50Steaks's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Let's Bounce]

This song is so unique. I honestly can’t think of anything that sounds remotely like it. I was introduced to it through GD, though it wasn’t ditched machine that did it, it was some other random grayscale level which was much easier.

The synth at the start always sounded like a really well mixed cello, and as a cello player that part hit home. Into the bouncy melody with a very very strange bassy synth thing that more or less defines the song. One of the more obscure memories of my childhood that I still think about from time to time. Also I only ever knew you as shtigra or whatever since that was the name you showed up as in GD.

Edit: the level was called vertex by echonox. It actually has more likes than the jeyzor level.

Zodin responds:

Thank you for the kind review :)
You know, when I originally made this I thought that it wouldn't do too well because some of the sounds used are a bit 'harsh'. But I am very glad that you enjoy the uniqueness of the track.

Yeah I did used to be called Shtriga many many years ago across all my platforms. It is the name of a creature from the TV series - Supernatural. But I figured I needed a proper name to go more official :)

Thanks again and I hope you continue to enjoy some of my newer stuff too!

[Heart]

Reminds me of those youtube pieces which look like cats but still sound good

EarthDash75GMD responds:

yep

[John Cage's 4:33 (Heavy Remix)]

I’d flag this as spam if it were titled anything else than 4:33 remix.

[DISSONANT_REALITY]

Super groovy, especially the intro!

Wish I did something for madness day this year.

[Survive the Night]

This is actually phenomenal. I think this might be my favorite composition of yours ever. Finally something that surpasses the sun has toes.

There are very few complaints I have about the mix; it's actually really well done. I feel like your use of choir has evolved here to be a lot more tasteful, since in your other recent pieces I feel like it was used a bit too much. Though I did nothing but use the same instrument for like 3 years so I guess I can't really complain too much.

The little story that accompanies the piece is cute, but does go against what I think you said to me a long time ago about wanting your music to speak for itself. Me personally I decided to listen to the entire composition before reading the story. And let's just say I was blown away. The melody is catchy and waltzy. The piano introduction is something different and immediately tells you that this is no ordinary Tangerine piece and that we're in for something truly special. When I ranted about branching out and trying new things, this is a great step in that direction. The only complaint I have is by 6:25 the melody does start getting a little repetitive with the xylophone/piano/percussive instrument thingies doing similar chords consistently for the entire first half it feels like. It's all very tightly made with the winds getting huge attention here which I appreciate. Im making a windy composition myself anyways, though I am fashionably late to review this. Luckily you change things up quite a bit at 7:19 which I think was a really smart move tbh. 9:28 is a really nice moment that hints at a happier section coming up.
Then we get to the main part of the piece in my opinion: the second half. It starts at 10:04 and it basically your best work in my opinion. I mean the soft flute melody coming in gave me shivers listening to this. AHHHHHHHHHHH minor VI type shenanigans at 10:39 so JUICYYYYYY

11:18 is this the same guy who just made the lord has come? Soft flute with delicate pizzicato and swelling strings in the background driving the song forward??? Piano solo to snap us back to reality???? Calling this a theme and variations would be doing a disservice to the level of composition here. It's so much more than that. Now at 12:35, I would've switched away from flute for a bit cause they just got a ton of time to shine. I'm thinking maybe english horn or even clarinet might work there better. Regardless, it's still brilliant. The random major key shift at 13:24 was a little jarring but still works tbh. 13:47, that chord is awesome.

Holy SHIT can we talk about 14:18-14:50. Every instrument that's added blends so well it's crazy. I can hardly tell what's playing cause it's all so resonant. I have no idea how you got that sound but PLEASE do that more. You're giving me inspiration now with that like that's crazy. Probably my favorite moment in the entire piece. Soft piano in the background never gets old. And that return to the theme is really cool too. Oh hey look clarinet at 16:21. This is the literal definition of a symphonic poem, something you haven't really made to this scale before. And mine was like 6 minutes both times so this definitely beats it out in scale.

And how do you end this glorious masterpiece? With a descending cello line and a final resolution. While I like the spotlight on the cellos at the end, I feel like the outro didn't really do it justice. Still good though. What a wild ride this was, I'm gonna shut up now.

