Charleon's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Earth's Tear (modern 8bit)]

Really nice, apart from the drums

This is actually a quite solid production with one mayor drawback: the drums should be more dynamic, just stopping and putting the same drumloop on over and over doesn't cut it with me, also you're going a little bit haywire with the flanger/phaser at times, but that doesn't affect what I think about the song.
I think you have some really cool melodies in here, but you need to evolve the song one step further, maybe add a section for refrain, because it gets repetative after a while, especially with the drums. I love the sound though, keep making musik, as we say here in sweden ;)!

Bunnymajs responds:

Thanks allot man!
love when ppl really give some feedback and constructive critisism!
i've been tuning my music making skills somewhat further.. so we'll se what comes up next :D

[Megaman 2 Flashman Orch RMX]

Needs a bit of revision, but still creates atmosph

Using Edirol Orchestra are we? :D at least it sounds that way. In general I like the sound, but you really need some strings to back up the rest of the song, and also you should explore the drumsection a little bit more, add snarerolls and vary it to create a dynamical feeling. The triangle should be used more sparingly in my own opinion, and should be replaced by strings. I can clearly hear your custom touch in this though, even if the ending sounds really uncoordinated. Good choice of instruments to the different sections. Keep up the music making! =)

Ixalon responds:

Thank you for this informing review! You are right, I'm using Edirol Orchestra plug-in and that back upping song with strings sounds great, I should have done that, but well I'll try to remember that on mu next remix ^_^
Thank you for advices!

[Still Alive - Piano Version]

Good, with minor setbacks

Overall this is a good Piano-mix, I would have loved to see more emotion in it though, also the basenotes that comes in at the 1:30 doesn't sound that good, everything just becomes a big blur. I like the customization you do to the song. And a really nitpicky thing: sometimes it sounds like you're staggering because you don't keep the rhytm, but only training can cure that.
Keep at it, and become a piano meistro! :D

Kart-Man responds:

Yep, I'd have to agree. I doubt there's a program out there that could capture the slight bit of rubato and legato I put while performing the piece. Oh well, I guess it means you know it's authentic playing, rather than synthesizing notes on the computer. XD

If you know of any software that could emulate the rich tones and dynamics of an actual piano, please let me know. :)

Thanks for reviewing!

[Rush Of Fire]

You're getting somewhere, that's for sure!

The overall sound is good, one thing you could keep in mind for coming releases though, to make the sound more dynamical, is to vary the velocity from note to note, it's a great thing to make the music sound less static. Also try adding a slight reverb to the static sounds to make it sound even less static. I liked the drums though, they were very shifting from one piece to the next, and even stopped for some moments to give a break in the song. Compositionwise I like parts of it, while other parts left me pretty uninspired, but if you follow my advice your sound can pack a whole 'nother punch the next time around. Keep up the music, I can hear you have talent =)

Diniden responds:

Well, it's hard to see what you mean by velocity...I suppose you mean the rhythm? Or the dynamics? If you meant dynamics I actually put quite a bit in there, but power tab renders dynamics like trash :P

If you meant rhythm, well, it's something I'm working on...but I kept it solidly "rock" rhythmic which is definitely a dull "stick to 8th and 16th notes" typically. I was not enitrely happy with what I did with the flutes in the second half/movement of the piece, but the last stretch was where I was starting to get frustrated with the time consumption XD

Reverb would be great to add if power tab wasn't so powerless : ) I'm going to redo this song in Fruity Loops when I get the time....better samples and better control....

And thanks for the input ^_^, my next piece is going to be mellower than this one but it's going to be a definite solid work. Which will also be done in Fruity Loops which will bring a whole new level of amazing to it X_X

[BanjoK~Grunties Lair{orch-16}]

good performance with minor productiondrawbacks

I like the overall songs, but some of your orchestral isntruments tends to be too silent, especially in the beginning, try to bring them out more if possible. I loved the choirs that presented a whole new take on the song, but then again, some instruments faded behind it. The percussion isn't much to comment on, it's a constant tick, tick, tick, maybe you could be somewhat more dynamical with it and really make the song your own? I haven't listened to the original in a while now, but this sounded exactly as i rememebred it, with a few exceptions like the choirs, you could really step up and make this song your own!

