Trash-Man-1's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Evaluation License]

So far it seems pretty nice. First off, the intro seems to take a bit long to build up into the main song IMO. At about 1 min, there is a rough transition that could possibly be fixed by some percussion filling in the break you did. the soft section at 1:25 or so is a nice touch, but feels odd at first coming immediately after that previous part. Maybe there's a way to take a little bit out slowly to have the same effect, but not as rough as a transition.

I think overall, I would like to have heard a prominent melody in there. There is a melody, but it seems to want to blend in with the harmonies. It might be nice to break free a little more. At 3:45 the drums fall out of rhythm and it feels very out of place. You might want to change those up.

Ending was really abrupt.

A very relaxing feel, and definitely not bad for your first submission. I think the biggest thing would be the melody needing to become more prominent at least in some portions of the song, as it just blends in and while that is a nice relaxing feel, it should change that feel at least for a portion, so we don't get bored as listeners.

Keep up the good work.

Mixing overall is a little quiet, but that is my only issue. I think just a punch in overall volume would fix that.

ETRossier responds:

Thanks for the review! I think part of the problem at 1:25 is that the ambiance from the strings carries over, muddling the synth, which is maybe already too quiet.

Yeah, I could definitely use a bit more going on melodically. It'll help to get a midi controller set up so I can play around a little more.

Yeah, the ending was abrupt. I should probably do something more with that same synth I ended, and then let the ambiance sustain, maybe do something cool with an envelope.

As for the drums, I guess I'm just not hearing it get out of rhythm. I jump into a couple slow triplet but it slides right back in. Idk, I'll tweak it a bit, but I'm not sure I'm hearing it. I was kinda going for a jungle (the genre) solo kinda thing, but maybe I missed the mark.

I still have room to bump up the master volume, so I'll do that on my next render.

Again, thanks for the review! Super helpful!

[Rock Prophet]

Nice to hear some classic rock. Very nice sounding, and good guitar riffs going on. I suppose my only complaint is that there is a slight high end hiss, but the good news is that it's mostly drowned out when the song is moving.

Definitely is hitting the nail on the head for the classic rock vibe.

Great stuff.

Outro felt a little odd. Maybe a build up to that ending would help it not feel so sudden.

chertolet responds:

Thanks for the feedback.

a slight high end hiss - this is all from the work of the plug-in emulation of the magnetic tape, as if creating a vintage sound, the hiss can be removed completely.

glad you liked it !

[Dirty Clothes]

The sounds used are interesting. So far I'm 45 seconds in though, and the song hasn't changed much. The overall mix is rather crowded and muddy, probably due to the main sound clashing with the harmonies. Might want to tone down a few frequencies to avoid the mud. The song needs more variation as well as a noticeable melody on top of everything. I can't really imagine anyone wanting to spend 6 mins on this. The break around 2 mins is a nice touch, but then we go back to the same overall sound we've been hearing before. Remember, it's not about making a song as long as you can, it's about making a song do as much as it can, and then when it's done, it's done. I feel this entire song could be completed in 1 min 20 seconds. Maybe 2:30 if you added in more variation that stands out from the rest.

A good idea, but as it stands now, it just feels to repetitive to be enjoyable, as well as the mixing is rather muddy (clash with the bass and harmonies).

Ultraconsole responds:

Thanks for the advice!

[Stella Star]

It's pretty good. I really like the soft touch of the intro. Maybe the intro takes a tad too long (but that could just be my tastes). The delay is a little overkill on the piano/bell like sounds. Harmony voice like sound is perfect where it is. Drums are well done and are mixed perfectly. A few of the high pitch harmonies are a little piercing. The sudden stop and change to 2:00 is very rough and could use some work IMO. Pretty rough intermission. Maybe use some drums to extend the tail form the previous section so we don't have a sudden and rough transition to the intermission. Nice to see people doing intermissions BTW. More people need to do those.

Overall, I really like it. only a few things like the delay on the main harmony rhythm you got going. Outro felt a little odd and out of place.

Great stuff, keep up the good work.

ScottJacob responds:

Hey man, thank you for the remarks, i agree with all of them. The delay IS a bit overkill on the arp rhythm, i'm going to go back and try to clean it up. As well as the outro. It is poorly timed, i originally thought it sounded neat but now i realize that it really isn't haha. I like the roughness of the intermission, i want to keep it a little jarring but i might add some drums before to help build it up for a bit more anticipation.

