thatbennyguy's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[The Call of the Deep]

Experimental

Hi samulis,

--Production--
This doesn't really focus on assembly as a positive trait per se, simply because it's just pure trombones without much effects added. So 'nuff said.

--Listenability--
I mean, it's alright. It's always good to listen to a bunch of trombones playing random crap. But after a while it gets a little tiring. This is more experimental than anything, so why not just add a couple of little touches here and there? Won't hurt :)

--Genius--
It's interesting how you guys react to each other's melodies, but not entertaining enough to hold my interest for 2 minutes :P

--Flair--
This definitely an interesting experiment, and not much more.

--Tilt--
I like your ambition. Depends on what your goals are: to make money, to make pleasing music, or to make music that's fun to play :) Thanks for letting me listen

--Production--: x/10
--Listenability--: 4/10
--Genius--: 6/10
--Flair--: 7/10
--Tilt--: 0/10
Average score: 4.3/10
Rounded Score: 4/10
Vote 2/5

Verdict: Needs improvement!

Benjamin

samulis responds:

Thanks once again for the constructive review.

I agree almost 100% with what you said, the goal was merely a test of the ability to read the other's actions fast enough to make a song without premeditation to make a piece of perfect quality.

If I manage to find another time to get into the recording studio with my friend, I'll look into seeing about finding some other instrumentalists on different instruments and see if a something can be achieved that way. :)

By the by, you can skip over the recordings if they bore you. They are more of an expression of style and an explanation of my musical background than actual compositions, simply because I never wrote down the notes or the keys or the rhythms.

[Hiphop Lady]

Hip hop a licious! :)

Hi patrickliberty,

--Production--
At first listen, I was wowed. The production in this was amazing. It was breathtaking even. This was professional stuff. It definitely had that wow factor.

--Listenability--
This is nice to listen to. Top of the box in the funkaaay region of thought, but the constant scratching seemed to bring back the overabuse of the 90's, when scratching was the equivalent of auto-tune today: reviled and overused. So lay down on the scratch, dude.

--Genius--
What's your name baby? LOL I like it. This is one hip hop lady if you know what I mean :)

--Flair--
This had style written all over it. Very fluent, greased, battered, mashed and mixed until Kingdom may come. If you're looking for grease in a paper bag, look no further. :)

--Tilt--
I like this funkaaay thing :) Very scratchy, professional to the daaays and one of your best mixes, despite the score. People just don't appreciate hip hop like they used to :) Thanks for letting me listen

--Production-- = 10/10
--Listenability-- = 8/10
--Genius-- = 7/10
--Flair-- = 9/10
--Tilt-- = 9/10
Overall Score: 8.6/10
Rounded Score: 9/10
Vote 5/5

Verdict: Near Perfect!

Benjamin

patrickliberty responds:

listin any time, and hay if u want, review all my music, i think u should get an award for the excellent reviews that u do when u listin to people music, it's very rare that u ever get a full review, and thats what i need and like :-/

[Seekin' Da Truth]

Funkay, but mysterious??

Hi patrick liberty, This is the review for "Seekin' Da Truth".

--Production--
This song has been assembled and constructed to provide a mysterious feeling. As if there was something to be discovered and one must "seek da truth". In this vibe, it succeeds, but it slightly lacks anticipation or suspense in keeping up with a funky beat.

--Listenability--
Quite tolerable, except the repetition of a flanging beat may off-put some listeners. Overall, as shown by the score, the composition can be pleasing to some ears :)

--Genius--
The chord progression is simple 4-beat, but the extra little synths and so on are put to good effect. The layout of the song also varies, but not enough to satiate my taste.

--Flair--
This is quite a unique piece, with the use of toms/congas to nice effect. And then the organ comes in at :30 which is quite soothing, but a little off-beat. Maybe there is a slight delay at the beginning that needs to be sorted out.

