SkyeWint's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[BK - Overload]

Okay. This song's turn. Ready, set go!

The Good:
-I like the phaser/flanger sound on the bass in the beginning. It's well-done and sounds pretty sweet. :)
-I very much like the little chiming sound as well.
-Pretty nice distorted wobbles after the... transition(?) at 1:42-1:43.
-Actually, your mixing is a lot better in this song overall. I can hear everything pretty clearly, not much is overwhelmed unless it's a filter sweep, and those are pretty much designed to be subtle initially.

The Not-So-Good:
-Sorry. :< That kick doesn't sound good at all. It doesn't have enough in the attack, and also lacks a good bass sound - too much of the very low. Finally, it has the weird "deow" sound (really don't know how to put it into letters) which doesn't sound very good.
-Biggest problem: This is SUPER repetitive. There's very little variation throughout, and each individual section goes on for too long without enough change in it to keep me interested. Finally, each section repeats itself several times. Just switching patterns in and out is good for beginning work, but you need to go beyond that and have melodies as well as countermelodies - not just cool instruments and harmonic chord progression.
-1:42-1:43 what the hell <--This describes it in full.
-While the ending is better, it could still be improved a lot. The piece needs some sense of 'closure'. Part of the issue is the repetitiveness. At the very least, I could tell that the end was most likely starting to come.

Overall: I really don't have a ton to say about this, mainly because the content that's there is really only worth about 2 to 2 and a half minutes or so. That's the biggest problem in this, and it forces me to give a score no higher than 7/10. I actually have to say, I enjoyed this despite its flaws. You know what you're doing - just try to put in some melodic development if possible please! :)

-Swint-
-Review Request Club-

Aqua8B responds:

well, thanks for the review :)
for the repetitiveness, sorry, I0m trying to get this all better and improved, allthough I0m experimenting now with the house style, i feel more comfortable with the house genre
and of course my biggest problem is the melody, i still do not know how toget that right with a good lead, and something that is like telling a story, melodies from people like "Envy", i want to do the same
1:42 - 1:43 - yeah, it was experimenting with "Gross Beat", maybe you could help me with the melodic development, if so, send me a PM
and again thanks for the review

[BK - Galaxy Blaster]

Hello there.

First off, I sincerely apologize for the RRC not getting a review on this. Unfortunately, the club is dying out somewhat and we don't have enough members with enough time to review every submission (due to various reasons - college, high school, work, other important stuff, etc). I haven't been active in the RRC for a little while myself. However, since I do come in every once in awhile and review, here's one for you. I'll also review your other song (s) that you posted for this next/last week.

THE GOOD:
-Nice intro, I like the chord progression and the rhythms, they're odd.
-I like the buildup at 1:00, along with the slight change in chord progression - would be great if you could vary it a bit more.
-1:30 Holy crap I am such a sucker for that kind of deep reverbed bass hit that sounded so satisfying.
-I'm impressed that there's not unintentional distortion (that I can hear).

THE NOT-AS-GOOD:
-The way you use the pluck in the beginning is EXTREMELY overdone. Try using some other way to build up rather than just extending the decay length. Also, it has an odd pitch slide. The pitch slide is comparatively minor though, so you don't really need to worry about it much.
-I personally think that when the drums come in, they're slightly too loud. This mainly applies to the shaker sound you have in there. It's a tad harsh, I'd have liked if it came in a bit slower. Also, I can barely hear the clap sound under the kick - might want to increase the volume of that a bit if you are really opposed to making the other percussion quieter.
-0:30. Holy fucknuggets my ears exploded when that hit in. It sounds awesome, but it's WAY too loud and doesn't have anything right before it preparing you for that explosion of sound. Don't brickwall sound pl0x. That hurts ears. (basically: It'd sound a bit better if there were some kind of preparation for the really loud sound, or if the really loud sound were lowered in volume a little bit before it comes in)
-After the eargasm at 1:30, the big distorted sound was a bit off-key for the most part compared to the chord progression. Might be nice if you changed the pattern a bit more to fit with the chords.
-Toward the end, where you start simply layering more piano/pluck sounds, it sounds very much like you had run out of ideas and decided just to add stuff to lengthen the song.
-Finally, where in the world is the ending? Everything just cuts out with filtered and sidechained white noise going 'down'. Not very satisfying at all.

Overall: This is actually a pretty unique piece of house from what I've heard (though I don't listen to a lot of house music so meh). I do have to give you credit for that. The main things I think you need to work on are the volume levels of your instruments and keeping within the key signature. Once you have that down, then you can start experimenting more with accidentals and off-key melodies. Granted, that's mainly if you want to add a jazzy element to your music, but hey, no reason to not try that - jazz can sound pretty cool. I'll give this a 6/10. The uniqueness of what this is compared to what I've heard gives it an extra two points from what it would otherwise be.

