ILG924's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Grieg - Once Upon a Time (Orchestral Arr.)]

Very nice arrangement, thanks for sharing

Deemo-R responds:

It's a very new experience to hear a room full of people play something that you've written; definitely makes you crave more! Haha.

[Luminous Cosmos]

I really like this. It'd go well with those night-sky timelapse videos, definitely paints that kind of atmosphere.
I'm kind of around the same amount of unfinished projects, even got a list of ones that I really want to finish but I never do lol

Deemo-R responds:

Hey, man! It's been forever since I last heard from you; I really hope you're doing well! Sorry to hear that you're sitting in the same boat, but honestly, I'm a bit comforted by the solidarity, so thank you at the same time, haha. Glad you liked it, and I hope we can both move past this current plateau sooner or later!

[Orchestra Doodle #1]

Sounds great even unfinished, especially when the choir comes in. The rhythms feel natural, you did a very nice job with that. Can you tell me what software you used?

Deemo-R responds:

Ah, thanks for reminding me to put it in the description! I used Logic Pro X as the DAW for this one, which was a bit awkward as I'm not used to its layout and had to insert notes via laptop touchpad instead of a MIDI keyboard. I just recently got Omnisphere 2, so that's the majority of what you hear in the ambience & tension layers. The choir is 8dio's Requiem Pro, which I've had since mid-2015, but never uploaded any of the pieces I made that used them. The percussion is all from Impact Soundworks's Rhapsody Orchestral Percussion, which I am personally a big fan of. The couple of gong and china rubs you hear are from Lux Nox's Perc+. Everything else comes from the default Kontakt library, including the strings, brass, and harp/celeste.

Thanks for checking it out, ILG! :)

[Send Reinforcements]

I like the writing in this, really interesting. I can hear the Nobuo Uematsu influence
Also, I checked your Youtube page out and we have the same keyboard!

JoeyFreezeMusic responds:

Thanks a lot man, Nobuo is my hero. You have the U-Control too huh?

[A Trendsetter is a Fashionable Go-Getter]

I was wondering where you've been, this sounds great! Bossa nova chord progressions and rhythm have always interested me so this was an instant 5. You got a really nice mix too. Is this supposed to be like an Animal Crossing shop theme?

Deemo-R responds:

I've been really applying myself at college, it's been a great experience thus far! This bossa nova progression is extremely simple aside from 1:07 where it changes for a bit (though it's not very complicated either once you break it down), but it's the first thing I've uploaded with any real use of extended harmonies. The simplicity also lets it work better as background music in this case. The mix came together pretty nicely with little to no legwork. With proper part-writing and a bit of adjustment to the faders for the instruments coming in too loud (like the organ), it really worked itself out.

I actually went back and listened to some AC music before finishing this up, and it's a lot more minimal than something like this. Still, I kind of intended for it to be a cheesy shop theme for something like that, yeah. I was just going for pretty nondescript so that it could fit into any variety of situations since it's not being made for anything in particular.

Thanks for the support man! I really appreciate it! :)

[Benevolent Tycoon]

Really does sound like something from a SNES game. Nice work, I like your writing

BenTibbetts responds:

Thank you!

[Angustia na Neblina]

Nice job, I really like your orchestral writing

guilhermevl1 responds:

Thanks man. It was tough to write haha I'm not used to orchestral stuff.

[That Moment of Instinct]

Have another 5. I really liked this, the mix sounds great, it's always nice to listen to your compositions. I like the bit from 1:40 to 2:06, the bass reminds me of the SNES Final Fantasy games. The organs in this song sound really nice too

Deemo-R responds:

Thanks ILG, that means a lot! I actually stuck with one organ this time around since I wasn't trying to spend too long fiddling with the track. I was even about to write some small solo sections, but decided to throw those out since I felt they were going to eat up my time and push the song past its welcome. The bass part at 1:40 came from the sketching phase, where I initially wrote this as an entirely 8-bit piece with a very active triangle bassline. Though most of it got thrown out, I wanted to give the bass at least one spot to break out from parroting the guitar xD

I'm glad you enjoy listening, the feeling is mutual! Thanks for reviewing again! :D

[Frost-Bit]

I'm not sure how to word this - the mix could be better, it sounds like everything's centered; a common mistake among people very new to music production. However, the song itself is well written so I can't tell if you just have a good ear or if these are copy-pasted MIDIs made by other people (which is against the rules). I checked out your Youtube channel and saw some midi rips from Final Fantasy, which is a great way to learn how to wrtie music, but I'm being cautious with this review so I won't be scouting you.

If it really is your own composition and I'm just being a dick, then you can take this as a compliment. The four songs you uploaded all sound good and I'd say the only thing you really need work on is production, because they're all well written. I'd suggest reading up on how to mix music. The right effects, EQ, and a good stereo image will make your stuff sound a lot better

EvanGreindl responds:

Thank you so much for all of your input! But I can 100% guarantee and assure you these are all my works, and you are right about me being fairly new and I really don't know how to produce or "polish" my work. Along with being inexperienced I have the first stage of FL Studio. Again I did not steal any midi loops from anyone or anything but I guess I do get in the habit of repeating the loops I make. Again thanks a lot your review made me see a lot I can improve on in the future and don't worry about scout thing I don't need you to scout me if you feel uncomfortable.

[Advance To Dawn]

Really good, especially for just one day of work. Sounds clean. and you have an interesting composition as always, I really like the transition to the part at 1:32. Thanks for sharing, and for mentioning that book! I'll have to check it out

Deemo-R responds:

Thanks man, I always enjoy putting together something orchestral after having a while off of writing since there's usually some ideas floating around in my head.

Samuel Adler's book is a standard that you'll find in most classrooms when it comes to orchestration, and it has a lot of useful information on each instrument. I'd also recommend finding Thomas Goss on Youtube (OrchestrationOnline), as he gives a ton of insight into the world of a professional orchestrator. He even has some videos regarding orchestration texts that you might find useful if you're looking for "the right" book to get! :)