Trapex's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Nighttime Pursuit]

I'll say that I enjoyed this piece very much. The synth really kept things uptempo and actually put some life into the piece. If that had not been there, it would've been so dull otherwise. I do have to say that I really thought that the violin (although a nice addition to the loop) really had no business being there in the first place. I want a little more of the essentials of the genre rather then blending in some other varieties. In other words, I would like the bass to be a bit more prominent than what it's use was.

To go beyond that, I hated that the snare drum was so under utilized. Just a simple fast and generic rock-type beat? I knew there could've been something better. I was wondering if things would become more upbeat. The worst part of this loop: it felt like I was listening to the same thing for 1:31. When I say that, I mean it was way too generic that you couldn't even mix it up just a bit? A little asking is all.

[Chipped It]

Considering there's only two seconds of it, I can't really get a good feel for it in any way shape or form. You're asking me to review something that sounds boring and overused after you get to listening at it at least ten times, and I didn't even realize it until I actually payed attention and saw the player say that it was only two seconds long.

Just try making a bigger loop if you're going to do this. I mean, two seconds is absolutely nothing, especially with things like electronica when you can loop the same beat ENDLESSLY.

~Review Request Club~

[Off The Map: Piano]

Just a very beautiful piece of music. As I play a little piano myself, I can actually understand and feel the soft tone given off by the song. Masterfully done, I must say. I'll tell you one thing though: I think other instrumentation would ruin it....unless you gave it something more of a softer partner instrument (baritone saxophone---in other words, anything that is deeper sounding).

But to put this song to a real test, I listened to it twice. Once to just listen to it. I wanted to soak in the melody and wander off in the harmony (which, by the way, IS a little strange). I did so, and it worked lovely. Then, I decided to see if I can notice it while performing some other activity on the computer----reading an article or something of the sort. So while I was reading the article, I could notice it. I could still hear it speaking it mellifluous musical soul still speaking to me. Considering I can't really concentrate on more than one thing at a time, this was a huge accomplishment on your part.

Bravo, and if you do decide to make an instrumentation version of the song, I can only say: encore.

~Review Request Club~

CheckeredZebra responds:

Thank you very much, it makes me very glad to hear you enjoyed it. =)
I'm still debating what instruments to use if I were to orchestrate it, and I think you're correct in that it'd be pretty difficult to give it the same feel. Worth a shot, though! (Sadly my sax MIDIs are absolute crap, but aren't they all? Ohwell.)
Thanks for your time, I appreciate it. =)

[Samantha - These Dudes]

I'm typically a fan of punk music such as this. I don't get to hear as much of it as I would like to, but I get to listen to some none-the-less. Forgive me if I'm not really thorough with this review. But yes, this is typical American punk rock.

Maybe it's because my ears have been exposed to various other genres of music, but if you do continue with this certain style of music, stick with it. I don't believe that the person who sang this could really stretch out that far in terms of any other types of music. In other words, I don't see you trying to go slow or even approach the classic rock genre. If you did, I would feel ashamed not only for you, but for the entire genre in general that you sully its good name. I'm not trying to act like a total ass; I'm just stating the obvious truth concerning your voice or whomsoever was singing this song.

It was a little shaky throughout the song. There were a few guitar riffs that I was questioning here and there (particularly towards the beginning of the song), but other than that it sounded well done. Also, towards the end---well, as a matter of fact, the actual ending of the song; it seemed all too abrupt.

~Review Request Club~

TheseDudes responds:

Thanks for the review! This is one of our "typical" songs, you're right, but we're growing! I hope you check out our stuff in the future, this is only our first song. Don't worry, we don't have any plans to be a "classic rock" band, haha.

[Voice Acting - WIP - V1]

I liked your effort of trying to fit into the different kinds of roles that you put yourself in, but perhaps you're trying too hard on it. I get the point of using the same lines to give out the general idea of what you can do as a voice actress; how far and wide your range is. But just neutral, scared, sarcastic, and angry tones doesn't cover enough of the bases that really need to be covered. There's so much more! Sad, while crying, etc. There's so many different situations that you have to think of to put yourself in so that way you can convey them to the different animation/game producers out there looking for a voice-over.

Separately, I think you did a great job with the first narration. You performed it fluently and in a way that was easy to understand. Now, maybe it's because you're a woman and it just doesn't sound the same in that type of voice, but it just didn't sound as convincing as the second narration. I just don't really see the darker tone fitting for you. The third one I was kind of on the fence about. I didn't hate it, but I didn't like it either.

