lemon42's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Falling Skies]

Amazing!

What can I say, I never really listened to liquid DnB before, but I must say I really enjoyed this.

The overall composition was simple and based on a bass-line and a brass instrument... exactly the kind of thing I'd listen when I'm not in the mood to do much. Really deep and emotional. The start made it even better, by starting with a synth and some muffled drums :)

One thing that did bother me though was the mixing. I mean it was fine, everything was right, except for the bass. It seemed to overwhelm the whole track when it came in, and it made my subwoofer go crazy.

Any idea what the speech goes on about? I had no clue what it was saying, but I could hear a few references to God and other few things. I'd be awesome if you could just post a transcript of that! :)

That was the only problem I could note however. Everything else was just perfect. You nailed it!

ShiftingConix responds:

Thank you so much for the review! :) I will put the lyrics down in the description or you can look up eckhart tolle from being upset to (it will pop up after that). And it's the first minute and a half of his speech. But will put the lyrics somewhere!
Now, I am fairly new with mixing and mastering so I can see how and why the sub bass was overpowering, because if it wasn't overpowering, it was basically non existent. But thank you for your review! I'll be sure to put the lyrics up soon! :)

[Medoly]

A lot of unexpected in here.

I actually really liked the way it changed the whole way throughout the song, it didn't remain the same all the time. One thing that does bother me though is the few inconsistencies. It may be just me, but again this is my own personal opinion, so please don't take my review as the ultimate critic or anything. I'm just another musician reviewing someone's stuff. I'll get back to them later.

Right. Anyway, the overall track was quite good to be honest. It seems to follow a rather chaotic scheme, but yeah it does spice up some things. The mixing could be improved, seemed a bit harsh on some ends. Maybe a tad long? I felt like you were trying to incorporate a ton of ideas in there and cram them in.

The instruments used seem to fit properly into the song. I think I can hear a few presets (Harmor maybe? I'm not entirely sure.) in there, if that's the case you may want to learn how to make your own synths. Don't worry though, presets are fine to use, I use them often, but often modify them so it doesn't just sound like the out-of-the-box patch. I may be wrong though, so I didn't really count that in the score, just wanted to mention it.

So, back to those inconsistencies. The first thing that kinda bothered me was the spazzy lead you had at the first buildup... seems a bit off key? Then there was that drastic change of tone where you bring in some completely different chords... I'm not too sure about those. I don't really think it fits in there. However, you did a great job on the second one at the end :)

Overall... good track. Could be improved on some bits like the mastering or maybe trying to fit in less ideas and develop just a few ideas at once, and make a kick-ass track out of those. I felt confused when listening to this track, it just went left, right, left, right... though may just be me.

Please continue making music, it's the only way you'll get better at it! :D

Voltus responds:

Hi Thanks a lot for your review.

Yeah well the song is all over the place harmony wise but it actually are all modi of each other so (in my opinion) it blends rather well. And yes there's a shitload of Ideas in that track, because I dont like to hear the same 4 chords for 2 minutes in a song (personal issue I suppose :D).

I'd like to state that I didn't use a lot of presets in this track, actually the only one is the raiser at the start (but you correctly recognized it's a Harmor) the rest is tweaked all by myself, The main bass at the start for example is a gms bass I did. so theres that ;)

Ok on some systems the area around 10k might be a little harsh, but on my monitors everything seemed to sparkle along nicely. but yeah i get where you're coming from when i crank up my headphones, so I might fix that in future, I'll link it to you too if you want then you can reconsider your thoughts about the mix and master then ;) also maybe the newgroundsplayer has something to do with it. I dont know ^^.

So anyway, I'd love to get some reviews on my future tracks from you because you seem to have a rather different few on how music should sound like which I think is really interesting. With only praise you will stop developing as an artist and I don't wanna be that guy :D.

Thanks again, and hope to see you soon ;)

[Homecoming]

Glad you're back!

First of all, props on the track. I really enjoyed listening to it.
I think you did a really good job on the mastering, maybe a bit harsh on the highs, but it might be my speakers playing a trick on me... dunno.

