Jebbal's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Windswept]

This is one of those rare songs you find on Newgrounds that make you want to simply put your head down and listen. I especially loved the main anthem (prominently at 4:16). It delivers such an epic feeling and sense of adventure. Good music always tells a story, and this song had my imagination running wild. It's got that whole cinematic experience thing going on: The abrupt changes in mood, novel-like structure, creative and modern use of classical instruments... It was awesome :)

I honestly only have one negative thing to mention, and that would be that a few of the note slides in the string section sounded a bit unnatural to me... I don't know. I played violin for 9 years so maybe that's why it caught my attention. Not a big deal, though!

If I told you that I've already listened to this at least 30 times all the way through, it wouldn't be an exaggeration at all haha. Phenomenal job, and congrats on receiving first place in the MAC!

NickPerrin responds:

Hey! Thanks for the killer forum signature, and this AWESOME review! I appreciate you taking the time to do both. However, the fact that you enjoy simply listening to the music, regardless of its affiliation with NG and the contest, means the absolute most to me.

Those note slides... you're definitely right! Sometimes the software doesn't let you get the legato or portamento sounding quite exactly as fast or slow as you want it, and I might have overlooked the ensuing awkwardness. I'm about one day from finishing the full version of this piece (this was abridged for contest length limits), and I'll certainly look into that in my final tweaks. I'd be TOTALLY indebted if you told me where the most "offensive" string slides were, by private message. :)

Now of course, if you've listened to this 30 times the new version might mess with your expectations, but it was always intended to be longer and hopefully you'll like it even more!

Thanks again!

[**Zelda's Lullaby**]

Amazing

Something with the mix sounds a little off to me... I don't know, but that's hardly a complaint because everything else about this song is absolutely perfect. The lyrics and vocals are beautiful. Nostalgic feelings from my memories of playing this classic game mix with your refreshing take on the tune, and it creates something awesome. I'm sure everyone knows what I'm talking about :)

Nice work!

VGSongbird responds:

It's very possible that there's something off in the mix; I just do this out of my bedroom, so the levels or something may be strange.
But I'm glad you enjoyed it regardless ^_^

[St. Peter's Gate {durn}]

Chill and dirty at the same time!

I heard this on Xmillsa's Youtube page and noticed the NG link in the description. Just thought I'd drop by and give ya a 5!

This is sickkkk :)

durn responds:

w00t! Thanks JebbaL. :D

[SJ - Fury]

I love it

You just became one of my all time favorite DnB artists in a matter of minutes. All your stuff is beast, man. Keep this shit up! :D

SteakJohnson responds:

thanks! more epic stuff is on the way

[Smooth Criminal RMX]

soooo trippin goody goo goo whooipop!

Personally, I think the drums sound pretty good the way they are. But HEY, slammin' 'em up a little more never hurt anybody!

This is seriously some really good shit, the vocal samples fit per-fect-ly :)

SteakJohnson responds:

thanks, the drums are lacking mids though, and too many hi's

[Eternal Love[Original Mix]

Cool beanzzz

Hey man, congrats on your first top 5 appearance! It's a cool feeling, isn't it?

I really love the piano intro, especially when the strings come in. And it just gets better from there on out. Seriously. The entire song's got a polished feel to it, very easy to tell that you spent time on every little detail and put a lot of love into it. It makes me happy when people have such passion for music production :)

Keep up the good work!

stephenstripling responds:

Very encouraging, thanks!

[Artificial Intelligence Evolved]

awesome piece

I know the annoyance of having to export a song in order to hear it. It really makes you want to abandon the project all together sometimes, but way to press on and finish it up anyways! It turned out great :)

EvilRaccoon responds:

Yeah, it's getting to the point im having to do it with everysong. Ive became dependant on layering sounds i think. Thanks for the comment and score. :)

[Lithorph - Like A Boss]

This is coolio badoolio

I was pleasantly surprised by a good piece of music here! People often ask me to review their work, and I'm almost always more than happy to. But I hate when the person has made nothing but shit (no offence to anybody who sucks at making music).

This is refreshingly unique and has a lot of catchy moments to keep the replay value up. Its overflowing with creativity and portrays you as someone who really enjoys what they do. It was a fun listen, and I think it would be great for DDR or some other kind of music oriented game :)

Keep it up!

