Sdra3g's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Friday]

Arrangement seems good, nice instrumentation.

Only one thing I feel like it could do better is the balancing of the levels.

I'm gonna take a wild guess that you just slapped a limiter on your master and then proceeded to create everything, which I've done before too haha.

I've learned later that there's this whole background/foreground thing with music, that you have to adjust the levels of each individual element so that it fits its purpose. Raise the level of your melody (and maybe bass), and tone down the level of your chords and percussion. The point of a limiter is so that your mix doesn't clip, but you want to try and prevent it from clipping before you rely on the limiter.

There's my two cents. Feel free to disregard if you disagree :)

[It Isn’t]

I'm going to try and give constructive criticism, so this is not to bash your creation or anything.

I'll start with what I like.

The Percussion. Despite what you say about ambient bass being a joke, that is some pretty solid ambient percussion; if you were trying to make some chill future bass, you're definetly heading in the right direction.

Overall Arrangement. The piece keeps moving, which keeps it interesting. It's not a complete loop which is good.

Okay, here's what I feel could have been better.

Future Bass. You've got like nearly all the elements of it (the quick snares, the hihats, the vocal chops) but there's no bass! (I'm wearing Beyerdynamic dt 770 Pros and I can barely hear the bass) It's kind of ironic. Try adding some 808s! (Make a low sine and then use an envelope to modulate the pitch downwards very sharply

Chords. Most Triads are fine, but you can spice things up by adding 7ths and 9ths. Don't be afraid to experiment with some jazzy or wack chords you've never heard of. If you're looking for some thickness, try detuning them after adding some unison. Don't forget to modulate them, it's almost like a staple characteristic of future bass (you don't necessarily have to make them "wub" in a sense, it just has to be a bit off beat if you get what I mean) I don't know if you've heard of Subtact, he does some solid FB. (Subtact — Restart is a good example; I'm not sponsored and the artist isn't me, I'm not advertising, it's just a good example)

Rhythm. Future Bass is a sub-genre of trap — which is known for NOT fixing to the 4/4 time beat pattern. So experiment! Get funky with how you feel the beat, just as long as you end on one every time you'll be fine.

But hey, this is just coming from some random guy on the internet, so don't feel inclined to do what I've said.

Cheers! :)

[Namorog x Galyax x Syrge - Discover]

Holy Crap this is amazing! Ever thought of trying to get into those big music promotion channels on YouTube? I think you guys would have a great shot.

sYrge responds:

Thank you for the kind words :)

[End of a Tale]

Magnificent. This sounds incredible. It emanates the emotion and playing style of a live orchestra.

My only criticisms are that the solos can come out a bit, and the lower end (cellos and basses) needs to be more present. I'm assuming that all these sounds are produced by a software instrument, but it still sells the atmosphere very well.

Don't forget to add dynamics to the soloists, especially the violin melody (or firsts in this case). My personal preference would have a solo violin, since I'm a violinist, but these are all up to interpretation.

I could see this playing in a movie or the end credits of a thrilling video game. Very well done.

LawnReality responds:

I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you for the feedback, as well. I was a little bit distracted when making this, and missed some stuff as a result.

[INGR3SSO - Lights]

I would classify this as techno. House has more of a side chained feel to it.

I'm just going to write down comments as I listen; All criticism are only suggestions, and may be incorrect.

- Beginning seems a bit abrupt, perhaps you could begin with a reversed chord or a swell?
- Intro is quite long; besides background chords and arps, no melody is introduced, making it -repetitive.
+ Mixing and arrangement is balanced, each element can be heard.
- The transition at 2:05 is a bit abrupt, but the melody following is new and unique.
- New melody does not last half as long as long build-up, making it anticlimactic
+ Fresh sounds and percussion after transition
- Try considering your foreground and background. What do you want your audience to hear? The bassline or the melody? Might want to bring out the melody aspects more.
- Ending is abrupt.

Last thoughts: Overall, it's not bad. Everything I hear fits together well, but the piece seems to lack development in a certain direction. This causes the piece to be repetitive; it is sometimes hard to pinpoint a melody.