[Hi-LiGHT]

The intro sets the mood for sure. The voice lines set the stage for them being used more. But the transition into 0:26 has a weird clipping sound, and again at 1:48. It almost sounds like an overly loud hi-hat. It takes you out of the immersion a little bit. I can't even describe what it is fully but it is definitely noticeable. Sounds like you might need a stronger crash there to bring in the extremely fast melody. 0:47 is a very quick transition into a dubsteppy part that I'm not sure entirely fits with the rest of the song. Also the high end at 1:08 feels very crowded to me. Pretty much the only thing in the lower register there is the kick drum. I do like the guitar and voice lines in the section following though. At 2:08 the snares are extremely quiet and could be turned up a ton I feel like. Also the synths get a bit chaotic there, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Overall this is definitely a bop with a few rough areas around the edges for improvement that don't significantly hinder the fact that it's a bop. Thanks for coming out!

icantpronouncethis responds:

Thank you so much for the thorough analysis of this track. I think I've added a bitcrusher that fades in for that weird clicky part. I think I added that for texture thing. Now that you mentioned, I might just get rid of the crush because it doesn't seem to matter too much for the track. I always pull back when it comes to beats and I was hoping I pushed a bit more for this one. Definitely I'll be looking this once more before I package it. Thank you so much,

[Malleus Maleficarum]

This is awesome. The intro definitely sets the mood with the cellos doing their eighth notes and what I think is a glockenspiel leading into a choral section with brass and bombastic percussion, all in the span of 40 seconds. It is actually really impressive how quickly you move from section to section here, though I think some areas may have benefited from a little more time spent in them before moving on. Because the pace of the piece is usually pretty fast, a lot of the slower, calmer areas risk not having the emotional impact they should up until the second half. But this is largely avoided by just really good orchestration, except for 1:42, which sticks out and doesn't really match the rest of the piece. The last minute or so is actually my favorite part, because the pace slows down and you spend a little longer reveling on the journey you just went through. It feels very heartfelt and meaningful. The transition to 2:15 is a little rough and quick, however. That would be my final complaint for this piece; it is truly spectacular. The outro is AMAZING; very few complaints here. Thanks for coming out!

CloakedSoup responds:

The two parts you pointed out (1:42 and 2:15) were where I (last minute) wrote an extra section. Before that, there was a direct transition from one to the other, but I felt like the opening didn't have enough time being played (as you said). I wanted to write an extra part where I repeated some of those melodic ideas due to the aforementioned feeling that the intro needed to be longer. It's impressive that you intuitively noticed where I inserted the extra part! haha

[Fate]

Welcome back for another round! This one takes you on quite the emotional journey as always. But I feel like there's an element of soul missing this time from the performance, almost like you're rushing through the notes without taking your time to really emphasize the emotional beats of the piece. A good example is 2:13, which as Spadezer said is a very abrupt change of tone and lasts for like 10 seconds. I feel like a slower tempo here with a softer, more delicate touch would have greatly benefited the performance of this section. I never reviewed your previous round 3 submission but it is by far my favorite of your NGADM submissions. It literally gave me shivers listening to it. I didn't get the same response here unfortunately, likely because it did feel a little rushed and discombobulated at times. Mixing is excellent as always though. I find it admirable that you perform your own pieces with such eloquency. Thanks for coming out as always!

Solacitude responds:

Thank you very much! Happy to reach semi finals, it's been quite an adventure!!

I get what you're saying, it's often hard to get to record takes that are depicting properly what I have in mind, to get an inner flow that's projected properly on the keys, it's so easy to miss. 2:13 might be too bold for the overall feel of the piece. I knew it was a strong contrast and it's what I was going for, but maybe overdid it? It's a little 10 seconds but it had to be practiced a whole lot more than that! :) I'm thinking maybe I'll remove it completely from this piece and keep the concept for another more aggressive one. And maybe split this one into 2 completely different pieces.

I'm glad Windy connected with you this way! It's also my favorite own composition up to now, I had more episodes of strong inspiration at the beginning of the round 3, which gave more time to put into the end result. This one inspiration was not flowing as easily in the first days, but still I tried to do the best I can with the 2 ideas that came my way. Maybe I should have kicked the whole first part out and built more based off the second theme to get something more integrated. Not sure yet what I'll do with this piece.

Thank you very much for the feedbacks!

[Oh brother part 2]

This is such a potential bop! Unfortunately it is very very short of course. I like the intro quite a bit actually, it's definitely the best part. I'm not gonna give this a full review due to the situation but yeah this would've been really cool and I think you should finish it.

[Waterfall]

The first 2 minutes or so made me feel things I never felt before. This unmistakable determination, the minor key not oozing nostalgia or sadness but determination with the rhythmic piano cords. I really don’t know how to describe it. Something about the crazy time signatures during the intro section is so unique. That feeling went away a bit with the percussion and lyrics but was still present throughout. This is definitely a great song to listen to specifically in the mornings when you’re struggling to get out of bed and brush your teeth. Or when you’re in between classes in your dorm on campus and feel swamped with work and extracurriculars and 17 credits with multiple research projects as well as studying for the MCAT which you’re gonna take in like 4 months and you have barely made any progress. (Definitely not speaking from experience there btw).

You’ve earned yourself a follow.