Geoplex's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Facing the Foe]

This is an NGADM 2015 review.

This is a great RPG-sounding piece. I have to praise your melodies, and how you keep things going at a steady, consistent pace, but without repetition. You're creating a theme that repeats itself in many different ways and incarnations but without stagnation. In a lot of ways this is absolutely perfect for a game soundtrack, because you've got this continuous feeling where the song isn't broken up into sections but also isn't repetitive. I'm finding it difficult to get tired of it. That, and it even loops! Good lord. This is so fantastic because were I listening to this while playing a game and not really paying attention to it, it'd be difficult to tell when it looped; where it ended and where it began. This creates the illusion of a very long, very complex song that almost always surprises you no matter how many times you've heard it. I love it. In many ways, it's the conceptual holy grail of looping soundtracks.

The production side of things is pretty good, too. Your mix is pretty well balanced, there are very few instances where anything is too loud or quiet specifically. I think the mix lacks power, partially because of the percussion (I think instead of the rapid militant snares you'd be better off with bringing your deeper, tom-based percussion to the forefront; but that's more of an opinion.) The only instance that stuck out to me in terms of mix/balance was the section from 2:33-2:55. Almost everything, but especially the brass, felt too quiet there. I feel that it was probably intentional to pave the way for the semi-crescendo toward the end, but the change in level is definitely perceptible to me and felt a bit odd.

Anyway, I can't really say this song has any real flaws. I don't like the choirs at 2:45, I think they're used improperly and sound a bit digital, and I didn't think the hats in the intro were thematically appropriate at all, but honestly those are such tiny opinion-based problems that I only mentioned them because there's just about nothing negative to talk about. Most of what I've said already has been pretty subjective or mentioned in johnfn's essay :P

You've got yourselves a nicely self-contained, incredible piece here. Keep at it, dudes.

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

Well then, time to respond to these, hehhe.
First off, thanks a lot for the effort you guys put into judging; without that, the competition would be nothing.

Weird. I usually have a really easy time responding to reviews, but I find it hard to come up with anything conclusive. I'm honestly pretty surprised by the very positive reception in general. I knew that the melodies are pretty good, because I had a real flow when I made them all. But I'm honestly very glad that people appreciated the fact that the structure isn't repetitive! I very often get comments about me using too little repetition, so it's refreshing to hear that it worked for most people with this track. I guess that as you said, the track has enough of a drive and a solid base for variations to be enough.

I'm also surprised that people seemed to like the loop, in general. I am usually pretty good at looping stuff, but I was uncertain about this one. my only problem with this loop, is that it is a climax. It's great for a standalone track! But if I were to really use this in a game, I'd probably go for a calmer section, which would be the intro and the ountro, where the loop would be pretty much unnoticable. But in the heat of battle, you probably wouldn't pay attention to the loop indeed. Because I've played games that have used music that loops horrible, but while actually playing, I've very rarely noticed it.

It's good to hear that my production is improving slightly, as it used to be extremely horrible. There's still a long way to go, but steady progression is enough for me :)

I agree 100% with all our complaints. Part of the problem with the percussion, is that I simply don't have any good percussion libraries yet, and another one is that I'm horrible at both creating and mixing percussion XD
But if I eventually get my hands on Stormdrum 3 or something like that, I'll make sure to practice my skills.

As for 2:33, all I can say is "yup".
That's the place I personally have the biggest issue with as well :D

The choirs at 2:45 are indeed not very good. But you should hear them in dem0lecules version! It's the best part of the track. He really is a choirgician. We will probably still upload it at some point while this years competition is over for us :p
Same goes for the hats; probably a bad idea XD

Thanks a lot for the review!!

[What Lies Beyond]

This is an NGADM 2015 review.

This is a nice song, nice instrumentation, pretty good production, pretty good composition. One thing I really have to get out as quickly and effectively as I can is that, because of the pizzicato, harp and bells, this song is intensely Runescape to me. I don't know if you ever played Runescape but this is bringing back so many memories for me lol. It's great :P It's mostly in the instrumentation because this song is a lot better composed than those old Runescape songs, but yeah - you get the idea.

