johnfn's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Lying to a Stranger]

The sound design here is really really good, speaking as a guy who has tried and failed to design cool sounds ;-)

Song is really groovy and enjoyable. I like it a lot. Could do with a lead melody of some sort or some variation in the chords, but other than that I'm digging it. Solid work.

InvisibleObserver responds:

Thanks John!

I spent a very long time collecting samples, tweaking instruments up and routing controllers on what feels like virtually everything. Fortunately its allllll in the background and just runs now and never needs looking at or setting up again.

Learned a few new tricks and figured out how to do some conceptualized ideas I've had for a while, so this was a rather exciting piece to do up. Mind you stressful - I take the year off school and end up more busy.

[Real Life Absurdities]

Oh my god... Well done. This is so insane. To be honest I like the opening/closing riff the most, the other stuff isn't quite as good, but whatever. The only thing holding me back from a 10/10 last time was melodies, but even those have improved, so I really have no choice.

I'm so happy that NGADM exists so that we can hear awesome pieces like this.

steampianist responds:

ah! so i finally got a 10 that's awesome.

thank you for the review.

[GM - Dragon Of The South]

Another non-metalhead checking in to say this song rocks. You have a really great sense of melody. If you keep putting out great stuff like this you might drag me into the metal camp after all. :D

InYourDreams responds:

Oh man! this makes me so happy! :D ... I 'll try my best not to dissapoint you ^_^

[Ablixa]

You were one of the people who's song I was anticipating. This is even better than your last submission. It's got it all - the sound design is wild, attention to detail (vibrato, subtle filters, sudden 100% wet reverb) with the lead towards the second half is great, when the chords come in it feels massively uplifting, and the melody rocks.

My only complaint is the first half is a little too repetitive (maybe the snare could have been pitched up/down an octave?), the last 30 seconds or so don't add a lot, and I feel like the mixing is a little off towards the end (I want those vocal aaahs to really hit me). These are very minor nit-picks because this song is REALLY good. Seriously please keep it up because wow.

"also, the main melody is a really stretched snare"

Holy crap. I wish I was as cool as you. Seriously... that is the awesomest thing I have ever heard.

garlagan responds:

Thanks a lot for this helpful review Johnfn. I really appreciate it.
The things you've pointed out wouldn't be there if i was less of a procrastinator. I only got to work on it for 1 day. Deadline came faster than ever.

[The Door - Surreality]

Immediate impressions:

I enjoy the bass melody right off the bat, it's probably my favorite melody you've written! The snare at :33 stands out because it's pretty much the only thing going. Clap at :48 sounds like the FL studio stock clap... not a huge deal though.

A minor note is the variation in the bassline that you do at, for example, 2:32, is unnecessary. This is a classic mistake people make when they are starting music production - they keep listening to the same melody 100 times and start to get tired of it, so they add unnecessary variations. I'm not going to listen to it nearly as many times as you did while producing it, so your first few impressions of a melody are best. Rule of thumb is that if it sounds good the first 5 times, just keep it that way. :-)

By 1:08 I'm starting to feel that the song is lacking direction. Instruments are coming and going but there's no clear sense of buildup or any sort of groove that I can lock into. You could make some sort of notion of buildup by stacking instruments on top of each other to gradually increase loudness. Or I think that if you would have just kept that bass melody from the start going throughout the song, that would make the song feel much more coherent.

I do hear it every now and then though which is good.

Right now this song almost sounds like a series of separate songs, glued together. Keeping a coherent sense of song is really tough when you start out, I know. The easiest way to do this is to keep a consistent bassline. The second easiest way is to keep at least one consistent instrument.

Anyway I thought it was pretty neat despite all my complaints. Keep it up and I'd say to try to aim for a little more coherence in your next song. Good luck!

TaintedLogic responds:

Thank you so much, Johnfn! :D Your reviews are a pleasure to read! I'm so glad you enjoyed the melody. About the stand-out drums: I originally was trying to make a DnB track out of this, but I thought it needed to be faster in order to be considered DnB. The clap at :48 is indeed an FL Studio stock clap (and it does sound like one, too, doesn't it?). The variation at 2:32 (which is actually just a slightly more layered and melodic version of the riffs at :31 and 1:07) is used mostly for transitional purposes. About the directionless nature of it, I thought that the builds at :41 and1:14, as well as the variations on the refrain at 2:48, made the piece seem quite climactic, but I recognize that someone who doesn't understand the structure as deeply as I do might overlook these details (perhaps that was the problem with "Luke's Island" too: that I established the structure too furtively?). The reason why I migrated away from the bass melody at various parts of the songs was because of the theme. This goes along with your comment about coherence. You see, the theme of this song is to represent both the "real" and the "surreal" musically, which, as in "Microcosm," I represented with a strong beat and bass-dominated section, and then a more atmospheric and melodic section, respectively. Thanks again, though, for another one of your excellent and thorough reviews, Johnfn! :D I'm looking forward to hearing your NGADM Round 2 submission! ;D

[Steam's Wonderful Contraptions]

WOW. This is incredible. It blows your first NGADM piece out of the water, and that one was already amazing. I absolutely love that demented steam train whistle that goes every few seconds. It fits sooo well. I loved how it flows so easily through the different sections. Aside from the opening section, I felt like the section at 1:10 was a clear highlight. Those jazzy solos are just amazing. Like etherealwinds, I'm totally hearing the toy world thing, though to me it sounds slightly insane/crazy also. This is due in no small part to the awesome work with percussion and sound effects that you did in this piece.

