Gario's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Megaman 2 - Dr. Wily Redux]

Great mix!

Wily is a sexy beast, and you do him justice. The drums and bass are excellent, setting the perfect background for the track.

The soundscape fills rather nice (although it tends towards the muddy side, when all the instruments are out), but you've got to be careful with clipping - louder = better only if you retain the quality. I hear sidechaining in here, as well, but the melodic instruments are causing unintended clipping.

Otherwise, great work - hope to hear more from you!

[_/I wish you were here\_[edit]]

Not bad at all.

Hey, I like the overall sound of this song - not bad. I will agree, though, that the sidechaining is quite tough to listen to, throughout. Also, your voice is mixed too far behind the mix to really contribute. It'd be great if you mixed it more in the foreground, since it really could contribute to the song, as a whole.

The drums seem a bit too repetitive. Change them up more often, since they tire the ears, as they are.

I love the square wave as much as anyone else, but it seems to clash with the higher quality sounds you've got going, overall. It's not a bad sound, but it doesn't seem right for this mix. Personally, I'd change the sample, but it doesn't detract too much from it, overall.

I really enjoy some of the effects you use on the mastering, and the soundscape is great. The singing is spot on, for the genre, so let's hear some more updates :)

ShootingStar responds:

Oh man - don't know how to respond to that - but really thanks for all the criticism I will definitely look into taking a look at everything you said and posting a new one! Man, now I can't wait to get working on this again! Haha
thanks sooo much!!

ShootingStar

[[DJP] Mario Ending]

Yup...

It's SMB2, for the NES. Being reasonable, that was made in 1988, so few of you were probably playing games back then (except for DJPureSuffer, obviously, lol).

It sounds alright, but there isn't anything here that really stands out. The original was great, and you have a very clean rendition here. However, I just don't see myself listening to this version on my own in a car or anything - it's bland.

It isn't bad at all - just not great, either.

[HH Test]

Not bad

It's terribly repetitive, though. The production is great and the sound works, but listening to it all the way through is difficult. The bass is the real killer - change it up periodically and you'd have a real winner of a song, here.

[you lose]

This is pretty good...

... despite being a little repetitive. Some good ol' vocals would do wonders for a song like this (it sounds like you intend to add vocals to it).

I don't think the side chaining I hear is intentional (the volumes of the other instruments go down when the bass drum and the bass line hits), so take a look at that. Other than that, great song, dude!

[Song Of Time Remix]

Interesting remix there :)

Mastering is balancing the volumes, like you said, but it's also working with the panning and the EQ so the instruments fill the soundscape better, too (just FYI, there). Actually, from a mastering point of view I can tell you that bringing the highs out would have helped this track quite a bit, and stereo separation would have gone quite a way with it, as well. The flute could have been brought out a bit more in general, too :)

I like the arrangement, though - it keeps me entertained throughout very well. The instrument choice is interesting (in a good way), and the artificial choir is cool (oh yeah, Artificial Choir FTW). This is great for your two weeks of investment - kudos.

mename3isme responds:

Thank you for liking my SHTUFF
yea it was my first time mastering and I actually had some difficulty with just the dynamics, so I'll work on eq's, effects, and stereo eventually.
And HOLY SHIT HOW DID YOU KNOW ABOUT THE ARTIFICIAL CHOIR OMG WTF ZOMGBIE

[Street FIghter 2: Zangief]

Again... um, muddy.

Yeah, you use too many of the same timbre instruments, so the whole thing blends into one giant sound. Again, the EQ is too bass heavy to actually be able to hear the music behind it, so be careful when you mix these things.

It's also far too quiet.

Majorgeneral responds:

*shrugs* this is an old remix and I just posted it for the hell of it I'm done with this song so I'm not going to fix it thanks for the advice though

[Street Fighter 2: Ken's Stage]

Muddy!

Well, what else can I say? Nothing is clear in the mix, at all. You need to bring the melodies out better and leave the background elements in the background. The EQ is terribly unbalanced (mostly in the 'bass' area), further hiding the music. There are some sour notes in the mix, as well (like the string bass thing at 1:36 - 1:38).

As far as the arrangement, it isn't too bad - but it's hard to hear.

Majorgeneral responds:

thanks...

[_Capital_]

Capital...ism.

Yeah, it sounds like you had fun making it... and I had fun listening to it. The soundscape gets a little boring and the snare doesn't fit the genre very well. There seems to be a good deal of over compression throughout, as well - be careful about that. Other than that this is pretty good.

[Silver Sign]

Mmm... piano music.

Calm and pretty, although nothing too spectacular. Use more of the range of the piano and I'd be happier with your next improve :)