5TanLey's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Aria - Obsessed]

I think this is more like some kind of electro house, dubstep has a half beat, but whatever

at the start there's some crackling going on, not sure if it's supposed to be there

it could use more hi-hats/percussion, lacks groove a bit

0:28 those chords/rhythm remotely remind Mortal Kombat main theme :) It's relatively catchy

BUT

I don't get the right feeling from bass.. it's like lower bass is completely unrelated to what's going on in high frequencies, so I would work on that

DelitescentAria responds:

The crackling is intentional. There's HH and plenty of percussion, i just think i messed up the mix. Imo I should've focused on bringing the drums out more, make them give the song beat or something. Didn't think about the low bass thing. Maybe my headphones are giving out after all.

Thanks for the review, as usual.

[The System\\Shutdown]

groovy indeed :)

all the elements fit together nicely, arrangement makes sense, mix is also fine, except maybe that clap that starts at 0:56 could be a bit quiter so one can focus on the melodic elements more, though this is just my taste

Overall it's pretty good, I would imagine this as a soundtrack for something cyberpunk-ish

[F-777 - Yin & Yang]

dood, ss this supposed to sound like it's played from walkie-talkie?

[Aria - Necessity to Be]

it distorts when drums hit at some sections, you don't want that in this type of music, go easy with compression, orchestral stuff is all about dynamics

the ending feels like it was cut in the middle of progression, I would end it at 4:29, maybe some longer slow fadeout on that one chord would work

but otherwise pretty cool, maybe orchestral music is your thing :)

DelitescentAria responds:

Maybe it is my thing :^).

I went a little ham with compression because the drums were SUPER loud when stacked. I'll watch out for it next time.

Thanks for your input :)

[Trust [Melodic Dubstep]]

man, go easy on compression, this sounds destroyed, even for dubstep norms.. for instance in moments like 2:35, the piano just can't breathe, same thing with that synth at 1:47

I think you could turn down the hihats a bit

and I don't get the right feel from the bass.. feels quite muddy.. there is some sub-bass in the kick but you should add it also into some melodic instrument.. you are probably boosting 100-200hz area too much, so sub frequencies around 50hz get lost.. remember the bass has to be clean and consistent, no bass boosts and sound goodizers are going to clean it

though musically it's kinda nice, the technical side really prevents me from enjoying the song

hope this helps a bit, gl with future production :)

ChromaShift responds:

Thank you for the review!

It's an old track of mine and yeah...the compression in this one is bad, some stuff gets through this mess, some of it doesn't ^^'

I learned a while back, that pushing everything to the max isn't the trick for a good track ^^
Still thanks for your advise, it helps me a lot to keep improving :)

Aron

[Aria - Overlong]

I have like 0 exp with orchestral things but anyway: )

It feels like it was highpassed on the master, I would hit some low notes on the strings

I think this could really use some percussion, I mean orchestral stuff, some cool groove

crashes like in 2:19 should be wider, they feel like a really tiny mono thing, maybe layer more of these togrether

but otherwise it's nice, I really like that moment in 2:20/3:00 when all comes in, though the piano got lost a bit :)

DelitescentAria responds:

thanks for your reply

it wasnt highpassed, i shouldve layered a bass string instrument (the actual real instrument) on the cello, wouldve been stronger. I dont have any good orchestral percussions.

:)

[brokendick]

I wish people of my generation could appreciate this music

[Aria - Dangeru]

hey this works pretty good, it has some catchyness

I dig that hip-hop kinda hihat rhythm, better than that classic dance "b - ts - b - ts - b - ts - b -ts"

also mix is so much better than in e.g. Noodles

that phasy/flangy thing always starts and ends out of nowhere, I would automate some cutoff or just volume and bring it in/out slowly

3:00 transition is super "dry", I would really add some whoosh

the piano sounds a bit cheap, try to get some better one, e.g most pianos for Kontakt 5 are pretty good... and maybe randomize velocity of notes and move them a tiny bit out of beat to improve "naturalness"

carry on :)

DelitescentAria responds:

alright alright!

thanks for your input. Sadly, im way too broke to afford a kontakt piano library. seeing as im finishing up a song right now, ill see what i can do about that velocity though.

I understand where youre coming through with the PHASY ;) chords cutting abruptly and beggining abruptly. I could've done some volume envelope or something.

Seeing as i think this is my best work thus far, im quite happy with the fact that you like it too :)

cheers man, thanks again

[Aria - Bonfire]

pretty good, maybe that crackling could be quiter, more in the background, so that listener can focus on the music more

I like that beat in 3-ish mins

reminds me of Mass Effect/anything in the future more than Dark Souls but whatever :) keep it up

DelitescentAria responds:

Now that you say it, I do hear the mass effect vibe. Neat.

Crackling could be quieter, but I really wanted to give the "by the fire" vibe, so I assumed the sound of being near a fire would be heard most of the time as quite present. Maybe it could've faded out during the song, kind of to give the effect of spacing out? I dunno.

I like that beat too.

It made me think of dark souls because I've been playing it a lot. Gitting gud ain't easy.

Thanks for the review :)

[Noodles]

soo

musically - I liked the intro but what happens after is mostly random mess, sorry... it really lacks some catchy moment during which you would just nod your head to the rhythm or something - that's crucial for this type of music imo.. it just keeps going and going, new sounds and stuff, but nothing catched my attention much

probably everybody would expect a drop at 0:40 but it just another buildup.. I would either delete this part completely or only use a riser before the main drop

1:20 synth sound somewhat disharmonic with that arp behind

drums should hit harder since this is dub/drumstep.. so use harder samples/sidechain or both or just mix them better

overall it's not mixed super well, at parts like 2:48 it's really hard to focus on anything since everything has kinda same loudness.. you can almost feel that the mix "can't breathe.. I'd say there's too much stuff going on at the same time - less sometimes mean more.. e.g. that arp is on almost whole song, you could leave it at some parts to help the mix

just my opinion really, hope this helps a bit :)

DelitescentAria responds:

This helps a lot! I appreciate some help anytime, as long as it's constructive.

This was mostly an attempt, which gives me more insight for the next time I want to do this kind of stuff. Regarding the drums, I totally agree. I just lack the knowledge or samples to make them hit more.

In my honest and humble opinion, I think the 0:40 mark is fine. Removing the riser would probably help but I just don't hear it personally.

Aaannnd, I know it's not mixed well. You've seen my stuff, you know I'm not super versed in music. Something I have to improve upon but I have trouble hearing it.

Anyways, thanks for the review, helps a lot.