johnfn's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Searching My Life (Music Box Version)]

its great jordi but y would u tease me like that by including the great lyrical section but then ending the song right then without even repeating it -_-

kinda reminds me of ori & the blind forest in some ways, mood and instrument choice particularly.

etherealwinds responds:

They say good things come in small packages. You should know ;)

[AIM - In That Moment]

Nice moody piece! Sounds like it would go very well in a soundtrack for a movie. The sound of the piano is wonderful.

AceMantra responds:

Glad you like it, thanks! Composing music for a movie or game soundtrack would be a dream come true. One day, maybe.

[AIM - A Way Out]

not a bad start mandarien! the biggest problem that im seeing right now is that the mix is pretty bad, it seems very compressed and kinda funky. also your singing sometimes misses the notes slightly. still, its a good start and when these issues were fixed this song could be great! :)

paperbrain responds:

Thanks! Yeah, I hope to improve and get there one day.

[AIM - Reconciliation]

reallly nice track! i think the first section, until the first minute, is my favorite part. when the mix gets more dense it lacks a lot of bass and sounds oddly filtered, like you highpassed the whole thing.

the melody in the first section is FANTASTIC though!

CloakedSoup responds:

Thank you! This is the kind of feedback I love to get! Glad you enjoyed it and I'll keep that in mind for the future.

[AIM - Chris, the Boat and the Tormented Sea]

good stuff yo. very nice progressions! also the piano playing is really well done! i dont think i can play as fast as you did in that section near the end! the piano sounds really nice too :D

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

Thanks, dude! I'm glad you like the progressions :D
Piano playing isn't always about speed; I just wanted certain parts to have lots of energy, to fit with the art! The piano sound is "The Maverick".

It seems like you DID participate too, this year!
I really like the piece you made! :OOO
(#ShamefullyEdited)

[AIM - Moments]

This is a really nice song. Great mix overall with only a few small issues (snare at 2:40 lacks any sort of punch, vocals need to have more reverb because they sound too dry). Pretty fun and chilled tune though mang!

Mauxus responds:

Thank you! You are right, that snare was like...meh. I replaced it altogether and added a little more reverb to the vocals as well. I think it sounds better now (don't forget to clear your browser's cache to hear the new version). Thanks for the tips!

[T-Logic - Ormolu]

i really like the sound design and the mixing is also pretty good! the very large problem here is that there are a lot of clashing notes that don't really go together so well. like there is a good deal of dissonance, you should work on that. the rest is good though.

TaintedLogic responds:

Thanks so much for the review, Johnfn! Would you mind pointing out which dissonance(s) you're referring to, please?

[AIM - Light Enduring]

Veryy nice. I wasn't too sure about that warbly pad - it kinda clashed with the notes. what I WAS sure about though was the wonderful progression throughout the song. I really respect it man its solid! Also that piano patch is so great.

You should look into Max Richter if you haven't already heard his stuff. The Blue Notebooks (album), On The Nature of Daylight (song). He has some music which sounds a bit like this. I bet you would like it. :)

Phonometrologist responds:

Hello John! Yes I am very familiar with Max Ricther's work. He's probably my personal favorite modern composer behind Philip Glass. I listen to the "The Blue Notebooks" whenever I'm on the road for an extended period of time, so I really appreciate the sentiments.
I, too, wasn't sure about that warbly pad, so I also mixed different versions of this piece with less of it. I wanted to treat the synth as a vocal part in the rubato style. So, I automated the tremolo as would a singer. I also added some distortion to reflect a more "light" sound. Again, I wasn't quite sure so I mixed it without the distortion in another version. Either way, I appreciate the sentiments about the progression.

[AIM - BattleStorm]

Really nice work. It just seems like the mixing is off to me. The bass basically doesn't exist at all in this song, and it really needs to exist in a heavy metal song.

Also haha it sounds like a totally new song starts at 4:07. :P That transition needs a bit of work.

Still the riffing & soloing is really solid :)

NahuPyrope responds:

The bass is a synth too, and it's a really harsh one haha

[The Gathering Room [P.CH]]

You see everyone? This is how you write good chord progressions.