SkyeWint's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[-The wanderer-]

Final round! Here you are, here is your review, here is your song, at the end of the road! Does it succeed?

The Good:
-That's a really nice intro, though it's a tad slow.
-I like the unique little melodies throughout it, they work together with the instruments to create a really cool atmosphere.
-That effect at 2:19. It sounds almost like a rain stick. Really nice.
-Nice change in chording after the shift at about 2:12.
-Mixing's great, as usual.
-Your transitions were fine, and you fooled me with the outro at first - made me think it was a normal fadeout... but then it wasn't!

The Not-So-Good:
-Unfortunately, at about the 2 minute mark, it gets a bit repetitive - you've been using the same melody for a long time. I'm glad you changed it up after that, but still.
-Would have liked more of a tune throughout 2:58-422. While initially the chords are fine, it really needs a stronger melody afterwards.
-With a song this long, it really needs a change in the constant 4/4-ness. There are other time signatures, like 3/4 or 7/8, or if you want to get funky, do something like 5/4 or 11/8, or even 15/16!
-Feels like you always have something playing on each beat. Not the best thing for an entire song.
-Alright, by the 6-minute mark, it's definitely feeling very repetitive - this is partially due to the constant note on each beat, but also due to your tendency to hold onto a single tune for too long - it also seems to get a bit 'meandering', I'd have liked it if you kept a bit more of a constant tune so I had something more to recognize other than just instruments/percussion.

Overall: Wow, you REALLY went away from your usual style on this one. ...and made it 8 minutes long to boot. I'm impressed - you have successfully tried out a new style. Good work! 8.5/10

[GT- The World is Blind]

Bloop! This sounds pretty darn cool. I wonder why it's called The World is Blind. There's a lot of meaning that could be taken from it.

The Good:
-I love all the effects and pads you have throughout this, they really create a massive and immersive atmosphere. (yeah I'm being lazy and saying that as a blanket statement rather than being specific)
-Like the distortion on the drumset coming in at 1:45. It sounds very cool.
-Oh my gosh that guitar at 2:05. RHYTHM GUITAR YES. I approve of this.
-Choirs at about 3:20. Very nice. The synth coming in after that sounds pretty good as well.
-I like the break for the voice at 4:22.

The Not-So-Good:
-It's a bit difficult to hear the drums coming in at 0:46, they're WAAAAAAY in the background.
-The way it transitions at around 1:15 seems a bit awkward, the electronic effects don't meld well. It sounds a lot more like you spliced two ideas for tracks together.
-Actually, most of the transitions are fairly awkward/sudden, as if you didn't quite know what to do to make it smooth.
-The instrument coming in at around 1:54 sounds off-key compared to what came before it.
-Not sure about the hip-hop beat at around 3:32 or the dubsteppy bit starting at 3:37.
-The dubsteppy bit gets a bit overly repetitive.
-Also about 4:22, I think it would have been nice to work that into the song by gradually bringing the music in behind it. As it is, the music kinda just suddenly jumps back in with another awkward transition.
-The outro sounds pretty much like you didn't know how to end it so you decided just to give one big chord and end.

Overall: This is pretty nice - The production value is pretty much top-notch. Unfortunately, I feel as if you focused too much on the production and let the composition fall by the wayside. Remember, both of them are important! Transitions are particularly one of my favorite aspects of music, so that was fairly disappointing to hear. :(

-Swint

[-Clutterfunk-]

Round 4 gooooooooooooo! Not gonna be easy here! Also, clutterfunk what. (Yep, since you got here you get custom introductory messages to my reviews! Yaaaaay.)

The Good:
-That is a TON of effects in the beginning. They're all pretty unique and cool. Actually, there are a lot of cool effects throughout the entire song.
-That is a niiiiiice break at around 1:45.
-I love the synths coming in after 2:00, particularly when the guitar starts. I love rhythm guitar. Love staccato woodwinds as well, to tell the truth.
-Even while this is *such* a Waterflame-sounding song, it's very different from your previous two songs (which were very typical-sounding for you), so credit given for that!
-That was one sweet outro. WAY better than the ones in your other NGADM songs. :D

The Not-So-Good:
-I personally didn't really like the soundfonty sax sound doing low staccato.
-It seems like almost all of this is harmony and effects. Man, I feel almost guilty saying this since I've said it so much and I don't want to be repeating myself, but there needs to be more melodic development. :( Last round had a ton of melodic development, but not enough of the other stuff you put in. This round it seems to be the reverse.
-The beats don't really change much throughout the whole song, and so toward the end it was getting fairly boring. Fortunately, the unique synths made it a LOT cooler than your last two songs IMO, so I like that a lot. :)
-Don't like the snare that comes in before about 0:28.
-It seems like you kinda forgot about a lot of the melodies you used in this. Like the melody with the soundfonty sax thing. ...actually, almost the entire first two minutes.
-Occasionally rhythms seem to be slightly off.