I'm incredibly stingy with my 10/10s, which is why I'm keeping this at a 9 for now... but I feel like if the melodies were just a little better I would be forced to give it a 10. Regardless it's an amazing piece and if it's not one of the best of the round I'll eat my hat.

steampianist responds:

thank you so much for the review. im cool with 9, very kind of you actually hehe and i dont really believe in perfection because what people consider perfect is actually subjective and every subjective point of view is different so therefore perfection is not really perfect just because of people's different subjective point of view of what is perfect and because of this it may conflict with others... so yeah... anyways again thanks for listening haha

[Automation]

The good stuff is that I thought that the production was immaculate and the sound design and choices were just awesome. There's a lot of really fun percussion going on under the scenes. The music box sound effects are really awesome too. I think you completely nailed your goal of 'cave laboratory' (funny place to put a laboratory IMO, but who am I to judge?). Sounds to me like you're sneaking around on cat-walks as oblivious scientists below mix colored liquids. :-)

My biggest problem with this track is that the melody work felt a little less interesting than the work you had on your last few tracks for the same game. There are a few exceptions, particularly the 4 notes at 2:04, but overall it seems to lack some sort of spark. My other complaint, which you saw from a mile away, is that it does sound a LOT like steampianist. Notice how I didn't complain when you were inspired by me? ;-) (But really, I thought you took my style in a completely different direction.) This is a much more minor thing, so don't worry about it - I think it's important to draw from influences in order to grow as a musician! Though I think it's also important to combine your influences so no one can tell what you stole from. ;-)

(And melody is the most subjective part of music, so I might not have any idea what I'm talking about.)

Anyway, the good news is that the production is really awesome and all the detail work you did with the crazy hits and twisting of music boxes and constantly changing orchestral sounds is massively appreciated. Keep the melodic stuff in mind but don't stress out about it too much. Just know that old grumpy man johnfn is listening. :P

Step responds:

Oh man, your reviews are just some of the best ever. Thanks a million!

"The good stuff is that I thought that the production was immaculate"

Fantastic. I was having a bit of trouble actually; lots of stuff going on, especially in the low/lower mid range of frequencies, since I've got a thick cello section and 2 double basses, along with, of course, the drums, but I tried my hardest to stop it from sounding like a mudslide.

"and the sound design and choices were just awesome."

Sweet, thanks!

"The music box sound effects are really awesome too."

They are, aren't they? Just some sounds that come with the VST if you play notes in a really high octave. I thought they fit quite well!

"I think you completely nailed your goal of 'cave laboratory'"

That's what I was hoping to hear!

"(funny place to put a laboratory IMO, but who am I to judge?)."

Tell that to Batman!

"Sounds to me like you're sneaking around on cat-walks as oblivious scientists below mix colored liquids. :-)"

You're not the first to mention sneaking. Perhaps the pizzicato strings are doing that.

"My biggest problem with this track is that the melody work felt a little less interesting than the work you had on your last few tracks for the same game. There are a few exceptions, particularly the 4 notes at 2:04, but overall it seems to lack some sort of spark."

You know, I think I admittedly should've focused more on melody. I focused a lot more on the background, atmosphere, harmonies, etc, and as a result the melodies are mostly based heavily around the harmonic minor scale. I tried to do that to make it sound more artificial and machine-like, rather than making a melody with a bit more expression like that of The Festival or Sky's the Limit, but I agree it would've been better if I nailed a better balance between making it sound machine-like and still making the melody more interesting.

"My other complaint, which you saw from a mile away, is that it does sound a LOT like steampianist."

Oh yeah x_x.

"Notice how I didn't complain when you were inspired by me? ;-) (But really, I thought you took my style in a completely different direction.)"

True, this one's just a direct copy of the style steampianist had.

"This is a much more minor thing, so don't worry about it - I think it's important to draw from influences in order to grow as a musician! Though I think it's also important to combine your influences so no one can tell what you stole from. ;-)"

Haha, I really couldn't help it though. I tried attempt after attempt to make something that fits for both a cave and a laboratory... first throwing in some synths and arps on top of a booming drum background, then heavily-reverbed guitars on top of a drum kit, then I don't even remember what I did. Deadline was approaching, so (like I did for Sky's the Limit) I decided to randomly listen to some NGADM artists' music. Came across ZipZipper's and steampianist's and I might've taken it too far haha.

"(And melody is the most subjective part of music, so I might not have any idea what I'm talking about.)"

It is indeed, but I agree the melody was kinda boring!

"Anyway, the good news is that the production is really awesome and all the detail work you did with the crazy hits and twisting of music boxes and constantly changing orchestral sounds is massively appreciated. Keep the melodic stuff in mind but don't stress out about it too much. Just know that old grumpy man johnfn is listening. :P"

Old grumpy man johnfn is what keeps me on my toes! Thanks for the detailed criticism; I need to repay you with some super huge review eventually; shame the NGADM is taking so much of my time x_x.

Thanks again, this review really helped!