50Steaks's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Just Another Crime 2]

A follow up to one of my personal favorite tracks of yours. This sequel has all the stuff needed to be a good follow-up: a new set of instruments, mixing improvements, longer and better structuring, etc. But there is something missing here that was present in the original, and that was the element of surprise. The original ended with a gunshot while this one just a piano solo. The original really emphasized the brass which fit very well with the jazzy mafia theme, and for some reason it's completely missing here. Another thing that's missing is the telephone sound, probably representing a call from the mafia themselves about to do a crime. Maybe here it could have been somewhat humorously replaced by the iPhone calling sound. As much as I love the piano/bass as an instrument, brass does something to pieces like this that can't be replaced. Probably take that lightly as I have yet to use brass in one of my songs though. Bizarre impressions, I seriously would love to give it 5 stars like the original but it wouldn't be justified. Reminds me of basically every movie sequel ever, it makes the original's legacy tarnished even if it's just as good or even better than the original. Maybe part of the reason is that this doesn't really experiment with what the first established all that much.
Edit: came back here to potentially hear both at once to make sure I agreed with this review. Came back to hear a completely different song that far more effectively takes the essence of the original and improves on it in the best ways. The distorted, dissonant piano works way better than in the first version. Brass is present here which I initially recommended. Love the return of the telephone as it helps set the atmosphere and mood. Changing from 3.5 stars to 5 stars. Interesting how it begins with the telephone sound and ends with the telephone sound. Only slight issue is that the classic gunshot sound at the end is a little quiet. Other than that not much else to say. One thing I forgot to complement was the melody at 2:30, it’s now become one of your best imo, especially in the context of the climax. Very well done building on what the original did while keeping its best aspects. I think this might be your best yet. I say that like every song you make lol.

Tangerine responds:

I'm glad you liked the song. After hearing your comment I realized my mistake. In the original, I utilized brass far more and I feel I neglected it this time. The sound effects are pretty much the signature of the song so I added them back. Thank you for the feedback!

[|14| ALKALINE!]

I can tell you had a lot of fun with the repeater on the hi-hats lol. Probably wouldn’t have gone with the 8-bit/80’s type synths in combination with this insane percussion that every so often pans everywhere as it felt a little out of place. That is until 3:17 where everything meshes together so well as there happens to be some more traditional drums to close out the song. Not gonna lie in all my 2.5 years of using FL mobile I’ve never dared to touch the stereoizer and master limiter (along with most of the other effects besides reverb, delay, the param EQ and of course autoduck (more commonly known as side chain) for the lead) as they just don’t work as well as their pc counterparts. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been yelled at to remove the reverb from the kick drum entirely and leave it on just the high hats/snares since it “occupies the mix and makes it sound messy and muddy”. Sometimes I agree with them but other times I think it sounds fine with reverb and taking it away doesn’t always have 0 consequences for the style of music I’m trying to make. Anyways here there is no reverb on the kick drum past the intro and it works well enough anyway thanks to the sheer quantity of instruments used.

PartyBalloof responds:

Yeah this is where I discovered the repeater, and you bet I had to use the heck out of it.

As for the reverb, I found that adding too much reverb to drums made them sound hissy, while using too much stereoizer made the snare and hihats sound like they were coming from two slightly out-of-sync speakers.

I also found that using reverb on certain kicks have their benefits, such as give them more presence without increasing overall volume, but some kicks definitely become messy with reverb.

Meanwhile stereoizer definitely gives the kicks more oomph but also makes the hihats and snares sound weird.

Honestly most of these effects are new to me. I mean have you ever tried FL Studio Mobile 2? You only had one effect rack, and each instrument was Nofx/normal/Fx. The reverb in FLM2 was also quite... "stylized"

... also autoduck? Lemme look into that...

[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.

[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.