INGR3SSO responds:

Hello Sdra3g, thanks for your suggestion, or "criticism" you call it. I really appreciate this suggestion you gave me. By the way, can you teach me the difference between techno, dance and house? How do they sound like? Or anything else? Please, till this day I still don't know how to see the difference of these "sound alike" genre. I NEED HELP!!!!

[Carpe Diem]

I'm just going to assume that since this piece is orchestral, the general idea of where it's being "performed" is a concert hall. That being said, the piano sounds a bit dry. Yes, it is a solo-type instrument, but you don't want it to sound too much like you're listening to the sound of a piano played in a room with the background of an epic concert hall. Also, because strings take more time to attack, sometimes it appears the piano is slightly ahead of the rest of the orchestra. Adding some reverb should help. I'm guessing the Brass is your melody there. You want that to be your main focus.

The arpeggios in the strings seem to stand out a bit too much for me. Keep in mind that the higher the pitch, the easier it breaks through and becomes the center of attention.

Other than that, everything sounds AMAZING! It sounds so much like a orchestra, (though my bias opinion thinks that the strings could be louder because I play the violin). I would go see live performance of this.

CloakedSoup responds:

Thanks. I'll be sure to take a look at those things and adjust as necessary.

[Twinky62 - Bouncy Sail]

Please Consider your dB when mixing. There is SO much clipping, which gives the sound a very distorted tone, and also makes it very difficult to listen to. (EQ it, Limit it, Turn down the Volume, etc. ANYTHING to blend the sounds more.) I currently have the volume at 8/100 and it is still quite loud.

Organization seems to be okay, but it difficult to tell with so much volume.

Twinky62 responds:

yeah, ikknow, i forgot about lowing the EQ, sorrt for that :(

[Gonna Be A Good Day]

I feel like there isn't enough 2nd Violin/Viola. The high notes and the low ones contrast well, but the mid range (like A4-A5 range) for the strings don't seem to exist. This might have to do with the Panning of the overall track, which I've noted, is exactly like a real orchestra would be set up. However, what I'm getting right now is not really a blend, but more of a high left ear and a low right ear.

Brass/Woodwinds (In all the orchestras I've played in) are right in the center, behind the strings. Try not to Pan these too much.

(Also, maybe a little extra reverb for the effect of a concert hall? You don't have to if you like the atmosphere of the studio though.)

With all those technicalities out of the way though, I'd say this piece is rather majestic.

Kyero2015 responds:

Thank you for your feedback! I appreciate it!

I haven't actually played in an orchestra or listened to a live one myself, but I love listening to orchestral music on youtube and iTunes and whatnot. I will keep what you said in mind for future pieces!

[Let's Go! (Original Mix)]

Try doing some EQing on the individual Tracks to prevent sounds from fighting over the spotlight. This is especially important when considering what is the thing that you want the listeners to hear the most. The mid ranges can be susceptible especially because many instruments will share that range. Also make sure you cut out unnecessary ranges for instruments which are not meant to play those pitches. (i.e Low-pass a bass type track, because you won't need the higher frequencies that I can produce because a lead will do that for you.)

HyprdrivE responds:

Ok, thanks for the feedback!

[M.O.P. - Lightning]

Prog. House? If so, sounds amazing. I'm going to rate 5 because they don't have halves. Only complaint is that the (Sub) Bass is a bit much (at the beginning), but that's just my opinion. Kinda loses the whole drop momentum thing... for me it just seems like there wasn't much of a build because most of the drop elements were already there before the drop.

2:30 Was a nice. I liked that. The drop after that seems bigger simply because more elements are introduced in the 2nd drop, even though it's practically the same as the first.

Aside from that, sometimes it feels like too many things are fighting each other to be heard. Esp. in the beginning, when the noise comes in, instead of building on the sound, it seems to drown out some of the chords. My best guess is there is a lot of things going on at once, and there's just a limiter on the Master so it doesn't clip. Maybe try some EQing for the extreme ends? (You know, like High-pass filtering the Leads, and Low-pass filtering the lows and such.)

Or it may just be my ears, and I have no idea what I'm talking about. Sounds Amazing though!

MOProduction responds:

wow thank you. We did not expect someone to make a comment that was so helpful. There is a lot of good advice right there. Thank you! There is actually limiter, EQ, sausage fattener and a plugin in fl studio called maximus but i guess non of is really good at mastering.