JandreParis's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Nightfall [Teaser]]

This isn't much? This? You need more confidence in yourself.

It took me just ten seconds for me to realize how fantastic this is.

There is so much emotion, so much push and pull, a metric popsicle ton of harmony and melody in these fifty seconds. It's beautiful, it's innocent -- there's so much vulnerability about it! As far as I'm concerned, it's nigh-flawless to my ears. I could have this on repeat for an hour. I'm not even joking about that.

I am unable to nitpick because there isn't much for me to nitpick about. It just... sound great.

The only thing that saddens me about it... is that it isn't finished and I am unable to experience what the final product will sound like.

Please. Get on that. I feverishly await it.

-J.P.

Troisnyx responds:

Thanks, meep! I hope to finish it soonish, so that when it comes out, I may share it with you.
(I'll admit I need more confidence in myself; I have next to none of it.)

[In Orbit]

Throwin' a review right back at cha ;)

Intro is extremely lengthy. For this case, especially since it's ambient, I enjoy it being a minute and twenty-some-odd seconds. It's enough time to get lost in the melodies and just relax.

Though, when put into perspective of the piece as a whole, it could definitely have been shorter and more consistent with it's presentation - and what I mean by this is that I hear that you're trying to establish your theme, but it kind of sounds like it's all over the place at times.

The only consistency is in your right hand play, but the left hand is kind of jumbling around on chords, both arpeggiated and non. There's a set couple that match, but then it kind of falls off at times (and I'm using these right/left hand markers to differentiate between the high and low octaves, just to make that clear).

After 1:30, the key-change is welcome, but the moments leading up to it didn't really help facilitate its change. The right hand went into it, but the left hand didn't join in for the follow-up. A build up would have better used at that point, if a follow-up didn't occur.

It's at this point that the piece really opens up, I like this section more than anything else around it. The only issue is that it doesn't expand upon its electronic-feel. A soft saw would have really widen the track; a couple other arped squares or triangles would have definitely been able to fill the space here. It also saddens me that the piano didn't really change up at this point. Variety would've taken this to the next level - changes in patterns, tones, textures, spacial and dynamic feel...

Overall:

It is very calming, but the only problem is how monotonous it is. The improvisation at the beginning was nice, but it needed consistency. In the next section, you went to a more patternized state, which gave it consistency, but where improv would have helped it breathe and become much livelier -- the section that I like oh so much!

It would seem as if two ideals are happening, but they aren't meshing too well. That aside, it's a chill piece. Just a little more glue here, some elbow grease there and you got yourself something sweet.

-J.P.

Greyhunter1 responds:

Hey thanks for the review man, very detailed feedback, probably the most detailed I've ever had so very useful!

[Winter]

Pretty catchy.

Intro:

I like the accents on the hi-hats. The track starts fairly soon, and without much build-up or warning, besides a reverse cymbal. A harmonic line is established, but it wasn't enough time to get used to it. Some foreshadowing of your melody would have also made it a little more effective - fade-in, filter-in - an effect of some sort. At 00:40 and 1:05, the sudden stops confuse me. I'm thinking we're already at the breakdown by the first time it occurs.

The patterns you have playing 01:50 in would have been better placed after 00:50. It makes for better compositional coherence (meaning it would flow a little better rather than having two sudden stops nigh back to back). All 32 bars of that.

Breakdown:

Okay, so 02:24 in, some fairly creative orchestral pizzicato, which is then swapped out for some percussive variety. I like this section more than I do the intro because it seems the most interesting. Lasts a fairly long while (not that that's a bad thing, it's a nice change of pace).

Outro:

From that point on, essentially the same deal from the intro. Restates the main theme, which works.

After-thoughts:

It's not bad. I believe there could be some more melodic diversity in the intro. It could be a tad lengthier so that you can establish your themes better, as the ideas seem disjointed at times. Bassline could use a switch-up. The pattern that plays gets stale after the sixth time listening to it.

You've got most of what I'm talking about at that 2:25 mark, it just needs to extend everywhere else so that you can have the listener maintain more interest. Plus it'll make it more rounded.