Part of my rabid association of this song with runescape is probably also because it's very RPG, and I gather that's obviously intentional. It's got a great "starting village" kind of vibe, where the player is somewhere safe and looking at setting off on adventure. I like that you kept the song fairly interesting, not sticking to one rhythm or tone for too long. I feel though that a consequence of this is that your song feels a little aimless, if you will. Were it designed as background music, that would be perfect, though, so I really can't take points off for that :)

I feel there are some things to mention production-wise, namely that everything sits in the mix a little equally - this is also how it reminds me of runescape, lol. I feel that this is the kind of song that would benefit a lot from some subtleties. You've got a lot of potential dynamic range to use, but the levels are all quite similar, you know? This is compounded as a problem by the fact that almost everything in the song is very high frequency, there's very little going on below 100-200hz in most of the piece (there are definitely some exceptions to both these comments, but you get the idea.) This isn't inherently bad and the mixing itself is pretty good, I just feel there's more that can be done in this respect.

Anyway, this was a nice listen and a nostalgic one at that, regardless of how intentional that was :P If you were attempting a classic RPG style, you've nailed it in my opinion.

ChronoNomad responds:

Thanks for dropping another NGADM review on me, Geoplex!

Interestingly enough, while I have indeed heard of Runescape and had friends who played it (some of them quite religiously), I never actually did myself. I've tried out a handful of MMORPG titles over the decades, but very few really managed to hold my attention for long. The one I played the longest was Star Wars Galaxies way back in the day, and that one was put out to pasture permanently several years ago. Nevertheless, the impact of such nostalgia is certainly not lost on me, so I'm glad that this song could serve as such a pleasant reminder. :)

Console RPGs are my bread and butter, man! So that serves as quite the compliment to me, and while there are a lot of inspiration sources for my music, it is without a doubt influenced by the gaming culture that I frequently steep in. I can't really complain too much about any background music comments, especially since you don't actually make it sound like such a bad thing. I think that it's an important nuance for any musical artist to be aware of, that sometimes the music has to take a backseat and is not the driving force. Most of the time, actually. And that's just how our media-driven world is. Music with lyrics is at the fore of Pop culture while instrumental pieces are, more often than not, relegated to the background.

More Runescape ruminations! But yes, it is a fact that very little tends to stand out in this composition. But hey, it's all part of my growth process as a musician. I've got to take every little piece of feedback that I get and use it as I keep moving forward, making new tracks and breaking my own personal boundaries, while hopefully knocking down a few musical ones along the way. It is true that there's very little in the deeper range, and that was a conscious decision on my part. Do I kind of wish that I had added a few more touches? Yep. There really is more that I could have done with this, but at the time it sounded really full. And my last reviewer said that things already sound too crowded at times. Damned if ya do, damned if ya don't...y'know? Heh.

I'm glad that you like the music, and while the nostalgia trip wasn't quite as intentional as it may seem, I'm still glad that I could take you on that journey. As for your last sentence, I will take that as one hell of a compliment. :3 Cheers, mate!

[Unsung Hero]

This is an NGADM 2015 review.

I really love the piano in this! It works so well in such an exciting track and is one of the most interesting elements to me in this one. What also really gets me about this track is how memorable it is, because it's quite catchy, but you're not afraid to stray from simplicity (where most of catchyness lies) and I think you've hit a really nice mid-point between the two.

So as with most of my reviews this round, it seems I'll mostly be praising the composition and instrumentation and nitpicking the mix :P sorry

So right out the gates the piano and cymbals are beautiful! The tone of the piano is really excellent by the way, I don't know why I'm so excited about that. Is it recorded or are you using a VST? Anyway - there are a few things I notice as soon as you bring everything else in at 21 seconds, namely that the low frequency sub-impact thing you have muddies up the mix a little (needs more of a transient, imo) and that it really exaggerates how I expect the chorus mix to sound, as there's more low frequency content in the first half second or so of it than in most of the chorus itself (I think I mentioned something similar in the previous round, although it could have been on another song). The other thing is that the percussion is quite quiet and lacks impact, especially the kick. The cymbals are actually pretty damn nice and airy, but I'm finding the kick and snare are a little low. The interesting thing is that later on at 1:10, it all sounds pretty great! Kick could be taken up a bit, but otherwise it all sounds fantastic. It's more in the main choruses that your percussion is somewhat overpowered.

