vocaloutburst's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Scherzo in F]

So right off the bat, I suggest trying to keep the time signature the same, at least until the 1:45 mark. This track as the potential to have a pretty infectious groove that gets the listener bobbing their head, but because there are so many breaks in the measures and some unorthodox fills, it's hard to find a place to anchor my ear. Unfortuntely, the chords and melody don't help much either. I'd understand if it's supposed to sound errie and off-putting, but even then it could have been executed a little better simply by having the song be in the same key the entire way through, or having a consistent bassline or melody. Having at least one of those elements remain consistent helps listeners better recognize and acknowledge those sudden changes. You have a few good ideas throughout the track, you just need a better way of pulling it all together.

[-Morningstar-]

OFFICIAL NGADM REVIEW:
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So I really like that 8-bit sound at the beginning, but the melody at the start might be a bit too syncopated for listening to immediately be grabbed in and engaged. Once the drums and bass come in right after then things start to come together, but I recommend trying to make the synth line a bit more simplistic at the start and then make it syncopated melody later on.

As the song goes on, I start thinking that maybe some sections could use a bit more variety, especially around the 1:15 mark. It could be something small like adding some percussion to help push the groove a bit more, or something more complex like coming up with an entirely new melody for the sax that doesn’t sound like the previous synth melody. Whatever it is, I think it’d help the piece from becoming melodically stale overtime. Having some hits and stops every now and then does help a lot in providing a sense of rhythmic variety and interest for your listeners, but don’t neglect the melodious and harmonious variety that also needs to be tended to. The key change at the end is one way of doing that for sure, but don’t be scared to switch up the chords or the melody a bit more too!

The production and mixing here is pretty clean. I love the little sound fxs and other nuances you throw in there to help give the piece a clear setting and atmosphere. I honestly think that’s your strongpoint, easily providing the listeners a familiar atmosphere and setting that can help bring the piece to life in their heads. It’s a rare talent to have so I commend you for it! Really nice work here, I can easily hear this in a video game and fall in love with it!

[For Those Who Tried and Lost (NGADM)]

OFFICIAL NGADM REVIEW:
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Those were some nice dreamy chords at the beginning, but I think EQ’ing out a tiny bit of the high end from that synth might’ve helped it not stick out too much. It’s less of a dynamic issue and more of a storytelling issue. You got me hooked in with the chords, but that synth needs to compliment the piano that’s still being played even though it’s the main melody. I also wouldn’t mind turning it down just a bit but I actually think it might be fine with just an EQ fix.

One thing I encourage you to pay attention to more often are transitions between sections. At the 0:46 part, I think you could’ve ended that last chord progression a bit better so that it leads into the next one seamlessly. One suggestion I have is when you hit the Bbmin6, play that for beats 1 and 2 and then change to Gmin/C for beat 3 and 4 of that bar.

For a better understanding of why that might work better, I recommend checking out this video about voice leading, it’s one of the main things that helps make chord progressions and sections flow well together: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGbnhJURuIo&ab_channel=GlennZaleski

Also, be cautious of your sound design. At 1:27, those plucky sounds don’t really fit instruments that have already been played in the song up to that point, and they aren’t very well supported by other instrumentation, so overall it sounds very out of place. Maybe if you had some other instruments that better complimented that sound, it’d make it sound a bit more intentional, but without it fitting the overall context of the song up to that point, it’s going to sound like I’m listening to another song. Of course at 1:43, more layers get added on top and now it starts to make more sense. It might not be the same chords as before, but it feels more intentional once you have other parts working well with each other, but I’d still keep in mind how it fits with the section that was played before it. Context matters a lot when it comes to sound design.

The “last chorus” was actually nice and climatic, BUT THE ENDING!!! Aww man, you really blue balled me there, I wanted it to resolve so bad!!! Tbh, unresolved chord progressions at the end of songs could have some really cool effects if they are set up well, but this just felt a bit unfulfilling. Especially when you had those drums building towards a climactic ending, it just made me go, “Aww man, resolve it!!”

Overall, I think you had a pretty cohesive chord progression and a decent mix to go along with it, just those few things I mentioned earlier could help bring the whole piece together a bit better. I urge you to pay closer attention to context when you songwrite, it can really help bring forth more value and deeper meaning between sections of songs. Not a bad job at all though, and definitely not a failed attempt at music.

