MadMath's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Undercover]

Bon... maintenant que j'ai un peu de temps et que je te l'ai promis, je m'y mets ;)
Comme je te l'ai dit par MP, du lourd.

Vraiment enorme. On reconnais bien ta griffe et je reconnais la quelques uns de tes instru et la meme rythmique un peu syncopée.
Excellent jeu sur les variations legato-notes saccadees-sidechain, percu mortelles (sauf un vieux snare tout cheap) et bien en place (mais t'as pas de mérite ;)), j'ai vraiment bien aime le mélange des genres, accents dub, dubstep, électro, et meme un peu de trance psyche apres 3 min.
Et vraiment la classe de tenir un son puissant comme ca sur plus de 5 minutes, alors que finalement y a peu de lignes melodiques. Mais la petite aigue est envoutante et puis tu arrives a recycler tes basses a la perfection. Ouai, ca fait un peu suce-boules, mais tout est hyper fluide, et j'ai vraiment rien de negatif à dire sur celle la, j'aime beaucoup

Bravo mon gars, j'espere que tu vas continuer la dessus et que ca se passera bien ton dj set ;)

Okipa responds:

Mais quel suce boules celui là ! XD
Plus sérieusement, merci bien pour ton retour sur mon son, même si concernant la snare, tu n'as aucun gout :)
Content que tu kiffes mon canard, fais tourner à tes potes ;)
Allez on se tcheck dans l'été pour se faire une maximum bamboule !

[Radium- Prof. Adm. Bacon]

Excellent choice of instruments (including percussions), nice work on the cut off in the beginning, good density in the end, but...

Wow... my god... bring some changes in your melody !!!
You've got the same main theme for sooo long !
From 0:01 to 2:37 we hear it with no breaks. Of course you change instruments, and the melody is not bad, but it remains the same notes. And even the arpeggiator plays the same thing. It's hardly standable to me, and I welcomed the cadenza part at 2:40 as a liberation ! Actually, that made me appreciate the end of the song, and the come back of the theme which was a success occupying perfectly the entire space.

In my opinion, you cannot leave this melody from the very beginning to the 2/3 of the song just like that. The simple but good drums and the changes in your nice instruments cannot let this pass without creating a boredom.

Good idea to me, but needs variations !

Bacon92 responds:

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll see if I can throw a bridge or variation somewhere in the middle.

- Professor Admiral Bacon

[Prelude Finality]

Cool song

Hi sir !
Didn't reviewed for a while... Hope it'll be a correct one :P

Let's start with positive points !
Excellent choice of instruments as always, very videogame-ish, could suit every romantic scene of an old snes rpg, or great for an intro, as it is the case here. Again, it definitely sounds as you describe it and how you want it to be. I really enjoyed the diversity of the "harp", with arpeggios, isolated notes or descents, etc.
The structure of the song is very good, as always here again, you know how to make a song last long without getting the listener bored (Ok this, time you were helped with the kind of song you wanted to make, cause it's predisposed to be long), and we navigate on the waves (that i really got the feeling to hear ! did you include sounds of sea ?? if so, it's great !) of the melody.
Anyway, perfect coherence of the ensemble. Impressive.
Nice use of the panoramic, particularly in the begining, wich reinforce the "waves" feeling. Nice work on nuances also.

Let's pass to negative aspects !
Erm... sorry, I didn't find any this time... :)

I'm not sure I understood well if it's a remix, or a pure composition, but in both case, it's an excellent work.
It's a pleasure to always listen to something interesting and greatly composed each time I check your submissions.

10/10 - 5/5 of course ;)

ChronoNomad responds:

Hey, MadMath! Thanks a ton for the great review, and no negative aspects? Excellent! The waves are incredibly subtle and infrequent, but I shouldn't be surprised that you took note of them. I guess that this is something of a remix, though it is based off of a number of FF Preludes. I took a variety of my favorite parts and put them together, whilst adding my own personal flair (as I always do).

Ever since I composed this version of Prelude, I haven't created another, so I guess naming it "Finality" was apropos. I also dig it because it's like an extra nod to the series. Thanks again for dropping off this fine review, man! It's always awesome to know that someone's listening. :)

[Theeketel - Dominion]

Changes !

Yop !
Been a while I didn't give an ear to your sounds (actually, it's been a while I didn't come to NG), and I realize you decided to make something less dark and chaotic than your first submissions.
I guess this song is more classically constructed, and it's not bad at all, in my opinion. Very nice work on percussions which are the main element here. A great variety, with great breaks, great cells. I guess the job is perfectly done with drums, and I really enjoyed them.

Though (sorry :P), the bass would take advantage of some changes. As drums are perfect, it could help them being more effective on some melody, or a linearity melodically speaking. Cause finally, after 2 minutes, I've got the feeling to go in circles. If that's what you're looking, it's perfect :D. But if, not, I'd praise for an evolution in the bass.