Something else I'm noticing is that at 1:24 you really need some kind of transitional element to give the new chorus some impact, especially since the percussion in this section is quite low as well. I also am unsure about the panning you're doing on the kick. The idea is solid, but because the kick is so overpowered, when it comes into the sides it ends up being a lot more audible (especially in the high end) which creates this feeling of inconsistency for me.

I think the part at 2:10 is pretty solid, (melodically it's GOD DAMN AMAZING) though, partially because you've got those orchestral toms and whatnot. I think it's a much more appropriate pace/style of percussion for the sound and takes a more appropriate background role to the lead instruments. It also has a lot more impact and power than the kick drum in previous sections, and it's a lot more exciting. I suppose "exciting" is a pretty appropriate way to end it, and it works well :D

Sorry about nitpicking, by the way, because this is an awesome track. Great transitions, great melodies, great chords, great instrumentation. It's been a blast to listen to :P

bassfiddlejones responds:

Geoplex, thanks for the review! Really glad you liked the piece. And don't worry about the nitpicking, it's what makes us better musicians! Yes, transitions were a tough one for this song, but we're paying closer attention to them! Time is tough to come by >_< thanks again for the review! We really enjoyed making this one.

[Son of Beach (NGADM '15)]

This is an NGADM 2015 review.

So this is a pretty sick track, well produced, quite interesting, not very repetitive, and consistent. There were a few nitpicks I have about the mixing and perhaps a little about the mastering, but beyond that this song is quite difficult to fault. It's engaging and sounds great.

So others have mentioned your snare sticking out a little, which is definitely true to an extent (though it's not too bad imo), but I think it's in part due to the fact that the rest of your percussion is quite low in comparison; especially the kick - though the cymbals are pretty quiet as well, but less of a deal.

(My comments on the kick may stem from a lack of experience with the genre to be perfectly honest, so feel free to dismiss the following if you think that's the case :P). The kick is quite punchy and has a nice transient in the high end, but almost no presence anywhere else. If I lowpass the song just a bit I can't actually hear the kick anymore. I understand that kicks of this nature are quite often fast and as such giving them a lot of low end would completely destroy your mix, but I think they at least need something down there in this instance... at least toward the lower end of the spectrum. You could always shorten the tails for rapid kicks, anyway.

Apart from some issues with the percussion, I think the mixing on this track is pretty great in general. The track itself is probably a little quiet (-15RMS) but I like that it's relatively dynamic and I think I'd find its level to be more of a strength that anything else, as it's definitely a long way from being offensively quiet.

I also enjoy your transitions a lot by the way, especially the one around 3:45. Good stuff :)

JDawg00100 responds:

Thank you for the review!

[One of Those Days]

This is an NGADM 2015 review.

Dude I gotta give you props for your lyrics. They were engaging and fun, and I really couldn't fault you for much on this song, especially given its simplicity. The lyrics might be a bit repetitive at times, but you wrote them for just about the entire song so I can't blame you at all. The only issues I have are related to your mixing and your bandpass vocal section.

So first off, your piano is so sick. Love the jazzy vibes and energetic rhythm. The piano itself sounds amazing, too! Very thematically appropriate sound.

One of the first things i noticed after you introduced your vocals is that they were a bit loud, and a bit low. Honestly it seems to me that you need to highpass them a bit, because they're pretty strong down to about 150-200hz, and it creates this feel of imbalance in such a simple mix. They're also a little poppy at points, so you might want a better pop filter or simply stand a little further from the diaphragm. Either way, they're pretty well recorded apart from that! The highs in them are quite nice as well. Nice short reverb.

So, the other thing i had was the band pass vocals. Because man, your song is about -18RMS usually; which is very quiet but fine for this kind of music... but it's telling when the bandpass bit is at like -10RMS :P. It's reaaaally loud and quite piercing as well, so you might wanna turn down the Q on your filter. Just after that you had a really sick piano transition though so consider those points earned back haha.

