Everratic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[The Ballad of Creative Freedom]

This is very fun to listen to!!! I like how expressive the saxophone sounds at times, and the choir adds a lot of excitement.

I think much work can be done to make this sound more realistic and even livelier. I would add more early reflections reverb on most instruments. This helps add a room sound to the samples rather than adding a tail. Adding a tail to a dry sample won't sound nearly as good, and it won't blend well with samples that have a baked in room sound. I think the song could benefit from more high end percussion; there already is some but it's not prominent enough imo. This can help the track sound more open and energetic. The clap sounds overly widened; imagine you're in an audience watching this performance live, and think about where the clapping is coming from and how your brain would perceive it spatially. I think the instruments can be spread out more over the stereo field; you might find the plugin Panagement useful.

I believe some additional EQing could make the mix a bit better. The bass region of the bass instrument can be cleaned up a bit, and the low-mids of the ukelele can be cut slightly for a cleaner sound. I think the high end of the claps, vocals, ukelele, and saxophone can be boosted to liven the mix.

This is great work. Good luck in the contest!

AlbeGian responds:

Thank you so much for the feedback Ev! I've been looking at Panagement and it seems like a pretty fun tool to work it! I'll give it a try. Also yeah I think you're right about the lack of high end in some parts, I wanna experiment with more lively and less muddy mixes in the future to see what's up. Thanks again man!

[A Stroll Down St Pancras]

I agree with Jordi <3

[Desert Fever]

This is phenomenal work! You met the highest expectations that were set for you with this piece.

The climax is one of the most pleasing moments of music I've heard.

I like the fusion of various influences from the around the world. The part at 5:15 reminds me of jewish folk music.

Like many others, I don't have much criticism. I can only say that I think a greater use of a dedicated-early-reflections reverb can help blend the vastly different types of libraries together. If you don't know what I'm talking about, I'll follow up with more details.

I hope to hear more new music from you soon!

VociferousMusic responds:

Thanks very much!

I intentionally kept the reverb rather low. I personally like lots of reverb being involved, but I was rather unsure whether that just is my own taste and whether other people enjoy that. Therefore, I kept it all more dry than I usually would do, basically to hit different tastes.

Stay excited about the full symphony (extended version of Halloween Tale) I will release in about a month, with a length of 36 minutes. That will be the longest track I ever composed. :)

[Be Gay Do Crime]

@trunotfals

I think the lack of resolution is a reflection of the fact the fight against oppressive systems is ongoing. Considering that, a resolution would sound odd.

Zoonotist responds:

Yup :) Thank you for your kind words, Everratic.

[The Concept of Time]

-NGUAC Review-

I've been enjoying listening to your music and observing your progress since I discovered you around half a year ago. You've improved in many ways. With that said, I have to echo the point that this is not among your best recent songs.

Some things I really like about some of your other recent songs are that they sound much more lively, dynamic, and most importantly, original. They have adventurous vibes and evoke much more emotion.

With this song, it sounds like you hastily pasted together various tropes from epic music; I don't sense any meaning behind the song's structure and development, and it lacks a distinct identity - there are no memorable features. Memorable features can be a catchy melody, interesting sound design, unorthodox instrumentation, etc.

I'm sure that this song would be liked by a casual epic music audience. Unfortunately, by design, my scoring rubric does not reward songs simply for being industry-acceptable, and it greatly penalizes songs that lack originality.

I gave you a score of 6.9. I realize that's quite low, but bear in mind some of your other songs would get much higher scores from me.

If this is the type of music you want to make, don't let my feedback stop you. I'm just an amateur composer who tends to frequently disagree with the popular opinions here on evaluating music.

The production during the climaxes is solid. I like the punchy drums that cut through the mix.

I think tempo automation would be nice in the intro and outro, to change the pace a bit. These sections could also benefit from more background lines (maybe pads) to further fill in the frequency spectrum and draw interest.

At 1:05, there's a loud string sound that lasts until 1:12. It sounds fakes and is therefor distracting. I think it should peak at a lower point and fade out sooner.

At 1:28, you brought in the brass section, and the result is that the section sounds like a psuedo-climax that detracts power from the following main climax. You could have used woodwinds or solo strings to keep the section lighter and quieter.

There's more I could comment on, but you already received some good advice.

Let me know if you have any questions or comments. I look forward to hearing more of your music!

KevinMueller responds:

Thanks for the review! I understand your points, and I will try to do better next time.

[-Arcade Prix-]

I think this is my favorite song of yours. Nice work!

PredatorMusic responds:

Thank you man :D

[Hand In Hand- NGUAC 2020 Final Round Submission]

Nice work!

I typically dislike pop music, but this feels refreshing and emotionally genuine.

ConnorHeather responds:

Wow, thanks! That's awesome to hear!

[Ghost Dance - NGUAC 2020]

Sorry for the long wait!

I like the emotion and atmosphere throughout much of the track. The reverse effects are a nice touch.

There are some major problems with the production. All the instruments sound like they aren't EQd properly. I think you can remove some low-mid frequencies from the piano, guitar, drums, and bass, and you can boost the highs on the snare, guitar, and piano. The bass ( or whatever instrument the strong bass sound is coming from) could benefit from compression as well as dynamic EQ to further suppress any unwanted resonances.The glockenspiel sounds like it's played at too high dynamics - you can play it softer and simply increase the volume if necessary; the glockenspiel should also be treated with dynamic EQ so it's consistent in volume and doesn't sound piercing. I suggest re-balancing the volume levels of all the instruments after making these changes.

The square synth in the 1:58 section sounds uninteresting. You can add more expression by automating vibrato, using different articulations, having pauses, using syncopation, etc.

You made some good decisions in creating an interesting atmosphere, but problems with production and lack of expressiveness detracted from my enjoyment.

I hope this helps, and thank you for participating this year!

Irish-Soul responds:

Thank you so much for the feedback! Yep, production is definitely where I struggle the most and I 100% see what you mean. I'll try to keep this in mind for future songs I create

[a simple song]

This is beautiful!

[Immersion]

I enjoyed this a lot. I like the sound design, especially the quirky samples.