MadMath's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[John, It's Showtime]

Awesome !

5, 10 and fav for this awesome and funny work on the song.

You've got a peculiar way of singing. Ha ha, that's absolutely fantastic, and that suits totally perfectly to the music. Great lyrics, great way to throw them on this short song. I'm sure it's hard to deliberately sing with a delayed flow and trying not to be too melodious while still being.
It's an awesome work you gave here, and you are all very good.
The result is really of high quality, and i salute the success of such an exercise (even if I got the feeling that you are used to do such songs.)

Also, great job on those littles parts in the middle and the end where you just talk after the big 8bit noises, that is contributing to the humor and made me even laugh.

Another point which is noticeable and that gives evidence of your great job is your choice in the parts of the song that must have been sang, talked, or used as ambient to install your background noises and kind of theatrical actions.

I guess there is nothing to improve on the song. Yes actually, one thing, turning the volume of the song a little up, cause it's a bit erased by your loud voices. It's not disturbing for the fight 8bit sounds, cause it breaks with the song, but I guess you should try to lower your voices.

For your next songs, just a clue : you are not forced to sing the same melody as the main theme, and using the voice as another melodic line is sometimes really benefic, giving the song a bit more density. No problem here, it is really perfect. Super original and well done.

Bezbozny responds:

I'm glad you mentioned the volume and the "...not forced to sing the same as the melody" thing. I was actually thinking about both of those and I'm glad I'm not the only one. Could you please weigh in on my other homestuck songs too?

[Baron Harkonnen]

You definitely got a problem with this guy ;)

Bah, I can understand. He is so sexy.

Nice work on diversity this time. Really better than the last one in my opinion.
You must have spent a lot of time choosing your instruments, cause they all really sound different, but participate to an entire madness ambient, and make a real entity.
So here, the 3'30 are justified. Good job on phaser and stereo, which contribute to the ambient crazyness. Very nice chainings of all different cells without using traditionnal transitions or break such as the acceleration of a particular rhythmic for example.

So overall I'd say it's a good insane-ambient-industrial-dubstep-non linear song.
And I don't know if you changed the woobl but it's perfectly suiting the rest.
Special bravo on the last minute, with changes in drums and a nice superposition of "melodies" leading to a total chaos (but not off-puting).
Amazing choice of instruments.

AliceMako responds:

Perhaps i do, he used to be underwear model good looking before the reverend mother mohiam cursed him with irreversible morbid obesity as thanks for raping her. But i rather like him regardless, a literally larger then life character :3

Anyhoo, your commentary was a big help so you helped make this happen.

The only thing i left standing as is was the backing synths, everything ellse got an overhaul i.e took it from four drum patterns up to nine seperate ones and for the latter half of the track combined them in pairs of two, so that's nine individual ones as well as eighteen different combos? Dunno i'm poor at math myself so x3

I allso swapped samples and messed with the pitch of each individual one, partly to reduce overal volume which i allso did manually in the mixer so as to avoid having to crank up the level for the bass which would have landed me in audio clipping hell as i found out as i went along, and well, to have them fit together better then in the previous attempt.

(there was actually some variation going on in there but as you pointed out, it just came across as being overly loud and i have to admit hearing it back after giving it a rest, i couldn't tell the difference between the patterns anymore either)

I hooked up both basses to a sounddestruction unit to add grime and loudness, i cut up the inital patterns i used and after matching it up with the drums i recorded a new lfo manipulation manually to get the wobble to interact a bit more meaningfully/expressively with the beat as you more or less suggested was possible and indeed, they have a bit of stereo panning thanks to added delay and the sharp one has a phaser hooked up to it :D

I opted out of speed up's/speed downs cus i assumed it would sound too samey, so instead i went with different breakbeats and a few added samples instead and a second synth routine for the middle leading up to the drop :3

I'm dead certain there's tons more i could do with this type of bass alone, kinda look forward to using it in different genres already xD but for now this is about the most i can make of it, kinda glad you think it's better cus i slaved on it for an additional day and night ^_^

So yeah, thanks a truckload

[-Insanity]

Wow. Insane !

Incredibly talkative music. So full of sense. That's an excellent point in my opinion, and this track is definitely evocating a story or a situation. I already tryed to build a story with samples in my songs, but you did better just with a melodic line and a perfect accompaniement.

No need, according to me, to place high notes to give a sensation of madness, as could have said chaosdrakath below me (check shining's soundtrack ;)). I can perfectly imagine a mad man walking in corridors with thousands of demons in his head.
The melody is truely perfect, with a good work on contrapuntal writing and on rythmes. Finally, it's not a very complexe one, but you've got a natural talent to compose nice and long melodies.

An excellent use of the drums, this derbouka mixed to those industrial and metalic percussions is a super idea. And the rhythms are catchy and give an impression of unstability (which obviously suit well to the rest of the song).

