Everratic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[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.

zybor 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!

Preds 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

[God of Thunder]

-Nguac Review-

Composition:
I like the section at 1:42. It's nice ear candy.

Many of the sound effects feel arbitrary; they don't evoke imagery of a certain place or any emotions. The vocals don't get me excited - they're actually pretty distracting because I have to pay close attention to understand the words, and the tone is too neutral.

The strings and piano writing is extremely basic, and there's no legato or dynamic control. It's important to consider dynamics and voice leading to enhance realism, and more importantly, emotion.

The section at 3:00 has an interesting rhythmic change, but the main theme is so simple that I wish for something else at this point.

After that section, much of the rest of the song feels like it's unnecessary repetition. 4 minutes is more than enough, but the song is nearly 6 minutes without enough content variation to justify it.

Overall, the song sounds like you stitched together a variety of generic electronic music elements without a plan for creating a cohesive, meaningful experience. I don't sense a purpose behind the song, such as telling a story, evoking certain emotions, encouraging people to dance, etc.

Composition Score:
1.6/3

Production:

There's a lot of great sound design here, particularity during the drops.

I think reverb has been used poorly across the board. It's significantly reducing clarity, creating mud, and producing a detached high-end reverb sound that doesn't add any value.

If you're using free reverbs, I suggest you consider investing in a good one. That won't solve all the problems, but it can potentially provide a drastic improvement in sound quality.

The mix sounds good during the 1:42 section.

Production Score:
2/3

Emotion Score:
1/3

Creativity:
.4/1

Total:
5

I realize this review is more of an explanation of my score rather than helpful feedback, but we make very different types of music so it's difficult for me to help you further. I hope you find some value from my review nonetheless.

Benji-G responds:

Uh yeah thanks... I’m still mad and sad, but in a few days It’ll be over and I’ll find this really helpful. But rn I’m pissed ngl, I’m sorry

[The Paths Our Heart Often Guides Us Through]

This is very heartwarming. I especially love the ending with the beautiful piano.

Which reverbs did you use?

Albe responds:

Valhalla VintageVerb if I'm not wrong. Really glad that you find it heartwarming, thank you so much!!

[-Morningstar-]

I love this

Preds responds:

Glad you do so!

[Omnis Evanescet in Nihilo]

-NGUAC Review-

I like the instrumentation, orchestration, and structure. The choir writing is well done for the most part. There are a few voicings I dislike, such as 1:19.

I gave you very high scores in composition, emotion, and creativity. You lost most points in production. I sense some mud in the mix from the percussion, and there's some harshness in the high end. The part at 1:34 is too loud and harsh, and it seems like the mix hit the limiter pretty hard. Some instruments, such as the woodwinds, sound too dry. Maybe this video can help with that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0axfEAU5vbg

With a better mix, I think you would have passed - maybe with one of the highest scores.

SourJovis responds:

Thank you for the review. Glad you liked the song. I'll see what I can do about the mix.

That's a good tutorial. I've watched many tutorials like that, and I've been using my reverb settings quite like that for some time now. For this song however I've used mostly the actual reverbs recorded within the samples, because I really like the ambience of the room the instruments are recorded in, and nothing sounds as realistic as real life reverb. The placing in the room was determined mostly by the person who recorded it, but you can adjust the volumes of each individual mic manually. I kept the placing in the room mostly the same as they were when they were recorded, but sometimes I switched the left and right output if I wanted to have an instrument on the opposite side and I've done some (mostly minor) panning myself. To enhance manual room placing adjustments, and as an artistic choice, I've added a bit of digital reverb for what they in your video refer to as "early reflections". I've used the TSAR-1 by Softube with very subtle "dark" settings. The woodwinds are placed behind the violas, but in front of the brass ensemble, so they have more early reflections than the strings, but less than the brass (also less than the double bases which are behind the celli).