Everratic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[A Simple Composition]

Wow, this is a really good use of Una Corda. It conveys the emotion of your composition in such an elegant manner. I believe I stated this about another piece of yours, but I think it's apt to repeat it again here: the harshness of the higher register isn't very pleasing, but it still works imo because it denies full satisfaction to the listener, which enhances the piece's emotional depth. Despite the relative simplicity, you still managed to retain the emotional side of your compositional style :D This is certainly easier to follow than your usual pieces, though that's not necessary better.

I really enjoyed it!

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

Seems you easily recognized the piano xD
This piece wasn't recorded with the Una in mind, but I ended up using it anyway. If something is actually composed for it, the atmosphere can be beyond incredible! I layered pianos here. I have a cotton Una a bit to the left, a tremolo one to the right, and the noise one in the middle, along with a little maverick for added depth. The distortion sounds are intentional too :)

I know about the harshness of the higher register, and indeed I happen to like that it's not "perfect". I could've easily made them softer and longer, for a more clean sound. But I fancy this soft grit :D

Thanks a lot for the review! I appreciate it :3

[All Cops Are Bastards]

This is amazing! Your sound design is something to marvel at.

zybor responds:

Thank you for your review, BlueOceans!

[Animators Theme - Animating Is Our Life]

This was very relaxing, and nice lyrics :)

AsternFredAnimations responds:

Thanks man :) i was aiming to make it as relaxing as possible and still make it sound a bit active. I was listening to the original song a couple o' moths ago and the lyrics just popped up in my head, I found out that they mixed good together, although I still believe I should get some better recording stuff, this is the best I can afford at the moment.

[My Firefly]

I really enjoyed this. It's so upbeat and catchy, and it's filled with gorgeous synths. I adore that detuned pad.

It might just be me, but the crash "spamming" stands out as being odd. Maybe it's because that particular sample has a longer decay than what I would expect.

johnfn responds:

thanks! yeah the pad man. it's all about the pad. and i /may/ have overused a certain 707 sample, not saying which one... believe it or not, it was even worse before, but i curtailed it a lil =P

[Gladiolus]

I think I can listen to this for hours. The atmosphere during the climax is stunningly beautiful, and the dual vocals are so pleasant on the ears. The overall reverb seems to have been executed perfectly. The ending is really satisfying and conclusive. I have no real criticisms; the entire piece sounds lovely.

etherealwinds responds:

God bless the NG loop button

Thank you BlueOceans. I'm really glad you enjoyed the track :)

[A Dude Named Grant]

This is amazing! I thought it was made by garlagan when I first heard it on chips comp; what a surprise xD

I'm going to take a lot of sound design inspiration from this :)

Onefin responds:

I uh

I declared in the compo chat multiple times that it was me XD

[Circutronics - NGADM]

Wow, the atmosphere is spectacular! I like how the song sounds somewhat chaotic yet the melodies are easy to follow. The ending deviates from the rest of the song in a way, but it sounds smooth and conclusive.

The only thing I dislike is that I find the drums to be fairly weak. This piece has the potential to sound much more energetic and catchy. It's not that the drums are quiet, I think it's more that the layers of synths are about equal in volume.

Spadezer responds:

Hmmm, you bring up an intriguing point. Thankfully that''s not a difficult thing to adjust before the round ends. I'll see if I can play around with that, and then I'll likely PM you with the changes. I am quite pleased with the rest of your reaponse.

The feedback is good and thanks for the kind words.

[T-Logic - Petrichor]

Your mixing has improved immensely. I won't say that you sounddesign is better or worse in comparison to that of some of your previous pieces I listened to, but I can say that the soundesign here serves to create a clearer theme and atmosphere. The theme was evident as soon as the piece began, which I think is appropriate considering the video game vibes I get from this. One thing that I really like about this track is that it retains its soothing quality without spurring a passive listening experience. There is lots of pleasant variation and detail that's worth paying attention to. I love the fx that makes me think of bird chirping. I wasn't blown away by this piece, but that would defeat the purpose; it was a very pleasant and relaxing song that I can imagine hearing in a typical side-scrolling game :D

I usually give a rating of 5 on NG by default, but because I rated this a four in the competition, I think it's appropriate to keep it consistent here.

TaintedLogic responds:

Thanks a lot for the review, BO! I'm glad you think my mixing is improving - taking the extra effort to use stereo wideners and panning seems to be paying off. :)

I agree that the sound design isn't the best, but I wanted to incorporate some more organic sounds into my music (as opposed to synths), and DirectWave has served that purpose pretty well for now.

The bird chirping FX is actually from WaspXT. I've found that WaspXT gives you generic-sounding crap 90% of the time, but I'll often try my luck with the randomizer and do plenty of tweaking - it worked out really well here if I say so myself. ^^

And no worries about the ratings! I highly encourage everyone to give me honest feedback, so if you think I deserve a 4, I probably do. ;)

Thanks again for the review, BO! Good luck in CHIPS!

[Powerlines]

This is the most memorable song from the competition. It's so catchy every time :)

AED4 responds:

Finally able to respond... Thank you ^^ It's always a pleasure to know that someone enjoys my songs :)

[Going in Style]

I’m very intrigued by the vibes of the song. For most of it, the atmosphere evokes a sense of deep thought and mystery, with the saxophone adding an element of sophistication, and all of these elements combined make me visualize a somber detective story. Later on, once the choir comes in, the song begins to sound more like a battle theme for a video game, and even the saxophone’s melodic content seems to have changed to suit the different vibe. I think you guys did a fantastic job in this area.

Unfortunately, I think that despite the great atmosphere and well-established vibes, the song sounds, or rather, feels, too static. It has a constant somber atmosphere and powerful drums. Perhaps you could have provided a break from the drums when the choir entered?

This is one of my favorite collaborations from the two of you!

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

Seems like a lot of people hear a detective story in this, and that's pretty cool!

It's great that it sounds mysterious, since the composing process was too, haha. That is, we went in a totally experimental direction, even though that approach is quite risky!
I agree there could probably be some kind of break from the drums at some point. The risk in that is making the loop less smooth, if it were say a background piece to something. But for a competition it's probably best if the songs work perfectly as a standalone.

The sax is indeed a very cool touch, and I'm glad we included it ^___^
Thank you for the review!