SkyeWint's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Motivated Wonders[NGAP10]]

Hello.

The Good:
-You really got the funky bass down, same for the saxophones, which sound incredibly sexy.
-There's some nice variation in both sections, and it's fairly impressive that you remixed two songs in the time it took.

The Not-So-Good:
-There's a lot of dissonance in some places, such as in the first flute/harp solo.
-The drums are fairly dull and flat, aside from the cymbals.
-At about 2:35, it gets fairly muddy and hard to hear most things.
-The transition at 3:30 is extraordinarily rough for no good reason.
-The piano and most of the brass instruments are fairly weak.
-A few mixing problems from about 4:00 to 4:20 on the right.
-This shouldn't be one song. It's two different pieces remixed in different ways without even a transition between each other.

Overall: Score of 5/10. Main problems are the flat sounds of the instruments and the horrifying transition. Sorry for not having much to say in the "Good" section. There wasn't much I could think of - I'm not saying there aren't good aspects, but there were none I could verbalize easily. Also, I really wish you hadn't essentially made two tracks and then crossfaded between them. It seems dangerously close to cheating.

Nimble responds:

I agree with a lot of what you're saying- I wanted the transition to be like an Attacca, a Segue-Sudden and ridiculous. I guess I made it a bit too sudden. Thanks for taking the time to review.

[Watercraft (Rhoder Remix)]

Hello.

The Good:
-Very nice intro.
-You have a nice meaty bass, with the drums on top making a sweet groove. I also like the pad you used.
-Pretty sweet lowpass section at about 1:28.

The Not-So-Good:
-It could use a bit more change, there's only so much you can do with a single groove.
-Drums need to vary a bit more.
-At the lowpass section, it would be good if there were some "sinking down" motion going into it, and a slower explosion coming out rather than just suddenly coming out of it.
-Ending is what. I don't even understand what you were trying to do there. Credit for it not being a normal ending though.

Overall: Score of 7/10. Main problem was the lack of variety.

[Sea of Grass (Jazz)]

Hello.

The Good:
-There's some really nice harmonics in this.
-Instruments are played well, when they're the real instruments.
-Really really awesome instrument choice, I particularly love the pad at 1:36 and about 1:50.

The Not-So-Good:
-The bass is almost inaudible.
-The intro seems somewhat disconnected to the rest of the song, since it's in a different key and has a different feel.
-I would also have to say that the transition at 0:59 was somewhat sudden, as was the one around 1:25.
-I really wish this would be longer so it could have more of an ending.

Overall: Score of 8/10. Biggest problems were the intro and the extremely quiet bass.

SilverPoyozo responds:

I'm not so good with mixing, so...I always end up with a really quiet or loud bass.The song was supposed to be a bit longer, so the intro would make a bit more sense, but I didn't have much time to work on it.
And I planned on using some drums to make a smoother transition, but I really couldn't do it.

Thanks a lot for the review!

[Donut Quest (Ska Punk)]

Hello.

The Good:
-Oh my gosh rock with brass? That's awesome.
-The main melodies are consistent with the original and have definitely been moved into rock.
-I like how you've shifted it into multiple different keys.

The Not-So-Good:
-The bass doesn't seem very bassy to me. It could use a bit more "meat".
-There's no letup from the fast-paced heavy drum-smashing guitar-thrashing until 1:33 where it kinda turns into an almost carribean vibe for a few seconds (in my opinion at least).
-Seems a bit too short to really do the original justice.

Overall: Score of 7/10. Main problem is the lack of change in mood. Same quick thrashing throughout makes it boring fairly quickly.

[Turret Wife Serenade NGAP]

Hello.

The Good:
-Cute little distorted synths and nice instruments.
-Explosion at about 1:04 is pretty cool, to be honest.
-I love the "vamping-up" sound at about 1:36, as well as the one at about 1:54.

The Not-So-Good:
-The kick is a tad overly loud.
-I'm not a fan of using direct samples from another song, though how you used it isn't too bad.
-Crossfade using the vocal samples at about 0:45 is not well-executed and sounds awkward.
-The mix seems as if it's only barely holding itself together and is on the verge of exploding into major distortion. I know that Reason is good at handling a lot of sound automatically, but you shouldn't rely on it.
-After 1:54, it just gets to be a bit too crazy and the mix is overfilled. Then it just ends without any preparation.

Overall: Score of 7/10. Major problems are the transitions and the extremely overfilled mix.

[Fill My Black Hole-Cover]

Hello.

The Good:
-You've definitely got guts, putting an acoustic guitar/vocal version of this song.
-Since I'm learning guitar, I can say that I'm mildly impressed at your guitar ability. I'm having trouble switching between chords.