It's a good start, I have to admit, but you really need to cast your net just a little bit wider. Your voice sounds suiting for a lot of the better half of parts, but you really need to work on the not-so-bright side of voice acting.

~Review Request Club~

[C23~Light 16]

I didn't enjoy this piece as much as I felt that I should've. I wanted to leave a review about how this piece could've been one of the better ones that I have heard on Newgrounds thus-so-far, but I can't bring myself to do that. The reasons for this are probably the overuse of electronica-type "Video Game" genre music in today's generation. I have heard so many times over and over the bass beat go from a simple quarter beat to a sixteenth-note full attack on the soundtrack.

Other than that, it's actually very well-done. Like I said, I don't really enjoy the overused electronic sounds and I didn't really like the sped up bass beat. I would've brought myself to say more about this song, but for some reason, I can't really bring myself to do it. I think it may because I like going into detail about my reviews, but this song never really required much detail in the first place. The only good thing for me that kept this kind of alive is the melody put out throughout the piece.

~Review Request Club~

KrisKrosNL responds:

Well yeah, I'm more into the modern video-game style rather than the past classics. Not everyone has the same taste. =\

Tnx for the review anyways.

[Trinity]

This piece was beautifully done, I have to say. I haven't actually ever played the game before, but I will trust that if anyone, YOU of all people would be able to get this right. Every single instrumentation seemed to be masterfully done, being able to fit together so perfectly. There's only a few hitches that held things for giving you a perfect five:

- The transition from the more classical vibe to a tribal vibe (in other words, from the end of Part 1 to the beginning of Part 2) was kind of....strange, I must say.
- In my opinion, it just sounded like you threw in a few random instruments that had no earthly business being there in the first place.
- The constant changing from a more mezzo-piano dynamic to a fortissimo dynamic was kind of odd in some parts (I'm not saying that this kept on happening throughout the entire song, it just sounded as if this was the case).

But in all other cases, you made a very smooth transition between most of the parts of the piece. The different vibes kept things fresh throughout, and I loved, just absolutely loved listening to it.

~Review Request Club~

Step responds:

I love RRC reviews. Thanks a lot for the review!

"This piece was beautifully done, I have to say. I haven't actually ever played the game before, but I will trust that if anyone, YOU of all people would be able to get this right."

Haha thank you! There aren't many Monster Hunter Tri remixes out there, and I don't know of any medleys, so I thought this would be a good project to take on.

"Every single instrumentation seemed to be masterfully done, being able to fit together so perfectly."

That's probably thanks to the expensive VSTs I've got, namely East/West. It's amazing software for orchestral music.

"- The transition from the more classical vibe to a tribal vibe (in other words, from the end of Part 1 to the beginning of Part 2) was kind of....strange, I must say."

Mhmm, that transition isn't very good, I know, haha. You're right.

"- In my opinion, it just sounded like you threw in a few random instruments that had no earthly business being there in the first place."

Hm, I'm not sure which ones you're talking about.

"- The constant changing from a more mezzo-piano dynamic to a fortissimo dynamic was kind of odd in some parts (I'm not saying that this kept on happening throughout the entire song, it just sounded as if this was the case)."

Not sure about that. I tried to make the dynamic changes make a bit of sense, but what you might be hearing could be coming from the background strings. Sometimes I automate the volume of background strings so that when the song is supposed to reach a more climatic melodic phrase, the background strings get louder and deeper. It might be that I messed around too much with its volume and it ended up shifting from those different dynamics :P.

"But in all other cases, you made a very smooth transition between most of the parts of the piece. The different vibes kept things fresh throughout, and I loved, just absolutely loved listening to it."

That's wonderful to hear. Thanks a million for the great review!

[Ring Around The Sun]

The title sparks interest, and that is about it for me. The music just feels like it needs to be fleshed out a bit more. For whatever melody there was, it just kept on constantly clashing up to the only highpoint of the entire song, which happened to be the middle of it.

The two different sounds that kept on going and going throughout the songs (both of which, I assume, are performed on a synth) were just too different to keep things steady and smooth. I do realize that there were more, but the contrast between the high and low notes was just too much and one overwhelmed each other most of the time. The real annoyance is when you decided it was a good idea to go to the highest end of the scale without anything to help drown it out just a bit so it doesn't make my ears hurt.

The good points? I suppose that I DID like the beat of it. It gave it a good vibe and if I didn't have the godawful melody or selection of notes, then perhaps it could've done better. My suggestion would be to go back to the drawing board on this one. Try making it more soothing rather than trying to make an "interesting noise" by clashing notes and sounds that shouldn't go together.

~Review Request Club~