Sycross's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Sorrow Knows Many Names]

Well developed.

Hey, nice to hear another song from you! This is definitely an improvement from your last song. The presence of chords helps a lot. I really like the repetitions/patterns you use in the background during this song. I also enjoyed the contrast between the low bass and the high melody. Adds an interesting effect.

There were definitely a couple mishaps in the middle part, but I don't blame you for that, there's no way I could play this nearly as well. But perhaps recording separate sections individually would make this easier to get right? Like instead of going through the entire song, record a section until it's perfect, record the next sections, and then link them together?

You also mentioned that the recording quality was not very good, and I would have to agree. Something sounds a little off about the sound, although I'm not sure what. I think the notes might sound a little too "crisp" or something. Oddly enough, the recorded piano sounds more unnatural to me than synthesized piano. I think that this song could blow me away if I were standing next to you playing it, but the quality takes something away from this. Maybe I'm just being picky, but I really felt that the piano could have came through better (I know good mics are expensive, so I understand that there's not much you can do).

Besides these points, I feel that this is a very strong piece in general. I liked the trills, the melody, the chord progressions. The different sections made the song fit very well with the title, although at 2:26 I actually thought the song had ended because it was such a long rest with no noise at all. Perhaps if you held down the notes all the way until you went into the faster section it would alleviate this disjointedness. (Although I like the effect you were going for).

And about disjointedness... I feel like some sustain pedal during this song would have added a lot. It would add a seam that connected all the notes so that the song would sound much smoother. Just my two cents.

Now, I'm no music expert, so probably not all of my constructive criticism is valid and/or deserved. Please don't let my comments discourage you. Overall, I thought the piece was great! I was just letting you know how I thought you could make it even better.

Again, I look forward to more music from you. Next time, however, please send me a PM if you want to get a review faster. I rarely check the responses to my news posts, and that's why it took me 4 days to listen to this.

On a side note, you also mentioned that you were interested in more music from me. Well, I've recently uploaded a new piece "When the Fighting Stops" so please check it out if you have time. Thanks.

~Sycross

MusicMyOxygen responds:

Your comments dont discourage me at all, rather I am thankfull for such a brilliant and well thought out review. I'm glad you enjoyed the piece.
About the mishaps. Feel free to blame me as I could have continued recording over again untill I got it right. The fact of the matter is that I am lazy. Also, I was really anxious to get ths song out there and as soon as possible, therefore I spent less time doing the recordings so I could submit it. And there were actually more mishaps than in the middle, but the listener probably would not know that unless they knew how I intended some of the more minute things to sound. Thanks for the suggestion of recording pieces of the song and putting them together, and as soon as I figure out how to do that on the program I am using to record I'll definately try it.
As to the quality it is most likely the mic causing it. I have obtained some money and that will be one of the things I'm looking into buying, along with many other things. If anyone has a suggestion on what mic to buy, I am open..no, begging for any suggestions.
Sustain pedal...yeah, um, (and I may sound like a complete retard saying this) I wasnt entirely sure how to go about using it. I mean, I know what its for, just wasn't entirely sure how to apply it to my pieces. Before people say "Oh my God he wasn't sure how to apply something as simple as a sustain pedal?!?!" let me explain. Despite what you hear in this song, I have little, let me rephrase that, barely any experience on the piano. Before writing this I had touched a keyboard only a few times, and I had no idea as to the notes on the piano or really much about the piano in general for that matter (and I still don't know that much now). But I play the guitar and saxophone, and had that connection of how I wanted it to sound. I started playing, it started flowing, thus the composing of this piece begun. This is the first entire piece I have ever played on piano, as well as the first I have played by memory.
Yea thanks for the heads up I'll definately PM next time. Once again, thank you for this review and I'll definately check your song out, I can only hope any review I leave will be nearly as helpful as this.

[In The End (Reeeeeemix)]

remixes...

Normally they are exactly the same song with different instrumentation.... for these songs, I vote very low...

However, this song is more of an original song than just a rip-off. You added an entirely new melody of your own and really made the song sound original. If you started this song half-way through you wouldn't be able to even tell it was "In The End" which is great because it shows that you put work into this and didn't just create an arrangement.

You have just enough variety to keep this song interesting. The melody does tend to repeat a lot, but because of the fast pace and the background elements, it does not sound very repetitive at all. This is something that I have yet to master... :).

Overall 5/5, 10/10. Great song.