The Not-So-Good:
-Unfortunately, beyond the novelty factor, this is pretty empty in the mix.
-There's some straining in some of the vocals, which doesn't sound very pleasant.
-The whole thing has the feel of being made in about 3 hours with minimal effort.

Overall: Score of 4/10. Biggest problem: Lack of noticeable effort. ...and yeah, I'm sorry to say that but it really does sound like there was barely any effort put into this.

Chongo responds:

Yeah, didnt go into it expecting to win. Just realized I could play it, so I recorded it for the lulz. I'll back up your lack of effort statement and any other statement. I'm just glad I had anything on the good side in general :)

[FD - Dreams]

Hello.

The Good:
-Okay, you took a "meh" song that's a minute and 40 seconds long and stretched it to being over 7 minutes long and GOOD. That's pretty impressive.
-It was a good idea to use such a simple song as your basis, because it let you do some really crazy stuff over the top.
-Your transitions are AWESOME, even if they're a bit long.
-The vocal samples are very well-done and fit the concept well.

The Not-So-Good:
-The first 2 minutes create an amazing ambiance, not sure where the vocal samples come from. Unfortunately, it goes on a little bit too long IMO.
-The buildup from 2:00 to 2:58 is a bit overly long. Could have used a bit of a faster build.
-Some mixing problems on the right side at about 4 minutes in.
-The section from about 4:29 to 5:19 doesn't appear to have much of anything to do with the original song. This is a relatively minor issue, but if you're going to be soloing over pretty much the rest of it due to the simple basis, it should probably stay closer to that. same goes for the string instruments from about 5:42-6:09.
-The ending is a tad dull in comparison to the rest, though it does fit.

Overall: Score of 10/10. This was pretty amazing overall in composition, and even with the minor problems of overly long sections and somewhat unrelated sections, there is a ton of substance here. Great work!

ForgottenDawn responds:

Thank you for your review.
I understand the minor problems you enlisted and I agree with the fact that some parts may seem less fitting or too stretched over. However, my goal was to create an unpredictable piece made of more than just one theme and one atmosphere. Surreal, dream-like that feels tense and ever-changing, adapting itself to various scenarios. I jokingly said to one of the judges that my piece has the potential to divide their opinions and I was right, haha. I treat it positively and it's indeed amusing.
//FD

[Smother (Overburn Cover)]

Hello.

The Good:
-Creative, arranging a heavy metal song for an orchestra.
-You've kept the original melodies well and brought them into an orchestral format in a way that really works.

The Not-So-Good:
-Your brass is really drowned out.
-Some of the mixing causes other instruments to be pushed into the back.
-Some of the melodies don't really work on the instruments you put them on.
-It seems that you often jump into another section without a buildup or transition. This isn't good.

Overall: Score of 8/10. Biggest problems are the mixing and transitions.

[LHM - Endless Handbag 98']

Hello.

The Good:
-Nice mixing.
-Some nice variation in the rhythms.
-I actually like the robotic vocals.

The Not-So-Good:
-There isn't much interesting in this at all, to be honest. There's almost no sound that isn't in the original.
-Transitions transitions transitions. 0:46 - random silence after losing pretty much everything but sfx and drums, very disorienting.

Overall: Score of 3/10. There's really not much I can say about this. It needs more original content, more actual music in there, and less random swapping in and out of patterns which sound almost as if they're cut-and-paste from the original.

Sorry if this sounds pretty harsh, but these are my thoughts. Take 'em or leave 'em.

DreamEater responds:

to be fair man, I don't agree at all ;]

1. This was made to be a cover, so there shouldn't be any extra additions
2. The original was made in that (copy & pasted pattern) sort of way, as were most digital tracks in the early days of the virtual DAW or tracker in most cases back then (I did this on purpose to retain that old 90's loop feel, which it seems that most people appreciated).
3. 3/10 is ridiculously harsh, I understand that this isn't a big flashy skrillex song... but downtempo has it's place in the musical realm. exciting to YOU or not, this track has solid mixing and use of effects AND I voice acted out all of the original vocal lines to recreate EVERYTHING without using the original; THAT diserves a little more credit than a 3/10 good sir. I feel as if you have let your personal feelings affect your judgement on this one friend, no doubt.

[ParagonX9 - Defcon (8bit)]

Hello.

The Good:
-You certainly stay true to the original in much of this.
-You also have some more original sections.

The Not-So-Good:
-There are some glitches in sound such as at 0:10 and 0:23.
-Many of your instruments sound the same and are in the same pitch range, so they cause the entire thing to become very muddy.
-The instruments themselves aren't very good quality, even for 8-bit.
-There's really not enough content to keep me interested for even 2 and a half minutes...
-A deliberate ending is pretty much nonexistent.

Overall: Score of 4/10. Main problems are the lack of good instruments and muddy sound.