SkyeWint's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Salvation]

Hey. You forgot your classic ==()== around the title. D:

The Good:
-Man, that intro is so powerful. It makes me immediately think "oh man, something epic is going to hit soon". For some reason, the synth line at 0:29 reminds me of Depths of Phendrana. Percussion at 0:38 is awesome too.
-Even with the weak transition after the intro, that melody in the guitar at about 1:36 is sooooo awesome. If you had made the song based around that rather than the melody coming in at around 1:04, I would have been sooooo happy. Maybe sometime in the future?
-Your percussion in general is really really awesome, except for one thing that I'll mention later.
-The flute melody at 2:30 is just really pretty. I like the chord progression there too. Seems a bit creepy and/or sad for a song called "Salvation", but whatever.
-Normally wouldn't mention this, but the transition at 3:12-3:34 is way better. The drums immediately afterward with that high-hat pattern is just awesome.
-Guitar harmonies at 5:53 are just awesome.
-I also love the part at about 7:18, the transition is fine, there's an almost emotional sound, and when the flute comes in it's really really pleasant to hear.
-The dying-down and coming back at 8:00-8:06 works fine there, and when the flute comes in it sounds soooooo sexy.

The Not-So-Good:
-Transition at about 0:45 on (mainly getting really boring at about 1:00) just doesn't work with the massive buildup intro. Everything just dies and something seemingly unrelated comes in. It seems extremely anticlimactic and destroys a lot of the interest and anticipation the intro built up. If you're going to have an intro that strong, make sure what comes next will deliver the epic that was just 'claimed' by the intro!
-Transition at about 2:02 is also pretty weak. It just flatlines into the next section without much for a transition effect except for the downward percussion.
-From about 4:00 to 4:46, the drums, lead, and bass just aren't cutting it on their own. They really need some thing more to back them up. If it's meant to be a drum solo, try having quick keyboard chords every once in awhile, possibly with some very light backwash pads as well. That'd fill up the empty space more, and still let the drums shine for the most part.
-Okay, this is probably one of the things that I'm the most disappointed about because it could have been fixed so easily. D: 5:43 and 5:49. Okay seriously. You have this great reverse cymbal and big meaty bass drum "thump", then this little "piff" to the side. It's totally anticlimac and pretty disappointing. :< I would even go so far as to say that the volume on it should be doubled, it should be centered, and it should have some kind of delay on it the second time like almost everything else seems to have.
-Some sections go on for a bit too long without enough to keep me interested - there's definitely enough content there for foreground, but it really needs more background stuff.
-Okay, the outro isn't bad by any means, but... did you really need a 35-second long fadeout and then 10 seconds of silence? You said it was for iTunes or something s the song doesn't randomly change, but 45 seconds of fadeout and silence is a bit... excessive.

Overall: This is really really nice. I'm not sure if I'd call it the best song you've made, but it has a lot of detail and if Bosa doesn't pick it as one of the top 3 (compared to all the other songs I've heard so far, no offense to those people), I may have to smack him with a wet haddock. To summarize my comments above, there's a lot of sexy stuff in it, but overall the song is a flatline. The climaxes and breakdowns are largely really subtle and basic. The intro is the best one, followed by the part at about 5:40 (yes, even with the disappointing piff), then the outro. Some parts drag on a little too long and/or don't have enough "stuff" filling up my ears with awesomeness.

...oh dear, I seem to have used up all but 10 characters. Looks like this review is over. Thanks for the ability to listen to one of the best songs on NG!

-Your friend, SkyeWintrest-

[Mirror Note]

Well now. This is a bit... creepy. Nothing better to do than review it though, I suppose!

The Good:
-The instruments are very nice, I like the panning.
-Those guitars sound really awesome.
-The mixing is pretty clear.
-I like the little ornaments you sometimes had.