~Sycross.

Fury responds:

Best review I have seen in a while, I actually haven't been on NG in SO long and figured I'd stop by. You seem to understand what real music and producing is. Remixes should be like this as you said, completely different. Prob one of my favorite songs I made. Thanks -F

[.:=Phoenix Chronicles - Ep6=:.]

Amazing

This is the kind of music is aspire to write. Can't think of any constructive criticism, so I'm just letting you know I loved the song! What VSTs are you using?

~Sycross

Draqo responds:

basic64 (Free) and EastWest composer collection ($950)

Thanks for the review. :D

[Tears of Remorse]

...

Pieces like this make me wonder if I still have a chance at the MAC8... This is amazing. I know what it feels like to be stuck on a piece of music and not know what to add... I have at least 6 half-written songs waiting to be finished, but I don't know how I'm gonna do it. Anyway, glad you managed to put this together, although most of your pieces probably could have fit the bill for MAC8. Good luck. :)

BlazingDragon responds:

I can surely relate to having unfinished songs. I must have over 200 songs I've started and never finished. Most of them are only about 30 seconds long, but a few have potential. I made it a goal to write a song a day at one point, which is why I have so many short and unfinished projects. >.<

Thank you for the review. Good luck in MAC8 as well!
~Blaze

[.:-{The Approaching Storm]

Nice

As usual, this is a great piece... No real complaints here, other than the fact that I thought the drums might have been a little too loud in some parts of the song, but it does help add a militaristic feel.

Hmm, feel bad leaving you such a short review. All of your review are GINORMOUS. lol. Anyway, good work.

~Sycross

BlazingDragon responds:

"GINORMOUS" Lol. That made me laugh! I do tend to leave lengthy reviews, but not so much as some other people. S3C reviewed my latest song and used every character! He had to use an alternate account to finish it. o_o...I still need to respond to that monster of a review! xD

Thanks for the review,
~Blaze

[Simple Serenade]

Cool.

I like it. Quiet and simple. However, I was kind of expecting vocals to come in some time during the song, and I think it would have added a lot. Not to say that guitar isn't an awesome instrument, but I think it's hard for any single instrument (other than piano) to fill up a song with sound and make it seem "full" so to speak. Anyway, great work and an awesome first submission! I look forward to more songs coming from you.

MusicMyOxygen responds:

Thanks. I completely understand what you are saying about the vocals as I usually provide vocals for many of my songs. They add a sort of feature to songs that just make them see much more whole. Lately however I have been letting the music speak for itself, particularly because I have been venturing into the classical genre. You will very likely hear more from me soon, as I plan on buying a keyboard and taking a shot at piano. Again, thank you for your review.

[Dechire par la Distance]

Nice

Hey, this is very well-written, but as an entry into the MAC8 contest, I don't think its very sad at all. At least not to me. When I listen to this song it actually sounds pretty happy to me. Hmm, just my opinion. Good luck in the contest.

Winterwind-NS responds:

Well what I was trying to prove was that the submissions to this mac didn't have to be in a minor key for the majority of the piece. For example, one of Musical Rocky's submission, which was in a major key. There are a million kinds of 'sad' and I felt this piece was, for the most part, self explanatory. Musicians with experience tend to understand this approach to sad pieces pretty well.
Glad you liked it though

[-Air and Rain-]

Great

I liked this piece. There was just enough variety to keep it interesting. SFX rain is being used a lot nowadays, but I am not complaining as I always feel it adds something to a song.

Keep up the good work.
~Sycross

Gloudas responds:

glad to hear you like it, thanks for the review :D

[Anemone's Theme]

Great

I normally hate songs that are written in major keys, but this is good. Excellent piano-playing skills. The recording quality is also very good. Did you get this recorded in a studio?

Keep writing music
~Sycross.

Zero123Music responds:

I recorded this using an mp3 player and a line-in record feature - Lyra something... thanks for the ten man :-) i'm only 13 and I find normal piano lessons so boring so I decided to write my own pieces.

[Sadness and Sorrow v.2]

Cool.

Hey, I really like this song, but if you're looking for ways to improve it, I think you should increase the volume of the strings in the background. I didn't even notice them before reading your comments.

BlazingDragon responds:

I made sure they were quiet as to not overpower the piano. In hindsight, however, it seems that doing so may have been a mistake. Thanks for the suggestion! :)

~BlazingDragon