I must say I really liked how the track starts. Smooth, gets into different tastes and brings different things in.

The vocal sample was really unexpected haha, I thought it wouldn't drop for a second... seems it did, awesome! Playing with people's minds is exactly what makes a really clever breakdown and instant adrenaline right after.

The whole chorus bit was simple, but was just perfect. No need to be over-elaborate. Breakdowns are actual breakdowns and not just the same melody transposed into another octave/key or maybe the same thing playing on other lighter instruments. You brought in a completely different synth to play a slower melancholic bit, and bam! Epic!

The ending... well a classic decrescendo of intensity, not much to say about it. I could have seen something slightly different there, but fits nevertheless.

Overall good track, exciting, but could be improved on some ends, mixing wise and maybe in the end too. I'm not really sure how, but it feels like something's off or missing, it just feels too classic, nothing really interesting or new to give you that weird but refreshing aftertaste.

On a more personal note, thanks for coming back. I always enjoyed your new tracks so far, can't wait to see more!

Acid-Paradox responds:

Thanks for the review!

The intro and the ending are like that for a reason.It gives time to the DJ to start beat-matching the track before it reaches the build and the ending is for letting him know that the track is gonna end.

These are called DJ friendly intros and outros.Check the popular tracks on beatport or itunes, you'll notice they all do this thing.

Cheers

[Too many times (remix)]

Sounds good to me!

I really like your ideas in there. While the starting choir pad instrument was slightly cheesy, I really liked the direction in which you drove the whole track. That simple arpeggio at the start fit perfectly, especially with that lowpass filter on it going progressively.

I'm not sure about the drums at the minute mark though... those sound human, like some kind of beatboxing. I feel it sounds slightly odd in that context but it didn't feel completely out of place either. I might have gone for something different though, but then again, this IS your track! :)

I like how the whole pressure just goes off when you go into a simple kick pattern, that really helps the track breathe a bit more and decompress so you can have room for another buildup.

To be honest, I really enjoyed this track! I especially liked the outro... it just gave it that little ending feeling. Sounded great, flowed in nicely, and felt more than up to par!

Kudos on the track man!

Octrox responds:

Thanks a lot for the review :)

[Game Over! (RMX)]

Fairly good to be honest!

I'm typing this as I'm listening so please excuse if this review doesn't feel very organized... anyway!

That starting melody was really different from anything I've heard recently, it drives along a whole different kind of rhythm than what I'm used to hearing around the portal. Really nice, kudos to the original creator!

Everything sounds good on a whole, there are some things that sound a bit out of place at times but it's better than what I've heard from you before, you're definitely improving! I love the way it has that progressive feel to it, makes everything so much more engaging for the listener!

I hadn't heard the original before, so I took a listen, and I quite frankly prefer your take on it! I especially like the way you play with the cutoff of the notes.

The complextro bit sounds slightly out of place, you've got an awesome progression going and then your whole thing gets broken by that completely different arrangement... not that it's a bad thing either! Thing is, the transition is very brutal and unexpected. Since you went for a progressive track all the way till the complextro bit I definitely wasn't expecting such sudden change!

I'm not really sure how I feel about the lead that gets all over the place (2:25 and 5:10), it sounds strange and... just weird. I'm not sure if you had trouble mastering it or if it was the desired effect.

Oh well, on overall it's nice. The outro could have been a bit more elaborate but considering the whole direction the track kept going it somehow fits.

Great job, especially on that start!
Keep it up!

ljkDICKJUSTICE responds:

thanks for giving some feedback!
yeah, i'm really proud of how the lead synth turned out, that was my favorite part making this song! :P it was really hard for me to fit the complextro part into the song as a whole but most complextro drops tend to do that, and yeah the buildup was done on purpose, it was a really experimental thing on my part with some random sidechained vocals!

[Ancient Sands]

Definitely sounds like something I'd hear in a video game as part of some kind of city in the desert, lost in the middle of the sand.

This is just great. It really feels true. Where is that voice from? I'd die to have something like that.
The drums and everything really fit together very snuggly. Did you record the congas or did you use samples for it? Sounds reallly good.

Overall great work, keep it up!

