50Steaks's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[NightHawk22 - Isolation (Artcore Remix)]

F O C U S

Now that that’s outta my system, this is honestly a really cool remix. I love how well the synths you chose fit into this melodic structure. You stuck very close to the original song, complete with the random key change at 2:14, which is far from a complaint because the original is also really good. But this feels like you modernized it past early 2000s techno lmao. Nice job here! Not too much else to say really. Oh I really like the ending and think it sounds cool.

[scrape]

That art is badass. Must be the album cover.
The dissonance! This has gotta be one of the more unique DnB songs I’ve seen on here. It all feels very contemporary, akin to the great 20th century composers who upended the idea of traditional harmonies and stepped forward into the use of new sounds (i.e. microtonality, atonal music). And this definitely fits the bill of atonal. It might be too wild for some listeners here to bear, but I can definitely appreciate how experimental this is. Also the percussion work is really impressive and varied. The ending might be a little abrupt, but that might be by design.

Sorry I haven’t been reviewing your tracks recently lmao. I keep telling myself to do it and then forget

vekoN responds:

thank you for the review! iirc this isn't really atonal, it's very chromatic but i believe i made everything revolve around Gm, with a picardy third ending

also i appreciate the comparison to the great 20th century composers! :)

again thank you for listening

[Twilight Symphony]

Modern take on the Dimrain style! It’s really brought home with the snare clap at 1:04. Sudden key changes are also very indicative of his style lmao. Drums at 2:32 are beyond anything he would’ve written but I like it tbh. I’ve listened to the vast majority of his music; he’s one of my favorite artists here even all these years later.

G2961 responds:

Thanks for the comment!!! Yeah, it's a slightly different take on his style, but as usual I couldn't help but add the DnB part with the hard drums at the end, lol. Yeah, he never used automation on the semitone change as far as I know, he usually raised the semitones starting from a new beat, not so abruptly.
To me he is also one of the greatest musicians and phenomena of this site, I especially like his track The Falling Mysts. It's a very cool and atmospheric Trance track.

[Expeeriemental]

A short little piece this time. It’s interesting how there’s tension and release in a whole tone piece like this, done solely through expression and nothing else. Reminds me of Ives’ whole tone pieces in that sense. And it’s cool to see you try new scales and stuff instead of sticking to major or minor. Honestly I’d love to hear your take on Phrygian or Lydian next.

Solacitude responds:

It was quite a challenge to come up with something, I was playing around improvising with this scale and ended up recording a couple somewhat "good" takes so I decided to put it here. No 5th and no semi tones makes for a bit of a difficult time, completely out of my comfort zone.

This mode gives very little opportunities to resolve or to develop ideas into something that I would deem more "easy listening". Though it's a very interesting exercise! At first I though I was playing with the mystic scale, but then figured the note A is part of it as well acting as 5th note of the scale.... Which I don't use in there. So in the end I'm not sure how to call this, maybe pentatonic whole tone scale ^^ It creates interesting sound I think that would fit quite well in some instances to evoke mystery, unsettling feeling. I might use it at some point, with parsimony, in more regular compositions too. Next time I'll try to go for a more complex and full, proper piece, with normal keys/scales.

I might explore Phrygian and Lydian modes a little bit more too! I often find myself going back to the good old Ionian/Aeolian.

Thank you for passing by and leaving a review! ^^

[StarTracer]

You’re super underrated! Especially for an FL mobile creator! I would know cause that’s how I made the majority of the songs on my profile.

[Solacitude x crispy - Ultimatum]

As someone who loves both calamity and interstellar, this feels right at home. And the key change works surprisingly well. I find it funny that I first heard about dm dokuro not through calamity but through GD, with reality check through the skull. So yeah I’ve known him for a while.

Solacitude doing a collab isn’t something I expected, but it makes total sense. It’s always better to have a live performer than a soundfont, no matter how good the sampler is. I do think the strings could have swelled more, at the moment it kinda feels like sol stole the show! Though I did listen to this without headphones. Excellent job here!

crispybatteryacid responds:

Gotta love DM Dokuro, hes why I started making music

I believe this is Sol's first collab, and I was honoured to have been a part of it; but yeah he def carried this one lol. Glad you enjoyed!

