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!

[007 on the Gameboy]

Too little going on, but has theoriginal soundtoit

For an 8-bit view of the theme I think this can pass, but there is far too little going on in this song, if you really don't want a "shadowgate" type of feeling to it. Work some arpeggios or something in midst of it, and develop the 8 bit drums further, as they are now, they sound pretty anonymous. Also I think this theme would be better if you speeded it up some. As a last note try to make more interesting transitions than the nintendo SFX voices you have going on in here. I can clearly hear it's the 007 theme though :)

[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

[8bit Nightmares]

Good melody, but a tad repetative

I like the playing with chords in this song and it sounds really interesting, but becomes a bit repetative after a while. I don't think the bass sound that comes in at 1:15 fits that well, but it's good that you try to alternate the melody with the other synth during this time. You should try to find a break somewhere so you can incorporate maybe.. a refrain or something. Overall I like the composition though, sounds like a really menacing night :D

[KOLMA - Bloody Tears ReMix]

Great custom content, little bit lacking productio

I like the synths you use for the most part, especially the main melody one. I really like that you try to make this song your own by adding custom breaks to it, and even a custom melody at 1:20. But even with so much custom content, which is really good. The drums are a dofferent story though, they could need a LOT more of variety, and also they don't quite fit into the big picture, except from the hihat i hear every now and then. Even thuogh the rhytm in the end is somewhat cool, the drums you use doesn't make it justice. I totally love the custom ending you made for it though :D. I also think you could have played with more kinds of synths throughout the song, or maybe changed some frequencies here and there, even though the melody is good and you use a basic saw-sound it gets a little bit repetative in the end. With all this said, I still like your remix due to the large amount of custom content. 4/5, 6/10

[8 bit song of storms]

Doesn't differ from the original

Well the thing about remixes is that they seldom differ from the original, which this doesn't do regrettably. I played this song on my piano yesterday and I did it almost identical to this. If you're trying to make a remix, try to really make the song your own: incorporate own ideas, change the mood, theme, or go haywire and try to really create something different. As for the performance, You have chosen the right waveforms for almost everything, though I have a hard time for the melodyenhancer that comes in at 0:27. The drums could also need some more variation. Keep it up, some more practice makes perfect!

[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.

[In Sonics worlds Ver 1.0]

Has potential, but needs to be polished

The thing that stands out most in this song, and that has to take a step back is the drum you're using (bass drum?) it intrudes too much on the other instruments. Also you need to bring forward the guitars in the beginning a little bit more, they are too silent as they are now. from 50 seconds onwards you have to be careful not to play the harp sound too high, because I can hear the sound crackle from time to time, which indicates that the sounds adds up and becomes too high, tone them down a little bit. Also add different drums like hihats and maybe snares now and then, which plays together with the bass drum. All drawbacks in this song is purely Productional and I always give 5 points for the production and 5 points for the performance. I think the performance is great if you just follow my advice. 5.5/10, 3/5