johnfn's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Trojan]

=== This is an NGAUC Audition Round Review ===

Haha. I enjoy your melody here! It's kind of got this goofy, almost circus like vibe. Compared to a lot of the songs that I hear, you're definitely doing a lot better on melodies that have a sense of direction to them. Plus, the arrangement isn't bad either; you do a good job of introducing new sections. However, I would like to say that the song does start to get a little repetitive by the end, which could be fixed by maybe varying the chord progression or something. Also, that main instrument is just bizarre. Still, this song is pretty cool, and you do a good job with the composition.

Mini-scores (See http://johnfn.newgrounds.com/news/post/936953 for what this means and how to improve)
Mixing: 3/4
Arrangement: 2/4
Composition: 3/4
Overall (this is not an average): 7/10

[The Artful Bear - Intro]

=== This is an NGAUC Audition Round Review ===

This is a bit of an interesting take on orchestral music. Most people go for the really huge, bombastic, epic tracks. I like how you've sorta gone in the other direction, giving us a really chilled out track. I feel like you've done a good job of having different sections and taking a single melody and doing little riffs and variations on it. What I feel like is lacking is also what makes you unique - since the piece is so chill, it needs to work extra hard to stand out, and I don't think that this one ever really caught my attention. Either better melodies or more variation in the arrangement would really help here.

Mini-scores (See http://johnfn.newgrounds.com/news/post/936953 for what this means and how to improve)
Mixing: 3/4
Arrangement: 3/4
Composition: 2+/4
Overall (this is not an average): 6.5/10

[breaking protocol]

=== This is an NGAUC Audition Round Review ===

If there's one thing that you're doing well, I'd definitely say that it's arrangement. I see that you've definitely picked up a sense for when to transition to and away from ideas, and the song actually comes off as cohesive, which is a good sign because all your ideas are fitting together. However, this song is lacking in the other two areas, most notably composition. The melodies aren't particularly catchy or interesting, and they actually feel a bit random. I really want more to them! Also, the mixing seems a little squashed together, and some elements don't really fit in the tune (notice what happens to everything else when the crash cymbal hits, for example). Still, not bad - keep going!

Mini-scores (See http://johnfn.newgrounds.com/news/post/936953 for what this means and how to improve)
Mixing: 2/4
Arrangement: 3/4
Composition: 1+/4
Overall (this is not an average): 5/10

[Interconnection]

=== This is an NGAUC Audition Round Review ===

Haha, this is totally a silly little song. The vocals are such a weird touch! Whatever processing you put on them is highly disorienting and quite bothersome. But I think that's actually the effect you were going for. :P I like how this song actually has multiple sections rather than just repeating the same thing. However, I wish that you did a little more rather than just doing simple arpeggios over the chord progression - that gets rather tiring to listen to over and over again. It's not really much different from just listening to the chords themselves. With a little more variation, this piece could get better.

Mini-scores (See http://johnfn.newgrounds.com/news/post/936953 for what this means and how to improve)
Mixing: 2+/4
Arrangement: 3/4
Composition: 1+/4
Overall (this is not an average): 5/10

mutty99 responds:

this is my first song and it has many bugs, hope that my future works will be better lel XP

[Empty]

=== This is an NGAUC Audition Round Review ===

This is a pretty cool atmospheric piece! I enjoy all the detail work you did in this piece. I mean, the introduction of the subtle voices in the distance really adds a lot to the atmosphere of the piece, but I also appreciate the work you did on the closer weird noises (I don't know how else to describe them - they're vaguely vocalesque), and the hi-hats. As much as I enjoy the atmosphere of this piece, I feel like the piece itself is rather empty - it doesn't really do anything or go anywhere. That's ok in some contexts, like background music for games, but may not be the best choice for a piece submitted to a music contest.

Mini-scores (See http://johnfn.newgrounds.com/news/post/936953 for what this means and how to improve)
Mixing: 3/4
Arrangement: 3/4
Composition: 2+/4
Overall (this is not an average): 6/10

[Just exploring]

=== This is an NGAUC Audition Round Review ===

I have to say, your transitions are actually pretty solid in this song. Like, for the most part you do a good job of introducing new sections, keeping the song interesting, buildups and breakdowns, and segues into new sections. So that''s pretty cool! Unfortunately, what this song is really lacking is strong composition. A good melody or two could go a long way here. Also, this song transitions well, but it almost transitions TOO much - by the end, I start wondering if I'm even listening to the same song any more! More cohesiveness would be nice.

Mini-scores (See http://johnfn.newgrounds.com/news/post/936953 for what this means and how to improve)
Mixing: 2/4
Arrangement: 3/4
Composition: 1/4
Overall (this is not an average): 5/10

[Zone Control]

=== This is an NGAUC Audition Round Review ===

Gotta say, I love the idea here. I mean, who doesn't like ludicrously fast-paced techno with really insane melodies? Not me, anyways. Er, that was a double negative. That's aside from the point however. Unfortunately, this song suffers from 2 rather large issues. The first is that the mixing needs quite a bit of work. A lot of the melodic instruments end up buried under the bass! And since the melody is really the focus here, that is a rather large problem. The other problem is that the melodies themselves are not always great. Some parts are good, like 4:45 (I'm a sucker for that chord progression), but in others the melodies just seem to go crazy without any sort of reason for doing so.

Mini-scores (See http://johnfn.newgrounds.com/news/post/936953 for what this means and how to improve)
Mixing: 1+/4
Arrangement: 3/4
Composition: 2+/4
Overall (this is not an average): 7/10

LaserVision responds:

Thank you! I will for sure take this in consideration in the future!

[Angel Dust (Satire)]

=== This is an NGAUC Audition Round Review ===

You know what, I actually like your beat quite a bit here. The hihats are well done, and there's a bunch of other details that work well to give it that gritty and dirty hip hop feel we all love. I just wish you took the rapping a little more seriously, you know? Like, if this wasn't a satire song, and you REALLY rapped, it would be a lot better. Like, I can also see the chorus being REALLY GOOD, if you took it seriously. Ah well. I still don't think its bad (though the kick could be louder!)

Mini-scores (See http://johnfn.newgrounds.com/news/post/936953 for what this means and how to improve)
Mixing: 2/4
Arrangement: 3/4
Composition: 3/4
Overall (this is not an average): 6.5/10

Kurtiskong responds:

thanks for the review. Me and my buddy do real rapping but we are just doing satire stuff for fun at the moment.