AlphaStormMusic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Moonbeam]

It's kind of funny how distinctive the Waterflame and F-777 styles are, and they mesh so well! So killer to see the two of youse finally locking arms to make one of the most killer pieces I've heard for a while! Very well done, dudes, this was a great listen!

[Legend]

Really gives me a Perseverance vibe without sounding exactly like it! Very chill, mixed well, flows well too! Honestly, I don't have a lot to say, but it certainly didn't feel like six minutes! That's quite hard to do, so well done on that!

Well done!
Best and take care!
~Zach (AlphaStorm)

OpenLight responds:

Thank you! I really appreciate your comments on my stuff!

That's a huge compliment saying it didn't feel like 6 minutes. I always worry longer songs will feel like a drag after a point, so I tried pretty hard to make this one stay interesting despite being just over 6 minutes.

Glad you enjoyed it!

[Odyssey]

That is one hell of a development. This is one of those songs I'd have in the background while I'm writing scripts, or playing some game where there's not much background noise. Musically, sound, not too distracting, hum-able. I love it!

From a mixing standpoint, well, there's not much to say. It's not a complicated piece, so the mix wouldn't be too crazy as a result. Everything blends well, everything sits nicely, nothing sounds like it's fighting for space. In fact, you didn't even go overboard by adding a limiter on the master channel for that loudness push. And I say that as a good thing, because, by and large, if a track is mixed well, it shouldn't need mastering, especially at the point of adding a limiter.

All-in-all, I really enjoyed this. Most of everything I said regarding mixing is just from a producers standpoint. That's one of those things I need to know how to turn off xD Makes it hard for me to enjoy music casually. But, I'll put that aside. 5/5 from me! Really enjoyed it!

Best and take care!
~Zach (AlphaStorm)

OpenLight responds:

Thanks! Mixing is something I usually spend the most time on. I'm not the best at it, but I'm always trying to improve. I'm happy to hear it turned out ok for this one!

[-Octagon Force-]

Gotta say, this is certainly a worthy successor to what was, and still is, my favorite song by you tied with Clutterfunk Part 2. You definitely did a wonderful job. It all sounds pretty clean, but I understand that feeling of "What does this actually sound like? I've been listening to this for so long I can't hear anything else!" It's got a nice progression, good and varied parts. Leaning in a little towards too much going on, but I don't think it takes down the song too much.

Not a fan of that guitar-y synth at about 57 seconds. Well... let me clarify, being a guitarist who is extremely picky about a guitar's sound, I don't really like that particular synth you chose. Saying that though, I don't know if you intended it to be a guitar or not, it just sounded like one. And, anyway, for that 80s nostalgia, SEGA style sound, it works, it fits for the style you're trying to emulate.

I really like the bass sound. Again with that 80s-esque sound (a sound I've been searching for over several years actually). The leads are okay, again they work for the style, but again with my pickiness for how I want a synth to sound. The drums though... oh, wow the drums are easily my favorite sounding part of the whole piece. They're punchy and thick, and I love them.

All in all, a wonderful job. I can certainly hear in a few places what you meant about not being entirely happy, but it's still a super strong piece, and one of my favorites. 4/5! :D

Best and take care!
~Zach (AlphaStorm)

[-Train to Nowhere-]

Proof if proof were needed that some of the most respected artists on this site don't always make masterpieces. They are human, after all, nothing is perfect. Not to say this is bad, it's a pretty chill track, it just feels like in needs something... more to it. Like it just feels kinda empty, and I can't place my finger on what's missing. Some kind of structure is needed to make it pop a bit more. The clips from the movies do something similar to what happened in Time Machine, but it needs a bit more melody to it. A few leads to carry a tune. Of course, it being an experimental track, it doesn't necessarily mean it was to be come a fully fleshed out idea. It's called an "experiment for a reason".

I wouldn't necessarily say this landed poorly, not at all, there are definitely some people who like it, I just think it needs more to it is all. It's fairly simple and not very long. It just kinda feels a little unfinished, really. For me this is in the realms of 3-3.5/5. I like the idea, it just needs more.

