SymbolCymbal's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[-PdG- Kirby Rockstar REMIX]

FUCK le bomber le zzzero

This is a great adaptation of a kirby song.. i put my headphones on to listen to this and is just cascades through my ears and into my mind...

The side chaining was really good as well i didn't feel is was overkill as most FL studio users do. You truly took this song and complemented it. in that aspect........MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

And dude dont worry about zero bombers .. they will always be there.. newgrounds is a place to build up your musical resume... just communicate with flash artists and try to be featured in successful flashes and one day if your serious about music production then you will have a slew of experience..... a remake like this is a perfect example of raw talent thrown into the competitive video game musical genre on the internet...

never give up.. PM me whenever you have a new song.. ill def toss you a constructively criticizing review.....

But back to the song... thats why im here right?....

the piano roll was done perfectly.. no sloppy arrangements, also the side chaining was at a perfect level to keep the bass and pads on the upstroke. the analog synth had a nice glide to it without overdoing it.. i really cant give you any advice because you perfectly executed this... i really mean that .. and thats why you get a ten. i almost went with a nine because it doesn't loop perfectly but who really thinks about looping when making music

shit dude im favin this cause you did such an awesome job with this remix. i know you sat there with headphones on getting the reverb and side chaining perfect... i can respect that
now just put this emotion int our flash experimentation and BRAVO.................... your a fuckin HIT

Prodigal responds:

Sat here with SHITTY headphones and got it all right :D

My friend is actually using this in his Kirby Collab menu, believe it or not. I like to use Gross Beat for sidechaining because I can basically monitor everything form there. it's quite fun :D

The melodies themselves were a pain in the ass to actually fit with a bassline because of the key change >.<

I honestly don't care about the zero bombers anymore. I've accepted the fac that there is and will always be stupid people on the internet.

thanks for the lengthy review :D

[8-bit shit again............]

OOOOO NOEZ

NOT FUGUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!. now i wont be able to get this out my head now.

well i know you didnt actually play fugue in d-minor. But anyway i dig it alot, has a great happy feel to it and the 8 bit composition is well done.
The percussion is well made as well.

i can see this being used in a menu loop for for a happy go collect gem monkey world type game.

You pretty much made exactly what you set out to make with this one.
good show!

[CornFields 8-BIT]

OH MY HOW I WOULD LOVE

For you to send me a midi file of one of your songs.. Even though im not the hugest fan of 8 bit synths sounds.. your composition abilities are FLAWLESS.. In my personal opinion i would think your compositions would be complemented so much better with the appropriate synths and drum machines.

The beginning of the song is an emerald in its own.. It immediately grabs attention...the rest simply delivers a story of side-scrolling adventure.
Not many actually pay attention to the composition of an 8 bit song .. just as long as there are many melodies and harmonies with a good supporting noise factor drum line... But since i have been paying attention i can see how much work you have put into this wether you se it as easy or not.
The melody doesnt seem like it repeats much at all. you somhow keep it simple YET busy enough to distract the ear from hearing a repetition.. Its like an illusionary rhapsody.. LOVE the forced chorus at 1:10 into a bridge and wash into a nice little solo.
Love the transmission noises at 2:40!

Have you ever wondered what this would sound like with professional production?... You have this amazing library of 8bit compositions..

I do commend you on your composition abilities. The melodies you hear in your head must in fact make it to the computer screen in total. You give me inspiration to forget about effects and automation but to concentrate on actual composition the way it was meant to be.

i can totally see this track being used for an intense cyber shooter with a cute little character with a lethal disposition....

Over the past few weeks you have become one of my favorite artists. I have been trying new methods in compostion and listening to your stuff has given me great ideas.

Thank You!
5'd for justice
10'd cause its damn good

[DaftomenK]

just been listening to your stuff

like one houndred bleeeps and your other stuff.. you are REALLY good with inputing scales.. Sort of like a piano roll master.

This song reminds me of what would happen if you daft punk, justice and jamiroquai fucked and had a disco baby.

I especially love the beginning and the piano buildup that starts at 3:30. when it started arpeggiating i got chills and the distortion synth at 4:10 definitely got my head bopping once the beat kicked into it.

I cant even come up with one thing i would change about this song. I even love the cheesy little vocal samples.

Also great use of panning. This song sounds SO DAMN GOOD in headphones.

great stuff.
keep it up cause ill be listening
5'd 10'd
faved

[The World's Greatest Magician]

Its a shame

Its a shame that you dont have better sounding synths. Your playing and composition are top notch but your synth sounds just dont match your skills.

Love this song, very well executed and a great silly and tense feeling theme.
The title and story go along perfect with it. Great musicians can put pictures and scenes into the listeners mind.
And it loops nicely as well! :D

i would give you a ten but the mix and the synths just dont do the composition justice.

Awesome work
5'd
9'd

EmperorCharlemagne responds:

Thank you for the kind words; from an accomplished dude such as yourself I appreciate that very much.

I too wish for better sounding instruments; I scrounge the internet for free soundfonts and I take what I get... I don't know how to use VSTi's and I have no budget for the more professional things I'd like. The best I do is that every new song I experiment with FL filters to try to get a better sound, but it don't always work. But enough with the sob story.

Again, thanks for the review; I'll keep on workin' harder!

[teardrops in the rain]

Normally i leave long helpful reviews

But i cant say anything to help this track out. Its pure complication of simplicity really grabbed me from beginning to end. The beginning was so tender and beautiful and even when it busted in to 4 on the floor with the synth it still maintained its organic and emotional feel. i especially love the piano lead in the the beat.

Acctually i do have one suggestion, lol, the synth that comes in with the beat could have been touched with a slight more touch of reverb, but then again that just my preference.

truly an awesome job here, i have noticed that all your songs are very placid and smooth. you definitely have a niche that you work with very well.