Oh, one final word of advice - more variance in melodies. Try having more than one melodic idea in a song, so that you can bring multiple themes in and out. That also allows you to extend the length of your music without it sounding quite as 'stock'.

-Swint-
-Review Request Club-

Aqua8B responds:

at first i forgive you for doing it too late THIS time :P :)

let's just get immediately to the "not good", because that's where my improvements are laying
for the decay slide, yeah I'm testing a bit with this here and there, so i need to improve that
but the pitch slide was on purpose, i thought it sounded nice

for the drums, i don't know, i think i need to make the drums not so loud in my future songs

0:30, yeah, that's whats needed to get improved for sure, because the next song i am going to upload soon, has that same dirty bass idea, and the same sound

at 1:30, that was actually the hardest part to create in the song, to let the distorted sound fit the chord progression, seriously, almost impossible :)

towards the end and the end itself, i did anything to prevent it from getting repetitive, so i just added sounds to keep it "fresh", and for the end, another main thing i need to work on, the endings

thanks for all the advice you have given me, i know it's hard to listen to someone's song and then write such a list of good and notasgoods, you have my respect
i will try and use all the advice in my future songs :)
-BK

[Venus]

Final round, Kor-Rune! Good luck here! Hope this doesn't sound too nitpicky.

The Good:
-That's some cool vocal work.
-I like the rotary/electric organ.
-Some really cool slide effects.
-I really enjoyed the part at 3:00-3:37 or so.
-You have some VERY cool arpeggios.
-Also really enjoy the part at around 4:30-4:45, mainly because it calms down. Same can be said about the area at around 5:00-end.

The Not-So-Good:
-What happened to your great intros? D: I'm a bit disappointed by the one here.
-The time signature is... something like 6/8? It's obscenely hard to follow throughout most of it, which keeps me on edge and distracts me from the musicality of it.
-At about 2 minutes in, there's a crazy solo thing which just goes on and on (or feels like it, at least).
-Two and a half minutes in, and there really really needs to be a break from the crazy-weird time signature, along with the kick pummeling me constantly. Calm down a little bit, please! :(
-If you're going to have a really calm section, please do it more in the middle when the main theme is crazy for most of it - give it more of an ABA format rather than AAB.

Overall: Hoooooly crap, Kor-Rune, lighten up on the awkwardly-placed transitions and wacky-feel time signatures. :( Also, I'm covered in bruises now because of that kick. I'm sorry, but this was pretty disappointing after the other rounds. I'm going to have to give this a 8/10.

Kor-Rune responds:

Thanks for the review! I realize I write too unconventional but who wants to be normal? ;3 I realize the meter changes are odd, I have way too much fun with that, sorry XD

If you were bruised by the kick, surprised by the signatures, I did my job! I'm not sure I was exactly shooting for a calm, single meter track here, until the end, of course. I'll calm down when I write a calm song, I promise. XD Sorry for all that bass drum, but I'm kind of doing some metal here dude, it would be wrong to skimp on the kicks.

I agree about the transitions, especially in the middle, I did it again and I was pretty aware, even while I was recording. so oops lol, I suck. I'll work on getting the bigger picture some more!

Sorry if I screamed in your ear for the intro LOL. I was trying to be unique and not create 40 second intro fluff, but I guess it is better to be predictable.

Thanks again for all of your reviews and constructive crits! Without them I probably wouldn't have made it this far in NGADM <:

[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.

[Istishhad]

Here's your round 3 review! It'll be a bit harsher than your previous reviews once more. Harsher the closer to the end we get!

The Good:
-That intro sounds really cool with all the indian instruments.
-Your percussion is much better this time IMO. The way it's sequenced sounds very nice overall.
-0:32 THUMP. Niiiiiiice. Also after that, the bouncing instrument (can't remember the name of it) sounds pretty awesome.
-You have quite a few interesting melodies.
-I still love your violin sound and have been looking for it in BAB's soundfonts for awhile but can't find it. Damn.
-Very unique-sounding. You certainly have your own style.

The Not-So-Good:
-Mixing could still use some work, some instruments are buried under other ones.
-The transitions could also use some work. About 2:10-2:23 seems odd, particularly at 2:23 where everything goes down and it sounds like it's the intro to another song.
-At about 3:54, that transition could use a tiny bit more, there's a lot of empty space in it.
-After 4:06, things get fairly boring. It sounds pretty awesome, but goes on for a long time without much changing. At 4:36, it seems a bit more disconnected from the other parts.

Overall: This is pretty cool and definitely not the kind of thing I would normally hear, but... it's a bit too disconnected and monotonous. The mixing and percussion is a lot better overall. You might want to focus more on melodies and composition overall rather than mainly percussion. I'll give this a 7.5/10.

RetromanOMG responds:

In regards to the mixing, I feel I had the most dificulty mixing the strings in a fashion that kept them all audible. As I mentioned in the previous response, I ran out of time and rushed the production. When I redo this song, I will address the issues that I left unanswered in it's production.