--Tilt--
I was sort of O.K. with this piece, but not overwhelmed. It was funky, but it didn't really go anywhere. I'd put this in the box of "Good but has a lot more potential". If you continue to make songs along this vibe, adding more and more grease to that funk, who knows where you may go? Thanks for letting me listen.

--Production-- = 7/10
--Listenability-- = 7/10
--Genius-- = 6/10
--Flair-- = 8/10
--Tilt-- = 6/10
Overall score = 6.8/10
Rounded Score = 7/10

Verdict: Getting Good!

Benjamin

patrickliberty responds:

thanks benjamin, i also agree to what u are sayin' it was at one point where i was going to take this off the site, but i decided to just keep it up there...

[[BN] - Circling In Space]

Breathalyzing.

--Production--
Got some nice sounds in there, such as the piano coming in at 0:12 and the eerie sounds. :3 (YES I NOTICED THEM :P)

--Listenability--
This is just sooo lovely. Soothing, benevolent, majestic almost in its simplicity and soundlessness. B'wonderful. Huetiful.

--Genius--
Your smarts in synthesising melodies and meshing them into a singular matrix is breath defying. Especially with the lovely piano scales cascading down from 1:30 onwards, mesmerizing.

--Flair--
Wow, definitely no-one else on this site could do something as individual as this. This is ambient, professional, and reiteratingly the bomb.

--Tilt--
I love this kind of music. Thx for lettin' me listen brotha! :3

--Production-- = 9/10
--Listenability-- = 10/10
--Genius-- = 10/10
--Flair-- = 8/10
--Tilt-- = 8/10
Overall Score = 9/10
Vote: 5/5

Verdict: Perfect K.O.!

Benjamin

Benjamin

blacknote responds:

Wow, what a refreshing style of reviewing - very nice.

I'm glad you were able to enjoy this piece, and thanks for indepth review!

[Ocean View]

Excellent!

--Production--
Wow. Very nice skills in this dept. It sounds familiar though, the tune. You really bring across an atmosphere of calmness and anticipation.

--Listenability--
This is very listenable, nice and soothing music that is brought in slowly. But the loop does not loop very nicely, it changes very suddenly. So possibly bridging the gap would be beneficial.

--Genius--
The way you meld melodies together is kind of nice, but it's the way you produce suspense thru these melodies that really shines.

--Flair--
This is very nice, but it might need a few more unique sounds to make it your own. I guess the harmonics and etc. are quite unique and help add to the style of the song. But I still believe this could be differentiated even more. I like it tho :3

--Tilt--
I personally prefer this kind of slow music over the techno that is produced now, especially by me. :P This is an area in which I would like to expand also, without reverting to sentimentality. Thanks for letting me listen.

--Production-- = 8/10
--Listenability-- = 8/10
--Genius-- = 8/10
--Flair-- = 7/10
--Tilt-- = 7/10
Overall Score = 7.6/10
Rounded Score = 8/10
Vote = 4/5

Verdict: Quite Excellent!

Benjamin

Grandvision responds:

Thank you for the detailed review. I was experimenting with the second part to surprise the viewer on changing the mood of the track a little bit. I'm going to add more instruments later on.

[A Short Chart]

This doesn't sound much like jazz

--Production--
Yeah, not exactly produced well, but it's alriiiiight I guess. The horns are killin me.

--Listenability--
As I said... the horns is killin meh xD But apart from that, the drums sound alright. Just maybe try to make them more 'jazzy' with stuff such as rides and stuff.

--Genius--
Because this isn't jazz! This is marching band stuff! I mean what the froth? :P

--Flair--
Nah but it's nice. It's good marching music.

--Tilt--
Just try to listen to some jazz music and emulate what they're trying to do. Because jazz is more complex than most types of music. It has less conspicuous chord progressions and less 'driven' beats. Something along those lines. Thx for lettin me listen.

