50Steaks's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Night of the Skeletons]

Why was I expecting an undertale medley from the title…?
Anyways I’m glad you’re back from your hiatus. This song is catchy despite its melody being disjointed and dissonant at times, that works for the theme of course. I as well am finishing a song that literally completely defies everything I’ve ever made thanks to a new pad trick I’ve found. It relies on tritone dissonance and… you’ll see. But one thing I’ve found it very hard to do is stop using the mobile version when there’s still so much to be done there and it feels a lot more fluid and intuitive than the pc version. They both have their benefits and drawbacks, so I’m thinking to use both somehow, like drafting a melody on the mobile version and using the pc version just for mixing and such.
Anyways enough about me, the outros are improving steadily which is good and the harmony is nice as well. Just not sure about how it switches to major key in somewhat sudden ways throughout.

Tangerine responds:

Yeah, I really played with the discordant notes with this one. I'm sure you'll figure out some way to incorporate all the good features of each version of Fl. And for the major minor thing... I didn't actually use a key signature for this one. I found a chord progression that sounded nice and hell broke loose from there. I tried my best to keep the chords mostly in the minor keys but it just got really difficult to find something that sounds good with the aesthetic of the song. Anyway, thanks for the comment.

[|05| Rave! Rave! Dave! Rave!]

Of all the seven songs, this one is probably the best. I have a weird tradition of reviewing at least one song of everyone who reviews my songs, unless they’re already super popular. I saw that you weren’t impressed with the views on this first album, I’m just going to say that it takes time and lots of effort. It took me about 3+ years to get one track that got a lot of listens (Wyoming with ~700), which isn’t even that much in the grand scheme of things. Haven’t even broken 1000 so don’t feel too bad if you aren’t getting what you want in that regard. But rather than worrying about the numbers I just do it as a hobby, not really caring if something doesn’t even get 100 after 2 weeks. I don’t plan to make my music into a career in the slightest, but I do enjoy making it, sometimes even more than I enjoy playing it which is just amazing to me. But yeah this song: it’s a good “bop” for lack of a better term. I can kind of see why you liked my most recent track after looking at what you’ve made. Progression is better down here than in your other tracks and the synths are more varied. I also notice that we use the same software (although I did end up slowly abandoning the mobile version for the PC trial version very recently). The whole balloon animal wolf Dave thing is a little bizarre but I suppose it does set you apart. A lot to say this time I guess.

PartyBalloof responds:

Yeah, I don't know why I expected my music to take off instantly, I gotta tune down my expectations and go back to my humble ways.
Anyways, thanks for taking a look at my songs! Most are rather simple because I haven't used the program much and my music skill is amateurish.

(Sorry that I don't have much to say in return, most of my prior music experience was messing around with iOS Garageband loops)

[The Mantis Relic]

Clearly this is some well made trap beat. I fail to see how this at all connects to a crystal-esc mantis other than the high pitched bells, but it still sounds nice nonetheless.

VariableGR responds:

I honestly did not make a good concept for the song, so it has nothing to do with the song or there is no relationship with it.
Thank you friend for your support

[tomorrow]

Probably not as good as mount blood rest because it just feels a lot more repetitive. The fade out at the end was well done though and the beat, despite not changing much, wasn’t that boring or uninteresting.

Mikas0Pikas0Pog responds:

Yea, it's less great since my cousin wasn't guiding me.

[Bored at the Midnight]

Ooook this song is fine on its own, but there’s a huge problem I’m noticing with most DnB songs that I didn’t even realize was an issue until now. They all use a very similar beat. Necromancy by zirconmusic literally uses the exact same drum pattern at its drop as in this song. I’m so conflicted as to whether that was on purpose or not, but there are other examples as well, such as paragonx9’s three famous DnB tracks and some of other famous artists. My point is mostly the kick at the first and snare at second beats of a measure, the third beat’s second eighth note having a kick then ending off with another snare at the fourth beat, over and over. There are of course variations of this, but one specific one is adding hi hats in the exact way it’s done here, and most DnB on ng tends to do that as well. This I see as a huge problem because it’s literally called Drum and Bass, so there really needs to be a lot variety in the drum and bass for it to not sound repetitive. This genre has so much potential and it’s just being wasted by basically everyone using the same pattern. It’s pop music all over again and that’s a big shame.

[Saturn Flower]

Frankly a masterpiece. I fail to see why anyone would say this isn’t your best so far. I love the story, I love the orchestral thing going on, the piano is amazing, progression and pacing is amazing, everything is perfect with the exception of the voice sample but that lasts for like 3 seconds a couple of times so it really doesn’t matter. The reason I don’t like it is because it doesn’t really fit the theme of a desolate flower, as flowers can’t sing and it isn’t even an earthly situation this time around. Literally everything else is perfect though so you retain my 5 stars.

VariableGR responds:

I know that no flower sings or expresses an emotion, however I like to experiment with magical stories or fantasy events.
I really appreciate your support and feedback <3 thank you so much!!

