quality

The recording quality is terrible.

Whenever your singing gets louds, there's real static. If it's a cheap mic, you should sing far from it. I mean, my mic cost 6 quid and I get less noise than that from my singing...

From what I can make out, your voice is pretty spot-on. You've got good tones - aggresive/calm and all the right notes.

Also, the guitar seems spot on.

==
Sounds like it'd be a good-quality accoustic cover if only the sound quality were better.

Chaz responds:

We recorded in a bedroom that had crickets next to the cheap MSN headset we recorded into, using Microsoft Sound Recorder. So yeah you're kinda right about that then...

[Strings for Tears]

Beautiful, but make it loop or be longer

Thanks for your vote, Bezman! You voted 4 for Strings for Tears, keeping its score at 4.00.

When the piano came in, I was loving.

Straight off the bat, you have some great beats and a brilliant harmony that sounds like an electronic analogue to a vocal chorus.

I love the restrained tempo of the piano melody and the synths give it a great bit of diversity.

But then... just as I'm loving it - it ends!

I really think you should either lengthen this or make it into a loop. I listened to it a few times on the trot, but the pause and fade out/fade in between the end/start annoyed me.

==
Beautiful, but ends just as I'm getting into it.

RainManN7 responds:

thanks

[_=Trippy Techno Shitz=_]

This is... wierd.

When it started off, it sounded like a fairly standard uptempo dance tune. And the the melody we hear a bit of is cool.

Then you go through all that volume shifting...

Around 0:35, when it totally changes, for a moment, it's kinda like we've broken through a wall, out into another dimension, or something...

Then, around 0:40, that melody's kinda like an old computer game for some reason... it also reminds me of pinball tables, though I dunno why...

This is... wierd.

I listened to it maybe 6 times and... well, it's not something that I enjoyed amazingly, but it's certainly memorable and has some cool sounds. For that I give you props.

eyechieftrees responds:

THAT'S RIGHT! YOU KNOW WHY? BECAUSE I WAS BLASTED WHEN I MADE THIS.

Thanks for the awesome review! =]

[Old time party]

Boring... like a simple AI-derived tune.

I kinda agree with LJCoffee - it almost sounds like a random thing made by simple computer AI!

I liked this a bit more than your first attempt. Mainly because it seemed to harmonise a bit better.

I do like how at a couple of points you mix it up by playing single-notes instead of chords.

But apart from that, the 3 minutes all seems much of a muchness. Constant tempo; no real sense of forethought, let alone any surprises, in the 'melody'...

Put a bit more thought into these tracks. It honestly just sounds like you started recording, mashes some keys, improvising as you went along, then stopped. You gotta put thought into these things!

DP00 responds:

ok

[-=LJC=- Atonal Rythmic Noise]

Overall, I really enjoyed this

I think a better name would be "Disjointed Arhythmic Noise".

As someone else mentioned, this could be a lot more atonal. I felt it had nearly as much harmonising as your usual stuff. Mainly because of the little melody that we hear a snippet of at 8s and then later comes back at around 26s to remain as the backbone, pretty much.

There were some disharmonies, sure, but it (to me) kinda seemed to centre on that key.

Also, it really isn't as rhythmic as it could be. I mean about half-way through, you start breaking it up, pausing the rhythm... and then you speed it up! I suppose it does have a rhythm - just not a constant one.

Was listening to this whilst testing out my new build of the country wordsearch game. I found myself really enjoying this - specially the sped-up parts, which made me try and type as fast as I could to keep up with the rhythm!

Question - do you actually increase the tempo constantly as the last part continues? Or is it just adding new beats?

I'm personally not a big fan of the break-up half-way through.

If I'm being ultra-pernickety, the buzzing sound at 37s wasn't to my liking. And there were a few other points I maybe could say, "that's not a particularly nice sound" about, but that's kinda part of the charm of this piece.

Anyway, I really, really dug the last half, as I said, where it speeds up.

