SkyeWint's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Amorphous Expanse]

Hello! This is a review for the NGUAC competition.

I've gone over one or two general categories of issues specific to your song, and one section of things I think also deserve complimenting. I prefer being very direct with my critique, none of it is meant to offend. Thank you for your understanding!

Constructive Criticism:

- More than anything else, I think this music needs a couple pointers in terms of composition. Let's take a deep dive into the rhythms you're using here. If you listen to them, they're almost all built out of very straight sets of five, with the frequent addition of a slower set of three notes afterwards. This can absolutely be varied a LOT more. In fact, the section at 1:27 clearly shows how good this variation is, because it breaks up the relatively monotonous rhythm. Try using some syncopation and adding in varition in your pitched instruments rather than just your drums, especially if they synchronize up. This brings me to my second point...

- There is very little in the way of variation in terms of dynamics and overall intensity. Having distinct sections and more varied rhythms would help this out a lot, but there's another component - notice how you have essentially the same set of instruments, all playing throughout, all at the same volume, without any particular melodies to hook onto. This gives several ways you can expand the interest of your music over the course of a track - even in heavy metal and power metal music, there are specific 'riffs' that are used repeatedly as something the listener can latch onto and recognize, while the harmonies underneath typically stick to one or two harmonic lines following the same rhythm, or a rhythm section focused on chords and keeping notes within those chords. There's also variation in both guitar tone and volume of instruments - volume tends to increase at the points of highest tension in a melody, the 'emotional high point'. All of this would help greatly to reduce listener fatigue and also help them remember your music.

Compliments to the Composer:

- Okay, I mentioned that section at 1:27 - I actually really really like this. It has high frequencies that aren't overly intense, while providing some really well-needed variation. This actually works very well for a climax of the track too. It seems like you have a lot of ideas but they haven't quite coalesced and linked together yet - once they do, you'll be getting some pretty nice tracks coming out!

Final score: 4

[Dream Continuum]

Hello! This is a review for the NGUAC competition.

I've gone over one or two general categories of issues specific to your song, and one section of things I think also deserve complimenting. I prefer being very direct with my critique, none of it is meant to offend. Thank you for your understanding!

Constructive Criticism:

- There are two fairly obvious things in this track that definitely need improvement. The first is the mixing and general levelling of the track. See how it makes a literal flat rectangle taking up only about half of the space in the waveform visualizer? You can absolutely INCREASE the peak volume of the track by limiting it more appropriately. Try setting the threshhold closer to -1.1dB so that it stays around -1.0dB (sometimes it goes slightly above the set threshhold). At the same time, try to vary the volume of individual instruments. You don't need to bring ALL of them up together, and in fact that can make it extremely difficult to identify individual instruments. Around the 2 minute mark this is very clear, where there are many instruments, some clearly bring brought up in 'volume' and causing clipping, but not actually increasing the volume of the track because there's no room given for it to actually increase and develop.

- Secondly, the vast majority of this track is audibly made with arpeggiators tossed onto the instruments being used. Arpeggiators are extremely useful, but not when they're applied to so many instruments. Others sound as if their patterns are made with the randomizer function in FL applied to the chord at any given time, which... has the serious issue of leaving all melodies essentially aimless and without any intensity curve. It may be good to try replicating pieces of music you like in midi to see how their chords, harmonies, and melodies are laid out. In this way, you can bring your music into having more cohesiveness and clarity through their length. Remember that listeners typically want some kind of hook or concept to really cling onto!

Compliments to the Composer:

- Speaking of hooks, there are a couple sections I really like. The organs in the outro, as well as the switch to piano is a wonderful touch and I wish this was used more throughout the track as a time of reduced intensity. Orchestral power metal music often nails this type of thing - I think you might love listening to Kamelot if you haven't before, not to mention their music might be particularly good to study if you plan to continue this type of music! Another section that also really hooked me started at 0:43. Those changes in instruments with intense rapid rhythms was fantastic and made me perk up - if developed more, this could become a really solid foundation for more of a climactic section.

Final score: 3

BALDORF responds:

How many times did you listen to it?
Also the only arpeggiator used was on one riff, that starts at 2:11 and becomes promenant at 2:27. It is used on a few different instruments, but it is only used for that one specific riff and only for that one specific part. from 2:27 to 4:04. That is not the vast majority of the song.

[cable fables]

Hello! This is a review for the NGUAC competition.

I've gone over one or two general categories of issues specific to your song, and one section of things I think also deserve complimenting. I prefer being very direct with my critique, none of it is meant to offend. Thank you for your understanding!