The Not-So-Good: I'm going to be picking at the composition a lot here...
-The chords don't really change much at all until 1:42.
-There's a lot of off-key-ness in the strings, which is partially why it's creepy, but sounds almost "sloppy", as if you hand slipped and wrote in the wrong note but you didn't bother to change it.
-Once it reaches about 3:19, I don't like the deep bass hit. It doesn't seem very good quality, and has a bit too deep of bass. Generally, deep bass hits are better for impacts.
-I feel like the constant quarter notes could have been varied a bit more. It's almost like the constant 4/4 bass drum of techno, just more classical-sounding.
-Some of your orchestral instruments sound very obviously like soundfonts/synths. This is primarily because of the way the samples repeat - try adding a subtle phaser or flanger to them, that'll vary the note a bit more.
-The organization of the piece didn't really make me think "Oh, I remember this. That's nice!" in a natural manner. Try having more of a recognizeable theme that people can go to. Most people aren't going to be able to recognize a theme that's really subtle. If you have something that's more clearly defined and "catchy", most people will like the piece a lot more.

Overall: Sorry this isn't as in-depth of a review as I'd like. I'm fairly distracted by real-life events at the moment. :< I liked the piece, but didn't really find it as engaging as some of your other ones, mainly because of the lack of a strong theme or catchy element.

Good luck in the contest!

DivoFST responds:

Thanks for the detailed comment Skye :)
Yeah the chords an overall instruments do prett much the same until 1:42 and i simply change some things around them like adding the brass playing the 3rds and latter adding guitar, at the time i thought that would be enough to make that section fresh but i was wrong, the creepiness in the strings is a result of me listening to the song so many times i lost notion of what actually sounded good and what didnt.
I agree the bass is not very good but was the best i had.
The quarter notes are a terrible mistake as well and seem lazy i admit..
Ill do my best to make my soundfont sound more realistic and also try to use the recognizable theme from now forward.
Again thanks for the comment and mainly for the help youve been giving me these past few days :D

[Envy]

Hmm. Envy? Interesting name for a song - reminds me of the artist Envy.

The Good:
-Some pretty sweet sounds, I like the bass in the instrument at the beginning.
-I really love the sound that comes in at 0:52.
-Fairly decent mixing until about 2:04. I'll talk about 2:04 later.
-Drums are pretty good samples. I really love the reversed cymbal.

The Not-So-Good:
-I disagree with Dogmaticmindset about the vocals. To me, they sound like a pretty low-quality recording, and not implemented as well as they could be. Noise removal could possibly help the quality of them, but their lack of presence in the mix is rather disappointing - I can't really hear what's being said.
-It honestly could use a harder-hitting and stronger bassline. As it is, there's not a ton of power behind it.
-The pluck that comes in at 2:04 is really messing up the mix. It's a bit too strong in the bass, I think. It's also fairly detuned, which causes some problems.
-Bit more variation would be nice. As it is, it does get a bit boring and doesn't seem to really have a "point", if you know what I mean.

Overall: Not bad, not really good either. Could use some better mixing as well as more variation. The bass is mainly the problem - a stronger bassline would be good, as well as using some highpass filters to cut out more of the bass in the other instruments. Hopefully this is helpful to you.

-Review Request Club-
-Swint-

Phaserino responds:

if the bass were stronger, my speakers and yours will be broken, i have to keep it too a certain point or else well no more working speakers for you : / and if u heard music thats even harder means they did a pretty bad job on the limit of it.But yeah its helpful info, thanks!

[Project 24]

Whoooo! Videogaming!

The Good:
-Okay, this is a pretty catchy tune coming in at about 0:09.
-The deep bass element coming in at 0:14 is pretty darn sweet.
-Drumline is pretty darn awesome, too bad the tune goes away then.
-You definitely knew when you didn't have enough material to continue it and stopped it there.
-I like the chopped pad thing that comes in with the first break.
-The harpsichord-type instrument plays some really nice arpeggios and chords.

The Not-So-Good:
-The deep bass during the drumset is just way too much. It pushes everything waaaaay back in the mix. The drumset itself might also be a culprit, but the deep bass also causes some mixing issues between the drum breaks. Try some more EQing and compression until the elements are more balanced.
-It's a bit short, I'd have liked it to be longer, even for a video game. :<
-If it's this short and you decide to have it loop... Make sure it loops properly! As it is, it loops in a way that's just "oh, this is definitely the beginning". The best loops sound like the song just continues without looping.