I'm gonna shoot an e-mail&PM your way to ask you something.

Great track. The reason I'm not giving it a higher mark isn't necessarily because of any shortcoming, but basically once I give marks above 8, it's more about being 'brilliant and making me grin, laugh, feel a shiver of beauty, whatever...' rather than simply being 'flawless'.

Just wanted to mention that as I'm sure I'll be reviewing much more of your stuff soon. So basically, to be above an 8, it needs to REALLY 'wow' me.

==
Overall, I really enjoyed this and it was certainly original for the portal. In fact, the slight lack of 'atonal' qualities may have helped my enjoyment.

LJCoffee responds:

Disjointed Arhythmic Noise - it probably would have been a better name!

to answer your question - the tempo is being increased from 110 to about 150 or so over the last half.

I have two slightly different versions of this as well as a set of support sounds taken from this piece that can be used on thier own as interface noise - button clicks and so forth - I'll be finishing those up soon and I'll get an email to you so that you can do what you need to do with them on your end.

Thanks!

[Your Mom Took Acid]

The computer-loadery and beats overpower...

After a couple of listens, I was ready to turn it off. But I was working away while it played for an hour... that's maybe just a reflection on my slightly zombified state. I should maybe get to bed so I don't make any programming mistakes...

I did find myself finding it more palatable after a while longer. Your glitchy sounds are generally a bit of a headfuck for a while.

The 'lead' sound (that sounds like a spectrum loading underwater... hehe), that carries on throughout, maybe helps give it some consistency and makes it a better background loop. And yet it's a tiny bit annoying. Also, it seemed to kinda overpower what was going on in the background.

The soft notes I heard when you dulled the background beats at 0:57 (and also the start/end) were rather lovely, and I'd have maybe liked to hear more of that.

The beats fit in with the trippy theme really well.

As with all your stuff, this loops wonderfully.

==
You definitely have your own style and I enjoy hearing things from your angle. However, in this, the beats just seemed to overpower everything and give it a slightly irritating monotony.

..............................................
Btw, you mentioned in a response down there of some problems with your music when played on speakers. For the record, I practically always listen to stuff on closed cup headphones in my bedroom.

LJCoffee responds:

:) - thanks for taking the time!

The headohone/speaker issues apply to a lot of the older stuff - not really sure at which point I changed things but I'm sure that somewhere along the way you'd hear a definite difference on external speakers. I haven't listened to this track in so long. Made about 2 years back - Plenty of mastering issues on these tracks.

I always start thinking about remastering some of the older stuff but I know I'll never actually get to it.

Thanks again for your comments!

[Tetris'd]

Fun to hear. But doesn't stand apart enough.

When this came up on NGAP, I had no idea what it was at the start, with the deep rumbling synth. (I thought it was just another dance tune!)

I like the vibration that starts at 0:12.

The beats are cool, though I felt maybe you could have had a few rolls or cymbals here or there. Also, I personally find the way you hit on the off-beats can be cool, but when done constantly throughout the tune, it gets annoying.

I liked the way you started with the slow melody (rather than the better-known fast part) and dropped it in with the bell-type sounds. I like those bell-y sounds. Glad you kept them for a while.

The main instrument you end up with sounds kinda like a bit organ! I do like the way you switch instruments, and the sorta glitchiness that really kicks in shortly after the 2-min mark gives it a bit of a unique sound. Just the way that the held notes kinda switch off-on for tiny moments, as if all the instruments are different radios and one of them's starting to break up. That gives it a fresh sound.

==
Fun to hear. I'd have personally preferred it if you'd done more with it, messed around more, deviated more, maybe experimented more with the breaking-up thing...

It doesn't really stand out enough from all the other Tetris tunes... but it's still fun to hear.

Qwertyuiopasd responds:

Thanks! I'm still exloring and expanding what I can do with FL. I wanted to do more with the perc on this, and I might do some more... expect a more different (s) tetris "remix" in a few days...

~Qwerty