Reviews for Plains Theme

[hamstercake]

Alrite!

First i listened to it through my monitors. Second time i listened to it through my headphones and the third time i was just enjoying the whole arrangement. I wanted to make sure i didn´t miss anything before writing this review.

You know how to get my full attention. Flutes! African/ Ethnic rythms and lush, mellow strings... That makes for one hell of a cocktail!

I did not know you had such skills in arrangement. Now i´m not talking about the overall progressions and transitions. But the way you have made room and given each section a chance to be articulate. I hope you know what i mean by this. You know how a "classic" blockbuster song goes, they sound mostly the same. The only thing getting a chance to overpower the track is mostly very compressed strings sections and/ or trombones + timpanis poundering. Ofc that can be epic (there are many tunes like that, that i love.)
But why am i mentioning this now?! Because you haven´t made a blockbuster piece. You really have managed to create an orchestral song and all that comes with that genre. Evey instrument section is given a certain phrase or a chance to make themselfs audible. I really hope i´m making sense, hard for me to express myself, using musical terms in english. If there´s anything you want me to explain further, please feel free to pm me about it.

The intro: Nice use of suppressed cymbals. They really add to the overall decay and ambient thing you got going. When going over to the drums i find that they are lacking body. I would like for the drums to have somewhat more decay or at least to be more wet.

Nice transition over to the guitar. The perc really adds to the dramatic effect and makes for a nice (here we go) Btw i really like those guitar samples. Hypersonic you say!!!? (say wut!)

You know i love flutes. As do you =) I can hear that´s a panflute by the nice maneuvers. But i would like for the flute to have a wider image. Give it more room. By giving the flutes more room and also adding more wetness to the drums will really boost the ramps and overall ethnic atmosphere. I´m also aware of by doing so, you´ll bring the music alot closer, ruining the idea of using this song as a background.

I really like your build-ups. But the one that really catches my ear the most is the one at 2:10 Damn! that´s a nice buildup. Maybe by adding a suppressed cymbal also to that build-up could give it a little more edge?

I can see why you consider this song to be one of your best arrangements. I´ve said it before but i´m gonna say it again. You really do have the skills to come up with something original, clever and also bold. Your arrangement skills is those of a pro musician. Why do you think i praise your music. Somehow you can give life to a song that normally would be considered dull and lifeless. You work with alot of colour and warmth that you apply onto your songs.

Keep it up ffs!

- Jay B
Vocalsync.com

Step responds:

Whoa dude listen to this...

I saw this amount of text among the reviews and I was like "EeeeiiiK!". Then I gulped and wondered where the hell I should start...

Maybe starting from the beginning would be a good idea...

Anyway I'll start by saying that I REALLY appreciate the gigantic review. Even though I'm so used to writing massive reviews myself, actually receiving a review as big as this is still such a wonderful feeling.

"You know how to get my full attention. Flutes! African/ Ethnic rythms and lush, mellow strings... That makes for one hell of a cocktail!"

Thanks :D. As I've already said quite a few times, that instrumentation is something I'm particularly proud of.

"I did not know you had such skills in arrangement. Now i�m not talking about the overall progressions and transitions. But the way you have made room and given each section a chance to be articulate ... ... ... You really have managed to create an orchestral song and all that comes with that genre. Evey instrument section is given a certain phrase or a chance to make themselfs audible. I really hope i�m making sense, hard for me to express myself, using musical terms in english. If there�s anything you want me to explain further, please feel free to pm me about it"

I see exactly what you mean. In fact, I think the fact that there are many different sections where each instrument gives its own contribution to the song helps with its variety, because the song retains roughly the same melody throughout.

"The intro: Nice use of suppressed cymbals. They really add to the overall decay and ambient thing you got going."

That's actually an ambient effect in Hypersonic 2. Glad it worked out!

"When going over to the drums i find that they are lacking body. I would like for the drums to have somewhat more decay or at least to be more wet."

Actually SBB suggested that too when I sent him the song via PM to tell me what he thinks. You're totally right. I'll keep that in mind for future songs.

"Nice transition over to the guitar. The perc really adds to the dramatic effect and makes for a nice (here we go)"

Haha yeah that transition was one of the main things which made me want to continue the song after Echo and I finished the intro.

"Btw i really like those guitar samples. Hypersonic you say!!!? (say wut!)"

Say wut indeed :D. Hypersonic 2 to be exact. It has all sorts of instruments and while they are all synthesized which means quite a few won't sound so realistic, the library is so diverse you won't even care :P.

"You know i love flutes. As do you =) I can hear that�s a panflute by the nice maneuvers. But i would like for the flute to have a wider image. Give it more room. By giving the flutes more room and also adding more wetness to the drums will really boost the ramps and overall ethnic atmosphere. I�m also aware of by doing so, you�ll bring the music alot closer, ruining the idea of using this song as a background."

