vekoN's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Fax Machine]

a real head nodder! i love the sort of syncopated, swingy flow and rhythm. the fax machine sample underpinning everything is brilliant

the melodic switchup in the second half is cathartic and beautiful!

gdWoowoo responds:

That's so great to hear :D
I hadn't even realized how much I leaned into the syncopated rhythm until you pointed it out. And it's nice to hear you like the fax machine samples - I had wondered a few times if I was overdoing it

[Chaos Insurgency theme]

is it just me or is there a very annoying buzz to the brass instrumentation that comes in at 0:13? it could be clipping or just baked into the sample, idk. but other than that this is solid. like i said tho i dunno if it's really "evil", rather just ominous

DumbOctopus responds:

I'm sorry, but I couldn't hear it even if my life depended on it. I can't hear any buzz.

[GizzyKittyMusic - [Jamuary Day 27]]

nice harmonic minor :)

i feel like the instruments could use more processing, i feel like they're a bit plain right now. perhaps some saturation, ott, high end boost, or perhaps some ear candy in the background? also perhaps the arrangement could be glued together more, the way the individual elements, melodies, and instruments mesh together and interact is decent but could be better. maybe have different instruments share the same rhythm with different pitches or vice versa?

but other than that it's solid :)

GizzyKittyMusic responds:

I'm not going to lie to you, despite how long I've been doing this for, I really don't know all that much about the technical side of music production. Since I just kinda do this for fun, it's never really something that I felt like learning, but I do agree that my music suffers a little as a result. Perhaps it is something that I'll spend some time looking into :)

As for the arrangement, I usually do put more consideration into how things are layered and interact with each other, I've just allowed myself to be a little lazy for the sake of this challenge.

[one80 - 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!