derekd234's Reviews

[The Facebook Problem]

Ironic...

I thought it was a great short. Although it made no sense to me as to why the fuzz is interested in a dying man when the guy that ran him over is in a lake, It kinda added to the hilarity. Keep in mind that the cop slogan is to protect and serve ;D

It's kinda ironic because just a week ago I was skateboarding across the street and almost got slammed by a car. The great thing is that I had the right of way (the pedestrian light was obviously on) and he ran right through, just barely nicking my jeans with his front left side. He just rolled on by as if nothing happened, and I was 'hit' with enough force for me to lose balance. The great thing is that he was texting. Needless to say, texting and driving is illegal by now. Later, I figure out it was my best friend updating his Facebook status, saying "I wonder if I'll ever run into Derek.. we haven't talked in a while"

Thanks a lot, cheese head.

It was a good memory though, just because of the irony. Don't ask me why, but afterwards I started laughing.. I was one of his status subscribers, so I almost immediately saw the irony.

[The Nut Job (part 1)]

It's hamstergeddon all over again...

I loved this short. It was cute, and no words were needed to convey the message. Pantomime is hard enough in real life, but to pantomime in flash is plain ridiculous. I thoroughly enjoyed the short, and loved the Invader Zim in-joke. Good job! :D

[Head Down (NiN Remix)]

Very great job!

COOL:
-The over all sound. It keeps the feel of NiN's ambient style, but gives it a different taste.
-Great tranitions. Although the beginning may need some rework, they were nicely done.
-Very interesting. It had me hooked from the beginning to the end.
-Awesome remix. It's very well done, and is a great example of mastery of one's creative abilities.

NOT SO AWESOME:
-The Tambourine. It's a bit too loud.
-The Piano. It should be brought out a bit more, and be a bit less supportive of the vocals.
-The echo. In some parts it's great, but it seems to get in the way more often than not.
-The vocals at 2:15 seem waay out of tune. Way tooo sharp. I would take an auto-tuner to it and make it a semitone flatter. It sticks out bad, and almost ruins the mood of the song.

OVERVIEW:
It's a great song that has captured the essence of ambient music. It took a long time and lots of effort, and it shows very well in this song. Although some things could be fixed in a rework, it's nothing incredulously hard to do. Keep up the great work, I would love to see more in the future, maybe try "The Mark Has Been Made" by Nine Inch Nails. Although there aren't vocals, I would like to see a remix or "cover" of sorts. It would be a great sound to hear.

JMcGoran responds:

Thanks for the input! Some really cool ideas there :) As for the vocals going out of tune, I did think about shifting it up, but the feel I was going for in both arranging and mixing was ambient, but with a good helping of awkward, as if something isn't quite right when you listen to it. So I kept it in and added the same note on piano to emphasis it. The main criticism of this piece seems to be that piano (or any instrument) mirroring the main vocal/melody isn't the way to go, so I shall remember that for the future! Thanks again!

[Misplaced Confidence]

TRUCK MUSIC, YEAH!

Not even kidding, this is like a mash up of various styles into one, like the story of my life :/

This is definitely something I will blast my truck speakers to. CRUISER'S SALUTE! :D

[Arcade Theme]

Wooo, happy dance tiem!!

This totally turned my crappy day upside down. It's totally cheery and happy, and bound to put you out of your misery one way or the other. I find it extremely catchy, and it's almost something I'd play super loud in my truck! Great work, keep it up!