50Steaks's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Centre of the Stage]

Missed this one in my inbox for some reason.
Anyways I love the jazzy feel of the background chords, almost feels like a group of dancers dancing to some ballet type thing (great explanation I know). This quietish thing at 1:18 is really near and I think new to your style although I could be wrong. Absolutely adore the glissandos, they really add a lot of uniqueness and as a string player I know how fun they can be to play. Really well done.

Tangerine responds:

Thanks. My vision while making this is of a small jazz group performing a gig in some casino (I say small but there's quite a few instruments there). I completely agree, Glissandos are loads of fun to do.

[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!

[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!

[Sailors from up North]

*Leaves a review on Virginia about arpeggios mostly*
*Makes a song that has them as a major element in the background*
In all seriousness, this is extremely catchy. There are two main issues I have with this and they have to do with subtler elements. The first is replay value; the lack of variety in the melody decreases its replay ability (a term usually used for video games but I think it works for music as well). I know this because Virginia suffers from the same thing. The second is the transitions between parts of the song; good example is 0:34-0:38 where the transition to the next part is very abrupt, so unless that goes against the style of the pirate theme it could be improved. In fact it was improved at 1:35. So really what’s missing until then is percussion, I’m feeling like a fast beat or something with a snare to build up its introduction at 1:35. I’ve never played Sea of Thieves so I may not be the most qualified to review this, but I do really love the chord progression and I think the guitar is a nice addition. Very well done, I think you’ve mastered structuring and harmony/melody at this point, just need to find better soundfonts for some instruments. I’ve never mentioned that; the violin soundfont you use I actually am not a big fan of because it fails to balance each note properly, as in in terms of volume and vibrato (string player of 8 years).

Tangerine responds:

Thank you for the review. I agree transitioning is something I really need to work on. I'm trying. The abrupt chorus with all the percussion was intentional because it was supposed to be a sudden jump with the whole crew playing together. I agree I lacked percussion for the first couple of sections of the song, but I didn't feel like putting much percussion into it later on. I preferred it without percussion in the gentler parts. Not much I can do about the sound fonts. I was thinking of just doing the violin parts myself so I can choose the amount of vibrato since the synth absolutely abuses vibrato. Has no wind down in it, just goes straight for it. The only thing stopping me from doing it myself is recording equipment. I don't have the microphones and insulation to record music. "*Makes a song that has them as a major element in the background*" At least you know I'm inputting my own advice haha. Thank you for the feedback!

[Giant by the Cliff]

Honestly just an improved version of End of the Road. I love that it’s shorter than that one and less attempt to be grandiose, more so just a fun one. Minor criticism, I really like the cymbals but the constant instant panning can get a little disorienting, especially with headphones. Getting better at outros, really feels like a giant about to fall off a cliff but luckily avoiding that at the last minute. I wonder how this would have turned out in minor key? That’s interesting to think about.

Tangerine responds:

" I wonder how this would have turned out in minor key?" Well, the answer is right there. The key is a minor key. Forgive me if I misinterpreted what you mean, I'm still learning music theory and musical terms. When listening to End of the Road I felt that I didn't have enough percussion so I fixed that in this piece. Thank you for the reply. I always appreciate it when you stop by.

[Just Another Crime]

Amazing. The outro sounds like a gunshot which PERFECTLY fits the theme, despite being really dark. The melody is really good. This is one of those instances where 4 repeating chords works in a song, when it builds the atmosphere and the lack of tension and release benefits the song. A follow up of probably your worst song, this is... just... I have no words anymore

Tangerine responds:

I'm glad you like my piece and melody. I was messing around on the guitar with Dm and I managed to create this chord progression by each chord moving a finger down a fret. I have absolutely no idea on what 75% of these chords are. This song was created when I discovered the sound effect list of instruments in sibelius. There's so many bizarre things in that list. You consider The Police Are Coming to be my worst song? Personally, out of all the public songs i'd say Kitu was my least favourite. Overall I can guarantee that Kitu sounds like a masterpiece compared to other monstrosities I've made. Someone once paid me $10 nzd to create the worst sounding remix of the doom eternal theme for a game they were making for a school project. The game was called COOM. Creative Observations Of Mathematics. It should be COM but they insisted on COOM. (Don't worry I know why they want it.)

[The Police Are Coming]

Could have sworn I reviewed this before, but I guess I didn’t. This is your most popular song I think, even now, and 158 listens is pretty substantial. Do I think it deserves to be your most popular? Absolutely not, you’ve made way better than this (take the outro for example)

Tangerine responds:

Yeah, I don't understand Newgrounds. Well, not complaining with the views haha. If people like it then that's all that counts.