As for synthesis and frequency spectrum, it's lacking some sub-bass warmth and high-end sizzle. You've got some percussion there to compensate, but it's not dynamic enough. It's especially noticeable during your breaks where there's not much going. I can feel and hear the emptiness between instruments. Perhaps a couple more nuances to fill the voids and some soft overall compression to give it more glue.

For that bass, a new timbre or tonal quality could be applied to make it stand out between sections, rather than just repeating the same tone. Same goes for the melodic line.

I believe that's all I had to comment on.

It's catchy, but the catchy-ness wears pretty thin after more than a couple listens (at least that's how I feel).

Keep on keepin' on!

-J.P.

TheSubfrost responds:

Amazing feedback! Very helpful and detailed. Thank you very much!

[[DnB] Tribal Heart - Sure]

Hm. Hmm.

I listened to this yesterday, thought I'd give it a review, but didn't come back to it until today, and having heard it again, I think I'm solidified in what I want to say.

I've heard many liquid tracks on this site, and as a producer of liquid myself, I've heard a variety from good to seemingly okay. There's ton of potential 'round these parts, and you're no exception.

Positives:
+ Great use of filter effects. Gives your synths some good variety and nigh naturalistic timbre.
+ First drop is pretty swell. The kit is well constructed.
+ Sound design is great. Sounds like a mesh between Harmless and Sakura (since the plucking and tone is fairly distinct).
+ Automation is quite well done. Tons of sweeps, risers, slight pitch shifts (especially that arp into pitch down 'round 3:15). Also sweet vibrato at 3:50 and 4:11.
+ 2:29 was a great change of pace. Good cutoff to indicate breakdown.
+ 3:30 has nice harmonic and melodic themes, totally different from what was heard at the beginning, though all the same related to your initial and well established theme.
+ Nuances are placed throughout to give it some harmonic variety, which is greatly appreciated.
+ Outro is just about what I expected it to be. Filter effect and fade out into digital silence.

Negatives:
- Kick and snare immediately suffer from the polarity of your hat when that comes into the next bar. A peak controller or some volume control (along with a polarity reversal) here would help so that they doesn't lose that vital "snap" and "thump" when it's introduced.
- Some EQ can be done with that sharp high note prior to your second breakdown. It's quite harsh. That's really the only stand-outish thing I can point out with that synth in particular.
- From First (technically still the 'Build-up') to Second Drop, the driving force is a little lacking -- mostly attributed to the drum kit. You can certainly have it fairly sparse from percussive activity to indicate different phrases, but without that content that comes from the high-end, it kind of boils down to a mundane speed. Especially with Drum & Bass that is usually at a high pace, it left me wanting more from it.
- Into your main theme, I notice that there's something missing...
What's missing is "fullness." You've got these great melodic themes that harmonize well with each other, but it doesn't sound as together as it can be. It needs more warmth, a little more sub, a little more mids, both high and low, to fill out the entire spectrum. This can usually be done with DSP (Dynamic Signal Processing) effects to make your track much wider than it currently is. Just some reverb, some delay here and there, soft compression and you'll be golden. It is a fairly "dry" affair ;). I do notice that some of your synths have them, but there could be 'slightly' more.

Suggestions:

A little more synth layering can be done to give you some more tonal quality and timbre to your sounds. Two or three more under your main line can give you some interesting results. This can give your track some more thickness.

Some slight EQ tweaks as most of your synthesis is based upon Saw waves, which can be fairly harsh as they are chocked full of harmonic overtones. A chorusing or flangeing effect can make it smoother (and it's a little easier on the ears!). This gives them their own space.

Overall:

A quality track. For "something new," it's well done. Some nit-picky things here and there, but a great job. Production quality is good and the composition is, also, quite quite good.

I'll be keeping my eye on you.

-J.P.

BlackACE321 responds:

Thanks a lot for your criticism, I really need it, even though I don't really understand some of your arguments, but that's because I have a different point of view, I just really like the way it is :)
Thanks for all your time, because it seems writing this down took some, really appreciate it ^^

Have a nice day

[The Castle In The Sky]

Not bad, not bad.

EQ needs a little bit more work here. Instruments need far more separation as they're getting lost in each other.

