paradiddlesjosh's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[SSJ3 - OWA Sephiroth ver 2]

IDEA THEFT WAR TIME! :D (oh, and great mix, too)

I'm going to be plainly honest: Your mix beats the everloving shit out of S-E-P-H-I-R-O-T-H!: Perfect. I'm not ashamed to say it. You took a relic remix and souped it up. Frankly, I'm impressed. There's nothing I dislike about this at all.

However, some of the better add-ons, such as moving to the "verse" pattern one more time before the "breakdown" pattern, I'm going to to borrow for the SE. I'll give them back when I'm done. :3

In all seriousness, this mix builds upon S-E-P-H-I-R-O-T-H!: Perfect and improves upon my own methods. I suppose all it took was a fresh mind. Keep up the good work, and hopefully I'll have the SE out before you remix my work again. :D
~Joshy676

Shiverwar responds:

To be quite honest, I still think your mix was better. XD I still feel something was missing here, but oh well. If I find that something is missing, then I'll edit it and resubmit, for the third time.

I liked that too. However, I forgot to put something in there for the part where "sors immanis, et inanis" usually comes in. Ah well, better to be faithful than to completely steal the part... well, the drumbeat was my own, so nevermind about that. Doing that by ear was a bit of a pain. <.<

Your review brightened my day already, Josh. Hell, I don't think my upcoming FFVIII and FFIX renditions are gonna be NEAR as good as your submissions. Who knows? I might just surprise you with another remix before you release SE. :3 Once again, thank you for your really awesome review, as always.
--Shawn (AKA SJ3-Goku4567)--

[SSJ3 - LTTP Light World]

Neat.

I have to agree with Metaljonus on this one. The percussion could use some work; the electronic pattern doesn't mesh well with the piece. Overall, though, it's great work from you.

-Joshy676

Shiverwar responds:

Lol I agreed with the percussion part as well, Josh. However, I just wasn't in a very good state of mind, so... XDD
Anyways, thanks for the review. :3

[SSJ3 - MHS Rally Fight Song]

Erm... Interesting, I suppose.

This isn't your fault, but I personally dislike fight songs. I dislike their structure, I dislike their purpose, and I dislike the fact that they're always in major keys.

That said, you've done quite a job here if it was all done by ear. I like your choices percussively (especially that gong again! ^_^) and your instruments balance well.

Thanks for asking me to check it out, though. Good to know you're still workin' on stuff.

~Joshy676
P.S.: Thanks for your review on Thought-Holding Hearts.

Shiverwar responds:

Ehh, I really had no idea a to WHY I was remaking this in the first place... Oh well.

The gong was awesome to work with. I blame my school for blaring this damn song over the intercom every hour on the 28th...

And thank you for your always helpful criticism. Of course I'm working on stuff. But sometimes I have no idea what I want to do.

P.S.: Hey, no problem. I always like your work, and that calming song from FF was awesome. But it makes me want to play Dissidia more.

[Ssj3 - Ffvii Battle Remake Ii]

JESUS! [turns speakers down]

This is why I should really wait until morning to write reviews on Audio Portal stuff -- I nearly deafened myself using headphones!

Anyway, a good Compressor setting will work wonders for the sound level (of course, turning the master volume slider down a notch before rendering the .mp3 works for a coarse fix). I like the instrument selection this time around, though. Much more varied than most Battle theme remixes. The rhythm section reminds me of the boss theme from FFVIII (I believe it's called "Don't Be Afraid"..?), but that's because that 1--and-a-2--and-a-3--and-a4--and-a rhythm seems to be just as much a Nobuo Uematsu staple as the two-note bass lead-in for most of the battle themes. Hey, is that the gong from the SGM soundfont? Sweet, if so.

Anyway, to sum it up: Rough around the edges, but well done nonetheless. 4/5 and 9/10.
~Joshy676

P.S.: Still working on S-E-P-H-I-R-O-T-H! Perfect SE.

Shiverwar responds:

Haha. XD Sorry about that. It's one of my best remakes of this song, if not THE best. Sorry for it being so loud, but I wanted a more powerful feel to it.