Original use of the oriental scale in here, that kinda leads me to consider this mad man is having a walk in Egypt, he he :D

So, finally, for me, it's a great mix between insanity and arabic music, which would make an excellent movie music.
Really love it. Even if I didn't understood well the transitions between the oriental break and the moments of pure insanity. It finally all makes a homogeneous ensemble. Excellent construction, and more than awesome choice of all your instruments.
5/5, 10/10, Fav/Fav.

ChronoNomad responds:

Thanks for the mad props, MadMath! It's in-depth reviews like this that really get my blood pumping. You've certainly picked up on the penumbra of Egyptian note progression that was integral to the process. The real question is whether that's the reality of the situation or if it's merely a part of the psychological construct. Can a broken mind even differentiate between the two?

I'm glad that you enjoy the industrial aspect of the song. It's always fun to do something different, and a song like this simply screams for demented metal and corrupt clockwork. Thanks for the incredible review, scores, and for adding it to your favorites! That kind of audio love makes it all worthwhile.

[Legaia]

Very nice.

A good piece of work, and an excellent job on the superposition of the different melodies, it creates a great ambiance, and there is not even one mistake in it.
The arpeggios and the little piano descents are well done and bring a sort of echo and gives the song a little more density than the simple melodies.
Actually, all those little sounds around the main melody that embellish it are great, and make your song vary while it keeps going.
A big respect for being able to lead a melody on almost 6 minutes while avoiding the listener to even think about quitting it.

Nevertheless there is a very big problem in my opinion : about the length of the flute notes in the beginning particularly. And it's really noticeable when you've got quarter note-silence-quarter note-silence. All those flute notes are disappearing in the same way. As if the player was just blowing one sec and then stopped but faintly. It's hard to explain but it's really disturbing. The notes are too spaced and not enough long to be stopped this way. You should make them last until the next one. Cause the way you leave them is making waves and prevent the fluidity of the melody.

Anyway it's really good on the overall, and congratulations again for keeping the listener's attention for more than 6 minutes in a perfect coherence. And for pushing him to ask for more at the end. ;)
5/5

ChronoNomad responds:

Interestingly enough, what you deem to be a flaw was done purposefully to give the music a sort of "breathy quality". It's a technique that I've only used a few times, but there is an extremely slight pause between the high and low flute notes. The high note arrives, and then a split-second later the lower note appears. The high flute happens in short, breathy bursts to simulate a single puff of air.

It all sounds a lot more technical than it really is. I guess in the end I merely wanted to stagger the flute sounds to further the Fantasy aspect of the music. As I said, I haven't used this technique often, but I really like it in Legaia. I'm sorry if it makes things sound disturbing, but it's rather impressive that you're listening with such a musical ear that you even notice such a thing.

In the end I just want to thank you for offering up such a thorough and in-depth review! You possess a very cursory ear for music, and it is very much appreciated. I, too, am impressed that I can manage to keep the listener's attention for nearly a six-minute span with this song. If you have the time and are interested, I would truly appreciate more reviews from you in the future. :)

[-Endure-]

Ouch..

After all those positive votes you receive (you're at 4.77 for the moment after 7 ratings), I was expecting something excellent...
But in my opinion it's not a good song.
Let's begin with the beginning. Fondamentally, the very first mesures are not bad. Those 4 sharp notes and your other voice make an ok small melody. But ok for an introduction or a break. It's really really too repetitive. And undstandable at the end. It seems to me that you forgot this sharp melody that stays here from the beginning to the end, But you can't leave a pattern of 4 notes in 4 mesures in the whole song, particularly when it is that prevalent.
To come back to the beginning, the entrance of a pattern of drum step by step is too cliche, and too long. That leads to the fact that after 1 minute, the song didn't really started, and is during on one "melody" of 4 mesures. And when you expect it to do so, at 0:54, the drums are muted, and finally you realize that's not gonna start until a moment.
It starts for real at 2:34. But at this moment it's too late. Cause if this part can be nice objectively (good drums, nice superposition of voices, even if there isn't melody, that make a nice ambient), you have ruined it by inflicting us the sharp 4 (lethal) mesures since the very beginning.
So finally, you have only patterns that you overuse, while the rest is too empty next to it. You repeat far away too much your different instruments (4 sharp notes, 4 violin notes that are always the same, same kicks, etc.), without making any transitions, without playing on any effect, or even without proposing (another) melody with each voice
Making a song with a superposition of instruments that play 4 equal notes with 2voices and the last one that plays only 2 can't be enough. And the drums that can be good at some moments are not suffisient to take up the rest of the song.
So I'll give you some points for the choice of your instruments (except for the violin that doesn't sound nice and doesn't have its place here in my opinion, cause it doesn't particularly suit the atmosphere) and for the drums after their entrance. And one point for your work.

Understand me well I'm not giving you a low rate because You are on top. I do it cause I don't like the song your proposed. I hope you'll understand the criticism.
3 and 1.

sjm95x responds:

Lol dude, you don't have to be that harsh. This is supposed to be an ear-pleasing DANCE song that I whipped out in less than five hours for fun. And the emphasis is on the bass and kicks and sub-bass. I understand it's repetitive but I don't think your ears are bleeding from this song. Are you deaf now that you've listened to this song? Thanks for the criticism but talk about encouragement.