Overall: Pretty nice ideas, I like the instruments and composition for the most part - but the mixing REALLY kills this. Otherwise I'd have probably given it a 4/5. Good effort though, with just a little more effort in the mixing it'd be a piece I'd definitely want in a game!

Rinileki14 responds:

Thanks, the first time it plays through, it won't loop correctly. After that, it'll loop perfectly every time it goes back to the beginning. Thanks for the break-down of good and bad! :D

[Public Flow - [drad]]

Hm. Interesting - not really my kind of music, but that doesn't mean I can't critique it.

WARNING: I may come across as a bit harsh.

The Good:
-Some good instrument sounds.
-Mixing is generally okay.
-Intro is decent at first.

The Not-So-Good:
-Awkward transitions.
-A LOT of off-key sections - music theory and harmony would go a long way in helping this.
-Drum sounds are pretty bad, you might want to look up some better drum packs.
-A lot of the bass sound seems to be in the pad, which makes it muddy.
-Outro isn't very good.

Overall: I REALLY don't have much to say about this other than - please, please, PLEASE look up some music theory. Another good idea might be to check some other songs that you like a lot and attempt to model your music after them. I'm giving a half-star because there is a little bit of effort obvious in this, but it honestly doesn't seem like you tried to do much with this - more something that was slapped together in about 20 minutes.

DRadDaDanDawg responds:

Yeah I'm just starting some music theory classes, haven't got to composition yet, and yeah I didn't spend the longest time on this, but a couple hours a day for a little more than a week.

Thanks for the review :) I'll try looking up samples for drum kits from now on too

-edit - (oh right I also didn't pay attention to the patterns and techniques of this style enough before this piece, so HOPEFULLY I do it better next song.)

[Dunhuang Blues]

Trippy.

The Good:
-I like a lot of the ideas you have in this.
-Personally, I like the lack of lyrics - that's just a personal thing though, so don't take it as "don't put lyrics in".
-Nice effects! I like the one at the beginning and at about 0:24.
-No unwanted distortion that I can hear.
-I absolutely love the transition at 2:02-2:10.
-Drums are really tasty. Only one I didn't like was the kick.
-Outro's fine.

The Not-So-Good:
-Some transitions are a bit off, such as the intro and the one at 0:26.
-Mix starts getting a bit muddy at around... 1:20-ish.
-This is REALLY repetitive, I'd have liked a bit more variation and compositional work. As it is, the only actual variation is really at the beginning and end - after that, it's just switching a few different instruments and repeating the same melodies/chords with one good variation.
-Synth at 2:30. Ew.

Overall: There's not much more I can say about this - I liked the original synths in it and the mixing (generally), but there's not enough in this song for it to be just 2 minutes long, let alone 4.

-Review Request Club-
-Swint-

houzatosis responds:

Thank you for the response!

Yeah, I should have added at least a couple bars of variation to the melody. The song originally started off more industrial-electro sounding, which fit the intro well, but then it morphed into this track and I was never really sure whether to change it.

[Pulling Out A Splinter]

Oh my. This is... amusing.

The Good:
-Those voices are very amusing, that's really great.
-Recording quality is fine.
-Music in the background is great.

The Not-So-Good:
-Towards the end... just, what.
-Sometimes the music doesn't switch that well.
-Sound effects could have been a bit better and/or more appropriate.
-Essentially, the voices are great, but the dialogue isn't as good as it could be. Granted, it's a bit difficult to make something extremely funny when it revolves around pulling a splinter out.

Overall: This was worth a laugh - not sure if I'd want to hear it over and over though. I'm not exactly the most knowledgeable about voice acting, but hopefully what I said was helpful.

-Review Request Club-
-Swint-

Laphin responds:

He couldn't trade the splinter to the tooth fairy for money, or anything else.. so he's gonna sell it on craigslist. He was trying to treat it as if he had a tooth pulled, basically. lol

Thanks for the compliments!! Much appreciated!

