johnfn's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Here]

Great stuff man. I've been enjoying all of your NGADM pieces quite a lot. You've been making a lot of really quality pieces, and they all feel really distinct and fleshed out. I feel like your pairing with garlagan is pretty sad because you both put out such consistently interesting material. I just... I really don't like the section at 1:24, the sound design really doesn't work at that point. I do really like the groovy melodies that you get into later, but on the other hand I felt myself wanting for a more anthemic sort of melody, like the one that was right front and center in the climax of Two.

I dunno though... I don't want to complain too much because I did really enjoy it. Ya did good. Again.

Sequenced responds:

its a complete different style from Two brah.

i like being creative and not sounding like anybody else or even myself

;)

[There]

GARLAGAN STRIKS AGAIN

Maybe not as catchy as your first track, but makes up for it by being insane.

garlagan responds:

insanity is one of the best garnishes
just listened to your track btw, it's immense. Expect one of my short and boring reviews soon!

[Into The Unknown]

Peter vs you guys is going to be a battle for the ages. He's got the production value, you've got the composition. What a fantastic piece though! So epic :O I think part #2 is my favorite. There are some really great chords in there :D

SoundChris responds:

Thanks a lot john! Glad you liked the composition. This will definitely be an interesting round :D

[Your Father's Blade]

I think this is my favorite track you've done for the NGADM. I feel like your biggest weakness is that you usually just repeat a motif without really developing it (by which I mean adding melodic variations, countermelodies, or other sections), but you manage to get away with it because your ability to add energy to the piece through layering more tracks (drums, more drums, choir vocals, etc) is excellent, and your production values are unsurpassed! Plus, the motif that you used in this piece is really nice, and it has a lot of feeling behind it.

Great job Peter!

[Swooord]

Alright so that one lead (the sharp electro one) is like 100 db too loud and it could use a lot of mixing otherwise but that melody is so great! I'm guessing it's the theme of something?

[Two]

Man this is awesome. The chords are sooo gooooddddddd and that one lead that comes in around :28... yessss (how did you make it? :X). Has this amazing summer beach like vibe to it.

My only complaint is that one kick that comes in around 1:25 sounds EXACTLY like someone knocking on the door to my room. Gets me every time. Why would you do this to me.

Sequenced responds:

i found where you live then recorded it just for you

[Aurora Dawn]

One day I will write something meaningful in here rather than just saying "Yup." But for now...

Yup.

etherealwinds responds:

Hahahaha, thank you for making me smile.

[Right On Time]

What the heck Kor-Rune you only used like a COUPLE of completely ridiculous chord unexpected chord changes in this song. You must be losing your edge.

This is awesome like normal. It's even catchy at a couple of points, like whoa. I would not have expected that out of your older music. I'm glad you're putting that prodigious amount of talent you have to good use.

[Can Your Cow Do This?]

Composition is lacking a little imo but production is out of this world.

DID YOU REALLY HAVE TO SAMPLE A COW THOUGH. I MEAN REALLY.

Yeah though good job. Even the composition is pretty good. And it's rare I hear such good production on newgrounds. :O

introstalge responds:

That cow is actually me, so I consider it as a nice vocal addition :P Thanks for the feedback john, I've looked up to your work for ages and this means a lot! I do need to work on my composition. Originally started in Bb minor, got lost in C# pentatonic major and couldn't get any melodies to make sense after that :S

Thanks again!

[Cloudburst]

I like the bells around :30. I feel like the bells and underlying pads at that point have a really nice, pensive feel, especially when taken in context with the preceding spoken clip. However, the wobbly pads introduced around 1:00 really aren't doing it for me, and then the very sharp/crisp (high frequency) elements around 1:15 kinda break the initial atmosphere for me.

The drums that come in around 1:45 are very quiet and in the background (they should be louder!), and then they disappear, then they reappear. This makes the progression of the piece a little directionless at this point imho.

And I hate to say it but the melody that comes in at around 2:03 I just don't like at all. It lacks any sort of melodic contour or interest to it, it just seems to wander around, directionless. The saw-like instrument introduced behind it at 2:55 seems even more random, and at points like 3:05 and 3:11 it actually sounds off-tempo, which is no good. I really like that you're going for a chill vibe here and I'm a big fan of chill songs, but you're going to need to work more on your melodies.

I like the idea of transitioning to a quieter, more pensive part around 4:00, and I think the addition of the piano in the background around 4:15 was a really nice idea.

The transition around 4:30 where you introduce a melody, then a bass half a bar later, then drums another half a bar later is very jarring to me - these things need to be properly introduced somehow (perhaps a drum fill?), though it's rare that you ever want to introduce an element halfway through a bar anyways.

All in all, I think that you have some good ideas and you're going for a good vibe, but you need to seriously work on your melodies to really make the song work. There are also some mixing issues (like quiet drums), but I'd say that you should prioritize melody writing. I'm going to drop some advice in here to help you get better at melodies, so that I don't leave you completely high and dry. Good luck!

======

Go and take ye favorite instrument. Bring it near your computer and play some of your favorite songs on the computer, and see if you can play the melody on your instrument as the song plays. DON'T try to get it perfect, just keep going on to new songs.

In this way you'll start to build a subconscious understanding of how melodies work. This is important because writing melodies isn't a conscious skill. afaik great musicians don't sit down and think about music theory in order to write good melodies - they just sorta feel it out subconsciously to see how the melody wants to go. It is this skill that you're developing.

It will take you a very long time to master this skill (I'm still practicing every day) but you will probably notice differences in your melodic approach almost immediately (I did).

Aside from that, I have one other very simple tip (which I even fail to follow a lot, heh). MAKE YOUR MELODIES MORE REPETITIVE. It sounds crazy because a lot of the time people are like "zomg musical repetition is the root of all evil!!!" However, if you listen to some pop song you like, you'll realize almost immediately that the melodies are REALLY repetitive. Not only do they repeat entire phrases over and over, but the phrases themselves are really repetitive - like they may play some notes, and then play them again slightly lower or something.

Seriously, sit down one day and listen, really listen and analyze the melodies in some of your favorite tracks. You'd be amazed how repetitive they are - and yet how successful that makes them!

Last, I have a challenge for you, which kinda ties into what I've been saying up above. I want you to do a song with theme and variation. Take some melodic theme - it can be as short as a couple of notes - and then then make a bigger melody out of reusing it, modulating it up or down, or playing it under different chords. Not only is there a ton of space to explore here (you're basically looking at the foundation of classical music here), but it'll teach you to make your melodies more coherent.

Final thing - melody writing is HARD and you shouldn't let this get you down. It's hecka harder than making a good mix. ;-)

===

Ok, I hope all that helps! Good luck with your future songs, which I hope you make many!!! :-)