Overall: This is a unique what the heck awesomesauce song which is just off the wall in so many ways that it's insane. I love it. The main ways I think it could be better is that the melodies are brought back from other sections a bit more since as it is it seems like you forget about things you had done before, and changing up the beat sometimes... please? xD I'm gonna give this a 9/10 though, because it's not repetitive like your round 1 song AND has a lot of cool sounds in it unlike your previous two songs.

[Mio/Homura]

Round 4! WoooooooohooooooooooOooOoooOOOOoooo! Yeah okay, enough sillyness. (Also, yep, since you got here you get custom introductory messages to my reviews! Yaaaaay.)

The Good:
-That is a GREAT intro. It really fits well.
-The water sounds are very nice.
-I like the feeling of a 'chant' in the background from your voices.
-The percussion in this is great.
-The recording quality is MUCH better in this. It improves the sound of your voice by a large amount, as I'm sure you noticed.
-I like the way you used the bells. It was very skillfull usage.
-I loved the staccato strings at 4:00-4:30.
-The outro was nice, but... well, I'll

The Not-So-Good:
-Initially the synth you used in the intro seems off-key, but this isn't as much of a problem.
-At around 1:10, your voice sounds like you're straining a lot for the high notes. Similar things happen in various other areas throughout the song. I feel like you're experimenting with your voice. This is good, but some of the experiments didn't turn out that well. I am *guessing*, however, that
-The mixing kinda falls apart at around 1:20 with the bass frequencies of the drum and bass, try cutting back the bass frequencies a little bit. At around 2 minutes in, the cymbal roll has a 'shaky' feeling from this.
-When things come back in at 2:38, it's a tad sudden. The voices come in a bit suddenly at other times. I also noticed that they're a bit too much in the foreground, which is causing clipping and distortion - try compressing it a bit or equalizing a bit more.
-...uh, it sounds like you kinda forgot about the last minute and a half in this song. The outro was great, then you just kinda let it sit there for an entire minute and a half. Misleading song length much? :P
-2:00-2:38 is rather long-winded and boring. You could have improved that transition by a TON. :(

Overall: This is REALLY nice. I'm not going to poke at the overall compositional format as much because you stated the form of it already. I think that this is an amazing piece of work, and you've improved *so* much over the course of this competition, but I think that you still have a ton of room for improvement. :( Gonna have to give this a 8.8/10.

[Fly me to Blue]

Round 4! Wooooo! I have to say, you rose back up to what you were displaying in round 1 and went past it. That's great! ^_^ Also yay you get custom intro message to my review for getting to round 4.

The Good:
-There is literally almost nothing about this that ISN'T pleasing to the ear. It has a great little groove, all the instruments fit together well, and the jazzy chords are really really sweet.
-I love the parts that camoshark and his friends added in.
-The little organ delays at 1:15-1:27 are very tasty.
-Mix is almost perfect, there is juuuuuust one little thing I'd like to comment on there.
-The lyrics are cute. c:
-YOU FIXED YOUR TRANSITIONS. OMG THANK YOU. x.x

The Not-So-Good:
-Here, I'll get the tiny mixing quibble out of the way first. I think the kick drum could have used a tiny bit more bass so that it could be more of a "base" sound (pun not intended).
-Some of the synths at about the very middle sound a bit awkward.
-While the transitions are great (including intro and outro), they can get a liiiiittle bit long. To tell the truth, a lot of the sections just sit there. The 2:15 long guitar solo section is one example of this. The intro is another. On the plus side, the syncopation keeps it interesting enough.
-Y u no brass moar? D:

Overall: I really have nothing more I could comment on aside from giving more and more compliments, so I'm just gonna say that this is getting a 9.85 from me (couldn't decide between 9.8 and 9.9). I think that'll be the highest score I'll give out in the entire NGADM, so. Yeah. Great work!

Kor-Rune responds:

Wow! Thanks for the review! I appreciate the high score!

That's actually a guitar with a pitch shifter as opposed to an organ ;3 its so quiet though so yeah.

You's right about the kick drum. Wanted to get a little more bass boom but scrambled just to mix some things before the deadline XD

Yeah, we call those FILLER SYNTHS with FILLER FILTERS there in the middle. totally ran out of ideas LOL

No moar brass cause I was slow with getting the track to camoshark :C

ANYWAY THANKS FOR THE REVIEW!

