ChioBam's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[To the Stars]

I'm a bit late to the review party on this one. You have a ridiculous library of sounds, Step. Ridiculous. I'm so goddamn jealous. I don't know where you get the drive to work tirelessly on all the nuances that go into arranging and mixing.

There are so many subtle things happening within this arrangement I don't even know where to begin. I've said this time and time again, but your orchestration is phenomenal. You have a fantastic ability to break an orchestra away from tutti which I just don't understand at this point in my orchestration education.

The way you've incorporated the 8-bit into an orchestral setting is a pleasure to witness. I've never heard it done before, and I don't think I'll ever hear it done better than this. Bravo to you.

Best,

Chio

Step responds:

Oh geez, wow. What a review. I don't know where to start! Thanks for the huge boost in self-confidence!

Honestly, I don't know what tips/pointers I can give about the balancing of the orchestra. Thinking back, a lot of the stuff I do while composing is almost done subconsciously. Sometimes I finish a section of a song and think to myself "how the hell did I do this". I guess all I can say is keep on practising and racking up experience until all the tweaking you do on the orchestration becomes natural. I don't have any formal education on orchestration so I just try and judge by what my ear thinks haha.

That last comment really got to me. I really appreciate that. I'm sure there are plenty of excellent chiptune/orchestral hybrids out there though! (in fact, I was semi-inspired by this one, even though it's not quite as chiptuney as my arrangement: https://youtu.be/5tSTEa3G9Ng?t=9971).

Anyway, thank you very very much for the review!

[In a Dream]

You know, I don't think you've ever composed something (or arranged in this case) that I haven't thoroughly enjoyed, and I've been following you for a while. You have a very deep understanding of orchestration and balance with music, and as a composer that's such a skill to have. Things that are supposed to be in the foreground are in the foreground, and the things that are supposed to be in the background are in the background, but regardless of their respective roles in this mix, all of it is clear and easy to pick out, and that's a telltale sign, to me, of good orchestration and mixing. So a fine job to you. But, I'm no professional, and you're the artist; I'm sure you hear flaws that I simply don't.

Either way, very well done. 5/5

Step responds:

Wow, thanks for the hugely encouraging review! You're very perceptive. The idea of balancing foreground and background is something I ALWAYS pay particular attention to. I think I've become very accustomed to making that kind of separation, and even though I'm not perfect at it, I think it's one of my stronger points. However, it also makes counterpoint very hard for me, since I'm used to having one foreground voice and everything else accompanying it. I find it hard to balance instruments together when there's no clear foreground/background separation I can make, if you get what I mean.

Anyhow, thanks for the great review!

[Trombone Tea Time]

So lanky.

samulis responds:

An interesting choice of words.

[Childhood Passing By]

I still can't believe how well you improvise. This is a skill I've been working on for a while and I've still not come close to this. Really great work, man. Never stop what you're doing.

BlazingDragon responds:

Thanks so much! If you haven't already, you should definitely post some of your improv work. :)

[Fading (Piano Improv)]

Haha, somebody seems to know their theory, or at least their harmony. I really, really enjoy your use of of functional chords when they happened. At around 1:15 (I think) you improvised a secondary leading tone through a diminished chord, which is awesome in that it was improvised. I really enjoyed the structure of this too. Your improvisational chops are just astonishing. Spectacular. 5/5

BlazingDragon responds:

It's great to find someone else who knows their stuff!

When I took music theory classes, it seemed like most of my class mates were bored and hated it. I tell you though, I loved it. Every time we learned a new concept like circle progressions, secondary dominants, borrowed chords, neapolitans, augmented sixths, tri-tone substitutions, modes, or anything else, I'd run to the piano and see if I could write a song using the new harmonic vocabulary. I'm still pretty lousy improvising outside of the key of C unfortunately, and my technique is minimal for a pianist. I don't know my arpeggios and just barely finished learning all my minor scales. I have a lot of awesome, sweeping lines in my head when I improvise, but I can't pull it off. So I mostly rely on memorable melodic lines and beautiful harmonies.

Haha, look, you got me ranting! This is what happens when music theory gets brought up. XD
Thank you very much for your review, and Merry Christmas!