Tangerine's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[AIM - The Good Times]

This piece is so beautiful! The melody is heart-wrenchingly lovely and the chords/harmony only help to amplify that feeling. I absolutely love what you did with this, and it’s so fitting for the gif below and the atmosphere of the art. Amazing job!

The hitting of the piano hammers is such a lovely feature of the song, and it makes it sound so grounded an authentic. But I do have to say that it can be a little distracting at times. I would try lowering it a little (if possible) and seeing how that sounds. I absolutely don’t think you should get rid of it, or try to hide it. But I think maybe lowering its presence slightly might be something to try out. It’s nearly like if a drum kick were on every note played. If it’s not something you can change, then don’t worry about it! It only becomes super noticeable if you’ve had it on loop for 2 hours straight.

I love how you do your transitions between sections, 01:18 for example is absolutely masterclass and it makes me smile so much listening to it. It’s so beautiful and natural, and it ties up the B section so beautifully. The same can be said for the beginning, it’s so lovely!

[Qual (AIM 2024)]

Wow, no part of me was ready for just how unique and awesome that was. I loved the glitchy effects along with the orchestra, it made for something so beautiful and haunting. Compositionally, I think its very unique because the melody sounds lost and unresolved. It sounds scared and unsure. I think thats awesome! It especially works with the artwork because there is nothing “resolved” about the man in the painting. He’s literally melting, falling a part and disconnecting. Thats why I really like how messy the drums can be at certain points of the song, it drives home that feeling of chaos, pain and confusion. Not to mention I love the beginning and the distant piano. It slightly reminds me of the posh music you’d hear in the nobles parties in the game dishonored. It really fits with the style of the art, with it being that sort of 1800s grotesque painting style. A lot like Saturn Devouring his Son. Though, the drums and glitch techniques betrays this slightly, but it does still heavily give off that feeling.

The cellos, the flies, I love it all so much. Your piece is just as haunting and disturbing as the art, which I think is amazing. I do have to say, I think the drop at 02:34 would have had more of an impact if you went fully classical with the cello section before it. That sudden change in instrumentation would have been really cool, and I don’t really think the drums add anything new to that section. Perhaps having a soft gently choir singing along side it would have been really interesting.

I really like the glass shattering sounds at 01:58. Your use of effects and sounds really make this piece special. It’s so unique and cool. It’s modern yet historic without it sounding off. Also you brough in an electric guitar with the choir, which is always a fun combo xD.

Though I liked the cello staccato at the end, I think it might have been nice for the initial piano to make a return to wrap things up. To have a more powerful ending which a little more meaning. Though, with the context of the artwork, the grim dark cello staccato notes do fit quite well. But aside from the context, listening to the song as its own independent thing.

Also I appreciate you separating the different voices in your soundcloud links, it was quite helpful and interesting to see how everything sounded on its own.

Anyway, I don’t want to drag this out too long. I just wanted to say awesome piece, it was a lovely surprise and I wish you the best with the songs you create next!

chipsqueek responds:

lord this was quite the read! thanks a ton for the long review, it's always appreciated! I was listening to a ton of Igorrr when making this track, and this artwork just gave me a real interesting idea to make something like Igorrr for a first. albeit this track was heavily inspired by 'Valse en Décomposition' and 'Tout Petit Moineau' by Igorrr, but I'm glad someone is really fond of this track! :D

[Shining [AIM 2024]]

Hey mate, Awesome track! The synths give the same sort of other worldly feeling as the aurora does. The synths may sound a little too otherworldly to the point where I think this track would have perfectly gone with anything space related rather than a snowy village. The guitar also helps with this, heavily reverbed guitar always makes me think of space.

I know RSK and I are both saying conflicting things here, but for me, the beginning of the track feels a bit long. It takes about a minute in before I start to hear any changes. A nice gradual crescendo into the next section throughout a londer duration of the song is what would bring this song a tier up in my opinion.

A nice touch you could add to the beginning would be to sprinkle in some lightly melodic guitar harmonics. That’ll also help introduce the guitar so it’s less of a surprise at 1:38. If you wanted to make the beginning more atmospheric, you could add in some soft wind sounds to set the tone. Listening to the track alone wouldn’t instantly make me think of snow and night. Do remember that sound effects are risky legally and can be very hit or miss musically, so definitely play around with them and see what you like. I do like the sounds you have right at the beginning, but a little more to set the stage would be nice.

Genuinely perfect song for out of space. Perfect song with the wrong image. But of course the relevance category is VERY subjective so what sounds like it doesn’t fit to me could sound perfect for someone else.

I really like 02:51 - 03:31. I think that section is such a nice little section to break up the song a little.

At 05:02 I would consider panning the guitar more to the middle. Or if you want to have it panned, have another one panned to the other side to help balance it out. Especially if you are doing an ambient track, you want it to be as non distracting as possible. I do really like you guitar sections though, you’ve got amazing skills. Maybe i’ll hire you to play something for me once i’ve got the cash xD

I like the fade into the rain. If you had kept the rain at a consistent volume between the start and the end, you could have made it a perfect loop which would be perfect for an ambient track. If you can’t easily tell that it’s looped then you know you’ve done something right.

I like the consistency of the pace. Despite the nearly 2 minute long beginning, you’ve got a really nice structure here. Everything flows well and you’ve taken the time to make sure your transitions work. For an ambient track, this actually tells a bit of a story which is really nice.

Also one thing I wanted to mention before I gave my final thoughts, is to be careful with clashing notes. When you’ve got so much reverb, the wetness can carry over to the next bar which can create a little bit of reverbial clashing. Maybe slightly decreasing the reverb on the guitar could help fix this, though it’s not super noticeable.

Overall, I think you made a great piece here! Ambient tracks are deceptively hard to do and I think you’ve done a great job! It’s a very well rounded piece and I wish you the best of luck getting through ngadm!

[bossa tune]

It's so cute!

[Are You Forklift Certified?]

Hell yeah!

[Voice demo reel 2024]

Nice

[Netero's Theme]

I love this, it is amazing. I really like the changes you made! Great work mate :)

Everratic responds:

Thank you, Tangerine!

[Tangerine / 34 / A100]

oh god