T-rebel's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[FD - Moontears Pt. III]

Great composition, but I'm going to nitpick a bit at your mastering. I felt that the strings came in a bit heavy after the intro, around 0:22. I would have toned them back a bit more, just to make the piano's entrance a bit more obvious. Also, I think you should keep the strings soft while that early piano solo's going on until about 1:30. Once you come to the reprise of that section around 2:00, that's when I'd let the strings come in harder. That way, when you have the strings carrying the melody at 3:00, they'll feel more built up. As it was, they didn't quite resonate as I felt they could have if they'd been building up.

The next section (starting at 3:30), with the piano carrying the melody should vary a bit more in volume, maybe start it even softer than you do now. I'd start building towards the crescendo at 4:08, with those 3 chords building up to the slide at 4:28.

I loved the way you reduced the volume after that. That's where I'd like to see the dimminuendo at in other places. However, I think the strings come in a bit too strongly at that point (5:02). Build them up gradually, because as you have it now they over power the piano as soon as they come in. I also suggest that you reduce the compression and the "heat" on the piano during all its crescendos. It's very strange to have it ringing on all the louder notes; pianos don't really do that unless the pedal's down, and basically you've got it down throughout the whole piece, particularly around 5:45.

THanks for taking the time to compose this one. It's a really great arrangement and it's not overly complicated.

ForgottenDawn responds:

Thanks for your critique and time.

[The Surface [SFPL]]

Quite on the contrary,
I'd say this does show quite a bit of improvement over most of the tracks I've seen from you. First of all, the EQ is pretty spotless, which I've noticed was not the case for most of your WIP stuff. Here, though, your lead is loudest; your chorus is well faded into the back but still audible; your drums are loud & compressed, but not clipping... this reads like a checklist for proper mixing.

Also, I thought you did a decent job of building up, but you're right this needs an outro, although I don't think you're at the point where you're even considering putting an end on this track. Frankly I think you're improving by leaps and bounds; keep it up -- it's quality music you got there.

[KrazR-Screams Of Silence]

How is this even close to being dubstep? There's basically no melody in the bass clef... it's all sweeps and pads. This is the sort of "I heard some Skrillex and I think it's dubstep" nonsense that should get blammed, but nobody knows any better.

Look, it's a well made track, but this is closer to house than dubstep with all the chorus FX and piano...

Bones341 responds:

Not being funny, but I don't see you writing much dubstep, how the hell would you know? I didn't even know there were rules in music!

Whatever man! I wrote this song to whatever I think sounds good, if you don't like it then that's your beef

[Time Machine- Alias]

Hip hop with a Habanera beat?! That's damn well near the most original thing I've seen on NG. Totally unreal job. And that lead you picked really does hammer home the old-school vibe you were goin' for. Reminds me of Up In Smoke...

[DJ Dela - Elite (Original]

It's not really my taste, but still I can admit it was well well executed. It's so square wavy and chorus FX'd, that it's borderline trance music; a few more bps and it would be.

I'd also have liked to see a bit more variety in the beat, it was pretty much all kick clap from beginning to end. At least one break beat would have been nice. Also, not quite enough bass in there -- would make addition if I could make my sub start pounding with this track.

You did such a great job with the rest of this, that you're still getting a 4, but just by a hair!

DJDela responds:

Not quite the music style you'd expect variety of the drums from.
I wouldn't say it's trance, just a standard electro style with hard bass and some melody.
Anyway thanks for the review.

[Reasoner- Living Transparent]

Dude, you're on nhl.com!

I DL'd this track like 2 years ago and just heard it on the Jack Jablonski Story as background music. Hope you intended it, cuz otherwise you should totally SOPA the sh*t out of the NHL!

[ParagonX9 - Red 13]

Great melodies, but too long and repetitive.