--Production-- = 6/10
--Listenability-- = 4/10
--Genius-- = 6/10
--Flair-- = 4/10
--Tilt-- = 2/10
Overall score = 4.4/10
Rounded Score = 4/10

Verdict: Needs improvement!

Benjamin

samulis responds:

Thanks for the constructive feedback. :)

First off, just to clarify, the piece is pretty darn close to a dixie sort-of feel. I like early jazz, so if you are a latin and 'fancy night club' sort-of guy, the song isn't for you in the first place. ;)

I would call it a lot closer to jazz when compared to my other compositions (although not as close as my recordings).

Second, i'm sorry that I had to stick it out with General MIDI for this... I decided to fall back on my old favorite program.

The closest group to a marching band that would play this would be a high-school marching band that performs at rallies, football games, and KFC openings... I could not in a million years see a 'pomp-and-ludicrous' marching band play this sort of thing (what I mean is, the sort of groups that play patriotic music tend to not play stuff like this at the same time under the same event).

If you want, I can write up something nice and patriotic and show you what I call 'Marching Music'. It's called fifes, drums, and horn fanfares. :)

I may try to go back and work on the drums some more. As I wrote, it was my first valid attempt at putting drums to anything like that (if you took the time to look at any of my OTHER songs that are neither 'jazz' nor recordings, you would find that to be a true statement). Thanks once again for being constructive.

Oh, and by the by, I have three Vince Giordano CDs I listen to at least thrice a week on top of two compilations of Big Band recordings. I think the score was simply because everyone is used to a different form of Jazz than what I am familiar with. In addition, I play the trombone (yes, I'm a bass clef kinda guy) in a jazz ensemble.

P.S. Are you willing to review some of my other stuff then? You are one of the few people who actually gives good feedback (even if it does say that the song sucked, I don't care, as long as it gives feedback that isn't "that sucked 100% get a life").

[De sijpel uit je slenk slurpen]

Good for DnB

--Production--
Got quite nice production. I like how spaced out the song feels. Not like the kind of cluttered feeling that drum and bass is sometimes reviled for. I like it, even though I don't usually like drum and bass.

--Listenability--
Surprisingly listenable for DnB! I like!

--Genius--
It's quite clever, but not the sort of stuff you'd write home about. Try making more interesting chord progressions more than 4 beats long. That's what I'm working on :3

--Flair--
Very definitely one that's of you. But maybe put in a bit more quirky stuff just to keep it interesting.

--Tilt--
What does the title mean? Frustrated. I would like info's! :P
Very short too! Too short to be listened to and enjoyed :3

--Production-- = 8/10
--Listenability-- = 9/10
--Genius-- = 6/10
--Flair-- = 7/10
--Tilt-- = 6/10
Overall Score = 7.2/10
Rounded Score = 7/10

Verdict: Getting Good!

Benjamin

tijnn responds:

Woah, such an in depth review.

This must've taken you longer than it took me to make this sample, really, i'm just screwing around with a quickly made sample here : )

Thanks for the input though.

[Loosely Based Promise]

You're like me :3

--Production--
Haha I love it because it's so similar to how I make beats! Practically zero reverb. It's the way to go! :3 The only thing is the mix ends up feeling ...empty. I'm trying to learn how to fix this myself.

--Listenability--
Quite listenable, except that main synth you've had going on in the beginning is quite loud. Maybe tone it down a couple of notches.

--Genius--
Great build up... I like how you space everything out!

--Flair--
We've got style, buddy, you and I. We're like musical brothers lol. Srsly check my stuff out and you'll see what I mean. Our styles are very similar :P

--Tilt--
I just love you because you're like me :3

--Production-- = 6/10
--Listenability-- = 9/10
--Genius-- = 10/10
--Flair-- = 10/10
--Tilt-- = 8/10
Overall Score = 8.6/10
Rounded Score = 9/10

Verdict: Near Perfect!

Benjamin

Eilios responds:

...Wow. That was one of the best reviews I have ever seen for anything on Newgrounds.