[MOUNT BLOODREST (garageband)]

Hey it’s me 11steaks

Anyways, this is such a massive jump over everything else you’ve made that it proves you know what you’re doing in the melody department. I’ve heard hundreds of rap songs, and while that isn’t my favorite genre of music by a long shot, this would fit really well with lyrics and auto tune. I really hope you continue to use GarageBand, as the main improvement of this over your previous tracks is the addition of multiple instruments at the same time, that alone allows people to create a theme and progression far more effectively than simply a solo instrument, unless that solo instrument is accompanied with an amazing melody and has its own harmony (you see this in classical solo concertos for string instruments or piano). By allowing yourself the capability to make much more in-depth tracks that hit harder than previously, you in turn make the songs more enjoyable and pleasant to hear. Songs don’t have to be pleasant to hear to be good, but they do have to invoke some sort of feeling, meaning, or emotion to be powerful and worth listening to. This is the trajectory I hope you and everyone interested in any art goes down in the future. Well done.

Mikas0Pikas0Pog responds:

Thank you! My older cousin helped me make this!
I wont be using Beepbox as a major source but hey, I made something rad for once!

[Trumpet Vs Violin]

No idea what I’m supposed to rate this one. Definitely a bit of a mixed bag here, there are some great moments like 1:46 but on the other hand the outro was strange indeed and it’s just so bizarre hearing Sibelius trying to do the impossible with a trumpet glissando a few times. As a song it doesn’t really have a strong sense of cohesion or storytelling, which it doesn’t necessarily have to but songs that don’t make up for it in other ways, such as a deeper meaning of some sort that explains the lack of a theme or any consistency in its instrumentation. However, for what it’s going for, it does it pretty well. A very interesting quality is the melody; there is no real consistent melody at all, which isn’t a bad thing but also makes it very difficult to accurately critique. The one thing I can say is that at times it felt that the piano was more powerful than either the brass or violin. Good job trying something different, it’s always nice to experiment even if it doesn’t fit the mold of what most are used to hearing.
Edit: 1:07-1:45 the piano is the most prevalent instrument.

Tangerine responds:

Yeah, I agree. I tried to do something else with this song. I went for a more freestyle feel for this song. Like a music battle, the only "Scripted" (I say that since I mean the only parts when either the brass band comes in or the strings come in) part is their solos. The whole purpose of this song is to give the feeling of a music battle. Two musicians having a musical battle with the only prior knowledge being what the pianist is doing. This song is basically just me trying new things. Diving into feelings and genres that I usually don't go into. Would you be able to elaborate on how the piano felt more powerful and at which parts. That's just something that interested me.

Anyway, thank you for the feedback :).

[The Moon has Fingers]

The percussion is particularly well done here, as are the glissandos and chords. Really picks up after 0:40, I prefer that over the intro because the intro does feel empty when the violin cuts away. One thing I do have is the constant full vibrato on the violin is just really noticeable here than in other tracks of yours, and it can be tough to ignore and pass off as a sound font issue. Obviously the instrumentation, and WOW it just got to 1:57 while writing this and I am blown away. I was going to rate it 4.5 stars but just for that it’s now 5. Well done there. I do like the constant changes to minor, helps set it apart from other jazz songs. The piano is really good here as well, and the full vibrato actually pays off in 1:57, the best part of the song by a mile. And don’t think I missed that juicy bass thing in the background doing complementary arpeggios to help give it a funky vibe. This one just got better and better as it went on.

Tangerine responds:

Thank you! I really struggle to find a SoundFont with good strings that come with more than just the violin. I found all the other sound fonts sound like the violin got hit by a truck then the remains burnt to a crisp. I'm still actively searching for better soundfonts. I just have to make do with what I have for the time being. I'm glad you enjoyed this song. I had fun composing it but I wasn't too sure if people would like it since it was more bizarre than what I usually post.

[Wanda's Waltz]

Now, I’ve made 3 songs using 8-bit synths back in December and they all have aged quite terribly imo. The reason I didn’t make more is because I quickly realized that doing anything experimental and unique with the extremely limited sounds available would be very difficult and not worth the effort.
This proved otherwise. I was expecting a classic upbeat video game theme music type song but this is better, it almost sounds like a prairie theme from an open world or, as mentioned, undertale (although I don’t really see how this fits in with the rest of that game’s music). Unfortunately though, this song is lacking any percussion which isn’t necessarily such a bad thing if it’s meant to be ambient, but the genre is stated to be video game and it has melodic qualities, and in something like that I would almost expect at least a kick and hat or something to drive the tempo and melody forward; as it is the melody also sounds kinda run-on just like Maryland.
In terms of soundfonts, I tried to avoid criticizing them in the past because that isn’t really a problem with the song but it’s a problem with the software. I did mention that a few times in particularly severe cases though. Happy to see you’re trying to improve the quality and variety via use of other means of musical expression.

Tangerine responds:

Thanks. The reason why I didn't add a drum beat is that I always do. I felt like it would be sort of relieving not to have percussion for once. Also, it's 3/4 and I'm lazy. Another reason why there was no percussion is that this was created for someone and they didn't ask for any percussion.
They instead asked for digeridoos and kazoos xD. I do have cymbals which I use once or twice throughout the song but the SoundFont makes It sound sandy at 1:25. And one last reason why I didn't add percussion is that it made the song sound way too happy. Something about the drums just made the song sound really happy and I didn't think it would be fitting for a song for someone who got covid. Anyway, thanks for the feedback :)