Good job, overall, in my opinion ! 7/10 and 3/5

AliceMako responds:

Heya, nice to hear from you again :D

Yeah recently i've been trying my hand at slightly more conventional sounding productions, emphasis on slightly.

Truth be told the bass and synths are just window dressing to the drums which i agree are rather wicked.

My aim was to have something driving yet hypnotic that goes on and on to keep me focused during blc matches, so yes it's perfect. ( perfect for me that is x3 )

For your pleasure i'll play with it some more and see if i can make a more interesting version to share, meanwhile i posted something similar prior to this albeit in a slower bpm and i do plan to produce more pieces in this vein.

[-Emotion-]

Cool song.

As always, actually.

I like the way you approach your theme in intro, with fluidity, romantism, with flutes and bells to definitely cut with this first impression quite suddenly. In fact, i said definitely, but that's not correct. You just change this melody's main meaning. In a cool way, I must confess, and this acceleration indeed leads to something less emotional.

Great variations and most of all, great way to arrive on them. For the acceleration, a simple cymbal inverted (i don't remember the name it gots) which took me by surprise. And about the modulation at 2:50 for some measures, changing tonality suddenly, into the melody and coming back to the main tonality with no more flourish than drums and without finishing the sentence on a long note or without preparing some kind of step-by-step return to it was very good in my opinion. (I hope you got me, but i really doubt it is crystal clear :D)

Anyway, I rather like it, but I'd like to tell you about a few points that doesn't convince me.
I definitely hate the recurrence of the clap and its sound. I'm sure a hat would have been better.
I also really enjoyed your kind of excitation in the battery, at 1:27 and 3:07, but i think reinserting this rhythmic cell each two measures (or something likes that), doesn't serve the song, as they sound more like a transition than a accomagnment rhythm.
A last thing that doesn't really work in it (still in my opinion), is that the kind of legato voice seems to slow down the song. You've got very tonic percussions, but this main melody, with its bending and (too) slow attack doesn't make something that could be a counterweight to it, but on the contrary, prevent the song from moving on.

Overall I like this song, that sometimes makes me think about Donkey-Kong on game boy ;), and I think you've made efforts to present this solid piece of work. Not your best though, in my opinion. :)

ChronoNomad responds:

Nope, not my best; I have to agree with you there. This piece is old...like really, really old. That being said, it's quite good for my lack of experience at the time, but it's just not up to the same quality that I can put out now.

I don't really disagree with you on any points here, and I was still using stock percussion riffs along with my own back then. Your review is honest and thorough, and your proclivity for explaining both the positive and negative aspects of the music - in your opinion - is greatly appreciated. I respect how you explain that it is your own personal opinion, and you don't try to sell it as the only possible conclusion. Big props for being straight up, yet not in any way acting like you're somehow better than everyone else and that you know it all. Your attitude toward reviews equates to high-level respect points in my book. :D

Honestly, I was never very happy with the main synth that I used because of that bending. Back when I made this I didn't really consider the fact that I could ditch the bend simply by using some offset, so every note just has that crazy tone slide at the beginning. It's good, but all those little quirks make it less-than-great. It was fun to make, it's old, and I felt like sharing it here. All in all, I feel pretty content with your tell-it-like-it-is score of 8. Thanks for the amazing review!

[Elizabeth Swan]

Good

Awesome instruments you've got here.
Excellent introduction, the piano line is indeed exceptional, really expressive, and the overall is really good until 0:30. The arrangement is very good, the violin sounds awesome, and its melody is greatly original, particularly in its descent.

The problem is that it's not enough solidly backed, particularly in the end.

First thing that is noticeable is that those instruments are visibly not made to create short notes. So each time you use short notes, it's like a guillotin. It's particularly obvious in the end, with the chorus, and it doesn't sound natural. Same remark for the cello in the end, I thought at a first hearing it was a clarinet, due to the sound it produces !
I can say the same thing about the cut of your long notes each time there isn't another one just after. So actually, each time a silence follows the note, the cut is too pronounced and it's disturbing.

The second is that it doesn't really have a direction in the end in my opinion, and it moves like waves, accentuating one note and then another but kind of approximatively, and the overall melody is not in the logic of the beginning.
This second reason is more personnal, i must admit it.

So finally, I really like the beginning, until 0:30 (despite this horrible cut at 0:18 :]), but was kind of disapointed by the very end, which broke a coherence you built up until this moment.

8/10 for this awesome start. But a song cannot be heard without its end, so I can't make an abstract ;)
4/5

JohnEastman responds:

Thank you for your review. I created this piece a while back. If I remember correctly I was so excited with my new Sound Library CDs that I had stayed up all night trying stuff out. My computer had crashed and essential build files were lost to the ravages of time...
This piece WAS intended to be dark and mysterious but as it turned out, atonal and strangely disturbing musically near the end. I couldn't agree with you more MadMath. Like you say, I really enjoy the beginning too. How-be-say I do a remake soon. I would like to send it to you when it is complete. Or maybe a collab effort?
I was reviewed for another song I did ---big fat ZERO! Argggh. Peace Above, Below and All Around me. Aum

[-Gravitation-]

He he...

