ZipZipper's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Aspen Grove]

Wow this is really cool! I love the froggings and what-not in the background, that really creates a very interesting layer to the song. The song itself kind of goes clashing against the softness of the ambience while also being similar in that the song is lighthearted and not overpowering the animals. I really love your choice of synths and instruments, the vibes are really cool. The beat is energetic but reserved, I really like that. This is overall just...excellent mastery of emotion. I was invoked with peace of mind and also a spark of life. Wonderful work!

[Dawn]

I'm a little reminded of those spot-the-difference flash games that got frontpaged once upon a time, this sounds like music to be heard in one of them. Or actually...Epic Battle Fantasy also comes to mind. I love the horns' role in this piece, one of my favorite aspects of this. The pizzicato strings I also thought were delightful. The melody progresses nicely, it had its slight, unexpected surprises, but it wasn't something that blew me away. The transition from the beginning's minor quality to the rest of the song's major quality was the biggest surprise, to me. I just think this is empty. Yeah, it dances around in harmonically interesting ways and has some theoretical and compositional qualities that I wish I could do the way you did here, but I wasn't very captured as an audience member. Where's the pizzazz? I saw the Dawn and that was it. Maybe because it was such a short song? I think this needs a lot more extra to it, more expansion on the content. This has a good foundation, but it's just a foundation. It's a great start that I think could be more.

samulis responds:

I love how I can spot classically-trained (or at least classically-minded) composers among others by their complaints that my work is too short. XD

Thanks for the review. Unfortunately, I feel doing something that would please you like writing a violin cadenza over the top or elongating the song another minute with "classical" techniques (variations, theme in reverse, add a new section, etc.) would ruin the nature of the piece and instead I consider this a piece that presents an emotion- not a piece that presents a melody or a thought. It's purely emotion... a tip of the hat to some of the finest works of the Romantic period to present film scores today. Dawn itself is a short time, and to capture it in only a few minutes was my goal. I approach such programmatic/emotive music as a film scorer might- melodies second, texture first.

As I always have to keep telling people, I'm not interested in writing a symphony... it doesn't suit my style or my technique of composition. I present enough material to get the message across, so why bother repeating it four more times with a B theme in between? It bores the hell out of the rest of the world, unfortunately, no matter how much lovers of classical (I would include myself in this) love full symphonies.

As for the placement of this in a spot-the-difference game, I'm honestly very confused... those things generally have some cheesy little piano solo stuff some melancholy recorded or something like that. I would honestly see this more fitting in an animation or credits or such.

Thanks again for the review, but I must respectfully decline adding too much more, noting the reasons above. If I do add more, it will likely sound artificial and detract from the work.
-Samulis

[My Megan]

I did quite like this. I didn't really think it was "lovely-dovey", it was emotional and developed nicely. All the percussion really helped with keeping the sound interesting, it was one aspect of the song I thought was strong. You have a great choice of instruments here, the ongoing piano is great and I loved the parts with the woodwinds, the guitar, and the slight touch of glockenspiel. The strings would have been excellent if they were worked on more, there was no release time on them so they sounded glitchy. Although, I did like that sudden glitchy quality for some reason, it's not something you should do again. The song could also use reverb tweaking, especially on the strings. The melody was cool and it progressed on in a minimalistic way, but I think the rhythms dampened it and made it sound repetitive. Everything seemed kind of boxed in, but I can hear how it could explode into more emotion. That potential makes me like this. This is good, and it can be a gateway into classical, as I see from your profile you're mainly an electronic guy. Well...nice work and all the best for whatever you do.

[Underwater Gnossienne]

Well it definitely does sounds like flanger/phaser use. Though, I hear a very slight difference in color, which almost convinces me that it isn't. I like the mischievous melody of it. It sounds like drowning strings, and I especially like the second half beginning at 00:46 where the lower pitches are introduced, they sound like a drowning bassoon. I really can hear an entire orchestra here. I like the reverb on this as well. It makes it sound like I'm standing in a mall, it's relaxing. I'm basically just confused on how this was made. This can't be just manipulated water dripping...well either way, I really liked the creativity of this and sort of wished that even if this is entirely water, some other instruments and parts could have been added in as well. But I guess that would defeat the initial purpose of this being entirely underwater. Anyways, great work!