[Quest for the Crown (Alt)]

No reason to not have both versions. Some people might like this one better - or find it more useful than the other one. I'm not going to give a full review on this - it's not exactly long enough. I don't like the synth-y sound of the instrument at the beginning, since most of it is much higher-quality sounds. Very few mixing issues - the main two complaints I would have are about the pause and the outro, though the outro is something I'd note in the other version as well. Overall, this is actually a pretty good piece.

...okay, I suppose I'd also like it if it were longer - same goes for the original version as well though.

Bosa responds:

Do you know what the instrument at the beginning is?

[-New Dawn-]

Oh hey look, nobody else has said anything about this yet. I'm surprised. AND YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE GETTING A REVIEW.

The Good:
-Very nice drums right off the bat, they have a pretty sweet beat to them even without a kick. I love the way you used the cymbals. The cymbals are a bit drowned out by the effect at 0:16, but whatever. Mix is still fine and they're not a focus. Also you managed to make Edirol's snare sound reasonably good. What. How.
-The opening sounds VERY much like your usual music progressions only with different instruments. However, once you get to 0:45, you really change up a bit. That's sweet, me gusta. :3
-Pizzicatto at 1:00 is sweeeeeeeet. I really like the pattern it plays.
-Nice effects as usual.
-The main theme in this is really really nice. I like the melody of it, and I also like the little variation you start doing at 1:44. The little accidental isn't expected and provides a liiiittle bit of much-needed tension.
-I also like how at about 1:30 you bring back the original traditional Waterflame sound to it until 1:44 kicks in.
-1:58 "bweow" sound is awesome. Comes in a few other times too.

The Not-So-Good:
-It sounds like you're using staccato strings from Edirol to do the bass. But whether you are or aren't doesn't matter - the bass seems a bit too subdued and muddy compared to your usual. :< Try having something slightly harsher, like a piano smacking each bass note for half a second at max velocity and a lower volume. That would give it a bit more edge in the quicker bass notes.
-I'm surprised I'm even saying this on a song of yours, but the mixing could actually use some work. In the middle where you're using orchestral instruments, at about 1:14, there's a lot of mid-range frequencies which are keeping me from hearing things as well. Try lowering some of the mid frequencies and expanding the mix of those orchestral instruments to let them breathe more. From what I've heard of your music, you use Edirol for orchestra instruments. That thing is a PAIN to mix, but a good way I've found is to finish your track and then export .wav files of all the orchestra instruments you have (or if you only have 4, that's fine - Edirol has 4 outputs, I think).
-Better. Outro. Please. :<
-There's only really one theme throughout the whole thing. You might want to introduce a few more so that it's not as repetitive - main thing keeping it interesting are all those effects and the very slight differences in the main theme. Another possibility you might want to consider for a song in the future is having an initial theme, and while changing the background as you normally do, subtly change the theme so that people barely even realize it's different until it's not the same at all as the original.

Overall: Pretty nice. My biggest complaints are the bass and the repetition. Then my pet peeves are there too, but... whatever. The good things override the bad and make this a pretty sweet piece of music. :)

On a somewhat-unrelated note, I certainly hope you've been planning on entering Bosa's "Dreams of Splendor" contest. If you haven't heard about it yet but think you might enter after reading this... it's basically "make the best music piece you possibly can". Buoy, PeterSatera, Samulis, MaestroRage, TroisNyx, bassfiddlejones, myself, and a whole bunch of other talented musicians are entering. I'd love to hear what you'd come up with!

Waterflame responds:

Thank you for the long and awesome review! you always point out such great things, and I learn something from it every time you leave a review :) This song is actually a year old or so, before i really started to focus on my mastering, and I have not done anything with it since then. but it is taken into consideration! And yes, I have heard about the competition! but i do not know if i have time to enter. I have a lot of work to do this month. But we'll see! Thanks again!

[BK - Soundshifter]

R-E-V-I-E-W~ Here ya go!