Overall, a pretty well rounded song, especially for just piano/vocals. Nicely done!

ChronoNomad responds:

Hey, Geoplex! Thank you for the in-depth NGADM review. Very cool to hear that you enjoy the lyrics so much. I guess I'm not entirely sure what you mean by repetitive in this case, though. Are you referring to the notes themselves? Because there's almost nothing repeated from one end of the vocals to the other besides the "...one of those days" motif, but that was essentially the hook and every instance has a different lead-in. Anyway, it would be awesome if you could do me a solid and elucidate with a quick PM. I guess if I don't hear anything I'll assume it was the note progression, which is admittedly a bit simple. :)

Aw, yeah! Really glad that you dig the jazzy, energetic rhythm of the piano. I knew exactly which piano I wanted to use to get just the right kind of attitude, so if it sounds sick I guess I chose well. I hadn't used that particular piano before, but I got it just for something like this. Hooray for being prepared!

Okay, you've got some really good points there about the lyrics, and I've been kicking myself for not applying a bit of highpass throughout. I had a hell of a time just laying them down since I was at the mercy of a very stubborn summer cold, but somehow managed to crank out some rather passable vocals a few days before the deadline. I don't personally hear much pop, and I really cleaned up the vocals before adding them to the mix, but if there is any there's nothing I can do about it. I have no pop filter, whatsoever. I have a bunch of handheld mics, no mic stands, and currently no disposable income with which to remedy the situation. In short, it is what it is. It's probably kind of miraculous that they sound as good as they do! Glad the reverb works well, too. Solo vocals need definitely need some, but being a single-instrument song I knew it had to be brief.

I am aware of the disparity between the regular and pass-filtered sections, but this is actually the first review I've had where it was brought up as being problematic. Nevertheless, it does indeed make good sense to have the RMS be more equal. Thanks for the tip, and I'm glad that I could earn those points back with my mad transitioning skillz! :D

Huzzah! Thanks again for the feedback, Geoplex. It's been a real pleasure to meet you this way.

[Bamboozle]

Coming from more of an engineering/production side of things that composition, I don't feel as qualified to judge this as many of the others - there's a lot to praise regarding your creativity and general structure, though. I found your composition to be quite engaging, but I felt that your production and instrumentation let you down a bit, especially with the synth in the latter half of the song.

You started off quite strong with the solo piano, and the song may have been better were it left as solo piano in my opinion. That is to say, there's little to fault compositionally - perhaps that you had little to mention in the way of breakdowns or softer sections, which could have made the piece more interesting - but otherwise, quite solid work. I just find the synth to be a bit off-putting; it's not even that it's a little thematically inappropriate but more that it's not a great sound in general, especially not for chords, with how aggressive the filter envelope on it is. I also think the way the strings were introduced was a little harsh and sudden, but they sound pretty good afterward.

This is a generally good piece, and I think most of the issue I had was related to that one synth. I've nothing against electronic sounds in classical music, of course :P

But yes, solid work either way!

Phonometrologist responds:

Fair enough. I wonder if the Moog synth is a matter of taste. The goal in mind, despite how awkward it might sound to some, was to add a retro feel just like the musical examples I've listed on my main page. Not the best sounding synth I couldn't chosen from, but with these musical examples I was comfortable in making that choice. All your ideas would have worked for sure, but I thought piano alone would have been just too safe. Must dare to disappoint for the sake of creative experimentation.
Thank you for your perspective!

[The Journey Home]

This is an NGADM 2015 review.

So because I'm really late with my review (sorry), I was trying to remember the reasons I scored this piece so highly.. then the guitar happened. Like, this was already rock-solid sounding before you brought that in, but guys. Seriously impressive stuff. The only critcisms I could possibly mention would be about subtle mixing nitpicks, and possibly the cliche nature of the ending.

So right out the gates, lovely uplifting bright piano. Great strings, though I suppose I would appreciate them coming up a little - same with the percussion that comes in shortly after. You've got this hit at 00:32 that has a lot of low frequency content, which made me anticipate more sub in this section than there was. Still, pretty minor; and the spectrum is just gorgeous at the chorus. That guitar sits almost perfectly - could be a little brighter perhaps :P but just about perfect. Any change would be subjective honestly.