Lithorph responds:

Really appreciate your review man :)
Yes i do love making music, and this was my first song in this genre, whatever the genre is ^^
I just did something that felt good and went with it :D
Thank you for making my day alot better!

[Sapphire Tears Magnetic Remix]

cool beanz

The song is great n' all, but what really won me over was your extreme dedication. You've broken the 6 million mark for patterns, a prestigious accomplishment achieved by only the mightiest music makers of Newgrounds. Don't even get me started on your AP5SA (Automations per 5 seconds of audio) rate. 7,035? I think the record previously stood at 7,021, so start contacting Guinness soon about getting into the record book.

When choosing a choir to make a trip to your house to record enough audio to cover up a sneeze, its important to consider the following things: Experience, notoriety, and budget. You really hit the nail on the head here. The Vienna Boys was an excellent compromise between awesome and too awesome.

There is much debate among audio experts as to what type of suit is best to wear while creating music. It's good to see that someone is still on board with Bach's theory of alligator skin speedos and gorgeous woman's wigs. The toothy grin was a risky bit of improvisation, although, with a name like "Sapphire Tears", its safe to say that it paid off in the end.

What a bold man you are. Bold, bold man. I wish you luck in the contest!

merlin responds:

My friend. You truly grasp what I was trying to create.

Regards,
merlin

[Song of Storms Remix [mod15]]

Okey dokieee

Well, you invited people to leave a comment whether they enjoyed the song or not. :/

Not to be mean, but this couldn't have taken you any more than a day to create. Spend more time on your stuff - Explore new techniques, tweak some sounds, learn something new! Add some automations (None of the instruments or samples varied in the slightest way. This results in a painfully MIDI-ish atmosphere.)

I noticed towards the end of the song you started to play around with the drums and stuff. That's a good sign, it shows that you put some of your creative energy into it. I gotta say, however, that the drum beat throughout the song makes no sense for the most part. It serves as more of a disturbance and takes more out of the song's rhythm than it puts in. Listen to some professional DnB songs and make an attempt at transcribing the drum patterns into whatever sequencer you use. It'll help!

I see that you've been making music for not even a year. The overall sound of this song is pretty typical I'd say for someone with your experience. Its not a bad thing at all. Despite all of my negative comments, I can definitely see the potential in you to become a good audio artist. Watch some tutorials online, listen intently to other peoples' tracks, and spend HOURS simply experimenting! Your experiments will eventually serve as inspiration or a basis in which a whole song can spawn from.

I've been working with FL Studio for about 7 years and I am entirely self taught through means of experimentation and trial/error techniques. I know that if I had invested in some proper education I'd be A LOT better than I've become, but I still think that I'm a pretty legit example of how far you can come with nothing more than experience.

Each new song that you make should have at least one thing to offer that you didn't know how to do in your last submission. If you keep this going, you've got nowhere to go but up, ya know?

Please don't take offense to any of this! I only mean it in the most encouraging way possible. Its not often that I bother to write a review for songs that I don't particularly enjoy. Keep making music and keep getting better! Good luck :)

DJSpire responds:

You really think none of the samples or instruments varied in the slightest? Would you like to see the FLP and challenge me on that? Because I can send it to you. Just PM me.

Into your second paragraph, you told me to transcribe the drum patterns. I've done that. The only problem with their pattern (it's 99.9% the Amen Break) is that it's in 4/4. Not 3/4. Which is what the Song of Storms is in. 3/4. Not 4/4.

And as I said to KR1Z and UnsignedUnderground, I don't want to be generic. I don't want to end up being a cookie-cutter producer. What will that do for me? Get my name lost in the memory of people who listen to my music. Because, now, if you see that little [mod15] tag at the end of a new submission, you'll wonder to yourself if I've improved at all. If I was all generic, and cookie cutter, then you'd never remember that I did anything in the first place.

And finally, as I said to KR1Z, the only reason people would say "no offense" or "Please don't take offense to any of this" is because they know what they've said or will say is potentially offensive.

It's not offensive, to me. Other than that you claim that there's no variation.
And, I've been making electronic music for longer than a year: I deleted my older submissions, or they're on my older account. But my primary stake in the music world is my orchestral compositions. I've been writing "real" music for upward of 7 years now, so this is a decently new foray for me.

Also, thank you. You're a lot more respectable when you're giving advice when you use proper grammar and spelling and pronunciation.