Score: 8

"Well, I guess TECHNICALLY those are games..."

submission: -=:Gr3aT 4 A GA|V|E:=-

date: March 24, 2008

Okay, start with the bleepy sound effects of some really old games, like ASTERIODS and SPACE INVADERS and shit. Use those samples basically as insturments, along with some square waves, and for your melody, look to cheesy carnival games for inspiration.

Might make a good bit of background noise for a live-action movie ABOUT video games, or maybe you could play it during the credits of a humorous flash toon to REMIND people of video games, but I wouldn't call this song great music to actually go INTO a game.

Based on the author comments, I guess the title isn't meant to be taken seriously. It works as an icon, or maybe even a parody of video game music, but that's about it.

I have to say, though, it is fun in its own way, and I liked the echoey sounds that bounce back and forth between your ears when you listen to this with headphones on. :)

Awww, what the hell, I'm increasing the score I was gonna give it by 2 points, on the assumption that it's not meant to be taken straight.

Score: 7

"A little rough, but solid, consistant effort."

submission: (Loop) Twisted Beat

date: March 24, 2008

Not as good as some of his later work, but it's a solid example of like your typical bleepy robot theme song. I thought the drums broke it up probably a little too much, especially at the begining of the track, where they kinda defeat the purpose of looping. On the other hand, it's a change of pace. The more times I hear it loop, the less the start bothers me. Kinda spazzy, but overall it's not bad for a loop.

Score: 9

"Lots of personality for a random BG track!"

submission: Bot Acid Foundry

date: March 24, 2008

First of all, I don't know shit about music except what I've picked up from reading the occasional review over at OC Remix. But I really like this song. It sounds good, and it's fun to listen to.

From what I can tell, this is a fairly straightforward Acid/Techno track. But it's got a lot more personality than 90% of the stuff on Newgrounds.

The beat is nice and strong, giving the whole tune a strong sense of identity. Beefy pads are used generously, but with a little smooth phasing to break it up.

I especially like the sound byte of the cheering crowd. It's a colorful character quirk, which IMHO goes a long way towards making the song memorable, without pushing the envelope far enough to break the usefullness of the track to animators.

There's a few accents here and there, but mostly the song doesn't do much that's unexpected. What it does, though, it does very well. This is a no-nonsense track that knows exactly what it wants to do. It gets in, it does the job, and it gets out. It manages to look good while doing it, but it doesn't waste any energy on pointless flourishes, or include any sounds just to be including them.

Score: 8

"Not bad, but it's missing something..."

submission: War Criminals - Remastered

date: August 29, 2007

Basically I thought this was a pretty good song, but I think it could be even better if there were a little more variation on the theme throughout each section. Basically it's the drummer that's sinking it... he just keeps playing the same loop over and over again, rarely mixing it up with any kind of improvision or ornamentation. Things get a lot better once the guitar solo comes in, but it's too little, too late. Maybe consider adding some more guitar solos. Maybe you could even go nuts like X Japan and make the whole song have guitar solo throughout it. In leiu of any lyrics, I think it would work.

Of course, all of my comments assume I want to use this song as background music in a Flash cartoon or game. If your master plan is to record lyrics over it, and put it in an album, then that changes everything.

Score: 7

"Close to what I'd like to use in a Flash. Close."

submission: Photon Flight

date: July 13, 2005

Originality: Sounds familiar. Like something upbeat by Aqua or that Crystal Pepsi Commercial. You know what I'm talking about. There's probabaly a name fo that Genre, I just don't know what it's called. So sorry if this review is extremly noobish. You sure this is Trance? I think of this as more Techno.

Diversity: Moderate. (If I understand what is meant by "Diversity.) The song goes more or less exactly where you'd expect it to. No real surprises except for the pitch bend at the begining. The steel drums were a nice touch that added diversity, as was the pause where only the main melogy line remained. Said Melody doesn't really do anything impressive though, as other instuments fade in and out. It's like the song is all chorus, albiet competently remixed chorus.

Clarity: The main melody line sounded kind of harsh, like it was overpowering the softer synth in the background instead of complimenting it. Maybe if the pitch of the main melody was an octave lower, it might have sounded better to me, or maybe another insturment is just in order here.

Effort: Again, I'm not a musician, so I don't know how easy or hard this song may have been to make. It seems relatively simple in composition, though. It has a lot of insturments, but they're all pretty much doing the same thing, and they just fade in and out.

Overall: I like the perky, 80's shoot'em up style. It doesn't get all jiggy with the sharps and flats like the Japanese shooters I crave, though. The main melody... does techno even have a main melody? Well, let's call it the loudest insturment. The loudest insturment steals attention away from the composition as a whole, instead of smoothly integrating. It has a good beat to it, and would be decent for a Flash game if it looped better. For an animation, I am thinking it lacks enough diversity to add to a story. It might be adequate for a fight scene, though. I voted a little high overall because I like this style, and I want to encourage more bright, perky music like this on the portal. This particular track could use some retooling, though, but that's just MHO. I hope my review makes sense to the author. I don't know the correct musical terminology to express my opinion.

Score: 8

"That's some good solo pianist improv."

submission: Dreaming of her

date: May 23, 2005

There were a few notes that sounded like slips, and I thought the one loud note near the begining felt kinda out-of-place. I'm assuming this is original music. If the artist was reciting a piece, I surely wouldn't know the difference. Overall it was good, but a little... too familiar. I would have liked to see a little more variety. Something a little more like Keiko Matsui.