S3C's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[BoomChick-Demo-UMSL]

Decent Demo

=The Good=
-Composition is really cool, it has a nice bluesy feel, nice put together notes
-Distorto preset is cool (although its a preset, you can tweak some cool sounds by just tweaking the piece). I personally like it much better than FL slayer even if it doesnt sound anything near a real guitar.
-Sounds like its going somewhere
-Cool Harmonization at 00:36-00:40

=The Bad=
-I dont think the celtic (?) synth is a good fit. I would use an actual more acoustic oriented bass for this song (such as boobass or a nice soundfont)
-Definetly add drums in the full ver. I would have a solo bassline in the next section with the drums going, let it roll by for a few bars, and bring back in the distorto preset
-Your themes that you start off with sound very familiar...
-Some brass would be great, it could use one more instrument

Ideas: 7.5/10 Diversity: 4/10 (just a demo) Clarity: 7/10

7/10 for being a demo. I look forward to hearing the full.

umsldragon responds:

Crap Man! That's be best review I've ever read! Thanks so much! Ya, it was an accordion bass :P Make do with what you've got I guess :P Drums are a must, I agree. Solo bass line... hellz ya! and I'll work on finding more better sounding sound fonts.

Thnk you so much!
Keep it REaL man!

[Waterfall [R1]]

Has character, but doesnt spark waterfall imagery

with me, entirely.

=The Good=
-The piano has lots of character, with its muffled EQ and cheap, detuned sound (sounds like it was recorded on a cell phone)
-The melodies are nice when it gets off the ground. Everything was constructed quite well, favorite part was at 2:20, that section has sweet chords
-Playing flows very well, respect. very beautiful.
-Lots of variation throughout

=The Bad=
-This isnt bad at all, I would just expect a more lush piano with lotsa reverb and a crisp sound to go along with a waterfall.I know its not your fault tho.
-I would personally scrap the intro because I dont think it does the piece any good. The general creepy vibes and dissonant notes just dont fit the song I think. Mainly 00:00-00:55ish.
-If you could transcribe this into a computer program, add strings and maybe a harp that would be great
-An actual waterfall sample might help the general imagery
-Hardware is always more important than software when recording, but perhaps a brighter EQ would go with the muffled sound

Ideas: 8.5/10 Diversity: 9/10 Clarity: 6.5/10 Overall: 8/10

I would give this a 9 if it was just for playing, but clarity is an important department and I think that aspect was generally detrimental to your track. Keep at it tho, I would love to hear more playing from you.

Bezman responds:

Thanks for the review. Breaking down your score was cool.

Your points were clearly made and I like the checklist sytem. I give your review a 9/10.

The detuned sounds are mainly because the piano... hasn't been tuned. I need to sort that out. I think the 0-55s part may have sounded less 'creepy' and more like the water dripping it was meant to resemble if the keys hadn't been so stiff and badly tuned.

I'm not really good with audio software so don't know what a 'brighter EQ' is. And though my skills aren't good enough to add instruments via computer, maybe I'll do that on the keyboard. Thanks for the idea!

Thanks for the awesome review.

Stay funky!

[In-Rush]

Decent style; a bit cluttered and overemphasized

=The Good=
-That main arpsynth you start with is cool and has a cool melody
-Bassline moves well
-Beat is cool and nongeneric, nice use of samples
-Ending was nice, I like the wah synth
-Bell melodies are a nice touch

=The Bad=
-I dont like the Boobass in here. i think you could have chosen a more appropriate, synth sounding bass. There's plenty of sytrus presets do the job.
-I dont think the FL slayer does the track justice
-Doesnt seem like a lot of effort was put into mixing...all instruments sound raw, you should mess with chorus and reverb FX...and certainly different EQs and panning to give each instrument their own room....IE, theres not a whole lot going on in the bass spectrum
-Beat could indeed use more variation...try adding more snare/clap in parts, maybe some consistently moving hi hats every now and then, etc.
-Not a bad thing, but this is techno, not industrial really

Ideas: 7/10 Diversity: 7/10 Clarity: 6.5/10 Overall: 7/10

Its a decent track, but theres some blemishes in here.

ShortMonkey responds:

cheers - I marked it as industrial because it has the Slayer...

[Can you dig it?]

Yes I dig it

I dig this song. For a nice reese, cool synths, and original sounding breakbeats you get a 10. ts got a bit of an industrail touch. It was just a bit repetive tho, and a subbass would be nice in here.But interesting stuff :D

MCMA responds:

Thanks man! You should vote.

[Nav-Euphoric Breaks (remaster)]

you still rock

This is very fun to listen to, which I think is more deserving of the score it has now even if its not your personal best, well I think. I love the synths and glimmering background FX, you always make the coolest sounding synths. Love how it progresses, although the voicings could change up a bit more. I really like how the track unfolds at 3:00! it would be awesome if you threw a sub in there and took a DnB twist ;) haha I dont mind me. keep up the good work as always Nav. :D

Nav responds:

Haha, that'd be nice, but I've lost the VSTs I used to make this track, and I've lost the samples, so its impossible :( It'd be fun to do if I could, though!

Thanks for the review! :)

[One Last Dance(Song) -Dj Karma]

nice!

This is a great dance track! Reall smooth!

=The Good=
-Sidechaining is nice
-Cool kick and clap
-That tight saw is really cool
-Nice progressions in the background

=The Bad=
-I just dont like that snare sample, but thats just me
-More substance is needed, youve already got saws in the background and another synth to work as a bassline, a lead is needed
-Clap might sound good in some 'verb

Overall very sweet stuff!

DjKarma responds:

Thanks for the review dude!
I appreciate the in-depth feedback =)
and I'll keep all this in mind for when I work on this song in the future (To make it longer and such)

Thanks!
-Dj Karma

[music to enjoy cheese to]

Real nice

Great music to enjoy cheese too I like the glissando and vibes, nice bassline, and do-do-do's in the background. Real nice jazz sensibility on the guitar too. Cool tone that fits the general mood of the song.. I've even learned a bit about cheese, haha. I'm just dissapointed I dont have any cheese blocks to eat with this music :(

Hope this gets used in a flash!

spamwangler responds:

thanks for the review:)

when i finished making this song i went downstairs to get some cheese and i didn't have any, so i know your pain

[Nav- Kirby's Mirror (idnb rmx)]

mmmmmmmmmmmm

Just gonna review this goodness again because I love everything about this track.

Nav responds:

:D

Thanks!

[Circle]

Great

I don't think the orchestration does a whole lot but those sure are some catchy rhythms :) Love the minimalist intro!

vai90 responds:

Thx for the review. :)

[Crime Scene]

very nice

=The Good=
-I love the minimalism of sounds
-Great Authentic sounds
-Love the sporadic keys and plucked bass, like someone is running to place to place
-Percussion is nice
-Sounds good when everything is moving together
-Love the ending

-The Bad
=The cello/bass/lower strings sounds weird panned, it would be more balanced if you had centered it

Ideas: 9/10 Diversity: 9/10 Clarity: 9/10 Overall 9/10

Great track, keep on it.

CFox responds:

Thanks! I think I agree on the panning, thanks for pointing that out.