Best to you, and take care!
~Zach (AlphaStorm)

[Dreamfight]

I thought the guitars sounded familiar. You did an excellent job making this. It's crunchy, fast, and it sounds great, an excellent melodic instrumental metal track. I would say the guitar needs to be a bit louder. The drums and piano kind of drown it out, so it's hard to hear what it's doing sometimes. That may be largely down to the scooped mid range. Not that you have to get rid of that sound, you'd just need to boost the volumes to make a scooped guitar work in a mix. The guitar itself is crunchy, so saying "I want the mid range boosted a bit" is really my own personal preference. It actually works fine in context of this mix.

The drums sound good, the pianos sound good too. I love the soft interlude section, although I think it could do with a small guitar solo in some capacity during it. Otherwise it sounds great. You did a fantastic job with it.

It may need a bit more mastering, it's not as punchy as it could be. A multiband comp and limiter on the master track, if used properly would do the trick. Otherwise, the rest of the mix sounds great! With all those bits I mentioned considered, 4/5! Keep at it!

Best to you, and take care!
~Zach (AlphaStorm)

[-Megalopolis-]

Ooh, a nice chord progression in the beginning. I can't help but notice you have a habit of making insanely smooth transitions. You made a whole step scale walk-up towards the end work, as well as the whole step scale walk down in the first bit of the piece. It certainly takes a lot of talent and music theory knowledge to make the Whole Step scale work and not sound creepy, and by God you did that. I say you used the whole step scale, at the very least you used it in context of the chord progression, in terms of melodies, you used chord tones, etc., blah blah blah, music theory jargon, you made it work excellently.

As I always expect from you, energetic, well composed, excellent melodies, excellent harmony, very well mixed. Nothing seems particularly out of place, although I wish the kick was a teensy bit punchier, but hey, maybe that's just me. Love the snare drum particularly. Indeed is very eighties, and works very well for this piece. The guitars... I'll pretty much say while my tastes are different, in the context of a piece like this, they work. You don't necessarily want a stereotypical heavy metal style guitar tone. It can work, but I think what you decided on for this was exactly what you'd want for a song like this.

The song sounds like something in a racing game, like an overworld or track theme. I understand its purpose in context of other songs you've made, it just sounds kinda like that to me, hehe. Still, an excellent piece. Very fun, very bouncy. Does exactly what it needs to do, and more. 5/5 from me, excellent work! :)

Take care!
~Zach (AlphaStorm)

[{dj-N} Throb {WIP}]

See, that's the fun thing about the tritone, it could be minor or major. I love that the intro is completely ambiguous as to what key it's in. I've listened to it at least four times now, and holy crap, it's one really cool piece.

Obviously, this being a WIP song, I can't fault it for things like it feeling a empty or not being long enough. You're not done with it, so of course it won't be either of those things. Most of my criticisms are things that mostly from the fact that you're not done with it, and you still need to add stuff to finish it. I think the drop needs a bit more of an impact, or at least the lead up to it stays silent for longer to make it impact harder. And, while space is filled quite well with everything you do have already, I do think from 30 seconds to one minute, it needs a little bit more to it, as does the main part of the drop. I do like how the basses sound, quite a lot. They sound excellent, and work really well for the style.

The drums impact well, you've mixed everything very well, and it sounds good. I think at some point an open hi-hat on the upbeats of the main drum beat after 1:37 (so the end of the WIP track) to add a bit more energy would be great. Or at least, something on the upbeats to give it a bit more bounce. It already has some good syncopation, though, and it could obviously get a bit cluttered, but I still think that would be a cool addition.

All in all, while that's all I have to say, I'm loving this piece. I really want to see how you continue this, because I love it! For now, though, 4/5!

Take care!
~Zach (AlphaStorm)

dj-Nate responds:

Thank you. Really. These are the comments I crave and appreciate. Thank you so much. I will DM you this link, however if anyone wants to check out the nearly-finished project here: https://clyp.it/2o400ph3?token=7835b8f168abb91e7407d5617082749b

[yStep]

You know something, I'd tried many a time to do a remix of xStep like three years ago, and due to my inexperience, never finished any version of it I came up with. The fact you linked a midi file for it kind of reinvigorates that fire. Maybe I'll do something with it.

