Who do you think you are using a tritone? Deviating from diatonic structure is almost completely unheard of in the Audio Portal. The drums are kind of boring as it's basically just dum-pssh-dum-pssh for the whole song, but I suppose they're not your primary focus. You show a decent knowledge of instrumentation. I find the guitar synth irritating, but that's personal preference. The intro melody is very cute and it actually develops with some string counterpoint. The middle section is conventional in its overwrought histrionics, but I suppose that's what's expected of you.
I find it's too fruity to be an RPG fight theme, but just fruity enough to be a Sonic The Hedgehog level. Well done.
Your english is far too government-ey for me too understand. XD
I'm sure you're trying to help me somehow but words like Tritone and diatonic completely go over my head.
As for the drums... have you listened to many videogame tracks? The drums never really variate all that often, as during the battle the last thing you'll be worrying about is how varied the drum sequencing is. Pretty much the only thing that will stay intact is the feel :P
I didn't get that last part either, nor what was supposedly expected of me. XD
But hey, I'm glad you thought it was well done! :)
Thanks for the review, even though I didn't get all of it. :P
The descending minor scale at the beginning reminded me of "Helicopter" by Bloc Party. I was anticipating kickass, syncopated Hip-hop drums to come in, but you opted for a simpler Rock beat... which is fine. You demonstrate a fine knowledge of melodic progression despite the lack of counterpoint. I think the only think that would really help this track is slightly more elaborate drum production and a slightly less irritating guitar synth.
It pisses me off that I've painted myself into the predictable little corner of Western music by assuming that a song needs different sections with different chord progressions to be interesting, but what you've done here is create an adequately interesting track, by using the same melody for five minutes. It's like Jazz, but without the tolerable instrumentation. As for the synth shredding, your just going up and down on a pentatonic scale. Didn't you think someone would catch on? Of course, Joe Satriani's been doing it for thirty years and no one's noticed yet, so good on you.
For what you lack in creative insight, you more than make up for in robotic precision.
True, it may be repetitive, but for this genre it's fine. It's just a matter of tastes. As for the "synth shredding", so what if it's just a pentatonic? The pentatonic is one of the most widely used scales, and personally it's my favorite. It's my way of putting a little bit of rock/jazz into my song. And it's a lot more complicated than you think. It's just the fact that it's so fast you can't really hear it. It's 8 measures long and then it loops after that, and in those 8 measures there are 128 notes, and the pattern never repeats during the 8 measure loop. I very carefully placed each note on the piano roll, and I did that by ear. I did not just "go up and down the scale" I actually kept in mind the interval between all of the notes, careful not to cause dissonance. I know a hell of a lot more about music theory than I think you think I do. Here's a screenshot, take out the spaces, if any. http://img93.imageshack.us/img93/6247 /synthshreddingnu7.jpg
That's fine that you didn't really like it, but I am actually offended that you bashed my creativity. I think what you do not like is the genre in general, so you can't really judge me that harshly. Please do not make personal remarks in your reviews.
Your instrumentation is delightfully minimalistic. My only real qualms arise when you start using that breathy synth effect at the 1:55. It's repetitive, but the melody's strong enough to carry the piece by virtue of the fact that you double it with the violin. Your arpeggiations coming into the obligatory "wall of sound" section are tasteful and don't reek of that desperate "epic" vibe. What's this? How dare you demonstrate a basic understanding of melodic progression! In my audio portal? In fact, the only thing that really hurts this piece are the wolf sound effects. It's fine at first, but it's the same sound effect over again, which kind of robs the piece of integrity. I would recommend actual audio of wolves howling.
I thought ambient music always connoted some Brian Eno musique concrete sort of crap, but here you are doing this pseudo-epic shit, totally blowing that stereotype out of the water. There is nothing terribly interesting about the piece as it's pretty much a standard minor key melody over a minor key chord progression. Play in the Lydian mode. I bet that would blow the little hardwired, autofellatistic minds of the thirteen-year-olds who commonly review audio submissions. When the counterpoint comes in, it's... the exact same descending melody, and the plodding, unbearable whole notes of an artificial choir.
That being said, the sound effects are pretty cool.
Yay for constructive criticism. :D Yes, I do love making hybrids and taking the other path instead of people just making a few ominous noises and background effects in ambient songs. And I'm glad that someone observes that.