[Contemplation]

It’s exercises like these that show how incredible of a pianist you are. Able to work within strict limits yet able to make something this musical. This is one of my favorites of yours. Actually incredible

Solacitude responds:

Thank you so much! I was putting it here just because I thought maybe it could bring some peace of mind to someone else, but being your favorite goes beyond my expectation!

Thanks for the feedback and generous compliments! That this piece could at least give to someone else a little bit of the comfort it gives to me is all I could ask for ^^

[literally any rap song ever]

Mandela catalogue ahhh voice

[Hall of the Pumpkin King]

I think my trumpet soundfont is better than yours in this one. Like I feel like the muse brass could have done a better job than the brass you used here. Arpeggio pizzicato strings is pretty cool, don't hear you use that much. I was literally just about to write how I don't think this is mysterious or scary enough for a halloween piece but then I a. remembered this wasn't a halloween piece and b. 1:48 hit and that pretty much sealed the deal. That is by FAR my favorite section. It is so good. It's exactly what I expect to hear in the hall of the PUMPKIN king.

I just noticed a tag is "sexy-sounds."

The trumpet sound from the intro improved a lot at 2:40, probably because you gave it more room to breathe. Get it? Cause it's a wind instrument? lol. Maybe I was always the lost clown after all.

Woah. 3:26 is giving me Halloweenstep vibes. Idk why. I hear that solo violin you used in DIM 2. Ok I said 1:46 was my favorite section, idk about that now. It's pretty good after the intro. I just am not the biggest fan of the intro as I'm starting to realize. I think it's the weakest section because it doesn't sound anywhere near as unique or original (for your standards, which I already have higher than most) as the rest of the song. To me the song really starts at 1:46. It's really hard to articulate why I don't like the intro as much but imo it's not a super great impression for the rest of the piece, which is a huge improvement. It is more like the original version of this though so I can't really blame you there. So yeah this is a really good piece and why tf did I write so much lmao

[Descent into Madness 2]

Is the piece you're going to remake adventures of a lost clown? Still the best in your catalogue by far?

I love solo violin. The soundfont is honestly pretty decent, though idk why it's sliding everywhere. This is honestly more intense than the original with the lower brass sounds and all. I just have a criticism at 1:16: I don't think that should be solo violin. That should be an entire violin section. Just my opinion.

The following part really hammers up the intensity with the bass drum hits and I'm not really sure what the drumkit you used was but it fits so well. Side note I really love how 2:12 feels like it could be the ending, but ending it there would be unsatisfying. Nice work leaving us wanting more and delivering. The main melody in the vocaloid (now mixed with more reverb LMAO) is similar to the original which is really neat. The major key switchup threw me off guard, lol. I wasn't expecting that. Just before we get to the ending, I just wanted to mention that 3:33 really reminded me of that one part in warbird for some reason, and also the ending to a really old song of mine called papers please remix. I'm not sure it fits super well here just before the flutes come in (just like the original, lol).

You've worked a ton on the ending. Let's see how it sounds. Well, the beginning of it sounds very familiar indeed. I would argue maybe a little too familiar; I can barely tell the difference at first. It is mixed better, I'll give you that. I think the chords might be different, a little more complex. You can really start hearing that when the strings come in. I'll give it a pass because it does develop in a very different way. The final climax hits! And boy does it hit hard. At first I'm like "ok sounds like standard tangerine stuff here" but then the VERY end hits and I get shivers. By the very end I mean exactly at 4:48 (that final chord) to the end. Goosebumps. Idk why, but it hits really hard. The soft piano probably does a lot of favors for you there. This is a big improvement on the original. The decision to switch to solo violin at the end I think helped that section a ton.

I still think a full violin section could've been nice during the louder sections. When the solo violin plays, it needs to be solo, you know what I mean? The erratic vibrato is probably why I think it doesn't really fit in the choruses too much. The overtones get all drowned out and all you can hear is the wobble. This is particularly apparent at 4:37 to me. Imagine if you brought that line to the trumpet or something in the final chorus and THEN had the solo violin come back for one last reprise in the outro. I feel like that could be even more cathartic.

One last incredibly minor criticism I have is the very very last note; it ends so abruptly and could've been held longer. Not sure why I even mentioned that, but I did notice it so now it's in the review. Yay.

Welp, I think I'm caught up with your music, let me go check. This is a really nice expansion on the original tbh. It's so uplifting. The major key switchup is so glorious and is definitely my favorite part.

Edit: forgot about the pumpkin king one.