5TanLey's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Resven - Struggle of the Earth]

intro piano doesn't fit that pluck riff much.. overall, the melodies feel a bit random, you should work on your them more... I mean you got some ideas about arrangement and you are making enough variations in the song, but the musical basis just isn't very good right now

it feels like every instrument is panned differently, which is normally a nice way of creating "wide" feeling but you have kinda overdone it here so there's nothing solid left in the middle.. this type of kick should be 100% in the centre (or at least its part below c. 200 Hz)

and I think there should be some solid bass instrument (offbeat bass would fit here I believe), you have only kick's sub bass here, so low end of the spectrum feels empty

hope this helps and good luck with future production :)

and when you want to make a post in the forum with that picture of song, you simply put the link of the song there

resven responds:

I do have a tendency to not follow too much a pattern, I've been told about having a strange style. I have to control that a little. The panning is something I'll work in as well, try to fill everything without crowding it.

I'll take on your bass tip and apply it on the next one.

I appreciate the review, buddy. Thanks for explaining the picture thing too.

[loved]

yes alcohol is evil

Hikari responds:

Happy new years! lmfao

[Aria - Vector]

so it's me again, R4R is dead

I would put some filter (e.g. lowpass/highpass and automate its cutoff) on the arp during intro, it sounds super cheap when you just slap it there already in full power with sub bass and everything

the first drop at 0:40 sound quite slapdash, melody together with the beat sound really monotone, changing the length of some notes and rhythm of the beat now and then would do the trick

speaking of beat, drums should have variations every few bars, at least adding open hihats at some sections would help in a great way

the second drop at 1:30 is better, more house-ish though there are some false notes or weird intervals in the melody, which make it sound bad in certain places

ending also feels kinda cut, no filter, no fx, nothing.. maybe making that reverb tail longer and louder
would help

also more fx.. at least some tiny whooosh/sweeep/impact from time to time

good luck

DelitescentAria responds:

Thanks for the hindsight.

I am saddened by R4R's death, now not knowing how to get reviewed anymore.

I get where you're coming from with the filter, it definitely is cheap to just slap the arp on, I'll see to mess with Effector or look for other plugins to add effects (if you have any recommendations for a PC user, I'm all ears).

I definitely liked the second drop better too, sounded cleaner. I can't even touch sound design without messing up entirely, so if you have some pointers, again, all ears, maybe why my sounds are always a bit cheap. I'll look into false notes better next time, give it more of a listen. I'm still struggling with music, as it is very audible, good reviews help a lot.

Thanks for sticking through R4R, even though it's dead. I'll follow you and review your new stuff, if that means anything to you.

Thanks for the insight again and good luck right back at you.

[Fun Times]

hi there,

the musical side is OK, nothing more, nothing less.. it kinda goes on and on, there's no climax or super catchy moment... so even though it has a lot of variations, it still sounds a bit monotone to me.. if it's supposed to be some game backround music, then it's fine

at 1:04/4:11 there's some weird change in progression, not wrong, but it doesn't fit the happy rest of the song imo

and it could use more effects, you know, some whoosh every few bar

mix sounds quite clear, no major mistakes, keep it up :)

[Swingolicious]

in trance (or house, techno, electro,...) you should definitely put a kick on every beat and snare/clap on every other beat, than add some hihats and percussion to create some cool groove

melodies are actually quite catchy, but a lack of any solid bassline rhythm and 4/4 kick kinda kills the impression

arrangement is ok, you got some ideas about song structure

mixing is quite bad, biggest problem is that there aren't any solid low frequencies, kick is pretty drowned behind that synth and the hihat should be a bit quiter (high-frequency stuff (8k+) doen't have to be that loud to "feel" loud).. just practice a lot, maybe compare loudness of certain things with some professional song and then try to mimick it.

hope this helps a bit and good luck with future production!

[Aria - Enjambée]

hi there

it sounds reeally robotic, you should play with velocities and timing of the keys a bit, so they don't always hit that perfectly on time and at same loudness. Also having a good piano vst really helps and opens new possibilities (e.g. some piano libraries for Kontakt 5).

Melody is OKish, but I would make at least a few bars of a different rhythm, slow down for a while or something.., it has some variations, but it still feels kinda the same from beggining to end

good luck with future creations :)

DelitescentAria responds:

I appreciate someone who I look up to reviewing my song!

As I said, it was done in a short amount of time, more like a little idea, something to kill the boredom. I know it isn't polished, it doesn't sound amazing. I appreciate your comments and will look forward to getting better with piano.

Cheers ^-^

[{dj-N} Wubalubadubdub]

can we expect anything serious in near future?

[MSN Euro Trance]

2005 called and it wants it's song back

what a sweet tune

Hikari responds:

hahaha Thanks, when I first started making music I wanted to make a trance song like this. 10 years later I did it!