HellSpawnIV responds:

the congas were a mix of of the Ra percussion samples and my own recording of congas i have. The voices are from the East West Voices of Passion collection. Thanks for the review :).

[Mrs. Dash]

Alright, let's listen to this track and... ahhh! What's this?!

Mastering is quite terrible and I'm sorry to say it but it is. You really need to work on that point: improve your mastering, and that'll really upgrade the listening experience tons. This was probably the biggest issue with the track: the sound is just too overpowered and goes over the 0db mark everytime there is a kick and distorts the kick sound. An easy way to fix this is by adding a limiter over your master mixer track, however I suggest you don't, it makes it sound very amateurish. Master your tracks yourself, find tutorials online... anything helps, really!

Composition wise, seems fine. I'm not a complextro expert, but this definitely fits the house genre. Don't know what kind of house, but it surely is. Though, whenever I listen to house I tend to expect smooth songs. Don't know, it's just personal taste.

Everything else looks fine. Maybe the high pitched sweeps are a bit too high pitched.

Good work, you're getting there. Liking it, but keep practicing! As the proverb says, practice makes perfect! You can never have enough of it! :)

ljkDICKJUSTICE responds:

thank you for your input very much, mastering has definitely been my weak point, and that sound in the beginning was from something totally random, that's what i get for not listening to it before i upload it i suppose...
i'd say this is the best EQ'd song i've made, the other ones i boosted the crap out of everything too much, but i had a lot of trouble with the kick fitting, so hopefully i might just go back and remaster it!

[DjDarkterry - Crossover]

I like this, but I find the dubstep is too simply arranged. It also missed some drops!
The drums don't add much, they're very monotone.
I actually liked the end more than the start. The wooshes were also too high in volume.
In general, mastering could improve a bit, and there's room for improvement in the variety of the drum patterns, and the dubstep part too. Apart from that, continue! Good stuff! :)

DjDarkterry responds:

Thanks for the review. I try to improve this song i don´t know why i released it so early. There is always a second chance :)

[@(SL)@ Land of Fairies]

All I can say is, improve :)

That was really nice, the problem is that your song ends quickly and is really repetitive on some parts.
I liked the xylophone playing there, and then the arp.
Liked it a lot, the only problem is the length. Add more to it!
I'm pretty sure that if you extend it, someone will ask you to put it in an RPG game or something. I would totally see this is a Final Fantasy game for example, but extended.

5.25 (5) / 10, 2.75 (3) / 5
Smooth but short.

- lemon42

SqueezyLemon responds:

I hate it.
I really need to remove my music on here....

[/-Legend-\ (Remastered)]

Woah

It's actually pretty good. The only problem is the... mastering :/
Sure, it sounds much better than the first, you gotta admit that. The problem is that when everything comes in everything overlaps and it becomes a mess of sounds mashed into each other, and makes it hard to listen to.
Whenever there is a kick it goes over the sounds aswell, and the main melody overlaps with the bassline. Which makes it quite unconfortable to listen to on a good sound system. The bassline just goes over the background pads and that's kinda annoying aswell.
You should probably try to equalize each instrument so they don't overlap if you know what I mean. That'll be a great step.

Another reason why I'm giving you a 7 is because your melody is really repetitive. It is a simple melody and that is not a problem since sometimes the simplest melodies are the best. The thing is it's just the same, moved into different octaves and with different instruments, it's always the same notes all over again (even tough they're not nessesarly into the same order).

Overall, it's good, but boring to listen to after a while. You gotta improve your mastering and add another melody. Other than that, everything is really good. There's something really awesome in this song, I just don't know what.

6.5 (7) / 10, 3.25 (3) / 5
Good job, now take it to the next level :)

- lemon42

Darkfire96 responds:

Oh geez am I late XD
I actually plan on remastering this. Again :3
But I dont want to change much in this song because it was meant to be repetitive.
And although the same melody stays in the song throughout I think it added to the uniqueness of the song. The feeling of something simple and good to dance too. But if I were to actually be serious on this Ill definitely put another melody in. Try checking out some of my other songs :3

/-Ikarus-\