Azhthar's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Water from the Rock]

Really like this one! The great mix of instruments gives this piece a really nice chilling atmosphere. Everything really flows together and you can really imagine the water flowing out of a giant rock with maybe a lot of rainforest around it. I can hear the Philip Glass inspiration you write ;) From the instrumentation it reminds a bit of some pieces from his "Aguas da Amazonia", which is actually one of my favourites from him.

Phonometrologist responds:

Ah cool! I appreciate the sentiments as it is all reassuring. I do see the comparisons as well. It's funny because I hear in your last piece's rhythm and progression as Philip Glassesque at moments as well. I'm glad you enjoyed this one

[Tomorrow (Time is brake)]

Cool intro! Usually I´m not so much into EDM but the intro is definitely nice. In particular I like the weird rythms and the risers. Everything is mixed well and the master is very clear, although I´m not a reference in EDM here ;) I guess it´s not the first track you did, although you write it´s your first on NG. It´s interesting how the track changes after the intro but you did a great transition here. The pads which start around 1:30 sound a bit due to the extreme stuttering. Maybe try to add some reverb for tailing here or maybe reduce the volume a bit that they are a bit more in the background. The bass which starts at 2:30 is awesome. You got definitely some nice transitions and very contrasting parts here.

AlexByx responds:

Thanks, you're the first person that makes me congratulations on this song

[Every Man's Sky]

Nice start! I really like the sound of the pads and I also like these "epic" 1-6 progressions. I think the beat is a bit to rough here. This could have been a nice relaxing ambient piece but the beat destroyed the atmosphere a bit. Also I think it is a bit repitative. Maybe if you would put a beat which is a bit more "soft" and add some variation to it the piece would be a bit more conclusive. The end of the track catches again this mellow feeling from the beginning. Nothing to say about the production. Everything is mixed quite well (except the drums, which are too loud) and the master is very clear. One last thing: Maybe I get it wrong but I wouldn´t put this one into "New Wave" ;) New wave for me is the late 70s to 80s post punk movement. But maybe things have changed today...

Lethal-Input responds:

Yeah I feel like a soft beat would have been better too, but eh. Oh and I had no idea how to really classify this song so it did feel like a stretch purring it in to New Wave. I'm not even familiar with New Wave stuff so I really had no idea lol I just went with anything.

[Alpha Sun]

Nice one! I understand the last review regarding the real instruments but since I´m often not better and to lazy to record some stuff using samples instead I can´t complain here ;) Maybe you could spend some time in humanizing, so the instruments would sound a bit more "real", because actually the sound of the drums and guitars is quite nice for software instruments!
There is nothing to complain composition wise, because it´s a great powerful track with cool melodies and you got very cool drum rythms going on here. Sometimes the track reminds me a bit of Blind Guardian or something. Some things that sounded a bit strange to me was the synthie pad at the beginning and the choir 2 mins because both have a very strong fast attack, which "isolates" the chords a bit from each other. It might improve the chord transitions if you would use a smoother attack here... Actually unbelievabla that the track lasts 6 mins, it didn´t feel like this. Well done!

[Fasting's Feastible Funfair]

This is how I like my clown! Big and tasty... Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

ZipZipper responds:

Awwwww me too

[The Babadook Song]

Nice one! I love the movie, because in the first half it´s one of the creepiest I´ve seen in a while. Although the end of the movie is a bit to long and strange...
Your "ba-Ba`s" and "Dook`s" are quite cool and you did great by following the text with the atmosphere of the music. Also: very cool creepy atmosphere in general!