5'd
10'd
faved
and you too are faved as a favorite audio artist

[555 drum thing]

I like the ambient touch, but

Some stuff irked a little bit.
Some of the programed drums were a little off time. I know you were probably making the drums kinda off time and a little amen ambient type glitchy, but some of them worked and some of them didnt. The beats were awesome and EQ'd nicely but sometimes the use of cymbals was a little too much to bear. Since it happened a bunch of times i gave you an 8.

Now onto the good.
This is an extremely relaxing track, The drums that didn't go overboard were very smooth. I would suggest those parts where you had tons of cymbal sounds lined up in a row replacing them with panning clicks and low snares and hi hat. The beats were very interesting and i give you a definite thumbs up for that. It is basically what kept my attention to the song and made me write a review. I especially when you dropped just a simple hip hop beat here and there, it definitely gave me a nice head bop moment. i also the nice slight pauses you had near the beginning.

The actual music:
I love the simplicity and easy touch. When you started harmonizing the chimes it really smoothed out the track and even though you continued the same line alot it really kept it placid. The little mono-synth leads were also perfect and flowed VERY nicely. My favorite part was at around 1:30 where you meshed the lines together and eventually broke it apart again to go into the fade out ending.

Personally if i was working on this track i would repair some the drums and even extend it. For some odd reason i feel a distant ambient soulful saxophone would really put a great spin on this track.

All in all i really do like this track. you get a 5 from me because this deserves a higher score. Normally i would have given it a 4.
(Dont let the zero bombers get you down).

But seriously awesome work. I really hope you work some more on this track because it has so potential to be amazing.

5'd
8'd
faved

talkinwalrus responds:

hey thanks for the review! I'm going to redo most of the drum beats, and practice syncing up things better. I recorded this on the fly composing as I went... each section of beat had it's own button assignment as well as each section of the music. This is my first attempt, I will definitely keep working on it. I was really depressed after getting 0 bombed. Thanks again.

[Kaleidoscope (NG Edit)]

Very Funkay!

Damn dude. I lovve this track.
The 8 bit synths and the harmonies used just go together great.
At 1:00 i noticed the echoes are just a hair off time though but its a nice little break moving into a buildup.

My favorite aspect of this is your lead lines. you really jazz funked out your lines.
if this was done with realistic sounding instruments and some organs i would be jumping all over the club floor. Regardless i love your use of synth sounds here.

the buildups are great but they seem to go on into a great buildup that doesnt seem to deliver the punch that is expected. I can understand a need to tone it down though so you can build it up again. WITH THE EXCEPTION of the one at 4:00.
That buildup was pretty damn solid but once it comes in it goes into a fade out in the ending..... i would have love to hear you jam out with that funkay disco 8 bit lead again for a bit longer into the fade out ending

I would give this a solid ten but i think the arraignment needs a little work. the buildups just seem to lack a blasting out at the end of them. But from a minimalist point of view i would say you nailed it without going overboard.
This is awesome electro house.

Other than that i truly have to say that this track is fucking awesome and you did wonderful work on it. I love hearing talent like this. You kept this track very interesting. I was constantly feeling where is was going next and suprised at how much better it sounded as it went on. Seriously solid groove on this track dude
im gonna go check out your other stuff now :3

RAVEN responds:

Heey SymbolCymbal, thanks a lot for the review, I really appreciate the feedback! I'm glad you enjoyed the track dude, I wasn't sure what kind of response I'd be getting from this track. I will admit I have a lot to work on when it comes to arrangement because sometimes I think too far ahead of myself or perhaps I don't think far ahead enough to arrange my music in an organized manner. I've always had difficulty with organization and prioritization in general, but I'm getting better at it little by little. Thanks again for the review. Peace! =)

[Piano echo (extended)]

For what it is

ill give it a nine. It sounds like an awesome intro to an awesome song.
Your just missing the awesome song after the intro LOL.
but for whats there. i love the crispness of the piano and the echo effect.

i would really expand this into a nice song or even a loop that is a little longer.
i had this playing in the background while i was surfing and i was kinda disappointed with the length cause it built up into something that i thought was going to kick ass.

If you ever extend this into a full song or a working loop PM me

BreakingProdigy responds:

Hey SymbolCymbale,
First of all, thanks for your review, I really appreciate it :)
I'm happy to hear you like it.
I might expand it or make a loop out of it, time will tell.
Ow and try to check out my other songs aswell :)

[Sock It To Me]

Ill admit

It is very very very catchy. Its like something that a live disco electro band would play to get the crowd dancing.

It needs alot of work. there is alot of empty space. The ending of the loop sounds like it would go into a nice bridge or even a chorus. All the ideas you have in this track are solid, catchy and executed pretty well. Its just needs moar of it. If you can extend this and polish it up without losing the hookiness of it then this can be an awesome track.

Try making a few more bass lines. i like the rhythm of the bass but try tweaking the sound a little and the notes. Also its going to need a solo type lead somewhere in there and when you make the bridge your going to have to quiet it down to have a nice drum buildup. then you can just bust out at the end.

Personally i would make more vocoder samplers to thro in there. Something like disco funk. Sort of like a disco mantra like "we dont need fire let the motherfucker burn".. But not that one, haha its been used way too much. Something more extended on -Sock it to me- example would be "Sock it to me, hit the beat in the back. "Gimme some bass" just some cheesy one liners. Or maybe even have some singing.
. Im not even sure if im making sense to you, LOL

Also dont be afraid to toss in little bleeps here and there and get minimal in some parts. it will definitely add some texture to the song and also keep the listener interested to hear what is going to happen next.

i would say your on the right track. just needs more time spent on it.