Gario's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[=StormEagle=]

Neat arrangement

The sound quality is sub-par, but the arrangement is pretty fun, and the sound effects are great.

Again, the soundscape is very empty, here. Reverb and some better pads would help you immensely in this regard.

The drums aren't bad, but some more variety would help considerably.

Not too bad, but it's pretty weak, imo. You need some more sound backing up the melodies and themes.

Daydream-Anatomy responds:

Thanks again^^

[=MagnaCentipede=]

Ick.

Muddy leads, bland textures, dry + weak drums... This is quite a bland remix, here.

The soundscape is extremely hollow - you need something to fill out the space better, there. The textures just don't cut it, in this aspect. Some warmer pads would help dramatically, here.

The drums really need some reverb on the... rimshot. A more snare would hit harder, you know. Actually, a little reverb would go a long way on the entire track, here - the soundscape would grow considerably.

Nice attempt, but it's not catching my ear, at all. Good luck on your future submissions.

Daydream-Anatomy responds:

Thank you for the honest and helpful advice:]

[Frantic Factory (DJWill-E mix)]

Ouch, the highs!

My ears are hurting from the highs on the EQ there. Please turn the upper mids & highs down (particularly on the toybox instrument, there).

The arrangement is nice, if simple. It sounds like a revamp of the source, to me. It's still alright, but I'm sure you can do more than that with your next track.

Watch some areas - the soundscape drops out periodically, leaving a hollow sound where there should be some meat behind it ( 1:38 - 2:16, in particular). It needs the sound to be filled a bit better, there.

The ending (2:16 on) sounds quite off. Check the source and compare the harmonies with your track - I'm sure they've got something different there. In any case, it sounds bad with the music box, there, so fix it however you see fit.

Not too bad, but it could be better.

[Sketchbook: Daydreams]

Slow and easy does it, here

It has an authentic, soulful sound to it. I like the balance between the hands - it brings out the music quite nicely.

The recording sounds a bit muffled. I feel a small reduction in the lower mids (and a very small increase in the highs) would make the sound more crisp. Perhaps this is how your piano always sounds, but using some computer wizardry you can make it sound quite professional... then again, Iji has a piano track that's recorded with a similar quality, so perhaps it's not all THAT bad :P

For an improvisation it's not too shabby. I'd like to hear a longer piece next time though :)

Nayls responds:

Yeah, the mastering slipped away from me a bit, I was having a hard time finding that sweet spot. It was a lot of fun to play. :) I'll work on something substantial for my next piece. Thanks a ton for the reviews!

[Sun Sign]

Birthday music, woot

It's decent piano playing, with some cool ideas and periodic tasty dissonance (I like dissonance). It's well recorded and quite enjoyable - it reminds me of the Peanuts :)

I've got to say, though - it's quite repetitive, there. From time to time it changes the idea up a little, but overall the two chords you use really get beaten down until they're just not interesting anymore. You need to change it up more often, there.

Best of luck with your future tracks!

Nayls responds:

Thanks for the review, I agree pretty much whole-heartedly. A change in chord progressions after the first few iterations would have made this a lot more interesting. I hear peanuts too now. XD

[Fruity Looping Losers]

Fruity loopin losers... ha.

I found it surprisingly catchy. However, the volume (and all the production problems that come with that - clipping, hot EQ, etc.) really takes the enjoyment out of this one.

Zodin responds:

Cheers, and what do you mean :O clipping , hot eq? Anyways thanks for the review

[Megaman 3 Main Theme (DJ XeMeX Remix)]

Nice, sweet, tasty beat :)

I'm gettin' down to this. The beats are slammin', the source is awesome, and the soul behind it is really spectacular. I like the variety in the arrangement, as well - you've done a lot with the source to make it your own. It's relatively rare to see that on Newgrounds, so I appreciate seeing that in this track, here. Despite the opinion of Newgrounds, though, I feel it could use a couple of tweaks to be truly perfect, here.

The production is fairly nice, but it's pretty hot, atm. Bring the highs down a bit to take the bite out of that area - it does little for your mix, so it'd benefit from that. Take a look at 1:17, for an example of the fuzz in the upper ranges that your EQ'ing causes, atm. Lower the highs and it'll clean up the little artifacts nicely.

