Azhthar's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[So it is]

I really like the guitar sound. Nice and calm with a lot of ambience. The pads you use are also quite cool. I understand why you mix the guitar so low but without the vocals you want to add it sounds a bit empty at the moment. The drums are much to dominant and since there is not much variation or dynamics in the drums it sounds a bit repitative. I also would maybe use some other drum samples, maybe less synthetic ones. Or use some real drum samples and mix some synth drums below. I guess this would fit the atmosphere. I definitely like the reverses you use here and there. It is hard to say something about the mix and mastering as long it is just a work in progress with the main part (the vocals) missing. Anyway, I guess this will be a nice calm piece when it´s finished!

IndustryStandard responds:

Yeah I feel you on the emptiness. I guess i could bring up the guitars and just have this down as an instrumental until I find someone to do vocals, but i don't know how long that will take me(to find someone to do the vox)... I can definitely work with the drum sounds though; again, they were supposed to be kind of monotonous but behind some rap-vocals, which could be used as another rhythm track as well as a vocal track, but yeah, still need to find someone bla bla bla. I think what I'll end up doing is adding a simple track of acoustic sampled drums under the meatier parts, and fade them out when it goes quiet in the middle. I was wanting more of a dynamic change there anyway, and that sounds like a perfect way to make it happen, thanks for the suggestion!

[Sasquatch Goes Boating]

I like it! Can imagine a happy boating sasquatch to it ;) You use some quite cool synth sounds here and I love the quirky melody starting at 30 secs and also the wave noises. Everything is mixed well imho and the master sounds very clear. I get this is work in progress so I guess it will get longer at some point. At the moment it lacks a bit of bass and although it is still quite short there could be a bit more variation in this part. Maybe also the beat could use a bit more build up and some more instruments than just snare and bass drum, but since it´s just the start of the track... Keep it up! I will be happy to hear the finished track!

xxUltimaWeapon responds:

I'm glad you can see what my mind's eye saw. =P I definitely need to figure out how to incorporate base into my songs because I still haven't quite got it down. And when I have the time, I will definitely put a lot more effort into this song. I'm glad you liked it for the most part. Thanks so much for the review! :D

[Equilibria - Nebula]

Nice work! I really can see that you put lots of effort into the developement of this piece. There is so much going on here. Nice transitions, nice melodies good chord progressions and enough music material to keep this track from anything but being boring. I´m sorry that I have to agree to the last reviewer that the drums (and also the wobble bass and some of the leads) are mixed a bit too loud. I´m not talking about the loud mastering. This is fine for me, because I just have to turn my volume down ;) Although I have too say there are guidelines for too maximum loudness for broadcasting... The problem is that you cover the nice melodies, you have with the other instruments (like the piano). That´s a pity, since you put so much effort into it. I don´t think it would be bad for the dynamics in the track too mix the dubstepp elements a bit more quiet, since the structure of the track is already very dynamic. The other thing is that the orchestral parts and the piano are a bit too heavily quantised for my taste. Some humanizing and some more velocity editing would really improve this track a lot. I hope this review doesn´t sound too critically, because the track is great! I just wanted to give some input, since you asked for a review ;)

Dylnmatrix responds:

Thanks a lot for the review! I appreciate the added input on the drums and mixing. Since I started Equilibria, I've been taking new approaches to mixing my tracks better, so I'm still a noob at it pretty much. I'm just glad to know that it wasn't the mastering or eq, I was worried that was the case as I'm the least experienced at that and I'm the one who did the final mixdown and master. I think I may have boosted the high mid range a bit too much in Ozone, causing the basses and leads to be really loud, as they're actually really quiet in the premaster.

I'm glad you liked the chord progression and melodies, as this track was far out of our comfort zone when we wrote it. I'm really proud of this progression, since I wrote this whole melodic line in one go and we went from there.

I do agree about the humanization and velocity editing. With Action Strings, it's a little bit harder to humanize the strings with it being preset phrases only. We had also recorded it to a wav file, since I didn't have Action Strings at the time, so editing was pretty much out of the question then. Velocity editing still confuses me, simply because I want the piano to be forte all the time since it will be hidden behind everything else. I edited it in this track, alongside messing with the color knob in The Giant, to get the humanization done to the best of my ability.

Again, I really thank you for the review. I actually really didn't have any doubt that Keitomine was right about the drums, I just really dislike short vague reviews, which is why I gave him the salty response I did. So no worries there ;)

We'll be using these tips in mixing the rest of the tracks on the EP so thank you very much once again!

[Boppy Tune]

Not the kind of music I usually listen but this one is catchy and fun for sure. Brightens up my mood from the first second ;)

TheMightyApple responds:

Glad to hear that ^^
Thanks!

[Welcome to Filth City [Sample]]

Definitely like this one! Especially the transition around 55s is awesome. The end is actually a bit abrupt... And I was also a bit surprised about your panning since you criticised mine ;) The dark deep leads around 28s and 46s are a bit extremely panned left and right. Otherwise it´s a cool track.

bwmusic responds:

Yeah, its an older track that wasn't properly mixed, thus is largely a W mix (basses, for instance, should be centered). I unfortunately lost the PTX original stems (not to mentioned my TI is currently dead), so I can't really continue with it, and thus is randomly ends. Maybe one day I'll retool it, but who knows.

If you dig this sound, I'd suggest looking up an artist by Comaduster. His most recent album, Hollow Worlds, is very glitchy/IDM with dub elements, but he does fantastic productions and is quite a good singer.

Thanks though!

[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.

[Fasting's Feastible Funfair]

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

ZipZipper responds:

Awwwww me too

[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!