As for the 16bit vs orchestral discussion, you should definitely make the two pieces separate, and majorly review the work on your 16 bit track and switch out the instruments that doesn't fit in their respective positions. I mainly talk about the bigassbrass which doesnt treat the melody nicely. Try using another waveform for that purpose. I like the creativity you showed in the second part though, 6/10 , 3/5

BowserThedestructive responds:

thank YOU! :D well i am doing a total almost audio orchestral conversion which ill be releasing when school is out summer wise. i am orchestrating almost all of banjo kazooie and tooie songs ;p and they will sound fantastic and more dynamic now that i know what to do im more dynamic now then when i made this.

[Final Fantasy: Fallen Tid]

Great performance with small drawbacks

I have no recall whatsoever of this song, but I must say that you performed this flawlessly, with beautiful harmonies. The only very small drawback is the drums which could be a little bit more dynamical in the way they're performed,
5/5, 9/10

bitium-ribbon responds:

The actual version is very, very different from this, which might be why you don't remember it. It's much slower, and it's very sad in nature. It plays several times - when Syldra, Tycoon and Galuf die, when the Hiryuu becomes Phoenix... It's always been one of my favourites from the series.

[Fate/Stay Saber KudokuNaJunrei]

Awesome performance

You have a very nice understanding of dynamic music. This song kept me hooked until the end because you always came up with new things, using strings and small abss gestures in the process. It's wonderfully performed and I don't find any reason this shouldn't get a full score, thank you!

JojotheJester responds:

Thank you very much!

[Hunt for Dracula]

A really inspiring piece

To be honest I know nothing about music theory overall, I only know what fits good together, and apparently sir, you do too. I find the track very entertaining to the end, and you found ways to create dynamic into it (the solo in the end). I don't know if this sounds typically castlevania:ish though, maybe for an upcoming game?
anyways I really like it and the performance is flawless. 9/10, 5/5

Skitchstudio responds:

Ultimately, I don't mind if my listeners are keen on details on Music Theory. At the end of the day, what matters is whether they enjoy listening to my music or not, so thank you for your compliments, and I hope I can get some more tracks up sooner than later. :)

[Battle Theme-demo]

Too static, but really nice melodies

Strong performance I must say, And I will do as you say, judge the song based on composition and not the instruments used, because the FL Slayer really is an earsore :D

I think you Have made a really good job with melodies and the dramatic feeling.
I have a slight problem with the drums though, they stay the same throughout the whole song, and I can hear the basedrum's "ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta" endlessly. I think you should try and make this song more dynamical in tempo and at some point skip certain instruments and just play the melody, or something like that, even battles have their ceases you know. I won't let the instruments or production keep the score down, so I say 4/5 7/10 as i see it has potential

Darkmaster603 responds:

Hehe, you caught me, I messed up on the drums. I can't write drums at all, and I thought it would sound fine. But my crappy computer wouldn't play it, so I had no idea what this song would sound like. Also, I really am sorry about the FL slayer, My recording computer broke down.

So I completely reworked this song, and I'm recording my guitar on the new laptop, so the realy version will be MUCH better, I promise!

thanks for the review and criticism though!

[The Lea]

Great performance, a bit repetative

I see that one of my predecessors already pointed this out, but you need a break somewhere in the song. The melody is really nice, but just by alternating the backingtrack to it doesn't leave me inspired to listen to the whole song. Try to find a refrain or something that the song can alternate into or out of. I like the overall song though, 4/5, 7/10

Darkmaster603 responds:

Yea, I'm working on making the breaks in this song. The problem is it looses it's momentum with teh breaks, so I'm trying my hardest to fix this!

thanks for the review and help.