Yeah, the thing is I wanted to add a high instrument, i.e. a pan flute, to define the melody, but still leave everything mixed together as a background song. I'm no expert at making background music, but I guess your complaints of the sound not being "close" enough are a sign that I did pretty well at making this a background soundtrack, if that makes any sense xD.

"I really like your build-ups. But the one that really catches my ear the most is the one at 2:10 Damn! that�s a nice buildup. Maybe by adding a suppressed cymbal also to that build-up could give it a little more edge?"

Actually I think there is but it's really quiet. I forgot, to be honest. Echo and I made this such a long time ago lol.

And regarding the final paragraph, thanks a lot! I haven't received that much praise since someone called xPeppermintAfternoon reviewed one of my songs :P. But yeah I'm really glad I'm getting such great feedback from someone who I look up to as such an awesome composer.

Thanks for the fantastic review!

[MadnessYo]

Love it!

It's a really refreshing sort of feel good music with a blend what i want to say is trance? and a splash of Kongo-esq melody.

Step responds:

Heh, thank you ^^. At first we tried to make this have a soundtrack feel to it, although with the introduction of the guitar this started having more of an uplifting sound to it.

Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for listening!

[Crystalsky]

Thank you ^_^

You made my day. I really needed to listen to this kind of music, I need to calm down alot, not think too much sometimes it would be good for me to just feel, listen, see. This song is great, in my ears it can´t be better :)

Step responds:

Thanks! This does have quite a calm sound to it, although that's most likely because this was geared to be background music.

I appreciate the review :).

[ilovemuse]

Refreshing and Serene(:

Yea, I can hear the Africaness style, but the Epicness stood out by far!! x]
the drums are amazing but the the violin part is probably the best part! its right there at the back of your mind, really pretty and awesome!! 5/5 and i'll be voting everyday because im going to be listening to it everyday!!
yup, it's New Wave [of awesomeness in epic proportions] great music!

Step responds:

Aw thanks, I really appreciate supportive reviews like this!

I'm quite happy that this is reminding people of Africa. Then again, the congas/bongos are called 'African Djembe' so I guess it's expected.

I was in charge of the drums in this song so thanks for liking them :3. Echo worked on the melody and chord progression.

Anyway, I really appreciate the review and I'm glad you think it's a new wave of awesomeness in epic proportions :D. Thanks again!

[Tzunami]

Calm, Relaxed, Peaceful, Well Placed...

I'd have to agree with the feeling of hearing Toto by Africa. The combination of instruments that you've used in this piece blend very well with each other, after all, anything can mix with anything as long as it's done correctly. There's nothing really too overpowering: "lead" instruments are loud enough without pulling too much from the whole song, the surrounding ambiance from the strings and nylon guitar especially add to mix and give the song it's sound, and the drums stand out on their own level without drowning anything out.

The piece in general is a real soft but powerful melody that really gives you the feeling of being in the plains, a relaxing sound that I haven't experimented with in so long. It's hard to say what someone could consider as"best", so many different reasons and factors can come into play. I can agree with you, stating this is one of your best songs, if not the best, because of the feeling and story-like properties it gives off. All in all a real nice track from you.

~Tzu

Step responds:

Thanks for the review. Very grateful for it ^^.

"I'd have to agree with the feeling of hearing Toto by Africa."

I've never heard of it before actually. I heard it when TheKeyboardGuy mentioned it and it does have a similar feel, it's true lol.

"The combination of instruments that you've used in this piece blend very well with each other, after all, anything can mix with anything as long as it's done correctly."

I very much agree with that. I used to think that only certain instruments match with each other, so if I planned on making a rock song, then you can be certain that I'd refrain from adding any other instruments which aren't in the standard rock genre. Now you see me adding saxophones to techno songs, rhythm/plucked guitars in soundtrack songs and trumpets to rock songs :P. Glad I got out of that mentality.

"There's nothing really too overpowering: "lead" instruments are loud enough without pulling too much from the whole song, the surrounding ambiance from the strings and nylon guitar especially add to mix and give the song it's sound, and the drums stand out on their own level without drowning anything out."

Glad to hear that, especially because after hearing this song on my new (read: better) speakers, I thought the congas and kick drum were too bassey, rough and loud. Unfortunately I can't fix anything in this song though because as luck has it, I lost the project file when my computer died...

"The piece in general is a real soft but powerful melody that really gives you the feeling of being in the plains, a relaxing sound that I haven't experimented with in so long."

That's exactly what we were going for!

"It's hard to say what someone could consider as"best", so many different reasons and factors can come into play. I can agree with you, stating this is one of your best songs, if not the best, because of the feeling and story-like properties it gives off."

Personally I'm mostly proud of the blend of the instruments. This is the only song of mine so far which makes use of a steel (rhythm) guitar and it probably has my most original instrumentation. That and I got my ego boosted by a lot of my friends hearing the song and liking it :P.

"All in all a real nice track from you."

Thanks man. I really appreciate the detailed review!