Everratic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[A City Not Forsaken Part I]

This is amazing. You're really good at designing otherworldly experiences with your music. It has a strong calming effect.

Phonometrologist responds:

Thanks Blue. I appreciate your description, because I really don't know what kind of "effects" people get when listening to what I end up putting together.

[Comet]

I love this so much. It's so energetic, catchy, and uplifting. My only gripe is that I wish there were more countermelodies or melodic layering.

8-bitheroes responds:

Thanks for the feedback! Yeah countermelodies would be a good idea, something i struggle with a little.

[AIM - The Mountain]

Wow, I easily envision playing a medieval rpg while listening to this. It reminds me of the Witcher music I used in a Skyrim mod. This could be phenomenal if you had better vsts, but it sounds great as is. I encourage you to get some better vsts as soon as you can because you're clearly talented and might be able to be a video game composer someday, if you wish.

Quebi responds:

Wow, thank you. That really means a lot. I definitely need some better vst's, hopefully this competition helped that a lot. But honestly, thank you. It's actually my dream to compose for entertainment media, shows, movies, games, etc.

[A Future Unknown]

The violin composition is really nice.

I think this song would sound much better if you programmed the staccato note by note instead of using what sounds like action strings. Also, the song doesn't sound like it's being played in a real space; it seems to be mixed like its an electronic song.

I like what you were trying to do with this piece, but I think it needs more instruments for tension to be properly built. A brass ensemble would sound amazing here. I think more percussion is necessary as well.

With that said, I mostly enjoy the song if I listen to it casually. It would make good background music as is.

FateModified responds:

Hey thanks for the review!

Hmm actually I did program the staccato notes using Albion One. I’ve been listening to lots of trance lately and so I’m sure that’s why it sounds so electronic versus real due to my current musical influences. I wasn’t really going for an all natural acoustic sound. I tried adding some brass but decided against it actually. More percussion probably would have been good but the mix was getting kind of muddied as is so I didn’t add much more. My mixing skills still aren’t that great but I try. Thanks again for the review! :D

[Arise and Fight]

This is beautiful <3 The orchestration is amazing.

AceMantra responds:

Thanks! :D

[Love You, Mom - Jessie Yun]

This is beautiful and so uplifting! It improved my mood a lot :)

JessieYun responds:

Hey Everratic,
Thank you very much for the comment, glad you enjoyed the piece!

[T-Logic - Kid on the Bike]

Your composition skills improved significantly over the past year. I really liked the orchestration. There are some interesting countermelodies and secondary percussive elements. My only gripe is that the vocals sound like they’re in another space.

TaintedLogic responds:

Thanks so much for the review, Everratic! I'm glad you think I'm getting better at composition. Mixing vocals has never been my strong suit, but unfortunately I might not have much of an opportunity to work on that in the near future. All of the mic equipment I was using here belongs to my school, not me. Anyway, thanks again for dropping by! ^_^

[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.

[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.