[Spain]

I didn't notice any mistakes, then again I don't know the original song. Point being, it sounds great to the passerby listener. I am a little reminded of the old Cirque Du Soleil shows only because those soundtracks relied on the saxophone in some respects, plus the worldly feel in general. The background midi file sounds excellent actually, very realistic somehow. And of course your saxophone playing is charming and controlled. You sound like you've got a good grasp on how to handle the sax. Not much else to comment on other than keep on playing! I think sax is such a lovely instrument. Nice work here.

MrX89 responds:

Thanks for review :)
I actually used some virtual instruments plugins to make it sound better than your everyday windows-generated midi.

[Mameshi-BUH!? Score]

Mainichi hitotsuuu mamessshhhiki la la AUGH.

I just love how your style of orchestrating is akin to things like Looney Tunes, where every sound went in accordance to every action and emotion the characters made. Your music along with Zeurel's work, full of outlandish expressions, is a perfect combination. Though, I know you're also quite ambidextrous and can make things that definitely break this mold and delve into a completely different mood. Surely your soundtrack making will keep the subtle innocence of old cartoons alive as well as develop it to the future.

SilentTakedown responds:

Thanks a lot ZipZipper, I'm glad you like it!
Mickey-mousing isn't exactly something I'm known for (or experienced in) but it seems like everyone is happy with what I delivered so far in the Zeurel animations. This means a lot to me! :)

[Oh hey Burton]

It's strange how well this loops; how the sound effects are perfectly synced from the end to start over in the beginning. I do really enjoy the minimal nature of this. Though, I thought there could have been at least one other instrument layering over and pushing along the melody line. Like a string screeching out the left hand rhythm somewhere towards the middle. I also really love the ambient soundscape in the background, it's enchanting. But I thought this piece as a whole could be expanded much more! However, it's a nice stylistic choice to keep it purely ambient, and the fact that it loops sort of makes up for its short duration. Pretty cool work here!

Trawl responds:

I made it mostly for use in halloween flashes so I try to just supply the tonality and atmosphere without a melody that distracts from whatever is going on

[McTricky VA Demo Reel '12]

Omg marry meee. Talk to me in all of those voices. Though I think sometimes the voices sounded a little too similar to each other, there was enough emotion behind each one to make them distinct. I think my favorite voice was the 00:38 one. That character sounded the most intriguing to me; a couth detective with a non-conforming attitude and a handsome face. Pretty choice demo here. Nice work!

[Bump! In The Night]

It was generic, to me. I thought there could have been more creativity, especially because the rhythm is recurring and the choice of instruments was overly quintessential to the holiday spirit. The chord progression itself I thought was more cheery and less spooky. A part of that is because there's a lot of sound in the high register and nothing really holding much of a bass; it's sprightly staccato without anything low and eerie. I guess I thought it was cheesy, but some people like that. Would especially be nice for a short children's story. And don't get me wrong, tonality and actual instrumentation was arranged perfectly. I just thought you could push boundaries with this some more. This could also work well as the theme for a forest level, whether it be dark or just an average forest. Overall, a nice work that I think needed more punch!

Rampant responds:

I envisioned this as music for a fun Halloween game embodying the cheery and fun disposition of the holiday festivity, not a horror film. It's simplistic and - yeah - maybe a little cheesy, but it's fun and easy to listen to, and it's not obtrusive, nor does it require a lot of attention.

[Chopinesque Waltz]

Oh very nice. Romantique and maybe a little spice of modernity. I actually loved the sort of bridge at 00:40. I think that part was the point where the spice of modernity came in. This could technically loop, but it would have been really really nice to hear it go on longer. This piece is perhaps too concise. I'm sure it could have been taken farther, and knowing that your musicianship is overly outstanding, I think you know it too...though I can't help but love a short waltz. Well done!