Geoplex's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[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-

[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

[-Hexagon Force-]

Man, this song makes me so happy.

I love the chord progression to death, and the way you switch it up so frequently. That's something I've never gotten the hang of beyond subtle changes throughout a song, and it's something I hugely respect as it demonstrates raw composition skill :P

The lack of compression in this track also sounds wonderful, I'm in love with that snare. The kick's probably a bit weak but it's based on 80s stuff, so it's about where it should be. Honestly I love this track.

Waterflame responds:

Thank you for the great feedback, glad you liked the song! :)

[Here we are ft. Laura Brehm]

Why is this on Newgrounds?

The lyrics are somewhat sub-par in a writing sense, but they're so well mixed (and so is the rest of the song, though I don't like the snare that much) that I could see myself hearing this on Monstercat or similar.

This is a very well put-together track, I'm impressed.

Acid-Paradox responds:

This is on newgrounds because NG is my home.

Thanks for the nice comments.

[~Rush~]

I don't much know what garageband is like these days, but assuming you didn't use any kind of loops, this is rather good :P

The percussion is probably my favorite part, you put some obvious effort into it; though the chords and plucks are decent too. It's also not at all repetitive and you manage to keep it interesting.

Instrumentation-wise it could be a little better; the spectrum's very empty and I don't like the saw lead very much. A sub or syncopated bass of some kind would help it along a bit. The bells and plucks go nicely together, though.

You did good, don't stop improving :P

iBurger responds:

Thank you so much for the review!

[Gemini Antithesis]

You are actually the most unique producer I know of.

In a composition sense, you surprise me a little bit every time - your chord progressions might not be anything hugely new, at least not always, but there's always something about the way you use them catches my attention hugely. I'm actually always excited if you have a new upload.

I can't say I love all of your stuff, though I like most of it. You re-use the same structure a bit, sometimes, and some of your melodies are somewhat similar; but I can hardly blame you with the sheer amount you produce.

Production-wise you're solid too, you've hit a midway point between your mixes being overbearingly powerful as though they were intended for clubs, and underwhelming; which is a really nice soft spot for casual listening. It also fosters composition, as you're letting melody take the stage instead of letting your mixing drive the song. I appreciate that hugely in any song.

I usually have loop-mode disabled on Newgrounds, so the ending took me by a bit of surprise. Appreciate the looping capacity of this, though :P

I admire your production and composition skills, keep making this stuff.

OcularNebula responds:

that was very well said, actually!

admittedly, it's sort of difficult for me to break away from structures and components that I'm already comfortable using, but I really gotta keep pushing those limits, I suppose

[Voice Demo 2013]

I CAN HEAR VOICES

I love the flamboyant one so much

stunkel responds:

YOU MIGHT BE GOING CRAZY...

Thanks for reviewing it man :p

-Ryan

[Trapped in a Snowglobe]

Mmmmm intro.

Liking the opening chords and strings, they're very atmospheric and make me feel the title. The chords themselves are also quite strong, and I think this is one of your most emotive pieces yet. I also rather like the violins that follow the intro. The bells are nice too.

The song kind of plateaus a bit after this, and in a lot of ways I like how fluidly it progresses - I'm not sure what to think of the kick you're using, though. It doesn't stand out all that much and mixes into the song pretty well, but it might be a bit punchy for the genre. I'm not sure really. On that note, though, i really like the percussion in general.

Excellent job on the name, too - I like the two separate emotional states it implies and I think the song carries that through quite well.

stunkel responds:

Awesome review man.

I gotta be honest, the minimalistic intro is what I liked about this song the most. The solo piano sets a dark and lonely tone for the song and I think the rest of the song builds onto that. It's really cool how much an intro can make a difference. I'm so glad that you mentioned the atmosphere because with this song I was really going for atmospheric and as you mentioned emotive.

I agree, the song does stay at a steady pace and not much build after that. I was worried it goes too slowly. I think that it's okay to keep it at a certain pace as long as the song's melodic content is changing up enough. Hopefully I accomplished that x_x. And I am just as unsure as you about that kick drum... I tried it and I was a little unsure at first but then it grew on me and I decided to stick with it. I had the timpani's playing in time with it just about, so if I made it softer I might as well have not had a kick since the timpani would have the same effect. But it did give the song a little extra kick (pun intended) that the timpani couldn't give it.

I never really thought about the name to be honest. They really are a happy idea with a kind of scary concept.

Thanks for the awesome review :D

-Ryan

[Submerged]

Pretty perfect title.

This is very visually evocative of an underwater landscape, and something about it feels... big; despite how soft the song itself is. I really like the diversity and how the song flows; it feels very organic. It's also somewhat soundtrack-ish, though that might just be because a lot of it is fairly epic, for lack of a better description :P

I'm not that familiar with the genre in a technical sense so I don't really know what else to say, other than well done :3

stunkel responds:

Thanks for the review sir :3 Glad to hear from you after a while.
And I agree with you, I wasn't sure what to put the song under. Some parts felt like a soundtrack, but others just felt like a relaxing song, and it wasn't really classified as anything in my opinion.
And I would just say the genre is orchestral I guess :P leave it as simple as that. Thanks for the review again sir :D