johnfn's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Friction Point]

Good GOD. This is a really great track! I forgot just how good you were. If only the mixing was a little better though. D: The drums are too quiet and stuff. Still though, awesome track. I love the switchup at 2:25.

PirateCrab responds:

Cheers for that! I've mixed this at really quiet volume late into the night with really fatigued ears so I'm gonna be remixing them tomorrow, needed that confirmed ahaha :P

Thanks buddy!

[One of Those Days]

I was gonna leave you a comment saying to compress your vocals but then I felt like a jerk criticizing your song so quick out of the gate. And then midimachine did it. Hehe. Jerk status: AVOIDED.

I really like the bluesy stuff. The main riff is good! :D

My biggest complaint is that the vocals clash too much with the piano. (How ironic that even with 2 instruments it's still possible to have mixing issues!) They are both on the lower end.

Anywho, I do really enjoy listening to your music. It's always something cool! And slightly unexpected.

ChronoNomad responds:

I was beginning to question your overall level of reticence, but that explains it! Et tu, johnfn? Totally kidding. I don't think it's a jerk thing at all since I really appreciate the insight, but I do get what you mean. It's a new experience, so I'm ultimately destined to foul it up somehow. ^__~ Compression has since been added however, and I managed to keep some of the dynamic quality, so hopefully the improvement is notable. It is to me, at least.

Glad to hear that you dig the bluesy attitude and main riff. I wish you had some suggestions to offer for fixing any vocal/instrumental clashing issues, but I suppose it's more of what midimachine said previously about wanting to hear me sing in a higher octave. Sadly, with this filthy cold messing with my vocal cords, when I try to sing too high my voice randomly cuts out while attempting to hit certain notes. I know it clashes a bit with the piano, but I still feel like nice and low fits the vibe. *shrug*

It makes me happy to know that you enjoy listening to the stuff I make! And honestly, getting a solid four stars from you doesn't make me unhappy. I'm pleased to be able to offer cool and somewhat unexpected tunes. Kinda sounds like me in a nutshell, really. Looking forward to great things from you in the ADM!

[Caliginous Newcomer]

This is pretty cool! Really groovy. I just have this feeling like at the climax the mix kinda falls flat (e.g. 4:16). It needs more bass. And stuff. You know. Honestly it almost sounds like it's clipping. Also, I'd really like for there to be more than one section.

Adjeye responds:

I mostly let a friend master my tracks for me ( I thinks its fun, don't know why) but because this is a contest featuring "me" I excluded any help from outside because I think that's cheating.

I had a hard time mastering this track. Thanks for pointing out where exactly it went wrong!

[T-Logic - Terrified]

More singing plz! Next time make your voice a little louder in the mix (especially during the chorus), and put some reverb on it and compress it a little. Also don't feel afraid to auto tune your voice until you get to have really good pitch, though you did pretty good pitch-wise.

You did WAY better than what I was expecting for a first go! Keep it up!

TaintedLogic responds:

Aww, thanks Johnfn! I believe I already explained to LucidShadowDreamer that I couldn't figure out how to add reverb in my version of Garageband (as pathetic as it sounds...), but compressing them is probably a good idea. I appreciate the encouraging review! ^^

[Acceptance & Commitment]

I was gonna give you 9/10 because the beginning is a little repetitive

but then

THAT SOLO

WOW

midimachine responds:

haha, i knew you'd appreciate it

[Demo Challenge]

Sounds good to me. I heard that traditional Spadezer chord right at the end which I liked. I wanted it to lead to more though ;_;

BTW that one melody at :49. One good trick is that when you have a note in a melody landing right on the beat, drag it back like a quarter beat or so, so it comes a little before the beat. It makes the melody more flowy or ... something... idk... just try it, you'll like it.

Spadezer responds:

I know what you mean. Having the lead come in a tad soon either lets the melody note settle a little bit or I can also imagine that it introduces the beat. I don't think I would ever think about doing that but I will definitely have to try it out.

Thanks for the tips.
-Spadezer-

[Lord Come Soon {WIP}]

Sounds really nice to me. Maybe bring the vocals a little more to the front, put the piano/uke(?) slightly back. Also, the vocals seem a little too dry to my ears (need a little more reverb). Or you could double up the vocals with a harmony instead!

The vocal melody is great but it's not totally gelling with the instruments for some reason. Maybe it needs drums, or a bassline. Or compression!

Seems awesome though. Can't wait for the finished piece! :)

Phonometrologist responds:

hmmm, I'm totally going to heed to your advice when I get all the parts together. It's not going to have drums or much of a bass line since we want to keep it simple and modest with the arrangement. It's just going to make it that much harder to mix. You're the second person that thought the vocals should be more up front, whereas I thought it should blend more (volume wise) with the instruments. I think you two are perhaps right... I need this type of input. Thanks

[Nebula]

This is awesome! it has such a nice vibe. Good luck in the NGADM!

[Souvenir Précieux EXTEND]

Really nice. Except that piano sound. Man I'm sure you can find a better piano sound than that. Addictive Keys has a 4 octave keyboard for free, and it sounds pretty good!

The violin is great! :D

Troisnyx responds:

Thanks! I think I should simply use the Steinway on its own rather than that and a Rhodes.... *blush*

[Coming Back]

You are the sine wave solo master. I could listen to you solo with sine waves for hours.

The rest of the song is nice too. Hehe. But the sine wave is the best part ;-) Glad to see more tracks from you.