johnfn's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[One More Time]

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

Hi there, MavMusic! This is a pretty cool song - it starts with a neat riff. However, I have to say, this song sounds a bit like it's *too* compressed - like you've taken an entire 3 minute song and only shown us the most important bits. The song is so short, and so repetitive, that it's a bit hard to critique because there's almost nothing to say about it! It just needs to be longer, and it needs to be developed more.

Mini-scores (See http://johnfn.newgrounds.com/news/post/936953 for what this means and how to improve)
Mixing: 3/4
Arrangement: 1+/4
Composition: 1+/4
Overall (this is not an average): 5.5/10

MavMusic responds:

cool, thanks for the review ill be sure to make my next song longer and better thanks for the tips

[Station 22]

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

Oooh. I always love starting off MY songs with reverbed children playing around! You copycat. >:P Yo, but seriously, this song is really nice. The chords are nice, and the children make me very nostalgic. :) But I think what I like the most are the very subtle details you put on the chords. I don't honestly have very much to critique about this piece. Maybe it's a *tad* too sparse, but hey, that just comes with the territory. Lovely work. Reminds me quite a bit of Boards of Canada.

You deserve more fans. Oh hey, that's what this contest is all about! :)

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: 3+/4
Overall (this is not an average): 8.5/10

[The Unconquered Sun - Sol Invictus]

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

Always pleasant to hear some epic rock in the compo, since we're deluged almost totally with EDM, hehe, (I try to stay impartial!) The solo section at 2:00 is just wonderful. If anything, that could have just been the WHOLE SONG. I hate to admit it, but I'm not really as big of a fan of your thrash sections; I didn't think they were awful or anything so much as I thought you did a wonderful job soloing. One big problem with this piece is the mixing, however. The drums need to be louder, and there's almost no bass presence to either the drums or the guitar at all.

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): 7/10

[Back In Bussiness (VRC6)]

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

OOH YOU MADE CHIPTUNE! MY ONE WEAKNESS! I dig the chord progression you start off with. You also have a good sense of song arrangement - small tweaks on repeated sections, occasionally switching into new ideas, but not too wildly or abruptly. The biggest thing this song is lacking is a solid melody, though. Your melodies are pretty good right now, but IMO you just need to practice a little more at them to really make them shine. Even still, the piece has a nice groove to it!

(Also, that ending is so goofy! :o)

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): 7/10

[Unseen]

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

First of all, I love that intro chord progression on the piano. Second, although I'm not totally sold on the drop which follows immediately after, I do actually like the chord progression a lot. So I guess you make good chord progressions! The melodic section that starts at 1:00 unfortunately falls into the trap of melodies that feel somewhat random, and then we suddenly go into this orchestral thing at 1:25?? Man, this song has so many crazy different sections. The impressive thing is that you actually transition between them fairly well. The section at 2:10 with the chords is actually awesome. I wish you had stayed on that section for longer (or just repeated it somewhere else in the song) rather than transitioning wildly away from it again. All in all, I think this song is cool and you're a good songwriter, but you need to learn which parts of your song are the best and repeat them a little more rather than transitioning between 100 different parts!

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: 3/4
Overall (this is not an average): 7/10

littlelamp100 responds:

i agree, thank you for taking the time to write this review and i will take this into consideration in the future :)

[DirtyDan]

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

Haha, wow, this reminds me a LOT of homestuck music. Both the unconventional approach to percussion, the chord progressions, and the rather surreal melodies. I have to say, I really dig your unique approach to writing electronic music. I haven't heard a lot of electronic music that sounds like this - melody heavy, unique and interesting chord progressions. However, it still needs a bit of work - the mixing makes the drums far too quiet, the sound design is a little off (that melodic instrument at :30 needs some serious work!), and the melodies could be improved. Still, I commend you on this unique piece!

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): 7/10

[Mannequins]

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

Well, if you say that this is different from your normal stuff, then I wonder what your normal stuff sounds like! I have to commend you for the fabulous drop at 1:11. The mixing is really working well here. Towards the latter half of the song you start making those cool dubstep noises (hah, I have such accurate terminology), and it's also very effective. All in all, I'm very impressed by your sound design! What I'm not so convinced by, however, is the composition. While the main melody is not bad by any means, it didn't really convince me that it was awesome, either. Still, this is a very solid song overall.

Mini-scores (See http://johnfn.newgrounds.com/news/post/936953 for what this means and how to improve)
Mixing: 4/4
Arrangement: 3+/4
Composition: 3/4
Overall (this is not an average): 7.5/10

Leelius responds:

I am more than honored to actually score 4/4 mixing wise! And I thank you for being thorough and indepth with your judgement as well. I will keep working hard on arrangement and composition to really hook the listener in the future.

This is more or less my first actual electronic dance song attempt. I've mainly produced heavy metal tracks with very similar electronic and dubsteppy sound design (like in this track) for the past 1,5 years.

I wanted to enter the contest with this track, because the metal tracks I produce are collaborations with a guitarist/vocalist guy.

[Johanna]

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

I have to admit, these instruments just sound awesome! The drums in particular are just lovely. They are deep and boomy and they just sound awesome. However, the composition is really lacking here. It almost sounds as if you just chose random notes! The notes don't seem to form any sort of melodic contour at all, they just happen in bursts. Maybe this was intentional, maybe not, but it leads to a surreal and disorienting listening experience.

Mini-scores (See http://johnfn.newgrounds.com/news/post/936953 for what this means and how to improve)
Mixing: 4/4
Arrangement: 3/4
Composition: 1/4
Overall (this is not an average): 6/10

JourneyJaybeats responds:

Thanks for that.

I feel like I just do solo after solo, with a random arrangement for that data.

I can identify a struggle that I believe you to be observing in my work.

I would say that we have reached a consensus.

[Shi And Silence]

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

Wow, this is a really nice piece! The sound choice and design is just immaculate. The drums sound fantastic - I love whichever pack your using. (That's right - I don't even know what it is, but I love it!) Furthermore, they're mixed really well. The vocals, too, sound pretty awesome. Both the whispered sounds and the higher female vocals add a bunch of atmosphere. Yes, that's what defines this piece: ATMOSPHERE. I would have liked a more solid melody or at least a bit more defined chords so I could really love this piece, but even as it stands, it's a really fantastic piece of atmospheric and ambient work. Great job!

Mini-scores (See http://johnfn.newgrounds.com/news/post/936953 for what this means and how to improve)
Mixing: 4/4
Arrangement: 3/4
Composition: 3/4
Overall (this is not an average): 8/10

JeremyKingVA responds:

Thank you kindly! :D

The drums are from Soundiron's "Apocalypse Elements" library. Atmosphere was definitely what I was aiming for when I composed this, haha. Glad you enjoyed the piece!