The drums are pretty... well, repetitive. Meh, it's an artifact of the style, here, but it could use some tweaking from the traditional boom-chick style, to break up the monotony of it, periodically. Just something to think about, there.

The soundscape is pretty static. It's nice, it's full, but it's static. There's just too much time spent where the same instruments are doing the same thing texturally, melodically, etc.. Use different instruments to do different things, every so often, and it'll not only bring some more variety in the mix, it'll make the good ol' instruments sound new and interesting when they come back in later. It's good right now, but it makes my ears tired.

I really like this mix. I'd love it to be perfect, so I hope you consider tweaking it a little. If not, then ah well - it's still a great mix, there :).

[Sonic 3 - Robotnik's War]

Certainly a worthy mix for the good doctor

I like it. Orchestral arrangements are not easy to do, if you don't plan on sticking with the source, note-by-note. Here's a few pointers to make your next track even better.

Watch for clipping - when all the instruments are in place, I hear clipping/overcompression. It detracts from the quality of the track.

Sample quality - while this may be something you can't help too much (samples can be expensive) there are ways to make instruments more 'real'. The velocities are there to help you in this regard, as are the 'Attack' and 'Sustain' options on the plugins. Play with them a bit and try to make the instruments sound more realistic.

Orchestration - It's actually pretty darn good, right now, but there's too much going on all the time. Try cutting some instruments out periodically (like the strings), because they wear on the ears if they're used too much. Keep them fresh by holding them back, every so often.

The high strings hurt my ears - use them sparingly to accent very special moments, not as the norm.

Other than that, great track, bro. I enjoyed it thoroughly (especially the story, lol).

geno136 responds:

He he, sorry to hurt your ears man. Didn't mean to with the high strings. ^_^;

In any case, I might as well explain a few things about this:
-So it's already obvious that I am much of a noob in regards to making music. I'm still learning a lot of things, for example: I have no idea what clipping or overcompression is. I'll learn it eventually tho, thanks to your review. XD

-I'm still working on the sample quality of things. I never expected this to be perfect, but I wanted to make sure I did a damn good job on the song overall.

-As for there being too much going on, I don't exactly hear it that way, but that's really no excuse for that now is it? XD
I'll have to work on that to get a more deeper effect.

-As for the high strings, I wanted them to be the main melody throughout most of the song, along with it not blending with the lower strings to the point where you can't make out the sounds very well.

All in all, there's still work that needs to be done. I might eventually remaster this at some point. But hey, thank's for enjoying my work.

[Koopa's Path]

Quite messy, there...

I'm hearing quite a few conflicts of ideas, in here. Admittedly, the choir is a fairly nice sound (although their attacks are rather hard - smooth their attacks using the 'attack' or 'velocity' options), but everything else sounds like it should be in another song (fake guitar? Raw saw wave? Sitar?). It's not that bad if you can make it sound like a consistent whole, but this track doesn't do that.

If you want to keep the instruments, mix them in so it doesn't sound so random. Bring the instruments that carry the tunes to the front of the mix (The choir, probably), put small textural elements in the back (like the sitar, for example) and don't flood the soundscape with a wash of the same instruments all the time (the choir is there the whole time - it's nice and all, but it looses it's appeal after a while).

This is begging for a drum track. That might help keep things together better.

The arrangement is spot on to the source, pretty much. Yay.

There's a lot of work to do, but this IS a track that doesn't get nearly enough attention, so kudos for the attempt.

[Super Mario 64 Dire Dire Dock]

Here's an honest review from me :)

It's close to the source, but that's not really a problem, here.

The tones are pretty basic (midi-like), but they're used well enough. The drums are annoying, there (that hat, in particular, is far too loud & mechanical). Bring some life into the drums - change up the beat periodically and mess with the velocities to make it sound more realistic. The hats need to be toned down considerably too, obviously.

The EQ'd highs on the master track are very dominating and piercing. Tone that down, since it's creating quite a bit of fuzz on the high end, there.

Other than that, it's not too bad. Instrument quality, drums and EQ.

mariogamer2010 responds:

Thanks for this honest review, more to come soon!