johnfn's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Death is a folktale]

This needs some work. The big thing is instrument choice - your instruments are really bizarre. The main instrument (leads off the song) definitely shouldn't sound like it does - you probably want to make it sound more pluckish.

The other big problem is the note choice - a lot of the notes seem really out of place and don't really fit in with the key. Listen critically to your songs! Make sure everything sounds right.

Sorry to be such a debbie downer! Keep working at it. My favorite part of this song is the saw melody that is going at :35. Work on that idea a bit more, think about your instruments some more.

(I don't rate songs, I just write reviews. Rating is too contentious anyways.)

[DJ Theof - Loneliness]

Hmm... It seems to me that that baseline should be a bit lower at times, or maybe panned somewhere else. It gets so high that it kind of interferes with the melody for me. (1:52 is a good example).

Anyway, this is a nice song. It's a bit repetitive - can we have a little variation on that melody? Other than that, it's cool! Keep it up.

TastyTeo responds:

I made the bassline like that on purpose, the melody is 32 Beats, the first 16 beats the saw bassline is lower and the other 16 beats it is higher one octave, it sounds good to me, and i like it like that

As for the repetitive melody, techno is a repetitive genre, if i had done variations or stuff like that to the melody, then it wouldn't be that good for me at least. Repetitive melodies get stuck in people's minds and so they get addicted to the song

Thanks for the review, have a nice day :D

[CLS (Arcane RMX)]

I think the gate at 3:00 holds your best melody. Definitely bring it to the foreground. You have some crazy instrument going at the same time (it sounds like a harpsichord... but that can't be right... or is it lol?) - I'd pan that one to the side a little, things can get confusing if everything is coming from the middle. Also the melody on the harpsichord is kinda random haha.

You do really good with dynamics, bridging the loud bits with nice string intermissions. Good, very good.

I also really like the part going at 6:16. I feel like it just needs a stronger beat. That's the climax of the song, right? It should burst through my headphones!! BOOM BOOM BOOM.

Another piano outro haha, nice.

ArcaneSoul responds:

lol had a hard time bringing up that melody. All my good ones are usually hidden away :C

also its not a harpsi.

[Honey]

This is incredible. What are you even doing on NG. This is too good.

Have you ever heard of The Mercury Rev? Your vocal style is really reminiscent of theirs.

You should change the name of your album though. No one will take it seriously, and your music demands serious listening.

Kingbastard responds:

First things first, thanks;) Newgrounds has entertained me and been good to me over the years, so I still like to post up some freebies;) There's loads of good music on here, it's just hard to find among the sea of nonsense haha. I have heard of Mercury Rev, I'm a fan, although I like to think I can hold a note a little better than he can;)
Disagree about the album title, but you're entitled to your opinion, even if it is wrong;)

Cheers for taking the time to leave a comment, appreciated.

[=(Magic)= (Arcane RMK)]

One thing - not a huge fan of the delay during piano solos (like 2:40).

There's a decent melody hidden in the background (during say 3:30, and then again at 4:15) but it rarely comes to the surface. I noticed this is kind of common of your songs. Don't be afraid to shove the melody in people's face :D I really like some parts of this song. The little build at 4:20 is really exciting. I think you just need a stronger instrument for that melody.

ArcaneSoul responds:

This song was like a year ago when i really sucked at melodies so of course i expected complaining XD

I'll admit though, that build is cool. I like using that synth for builds.

[=(Dat Lead)=]

I thought I would drop in and review your stuff because i see you reviewing a lot and felt I could repay the favor.

That lead at 1:40 is really weird.

Dude there is no hi hat in your drums. I don't really obsess about this stuff but some people do I think.

2:30 onwards is cool but a bit sloppy. You should come back and touch it up some.

Lol at 3:27 I was like "oh crap the NG audio player is screwing up again."

hmm, there's another lead at like 4:20 on that needs more melodic work, it doesn't really seem to be saying anything to me, it's just like randomly going between different notes. I figure this is because you were doing the song in 4 and a half hours so I can't really judge.

OH PIANO OUTRO YESSS.

I think I was getting on you about writing better melodies before too. So I'm probably just driving you insane now. I'd suggest to spend a few days honing a single melody until it's really great, because that's what I've been doing... Then again I'm not that great :p Plus I understand that this was a rushed piece.

ArcaneSoul responds:

Lol i know i have no melody skills because i have almost no music theory skills. It's one of the few things im going to be practicing this summer.

I was kind of afraid of making the hihats louder because usually when i do try to make it at a comfortable volume, people complain because they are too loud. But i'll make sure if i'll ever remake this (which im not sure i will).

Also do you mean like 2:30s sounds or sloppy or just that part in general? I sort of had like no idea what to do at that part so i just did something random. My bad D:

*le gasp* how could you say that to my favorite melody? O:
Heh was kind of random though. But i feel like if i make a melody that has, i dunno how to say it, repetativeness it gets boring to me.
Maybe you should try to teach me sometime at making lead melodies because when it comes to dance music, i have not a single clue how to make them.

[eclipse preview]

Hey, this is starting to sound pretty interesting. That lead that more or less dominates the first half of the song is really interesting - took some time to grow on me, but I started really liking it later on.

Some nit picks - the instruments you're using aren't really falling together so well. I think it's because you're using a ton of delay. Also, at the 1:00 mark you decide to start modulating to a major chord which I think doesn't fit the theme of your song at all - it feels like a very minor sounding song.

Anyway, nit picks aside, cool stuff. Keep it up.

killapickle1 responds:

I do agree with the instruments sort of soundning off, the thing is though i found that if i changed even one of the instuments, this began to sound like a dance song and not a techno song. Also that change to a major chord was done purposly for progression purposes (once the full song is released it should sound more "in place" so to speak). You also mentioned that the instuments didnt seem to fall together well. I was certain someone was going to say that so ill try to explain the best i can. My main goal with the instuments wasnt to have them fall together perfectly, i was trying to make them fell "loose" so to speak to give off an ambient sort of vibe. I really am unsure if i accomplished what i was aiming for (this is my first attempt at this style of techno) but hopefully i did enough to at least make it an enjoyable expereance. This is only the preview so i still have time to make changes before the full version is released (which im sure in will). Thanks for the insight, it is well aprieciated.
P.S. (sorry about this long responce, i just feel like i need to explain my reasonings to give a full understanding of what i was trying to accomplish :p)

[Mysterious]

Wow, amazing work here!!! Your work with the vocal samples is brilliant. Gorgeous! My only complaint is the pluck sound you're using. It sounds pretty bad, especially compared to the rest of your beautiful sounds. Keep it up!

Valtanen responds:

I might update this with a real guitar.. I think you'll like it. :D You should see my other works as well if you liked my vocal manipulation. Almost every song has something manipulated :D

[Bad Techno 4 (remix)]

Very nice. Very chill. I love the vocal sample. I would like a more prominent melody though.

[New Techno WIP]

This is good but it seemed like it was only just getting started by the end. I love the beat. Keep working on it.

tommcq responds:

Thanks for the feedback, I'll be continuing work on it very shortly!