johnfn's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Live]

You made a post asking about why no one seemed to love this one. Although strictly speaking it was self advertisement (omg, how dare you!!!!!!!!!) I thought I would drop in and say a little bit about it anyways.

First of all I want to say that I review a little differently than most Newgrounds people. I put '2.5' as the average scoring audio, so giving you a 2 doesn't mean I abjectly hate this song, I just think its a bit below average. And I'm not going to be voting obnoxiously low either, so don't worry about that.

My main points for improvement:

* The entire song seems to really be based on the same chord progression, which sounds very dissonant. This is probably my biggest problem. The progression just isn't that interesting without some additional spice, be it melody or filters or whatever.
* I hear the FL preset kick, snare and hat. You should vary that up.
* This song really doesn't *go* anywhere. It could do with some more transitions or new instruments.

Those were my main thoughts. I know you can do good stuff though (I listened to some of your other songs) so don't be discouraged and don't give up. Keep it up!

DESHIEL responds:

Thanks man, your review is great and those two stars don't bother me, because you've validated them with this review ;)

[Without Little Regret]

I noticed you said that no one ever reviews your stuff on the audio advertisements portal, and I felt bad (used to be the same way for me) so I decided to drop by.

This is a pretty nice song. My biggest problem is probably the pads, which are really buzzy and kinda interfere with the buzziness of the melody. I usually expect the lead to be buzzy, the pads to be smooth. Otherwise there's a clash.

If I'm going to be *really* critical, I'd say that the piece doesn't really go anywhere in its 4 minutes. That's really not too hard to fix with more blatant transitions and instrument changes. One last bit of criticism: the melody towards the end needs a little more spice. That could be a little more tricky, but there are always some easy things to do. Bends and slides are always fun. Plus you could go into higher registers, where things sound more exciting.

Anyway, I enjoyed this. Keep it up. And also, since I found you in audio advertisements, do you think you could review me back if you got the chance? Thanks!

Karlssonffs responds:

Hey!

Yea the starter "pads" got a bit buzzy i agree, but i wanted to make some progressive "house" and try that out. I didnt want much change cause it would ruin the progressivness! ;D

Anyway thanx for you review m8! And I will check your music out!

[[Zombi] - Dead City]

The opening of this song really caught me. The bassline is really strong and a little groovy. Unique for trance! I have a soft spot for groovy stuff, as I tend to write a lot of it :D

That melody at 1:20 needs some tweaking - returning to the base note after every phrase probably wasn't the best idea. Also it's so loud that it dominates the rest of the song. Mastering is a good thing! :)

I like the chords at 1:40. But what if you brought them down an octave? I feel like something is missing in the midranges.

The bass at 1:55 just sounds so cool. How did you do that?

I like the idea at 2:40 but I'm thinking the instruments you used to render it are maybe not the best.

The melody at 3:08 is good too. I'm not usually a huge fan of detuned saws for such precise melody work though... but that's kind of a personal taste thing.

Anyway I enjoyed this song. I'd say that the biggest problem is mastering, so be sure to watch your levels and so forth. But yeah good stuff, keep it up! Also, I'd love if you could drop by and give one of my tracks a review maybe? Thanks!

LimeDisciple responds:

The bass at 1:55 wasnt a bass at all, it was an arpeggiator being ran through a filter that was automated so the frequency responce was going down as the riff played.

I'll go back and clean up a bit, but as far as the riffs and all I'll leave the way they are, just kinda my thing. Appreciate the review, and I'll check out your stuff.

[=(Funky)=]

Aww yeh. I really like the section at 4:00. NOT JUST BECAUSE IT'S MY MELODY but because I think you rendered it really well. The instrument choice is A++. Your solo at the end is good too but the instrument is weaker! You always hide your melodies :P

There are a few minor things but I think that will always be the case. Too bad about the glitching. ;_; Next time you start, I finish ;-)

ArcaneSoul responds:

YUS, PLZ

[=(A Giver of Happiness)=]

The opening melody with the piano is good. the delay length is exactly a quarter note, which is kinda strange. I don't like the bass piano line at 2:00 though. One melody protip is to not have a ton of notes all of the same length without any breaks. It is very hard to pull off correctly and it'll probably just end up sounding silly. I used to do that a lot lol. I hear it again at 7:00.

I agree with piggemz, the opening piano needs more body, it could be really good with a little tweaking.

I like the beat at 2:40. the sounds at 3:30 are great. sounds like an ice paradise. 4:30 is good too, the introduction of the strong (but subtle somehow) bass.

my favorite bit is def that stretch from 3:00-5:00. good percussion :3 good stuff, you handled the ambient genre pretty well.

