iamwontolla's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[-Diverge-]

I like this. It's got that bouncy MDK vibe and some nice ad punchy drums. Not too repetitive, even if not every melody works, and a structure that flows well.

The thing that'll take this to the next level is the supersaw chords. Cut some of the mids (about 1k) to give the leads more room, boost the highs, and tweak the unison to make them as wide as possible. A little more detune wouldn't hurt either. Good supersaws can make or break a melodic track.

[[DJKB] Darkstep]

Your drums are extremely weak, finding better samples and sidechaining will fix that: http://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1421528 The lead sounds also sound flat and empty because there's no reverb on them.

In general, the mix could use more work, clean up the mids so every sound can be heard, get *something* happening in the highs (to give it some of that electronic gloss), watch the instrument balance, and knock off that annoying panning.

The composition is solid, though. With better sound design (along with all the mixing stuff I mentioned), this could be something. If you need inspiration, check out Code:Pandorum. He makes dark dubstep with pro-level production.

AlmightyDJKB responds:

... Um Ok... I have to agree, can't argue with that

Thx for being honest

[[HadenTheCreeper]: Nostalgia!]

:3

I like that even though there's a lot of stuff going on, the mix doesn't get too messy. The arrangement kind of does, though; for your next track, see if you can get the rhythms tighter with each other, so it feels more like a song and less like a bunch of awesome riffs.

[world of unknown 3]

This will help you: http://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1421528

Other than that, work on your mixing; the pads in the background are taking up too much space, and the lead is thin and weak. Just listening to the composition, though, I could see this working with better production.

[Unity Paradox - God Ray]

my ears say no but my pelvis says yes

wait no I got to 1:45 and now my ears say yes too

Anyway the buildup could use more drama, get some risers and sweeps going. And I appreciate that you're using some white noise to fill out the drop (really important for future house), but it doesn't have to be that loud to work. Good stuff though. That switchup in the drop was dope

Unity-Paradox responds:

Thanks! I was told the noise was a bit too loud, then I turned it down a bit and I guess I didn't turn it down enough XD

Glad you liked it :D

[Resolve]

Peak film score right here. Tasteful, cleanly mixed, restrained enough not to get in the way of the acting, but that minimal melody line still ties it all together and provides some kind of hook. The Hans Zimmer influence shows.

0/10 can't play geometry dash with it

Columbers responds:

That's a shame, I wanna play geometry dash with orchestral music. That'd be interesting actually, haha. And it's not toooo Hans Zimmery if there's no giant church organ...

[Mortal Machine]

S Y N T H W A V E

I hate hate hate that hat sound, and the mastering sounds over-limited, but this is some good ish. You mentioned making it more cyberpunk, though, and I don't really hear it? This is just me, but adding some crunchy, distorted basses and background fx (bitcrusher is your friend) might help with that. It's up to you though, you can't really be like OMG THIS ISN'T TRV CYBERPVNK >:(

Anyway, good luck. This sounds like bright neon laser grids and that's enough for me.

Intracate responds:

I can appreciate that you took the time to listen and identify key technical issues that have captured your attention. Perhaps the compression for the mastering may have been hasty, something one should avoid doing without careful consideration. As far as the hats. I am sorry you don't like them. And as for a heavily distorted bass, I would consider it for something more aggressive. The idea for the bass was to maintain that Carpenter 80s style synth bass while implementing some FM to give it some saturation towards the high end. And lastly, if you're seeing lasers while listening to the track, it may just be the visualizer or synesthesia.

[Drift Away]

I like the sound design and mixing on this, but the melody is straight up in the wrong key in a few parts. If you want to kick the sounds up a notch, try layering the lead with a supersaw an octave up, that'll give it some more depth.

DJ-Dawphin responds:

yeah... I agree with you.

[Night Carnival]

Mix is muddy (cutting some low mids out of the intro bass will help a little), drums are buried because nothing is sidechained, instrument balance needs work, master is too loud, and you know there are other chord progressions out there, right?
Other than that, you're on the right track to making some decent generic NCS house.

jjoon responds:

Yeah... i know
I learn MIDI 3month in 2014.And I am not learning MIDI now...
I am in the music high school now.
Next year I learn to MIDI in professional in my school
Please look forward to next year. ;)

Sorry for my English skill! I m not good at English...

[Going for that Crazystep]

You desperately need to start sidechaining things to the percussion, otherwise the mix is going to be muddy as all hell. The mastering is a complete disaster too, everything's clipping hard all the time, no dynamics, sounds awful. You'll be amazed how much better this will sound if you TURN DOWN THE MASTER VOLUME.

Sound design is okay but it's nothing special; look up some tutorials from the last few years and that'll help a lot. Intro is way too repetitive.