curriemaster's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Synchronicity Blues]

Twangfest!

Interesting recording this. I can see where you are going and the tune youre aiming for but I think the mic is letting you down. Did you record this with the built -in mic of a Mac or something?

It needs a little compression on the tracks as well as some EQing to try and cut out the occassional harsh buzz. Also it would be nice if the rhythm guitar was played with fingers (or less harshly if youre already doing that) to give it a smoother toner. It would contrast better with the solo guitar then.

Anyway this song is definitely worth a listen and with a little effort this track could be awesome. Good stuff.

Boux responds:

this is a build in mic in a mac like you say so the quality of sound wont be very high, and i never played with a pick since i started. anyways thanks for the nice review ill work on that EQing, have a listen to my other work too if you like.

salut.

[I Get A Rush (DeltaFlow Remix)]

Sweet one

Yo I dont really listen to too much music like this but I enjoyed this song. The bassline is very driving and has some great filtering. The choppy strings also give nice accents throughout. When the melody comes in at 1:20 it feels very satisfying...I guess thats why the chick gives a little "oh...".

Again at 3:22...very pleasing sound as the beats all come back in together. Nice samples, nice production, nice arrangement. I like it! Good work 5/5.

DeltaFlow responds:

Thanks for the in-depth review!

[You Make Me Feel Like ...]

Absolutely Brilliant

Yo Soro,

This song is really fun to listen to. Amusing lyrics, driving drums, chunky guitar and good choice of samples really make this song stand out. Not to mention the guitar solo :P tasty. I also like the composition and arrangement; each part is different but they flow together well.

I agree somewhat with Blackattackbitch that the guitar didnt stand out as much during the orchestral interlude but if you didnt want it to then its fine. The end was a slight disappointing as I was thinking about another epic guitar solo fading out; but its funny so I guess that makes up for it somewhat.

Anyway really superb job Ill be downloading this one. Good luck for the VaLOLtines competition I think this is a very strong contender for first!

sorohanro responds:

I'll send this track to Eurovision together with a link to the penicorn threads :))

[The Morning Fog]

Good Stuff

Very soothing and calming song. Does indeed reminding me of sitting on my balcony early in on a cold, dark morning. Good use of samples, except I found the alto sax (if thats what it was) a little too piercing; it could be turned down a wee bit.

Also very fitting choice of chords, the constant alternatation between mostly major and a touch of minor makes me imagine thinking "holy shit im cold, but the stars are awesome but holy shit im cold, but seriously the stars are awesome".

Great work 5/5.

Chinashima responds:

Thanks :D It was a tenor sax and yeah I agree it's a bit loud :P I had some other instruments playing during that part and they kinda drowned it out. I later removed em and I guess I forgot to turn it down lol. Thanks for the rating and review :)

[Tetris Dub Ft Super Mario]

Good Stuff

Good play with the Tetris tune, the addition of the Mario SFX (and Street Fighter?) were fun as well. I tend to think remixes of original songs are dodging the challenge a bit as you only really have to think of arrangement and whatever else you want to add on to the original melody. But your arrangement and additions worked well and it was fun to listen to.

The one thing I would say is that your break at 1:50 is clipping pretty noticeably. Got a 4 from me for this one, now Im going to see if you have any original stuff of your own ;).

Crim responds:

thanks for the critique.
i only every do original beats - you can find the rest on my profile - but when i came across the tetris soundtrack on youtube i realised how badass this would sound if i dubplated it. so here it is haha

[FTF, BTF! (WIP)-2]

Good stuff

Hey there I really enjoyed listening to this song. I do hear 3 or 4 separate chord progressions throughout but I think they have been put together so they dont jar your ears. I liked the bit around 1:50 when the drums are cut out with a short partial piano scale, its a good touch. I can definitely see this as being a song for a game menu; nice work on looping it.

The percussion is interesting as well but could possibly use a little variance on the samples used in key places (or a bit of well placed filtering?). It might even sound interesting to change the beat to a slow more traditional groove just after the 1:50-2:20 part. That might give it a little more interlude flavour and break up the rhythm into more distinct pieces in the song. If you choose to change the song or not it sounds great as it is now, excellent job. Hope the scholarship application is succussful!

SkatingIsGenetic responds:

Oh cool, nice to hear you liked certain parts of the song.

Thanks for the insight on the drums. I'm getting the variation part a lot, so maybe I'll look into it.

Thanks for the review!

[Peril(WIP)]

Nice percussion

I like the percussion in this a lot, it would definitely fit a battle scene in a film or game. With a little effort it could be made to loop as well. There is a chord change at about 38 secs that sounds slightly muddy though, like your bass and strings out slightly out of sync. As you say it is just a fragment but it shows potential...good work.

Jessismith responds:

Thank you, curriemaster.
I'm glad people seem to like the percussion a lot, since it was sort of a quickie simple beat. Sorry about the muddiness of the chord changes. That'll be really hard to fix too, since I'm making this with loops I had pre-recorded before putting all of this together..:P I tried to drown some of that out with a low, constant noise.....it didn't work too well. Hopefully, eventually I'll get it sounding better.

[Yesterday (sob)]

Sexcellent

I really like this song a lot, the start is cool and throughout the song is really different...the word unorthodox comes to mind. It reminds me a bit of Smashing Pumpkins actually. Nice crisp instrumentation and good quality on the vocal recordings as well which is great.

The part at around 2:16 is a bit crazy with that whiny synth but it just makes the acoustic sound sweeter when it starts. And then it sounds like Radiohead :P.

Really nice job Ive downloaded it to listen to at work.

soulofbass responds:

awesome, i'm glad you like this song, it's one of my favs, thanks for the great review

[Crystalline II (2:40)]

Alrighty

WinTang,

It seems we have both taken a "small" hiatus. I have always really enjoyed listening to your music, so I felt it was necessary to come listen to any of your new tracks; and I have to say I thought this song was great. Really smooth and soothing, but the way it was mixed and recorded with that rough edge still gives it a "I'm just fucking around for a few minutes and this is what I made" kind of feel. I like it a lot.

Hope to hear more from you man, maybe you will inspire me to make something new.

Good luck,
Curriemaster

WinTang responds:

More proof of the hiatus in that I respond almost 6 full months late. Sorry man, I want to cherish the people who give a crap about my music. I've always enjoyed your stuff a lot as well so I hope your inspiration will be restored soon if it isn't already. If it isn't, don't be ashamed or anything. It'll always come back if you're really serious about it and I believe you are. Cheers mate.

[Liquid Green(Zenon Remix)]

Sexcellent

This song is win, Ive listened to it three times looped while sitting here at work. The oscillating detuning effect you have on the lead synth is really cool. Also there is fat, fat bass.

As my daddy always used to say: the fatter the better son, the fatter the better.

dix/dix cinco/cinco

PERVOK responds:

Your dad's a walking genius.