Columbers's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Epic Idea 1]

This is really quite nice! I make epic orchestral and trailer music a lot, so listening to this was fairly pleasant. The mixing and production are very good, I'd say. Personally, I'd use a bit more sub-bass to make stuff a bit better; I never noticed double basses or anything, which would make the chords stronger. The drums also could benefit from some sub boost. Aside from that minor detail, everything else was great! Keep up the good work!

NicholasCabraja responds:

I'll work on it man. Before there was too much and I have a hard time controlling to not make it so annoying.

Thanks for the review!

[Geoplex - Eminence]

I make orchestral music nearly all of the time, and this is really nice, especially for the first orchestral piece you released! This is very close to the "trailer music" vibe, I'd say. Nice chords and the instrumentation is pretty good. I'm not sure what samples or sounds you use for stuff like this, and while they don't sound bad, I think the overall sound could be better (no big deal though). The mixing is really good, and I'd say it makes up for the sample quality. I think you were going for a "trailer music" sound, so you'd probably need some French horns to make stuff even better!

I make trailer music a lot nowadays, so feel free to check out some of my music if you want!

Geoplex responds:

Hi there - first off, thanks for the feedback.
Trailer music was the general direction, though I think the composition and general tension are a bit low for real trailer music. This was more a general foray into the genre for me.

Thanks for the review man

[Strength in Numbers]

Very nice! I feel like the arrangement and composition of this are very good, but the music lacks a bit of energy and oomph. That's left to opinion I guess, but a bit more bass as well as some deeper bass drums would add to the energy a lot. Also, the faster-paced melodies sound a bit rough on a few of the instruments (before the middle of the song, for example), but that's an issue of the samples used and the way they're used. I really liked this overall though! Keep it up!

Qu4drupleForte responds:

Thanks Columbers! The bass and drums were heavier in the past but I was getting a lot of clipping and decided to tone it down, this must've taken away from the bass a bit too. And yes, the piccolos do sound a bit rough with the strings, this is something that happens a lot when I write fast lines for violins and piccolos that aren't in the higher register; I'm still working out ways to get more clarity and less scratchy nastiness in those kind of lines.

[Firth]

First, the piano chords at 2:20 and at the end remind me of myself a lot- I do the exact same stuff, putting dissonancey piano chords in between sections of a song. Thumbs up for that! Good piece in general!

Not sure whether or not you've bought any sample libraries or not, but a killer strings library would improve this piece a lot and really help it out. It's expensive though, and I remember my days of only half-decent samples... definitely not saying you have to, it just depends on how much you care for sound quality (I care too much obviously) :)
If you ever do get a sample library make sure you check for an education discount. You can get like 50% sometimes.

phoenixapprentice responds:

I'm just a hobbyist so I haven't put a lot of emphasis on getting better instruments. I use 100% free instruments, the only thing I've paid for is my synthesizer (which I use in songs like this for pads and stuff). It's too expensive for me to buy instruments right now anyway :c
Thank you! Maybe one day if I have enough money to get something good I'll go back and make this song better.

[Glow]

This was actually pretty good! However, I noticed some stuff and I think it'd be helpful if I pointed out a few things (not to be rude.)
At the louder middle part, the volume was too high and it was being compressed too much. I'd make sure the loudest part is always right at 0 Db in the mixer, and then adjust the rest down. Also, this could benefit from some reverb since it's an orchestral piece; orchestra + reverb is good. Nice song though, keep it up!

phoenixapprentice responds:

Hmm, never thought to add reverb to the orchestra before! Cool idea! I'm not really great at mastering (I've just started to do it 100% on my own) and don't know what the terms are but if I go back and look at the mixer I'm sure I'll see what you're talking about. Thank you! I don't usually go back and edit my songs ... but since this one is getting tons of feedback maybe I will?