Constructive Criticism:

- There needs to be more to that arpeggiated bell sound. 100%. It repeats far too much with zero variation whatsoever. This piece would be tremendously better if it were a pad with a slow progression, simply expressing ambience rather than an arpeggio. This would also let your piece develop a lot more, such as if you used the bells for that ambience by swamping them with reverb (though be careful with this) and reducing the dry signal, varying the chords played by those bells and slowly fading the dry signal in and out at low volume. These types of little effects would work fantastically with the feedback played by your guitar while providing more variation to keep the listener hooked into the piece over its full length.

- The overall mix gets pretty swamped as your drums and bass come in, seemingly because of the intense reverb on your distorted guitar and even the mild reverb on your bass (bass frequencies have particular trouble with reverb!). It might be beneficial to reduce the reverb and feedback on it during that section of the piece with automation, or at least check your EQ mix to make sure it isn't muddying up the sounds of your other instruments by flooding the same frequencies. Further, sometimes the guitar feedback gets a tad too sharp in the high frequencies and can be painful to listen to. Using a very gentle high shelf filter to reduce those high frequencies would reduce this issue.

Compliments to the Composer:

- Okay, so. Your atmosphere and sound effects are fantastic, especially at the very beginning. I actually love the distortion on your guitar, though do be careful with the high frequencies and feedback as they can get a tad TOO intense sometimes, as I mentioned while commenting on the mix. Good work!

Final score: 5

Aweror responds:

thanks so much, you gave me a lot to work with here ha. i appreciate the feedback!!

[Highest Precision]

Hello! This is a review for the NGUAC competition.

I've gone over one or two general categories of issues specific to your song, and one section of things I think also deserve complimenting. I prefer being very direct with my critique, none of it is meant to offend. Thank you for your understanding!

Constructive Criticism:

- This piece has two major flaws, the first of which is definitely the composition. While it has solid overall organization of intensity and instrument layers, the melody is extremely aimless. I would highly recommend listening to some music you really like and trying to recreate the melodies and harmonies with your own midi instrument. The youtube channel 8bitmusictheory is also very helpful for learning this type of thing outside of general music theory study. However, for some general tips outside of that, you may want to start with an idea of a chord progression. This piece uses a four chord progression, so try playing the full four chords in order to make sure they flow. Alternatively, you can look up common four chord progressions and use one that's already in common use - just add your personal flair in the melody! Melodies in this type of genre typically have a dynamic curve within one or two cycles of your chord progression, called a 'hypermeasure'. Starting and ending on one of the main three notes in the chord you're playing over will help it sound like it starts and ends comfortably.

- The sounds and groups of instruments could definitely be improved. Most of the rhythms are very straight and deserve a bit of extra emphasis. You can add a second kick a single beat before the start of a measure at a lower volume to anticipate it. You can add in some extra snare beats. You can add in some arpeggiated chords or give your chords a rhythm, maybe sidechain them to the kick. Adding this type of extra sparkle and interest to your track keeps it fresh, especially if you add and change some of the instruments playing as you get later into the track!

Compliments to the Composer:

- The mix on this is pretty solid! Everything sits in a reasonable place and doesn't overpower anything else by too much. You could probably push your limiting slightly more, though it doesn't really need it. Very comfortable overall.

Final score: 4

[Lucidity Domain]

Hello! This is a review for the NGUAC competition.

I've gone over one or two general categories of issues specific to your song, and one section of things I think also deserve complimenting. I prefer being very direct with my critique, none of it is meant to offend. Thank you for your understanding!

Constructive Criticism:

- Okay, first thing I would strongly suggest is mixing-related. Overall this needs a bit of limiting to reign it in slightly (notice how much the frequency exceeds even the newgrounds waveform visualizer). If you listen to your bass, it often sounds quite flabby and has a little bit too much pressure to it when the chiptune bass and kick come together. I would really recommend using a separate instrument for your bass if you aren't already, and removing the reverb (or at least greatly reducing it). Reverb and bass don't tend to go well together. It sounds like this is cutting into your kick drum's impact as well. Enhancing your lead just slightly above the rest of your mix would also help people recognize the melodies far better, particularly in the more intense arpeggiated sections. Otherwise, quite nice!

- This piece absolutely could use more dynamic contrast. Right now, it feels flat. The slower and faster sections contrast in terms of speed, but could have a bit more contrast in terms of volume. Volume and dynamics can have an incredible effect on the expressiveness of your instruments as well, which would go a long way towards letting people key into the main theme and remember your piece after listening. As it is, everything is pleasant but it melts into the background and doesn't have too many hooks that stand out and make it as memorable and engaging. Especially for a loop like this, it's good to have these moments and sprinkle them in sparingly so listeners have those moments of excitement and anticipation for that one bit of ear candy that hooked them in the first place.