[In Remembrance]

Round 4! Woooooo! Okay, so this is some really nice slow classical. Here's your review! (Also yeah everyone's getting a custom message 'cause they reached round 4)

The Good:
-I really like the introduction to this. It's very sad, and has some nice chords.
-Nothing wrong with the mixing that I can hear.
-The second section sounds very nice, I can hear the emotion in the tunes.
-WATERPHONES. Also wind. I love those little effects.
-The overall composition has an ebb and flow, and I can hear that you put a lot of effort into it.

The Not-So-Good:
-Unfortunately, I also don't like the introduction, it could use a bit more than just the string chords - something to keep attention more strongly would have been good.
-Your string sounds could use a bit more realism. While they sound very nice, if you could have changed the articulations on them a bit more, it would have made them more strong.
-Some of the instruments are silent in areas, making it difficult to hear the intricacy.
-Same issue with the outro that I had in the intro, and also the transition at 4:41-4:43. >:( NU. BAD.
-Unfortunately about the composition I do also have to agree with Jiimaan, it does also sound like you're taking multiple ideas and stitching them together.

Overall: This is really nice, I don't have too much to say. It sounds good. Some errors with a lot of stuff, but it's solid. I give it a 9.3/10.

BlazingDragon responds:

YES! So glad you recognized the waterphones! I love those things to death. :)

Thanks for the constructive criticisms and high score. Much appreciated, they are!

[KKS - Tapping on my Desk]

Tap... tap... tap... Yeah okay I'm really sorry for not reviewing this, man. :< I'll try to be more on top of this next time.

The Good:
-That is a really really nice introduction. I like the wind noises in the background, they go along well with the tapping and clicking.
-The instrument you introduce at around 0:20 which slides all over the place is sweeeet.
-The plethora of interesting effects you used are really really cool, they really *make* the song. I particularly like the one at 0:48.
-0:50-1:27 has some of the best pad-age I've heard in most songs, I'd love to know what you used to make it, or where you got that.
-3:04, oh my gosh. That was an awesome transition to awesomeness. It just bursts into awesome like a boss with that really cool breath effect.
-
-For some reason, at 1:20 the entire song paused for a measure and made a little sound like a snare roll. This has no relevance to anything the actual song did, but I thought I should say it because it was cool, maybe you could add it. :P

The Not-So-Good:
-Unfortunately, the synth coming in at 0:30 is a tad off-key. At the same time, it seems to be in the right key though. It's a tad weird. However, the main thing it clashes with is the little slidey synth.
-At around 1:13-1:14, the drums get a bit too much in the high register, and it gets a bit painful to listen to.
-Occasionally some of the instruments get buried in the mix, though I can hear that this'd be a tricky song to mix if only because of all the effects you used. Granted, this could be intentional to have some instruments take a major background role, I don't know.
-My body didn't move with the track! D: Is this a bad thing?
-Unfortunately, it's blatantly obvious that you used patterns/boxes/repeated measures/whatever the hell you want to call them. I'd suggest trying to use either more patterns or just one or two so that you can make it less repetitive. The entire song isn't exactly really repetitive as it is, but it could use a bit more variation overall - I've noticed this with some of your other songs. It's a difficult habit to break out of, but I know that you're very good at music and I trust that you can achieve it if you try. :)

Overall: Experiment success. All the funky instruments and sound effects REALLY make the track what it is. I'm not sure it'd be nearly as interesting with normal instruments, but as it is, it's almost absurdly cool.

-Swint-
-Review Request Club-

KKSlider60 responds:

Thank you for your exhaustive review, as it was a nice read all along. :)

Some synths and instruments are literally thought in my mind as being part of the background ambiance, while others make up... well, the leads and the "front row" so to speak. It was an interesting review because I knew that repetitiveness and patterns were somehow involved in your perception of the piece as a whole. No, I'm not in the position of making social experiments all of a sudden, but I somewhat predicted your outcome. :) And I'll explain why. Those are concepts I like to challenge once in a while, see how they affect people, how much the very notion of "repetitiveness" and "patterns" influence their own lives to the point it's natural for them to "see them everywhere". I deliberately used them as part of the whole "experiment", involving not only unconventional structures and unpredictable instruments, but also something else deep down everybody's subconscious - what we usually don't think of in everyday life. Needless to say, somebody expected some sequences to be repeated or changed in a set time, others were totally amazed of what I did, some others complained it was "too changing" and it "didn't have a melody".

