Everratic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[The Road Less Traveled]

This is fun to listen to; the chords are fantastic and the composition sounds adventurous. It reminds me of exploring Skyrim at night. I think the lovely aspects of the composition are somewhat negated by uninteresting drums, a lack of expression with the piano playing, and a muted and cheap piano sound. I hope that doesn't sound too harsh. Normally I wouldn't write reviews like this, but I think this loop has the potential to be a masterpiece with a lot of emotional depth.

ChronoNomad responds:

Hi, Everratic! Thanks for taking the time to listen and leave a review, man.

I'm glad to hear that it's fun to listen to, at least! And adventurous has a nice ring to it. The drums were more of an afterthought anyway, so I guess I don't really mind if they sound less than epic, but there's not really much I can do about the piano. Funds being what they are, all the stellar-sounding instrumental suites are beyond my reach and always have been. Yeah, I suppose the comment does come across as rather harsh, but it's not entirely untrue. All I can do is work with what I have, and if it ultimately falls flat, well...such is life.

I continue hoping that I can do big things with subpar resources, but maybe that's just a pipe dream. Fortunately, I make the music for myself and my family, first and foremost. Hopefully the music can still be appreciated, despite the admittedly lackluster piano. I can only pray that the soul of the music can shine through, regardless.

[Uxvellda - Chakra]

I don't think I've ever heard anything like this before, and I love it! This is the kind of chord progression that beginners are told to avoid because it sounds cheesy, but I think it's fantastic in this context; it's actually quite amusing and contributes to that novel feel. You have a good sense for beauty in music; I'm pretty sensitive to that and this song managed to please me :)

[Android]

This was really relaxing. I like the quirkiness and unpredictable nature of it. The bird fx during the sax section was a nice touch. The only thing I didn't like much was the intro because the super-fake-sounding violin was so exposed.

[AIM - Decagon Isolation]

This would serve as good background music for a large variety of media. I would have liked to hear some more distinct sections with varying intensity, but what you have now works well. The sound design is really good. The track is complex enough that although it’s repetitive, it’s not annoying to listen to.

[Fragmented Reality]

This was quite relaxing and enjoyable at times. The sound design is solid; I particularly like the distorted lead for the countermelody. I’m afraid I found it to be extremely repetitive though. I would like to have a break from the main melody, and I think the track could benefit a lot from more variation in general.

larrynachos responds:

Yeah I was struggling to find something that fit. I was infatuated with the bass I had synthesized.

Thanks for the review!

["Stand Up" - Jessie Yun]

This sounds uplifting and quite beautiful at times. There's a fantastic main melody as well. The transitions are wonderful; I particularly like the use of piccolo and harp. Although the song has plenty of awesome moments, I think much of it feels too empty, and the great momentum that emerges from the transitions into the climaxes quickly diminishes. I think the song could benefit a lot from having more instruments, not just to make it sound more full, but also to help define the melodies more during the quieter sections. It's clear that you're not using high-end libraries, and it's most evident in the awkwardly-slow attacks in some notes of the melodies; at times the melodies' short notes sound slightly out-of-sync with the forefront percussion. Adding some melodic percussion, such as a glockenspiel or celesta, could help a lot with that. Furthermore, I noticed a lack of high-frequency percussion; I think a tambourine would work well here. Lastly, I think some parts could benefit from some bass fx, which is basically an almost inaudible note that provides additional warmth to give certain transitions greater impact.

JessieYun responds:

Hey Everratic,
Thanks for the constructive criticism. Yes, this quite lacks in many ways, and I mostly agree with your opinions on this track. I'm planning to re-make this track with better orchestration & more story involved, probably in the future.

[Jenny of Oldstones ~ Podrick's Song (GoT)]

This song is so charming! The instrumentation is excellent, and I love the drones - they give the song lovely mystical vibes. I like that there's a clear and sweet climax; I didn't see it coming, and it was executed very well. Etherealwinds is quite a suitable name when you make this kind of music!

I got used to it after a few listens, but at first I thought the vocals sound a little thin compared to everything else. This might just be my headphones, but I also sense that the high end of the vocals has been boosted a bit. It's usually fine, but during the parts when there's a lot of layering, it stands out to me.

The fx are a nice addition, and at the end, they help return the song to reality after the ethereal experience.

etherealwinds responds:

Thanks so much for your review and high rating! I'm really glad you liked it. It's funny you say that about my username, because in 2011 when I made 'etherealwinds' on YouTube, I was starting to create more ambient music in the realm of fantasy and Celtic - the first video I uploaded was an acapella arrangement of Pippin's Song from LoTR; a song which evoked in me the exact same vibe and feels as this song did when watching GoT!

You're right in your sense that the high end of the vocals has been boosted a bit. Especially in tracks like this where I want the vocals (and especially the harmonies) to have a lighter, airier more ethereal tone, I raise the highs of the main just a little, reduce the mids of the harmonies, raise the lows a tiny amount but raise the highs more (to position the harmonies around the main, yet above the mains in terms of airiness) :) it has yet to sound too thin on any of my headphones, but it may well do on your end as technology is funny like that!

Really glad you liked it <3

[endK - Ethereal]

The composition is lovely and very emotional. I really like the background instrumentation. That said, the instruments themselves sound a bit uncanny to me; they're not blatantly midi-sounding, but they don't sound very expressive either. There is a lot of emotion in this song thanks to the composition, but I think there's opportunity to enhance the emotion further by using more expressive instruments. I think a celeste could work well here; if you have kontakt, then you should already have a decent one.

endKmusic responds:

Yeah, totally get what you're saying.
Was thinking about Kontakt while I was composing this one and had the same thought.
Thanks for the review, I agree with everything you said.
Glad you dig the composition. :)

[Firestride]

I love the main melody!