[Nyan Cat [009 Style Remix]]

Interesting remix

Awesome work on the original different transitions-breaks which are perfect (especially the first one, I was shocked :] ), and really play their role as they "break" your percussive and melodic line with a sort of hesitation and a totally different beat or even sound.
Then about the melody, no problem that's a remix so there's not much to say about the structure of it. It's still a catchy melody. But I guess I know why you got such a bad rating after those few votes despite the quality of the result.
The use of this main instrument and of this long and powerful dark bass (and also your breaks that stop the melodic instruments to make them re-enter in a brutal way) make this song get rid of the initial one's emotion. I mean, it's still catchy and quick, but you give it some accent of epicness and strength that it doesn't have in the first version. Cause actually, the original one stays really fluffy, light and amusing, almost ridiculous (not in a wrong way). And here, you propose something in another vein, with another signification, and that leads, on another hand, to the fact that the climbing melody lose a bit of weight as you replace the melody importance by a space atmosphere, and a sentiment of power.
Personally I have no problem with this. That's rather nice to see how a song can be transformated, while you mostly use the same notes. In a way, that's a useful remix.
Good and original job !
PS : I don't give you ten cause I'm not particularly sensitive to this song ;)

BlackParchment responds:

I'll change what i have to your words then it would be a better song that will have no bad ratings.

Together we will be great

[Something's quiet [Rmx Demo]]

Your version is better...

Your remix gives more weight to the lyrics and to the voice of the girl. You create a density that doesn't exist in the original song. Those melodic sentences and the simple piano touches does help you to do so, cause in the first version I feel that it's just a voice on some flat beats. I really appreciate what you've done with it. Very very nice ordering of all the different instruments, where you mix atmosphere notes, which are holded exceedingly (it's not a reproach here, it's awesomely done) and these small interventions of the piano. Great contribution of the drums, that bring a sort of cutting in the overall and doesn't let this song fall into too much romantism or emotive quality.

Ok now, comparing to what you tried to do... that's to... dubstep ! If I understood well :)
I'm not a professional of this kind of music, but I couldn't say it's pure dubstep to me. In my opinion, it kepts some accents of... dance ! Yeah that's strange, but some of your instruments sounds like that (like one of the first that enters in the very beginning). And even the dubstep bass is too "soft", not enough trenchent. I also wondered why you made a change in your drums cell at a moment. And then I heard your transition, and I realized why. But this drum break is typical of dance-techno songs, even if it's not that cliché here, but you got me, the acceleration of the kick from unique to double, etc, is quite characteristic of a certain kind of music.

Overall, i'd say it's excellent. The work on the voice is impressive (with this kind of echo in the end of the track) and it's perfectly inserted in an intimate little musical space and that does sounds like "something quiet" and private. The use of the breathing of the girl as a break after the acceleration of drums that suddenly cut is an amazing idea.
Very original song well realized, a very good job once again.
I'm just a little skeptical about the "dubstep". ;)
5

Dj-Johnson responds:

Hey Madmath,

Sorry for the late response. Phhh what a long review. This was just a demo, the full version ( /audio/listen/417867 ) is finished and I changed the beat allot, because I think it sounds better now. At first I was just nubbing around with the piano and at some point it sounded really good (in my opinion).

The vocals are great almost perfect. And don't deny, vocals give a song a very nice touch/dimension. My first intention of this song was, it to be a dub-step song, But after a few tries i stopped this project for a month. And at a beautiful day i just got an inspiration boost that helped me finish this song. Now it is a mix of trance/dub/pop thing. I always try to make my own style because i can't make a song to a specific style, always the first thing that comes up in mind.

I started with a break from the original song and then the first verse. I added some little things like the piano touch and the choir to the intro. And after that I just made that came in mind. At day one of this project, that breathing transition was stuck in my head so I had to put it in my remix and it was apparently a good idea.
I'm quite happy with this song.

Anyway thanks for the awesome review.
And sorry for my cranky english :P

P.S. I made new remix with great vocals check it out. /audio/listen/418705
And ill leave some reviews on your songs ;)

Cya!

[Guardia Castle]

Absolutely righteous

This track is absolutely in the vein of (rather old) RPG games, like Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger, etc. In that way, You incontestably succeeded in the creation of both an atmosphere and a context. That's really an amazing job here. And I'm curious about the different plug-in you used for the composition of this song, but everything sounds definitely coherent and reaches the objective you aimed.
Here again no false step, everything is done with a very good taste.
And the percussion is excellent, both in sounds and in structure, caracteristic of this kind of music.
Great job man.
10 and 5 of course.

Realmguys responds:

Maybe I should change the description of this song, as it is actually a song from Chrono Trigger. I appreciate the feedback and constructive approach to new ideas that you have presented to me with these few songs. I'm glad you liked it, thanks for the 10 and 5, it means alot!
-Tyler