Compliments to the Composer:

- This feels really heavily inspired by undertale and secret of mana, man. A lot of your composition here is really good, and you have a great grasp of how to organize your intense sections despite lack of dynamic variety. While a bit more could definitely be done on some of your harmonic and melodic progressions, this is really cute and flows mostly pretty well. I like it a lot!

Final score: 7

[Night in the petal fields]

Hello! This is a review for the NGUAC competition.

I've gone over one or two general categories of issues specific to your song, and one section of things I think also deserve complimenting. I prefer being very direct with my critique, none of it is meant to offend. Thank you for your understanding!

Constructive Criticism:

- I think this track could use a tad more variation in the composition. In most of this, you have the same basic one-two-pause rhythm. Some variation here and expression beyond just the middle of the keyboard would be wonderful. Even in ambient, there can be clear melodic themes or chord progressions for listeners to latch onto. However, repeating it too much can fatigue the listener and cause them to lose interest. Again, even in ambient there's room for variation, especially if the sound palette isn't particularly complex. That said...

- The sound palette in this track and overall mixing could definitely be brought up a lot. It isn't bad or painful to listen to by any means, but I think you can push it much further! First of all, I would highly recommend exploring higher frequencies with sounds like wind or static, and lower frequencies with some steady low-volume sub-bass. Using different velocities for your instruments rather than keeping their tone and volume the same throughout would allow for some dynamic contrast attracting the listener's attention throughout. You can also use a LFO on things like panning to give your track an expansive and 'evolving' feeling throughout, counteracting the repetitive nature of its themes. But, more than that, having a wider and more engaging texture would bring your music to very positive places.

Compliments to the Composer:

- This track has lovely peaceful composition, unlike many of the electronic pieces commonly put out. It actually feels more classical than ambient, even! You seem to have a good grasp of how to make a track without too much clashing harmony, something there's always a place for.

Final score: 4.5

[Heavy Frog-Step]

Hello! This is a review for the NGUAC competition.

I've gone over one or two general categories of issues specific to your song, and one section of things I think also deserve complimenting. I prefer being very direct with my critique, none of it is meant to offend. Thank you for your understanding!

Constructive Criticism:

- This has a lot of neat sounds, but what this particularly needs to reign in is the harshness of your sounds. A couple examples I would point out are the high hat, the initial sound effect once you open the filter all the way, and the clipping in playing the sounds around 1:15 (if you listen at the start and end of the sample, there's a popping sound - make sure the sound effect has a very short fadein and fadeout to avoid this clip to 0db in that sample's waveform). I would highly recommend compressing your drums slightly less, and having at least a light filter to reduce the particularly high frequencies as they can be painful to listen to and certainly tiring over the course of the track.

- Your drums could greatly use some variation. While they're already very harsh, keeping the drums the same in music like this - music that's so focused on drums and bass and sound design to the point of no other instruments - can lead to it being far less engaging than it should be over the course of the track. For a point of comparison, this track isn't as fast as yours but the drumbeat noticeably has quite a few more interesting sounds and subtler details keeping it engaging and varied as you listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zqagld13kL4

Compliments to the Composer:

- MAN you have some tasty bass in this. I'm not sure if it's made of samples or fully synthesized, but I love how liquidy it is. The filtering makes it very interesting, and it's probably the best part of this entire track. When I mentioned variation and how the drums need more, this does not apply to the bass where it exists. It might need more if it was applied more broadly in the track but as-is, it's quite good.

Final score: 3

Aracnofobia responds:

Men. Your words would never offend me. I thank you very much.

[4nZwar3 - Für Dich (Instrumental)]

Hello! This is a review for the NGUAC competition.

I've gone over one or two general categories of issues specific to your song, and one section of things I think also deserve complimenting. I prefer being very direct with my critique, none of it is meant to offend. Thank you for your understanding!

Constructive Criticism:

- Please please please reign in your mix. If you even look at the waveform on newgrounds itself, you can see how this track desperately needs some limiting so it doesn't exceed 0db on the peaks. One of the major contributors to this sounds like reverb. While reverb sounds wonderful and feels like it makes an instrument more expressive, it can cause a large amount of mud and make it very difficult to hear all of your instruments. Additionally, as mentioned, reverb fills up a mix and results in clipping and overly loud sound when it isn't controlled. Some possibilities to fix this up would be sidechaining JUST the reverb to your more relevant instruments, reducing the reverb width, tail, or volume in general (even a little reverb goes a long way!), and additionally adding a limiter to your final track after reducing the volume of all instruments by 10dB to give them headroom.

