Jay-Turner's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Argentinean Memories]

Great! I enjoyed reading the description as I listened to the music. The music really does help tell a story. I must say I love the Argentinean Memory no.2. Everything goes so well together, from the piano, to the accordian and strings, it is so fluid!

SoundChris responds:

Thanks a lot Jay-Turner! We really had a good time when composing this piece. But to be honest: The editing almost killed us :D

[The Sorcerers Path]

Wow this is absolutely fantastic, I am blown away. This is certainly an inspiration, I've always wanted to be able to do an orchestral piece in this way (albeit I'm lacking in woodwind VSTs!). The dynamics are incredible, all of the different sections bouncing off of eachother - it is so colourful. The brass sounds is great, I love that 'John Williams-esque' staccato brass, and I love the strings. Also I enjoyed the slightly atonal note (I think its the root note flatted?) at about 30 seconds. Very impressive!

I'm going to have to explore more of your works :D

SoundChris responds:

Hey there, thanks a lot Jay-Turner for your kind words. I am still far from being good in orchestration but i always try to learn to get a more realistic and convincing sound. I was heavily inspired by danny elfman here - spiderman and sleepy hollow - both are awesome soundtracks IMO. You can learn a lot about orchestral cinematic pieces if you analyze scores of pros. So if you could find something in the web - use it. Its extremely helpful. I would first try to understand how you create realistic textures within the string section, learn how the instruments interact and also how the different articulations are used in reality. Thats something the most composers out there dont take that serious as they should. After that try to bring in brass to accentuate some parts. Celli and french horn are very epic. Percussion and woodwinds come after that - besides the piccolo flute. I only use it in my compositions after i have written all the other stuff so i can see where i needed some counterpart to very low passages to fill the sound spectre. These are just things i do while composing myself and i dont know what pros do. Nevertheless - if you needed some advise or anything feel free to PM me whenever you want.

Peace :D

[The Shaman Transcends]

Wow! I am really impressed that you recorded all of this yourself, it's incredible. This is anything but dull and the quality is amazing!

samulis responds:

Thanks man. :)

I hope to put up more of my recording stuff eventually. It's a lot of fun and a good break from traditional composing.

[Final Directive]

I love that biting bassy synth, I can't fault it save for maybe having a bit more variation, although I can tell you vary the main melody as the piece progresses. :) Great work!

Chemiqals responds:

Glad you like it! ^_^

[Dragonic Breath]

Really good! I really enjoy how the song progresses through it's stages and your guitar playing is top notch! It also has an almost nostalgic feel about it with the keyboards which is a really great dimension :)

DanJohansen responds:

Thank man, appreciate the kind words :)

[[IV]Kalon]

This is very nice, it makes me feel like it's the aftermath of a tragedy in a movie. It certainly paints a picture with sound. I like the crescendo at 1:30 with the timpani. I think it would be interesting if you used counter-melodies on the main melody as the piece progresses with other instruments perhaps to add variation. Anyway, great work! :)

IglicaV responds:

Thanks a lot! I'll work on counter-melodies in my next song probably :)

[Fleeting Forest Lights]

I really like the sound of your synths here, it's a very relaxing piece which suits the imagary. I also like how it flows from section to section. I think an additional dynamic could be added with a bass layer (that could be used on and off), but I don't think it sounds bad without it. Good job, it has a nice almost nostalgic feeling about it which is warming.

Krichotomy responds:

Thank you. I do have a habit of ignoring bass, probably because I do most of my listening and mixing with cheap earbuds that cut out the lower bass.

[Forest under the Stars]

This piece is really impressive! It has such a flowing essence about it, it is very beautiful. There's so much colour in the music, and so many dynamic edges to it. The music matches the artwork and conveys the notion of adventure and discovery.

MrBellington responds:

Thanks for the compliments. I really wanted to do justice the artwork because it really is such a wonderful piece and I feel like any compliment I get for this track should almost be deflected there, because it was such an inspiration.

The 'flowing essence' you mention, well, hah, I think at the moment we're kind of in a time where, when it comes to cinematic music, the faux-Zimmer 'power' sound is prominent and very much in vogue. And there's examples of that in this contest, a couple of pretty good ones too! But I wanted to do something I guess, I wouldn't say more traditional, but more, well in the spirit of the 'natural' sound an orchestra produces. Less about repeated figures, booming bass, rock percs and strong minor key whole note horn lines, and more 'dynamic' writing, trying to write some meaty parts for each instrument to get stuck into. I love the orchestra, I love each instrument, so I try and treat it like I'm writing for real musicians, that I want to give them something worth playing. I want to be able to listen back to the section stems, and say 'yeah those woodwinds actually have something worth doing, I haven't just written rubbish'!

I think sometimes with modern cinematic music, particularly among amateurs/semi-pros, we can be a little guilty of forgetting the honest emotions that music is meant to represent and bring out of us. Well at least I have been at times! And the artwork was so great, because unlike a lot of modern views of the future, it wasn't cynical, it wasn't grim, it wasn't dystopian. And that really made me want to write something honest, the honest feelings that I got by placing myself in the art, the awe, the sense of uncertainty, the loneliness, all of that, rather than something more cynical or 'post-modern'. I hope I was able to do that. I'm glad you enjoyed it and thanks a lot for your thoughts!

[The Nightingale Order]

I think musically this is great and I like your use of percussion. I think my criticism would be the lack of dynamics, but I know that is due to a lack of time. I would love to hear if you did an updated version of the same piece!

LunyAlex responds:

Thank you! I probably won't make it in time for the competition but I'll keep improving the song anyway.

[EpicScape - Amun Ra]

I really like your use of percussion in this, and I feel you have accurately captured the 'desert' atmosphere whilst gradually building up on a repetitive base, but without letting it become boring. Good job!

SteveSyz responds:

Thank you Jay-Turner, I'm glad you liked it! :D