[czer323 - All Jumbled Up]

8 years.

Missed a year. :(

[Mio/Homura]

"but I find the context of the last part of your review VERY insulting -- if EVERY attempt I am going to make at reproducing something I hear in my mind is more than I can chew, then I'll never get around to finally achieving that sound!"

YES. Never stop saying this. Ignore all the people saying that you're being too ambitious or something equally dumb. There is no such thing as being too ambitious. It's just that everyone else isn't being ambitious enough ;-)

On to the review.

First, a few remarks about EQ and stuff:

A bit of mastering weirdness around 1:30. That drum seems to be messing with the rest of your sound.

There is also some clipping around 2:40.

You may need something on the lower end around the 3:50 mark, to fully flesh out the sound at that point...

Heheh at the blank final minute. You can say that was metaphorical or something :)

Now, about the song itself.

I thought that this song was incredibly ambitious. I dig the concept, the rushing water sample, the really nice synth in the opening, the separate sections of the song that are interrelated. However. I feel like it's unfinished, like it's the first draft of the masterpiece. I think you should take this song, clean it up and fix all the clipping (easier said than done, I know) clean up the vocal parts and the drums. I can hear a really incredible piece in here wanting to get out - especially at the climax around 3:15, I mean wow! But the production is holding it back.

Maybe my review of 6 is too harsh. This is why I hate giving review scores-- it is impossible to condense a song into a number. This is a straight up 10 no questions asked if you fix the problems I mentioned above. So don't really think of it as a 6 :-)

Troisnyx responds:

Apparently, you weren't harsh : I lost with around that score for this song.

[We Sing and Dance for Fun]

Ah yes... THIS chord progression.

Like the guy before me said, this is in DIRE need of some mastering work. Every time a new instrument comes in, I stop being able to hear all of the older ones. This is something you gradually become aware of. Try to make all those voices stand out.

As for the glitching that you did at 2:50 onwards... I usually don't glitch unless it serves some greater goal. For instance sometimes I will glitch a lead melody but keep the beat running normally in the background to suggest that the song is breaking down. Sometimes I will glitch as part of a build, just because it sounds awesome (lol). I like your glitching at the end, but the glitch at 2:50 seems like it was just done for fun rather than any song structure purpose.

But that's just me, so take it with a grain of salt.

Good stuff, keep it up!

Dylnmatrix responds:

The glitching was just me f'ing around and having fun lol, and trying to keep it from sounding repetitive as I had no inspiration for another melody and I had no clue where to go with it, so yeah. And I suck at mastering/EQ'ing normally, I'm still trying to improve. I am very, very much a noob when it comes to that kind of stuff. I just like making melodies and having fun with the song.

Also this song was made over the course of two days with a sleep deprived me, and me experimenting with Gross beat and the time glitching. I may actually do a version of this with no glitching at all, and see if I can figure out how to master correctly.

Thank you for the review though, and the tips on the time glitching.

[=(Bring a Bow)=]

That chord prog is really weird. I really enjoyed that detuned falling synth during the chorus, that was a cool idea. I bet you could take that idea and twist it a little and make a really crazy lead melody. I meant you're almost doing that already, just push it a little further.

I never noticed this before but you do builds REALLY well. I am like on the edge of my chair every time a build comes in this song. I think that may be why I liked that moombahton song you did, because the builds were awesome (well, and the chorus was awesome too... but the builds!)

Lol you should put the lyrics up if you're not going to upload the vocal version. I confess myself curious of how stupid it could really be. :D

ArcaneSoul responds:

hehe, yeah i tend to go NUTS with buildups.

I need to practice tho making my own though. Like usually about 60% of my builds are from VEC4.

Also, when i mean by vocal version i mean by.....ya know what i'll just send it.

[Mind Over Matter]

That was pretty cool. You seem like one of those guys who want to make a song out of noise, rather than the other way around. The core section (starting at 1:30) was pretty neat, and the whole thing is produced immaculately. Seriously, I have no idea how you got everything to sound so clean. You must do some dark magic.

Criticism - I felt that it maybe lacked a core motif? I dunno but maybe that was the point? The central point could be a little *more* somehow? ...

I really enjoy the experimental feel of this piece, and I feel like my criticisms are almost pointless in the face of it. Good work.

RichardBatchelor responds:

Thanks dude, it takes a lot of mixing and drafts to get the final result but I get there in the end, I wish I had some form of magic lol.

Fair critique, I try and be as different as I can to set myself apart from other composers and when you are trying to be experimental and work with a lot of ideas and genres that tends to happen.

Always good to have something to work towards. Thanks for listening, plenty more to come :)