Thanks for the compliment on my setting of instruments. And no, the FFVII Boss Song is called "Force Your Way". But I am also working on Don't Be Afraid, which is the NORMAL FFVIII battle theme. I'm also trying to work on Jenova Absolute in this same way, but I'll be sure to lower the volume on both. Hehe. And the gong I have is from the roland_orchestral_rhythm soundfont. I'm going to try to find the SGM soundfont, though, to see what it has.

Anyways, thanks for your review and you always constructive criticism. It's what keeps me going and drives me to do this.

P.S.: Sweet. I shall wait patiently for the finished product. Your work has been great so far, and I look forward to Sephy SE.

[SSJ3-Goku4567 - FF7 Boss Theme]

Not bad, kid.

The notes sound fine, with the exception of the synth at 1:03-1:05. Check that run again.

Your drum parts are good, once again. :D

Again, though, if you want to do guitar parts, let me know. I might be able to get something recorded for you (since both my brothers are guitarists, and one just moved back in after being in a band for 5 years).

Shiverwar responds:

Heh, I did the best I could.

Thanks again on the drum parts. :D

Nice. I'm a guitarist, yet I fail at recording. XDD

[Ssj3-goku4567 - J-e-n-o-v-a]

Rockin'

I like it. I never heard the Black Mages arrangement (though now I think I'm going to go and get me some Black Mages stuff now), so this was new to me.

Diggin' the part assortment nonetheless.

Anyhoo, I'm inclined to agree on the guitars thing. Then again, you're pretty limited on options if soundfonts are your only choice. Let me know next time you need a guitar part -- I might be able to hook you up. ;)

Good job, kid.

Shiverwar responds:

Sweeet. Thanks again for the reviews! Love all of them!

[Fruityloops4: Sephiroth!]

You did fine, kid!

I like it. I like it quite a bit.

Pros:
-Some of your drum pattern choices were better than mine -- they meshed well in your arrangement in a way mind tended to miss.
-Notes were on the mark, from what I heard -- and I know you didn't use a .mid version of my arrangement, because mine's long gone! :D
-Faithful yet original. Just what I like.

Cons:
-No bass. I recommend looking for Bass Fingered (SC88) across the web for a nice fingered bass sound, or look around for the Bass Serrano Arial ProII Fretless Slap 01 JS (3,432KB) soundfont for a variety of different bass sounds.
-The vocal choir track (particularly "Veni veni venias") clips off at the end at one or two points. I PMed you about them already, though, so no big.

Very nice job, SSJ3.

Shiverwar responds:

Your reviews always keep me going, Josh! Your version is still far better. And as for the bass, I'll look for it. I forgot what soundfonts I used, but one of them was a heavy metal drum set, and a single soundfont was used a multitude of times to get the sounds, because like the FF7 soundfont, it was a collection of different sounds, and the FF7 soundfont itself was used.

As for the "Veni veni venias", I heard it kind of cut off in the original "One Winged Angel", so that's what I went by.

Thank you very much for your review and constructive criticism. I did my best to make you proud, and I think I may have done that. :D As for you, Josh, keep up the good work!

[Jenova's Theme Metal FF7]

Freakin' sweet!

The only reason I can't rate this a 10 out of 10 is because I'm biased towards my own marching arrangement. However, you rocked the house on this one. I love the delay guitar and how you transposed the melody down an octave or three (:D).

My only critique, however, is that the drums were too simplistic (though moving the timpani part to the toms was a good move). Anyway, excellent job, my messiah. :)

speedmetalmessiah responds:

Sweet, someone noticed the timpani part on the toms. I would have spiced the drums up a bit more if I had the time, but I barely got everything recorded and mixed in time with this version. I'll give you marching arrangement a listen in a bit.

[SSJ3-Goku4567 - Intensified]

Sweet!

I like it.

Shiverwar responds:

Short and simple, Josh. Just the way I like reviews! Thanks man!

[Serenade of Water - GPCD]

The other version's better.

I had to say it. :)

Shiverwar responds:

Completely agree.