vekoN's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[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 :)

[Fascist [Neurofunk]]

i've said it before under a different account but i'll say it again: this slaps!

especially relevant here in the usa

Demonicity responds:

have to say i agree with this quite a bit.
hope you have it better soon!

[Prey Slaughtered]

really cool bass! i like the high slide notes, although maybe it's a bit too saturated and prominent in the mix. the pristine synth strings that come in at around 1:40 contrast well with the other distorted sounds. the hip-hop esque drum patterns in the first half also sound fantastic in this context; the switch to more dubstep-esque drums is quite cathartic. overall amazing!

AnxLyen responds:

I am immensely grateful for your affection and feedback 💋 why does this sound sarcastic??? IT ISN'T

[telekinesis]

i love the frenetic mood, and the sound design is really cool too! however, the mix is definitely too saturated, probably due to too much sub bass. i'd try cutting out sub in non-sub instruments and failing that just turn down the sub a bit

SamuraiOwl responds:

that's just about how i feel about it too lol
thanks for listening :)

[random thing WIP]

nice so far! maybe more than two chords in the progression would be nice tho, it gets a bit stale after a bit

LGmusic responds:

yessir

[Endless War - Niceki]

pretty cool! the melodies are really nice, for being about war and anguish.

i do feel like there isn't enough ambient noise and high mid density in the mix, i'd suggest perhaps using multiband compression or maybe turning down the low mids a bit, and adding more high mids (1-2khz) to the existing elements, to make the whole arrangement hit harder. i think maybe a more ambient section in the middle would have been nice, to balance with the parts with the drums

quite good tho!

Niceki responds:

Thank you very much for the suggestions, these comments are really what motivate me to continue making music. <3

[-Tenement-]

ooh spooky, i do feel like there could be a bit more reverb on everything, but the sound selection is incredibly solid.

Creeperforce24 responds:

I’ll be sure to remember that, even though I used a fuck ton of reverb already 😂