You did an odd thing around the one minute mark where you lowered everything as the vocals came in. Then brought everything back up. Still highly jarring to hear that happening and it's not a good way of controlling volume and loudness as it changes everything overall. It would be best to have everything set at one volume level (it really does just sound like you're messing with the Master Fader when you shouldn't be).

(I had to turn it down significantly because it was causing an extreme standing wave in my room. Not cool when your ears hurt.)

Vocals sound distorted in comparison to everything else. The EQ set for her also doesn't present her voice in the best possible light. She's got more mids and bass to her than she should, which could just be a factor of the absolutely wet reverb you have going on there. Or the volume itself.

Saw synth and bassline are extremely overpowering. That's only second to none with the vocals being above and beyond everything. They drown out nearly everything else in the piece. I know there are nuances there only because I'm struggling to hear them. That piano... that poor piano has no room to breathe.

Mix needs a bit of an overhaul, in my honest opinion. Nonetheless, it's not bad, but because of the way it is, it could be better.

Keep on, keepin' on!

-J.P.

ChromaShift responds:

Thank you again for an honest and detailed review. Yes, the reverb is very wet and I noticed that when she starts singing, the other parts of the song got lower and less defined. Couldn't find the problem, but maybe it's because of the reverb. So I'm not playing with the Master Fader around the 1 minute mark, it's because I maybe made her voice to overlapping. Also in the chorus/refrain of this track I played with the Master Fader and because of that this part is louder than the part before it. Must correct this mistake too. I didn't noticed a standing wave when I played the track a few times. Maybe because I didn't work with vocals before, I must learn how to integrate them in the best way possible, so it's something which comes with a better experience in music or with working more with vocals. I hope I can fix this volume killing thing in my track because it bothered me before I released it, but couldn't find a solution myself. So thanks again for the review/criticism, it helps me out a lot!

-Shift

[Pride (2015)]

Interesting.

Pretty good, pretty good. Highly dynamic, each phrase is different to the last and increasingly growing in complexity and intricacy as the song progresses further.

I feel the only issues I have with this is your beat and your main-stay flute (the low one) . They don't change, and while everything revolves around them (which works well, don't get me wrong) I felt as if they could use variations of themselves as well. They should progress as much as everything else around them, or at least to somewhat of a lesser extent. Different notations on the flute, an extra beat in the kit or another rim here and there. Things like that.

Also feel that the flute is lost among everything else that is happening. Especially during the one to three minute mark. Gets a little washed out here and there because of its range (Just me, though).

Some cymbal work would also be nice. Not talking harsh crashes or anything too over the top, but some small hi-hat hits or low-key crashes from a China. Get some of that high frequency content going, besides all or your string/choral work. It would give the drum beat a little more liveliness.

All that aside, I like this piece. If you've ever played Dark Cloud and listened to the dungeon theme of Muska Laka, this gives me some memories of that. Pretty awesome.

-J.P.

Retsamehtmai responds:

wow thank you for these tips! and I totally agree about the flute O_O I more have that repeating flute in there to keep the song from getting too quiet when the other instruments are taking a break. I'm trying to develop a better way (that I like) to either change the melody or blend volumes better as I go. I shall keep everything you've said in mind as I continue to fix up my songs...hopefully I can make it work! :D Thanks again!

[Free2Play - Lazy]

Ooh.

Less like mainstream Dance, more like Nu Disco. It's certainly got that kind of feel. If you've listened to the likes of Televisor or Mystery Skulls, they pull the kind of things that you got here, but at a bit of a quicker pace.

The fact that it's not mastered is actually fine. As it stands, it sounds great.

The low end isn't something to be beating yourself up over. In fact, the way it is now, the low end has a lot of warmth and fullness to it. If you plan on reducing that some (which is probably a good idea to do - everything in modulation) try not to remove those key frequencies in the low-mids and sub-low.

Generally, the EQ is fine as it stands. You shouldn't be trying to compensate for heaviness in one area, but more on filling it out as a whole. More instrumentation that can be put into the higher end of the spectrum can really round this out (Such as that harmonica-like sound near the end).

Focus more on sculpting your sound and your style before trying to fix it. You'll find you'll have a much more fun time with it when you're just letting loose. Then back away from it and give it some time before you listen to it again - that is when you can really scrutinize it with a fresh pair of ears.

