50Steaks's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Falire 2]

This has got a lot of experimental percussion in it as well as a completely different take to the original. The piano and instrumentation is exactly what I wanted out of a new falire remix, but I can’t help but feel like it’s a little empty without the energy that the original had. I say that because it’s a lot slower now and isn’t as jumpy. To be honest if this got frontpaged I don’t see why the original didn’t. I mean I get that this is mixed better, but compositionally it has a lot of the same traits and basically retains the same chords and the same main melody. The virtuosic solos in the middle were pretty neat as well.

I find it funny that falire has basically become your version of my far less popular/successful Missouri series. You adore the melody so much that you can’t stop coming back to it. I mean I literally made 5 of them! And then the finale ended with that same melody. And just a few months ago I was thinking of making Missouri 6 as some major reboot of the series with a combination of electronic and classical elements in a grand symphonic style. This is me rambling lol. So between falire, falire rock, falire 2, and my SoundCloud remix I did, which one is your favorite?
Great work as always.

Tangerine responds:

Yeah in the original the percussion is bland, so I thought it'd be fun to sorta give it a solo in this one. I could see how this one feels a lot more empty compared to the original with its slower speed. but with this remix, I wanted to make it a lot more relaxed and less rushed. The original was at 150bpm and the remix is at 130bpm.

I think the reason why this one got frontpaged and the original didn't is that the original was way too flawed. In my eyes, the melody is the only thing the original had. Everything else about it was pretty bad. Simple triad strings in the background with the boots and cats drums. a pre-chorus section which was pretty bad and a cute little solo which didn't really do much.

Compositionally my remix is actually far different from the original, I just disguised it really well. The chords are actually completely different as well while keeping the same progression. The chords in the original go: Dm, G, C, Am. However, the chords in the remix go Dm6 Dm Dsus, G Gsus, C Cmaj7, Am C. So it still has the same progression but more spiced-up chords. The commas in the chord listing represent the bars.

Also, the rhythm in the remix is a lot more elaborate than the non-existent rhythm in the harmony that the original had. The only real interesting rhythm the original has is with the melody, which again, is why I believe the original is carried unbelievably hard by the melody.

Not to mention the lack of variation and progression in the original. The instruments barely change from the violin and the guitar. Nothing interesting in the drums or bass as well as every section other than the chorus was uninteresting. Not to mention how long the chorus goes on for. It repeats more times than it ever needs to.

Not to mention the mixing. Back then I didn't even know how to pan instruments, so the violins are just in the left ear lol. Also, the strings don't change on the beat which has always bugged me xd.

I know it sounds like I hate the original haha, but I don't. I love it and it's very dear to me, but I can see how incredibly flawed it is. It was a giant step in my musical career and that's why it'll always be dear to me.

But ye, with this remix I wanted to keep the parts that I liked from the original and change the parts that I didn't. As well as taking it in a new direction :)

I feel like every musician has that one little melody that they always come back to. Missouri 6 sounds exciting

[The Funky Friend]

Tf was my reasoning down there lol. You see the track was pretty repetitive so I decided to make it a short loop. Top tier logic

[(DEFINITIVE) Wabbletown - OST - Drive]

This is worthy of a scout. It’s got some funky vibes to be honest and I’ll scout anyone who basically doesn’t post spam and their music adds to the portal instead of taking away from it. That section at 0:57 especially justifies this scouting even more lol.

[The Ritual]

Woah, 11/4! Not a very common time signature, I used it in one of my songs like once lmao and that was a remix (technically it was 11/8 but you get the point). My favorite part is definitely 2:32 on as it feels like it is taking the most advantage of the unique time signature to be honest. The crazy drums is exactly what you need when dealing with this odd meter. The choir is very cool as well at the end there. Unfortunately the rest of the song kinda brings that whole second half down for me. Also the outro feels a little pathetic and I don't know why. But great job nonetheless!

Frypt responds:

Thanks for the feedback! It was very weird working with 11/8, because its so different from 4/4, which im used to. I tried to build the whole song up and use 11/8 in different ways, and at the end use what i had learned from the first half of the song. The reason for the ending is because i had the rhythm game: osu!catch in mind throughout making the song, and that type of ending is pretty common in the songs used in that game :) i really appreciate the feedback though!!

[Heywi - Long way home]

The kick and percussion in general should be hitting way harder than it is to be honest, maybe some sidechain would've done wonders here. Musically speaking, the arpeggios are cool and all but the atmosphere never really changes enough and it all starts to blend together a bit. The meter feels odd for some reason, as in the phrasing may not be 16 measures or some multiple thereof but I can't tell. But yeah overall this has a lot of potential for improvement and building. Keep working at it!

H3yw1 responds:

Thanks for your opinion! I'll try this when I make a new track.

[Ouroboros]

Geometry dash reference???????

But anyways this is cool especially once the guitar kicks in. Its a very simple melody but it works because it is constantly built on throughout, well for a time anyways. By 1:23 to the end it does start getting a little repetitive, maybe a cool solo guitar on top of the bassline instead of just a fading in synth an octave above could've been cool. Regardless, good job nonetheless!

[darklight]

Too short and the effects sound ripped straight from garageband. The vocals are also not that catchy unfortunately. But it is mixed well I will give you that. I wish the percussion was just a bit more complicated than amen break though.

[Empty Subway]

This scratches an itch in my brain that I can't pinpoint. Instrumentation is very simple which is the biggest issue here especially as we enter the middle bridge section. Ok listening to the middle more now I think it gets a little bit too chaotic for my liking to be honest, I think the more melodic moments are the high points of this song and should have been given more focus. That key change at 2:18 is insanity by the way and it should not work but it does. The rest of the song after that is not as good as the intro or 2:01 to be honest. But yes I agree with clown, the intro scratches a musical itch in my brain so good job anyways.

Viraxor responds:

Thank you for the lengthy review!

[Aethos Remix]

Never watched too much SML since I had only heard about them when they made the bowser JR suicide episode that got a bit too dark for my liking at the time. To be honest this would be so much cooler if you just cut out the first 30 seconds man. Just detach this song from a very outdated, hated channel and it would be so much better lmao. Same thing with the outro: just have it fade out or put some cinematic ending since you clearly know what you're doing. It's just hindered by the presence of the intro and outro.

I say SML is hated because jeffy was clearly meant to portray mentally handicapped stereotypes in a negative way

SAKKth responds:

I mostly kept the first 30 seconds in because of the original song. This is a remix of another song under a similar title, which has a similar entrence. Same with the general theming, since it's based off of a Horror Wiki for SML.
https://smlwiki.com/
https://youtu.be/8bbMggjzMxg?si=HhVCmiwse7lBh9pa
Also for the outro I just thought it was funny lol but thats fair critique.