5TanLey's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[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.

[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 ^-^

[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!

[.:This is the End:. (Winter's Acid)]

so..

if you make "growlstep" where the main sound is a bass, you should always make at least 2 different sounds (or change some parameters of one so it sounds different each time, right) and alternate between them.. if you use only one it usually gets boring really quickly, like in this case..

i would also add more melodic instrument, some arps and stuff as well as more hi-hats and percussion

from the start of the song there was this low frequency noise, it makes the mix super muddy

the drops don't have any impact.. I wouldn't use this much bass before them, pre-drop should be relatively quiet, then when the drop comes it must be like BOOM

and more fx.. even some tiny whooosh every few bars can make a difference

btw those strings at drops aren't making any melody, they're just chords and they sound super repetitive.. play with the rhythm a bit, make some notes longer, other shorter.. maybe google how to make a melody, you'll get like 1846834 results, then practice a lot

and drum fills, you need to make drum fills, play with the beat every few bars, this sounded super-monotone

good luck with future production and life, it will get better, you still got like 90% of it ahead of you and that's a looot of time for everything

BlueAlpha14 responds:

I may be able to comply with your parameter complaint but samples don't have parameters. The growl was a sample. I don't have Massive or Serum so yeah, I'm stuck with samples XD. But there also was a wobble in there.

I should've thought about arps, it never crossed my mine in the making of this.

I tried to fix the muddy mix at the beginning, I even added more of a bass line. Didn't help much I'm assuming.

Thing is, it's difficult for me to transition into drops, so that is why I experimented making the drop and intro sort of clash.

If you know where to get those kind of FX I'll gladly use them. FL Studio's FX selection sucks.

Understandable about the chords during the drop. Sorry.

Dubstep is a 2 step beat after all. I'm kinda lost on what drum fills are, I'll look it up.

Thanks for the review, I always appreciate hearing different thoughts about my stuff.

~Alpha

[Shock Exchange]

yeah sounds pretty funky :) I like the flow of melodies and everything, musical aspect in really creative and catchy.. also a very good job with drum fills

now mixing could be better, not sure if funk drums don't use a kick :) or I just can't hear it.. overall drums are quite lost in the mix, some EQ work and a bit of compression could do the trick

good luck

Edman520 responds:

Yeah I know exactly what you mean. That was probably the hardest thing I struggled with on this song, and still didn't fix it all of the way. Thanks for assuring me that it indeed needs work!

[Mountains]

hi there sir,

musically it's OK, simple but catchy

intro and middle break feels quite empty.. could use more effects, theres like 1 tiny whooosh and then a riser, try layering more simple fx together

mixing:

that thing that starts at 1:14/3:21 should be quiter, I mean all the other instruments get a bit drowned in the drops
overall it could use some more of lower frequencies
drums sound too minimalistic I would say, they could use some compression, maybe some stereo spread on high frequencies

good luck with future production

RiSUKU responds:

Thanks for the review dude, I'll try to do my best in the future :)

[My last night - Keypat Reborn]

Heh, sounds pretty positive to me.. really no anxiety or depression feeling anywhere (maybe a tiny bit at 1:37/2:35 :)

Musicality of this piece is great, I wasn't bored at any part, my favourite is at 1:55, that 2:35 piano melody was also decent.. Overall it has a nice adventure-ish, chill, happy vibe

mixing is cool I guess, no ear-tearing mistakes, maybe it could use some more low frequencies, otherwise good job

good luck with future production!

Keypat responds:

Thanks for your review man. I'm glad for your words. I'll try to work in low frecuencies and my mixing. Thank you so much for the good vibes ;)

[I Am Alive (Single Version)]

Such a catchy thing! I have not much to say, it is a great retro piece

Mixing is cool as well, I cant hear any mistakes, so good job :)

ConnorGrail responds:

Thanks for listening!

[Genocide]

I believe that this is technically a synth rock, it really doesn't have that dubstep vibe (solid sub bass and half beat feel)

Musically it is good, something is constantly happening, so it doesn't get boring at any point

mixing is OK as well, but the instruments could be "wider", you know ,some layering, compression, reverb, don't know what are the possibities of garage band though

2:03 - there was some note off the scale, watch out for that
0:38- I dont like this snare much, the other is cool

Otherwise it's quite a decent tune, I would imagine it as a soundtrack of some mobile game maybe

btw why genocide? Under such a title, I imagine something darker, sinister.. this sounds quite encouraging actually

and good luck with future production :)

MysteriousPresence responds:

Hey thank you very much for the review friend ! =3
Well in fact I wanted the instruments to be pretty "abrupt", that's why it's called "Genocide" by the way : everything stops brutally. ^^
Thank you for your advices, I'll work on that ! :3
Thanks again for the review ! :D