sonicExplorer's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[AB - Focused]

Good layering of sounds and synths. Especially dig the swirling line that comes in around the minute mark. Very well done during that spot. Also, that gated synth sounds very nice and fills its role well. Again, the breakdown at the two-minute mark is nice- very impressive. The only things I don't dig as much are: that stock, flat drum sound. You need a better kit, some fuller samples. Also, the beginning is a bit awkward- it kind of meddles around and falls into the first drop. Use a subtler, more patient build, then cash in when it really feels right.
Great job. Your stuff keeps getting better. Good luck in future!

AsteroidBlues responds:

Not much to say except thanks and you are right about lot of things )

[AB - Tension]

Definitely a progression from your older stuff. I love the buried sound (lowpass filters perhaps?) of the drums and wah-guitar-lie synth and the explosion into the fuller sound at the minute mark. Quite skilled transitions. Yet I'd especially like to see more experimentation- you know, less four-bars of the same, then four bars of slightly different, and then four slightly more different...etc. The key changes, while keeping things interest, are kind of stock- find new ways to keep things interesting or cut the song short. I love short songs because they prevent ideas from becoming stale, and in this song, they overstay their welcome a bit. But overall, this is quite something! Catchy, groovy, and fun. Keep it up. Oh, and the change from 3.5 stars to 3 from my last review of your song isn't significant. I've simply become a harsher critic.
Best of luck!

AsteroidBlues responds:

Thanks for a great review man )
Yeah it was a simple freq change in lowpass filter )
And four-bar-repeat thing was really a bummer up until i started writing something dubstep-ish(you can check my Disturbance here and another track which i will post today). I`m still using 4 bar pattern but its much less repetative when it comes to dub. And tracks are much shorter too.
Still need to experiment more though, you are right )

[Cembawalkie]

Digging every part

How does this NOT belong in a game? It reminds me of every castle in every videogame I've ever played. Excellent melodies and progressions, also digging the instruments. Honestly, finding something like this on newgrounds makes the search worth it.

JPRixdorfer responds:

Wow, thank you!

I guess it's true. It really is pretty castley, although I didn't even have that in mind :)
Just striding around my castle :D

Thanks for the review and the very kind words!

["once Morifo" WIP]

Some Parts Awesome, Some Parts Good

All of the actual music is fantastic, but some of the instruments clash just a tad. I love that harp/piano (can't tell which), and that melody is beautiful, but then the synthy instrument after it kinda throws it off I think. I love the synthy strings after that though, and overall the song is pretty great, I just might change that one synth lead.

Ankalegon responds:

Thanks for the review, this is exactly what i needed. I agree abt the synth instrument being a little clashy... I wish i could collaborate w someone who knows his/her way around drum n bass or house music... I definitely don't have the most exp with it but i do appreciate it.
that synth lead is where the title comes from.. it's a deviation of the riff from morrowind / oblivion / skyrim and it was stuck in me head... (Morifo = Morrowind rip off :) )
I'm glad the rest appealed to you and i'm def not done w it.

[Imagination Pixelation]

Great Idea and Chord Progression

I could totally see this being an awesome video tune, obviously it needs fleshing out as you said but reight now it's already pretty great! Good incorporation of effects into the beat and overall great little song.

Neon-Bard responds:

Thanks sonic, I wasn't completely sure about this one but I suppose it wasn't so bad after all! :)

As I said, and as you said, and as I'll say again (that sounds odd I know...) I should probably take this song and work with it some more, perhaps add some new effects and rhythms among other things. Thanks once again! :)

[Super 8-bit Battle Song]

Definitely Can See In a Game!

Awesome little loop! I really like the form as well as the melodies- cool tune! Just wondering, how does one make 8-bit and other bit songs; is there a bitcrusher that you use or something?

DaVince responds:

Thank you for the comments! It is indeed going to be used in a game (which I hope my friend will actually finish, lol). I use the music tracking program OpenMPT, which is mostly-sample-based, so I actually use samples (WAV) for all the chip sounds.

The only thing you really need to make a good chiptune is good, clean chip samples. These samples are incredibly short, so you can't play them by themselves. They need to loop.

For the percussion, I usually get some actual NES or Mega drive samples. Those are already the real deal, after all, and need no editing. You could also downsample more realistic percussion sounds (OpenMPT has a special button for this). The sample will lose a bit of the high range sounds, so it sounds a lot more as if the sample was played on a bad sound card. Downsample enough and it becomes very 8-bit like (if it doesn't become useless, which sometimes happens too).

I've never done it, but sound engineering tools like Audacity let you play around with sound filters so much you can probably make most samples sound as if they come from an 8-bit console.

Here's a small collection of samples that I use: davince.tengudev.com/music/oth ers/samples/some-chipsamples.rar

It doesn't contain all of the samples from this specific song, though. Just one or two of it are used in my song. But that pack is complete enough to get you started making very NES/GB-like songs at least.

...Alternatively to all this samples stuff, you can use tools like Famitracker, which is music creation software that lets you make tunes for the actual consoles themselves. Famitracker is for NES, but there are also music trackers for Commodore 64, Gameboy, etc etc. The songs made in these sound exactly like they come from that console. However, this also limits you to the actual original console hardware's capabilities. People have made great tunes with those, they can play on an actual NES, but they can't have as many simultaneous instruments or freedom in how the instruments sound as when you use samples in your favourite music creation program (like I like to do).

[Stellar Dream <-(FTA)->]

Cool with some good ideas!

Really liked a lot about the second half of the song, and the first half builds nicely into it. Liked a lot of the vst's you were using, drums were the only one that were slightly weak, but overall very nice!

FaeryTaleAdventurer responds:

Thanks for reviewing, sonicExplorer.

I have thought the drums could probably sound a bit stronger.

Thanks again.

-FTA

[Brain Wash]

Uh,

I mean I get it, but, its not really something worth downloading or listening to on a regular basis. I guess if you were going for totally confusing the listener you got it spot on.

73Quantum responds:

Confused? Sorry Dude :(

[|-Hoppipolla Remix-|]

Love That Song, Impossible to Improve Upon But...

It's a good transition into techno, and definitely respects the original. Cool work, keep it up! Glad to see another Sigur Ros fan on ng!

O-Prime125 responds:

thanks :)