Tangerine's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Alaska]

I'm very sorry for all the notifications you're going to get from this. Very nice song! I really love how atmospheric and peaceful this sounds. I'm not too sure what Alaska is like but this makes me want to go there. I assume it's snowy since it's west of Canada. I feel like this perfectly gives the feeling of peace and happiness. Another hidden gem of yours.

50Steaks responds:

Unlike Rhode Island, this was my first ever attempt at ambient and set the stage for future ambient tracks. For my first attempt ever, it isn’t bad, but it does lack replayability (a term normally used for games but I am using it here instead).

[Rhode Island]

This is a hidden gem! What a way to start the year. I really like how this song feels. I feel like it sums up the year pretty well. I really like the melody and the general grooviness of the song. This is an absolute hidden gem and nobody will convince me otherwise.

50Steaks responds:

This song was just way too ambitious. I never liked it because I thought it just sounded… too cringy. Like it was trying to be something I was (and probably still am) incapable of doing. Looks like it’s popular with the public though so we’re keeping it as is, no updates.

[Florida]

Florida

50Steaks responds:

Florida

[New Jersey]

Alright, so I see that New York was the first song I reviewed of yours. If I want to say that I've reviewed all of your songs then I better start at the top and work my way down. Quite a far way to go. I probably won't go too in-depth because I can tell you've improved and worked through almost all the errors in these songs. Anyway, let's do this!

I listened to a couple of DnB songs and listened out for what what what all had in similar. I could tell that most of them had a simple rhythmed full chord harmony to them. The ones that I listened to sounded gritty yet clean in a musical sense. Your song is quite different though. I think it would likely be a different genre (I could be mistaken because I only listened to a sample of DnB music). I feel like it might have given the primary melody more impact if it was used a little less. Perhaps some other melodies and a separate section of the music. It does feel a little repetitive.

Also, happy -very late- half birthday!

50Steaks responds:

I forgot already that I made a news post with my half birthday, but thanks for the notion.
I was never truly happy with this song. I felt like it was missing something, and I never tried this genre again because it was really weird to work on. The percussion doesn’t play a large role in this track despite being DnB, which is probably why you said it could be another genre. Also the bass really needs to be more aggressive than it is.

[Missouri (3)]

I can't believe I never reviewed this! I had thought I reviewed all of your songs. Well anyway, I'm here now, so let's do this! For your first published song, this is actually pretty good; however, it does have its flaws. I feel like this song suffered a little because it felt a little like it was a bunch of different things fighting to be the primary melody. It just overall felt very messy and unorganized. Most things didn't feel like they played into each other and that it was a competition. I might be a little too harsh because I'm grading this to your today's standards and this was made a year and two months ago. To give credit where credit is due, the transition at 1:59 was a great transition. It felt smooth and effortless and overall worked really well. Overall, this is not a bad song in any way. I actually quite enjoy listening to it, but I feel that it can really easily be outshined by your later work and overall be forgotten.

50Steaks responds:

I’m glad to see someone acknowledge this song, because in the end, it was kind of important. It taught me transitions, as you mentioned, and it taught me sidechain. Unfortunately those two things alone do not make up for the fact that this song is otherwise terrible, with basically no structure to speak of and it’s practically two songs in one. I hope you having reviewed this and Arkansas puts the release of Iowa into perspective.

[South Carolina]

This is such a happy and cute song! If you were going for a happy feeling for the state, you certainly conveyed it. I agree that your recent songs did seem like they took a lot of effort and would probably drain your energy quite a bit. I think it's very important to sometimes make smaller songs for the fun of it sometimes. I feel that everything in this song plays into each other really nicely. The melody sounds happy and rewarding, and the percussion is upbeat and gleeful.
41 out of 50 states! You've really been working hard at this! You're honestly really close to your goal and I wonder what you will do after you've reached it. I've been thinking about what you'll do as a grand finale to your 50 states adventure and I thought it would be cool if you do a giant mashup of all 50 states into one song. It might be one of the biggest projects you've worked on for Newgrounds but I think it would be really cool!

Anyway, I love the song. Keep up the great work!

50Steaks responds:

Yeah I’ve thought about making just a giant mashup, but then I thought it would be simply too long to try and combine everything into one song, that sounds like an hour long song; I purposefully stray away from something that long simply due to time. Another option is to just combine all of my personal favorite of my songs, including SoundCloud releases, into one big medley. Keep in mind it also has to fit the final state, whatever that’ll be.

[New Mexico]

I really like this! I love it when you take old songs and remix them with a sort of modern feeling to them. I agree with what Battermilk said, the change from a more acoustic feeling to a more electronic version was a really cool feature of the song. I feel like you executed the feeling of the song very well. I do have to say, there are some points in the song (usually the parts with the main melody) where the harmony gets a little too discordant; however, there is one point ( 2:25) where I think the discordance works really well with the elevation of the music. I really love the simplistic style of ending you decided to go for with this song. I feel like going into silence with echos really works well after this giant climactic section of the song. I do have to say, this song does fit the state (I'm assuming it's like Mexico) much better than the previous version of it. I think remixing a song from a Spanish composer was a really good idea. I really like the song and I think you did a really good job on this.