Lovely acoustic guitar, too - again, nice and bright, but not overpowering in highs against the strings. The transition to the second chorus right after the solo guitar bit really really gets me, oh god. It's so good.

Anyway, as mentioned I feel the ending is a bit cliche? I feel that it could even be an homage to something I can't quite recall, because it sounds like I've heard it before. Either way, it sounds great, especially with all the subtle brass and choirs. Damn.

Great work all round, easily one of the most well rounded submissions. I'm really struggling to find flaws in it.

bassfiddlejones responds:

Thank you kindly Geoplex! No worries about the lateness, you guys have an insane workload with reviews. We really worked hard on this piece - it's the first time we've written together in a few years, so it's good to be back at it! Josh actually did a remastered version that I'll be uploading before long, new plug-ins/punchier sound, some small mixing changes. As far as the ending, we had originally planned on ending with a huge sounding section with new melodies, but ended up going with a reprise of the main melody already present to give that sense of "home". I appreciate the feedback, and we'll definitely keep it in mind for upcoming stuff. So glad you enjoyed the piece.

[Who Killed The World?]

This is an NGADM 2015 review.

I remember being damn impressed at your intro during judging. It's just so massive and well mixed. Coming from listening to some two steps from hell recently, I can really say that there isn't much better than well mixed orchestral percussion. It's a thing of beauty i tell ya.

This particular aspect of mixing gets a bit muddy when you introduce your rock percussion though, in my opinion. The snare and kick are so thin and lacking in impact compared to the previous orchestral percussion that it quite detracts from the furious and intense nature of the song. Most of the issue is that the kick and snare are too quiet. At the very least, they're nice and bright, so they're still audible. Just not very strong.

The composition and arrangement of the song is pretty great. You're using some simple stuff in most of it but they're tricks that work extremely well. The decision to include guitar is excellent for the kind of mood/theme you're going for. Not sure about the leaving synth pluck around 1:05 alone, though - it sounds good, but I think you'd have done well to lower the filter envelope on it, it's just a bit resonancey for the rest of the song... but honestly that's my opinion :P there's nothing inherently offensive about it.

Anyway, this one is an epic - it's awesome. I think there are some minor mixing issues that weaken the song in the second half, but it doesn't detract from it too much. Good stuff.

LunyAlex responds:

> 4 year late reply:

Thank you for your detailed review. I read it at the time and noted the critique and appreciated the nice words.

Sorry I never responded, but life got in the way at the time.

Now I'm trying to catch up, hah.

[Serenity (Prince Fisher)]

This is an NGADM 2015 review.

So, I have to give you props for having this song almost entirely recorded. I think there were only one or two people that did this in all entries for round 1, so nice stuff! This song is pretty enjoyable for its psychedelic nature and it's a pretty interesting piece. Most of what let you down was related to structure and production.

Most of the issue with the structure can be written off as stylistic decision, so I won't drone on too much about that. It's more that some parts catch me off guard a little, like that bass guitar at 1:50. I find it a little chaotic, especially with the crashes in the background being quite constant. Anyway, other than that and probably a few other small moments, it was generally quite sound.

When it comes to production, you've got one major issue - your song is really quiet. I can't download it and put it in my spectrum analyzer so I don't know exactly *how* quiet it is, but it sounds like it's about -18RMS to -22RMS. I suppose this isn't a massive issue, and it does mean you have a lot of dynamic range to work with resulting in a nice spacious mix, but you really could bring it up a lot with literally no detriment to the sound. Anyway, the other problem is that your balance is pretty off - the percussion is extremely quiet at points, especially compared to the bongos, which are inexplicably much louder than the actual drums most of the time. I'd suggest comparing your pre-mix to a reference track that sounds like the mix you eventually want to end up with, so you can use it to help you find what levels are appropriate for each instrument. Again, a possibly unorthodox intentional decision, but I need to be fairly objective to write a helpful response :P

Anyway, apart from some production issues this song was generally enjoyable and a pretty nice listen!

frootza responds:

Thanks Geo, but also SMD! <3 <3

Hoping for less boring songs to be written by the world, one day at a time.