KevinMueller's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[The Magical Forest]

Very cool! I love how you kept the layering simple. Every instrument has a very specific purpose, great job!

Everratic responds:

Thank you for the review! I'm glad you appreciate the simplicity of the instrumentation. I don't work with templates, so I only add new instruments when I have a specific purpose in mind.

[The World Before Us (ft. Deniz Kirci)]

Amazing piece from start to finish! Really love the solo trumpet! (or cornet / flügelhorn or whatever it is) :)

JessieYun responds:

Thanks KM! Yeah it's a trumpet :)) Glad you enjoyed it!

[Desert Fever]

I love everything about this! I really like how you gave each instrument its own little personality and purpose.
The storytelling is top-notch and every section has its own emotional intent.

This track offers some of the best variation I've ever seen in a soundtrack. It may even have been a bit too much, but since you stayed in the same culture, I think it's fine.

Looks like you followed my advice in terms of limiting. Thank you! ;)

Well, from my point of view, your chances of winning this thing are pretty damn high, and to be honest, I would be glad to loose against something like this. :)

Wonderful work!

[Benjamin, The Great!]

This is beyond amazing!
The composition is really great. I love how you actually tell a story with the track. I sadly don't see this being done very often today...

The orchestration is top-notch! And that choir! Is it actually singing "Benjamin" or am I going crazy? :D Did you use a virtual instrument for that choir? I know that Hollywood Choirs can sing custom phrases, but I also know how painful and tedious it is to get it to sound like the way you actually want it to...

The only tiny little problem I have is with the mastering. It is very loud. Parts like 4:04 sound great on good speakers / headphones, but can sound a bit distorted on crappy speakers.
I usually set the ceiling of my limiter to around -0.1db, which should resolve the problem.

Overall, this is one of the best entries (if not the best) I've heard so far, for the NGUAC.
Great job!

PS:
Where the hell do you get the energy from, to compose an 8.5 minutes long score? Is it dark magic? It's gotta be dark magic...

VociferousMusic responds:

I really like to tell a story by music, that'd be the main reason why I aim for the cinematic scoring.

Thank you for complimenting my orchestration! I guess this all comes over time, basically by listening to other people's work and of course practice! Within the time you just learn which instrument you use to express certain feelings.

Yes, I tried my best to let the choir sing "Benjamin". I'm glad you could hear it out! My secret is that I actually work with basic vocals - Beh-Ah-Ieh in this case. I have added the Bn J Mn afterwards separately. This of course also needs lots of practice and fine tuning to make it sound organic and realistic. I could rebuild the lyrics of the Skyrim/Dovahkiin theme this way, too.

I actually wasn't aware of that 'problem'. I only use high-end audio devices and nothing sounds distorted there. I might consider buying 'cheap' headphone and check it out in the future, haha.

Composing a piece of 8 minutes isn't anything impressive, at least for me. I have been composing a symphony of 36 minutes recently which I will upload around Halloween time. After that being done, a composition of 8 minutes actually is something huge to me. Most of my orchestral pieces do have a length of more than 6 minutes after all. All you need is lots of time, patience and passion. Since my current financial income, comes from music, this privilege is given to me and I have the time to compose for several hours per day.
It surely doesn't hurt to compose long tracks within short time when you are aiming for cinematic music. Cinematic soundtracks may last around 90 minutes after all, and you definitely don't want to spend composing it for a year. =)

[AIM - Nowhere to Hide]

Amazing storytelling here! Love how you worked with themes to portray the characters. I get the feeling that you really thought about each section and the mood you wanted to create with it. It works wonderfully. The orchestration sounds very realistic, and thanks to the composition and dynamics it never gets boring. I think it could use a bit more mixing / mastering, but you already pointed that out yourself. :)

Incredible job!

[AIM - Become a horoscope]

Love it! The sound design is especially great! The transition at 1:28 is a bit abrupt for my taste, but maybe that's on purpose.

Great job!

Aterr responds:

Thanks a lot Kevin! I am really glad you enjoyed it :)
Good luck in the contest!

[Returning Home]

Incredible! You've got some great composition skills! I really enjoyed the instrumentation and overall structure here. I get the feeling that you approach writing music in a very classical way... and I love it! Keep it up!

Deemo-R responds:

I really appreciate it! I did have to study orchestration for a while but I feel like my approach isn't too refined in the way that some of the classical greats were. I definitely like to pull from some of the early films and romantic era composers I love, but I feel like I always default to the same textures and harmonic structure. That's why we always keep pushing ourselves to try different things though!

[Uncontainable Love]

This is incredible! Great melody, great harmony, excellent use of the instruments. Wonderful track structure with big emotional parts which really hit you right in the feels. :) The only thing I noticed, was the bass at 0:37 which sounds a bit unpleasant in my ears (maybe my headphones are just broken..). Overall: Amazing job!

CloakedSoup responds:

Thanks for the review! I'm looking for as much feedback as I can before re-uploading it here + releasing it on Bandcamp, so this definitely helps!

[Dragon in the Deep]

Nice composition. Very interesting chord progression and nice use of the organ! It could use a bit more bass for my taste though. :)