There was also always a quality about the original xStep that rubbed me the wrong way. There was something about the third chord in the loop always felt off to me. The way it was written implies a B minor sound to my ear, even listening to the original now, but that just never sounded right. G major makes much more sense, and that ambiguity is gone now. It may have just been that the bass was on B and not G before, but I digress. This was a really good listen for me. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The new melodies are excellent, and revisiting the old leads from the original xStep made it equally nostalgic, and I love it. The first drop is huge, the growl bass taking parts of what the lead part would have was an excellent touch and it gives it that dubstep sound, switching between leads and basses. The drums, as usual, sound clean and well mixed with everything else.

The second drop kind of loses a bit of punch, and that's largely down to the harmony. It's not inherently wrong, it works fine, it's just not as strong as it could be. Something I may adjust if I finish my own remix of the piece. I won't bore you with music theory jargon, but I will say, again with the third chord, playing an A over a G major isn't a strong enough resolution, and I'll leave it at that. Everything else is excellent, and well made.

Regardless, there's really nothing wrong with this piece. The issues I had with the original xStep were cleared up, and any issues I do have are small melodic issues that are really easy fixes, and even then, they are so small, they may as well be ignored, especially by casual listeners who won't notice anything I did xD

4.5/5 from me! Well done!

Take care!
~Zach (AlphaStorm)

DJVI responds:

Thank you so much for the review!

The third chord and the bass of the third chord was also very hard for me to get right. I tried many things and I think this is the right choice how it sounds now.

I wanted to preserve the original sounds of the track to keep the feeling and I'm glad yoi liked the track! Thanks again!

[Lemons - Strive]

I can appreciate the I-IV-V chord progression. It's one of those chord progressions I really never get tired of. It just sounds really nice, and I don't use it enough. In this song's context, it works really well. This has a really nice sound to it. The kick is punchy, the clap is crisp, though it needs something to fill the low end a bit better. The drops are not overwhelming, which for this song works really well. Love the key change. I will say it's a little bit jarring (I'll talk a little more on that later), but I really haven't seen enough key changes in songs, so to hear one is a really nice change.

The synths sound really nice. There is one part of the song in the intro which does sound lightly clipped, but it is so subtle that it's incredibly difficult to notice. The melodies are playful and very indicative of your style. Your melodies are always playful but never feel like they don't fit. That's something I've found very difficult to pull off, so well done on that. It's also not repetitive, maybe because it's so short, but I could listen to this for hours and not get tired of it

I really can't dislike this track. It's a very fun and playful piece, with really good drums, nice melodies, a key change... actually speaking of the key change, there is a way you could make it less jarring. When changing a songs key in the middle of the piece, you need to transition between the key with a chord both keys share. For example, with a switch from A minor to E minor, I'd use the G. It serves as a chord that can easily resolve up to the A and easily resolve down to the E. It's a little harder with the way you've set up the key change for this, but it's doable. Both keys share a chord (being the C#). Ending the phrase you had for most of the song and going into silence on the C# instead of the F# means it hasn't resolved, meaning it creates ambiguity, so it could resolve anywhere and sound nice. Your brain wants it to resolve but because it shares being a chord in several keys, you could resolve it anywhere. I think that's how you could make the change less jarring.

Sorry about rambling on that key change thing for a bit, that is my one gripe with the track, and even then it's so small, it may as well be neglected. Anyway, I love this track a lot. I can tell based on your description you take pride in it, which is great, because you really should. This is a super solid piece, and even with that one gripe, I can't give anything less than 4.5/5. Very well done!

Take care!
~AlphaStorm

Lemons responds:

Thanks for the detailed review! I love the I-IV-V a little too much for my own good, but it just sounds too amazing. I agree with how the key change is a little too jarring, that was my main concern but I wanted to try something different and I just went with it. Anyways I'm glad you enjoyed it, and I'll take what you said into consideration for my next track. Thanks again :)