ZipZipper's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Overture to the Crown]

I...love...baroque. So majestique. Oh my Jesus, when the fuguey thing began at 01:34 and it all went building up and up and up...Ugh I just came. I'm seriously clasping my face over how marvelous this sounds. The style is PERFECTLY implemented. I wish I could make classical as brutal as this. The energy from the middle part got me so excited that I wish it went on much longer, in tandem to the slow rhythm of the beginning and end. I guess what I'm trying to say is I thought the end began too early. Or I'm just greedy and selfish. But great as is, obviously. Not much else I can think of saying...Bravo.

descara responds:

Thank you for the very kind words!

The B-section could definitely have been longer, I was just in kind of in a rush to finish it so I took the first reasonable chance of an ending that I got ;)

[Flashbulb Nocturne]

Wow! In seven? Marvelous choice, and you mastered it here. Great mix of instruments with each part having its own distinct purpose. It goes forward in a minimal way, but I thought just a tiny too repetitive with each new idea. Like the last half of ending bell themes and the first half pizzicato strings a little too, though I thought the first half was the most captivating part. I guess each new instrument is connected together in that the constant flow of these instrument melodies is continuous and repeating, almost droning. The percussion is definitely a keeper. The windy breeze noise is also a great addition. So many extremely interesting noises to keep the song going. I also love the crescendo quality of the strings and choir near the beginning, that is simply bone-chilling. Choir and string stings like that as an end part would be orgasmic. This is certainly representative of the night, but so playful and active. It could work any time of day too. Yeah, this just needs some kind of climactic end. The ending theme sounds like it's building up to it, but it fades out. So yer. Excellent job!

WizMystery responds:

I feel the same way about the first part being the better part...

I had a whole rhapsody structure planned and it was working but you just get to that part of the song where two ideas just don't reasonably mix and I just said screw it. There's at least five completely different sections in my project file right now that sound better than that second half but just don't work well as a B in ABA.

I'm definitely updating this before the contest ends though, either living up to the buildup at the end as you said or actually doing what I planned to get a nice ABA form.

And as always thanks for the review.

[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

[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

[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.

[Blactap Voice Demo 2012]

Marry me. You have so many different voices that each have their own character to them, which I think is so difficult to do. It's one thing to change and mix your voice but to also have each with their own persona is...beyond me. Fantastique. My favorite one is the country guy getting a pizza.

Blactap responds:

Thanks man. I really appreciate the comment. ^_^. I planning to do more stuff soon.

[The Earwig Machine]

This reminds me a little bit of Circus Contraption. I am overwhelmed with joy that you included the bass trombone line. Did you play all these instruments live yourself? If so, that's amazing that you can play all of those instruments. Even still, if these are software instruments, the tone and atmosphere you put on them makes it sound like I'm right in the room. Indeed, the sound is a little sleazy. But I think it's also got a depressing melancholy vibe that's also wonderful. Definitely a gloomy cabaret sort of jazz. I think some raspy vocals with crazy lyrics would be fantastic over this. But I can't help but appreciate the solemn nature of the instrumentals as well. Thank you so much for posting this. This is the kind of music I seek out and adore. Outstanding job!

ToliveAnimations responds:

Thank you, that really does mean a lot to me.
Best wishes to you.

[Free like the birds]

The vocals are perhaps just a little too strong, or the instrumentals are a little too weak. This is especially noticeable because the drum and percussion line is barely even audible. So I think it's the latter because your vocals sound great; they're crisp and clear and you've got a perfect voice for the style too. The instrumentals just need a little extra. To me, I'd especially like the ambient synths to have a bit more prominence, and of course the drums need that prominence too as I mentioned before. Other than that, this track is pretty cool. Nice guitaring and singing. The panning between the vocals and the guitar near the end is a surprise. Great work!

DivoFST responds:

Thanks a lot ZipZipper, i am going to remaster the synths even today to make things balanced!