Falsesouth's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[The Damn Motherfucking One]

Not what I expected with a title like that XD

Solid composition, but the track is really quiet. Work towards a greater master volume.

Keep it up, and best of luck for NGADM!

MysteriousPresence responds:

Hey thanks for the review friend !
Thanks for the kind words, however I'm not sure I can do much about the volume unfortunately ! It's not a matter of mix, I tried to raise the master volume, but it changes nothing because the problem comes from conversion. When GarageBand converts the track into a file, the more complex it is, the less it is audible, I tried to raise the volume afterwards, but the track becomes crackling.
Thanks again mate, and good luck to you too, it's gonna be gr8 ! :3

[Luminous]

Rather quiet, but the composition is actually pretty solid.

The drums are disappointingly quiet in relation to the rest of the mix. Since this is DnB, you need the drums to maintain some power within the mix. Maybe you could try to make an orchestral version of this with no electronic percussion. I only say that because the composition itself has that potential.

If you want this to be a strong DnB track, the percussion needs to punch more.

Either way, this is a solid project. Best of luck for NGADM!

DJ-DG responds:

Thanks for all your feedback! I spent lots of time on the composition so I am happy you appreciate it! I agree, the drums are kinda low and don't stand out but that was partly my intention as it was meant to be a more liquid sort of piece (more focus on melody and less on rhythm) but I can try to fix it a little bit. Doing an orchestral only version is actually a good idea, maybe I will take a shot at it some time later! And good luck to you too mate!

-DJ-DG

[Broken Game]

Kind of empty. A strong kick (or any kick as a matter of fact) would really make this track much better. The percussion is not very dynamic; just hats and claps for most of it. You want the track to change up once and a while in terms of what elements are present. The mix can use some work too.

The structure of the track needs improvement and the sound design isn't great. DJ-DG said it doesn't seem 8 bit enough. In a sense he is kind of right. The track doesn't really maintain a style, so it sounds like a bunch of sounds basically.

Keep it up, you will get better.

[JOURNEY]

Sound design of the drop isn't very effective. There isn't a definite set of chords within the drop either.

The melodies aren't bad, but the track is quite repetitive (I know house should be, but primarily the drop). Work towards a stronger mix and refer to popular house tracks for levelling and effective song structure.

Keep it up, and best of luck for NGADM!

LLCALIREP responds:

Thank you I will take your advice!!

[Peaks]

Well, I hear massive improvement from last year. Maybe contests are your best friends in terms of improvement.

Sweet story too! Kind of wish this was a video or game featuring your audio; however, at the same time that isn't necessary since the track brings you to another world regardless.

Keep up the fantastic work!

Onefin responds:

Ey Chael thanks for stopping by! Appreciate it

Yep, I feel like contests make me go crazy XD in the good way of course
Luckily there's a second NGCHIPS around the corne- I MEAN, RIGHT NOW!

...I have to write a river? What

[-Chilljoy-]

I have seen your response to the review regarding headphone use. Try to avoid mixing entirely on headphones (since an inaccurate level is often a result). You need to refer to a speaker system if possible (preferably monitors). The more devices you test the mix with, the better (do a car test if possible).

You can also throw in a popular track that is in a similar style to what you are producing so you can see where your mix can be improved in terms of levelling, etc.

The composition of this is quite solid, so keep that up. Just work on the mix :)

Best of luck in NGADM!

GlitchmasterMusic responds:

Thank you lots for the advice, I really appreciate it, I will totally test your methods to improve. :D

[I still gym]

It's a spicy house beat, regardless of stock sample usage. I hear the gym inspiration LOL that is kind of funny.

The mix could be improved with stronger side-chain, but this project shows quite a bit of potential. Work on sound design and strive for complex melodies for house production.

Try to obtain a more vast variety of drum samples as well. Best of luck in NGADM!

Ditchy responds:

Valued input my man. Some tough competition but just nice to be a part of it.

[Strong Force]

The mid section melody at the beginning isn't great to be honest. The melodies with the wobble sound is quite good, but I find that melodies created with wobbles are usually not very effective. You should use orchestral instruments for that melody like strings. That would be quite epic.

In this piece, the mix can be so much better with heavy percussion (kick primarily). The drum choice matters a lot, so choose powerful samples.

The sound design isn't great. The wobbles don't feel fully processed in terms of sound design. They feel like someone just started designing it but didn't finish applying the necessary compression (etc). That could be a matter of the overall mix as well, but that is something to look into.

There is a point where chords come in around 3:05 and the melodies and chords kind of clash with this undesirable dissonance. Listen carefully for details like that.

The overall track is quite repetitive, which is not good in this case especially because it is a 6 minute track. You only want to make a track long if it needs to be. There is one famous track (I forget the name) that is around 11 minutes, but it is really well done.

I appreciate the storyline you guys included for the project. Since music is an art, I believe it can be combined with other forms of creativity. That's why music videos exist (though a lot of them are more about publicity and advertisement unfortunately).

So to summarize:

-work towards less repetitiveness
-work towards a stronger mix; it takes time to develop an ear for mixing, but it can be done with practice.
-watch out for dissonant notes that don't work with the chords.
-work towards stronger sound design (each of you can practice and even give each other feedback throughout the contest period).
-Listen to TaintedLogic's review. I just looked over it now, and it is quite similar to my review actually in terms of key points. TaintedLogic lists out a logical perspective of the flow of the track. TAKE NOTES XD
-Use some background FX and reverb during the intro, verses (etc). so that it has more of the vibe you are going for. There are a lot of possibilities for an idea like yours.

Either way, you guys proved that you can work together. So now you need to discuss on how you will improve from this point for your next piece if you make it to the next round of NGADM.

Best of luck, you three!

[BrightSide]

Hearing that first lead made me scared I could potentially find this super generic in a sense; however, I really love your drum work, instrumental and everything else about the track that you have implemented. There are little aspects of the composition that could have been better, but what can i say? You summarized the project quite well. It ended up sounding pretty good. Sometimes fun projects are the best to listen to; especially for the experience.

Keep it up!

LunacyEcho responds:

=> first lead =>

Hah, I tend to have a problem with making intros really generic. :P A lot of them are just a single instrument playing some ostinato, which really gives it a low level of replay value (but I usually can't think of a better way to begin a song haha).

=> fun projects =>

I love getting inspired from seemingly silly things! This just happened to turn out more successfully than usual. :)

Anyways, glad to hear you liked the song, and thanks a lot for dropping a review! :)

[Whispers of Remembrance]

This is primarily how I like my orchestral; Inspired and real. The overall composition is just wonderful.

Keep up the fantastic work!

ChronoNomad responds:

Many thanks, Chael! I shall indeed. Your review is appreciated, and I'm happy to hear that you enjoy the music.