Geoplex's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Midnight Skyride]

Your melodies are so simple, and that's why I like them. They scratch an itch of mine, strangely; I'm not sure how else to describe it.

Sorry I'm incapable of a long review right now, but I like the song. Did you layer multiple kicks? I think you need to be EQing the high end a little differently, or using a different sample.

Other than that I noticed no real flaws, I like it! ^^

Alloud responds:

Hey, thanks!
There are indeed a couple of kicks. I did an overhaul of the master channel just before releasing and it's possible I went ear-blind and messed something up without noticing, lol.

[Chompy]

I've been listening to this on repeat for a few hours now and I barely realized, damn your talent :P

Seriously though this is awesome.

Step responds:

Geoplex!

Thanks for the review. Glad it didn't make you sick of it after all those hours listening to it on loop haha.

Thanks again!

[-Starfall-]

Such creative chord progressions!

[Stereo Madness 2]

What the hell is up with Newgrounds scores lately? They seem to be deflating an awful lot.

your snare is really awesome. I love the low end on it. Nice work on the percussion in general, except for that open hat, which is generic as hell and I've heard it a million times please don't use that (I am guilty of using it myself though, I know how it is.) Your kick is pretty alright. Nothing special but I can hear it well and that's always +points; though I'm not a fan of the sample. It's a very rock-style kinda kick, I don't know how else to describe it. It sounds fairly good though.

This is kind of my personal opinion, but your mastering isn't awesome and this becomes especially noticeable at drops. I'm not going to tell you to compress more or sausage it because that's generally bad, especially for DnB; but I feel like the mastering is just... a little on the light/weak side. Again, that's my opinion. Don't take it as gospel because personally I think I suck, lol. It might help for you to automate you master volume for drops though (keep it down like 2dB pre-drop, add the 2dB back at the drop. Makes a big difference!)

The composition is alright, I love uplifting stuff; but there was nothing particularly memorable about this. The melodies might be a bit drawn out, I dunno. It's pretty good though. I also like the progression of the song itself; kept it interesting. Definitely doing a better job at that than I do, can tell you that much.

You don't deserve such a low score, but then, newgrounds is a big pile of fuck and all. Decent work... liked the outro.

[Rising to the Challenge]

Mmm, that snare's a lot nicer. Good work on the kick too, the whole thing sounds a lot more powerful. Highs sound good too! Good luck in NGADM!

10/10 for cowbell

Spadezer responds:

That's good to hear. I didn't really change the snare though. I love how EQ magic can do wonderful things. It's also good to hear because I had to change a few things up an octave to make you happy.

And I'm glad it worked.

Thanks

[Contest Piece - WIP]

Hey there!

I'll start with the mix -

I think you have a lot of high-mids with the saws you're using, but they're strangely dull - there aren't many highs. Consequently the chords and melodies are quite muddy at points, especially once everything gets going. I do like the sound of the saws themselves, they're quite retro, for lack of a better description.

I know your kick isn't on every beat, but it is quite inaudible in the majority of the song. Mixing kicks that aren't on every beat can be quite difficult (ask any drum and bass artist) so it's not a huge deal, but it could stand to be a bit louder or perhaps EQd differently (depending on the sample you're using, mid-highs on your kick can work wonders.) Your snare sounded pretty good, though it too might have been a little dull. Your hats were also quite audible, which was good, though they seem to be a little to the right of the stereo field.

The bass works fairly well for me, I didn't notice it at first and that's sometimes a good thing. It didn't feel like you had much of a sub, though I can't tell very well with these headphones to be perfectly honest, so it's not a huge deal.

At any rate, your leads were quite audible and noticeable, they stuck out appropriately, which is often a hard thing to do in itself in my experience. I also think your breakdowns sounded really nice, but the fact that they showed off the percussion to an extent is telling - it was overpowered somewhat in the chorus sections.

Composition/Sound Choice -

As I said, I like the saws. They're certainly nothing new, but I like the retro feel they give the song. The little acidy formant thing you have is nice too, the cutoff automation you're doing on it in breakdowns is nice. I also like the arpeggiated work around 2:25 a lot, and the sounds used therein.

In terms of chord progression and melody, I noticed virtually no repetition on a casual listen at all, so kudos on that. The song stays very interesting, and despite not being that long, has a lot of variety. I would almost suggest putting this in the Video Game section, because that's the vibe it gives me with its structure and soundset, but I don't know what New Wave is meant to be in any case so that could be a better category for all I know.

Summary -

I think generally you did some good work here, but I think the biggest aspect to be improved is your choice of sounds and how you mix them, particularly your saws and percussion. Try to choose or create sounds that won't clash with one another when used simultaneously (though this can also be solved with EQ work or working in different octaves with each sound, obviously.) Other than those two examples, everything feels fairly audible - though I feel the song would benefit from some highs at points, because a lot of it feels as though it's missing something above about 14khz-18khz. I dunno, maybe I'm just a sucker for brightness.

Your composition is probably the best aspect of the song, as I've said. Didn't get boring at all, keep doing whatever you're doing in that regard! :P

I would give you a score out of 10, but it would be fairly arbitrary and I find rating systems frustrating for things like this. I think that you did a pretty decent job, though.

Spadezer responds:

Thank you for your detailed review, I highly appreciate it.
I think I could hear what you mean about some things seeming muddled. I found the magic of the fruity multiband compressor, and putting a fruity limiter on the percussion to really make them seem punchier. But when you start talking about how I don't have enough high synths, that might be the reason why some seems slightly muddled. I guess I could change some of the octaves in the synths to see if it helps much, and will be something I'll definitely play around with before Monday.
As for the kicks, I can hear them pretty good in my earbuds, but I could work some fancy EQ magic to boost up the bass and make sure the kick isn't overpowered and vice versa.
I've noticed that the snare has gotten some complaints, something I'll be messing with as well this weekend.

Thanks for the comments and have a wonderful week.

-Spadezer-

[Love Me Again Remix]

dat production tho

I don't personally like the lyrics as they're a bit drawn out, but they don't occupy much of the song and I think you did a really solid job with pretty much all of it. I'm liking the kick and snare, and I find the bass quite unique. ALSO the amount of little stuff... the plucks and blips in between melodies... like that a lot, piano arps too.

This is great man

[(EQ) Let it Go]

I can never ignore any remakes of this :P Nice one

Interesting use of stereo separation, by the way.

[F-777 - Double Jump]

Awesome snare and leads, but your kick feels a little soft.

[Stefan KC - Happy Feelings]

Solid production - followed you.

This kind of genre feels very reminiscent of last decade (especially on Newgrounds...) but I'm impressed with your production and some of your melodies are pretty good. Not a fan of the syncopated bass in this one, though it's certainly genre-appropriate.

HappyHype responds:

thanks for commeting