TL;DR
I'd love to discuss with you via PM (or some other ways) how some simple concepts can condition our very thoughts in any action we perform or see with our own eyes. I'm no psychologist, mind you, but it's an intriguing matter indeed.

Again, thank you for your time and support. I'm glad you enjoyed my other works as well :3
KKS

[-Above It All-(Feat. BMI)]

Review #2!

The Good:
-Intro's nice, I like all the work in the crash cymbals.
-Come to think of it, the drums sound pretty good throughout.
-Guitar sounds really nice, good work. I particularly like the little riffs where it solos.
-The transitions all work, and even though you said that you're not very good at transitions, none of them sound out-of-place.

The Not-So-Good:
-The vocals, unfortunately, don't sound very good IMO. This is mainly because I think they could have been brought out a bit more. As it is, they sound pushed back to the middle of the mix - that along with whatever filter you put on them makes them sound a bit like the vocals are coming over a radio but nothing else is.
-The drums can get a little bit buried in the mix, particularly the tom rolls.
-I'm not sure what the screamy growl sound is behind the 'chorus'. It sounds a bit awkward.
-I would have made the drums be more than pattern-based.
-Outro could have been better, though what it is currently certainly isn't bad. Same for the intro, which is just a little bit sudden.

Overall: This is pretty good. It's a tad typical-sounding, but it is well-done. I did find myself enjoying it quite a bit.

-Swint-

Back-From-Purgatory responds:

I actually had no hand in the vocals, that was all Bad-Man-Incorporated, I just provided the music.
Although I did do the drums, and I've been working on making my drums have a bit more of a live played type feel to them every time I write a new song, getting away from the pattern based sound.

And I agree, my solo sucked. ;D

Glad you liked it!

[-Angel Fall-]

Review #1. This totally doesn't use a bunch of patterns.

The Good:
-I like the chord progression - it wasn't what I was expecting at first.
-The guitar sounds pretty nice, even if it was recorded in FL.
-Most of the synths are pretty meaty and sound pretty cool.
-I like the drum break at 1:43-1:45.
-The two guitars playing the same thing at 2:17 and onward sounds pretty sweet.

The Not-So-Good:
-Intro could have been a little more appealing - more gradual or having a bit more of a rise before the arpeggios.
-I am not a fan of the drum samples you used at all. The kick and hi-hats aren't so bad, but the snare in particular sounds VERY low-quality.
-Here's my main beef with it: This is REALLY repetitive. There's very little change throughout, partially because the chords continue on in the entire thing without changing, except at 2:17. I'll get to that in a minute.
-Pretty much all the transitions except the one at 1:43-1:45 could use a serious overhaul and some more buildup so people feel something coming. The way they are set up, it's sudden without any particular reason for them to be. Try some filter sweeps or gradual fadeouts, quick drum breaks, reversed sounds, there are a LOT of tools that you can use. The transition at 2:17 is particularly awkward, though what it changes to sounds great.
-The bass seems to be causing a few mixing issues with the drums. Try taking off some of the low end of the high hats and possibly the snare, and EQ the bass/kick to use separate frequency zones. That or just have the bass back off a little bit with the edits to the high hats and snare.
-The outro is much better than the rest of the transitions and the intro, but it's still a tad sudden and boring.

Overall: This is alright - it's fairly well-made, and the guitar is nice. I would say that the repetition and the overall poor transitions were the things that hurt it the most though.

-Swint-

Back-From-Purgatory responds:

First try mixing up guitar with trance, bound to be issues, unfortunately, will improve, make you proud!

[Ecosystem]

Hallo thar Step! Allow me to return your favor that did NOT happen.

The Good: There is too much good about this to fit in the character limit, so I'm going to try to get through these quickly and get to things I think could be improved.
-That intro is awesome, though I think I already told you that.
-Staccato woodwinds are surprisingly awesome, I really really liked them.
-That guitar has a really tasty sound to it, it's making me consider getting Ra again.
-Your main melodies are sweeeet.
-I particularly like the mallets, and the way they're used. Of course, I do play mallets, so I suppose I'd be a bit biased about that, but... the reverb on them is REALLY cool.
-The overall rise and fall of this song is very nicely done, as is the combination of the different melodies. The other small rises and falls within the overall action make it more entertaining to listen to.
-I personally really like how the overall sound just slowly goes down kinda like it opened up with. It's very satisfying to my ears.
-Mixing is clean, sweet, and pretty. I am very pleased with it.
-Gotta agree with Buoy, that little flutter at 2:52 is SO nice.

