Gario's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Viva La Vida (Acoustic)]

Not bad at all.

For what it is, not bad at all. The acoustic guitar playing works well, and your singing is quite good. No autotuning, ftw.

If you're going to make an acoustic song, the reverb and such need to be taken down a notch, especially on the voice. Listen to the guitar and notice the reverb on it is quite dry. The voice needs to match that, otherwise it lets off an unsettling effect throughout.

There are a few pops in the recording, but there's nothing you can do except re-record, which I don't think you'd want to do so just be careful with the mic setup next time.

Watch the guitar levels, 'cause I hear hard clipping periodically (more toward the second half than the first).

Great mix, though - it's certainly above par (especially the singing), so keep it up!

seatellite responds:

thanks for the review =]
from now on, all my mixes are going to be a lot better, cause I just got Mixcraft 5, which is a HUGE amazing upgrade from Mixcraft 4, mixing and recording is so much easier now. Yeah I know it sounds reverby. I try to put on just enough, but it isn't easy. Not enough reverb makes the vocals incredibly dry, and too much makes it too echo-y. Gah >_< lol
but thank you lol

[Dr. Wily (Loop)]

Boom-chick-boom-chick

Ad nausum. Fine for a good 8-16 bar unit, but do something to the beat to give it some flavor. Hat work, some synchopation, something.

If you want this to be a loop, don't upload a song that has a silent spot in it - that defeats the purpose of it.

The melody is drown in the mix, so it's hard to listen to, there. Try separating the melody from the sidechaining you've got going throughout it all.

Not terrible, but nothing special.

Eurykrates responds:

Yeah, it was meant to be simple. I cut off the silent spot in the song on Audacity, but for some odd reason it still stuck there. Hmm.... Thanks for the review.

[Doomsday Zone (Remix)]

Here's some constructive criticism...

The production on this one is really, really dirty. Whether you did this intentionally or not (I'm leaning towards the latter, in this case) you really need to clean up the clipping on it. It's just too difficult to hear the arrangement, on it. If you don't know where to start, turn down the master volume until it doesn't clip, then turn up the tracks individually and mix them so every track has a different place in the song (instead of trying to bring every instrument out to the front). The production really knocks this down quite a few pegs, so fix it.

The arrangement itself is pretty much the source. Not a bad thing, really, although I'd encourage making it longer and playing with the source a little more (that way it won't sound repetitious when you extend the length).

Keep working - the arrangement may or may not be finished, but the production has some way to go. Good luck.

Cam3leon responds:

Yeah I always thought about the idea of the sounds sounding a bit too smooshed together, instead of complementing each other. But I'm getting better at that, starting to figure out to assign separate channels and what not (I'm still working out my prowess at FL Studio).

And yeah I was thinking about extending it a bit, but it was honestly out of laziness/sleepiness that I cut it short lol. But yeah I'm gonna keep working on this. This really REALLY helps, dude. Seriously, thanks for the feedback!!

[Sketchbook: Flying Foam]

Pretty piano...

Don't here too much of this sort of thing on here, so it's a refreshing change of pace. You really could have this sort of thing playing in the background all day without every tiring of it.

The performance is pretty good, although it sounds a little stiff in some areas. Remember, it's a piano, so if any area has a static dynamic it's noticeable (in a bad way). You're very good about it overall, but there are a few spots that could be better, in that regard. Yay for nitpicking.

The harmonies are very sweet tasting, especially when there are clusters. The motion could use less root motion, but that's very mellow, due to the arpeggios. The end harmony is especially tasty.

The open sound really suits it, overall. I would like to hear more from you. When you write your next piece, experiment with the lower ends of the piano, since they can produce pretty music, too ;)

Nayls responds:

Thanks a lot, I appreciate the well thought out and insightful feedback. I definitely plan to put some stuff out soon, I just need to replace my computer. D:

I'll definitely post some more song-sketches, but I've got a real composition or two that I'd love to finish and post.

Thanks again for the comment, I'll definitely work on fine-tuning my expression and dynamic control, and try to get something really polished up for everyone to listen to..

[Twisted Spring]

Ask, and you shall recieve...

... a review. Like DjMindsweeper, there's a lot of good that I could say (production, energy, direction, woot), but it'd be more helpful to post critiques, right?

The hard panning in the beginning is a little unsettling until the second synth set comes in. I'd suggest taking the panning down until the other instruments come it.

That hat work is nice, but hard to hear. Mix them into the track better by bringing them into the forefront, a little bit.

There are a few places where some production fuzz comes in (the bass strikes at 1:52, for example, are the culprit). Be careful of those moments.

The soundscape, while filling very nicely, begins to get stale after a minute or two. Change it up from time to time to keep the sound fresh.

I'm going to take DjMindsweeper's advice a little further and suggest you add some highs to the master track (not too much, but some). That'll make this track shimmer nicely.

Nice work, though - I enjoyed it quite a bit.

[Heart's WIngs]

You asked for a review...

... so you get one. So let's see what we've got here...

It has a nice tight sound, so you get + points for production. I'll agree that it needs moar variety, like you said. It only uses about 4 patterns and repeats them. They're nice patterns, but putting in some variety would help them loads.

The bass is tight, but it doesn't sound 'phat' enough (is that even a descripition?). They need to have a little more thickness to them, since as of yet they don't fill any space.

Cut out the prepare for launch and just use the countdown - that'll help the flow of it.

Add some hatwork to this. It'll take it to a whole new level.

It's actually quite good, overall, don't get me wrong - but it could be much better, so keep at it :)

[!~Legend~!]

It's alright.

The soundscape it pretty muddy, though. Clean up the mixing and production - that would take this a long way.

The direction is a little odd. It sounds like it meanders around a lot, rather than following a sort of form.

Production and more direction. Otherwise, pretty good.

TheElementalProdigy responds:

Gracias!
Everytime i Listen To It I Find It becomes A Little More Flowy.
But There Was One Part It messed Up On.
its dissapointing...
anyway,
Thanks

[Megaman III - Title Screen]

Good, but too much too early.

Why not write a random review of a random track? Here's hoping you get this :)

The sound you've got going throughout this is pretty good, but some open space here could go a long way. The music at 0:30 is where this really gets going, but because the soundscape was so full earlier it didn't strike as hard as it should. Contrasting an exciting portion with a quieter and (relatively) calmer portion will make the parts you want to jump out do so.

Otherwise, great sound on my favorite MM track. I was a little annoy by the fact that it simply repeated, but that's easy to overlook :)

[-Chaotic-]

Wow...

This is a sick mix. Clean, interesting, and very catchy. The orchestral instruments sounded a little thin, but I think that allows them to mesh with the electronic sound better.

Square wave magic in the beginning is awesome, by the way :)

Great job on this one.