My hero ! :)
Able to construct a nice succession of melodies on the duration, without using brutal breaksor obvious transitions. Well done.
A good diversity of melodies here, still perfectly constructed and caracterised by this natural gift of yours in the linearity and precision.
I appreciated a lot the modulation at the end, great way to finish a song.

Be careful nonetheless not to fall into caricature. Cause at one moment with only violins and piano playing this kind of sentimental melody, we are close to ;)
Another thing that is maybe a little too obvious and annoying, in my opinion is the ending on the main theme (at the end of the each 4 parts of it), the last note which is supposed to relaunch the next part of the theme, is a bit too pronounced (cause you play several in the same time) and still the same. See what I mean ? Maybe a bit too binar and could break the atmosphere by bringing too much concretism (ok, I go far in my ideas :D).

Other than that (which is really very subjective, and more an affair of tastes), perfect structure here again, I'm jealous you can hold a song on more than 5 minutes that way. And still an homogeneous choice of all your instruments. Cool atmosphere.
Great job once again.

ChronoNomad responds:

Wow, I hardly even know where to start with a response to such an abundant review...

I guess first off I'll go with the instruments. Yeah, I know that I use a lot of similar instruments in my songs. I like what I like, but I do try to mix things up at least a little bit from piece to piece. I guess I generally feel like as long as I'm creating an original melody/harmony it can compensate for any possible lack of instrumental diversity.

I guess I could have switched up the ending of the main theme, but...well...that's just not how it happened. True story. Still, I do see what you're saying and I shall keep it in mind for future compositions. Music is like a story; it needs to have a natural progression to keep the audience entertained. A few note changes here and there could do that even better.

Thanks so much for yet another incredible in-depth review! I can still keep folks entertained for over five minutes, so I must be doing something right. :D

[The Devil Key]

A bit flat

It's too similar on the long time.
The rhythm you use, is the same all the song long ! And for both the bass and the main melody (and even sub-bass). Next to that, the notes, in the rythm are the same too, so after 1 minute, we are still waiting for a start.
Funny ascent at the end, and finally(!), the melody goesdemarks itself from the bass !

So I'd advice you to bring more variety in the song. Cause changing octava, modulating a bit your drums or playing with effects is not enough to break the monotony that starts to install itself. The duration of the song is good, in this view.
Overall it's listenable, and everything is quite correct on an independent way (and even superposed, just a bit boring), with some changes, it could make a nice song.

That's not particularly nice from me, but it's honest and encouraging ! 7 and 3

BurnedVirus responds:

Wow. Thanks alot. Ima try to work on what you said.

[03 - Dark side of the Universe]

Awesome atmosphere

Great job sir !
Certainly the most talkative part of the story of Captain Galaxy.

Good and original, very powerful, no soaring melody or whatever, except this high line which accentuate the insanity of the atmosphere in which we are dived.
Effective and heavy synths, perfect use of the echo, as much as the bell. The drums are originally constructed but suit well to the rest. You could just change the percussive instruments cause, in my opinion, they don't have enough personality. But nonetheless everything contributes to the dramatic and evil ambient. A very good job on density which is totally filled. Very nice structure of all voices with a great superposition.

Finally, it's kind of creepy ! And that's awesome.

Maybe a bit too repetitive, and maybe another ending could have brought a plus in the song. It's too sudden while not being enough if you wanted to cut it this way.
Great job. 9/10 5/5 and fav.

T-balt responds:

Thanks MadMath,
you're right, my kick and snare are too simple, not enough personnal,
Another ending would be great too, my song is too repetitive as you said
maybe someone could make a remix of this song, it would be great ! If you want so you are welcome !
And keep submitting some good songs, i like your style !

[My Illusion]

Nice song

Soft and smooth ambient song. Though the occupation of the space is definitely here, and even a bit too pronounced maybe. So it sometimes sounds a bit too chaotic cause of the superposition of all your long notes, the reverb and the succession of accords at piano.

Next to that, the main issue is on the brutality of the chaining of all the different cells. It's each time really sudden. Even in the very beginning at 0:16, your ascent is cut as if it was shot down in its race. Think about adding a lil cymbal or something like that to the arrival. I'm sure some nice soft percussion transitions would make a great effect and prepare for your next melodic line.

A last thing I didn't really like or understood is the acceleration in the end, I guess you changed your tempo at 1:08, and like the rest, a bit too suddenly ;)

So, finally, I really liked this little song, melodic and apeasing (even if it doesn't lack of rhythms), particularly the very beginning which is really the best part in my opinion. Anyway, nice melodies, nice arrangements and accompagnement, a good variety through all the song (which doesn't need to be extended in my opinion, it's really good as it is).
Good job ! (and forgive my bad english)

AshleyAlyse responds:

I am so glad you reviewed this song. I find your opinion very helpful. :) I appreciate it and I thank you very much for the wonderful review. :)