The Good:
-I do love that sound coming in at 0:32. Since you said it was made via 3xosc, might I ask how? ^_^ I could use it in the song I'm working on now - going to need some dubstep-like sounds, and I think that along with a few others I have would do amazingly.
-I also like the melody that dirty 3xosc sound plays - I think it would be a bit cooler if it went down by one step (two half-steps or two rows of the piano roll) halfway through. Makes it more of a melody and sound better.
-Sound of rhythmic plucking coming in at about 0:52 was cool. I think it would have been cooler if you put a bit of gross beat (to be easy) or volume modulation via automation (to be picky) on the pad so it doubles the rhythmic plucks.
-Good effect at 2:08. Not as good of mixing, but it's audibly cool.
-You introduce a bit of variation toward the end at 2:08, and bring in another instrument that sounds pretty nice, even if it's buried by the other instruments by a lot.
-Your transitions are decent. As the transition nazi, I consider them passable. This is a good thing - keep working on them! You definitely have some skill in getting from point A to point B, and I think it'd be better if you tried experimenting more. However, remember that the more complicated and variable your tracks get (since no offense, but it's pretty simplistic overall at the moment) the more difficult good transitions will be. Keep at it!

The Not-So-Good:
-HOLY CRAP OW. I have my volume at 10% max volume and that still hurts my ears. Turn down your track overall a little bit - take off some of that makeup gain or something. Clipping is happening a lot, particularly at the beginning. I mean seriously open your project up in audacity. It never changes in dynamics, and the only reason it's not a rectangle is due to maximus, I believe.
-The kick drum is way too bass-heavy and strong. I'd turn down the bass boost on it, because it's a bit too heavy.
-The sidechaining keeps going through the entire piece. It gets a bit dull and boring after awhile since the feel of it doesn't change - no tightening of the feel (take off reverb etc) and no variation. Try taking off reverb and making the sidechain really tight and have a section where all sidechaining just stops (probably no kick due to mixing issues).
-I feel like the rhythmic chords played by the piano should have been done with some kind of synth pluck - try looking for something in Sytrus or make your own. ^_^ There's an awesome pack of sytrus presets out there - google something like "sytrus preset pack timmy techno".
-I'll be perfectly honest and straightforward: The drum samples sounded pretty crappy. If you're using FL defaults, try looking up some better drumpacks - there are PLENTY out there. I could potentially get some of mine to you if you want. Also, mixing does wonders with drum quality. If you mix them well, they'll sound better.
-Outro. ):< BAD. Do something more fancy and less stock, PLEASE.
-One last thing. More variation please, in feel of the song and in melodic development. Even house/dance/techno can do that.

Overall: This is a better song than the other one I listened to, I think. I recommend you work on the following things: -->Mixing<--, variation, and outros. Keep at it, you can get better! You've improved, and that's what matters. Good work!

Aqua8B responds:

hey there!! :D

thanks for reviewing this for me
thanks that you like the sound that come is at 0:32, this is actually the same sound i have used in Galaxy Blaster, i will send you a PM of how it's made

one of the transitions was made with a sweep, plus a delay, and it gets a cool fading effect
i will go and experiment more, i will improve and create even better songs as they are now.

sorry for the volume, i thought it had a nice volume, next time I will double check to make sure it won't happen again.
for the side chaining, yeah it was something new, it sounded nice though, but it isn't a good idea to make it go through the song.

I actually have a synth pluck I created with toxic biohazard, maybe i could have used that instead

luckily i didn't use the the FL default samples, maybe the mixing does the trick, i try that, thanks :)
I've had a problem with variation in the songs i made since i have started with music, if that problem is solved i can create even better song.
when i Create songs, I'm always stuck with the variation, if you look back on all my songs, they all have the same buildup
I'm actually getting a little irritated with this problem.

thanks for the useful tips you gave me, they will really help me in creating my next song.
i will work on the mixing, variation and outros, just like you said, but the most on the variation, because that's where my problem is :)
Thanks for the review :D :D :D