Czyszy responds:

Your criticisms made me realize how rushed this piece really was. :)

[The End of Decadence]

OFFICIAL NGADM REVIEW:
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So right off the bat, I want to hear a possibly simpler violin melody so I can be immediately engaged from the very beginning. Unfortunately, it’s hard to anchor to that solo violin without chords because of how unorthodox that melody and those chords are. Now, I’m not saying the chords don’t work because they definitely do and they’re beautifully orchestrated as the layers keep being added on. Maybe instead of going straight into that violin melody at the beginning, you can write a calmer, less busy intro. Don’t be afraid to maybe use a violin quartet to simply sustain the main chords in an expressive way then slowly add in more layers on top of them, probably with the solo violin being one of the first ones. That way I’m already reeled in by the chords AND I’ll want to hear how you’d grow upon and embellish that. Anchored and engaged are the two keywords.

A few small notes for you through my 3rd and 4th listen through include a lot of nitpicking.

At the 1:51 mark, I hear some slight staccato strings that I think you can bring out a bit. In fact, I wouldn’t mind if you made that a whole staccato section with the legato melody still going on (until maybe around the 2:25 mark), a small change in pulse like that would add a bit more diverse meaning to the melody and help with keeping the listeners engaged.

Also, anytime I hear the piano do an arpeggio in this piece, I think it should be replaced with strings or some midrange woodwinds. The timbre of the piano kind of disrupts the smoothness of all the other layers a bit.

Again, those are nitpicky things so they definitely aren’t substantial notes.

I also think the use of dark sound effects in your production really helped create a consistently melancholic atmosphere. All the elements worked really well together, I think you have a knack for atmospheric storytelling, your way of structuring and layering was very well executed. Overall, very well done!!

Phonometrologist responds:

Your reviewed made me smile. I don't disagree with what you would have preferred as they are all fair points. The Viola melody in the beginning is ambiguous as it slips down in a descending motion. The melody outlines a chord, but the higher notes descend in a chromatic fashion. Even the chords are not stated so clear in the beginning. Not being anchored to it makes sense. Sometimes when writing in a certain frame of mind, you don't really intend for anything as I try to remove myself from it. I never know how others will take it.
I think what would help tremendously to being engaged to that busy line is a performance of it. The musician would emphasize a clearer pattern in the melody with the use of heavy vibrato on certain notes. With this library that I was using, I could not control vibrato and even with the vibrato they have that happens naturally in the audio sample isn't heavy at all. Phrasing is difficult in sample libraries.
I would like to experiment with actual musicians on the point you brought up about staccato. I didn't like it on the sample library because the weight of the piece sounded to dissipate. Needed to keep a weighty bass to keep the balls from dropping off. Think the piece would sound too deflated as it reached a climax.
The piano does play a smaller role in this. I was using it to accentuate the beat a bit more because it all started to get muddy in terms of movement and drive. Again, I couldn't mix what I wanted with the string library I was using. Perhaps I'll commission an actual string quartet in the future when I can drop a couple thousand. Then hopefully I would feel comfortable not adding that piano. Didn't have time to think too much about it while writing for the contest. I'll definitely play with it more in the future keeping in mind the points you have made. I appreciate your perspective so I can listen to this fresh and more analytically as you go over my blind spots.
Thank you very much.

[Project: Sailor M]

I'm not sure if something went wrong in the exporting of the track or if your speakers/headphones are broken in some way, but that laser/kick drum makes this entire thing REALLY hard to listen to. The only pleasant parts were from 1:41 to 4:17, but that kick being that distorted for that long will make many listeners quickly turn away from it. Every time it shows up, it drowns out everything else in the background with its harsh frequencies and crazy loud volume. I've listened to your other tracks and it's clear that you know that it shouldn't be sounding this way so I'm confused as to how you thought that kick sounded okay.

offi-DtrGuo-cial responds:

As I've said in the tags, this is a hardstyle/hardcore track, specifically rawstyle. This is a genre in which the kick is supposed to sound heavily distorted and overdriven and it's not uncommon to take up a good portion of the mix for the drop, sometimes being the sole element of a drop. And if you're into the harder styles, including rawstyle, most people WANT to listen to a distorted kick for hours on end, because that's the point of those genres. Please mind the tags and the genre before you listen.

