secantwave's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Olive Juice]

Great work! I like that you were able to show virtuosity in this piece without being crazy-energetic throughout; you started out fairly sedate and managed to slowly increase in energy, including a sufficient variety of techniques that the solo didn't get boring.

I would have to disagree with Biggyzoom in saying that I think the tone of the guitar could have been better: it was quite distorted, which didn't jell at all with the smooth, chill background. This got better when you spiced up the background a bit at 3:34. This is a pretty minor quibble, though--and the background works really well otherwise. I especially love the interaction between the guitar and the light touches of synth in the background starting at 3:34.

Very pretty piece, but still exciting in parts!

MrMaximus responds:

Thank you so much. I've learned, from playing with jazz cats, that less can be WAY better. Still trying to apply this into my playing.

[The Rift, Adrift (Draft)]

This is a pretty good ambient piece. I especially like the midsection where the drums fall out and the sample of speech kicks in--the sample is well-processed, eerie but still calming in its own way, and you've included some chords which are unusual without disrupting the flow of things. Also, although I found the drumbeat in the first section a bit boring, I like the splashes of percussion you added into the final section--they added a lot of variety.

The biggest issue here (as I see it) is the fairly sparse arrangement, and a lack of variety other than that described above. Of course, when you're creating a piece as chill/dreamy as this, some sparseness is required, but through most of the beginning and end, the main melody that stuck out to me--the part of the piece my brain focused on--was the opening chords.
Additionally, these chords never really changed in their notes or their timbre, so the whole thing seemed a bit excessively repetitive. Introducing a gradual change in the tone used to play the chords, adding new chords to the progression later on, or placing a simple melody higher in the mix would help this. (Similarly, the drumbeat in the first section didn't really change at all, but this wasn't as much of a problem, because it improved a lot the second time around.)

In summary, I think you need to introduce a greater variety of synths and/or vary the melody a bit more. However, this piece definitely captures a chill atmosphere, and the chord progression is quite good--it just needs some augmentation.

Canas responds:

Thanks for the review

As far as the sparseness goes, that's kind of the point. Although I do agree that some variation is necessary, and i've already begun adding some extra layers as well as changing the pace midway through the song. Thanks for the constructive critcism

[Psy-Kaliber 2097]

Quite awesome.

There are very few songs that I'm willing to give 10s to in reviews; usually, there's some sort of weak portion or poorly chosen sound that prevents me from doing that. (For example, even Waterflame's "-Village up north-", another of my favorite songs on this site, got a 9.) This song has no such handicap (which is especially impressive for a song that's 5:37). The syncopated portion from 2:07 to 2:31 was especially cool, due in part to the leading sound you used at 2:19. The way the song tends to alternate between heavy sawlike tunes such as at 3:11 and light, high-pitched leading melodies against the heavy background such as those occurring at 1:14 was excellent. You used a perfectly varied palette of sounds, and I literally cannot think of any significant criticism, which is a rarity.

NemesisTheory responds:

Wow, I'm really happy you feel that way!

I'm always a big advocate (did I use that word right? :P) of change ups myself, so it's very nice to hear that some of the parts where that happened are appreciated. <3

Thanks again for the really kind words! <3

[-To the skies-]

I agree with Corona688.

I'm not going to rate this differently solely on the basis of unoriginality; considered in a vacuum, this song is quite spiffy. I appreciate the sheer variety of sounds that were used, as well as the heavy and complex bassline, which contributed also to my appreciation of Race Around the Moon. However, it does still retain various themes and stylistic elements that have pervaded your work almost uniformly for the past few songs. (To be fair, this song did a better job of remaining distinct from previous ones, but not really enough.)

Waterflame responds:

thank you! =) yeah i see whay you mean, seems like its a general thing pepole are disspleased with these days. i guess i just cant get enugh of it myself. i always make music to mainly please my own ear. i make what i like, obviously, who dossnt.. i havent really been trying to be diffrent from myself. im just having fun! but i do see your point. thanks for the cirticicm. i have alot of unfinished other tracks, trance, dubstep, etc. so change will be here soon!