Thanks for the review! i appreciate it

[Royal Praise Track]

Really good stuff. Understanding what it is, I have to say it's quite nice. Really good sense of rhythm. If I could touch anything, it would be that the symbols seem to clash a tad. I think it's because they are too present. I can't fault anything for this, as this is just a demonstration anyway. Maybe the only thing I could suggest is to have them happen less often, but I could just be showing my own personal tastes here.

Nice stuff.

Evan-Murray responds:

Thank you! And yeah, I agree with you on the cymbals. I should probably upload a recording of a real drumline playing this.

[Link On Ocean (WIP)]

Overall, very nice samples, and great quality in the sound mix. Reminds me of David Wise (DKC composer). I personally feel the song takes a bit too long to get started, as it was too blank for too long for my tastes. Once it gets going it's great stuff. Sometimes it's better to go shorter than to stretch out to get a longer time on your song. I feel a few other times the action drops a bit too much. I do get that this is an ambient track. And for the record, what I am saying is only minor stuff.

Great song, wonderful atmosphere. Just a little drawn out at times (especially the intro/outro).

Midnights-Ocean responds:

hey thanks for the feedback. I appreciate it. did you listen to the latest version? https://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/797011 I think I made it worse in regards to length, lol. This originally was going to be a real short, like 2 minute thing but it kept building. latest version is like 10 minutes @.@; but yeah, it is ambient. goes with the territory I guess. Maybe I'll make a short version consisting of just the main theme, if people keep saying it's too slow/long. Thanks again! very helpful to have feedback. :)

[Imovable Sweets]

I get you wanted to perform the usual dance sounds, but it kinda has a nasty sound to it with everything syncing up to the fading rhythm. Maybe have one or two sounds not do this. I know it's a style of the dance genre, but even those don't do it quite so vigorously. Once we get to 1:05 it sounds much better, and is how it should be done entirely IMO. The song abruptly ends and could use a proper outro.

As it is now, I think it needs more polish. A great idea, but those fading sounds syncing up in the first half creates a rather harsh sound that I just can't enjoy.

BlockGhost responds:

I wasn't really "trying" to get a dance sound per say. I didn't have any sounds or references in mind. I just made this with the intent to dance in general.

[Lord Of the Lies]

Pretty interesting stuff.

The initial sound fading in is rather loud. Had to turn down my speakers because of it. I get the point, but maybe turn it down just a tad. Overall this is a great sound, but I feel sometimes it could use some more variation in each particular segment. It holds on for too long without doing anything new, and most of the stuff that does change, is not present enough to be noticed.

Good use of the industrial sounds.

Nice stuff.

mrtmoney responds:

I thought that too but I had already closed the program and I can’t remember what tempo it was to overdub. Maybe I can record something freestyle over it

[Hope]

Definitely some interesting sounds in this. Would make a great ambience track. The first section maybe could have some more variety, but maybe it was your choice to build up to the more detailed section at 1:20ish. A few risky choices with the drowned reverb at around 1:50, but it works. The track keeps up with the variance which is nice. So many people just repeat the same thing over and over and never go anywhere.

I think maybe overall a few parts could either be varied more, or have something on top. Then again, it may ruin the ambience, so it's probably not worth it.

Great stuff. Keep up the good work.

Evan-Murray responds:

Thank you!

[endK - Neon Graveyard]

Very solid piece. I like the variety. Good job on 11th place.

Sometimes it feels it could calm down for longer periods to give a good break. It does do this, but I feel it should probably do it just a tad more. It's very nice when it does do it, don't get me wrong.

At times I feel maybe the percussion could change up a little more. The fills and breaks are nice, but sometimes it's better to add more variety.

The song abruptly ends. I don't know if this is meant to be a loop or not, but the ending can probably have a proper outro segment IMO.

Overall, wonderful work. Anything I have mentioned is only minor at most. Keep up the great songs. Nice to hear chip inspired music.

endKmusic responds:

Yeah, it's kinda energetic one.
Didn't want to include more breaks than one since I see it as some kind of action-packed-level tune.
Some new perc do come and go, but the rhythm more or less stays the same. I'll take that as a note.
And you're right, it's meant to be a more loopy kind of song.
Thanks for the review, appreciate it!