[[IV]Nigdzie]

This is a great piece, but UGH I'm a little aggravated that you didn't resolve that last chord!! Everything else sounded really good, I was literally yelling at my screen, "Alright resolve it. Come on. Resolve it. ReSOLve IT!! COME ON, RESOLVE THE CHOR...AWWW WHY DIDN'T YOU RESOLVE IT!?!?!" I'm exaggerating a bit, but you can't leave me hanging on the edge like that! XD

[AIM - Children of the Sea]

Sir, you are NOT slick, I heard that Fallout quote LOUD AND CLEAR @ 2:43!!! XD

Everratic responds:

Haha, I admit I listened to that song a few times and loved that pair of chords. The melodic phrase there emphasizes the use of a chord from the parallel minor, so I felt the need to use that as well. It quickly becomes my own thing in the following bar though.

[Photon Collider]

This is a pretty well-done track dude!! Loads of twists and turns that I enjoyed the whole way through! The instrumentation and the mix are also well thought out, bet that took a while to get right!

My ONLY gripe (it's really minor tbh, I'm just nitpicking) is the composition as a whole. I really love all the nuances, but I feel like their effect would be much greater if I had a solid understanding of what the general structure of the song was. That could be achieved in many different ways like having a steady chord progression, a reoccurring melody, or a consistent drumbeat. Now, I say it's a minor thing because music takes many different shapes and forms and this could very much have been a creative decision. Ultimately, if you were aiming to create a new sound, I think you're going in the right direction!

[GTB - Reflejos (ft. Diego Quiles)]

Love the vibe of this song, lots of sentimental "feel-good" elements (with a hint of anime OP XD)!!

The form and composition all together sound pretty solid! The chords and the guitar lines sound really well together and there's really good dynamic contrast between each section of the song! Also great vocals!! I don't speak spanish, but everything sounds really natural and fit entire vibe of the song really well! Overall it's a really well put together song and I don't really have any issues on how it was written!

Although I don't really have issue with the composition of the song, the mix needs a little bit of work. The low frequencies are brought out a bit too much and the high frequencies are drowned out too much throughout the whole track. I'd turn down the overall volume of the bass just a bit and bring out a little bit more treble in it as well. Also the cymbals in the drums need to brought a lot more too, I can barely hear them. You can also probably turn down the volume of the rhythm guitars during the chorus just so that your voice can come out a bit more there.

Those are the biggest notes I had, but none of those "issues" really took away from the song as a whole. I felt like this was really well put together and I could see myself listening to this on repeat without a problem! Keep up the awesome songwriting!!

[Turned Screw]

Ok, there's a lot to unpack here.

Before I started listening to the song, I immediately read the description and wasn't quite sure what to expect, but I was interested in how you were going to put all of this together. After listening to this, it's safe to say that there were bluesy ideas, prog ideas, and vintage-style synth ideas, but none of those ideas sounded cohesive together. The majority of the song sounds like a lot of ideas that sound good individually but not all together. Dissecting it all was a lot of work but I'll do my best to go through the biggest issues that stood out to me and try to provide some help on how you could better piece together these ideas.

First, the acoustic guitar intro was really interesting and pulled me in. The swells and embellishments you had between the chords were very expressive and I honestly believe it to be the best part of the song. However, once the intro was over and the chords from the electric guitar came in, I felt like I was listening to a completely different song. That isn't necessarily always bad, but that transition needed to feel more natural. Maybe it would help if you had a melody line that connected the two sections.

Second, the drums were all over the place and I believe them to be the weakest part of the song. There was never really a consistent beat and it always seemed to take away from everything else that was happening throughout the song. If there was at least a consistent "kick, hat, snare, hat" pattern looped through the whole song, I'd already start to feel like I could maybe nod my head a bit, but that never really happened.

Lastly, there were lots of melody and harmony ideas that didn't fit well together. One example is at 2:05 when there was a bass line and two electric guitar lines. They didn't sound like they were in the same key. I'd start cleaning that up by figuring out what key the bass is in and make sure the other guitar chords and melody lines are in the same key. I'd also continue doing the same thing with all the other parts of the song as well.

Ultimately, I think you need to better define the form of the song. The biggest things that'll help is having a definitive drum groove, key, and form. Once you have those things set, then you can embellish all the other parts and start piecing all those extra ideas together. I'd also use whatever songs you've been listening to as references to better understand what's missing or needs to be messed with. Keep messing around with these genre-bending ideas though, you can only get better at it from here!

Maruquop responds:

Thanks for taking your time and your feedback!