johnfn's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Delicate Cow]

Wooowww there are some good melodies in here. Properly fleshed out this could be a 9 or 10.

Song was 0-bombed I see. That's the problem with kids these days, can't recognize the difference between a beautiful melody and good production.

Love the one from :55 to 1:20 or so (the one with the C-B-A baseline).

And then at 1:28-44 there's another really great one.

And then at 1:55-2:12 there's probably the best one :O

The outro melody is really good too.

I'll probably follow along on piano later today to see how you did some of this pretty stuff.

If anything I feel like the name is underselling it, it makes the song sound like some cheap nature documentary. This goes beyond cows, this is the story of NATURE. Of the earth and things that live on it.

Definitely the best thing I've heard from you. Wonderful!

KrrMaim responds:

This is actually just part of the whole thing I was working on. I'll go ahead and upload it later since you enjoyed it. Thanks for listening. xP

[Improvisation #1]

6/10 song, 11/10 improv.

Thanks for posting this, it gives some really intriguing insight into your musical thought process. I improvise a lot, so this is really pushing me into practicing harder, because I don't think I'm quite as competent on the keys.

Just to make you (annoyingly?) aware of your own tendencies- you really love that VI-VII-i progression, don't you ;-)

I also hear vi-V-IV-III a lot. I think you know that because I heard you swap out III for II once, which is one of those things you do when you know you're over using a progression. It was interesting but probably impossible to actually use in a song. :P

ErikMcClure responds:

I have to overuse progressions in my improvs because I need a stable default to fall back on when I have no idea what i'm doing. If you had access to some of my other improvisations, you would realize i'm actually falling back on several common melodic ideas too, not just chord progressions.

[CDRB - Initialities]

(Note - I review pretty harshly, so don't take a low score personally! I don't vote harshly.)

I don't listen to a LOT of hip hop, but I think I listen to enough to be able to judge. (I really like A Tribe Called Quest if that gives me any credence ;P) Your flow is pretty decent actually, it'll need a little bit of work, but it's pretty good. I think you should give the beat a bigger presence though, since the beat is a really crucial aspect of hiphop.

And finally I have a bone to pick with your lyrics, which need some work. I'd suggest a little more care with your rhymes - girlfriend/end or hope/throat is kinda silly :P. Word choice could improve -"your life will quickly end" is a little clunky. I also think the topic could be improved.

I just saw on audio advertisements that this was your first rap track. It's a pretty great first try! Your flow is actually really good for a first time through. Keep it up!

[Sweet Potato Roll]

I still read audio advertisements... occasionally.

I like your melodies. They seem a little overcomplicated but they are pretty unique. But I'm going to have to be a little blunt: this song isn't really doing it for me. It seems to wander to and fro without a defined climax. Aside from the melody that I like (at :14 for instance) it feels a bit disorganized. You might want to play around with tension and release (buildup and climax) in future songs to see if you can organize your songs better.

Anyway keep up the good melody work! They're the hardest part. :P Good luck!

Genclops responds:

Thank-you for the review, sorry you didn't dig the organization- I find it to be quite clever. If you want build up and climax, please listen to more of my songs- I like to keep a variety.

[Fu Midaji]

This is a really great song. I love the progression. The whole thing sounds crystal clear.

You don't seem like you're fully committed to the dubstep part of the song. I'm fine with that, since I'm not the biggest dubstep fan, but I think the song would have improved if you would have fully committed to bringing out the dubstep parts, or just removing them entirely.

[Ludum Dare 22]

This is a great song so I'm going to be nitpicky - that piano sounds really cheap. And I'm a little bothered by how reverb filled everything is - the whole song feels blurry.

But it's an excellent song, and when that piano comes in it's magical. I do LD also - will I see you there for LD26? :-)

ErikMcClure responds:

I am aware of these problems, but it was thrown together in a couple hours. The drums are pretty pathetic too.

I find myself doing Ludum Dare 26 pretty unlikely. I haven't developed my skill set enough and my engine has become unstable again.

[Game Over]

Nice, heavy metal chiptune! I enjoy this. I'm having difficulty articulating exactly what problem I have with it. The thing is, when I pay attention to little bits of it, I like them, but for some reason the little bits are having trouble cohering into a whole. I think it might be the chip melody on top of the bass, because the melody feels a little random. That's just a hypothesis though. But anyways I like this song! I really like the bass and how heavy and glitched it sounds. Keep it up!

Pitfall responds:

Thanks! I appreciate you checking out my song btw. :)

Yeah, idk either, but I guess I can understand where you're coming from with that. :)

Thanks for the critique! :D

[Majestic]

This sounds good so far. The main reason I docked points was because it's very clearly unfinished. If I'd give you a suggestion for work in the future, I'd say that the techno bits at :37 clash pretty hard with the orchestral bits before. It's not impossible to combine the two, but you have to be very careful about your aesthetics.

Looking forward to the final piece. This is a promising start!

Contextor responds:

Agree and agree, also, it is not finished, as i saw the competition the day of the deadline, i didn't have any more time than this, thus the result! :) I am currently working a lot more on it ;)

[Our Adventure (Mac13)]

Word to the last reviewer. That bridge is awesome. All those crazy notes in my left ear. It builds up and then explodes like a water fountain or something. If I were to complain, it's just a tad repetitive - I think you could fix that by switching the instrument or varying the beat under it perhaps.

Anyway, I really enjoyed this! And you sampled the gameboy turn-on sound. How awesome is that :D