It starts out as just a chord progression. Then, you actually show inklings of an understanding of melodic progression and then you tastefully incorporate the synthesizer sound. The brass is developed nicely, although it becomes a bit abrasive by the end. Is that an actual cello? If it's not, then I am wholly impressed by how far technology has progressed. If it is, then bravo to the performer. I feel that the cymbal at 00:30 betrays the sentiment at the piece, as it introduces a sense of bombasticity that opposes the first section's solemnity. I thought this was going to be terribly boring, but I was delightfully surprised.
If you are indeed joking, this submission should receive a 10/10 for the most accurate parody of a depressingly nerdy Nintendo fetishist with Asperger's and a sequencer I have ever seen. If this is serious, then I think you should star doing more constructive activities with your lads. Try reading T.S. Eliot's The Wasteland. It's real fab.
You seem to be able to sing tolerably, albeit in nasal tone reminiscent of Fran Drescher with a blockage in her epiglottis. My cynical instincts, however, force me to assume that your vocals have succumbed to the horrid wiles of pitch correction software.
You seem to have a rudimentary understanding of counterpoint as evidenced by the instrumental section after the second verse in which you have *gasp* two melodies occurring at the same time.
You tend to rely too heavily on reverb to create an overtly "epic" feel to this piece. This places you squarely in the pitfalls of generic rave music. Who knows?; without the overwrought effects, this piece might sound wholly original, but alas there is also your consistent overuse of arpeggiations to mask the fact that you're playing a very simple and boring chord progression.
The chorus melody is catchy enough, so I have no complaints there.
With your "stylized" lyrics, I suppose you could be insinuating that the act of gaming is equivalent to a joyous but inevitably harmful malaise demonstrated by lines such as "sitting on my ass," but I choose to believe that they're the semi-coherent ramblings of a man who watches too much Rozen Maiden.
I must reiterate; if this is serious, you're doing music wrong.
Haha jesus fucking christ man, thats the most thorough "YOU SUCK" I've heard in ages. Congratulations on that. Anyway, time to pick your review apart and defend meself or something along those lines.
*eherm*
First of all, dont make fun of gamers man :P In here, thats like yelling "ADOLF HITLER DID A GOOD THING" at a Schindler's List memorial. I dont read poems, so The Wasteland can pretty much rot in the unholy depths of Belsebubs dungeon for all I care. I'd rather read "How to kill yourself by disecting your own Penis" translated into Arabic than a poem, really. And no, gaming is part of the not so healthy life me and me lads are leading. Combined with too much drinking, the occasional peak at female genetalia (IRL SRSLY) and other nerdy activities, like working and check up on the very much nerdy NewGrounds from time to time. (I fail to see why you are here?)
Second, no I cant say Im a good singer - I just happen to sing, because - well - I just want to. And Im sorry to say I will continue to do so. The vocals in this particular song is riddled with pitch-correction on 3 words just to bend "ass" and a few others to make it fit the song more. So I guess Im pretty much on pitch. Fran Drescher? Haha yeah maybe :)
Rely on reverb you say? Well, jesus man, have you ever made electronic music? I hope you understand what a raw wave sounds like :p Also why attack my melody-skills? I could put 3 more melodies following the chords, a couple of spin-offs of the main lead and 2 or maybe 3 other backup melodies on the bass-line. But why? It didnt fit the song. If I can create 1 melody, I think I can manage to add more if I want to. And arpeggios? Dude, there's not a single arpeggio in this whole song (?). So no, I cant say I rely on arepggios to mask the simple and boring chord progression.
Nice that you enjoy the lead melody, though :)
Again, dont poke fun at us gamers. It makes me cry ... seriously :( I dont know if I make semi-coherent ramblings like Rozen Maiden, I dont know who that would be, but you might be right. But simple fun lyrics that people can sing along to and relate to tends to hit the spot more often than a long sad song about the time my girlfriend fucked me over something crazy.
Closing Arguments:
I dont know where the hate come from, I listened to your music - and frankly, you're not that good - it was mostly un-melodic noise. So why you feel you need to pick on my grasp on melody and music, when I seriously understand and perform it better than you, is beyond me.
So NO - Im not doing it wrong. And I will continue to produce in this genre. And yes, you're english vocabulary is maybe the best I've seen in here :) And thanks for the long and picky review, and 10minutes of entertainment.
(oh, sorry if I came off as an asshole here - but you were kinda dragging me down into the mud for a nice old norwegian fist-fight here - and I took the bait)
Rose At Nightfall 
Forever Gamer