EvilRaccoon's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[AIM - A Skilled Warrior]

Congratulations on the FrontPage! The track is great and really works well with the art. The solo at the end is awesome!! Love it! Keep up the awesome work.

AceMantra responds:

Thanks for listening! It really means a lot. I just noticed the FP after you mentioned it. Hope you are well, and thanks again!

[yatse ya!]

This is awesome!!

Troisnyx responds:

That is very kind of you to say ^_^ Thank you.

[Waves of Color]

This is an official NGUAC 2017 Audition Review.
Thank you for your personal message regarding a review on your track.

The following is an evaluation with critical analysis regarding your audition. This analysis should not reflect negatively on you as a participant but should be used to critically weigh your strengths and weaknesses which were perceived in this track. This review should be used to further your ability. Through isolation of what is important to you, choose the areas that are discussed below which you believe would advance your skills for future music production. This review is of subjective opinion.

Melodic Themes:
The themes created for Waves of Color are superb. They are captivating, charming and provocative. When listening I felt they instill a colorful palette which explores large vastness and then switches to the intricate and personal. The melodies are prominent and evident, with a perfect amount of variation without diverging or drifting into the unfamiliar. These variants of the main melody allow the revisit of the focal theme to be so much stronger.

I absolutely love what you have done with the themes. In short, they are just perfection of fun, evoking the draw of a smile which could be summed up as the perfect as a moment like flying a Kite.

Instrument Choice:
The choice of instruments compliment the main melodies portrayed and sensations you look to induce. They are bright, snappy and indicate skipping with their quick releases. The break in your track at around two minutes in where we received a sustain portrayal of the theme is where minor issue occurs. Sustain synths which were used contain little dynamic variation. Such as at 1:33 when we hear that melodic line complete, the sustain is solid and stop's dead with little release. Some of the concepts of freedom, openness, vastness are emotions which promote soaring and breathing. Therefore these Synths sustain lines would be better suited to have a release which blends into the next section, not suddenly stop dead. Use dynamics and volume automation over a duration to slowly increase and reduce attention to specific notes. Adjust dynamics to create headroom for other instruments to take focus.

The drums are nice, but they are far too repetitive in tone. The same strike is being heard, again and again. A suggestion would be to create variation in this percussive instrument. Such as by layering two or more percussion snares together. Then vary the strike time and volume of each throughout usage. Give it a human element. It's not uncommon to build percussion instruments that can become the signature sound for your track, or multiple tracks. Take time to build nice and bright snares, strong weighted kicks, complimentary toms, and varied hi-hats, etc. The concentration in creating these mixed and custom drum kits will give your percussive an original edge. For instance, it's not uncommon for me to layer 8 or more different drums for a single hit, choosing the frequencies which I like most in each, build my own kits then use them.

Composition and Consistency:
There is a lot going on, and the time signature is a great change to the 4/4. I find no problems with your structure, it's perfect imo. You have an intro, you build to theme. You then take a break from the theme with a sweet moment and then you build right back up to the final chorus.

Production :
Production is great with only minor areas to cover. The frequency mix is spot on for modern EMD production, and I mean Spot - On, because I downloaded and isolated the track. Subs and bass right in the middle. Low mids are wide, they could may be a bit less wide, but I'm not going to complain, mids and highs are nice and wide. In mono the track is closed to perfectly balanced, club ready, with just a few minor audible high frequencies around 3:30 min which could be considered borderline piercing. So take some attention to that. I love the small intricate part in your track, which sat more central, then as soon as you brought it back it was nice and wide again.

Instruments were well balanced and channel weighted appropriately. The channels communicated very well, so keep all that up! Consider EQ scanning up and down to hear those unwanted piercing frequencies to then notch down, sometimes there's elements just a touch (and I mean a touch) too tinny that need pulled down on the instrument. The kick is somewhat a bit lost, and it doesn't really come through on the low end. So although I can hear it, it makes little impact to the track, it should be a bit lower, and a bit heavier hitting partnered with your sub.

Overall Track
Overall this track was captivating, joyful, and fun. It said adventure to me with the beauty of intricate details and relationships. For someone who works on fairly emotional tracks, something that is full of life, entertaining and portrays a whimsical and joyful melodies, I believe it to be nothing less than fantastical. You would have score fairly high from me if you were in my category.