- It's difficult to hear the individual parts of your track due to the mixing. However, I think there's room to work on this as well. Some of your harmonies clash quite a bit and the rhythms make it difficult to tell what exactly the harmony and melodies are intended to be. You said this is a mix of classical/orchestral, pop rock, and jazz - however, I think it might be greatly worth your time to take a few of the pieces you particularly like out of those genres and listen through the harmony. Even try to replicate the notes in midi to see how they're organized and trace out harmonies, as well as arrive at points of tension and release. This would help you greatly in making more compelling and clean climaxes as well as bridges and breaks around them to provide contrast. Studying jazz theory especially might help if you plan on exploring more complex harmonies - but start with classic harmony so you have a solid foundation to build off of!

Compliments to the Composer:

- The calmer sections of this piece, like the initial piano and midsection break, as well as the outro... these sections shine very nicely. You use sidechaining and letting your 'saxophone' sound turn into its synth (or soundfont?) sustain actually works really well. I'd have loved to hear this used more throughout the track as a way of providing contrast!

Final score: 4

[ALGO - Breath]

Hello! This is a review for the NGUAC competition.

I've gone over one or two general categories of issues specific to your song, and one section of things I think also deserve complimenting. I prefer being very direct with my critique, none of it is meant to offend. Thank you for your understanding!

Constructive Criticism:

- You may want to reign in your mix, especially the bass. When it isn't being sidechained to the kick, it fills up your mix by a very large amount. Specifically the subs sound as if they're causing difficulty mixing the higher sections, and their intensity pulls away from the rest of the track's mix. This is especially prevalent in your builds. Even outside of the bass specifically, the way you have this mixed is highly dense and compressed. There is very little room for the builds to contrast well with your calmer sections solely because of how loud EVERYTHING is all the time. I also noticed there are numerous sounds being buried in the climactic portions. It's also notable that with this much intensity, listening to this track is very fatiguing, particularly when repeated.

- You may want to have some variation in your track to contrast the first and second halves. I noticed, listening through, that the second half is almost identically copied and pasted from the first. Even in highly formulaic genres like dance music and dubstep, the second climax tends to have increased intensity and/or complexity compared to the first. Think of the intensity curve in stories for example: You have the introduction, rising action, an initial climax followed by a lull, followed by more rising action until you reach the true climax of the story and falling action to the epilogue. This type of organization is extremely effective for media in general, and I believe it would greatly enhance the interest your music pulls from a listener.

Compliments to the Composer:

- Damn, this grooves. As much as I've commented on the mix and organization, I think the unwind after your climaxes feels really really good, and I'd actually like it to be worked with even more. It could even be made the initial 'climax' with a few elements of the normal climax itself, focusing in very clearly on the groove your bass work creates combined with the kick sidechaining.

Final score: 6.5

[Lights (WIP)]

Hello! This is a review for the NGUAC competition.

I've gone over one or two general categories of issues specific to your song, and one section of things I think also deserve complimenting. I prefer being very direct with my critique, none of it is meant to offend. Thank you for your understanding!

Constructive Criticism:

- While your organization and embellishment is very nice, your melodies could use quite a bit of work. In particular, they follow the harmonic progression you laid out but almost seem as if they're generated with an arpeggiator. What this results in is a seeming lack of direction in your music, making it difficult to follow any clear theme as there doesn't seem to be one, as well as find any clear point of "arrival". Music following western tradition like this style is highly based on tension and release. There's some tension here, but very little release coordinated with your audio design work.

- Your sound palette is very flat. What I mean by this is that many of your instruments have the same texture to them. They all sound as if they're made from saws and triangle waves without much complexity to their sound. As much as I love saw-based pads, I think this track could benefit VERY heavily from having more background atmosphere (such as in the calmer sections), varied textures, and "ear candy" (small moments or sound effects much like the shouts of "hey" in the middle - those were wonderful). Try working with some more filters and other basic sounds to give your track a bit more variety, especially in calmer sections that are used as a 'break' from the normal sound palette.

Compliments to the Composer:

- Your organization and builds are very well-layered, and you seem to have a good grasp of the overall arrangement of your music. That introduction bit was wonderful, and I would have loved hearing something like it again such as in the climactic sections of your track. When you synchronize this with your melodic and harmonic progressions, you'll have some very compelling electronic music on your hands!

Final score: 5.5