Gario's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[The Forest Where Secrets Lie]

Oh, I really like this track - sounds like it'd make for cool background music for a game inspired by those visuals. If it were for a game I'd even understand the sonic range the arrangement uses (though I'd probably knock ya for having it loop poorly in that case), though because there's nothing else that the arrangement needs to compete with sonically the other instruments could been more generous using the upper frequencies due to the piano having a pretty stylistically heavy low pass.

That's more something to note than a critique, since this sounds great either way. Nice work!

SomeGuyMusic responds:

Thank you for your review!

[Space Invaders Prelude]

Very ambient, indeed. There's some interesting use of the pads in the background - interestingly, they never really clash with anything, which is impressive, considering what chords are being made up in the background. Nice production values overall, too - no real empty spots in the soundscape or clipping, so nice work.

I really enjoy the drum work you have going at the end... but then it stops. I agree with Midimachine that it sounds like it's opening up to a new section, then it just dies. Would've loved to hear it go somewhere from there, but what you have is enjoyable for what it is, as well.

[Summer Goes On]

You have a lot of cool sounds coming out of the LSDJ - very thick, very heavy, and full of awesomesauce all around. Loving the arrangement of the track, but I feel it remains a bit too thick over the majority of the song, that is; there seems to be too much going on at once, so it turns out a little bit too muddy overall. It's not too severe, though - I still really enjoyed this track.

Nice work!

[Everyone Hates Squids]

Hmm, very strange tuning fluctuations in the drums in the beginning. It's not inherently bad, I'm just not used to them. I notice you lose them after the beginning, which made me a little sad, strangely enough.

Solid drum beats - I like the set you're using for this. The trippy sounds are fun to listen to, as well, and you're using your panning space effectively. I really wish you didn't do a 6-minute variations track on the same four notes, though; while I like the space you set up, after a while I started skipping through the track, as I was just getting bored.

Production is pretty tight on this, just wish the arrangement moved a bit more. Not bad, though.

Reinteck responds:

Thanks for the review and helpful tips! I will definitely think about these things when I make future songs. Thanks for checking out my music!

[[Knox]Canyon Song]

I like the guitar playing, and the strings/harp are pretty good, too. I feel that the track meanders with the same chords too often with a song of this length - don't be afraid to break away from those chords, else the song gets too boring.

While there are breaks from the guitar action, I feel that the texture is too much of the same for too often. When you can drop the needle in multiple places in a song and not know where you are in a song at any point (due to the music sounding too similar) that means there's not enough texture variation to allow people to distinguish any movement in the song, so vary the soundscape a little bit

Otherwise, it's nice and relaxing.

[Blinding Drive]

Sounds rockin', not bad - sounds like this villain is more complicated than most. Be sure to watch out for the arrangement, though, as it tends to meander. Unless this is written for a movie or something I'd suggest giving it a more recognizable form. The harmonies and themes are actually really cool, though, so some more organization would really make this stand out better.

The bass is a bit hollow. It needs some more presence - add some lower mids to the bass and it'll stand out a lot more.

Oftentimes, when all of the instruments get together it sounds incredibly muddy. When you mix your music, try to give some instruments the focus while leaving others in the background, as this will give the music more focus.

Those drums are relentless with that snare. Using the snare only once or twice per measure overall would really help clean up the soundscape. If you want to keep the multisnare riffs then at least change the dynamics so that the follow up hits are quieter than the main strikes, as they just sound like a wall of sound, otherwise.

It's an alright track, with some room for improvement. Nice work.

Blacklawn responds:

Thanks. I tried to fix the bass and the snares. As for the mixing... I'm not entirely sure how I'm supposed to achieve what you said.

[BloodyTearsPianoRemix]

@Psienix
Technically, a remix is simply a track that's been mixed differently and remastered, so this is more of a remix than a track that rearranges the music (like, for example, OCR music). Just sayin', is all - arrangements are not a bad thing, but they are not the same thing as a remix.

This track was alright - liked the detuned pianos in there; it brought out a real Castlevania feel to it. I wish that the piano had more of a human sound to it, though. As it stands, it feels like a MIDI that got a new soundfont over it, which is a little stale.

Nonetheless, good cover to a good song.

DrMackFoxx responds:

You're a bit of a tough customer and I don't mind that in the least. Just encourages an experienced amateur like me to try and do better. Glad you liked this track and thank you very, very much for a thorough and honest review. :) Constructive criticism is always appreciated. ^_^

[Serenade of Storms]

Very nice arrangement. It's just a well crafted piece. I kind of wish you have a live performance - it's a little mechanical. It's not too bad, though - it still comes across quite well.

Awesome work.

BlazingDragon responds:

I know what you mean about the live performance. It sounds very quantized. My piano skills are improving though and I'll likely be playing more of my pieces in time. Thanks for the review!

[Breath of Fire III -BossT]

Hmm... I think your sounds could be nice, but the mixing in this makes it very hard to hear anything over the bass. Bring out your melodies, make the textures more salient and raise the levels on this track, since as it stands it's not really possible to hear much of anything.

The issues are almost 100% mixing. I suggest fixing the mixing and the volume of the track (it's very, very quiet) and re-uploading, since I could see this being alright, otherwise.

SmashesCupcakes responds:

I agree with you I didn't really check it out after I exported it from Fl Studio. After I heard it I was like... crap. But as for now I can't re-upload it without making a completely new upload so It's stuck like this until further notice :/ Thanks for the review though! I'll take your advice and redo the mixing!

[Nobuo-esque 8bit (famitracker)]

Huh, this actually evokes more 'Dragon Quest' for me. That's not a bad thing, really - Nobuo Uematsu was told to imitate THAT style in some form or another back in the day, so it has it's roots in Uematsu, somehow. Sounds like a DQ beginner's castle...

The triangle in this is a bit dominating, here. Bringing up the rectangle waves up a bit would be a good idea so the piece balances itself better.

Not bad at all.

EmperorCharlemagne responds:

when i made this, i knew absolutely NOTHING about famitracker, so I've improved a *little* bit in that time.

thanks for the advice though.