Azhthar's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Fantasiamaailma]

This is a bit different than what I expected from your earlier posts in the discussion thread but in a good way ;) It´s beautiful and there is so much going on in this piece, damn. You could really follow a fairytale in your head while listening to this. Furthermore, it´s flawlessly produced (the whole 6 mins...). Maybe I wouldn´t have looped because then the piece would settle a bit after the end.

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

We're glad to hear you like it even if it is different from what you at first imagined :D
It's also nice to see that this track gives birth to imagery and a story of some kind!
Thank dem0lecule for most of the production! I only affected it by suggesting changes here and there, but he is really the master behind all that :)
Well, this is menu music, so it kinda has to loop. But for the reason you menioned, we decided to make the pause before the loop several seconds long. The loop also has symbolic meaning :3

Thank you a lot for listening, and for leaving your thoughts!!!

[Killing Me Softly]

I really wanted to leave a review on this one for quite a while but I never found the time :( It´s amazing how you put so many different moods into the arrangement of a single pop song! I did some string quartett arrangements for pop songs a while ago but I definitely wasn´t this creative like you here.
When I heard this track at the beginning I think the master was a bit dull but I guess you remixed it a bit because I think it´s much better, now.
Okay here are some impressions I had during the different parts:

Beginning: Calm with a feeling of minimalism (especially in the strings)

Arround 1:30: More in a happy climax. Very cinematic (Still with a bit of minimalism)

Arround 2:40: Some chanson elements in the organ give this a bit a feeling like in a coffee in Paris.

Arround 3:00: Very dark, climax, horror, cinematic.

Arround 3:40: Clockwerk Orange!

Arround 4:10: Happy Ending climax with some SF elements.

Arround 5:00: Sad ambient ending.

I really have now idea which story would fit this track but it´s great. You did some amzing work with the chord substitutions here creating different atmospheres. The only thing is that maybe the melody could be a bit more present in some parts. Other than this: Great!

Phonometrologist responds:

Although I don't consider this too amazing, I do appreciate your sentiments dearly.
I think you're spot on with your descriptive sections of the piece, and I should just put those in the comments about the piece. The beginning is, I suppose, an ambient, minimalistic approach in cinematic sounds. Your description at 2:40 is quite interesting to me because I thought I was the only one that thought the organ sounded more like an accordion in that exact setting that you have put forth. It certainly wasn't intentional but with the combination of the chords and instruments, it's just what happened. Sometimes we are credited to be highly creative when these things are merely mistakes at first. The 3:40 section is very interesting to me that you thought of Clockwork Orange as I haven't thought of it. But I certainly hear what you mean now.
I'd be highly impressed if anybody thought of a story to go along with this piece, because I certainly haven't myself... not really a story-telling kind of piece than it is a descriptive exercise.
In regards to the melody, I only kept it in its true state in the 1:30 section. It's heard a little bit around 4:10, but in places like the beginning, the oboe merely follows the melodic contour of the original melody where it doesn't play the repeating rhythmic ones. The piano melody at the ending is my own derived from playing along with the original melody in the beginning.
Overall, your review has allowed me to reflect a bit more on this piece... I'm glad you enjoyed it and took the time in letting me know.

[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!

[Beautiful Piano Piece]

I love the expressionistic feeling in this masterpiece. Maybe you should use a better piano sound or record in a church or something. It would also be a great gospel...

[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

[Well]

Love the John Carpenterish atmosphere at the beginning and how this piece evolves into something more chilly. You definitely got a nice retro synthy sound here. Your style in general is quite unique. Keep this up!

[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!

[Saria's Song (Cover)]

It´s always nice to hear a live instrument. Your master sounds actually nice and clear! I think there might be a bit too much reverb on the guitar, and Gergaloth is right at some points it´s a bit off... Maybe you also should add some bass or something and work make the beat a bit more diverse. The end is a bit surprising, actually... Maybe try to expand the track and find a real ending. I don´t know the original very well so I can´t make a comparison here. Hope this helps somehow. Keep on doing nice stuff!