Overall, the melody was extremely well polished. Also, the EQ was as close to flawless as I've seen on Newgrounds. However, I think your beat's volume could stand to be a bit lower (if it's all on one channel, you could just tweak it down a bit). I found it somewhat overpowering contrasted against the subtle strings, choirs and relatively quiet 8-bit synths you chose as leads.

The transitions you had between sections were really beautiful, and this is officially the first time I've used that word to describe any Newgrounds submission. It irked me a little bit, though, that once you'd put such great melodies together you just ran through them several times and then ended the track without any real buildup. As it stands, without a real ending and with a substantial amount of repetition, I can't give you more than an 8.

If you ever decide to revisit this track for further production (and I really hope you do), please put at least one seriously grandiose ending on this, and shorten it up a bit. If you did, I'd rate it an 11.

[=KL=Waterfall(demo updated)]

Not my fav lead, but a good track just the same

That echoing synth you're using sounds like it came from sytrus; I can't remember the name of it though. Interesting choice for the opening; not my favorite, but it's defensible I guess. I will say this, though, I thought that you did a great job building it up, but I think it would be better if you automated the 'pluckiness' on that synth. That way, it would sound more like a lead by the time the chorus come on. I find the pluck's attack really annoying over that square wave bass.

My only other critique is that I think the bass should be a bit lower, because you lose the rest of the pluck synth behind it (you hear mostly the attack and almost none of the sustain). Adjusting the lvls on that bass would make your lead stand out more (which maybe you don't want, but I'd prefer it).

All in all, I think this has some promise, but it needs some work and (obviously) some variety as it gets longer. Good luck finishing her up, man!

4/5
7/10

Kriegless responds:

haha, actually the only thing that I'm using that is from Sytrus is the pads and they are modded ;)

the beginning is kinda just in there. I might keep it, I might not.

I'll consider the lower base, I still need to do some more internal equalization to get everything to stand out the way it should, however, that will come all in good time. :)

thank you for the review, I will definitely (and already have) adhere to your advice.

I'm actually listening to it right now, thinking and scheming on how I can make this song into a true work of art.

If you want to have further say in the making of this song just PM me!

Thanks!

Kriegless~

P.S. BTW everything in this song is original. All the loops are mine and there are almost no default synths in there. Everything either has filters or are modded within the synth. I do need better drums...but that will also come good time. :)

[P.L.T.]

Interesting...

Not a fan of the pluck synth you picked, but I did like your beats & the trance-ish lead. I think you might want to lower that bass a bit at the very end. It seemed a bit loud to me, especially when it was on at the same time as the lead.

Also, is this supposed to be a loop or a WIP? It seemed strange to end on a bass solo, and the 2nd half of the track is essentially a repeat of the 1st half.

All told, this felt a bit fragmented, and maybe needed better transitions to keep it together. It felt a bit empty when the bass was playing alone

3/5
7/10

[Hipster]

what's it got do with hipsters?

I found your kick drum was a bit loud before you brought the other instruments; you might consider tweaking the volume down a bit before the other synths come in. I liked the transition around 1:00, I got the feeling you were trying to get a sort of 'freeze frame' effect. I thought you could have held the last sweep from the previous section as part of the transition where instead you ended that note. Didn't have much of an ending, and while you were fading the synths out, you forgot to lower the volume of the beat with them. Personally, I've never been a fan of fade endings.

Overall, it's a decent track, but it could use a bit more variety in the beat. I think there were only maybe 2 variations throughout. Still, great choices with the synths for your melody, and generally good EQ work. I think your 2nd lead (afer the transition @ 1:00) is a touch too loud though.

Nice work,
7/10
4/5

BuggMusic responds:

it's got nothing to do with hipsters, just couldn't think of anything sensible for a name.

I didn't entirely understand what you meant with the ending, I just kind of took away layers which is what I do pretty much all the time. I think I really need some new speakers as I seem to be getting my levels very screwed up as you mention with the kick and lead being too loud. Thanks for the review.