50Steaks's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Gliding through the Clouds]

Oh look it’s choir in the background. Very fancy sounding melody, especially when the guitar comes in. Fancy as in grandiose and sounding like a banquet for royalty music. Again, using both sides of the “cello spectrum” (high and low notes) makes that part sound really emotional. The whole song is emotional to be honest, which makes sense given the title. Very well done, I like this more than falire.

[Creo - Ahead of the Curve]

Still my absolute favorite creo song. Everything is perfect here. The percussion is extremely unique, the song isn’t too short or long, the saxophone is done better here than even in Dimension or red haze, the 12/8 time signature is really original, drops are sudden but really catchy nonetheless, I don’t have any complaints. A little sad to see you give up on saxophone recently when this is the potential of the instrument.

[Creo - Wavelight]

Cello! Love the dnb type situation and the song’s progression is really good too, and the strings sound natural and like they were recorded in a studio instead of a bad soundfont.

[i made a song using only a soviet era drum machine]

A strange idea indeed. It somehow works with the feeling of the song, which is almost the opposite of what you’d expect from percussion.

ADR3-N responds:

So there are two settings on the synth itself, a noise on and off, that allow you to essentially turn the 808 into a lead with about an octave and a half of usable range. And then there's an approach modulator that you use to take away some of the typical percussive laser noises of 808 drums and flatten them out. The oscillators aren't even, just like the original drum machine, so I had to use mild pitch correction. Then there are gaps in the octaves covered, so pitch shifting to the rescue haha.

Basically this song was made in the FX, but I had a fun time with the limitations of using only one instrument for every element of the track

[cirrus]

The song’s called cirrus but I’m getting a nautical vibe instead of being in the high clouds; and that probably works to its benefit. This sounds even deeper than Indigo depths and almost feels like a bit of a follow-up, which to be honest is fine with me. It has progression in its sound effects and percussion, something that’s unique to your trancey-ambient style of music as far as I know. The sounds are REALLY well done here, especially with the atmosphere building in the background that most don’t notice but adds a lot to the quality. Outro was again really nice and I think I could learn a thing or two from your outros since I have had a lot of problems making it not end abruptly or feel like it wasn’t finished. Anyways this review is getting too long, take your stars, nothing else to say.

trevor8 responds:

thank you so much! you are actually spot on with the nautical vibes, the image i had in mind was clouds on the horizon line over the ocean on a late spring afternoon, but i like ambiguity!

[Impulse]

Best garlagan song to date. The first half is almost perfect, the second not so much but only because it’s so short. Love the melody

[Lost in the Dunes]

Wow. I’m very impressed with this; the main instrument is exactly what I would expect from a song with that title and the background works well here my opinion. Guitar solo was awesome as always and really adds some variety before the timpani comes in for the “march” section. I imagine camels and the pharaoh or whatever walking through a town as that part comes in. Very well done.

Tangerine responds:

Thank you. I've wanted to do a percussion solo in a song for a really long time now, but I just got to it. I'm glad you liked it :).

[Adventures of a Lost Clown]

Definitely getting circus vibes. The theming makes sense and is consistent throughout. 1:18 shows that there is progression which is pretty essential when trying to tell a story with a song. I imagine the waltzy background chords as the clown walking along with his friends (other instruments) and then in the end finding his way home. Never heard a song about a clown’s journey home but this nailed it. Nice work.

Tangerine responds:

Thank you. I worked really hard to keep the clown vibe throughout and I was beginning to worry if I started to lose it. I'm beginning to think more about musical progression in my songs. My previous songs sounded very repetitive with their structure, so I made sure that didn't happen. Thank you for the reply!

[indigo depths]

I always see 5* reviews being given out just because someone likes the person who made the song but in this case I’m totally new to your music and so I can be unbiased.
Despite that here are your well deserved stars. Musically it’s extremely unique and yet filled with variety, I wasn’t bored at all the whole way through and the sheer volume of instruments keeps it replayable which I think is important. My favorite part is 1:39, the way you bring in the climax of the song I think is done really well. Harmony is on point, everything is great here and I am struggling to find genuine feedback to give because if I had to guess you accomplished exactly what you wanted making this. Well done.

trevor8 responds:

thank you! that is very kind of you to say, i am flattered!