Vocals are nice. (Almost thought I was listening to the lead singer of Fall Out Boy, hah!)

For your voice, they're not bad. Since you're not a vocalist, I will say try and keep being consistent. Lots of people I've heard falter when they hold notes or modulate a little too much. You've got that kind of Pop Singer voice - lots in the highs and the mids but not so much in the lows, which is great for this kind of track. Just, be a little kinder when you use reverb and delay. They're muddying it up a bit much.

I'm sure there's lot of tweaking to be done, but have fun with it! Tweak as you go along composing!

Great job here, sir. Great job.

-J.P.

Free2Play responds:

Haha, I have that pop singer voice because i don't know how to sing! (oh snap)

Also nice shot with the inspiration, I actually have been a good fan of MysterySkulls lately.

A lack of highs in general both composition wise and when mixing tends to be a fault of mine. I'm really trying to improve by adding more high heavy synths and boosting those highs, but I don't know sometimes I don't get the right balance or I just personally find it ear piercing.

And totally I've learned that its best to just feel a song out and not get overly technical until later.

Thanks for your great comments these are definitely the kind that help me grow!

[Dont]

Hm.

This pretty good. I don't like dubstep myself, but I quite prefer this flavor of the genre more-so than it's harder and more grimier variants.

Melody is good, though a little too loud. It's sat right on top of everything. Also, bit more EQ in the higher ranges of that synth. Could be smoother.

In fact, your vocals should take that place here, as they sound like they're a tad bit further back. Vocals should be taking precedence here with everything following closely behind.

I also feel like you should push those vocals a little more creatively. Instead of your general vocal build, you could have done some pretty wacky things that would have caught interest more as it just... seems a little underwhelming as soon as it drops. (That's just me, of course.)

Funnily enough, I feel the basslines could be a tad louder as well. They're good. Wouldn't hurt to push it just a couple dB more. Also not sure if it's not me, but sub needs more warmth.

Composition is well made. Piano work is sweet and chill.

Ending is a tad abrupt as you don't let the Piano resonate after that last note.

Nevertheless, this is great. I can dig it. Well done.

-J.P.

Pandasticality responds:

much appreciated critique, thank you sir! oh and their not my vocals, their my colleagues.
- Pandasticality

[The Time Has Come - ChromaShif]

Hmm.

The cymbals at the beginning are quite grating on the ears. Sounds like a ride/bell type sample, and if it is, it should have less color and timbre so that it isn't as intrusive. Remove some of its tail so that it doesn't ring out.

Sounds very epic, as Ceevro stated, from this point onward. Don't quite understand the odd volume change 'round 0:30. Made for an interesting drop, nonetheless.

The kit itself could use a little bit of cleaning up. Kick needs more strength behind it. Definitely could use a deeper sub. You attempt to compensate for it 'round 1:20, but it doesn't work so well here as it does 10 seconds later due to the different polar qualities between the samples. Something is interfering with the sample, which is probably due to another sample in the track.

Snare has too much release (at least for my tastes). It's producing extra noise that you don't particularly need, and it makes it sound a little more artificial than it actually is. It is stylized, but it'd probably work far better if it wasn't so "in your face."

The signature change was welcome, albeit a bit sudden @ 1:30.

Piano work is pretty interesting midway through. Could use some dynamic variation as it stays at fortissimo the entire time that it's present. The chops afterwards though aren't particularly as enjoyable they don't change much throughout and don't see real progression until 5:30. As Ceevro stated, it can definitely stand on its own without the extra instrumentation in the background.

Compositionally, it's good. There is just too much repetition in-between. State your phrases and transition accordingly with a different theme. You can use continuation as a means of referencing back to the last phrase, but it shouldn't last much longer than 8-16 bars, y'know?

Be succinct and trim the filler.

All of these points aside, I enjoyed it for what it was - a fairly epic and thematic track with some cool accentuations.

Keep it up!

-J.P.

ChromaShift responds:

Thank you too for this honest and detailed review. I edited my track and uploaded it here, maybe I managed to make it sound better. Also trimmed the length of the track. I hope it's better now, thanks also for being a fan now ;D

-Shift