The Not-So-Good: It has to come sooner or later. I'm going to be nitpicking to an insane point here, so sorry in advance.
-As much as I really like the arpeggio at around 1:02, it REALLY does need some 'mouse-fucking' done to it to change the velocities and definitely the timing of the notes.
-At around 1:20-1:22, the strings sound obviously faked. The extremely quick, seemingly-staccato diminuendo right before the equally quick staccato could have been done a bit better. It's mainly the staccato-like diminuendo that's the problem, so what I'd do is lessen the volume right before it does down rather than building it up immediately prior to letting it go.
-This is more of an optional thing. I personally think the syncopation at 1:10-1:13 is slightly offputting, and since this is all about harmony, making things offputting is not the best. Rhythm can be 'dissonant', in a way, just like harmony.
-I can only think of one way to improve the guitar, and that is this: Slide notes every once in awhile.
-I like the little ritardando at 2:42-2:45. However, here's a little tip - make it slightly more pronounced. That will make it easier for the people without a musician's ear to be able to hear it better without going "wait why did the groove go all weird here".
-The last iteration of the melody at 3:03-3:24 deserves more than a few very small variations. Try adding a rainstick with delay on it in the background instead of the shaker (or with the shaker turned down). Also try perhaps shifting instruments from the foreground to the background and back, giving each one a little feature. As in: The flute has the main melody initially, but then push that to the background and bring out the mallets, then push that back and bring out the percussion, keeping the end of that little bit the same.

Overall: Wow, I love this. Downloaded, faved, 5'd, and here's that review I promised. Yeah tons of nitpicky stuff. Anyway, I'm off to tell Captain Planet who should make his new theme song.

-Your Mr. Friend from the RRC, Skye-

Step responds:

"Hallo thar Step! Allow me to return your favor that did NOT happen."

Ohoho I see what you did there :3. Thanks for reviewing man!

"-That intro is awesome"

Sweet! I'm not usually very good at intros, or at least I don't think I am. I guess I got lucky!

"Staccato woodwinds are surprisingly awesome"

I love staccato woodwinds. And woodwinds in general. Of course I still prefer strings (because strings are so much more dynamic and powerful) and piano remains my favourite instrument, but yeah, those woodwinds are awesome! Flute and bassoon are my two favourites from the woodwind family.

"That guitar has a really tasty sound to it"

Yeah! It's the Washburn guitar; my favourite ever guitar sample ever. I love it and I'm so glad Ra includes it. Blackhole12 says it's too mono but my deaf ear is like "I BEG TO DIFFER" so yeah.

"Your main melodies are sweeeet."

Thank you :3.

"I particularly like the mallets"

This is actually one of my first times using mallets so much (before I just included little sections with them).

"The overall rise and fall of this song is very nicely done"

Yeah, rises and falls are awesome. I include them in like all of my orchestral songs now.

"I personally really like how the overall sound just slowly goes down kinda like it opened up with. It's very satisfying to my ears."

That's great to hear! Buoy seems to disagree but since you like it then it's probably moot and not worth changing haha.

"Mixing is clean, sweet, and pretty. I am very pleased with it."

Woo!

"that little flutter at 2:52 is SO nice."

Yeah I have to add more of that stuff in my next version of this. Details, details, details.

"As much as I really like the arpeggio at around 1:02, it REALLY does need some 'mouse-fucking' done to it "

I totally agree. I'll work on that! A pretty minor issue so it shouldn't take long.

"At around 1:20-1:22, the strings sound obviously faked."

Hm, what do you mean about the diminuendo? There's a quick crescendo there but no diminuendo... I think! Although yeah they do sound fake :3.

"I personally think the syncopation at 1:10-1:13 is slightly offputting"

Heh alright! I'll see if I can change that!

"Slide notes every once in awhile."

I did slide them a little in the guitar solo... well, sorta slide them. I wish I could slide them more but it's SO hard to make them sound realistic since Ra doesn't have a sliding articulation for this guitar, as far as I know.

"I like the little ritardando at 2:42-2:45. However, here's a little tip - make it slightly more pronounced.

Yes, I like this idea. I'll try that out!

"The last iteration of the melody at 3:03-3:24 deserves more than a few very small variations."

Well there are quite a few variations; the background mallets are entirely changed and I threw in quite a few new melodic changes. But yeah it needs something more to it to differentiate it from the first climax. I'll see what I can do!

"Overall: Wow, I love this. Downloaded, faved, 5'd, and here's that review I promised. Yeah tons of nitpicky stuff. Anyway, I'm off to tell Captain Planet who should make his new theme song."

I repeat for the third time. YOU'RE AWESOME.

Thanks so much for reviewing! I'm glad you liked it.