Keep up the great work, you are one to watch! (Sorry if any of this is incoherent - it's late)
Peter

Spadezer responds:

Ah man. Thanks, and I may sound like a repeating record to everyone but I really appreciate the feedback. You make me feel flattered.

Not much I can say to this aside from thank you

[The Secret of Satera Prime]

You get a big 'Old 5 from me!

It's such an honor for you to directly place reference to me in this. Thank you! Just hearing your voice overs and narrative that runs through this really shows how much fun we had while trying something new, and although we're were like lost puppies in a huge park the experience (and banter) made it all worth it.

I think your track exhibits a lot of effort which should be merited. The wobbles which were composed of hand drawn midi data, the concept of placing your track within a scenario works, the experimentation and usage of the unknown. I really love that bass synth sub at the start which just slowly rides in. As mentioned I get a very Scott Pilgrim from this, which is a something I really enjoy.

I loved the gaming 8bit references in this, the entire thing feels like a vintage game with modern twists. To be honest, the more I listened to this, the more I enjoy it!

Whoever goes through, it's been a blast! Speak soon!
:)

Peter

SoundChris responds:

Hey there man!

Thanks for leaving me such a kind review - really appreciated. I think we really had A LOT OF FUN during the last week and also lots of great talking. Its sad that we were pit against eachother :( But well - we did our best to try and learn new stuff, to experiment and exchange about what we have learned and i think that was a great experience for both of us :) I also think the trailer that i have made also underlines how much fun we had :D :D :D

All the best friend! Lets talk later - i am on!

Chris

[Soundman vs Peterman - Hybrid Dawn]

cowers in fear

- Epically hilarious!

SoundChris responds:

Muhahahahahaaaaaarrrrr!!!

[Meteos]

Great track! Love the hybrid synths that really hit at 2:50, the transition in 3mins is ace, really like the drop. Congrats on the front page!

Enzer0 responds:

Front page? Lol! What? :D

[After Humanity]

One of my favorites of the contest!

I really love the way the track changes throughout, yet maintains consistency and focus. The sound design is really nice and reflects film scores I really enjoy. I'd love some hits around the 5min mark with those braams to really nail the heaviness and impact. The use of the vocalists too, it's one of the more elegant and delicate ideas which are well portrayed throughout the composition. The guitar was superb, something I've been playing with and could really get it to sit, but you did perfectly.

Overall I really liked it, it conveyed a lot of ideas which blended beautifully. Amazing track!

zybor responds:

sorry peter i haven't been able to reply to this review earlier (busy weeks + slacking off + let it ripe!)

thank you so much for your dropping by with the awesome review dude! :3 i'm quite shy to be self-admitting that this track was inspired by your track on m0lecular album. it didn't turn out so well but i'll make my own promise that i'll fix it, some day...

i'm also ashamed to say that i overtly overused Gravity Vocalise. i just love the dark and cold sounds of it. :P

thank you again for your review dude!!!! :D can't wait to listen to your NGADM track.

[Rathunas - Forgotten Tales]

Excellent track as always Chris! Absolutely perfect for the genre and game and very soothing.

Peter

SoundChris responds:

Thank you very much Peter!

[Strike (The Time is Right)]

Loving this track! @Xtremeneox is talking about the main theme from X-men: FC. Which has similar spiccato strings:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bf30aRsES6A

Your track has an awesome industrial vibe to it. This track blends aggressive percussion and chaos well perfectly together!

Enzer0 responds:

Thanks brotha! You made it all possible. Heh heh.

[Mary]

I love how we're almost complete opposites in time of composition. It's always refreshing to hear your music. This is beautiful, elegant, intricate and delicate. Love it! Keep it up!

etherealwinds responds:

So, for those reading, I had to ask Peter what he meant by his first sentence, and apparently someone said 'time' as he was writing, but he meant to write 'type'! I was trying to make sense of it xD

Anyway hey Peter!! Your compositions always have a lot of beauty to them and are so well thought out and produced. Your work is really inspiring and professional! I suppose our production is a lot different though and I'm very limited in what I can do; I only mix with an old pair of headphones and I only have an old laptop that can barely handle the music I want to make! I sorta just have to fill in the blanks with my head and use my intuition a lot with the mixing, to get past the limits of what I can actually hear. I'm always relieved when people feel it sounds good though! Thanks :)