vekoN's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Hit It]

good! i liked the chip arp in the background, and i enjoyed the use of f major here! i think the low mids are a tad distorted, which could be fixed by bringing them down by a few decibels, but overall the song is quite solid!

whymsical responds:

thanks for the feedback! ill fix the low mids when i can

[Vile Spirit (Jamuary '25) (French House)]

nice! i like the dissonance of the chords and samples, although to me the evil vibe is very implicit, but maybe i'm just used to stuff like this. the production does leave some things desired though, especially loudness and gain staging wise; the drums are a bit quiet, especially the kick, and the mixdown is a bit muddy. overall though good!

xanxoepico responds:

Oh yes, the mix could definitely be better, but I didn't spend too much time since it was for today. I'd definitely think about making a remaster in the future though.

[i am so happy you are here]

i'm happy you're here too! :3

cute sliding melodies btw!

wineplume responds:

tysm!!!!!!

[Reaper]

it feels like the production is missing something, possibly some layering in the leads, some ear candy in the background; i'd suggest adding these to beef up the arrangement. of course, in other moments it feels like there's too much going on, like there's too many sounds that don't work well with each other. making the background elements quieter, using the root note for tonal background elements as opposed to other scale degrees, or just picking sounds that work well with each other will make the sound palette more consistent

the melodies also leap too much and are quite chaotic for my taste; you could experiment with using more steps of a second to make the melody feel more connected between the leaps, although admittedly this is something you'll need an experienced ear for. you also try repeating certain melodic figures and interval movements to give the melody more consistency; e.g., if you do a leap of a third from scale degrees 1 to 3, you could do another one from 7 to 2 and another from 6 to 1 afterwards.

lastly the mixdown still feels quite muddy, a cut of 2-3db around 100-300hz should fix that and also let the high end stand out more. the drums also don't hit that hard in the mix, saturating and clipping them should help

hmm... that's all really

Synfang responds:

Well, I'm sorry that this wasn't to your taste, but if nothing else, the feedback is definitely appreciated. Either way, thanks for checking the track out!

[Starshine]

beautiful, vivid melodies! the production isn't without some problems but the gorgeous musical elements really make up for it

Nebvla responds:

Tysm! I've always had mixed feelings about this track, I tried something different and I'm just not sure but it doesn't seem to be the worst thing I've done!

[Under The Water]

quite solid!

the botanica-esque intro is gorgeous in its minimalism and appropriately watery. i especially liked its granular synth glitches. the melodies and harmony in the drop is vivid and colorful, although i feel like the sound design in that part is missing something; perhaps fullness in the mix or background elements?

the sixteenth note color basses in the section starting at 2:14 sounds amazing, very unique! the breakbeat section at 2:46 does feel a bit out of place though. the outro wraps everything up nicely, although it also does feel a bit disconnected from everything else in the song, probably due to the different tonality in that part. maybe using the same chords/key as in the rest of the song in that part would help it maintain the feel of the tune?

overall the tune is lovely, although not without some sour moments structurally

Nebvla responds:

I appreciate the amazing feedback! Thanks so much!

[~Break My Heart~]

ooh, quite an authentic 00s sound here, but with your signature melodies! i particularly enjoyed the planed stab melody and the euphoric lead melodies!

Preds responds:

thanks!

[Pulse Rush]

vivid melodies! they almost feel Savant-esque. i adore the guitar parts and chords too

the mix feels a bit dull, like it lacks fullness and a small amount of high end. some saturation and background white noise could help make it hit harder. i'd also suggest adding some more background elements and ear candies to fill up the arrangement

23i responds:

Thanks for the feedback! Really appreciate you taking the time to listen and share your thoughts. I'll think about this for sure moving forward.

[Presage]

exquisite, especially the first half; the crescendo at the end of each half sounds cathartic! i was a massive fan of this composition when you teased it on bluesky

50Steaks responds:

Yeah didn't want to just copy paste for the second half so I alluded to the original piece's beating quarter notes in the second chorus. I also prefer the first chorus a little bit tbh but the second does certainly pick up the energy without increasing the tempo which I thought was really neat. Thanks for listening and reposting!

[MAD TING (FT. MODE AND EFFECTA)]

i feel like the sound design could have something more to it, these sounds are a bit too "plain" for my liking. i think maybe some more experimental aspects like ott or spectral glitches would take them to the next level.

another related gripe of mine is the arrangement, i think the drops are a bit too chaotic and lack a solid hook.

lastly the mix is quite saturated in an unpleasant way. the kick drum in particular really crushes the mix with every hit. maybe you could try decreasing the bass going into the master limiter/clipper with a low shelf filter?

jcm3xtro responds:

Hey, thanks for taking the time to write that, I appreciate your feedback for sure. I think the aim for this track was to recreate the old-school sounding dubstep, specifically the original Skrillex era, back when he first starting making music. If you listen closely the mix does sound very simple and plain, and contains nothing but mechanical sounding basses that can sound chaotic and messy at times, but I personally think that sounds pretty cool, but on the other hand I do completely understand that dubstep is an acquired taste, and takes a certain level of understanding to appreciate, so I think it was more of a style choice. But in terms of the second drop, I can see how it might've fallen a bit flat, and to be honest it's not my favourite either, so again it's just a matter of opinion. And as for the mastering, I did get a tad lazy here and just left it, purely because it continued to flatten the grittiness of the track and reduce the quality in the bass, but personally I think it sounds fine as is. It's not perfect, sure, but I like it, and that's what matters. Thanks again for taking the time to comment :)