I'd also like to add that I apologize for not being as active on Newgrounds as I usually am. I've been really busy and haven't had as much time as I would have wanted. For the past month, the only real-time I've had was late at night when I was tired. Things are starting to clear up and I'm going to continue being active on Newgrounds.

50Steaks responds:

Well I just awoke to 15 notifications, all of which were reviews from you. I find this ironic since I feel like I already put too much value on your reviews specifically (they tend to be more fleshed out than anyone else’s, and I think I have taken most of your feedback into consideration). Yeah this time, the dissonant harmony was done intentionally to elevate feelings of tension until the final moment, with the key change right at the end. I’m very happy to hear that this song fits its Mexican roots, and I have begun to vary my outros in my more recent music, rather than just yet another fade out.

[North Dakota]

It's ironic how you made a pretty notable song for an unnotable North American state. I do feel like you conveyed the feeling of being lost in the cold with the beginning. I'm not too sure what the landscape of North Dakota looks like so I just imagined you're lost on this endless road. When I first listened to it, I felt like the drum kick really worked after the initial feeling because it resembled a sort of feeling of hope. Almost like if you were to stumble across a peaceful and friendly village. At 01:23, I feel that the melodic transition into the melody could be a little smoother. It feels slightly forced and discordant. Perhaps, if you only keep one note there instead of two, it might feel a little more natural and bring a much more smooth and clean transition into the next idea. 02:13, this drop is fantastic. It's perfectly timed and set up. This loud section with cymbals smashing (at least I hope their cymbals) and notes singing to this beautiful quiet piano section. I'm not sure if this was the drop you were talking about in the description. I don't see a problem with it and in fact, really like it. I like to imagine that this section represents you realizing that the "village" you thought you found was just an abandoned gas station. All the excitement and hope drain out as the soft piano kicks in. 2:50, I don't really know what to say here. It's just fantastic and gives an uplifting feeling. I really like this section and I feel that you did a really good job here.

50Steaks responds:

Thanks for the long and thorough review— yours were always my favorite lol.
By “drop” I didn’t mean a literal drop of energy in the song, I meant the opposite: a climax of a song, an emotional peak of intensity. It’s used in electronic music of almost any type and I have been using it in 95% of my songs. The part I was saying was hard to listen to over and over is 1:50 because of the lead instrument. I do think it’s the worst part of the song. Of course, the second drop is my favorite part, and I’m sure you’d agree. I think the melody I came up with, combined with the key change, helps bring variety and a sense of closure. Also, at 2:57, I bring in some harmonic notes that, if you’re listening carefully, is a second melodic idea. There’s nothing special to say about the outro, just a standard Steaks outro. Also, I really like your interpretation, but instead of a never ending road, I was imagining being lost in a cold, harsh forest with nothing to see and on the edge of life and death. That mood never really changed in the end, but there was a spark of hope at the first drop, when the character thought they found a building, but it happened to be a group of rocks, at the end dying in peace and hopelessness.

[Wisconsin]

Woah sorry there! I didn't see that you uploaded a song. I'm two songs behind! I really like this remix. I feel that you mixed the structure really well! You made different sections flow into each other very well. For some reason, I really love classical music in a more electro style. Due to this being a remix, I can't really comment on anything to do with the melody (Even though I wouldn't really have anything to say about it). I really like the ending of this song. It's a nice slightly abrupt ending to something very jumpy and exciting. 00:42, I really like this transition. Going from chords to sudden soloistic part really works well. I had never actually heard this piece before this; I actually really like it. Well done on staying true to the song but putting a little of your own style into it. Great remix!

50Steaks responds:

Haha yeah, I sometimes just don’t get notifications when you upload, so I have to periodically check. This one was interesting; I had a feeling nobody would have heard masaniello overture by an obscure composer, so I thought I’d bring the honestly really catchy melodies into the modern ear. The outro is actually my favorite part now, I just love the way the different melodic instruments combine to form a much richer sound. I’ve moved on from pure supersaws, adding in more instruments to prevent too much repetition. Probably the pivotal moment of this song is the 16 measure chords that slowly change keys. This song literally goes from G minor to D major, then D minor, then back to G major for the rest. Each time the melody changes, so does the key. That’s a lot of key changes; I’m proud of the way it all turned out though.

[Not Alone]

It's a very cute song! It has a nice and happy feel to it. I really like the bass drop you did at 00:51; however, I do have a couple of things I want to mention. The chords you use in this piece feels a little messy and change too much. Perhaps if you were to tone the chord changes down a little then it would sound much cleaner. I like how you have separate sections in the music. It really helps to tell a story. I have to admit, the sudden change at 02:26, was a little sudden. I would recommend cleaning it up a little bit and giving it a better transition. Throughout the song, I could hear a couple of places when notes clash. A good rule of thumb is to avoid excessive use of 2nd intervals (What I mean by this is playing an A and a B then a G and an F right after each other). The big takeaway from this comment is to refine your transition and chords. Otherwise, I really enjoyed the song. It has a nice cute melody which I like. Well done!

SoloSurvivor332 responds:

Thanks a lot! Rlly appreciate the feedback :)