[Euphonius]

I have to regret I´m so much into house music but I´ll try my best ;) I definitely like the funky bassline and the transition with the riser at about 1 min when the e-piano is really cool. The lead is catchy and everything is well mixed and mastered very clearly in my oppinion (although I´m not a reference here ;). I think that you added the guitar is a big bonus here, although I think the guitar drowns a bit in the mix. I like the part which starts around 2 something with the laid back feeling but the transition into this part could be a bit more smooth. Maybe a drum fill or something could be added before? The end appears to be a bit abrupt for me but I often have the same problem to be honest... Also the guitar bends sometimes sound a bit out of tune during the "outro". I love the triangle by the way ;)

Voltus responds:

the guitarbends are supposed to sound off. I like it it's weird. also the guitar is really just there to add some backgroundfrequencys so it's ok for it to stay in the back sometimes.
anyway thanks for the review!

[Dire Dire Docks [NyxTheShield']

I don´t know the original, but anyway it´s a cool piece. Well done! You took nice sounds and the mastering sounds very clear, but I agree to Random DanceOf Happy that the high notes hit a bit too loud, compared to the deeper parts. I like the part when the beat starts. The beat is cool in general but sometimes it sounds a bit too mechanical. Maybe it´s quantised a bit to hard. A bit of humanization might be good here. Maybe the track could be a bit shorter in general, because it gets a bit repitative after a while and it would have been nice if there wasn´t a fade out at the end, but that´s only minor flaws. Nice piece!

[I.H.E. III draft]

Interesting
Definitely a nice start you have here. Especially the fast strings are very cool and give some kind retro feeling from some 70´s tracks. The drums sound als nice and the tom fill at 0.14 is a treat as well. Some things you really need to improve is the mix. The track starts at very low volume, gets very loud and suddenly very quiet again. A bit of dynamic is good especially for cinematic stuff but this is a bit to extreme and the loudness changes are too abrupt. Also sometimes some instruments are too loud compared to the others like the drums and the violins at about 0.12. Try to adjust the volume levels of the single tracks and maybe use a limiter for clipping tracks and some compression in general.
You also asked where you can go with this track. I would say it´s a matter of taste, especially yours ;) But probably that doesn´t help a lot. Some suggestions I have: Take some of the themes you already used (like the one starting at 0.16) and try to variate or develope them. You could also play with the instrumentation or playing techniques. Like taking the theme and let it play slowly from some legato violins, maybe with some sustain string chords below it and then increasing the drive again by fastening and changing back to the staccattos. You can always use more instruments in your orchestration (like some brass or maybe some woodwinds playing some chord arpeggios).
Another approach would be to give this track a more regular song structure by taking your part as an intro and develope the track by shifts between "verse" and "chorus" (maybe also developed out of themes from your intro).
These are just some ideas I would throw in. Hope it helps a bit...
Anyway, really nice start here! I like it ;)

asid61 responds:

Thank you! Dynamics have always been an issue for me, so I'll pay closer attention to them and see how to mix this up better.
Thank you for the suggestions! I will try and add a few more instruments.

[SHWANG]

I have to say this one is pretty chilled. Nice and clear sound here for sure. I get that this is a hip hop beat but without nobody singing here it sounds a bit empty after a while, because it´s quite long. But it still would be a nice background track for something. I can´t point my finger on it but something sounded strange in the stuttering part you had at the beginning and at some points in the track. It sounded a bit dull and was mixed much worse than the rest of the track. I really like the groovy bass and the bells bring some nice mood into the track. The scratching effects you used sound a bit too digital for me. I hope this helps a bit ;)

ggsevv responds:

It helps alot. It turns out it's not a good idea to put a 7 band EQ on automation to fade a track out. I tried to allow the bass to come through EQ without letting anything else pass but it might actually be messing with the chop effect on the whole song. That strange sound you heard was probably the cut off for either the bass or those flang'd chords in the background because of gross beat and that EQ not working together.. I wanted to make it simple because of the rhyme scheme of the person I made this for. Tbh the actual song wont be nowhere near as long. I really only meant to do a minute and a half excerpt but FL said otherwise. :/

It's still a long ways off from being finished. Thanks for the feedback it's greatly appreciated. Always good to have an extra set of ears. :)