Everratic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[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!

[When Your Life is Complete and You Have Everything to Show For It]

I've been listening to this through out the week. It's very relaxing and pleasant :)
It's unfortunate that this was zero bombed, probably more than once :(

FinnMK responds:

Thanks a bunch! And eh, whatever. It happens.

[A City Not Forsaken]

This is quite a complex song, and I thoroughly enjoyed every second of it :D

The third part, which is my favorite, really reminds me of the pop musician Kesha, particularly some of her tracks from Warrior. I'm curious about where your inspiration came from.

Phonometrologist responds:

I'm glad you enjoyed it and thank you for leaving a comment. To be honest I haven't heard of Kesha, but I'll look her up. For the "third part" of which you speak of, my initial inspiration came from Bob Marley. Hence the reggae feel a little bit.

[Flarpy Puddy]

I enjoyed this a lot. It's simple and soft enough to be background music, and it has a nice uplifting vibe. The main melody is super catchy.

This is me nitpicking, but I feel that the sweeps sound slightly too heavy for this kind of atmosphere. I would have reduced the low-end even further.

My main qualm with this track are the piano chords. It's kinda difficult to articulate precisely what I dislike, but I think this works: the chords add weight to the otherwise dreamy, reverby atmosphere. I would love to hear what you can do if you work towards making your piano arrangements more realistic and expressive (with the intent to do so).

EctiBot responds:

Glad you enjoyed it :)
I agree that the piano could have been a lot better. Was oneof the reasons why I wasn't planning on uploading it. In the future I'll probably do a different approach to piano and chords in tracks like this :).
Thx for the feedback :D

[Frailty and Hope]

The track has a very chilling yet pleasant atmosphere. I love the music box and piano's melodies and arrangement.

The only thing I really dislike here is that the song seems to build up too quickly after becoming quiet. The pad and lead don't get a chance to fully fade out, and it sounds like their current fade outs aren't automated at all. It seems awkward to me. There are several aspects of the track that I become accustomed to after a few more listens, but this isn't one of them.

I would have liked to hear the snare increase in power as the climax progressed.

I'm not fond of the melodic lead. The base sound is okay, but I think it could benefit from having more release as opposed to being played continuously.

Overall, this is quite an interesting and enjoyable song that has a high level of originality.

Spadezer responds:

It sounds like for the most part you enjoyed it. I'm a little confused on which section you're speaking of in terms of fading out the lead and pad. The idea about the bass is interesting, but I wish I would have thought about your idea about the snare. I like that.

We'll see how far I go with personal tastes with the judges because hopefully if my song aligns with their tastes I'll likely get higher scores. Especially for originality, your words there are comforting. Although it's been hard to get an average score above 8 so again we'll see.

Thanks for your thoughts and kind words

[Race Against Yourself]

Wow, the loop is so seamless!

The song is energetic and lively. There are so many nice textures. I love the sound design, as usual. The bass around 1:00 is spectacular, and so is the lead around 1:400 – it seems to have a simple base sound, but the texture of it changes so rapidly– . I like that you used some simpler synths later in the piece. One of the basses sounds like it's trying to scream; it's such a lovely effect that makes me want to be more engaged with the music. I'm blown away by the outstanding production quality and complexity of the sounds, but that tends to happen when I listen to your music :)

zybor responds:

thank you for your review! :)

[Love Never Ending]

This is so beautiful. It reminds me of the main theme from Starbound :D

Bosa responds:

Thank you! I haven't played that yet, but I will have to listen to the theme definitely!