Gario's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Reploid Deployment]

Ooo, synthy!

While I still hold some reservation against the guitar, the harmonic synths are much nicer, and those solos & new themes are very nice additions. This is certainly an improvement from your last upload of it.

Not as long as my last review, but what I said 'bout the guitar still holds, in my mind. Even still, good track, better with the classy synths & solos.

DrMackFoxx responds:

Note to self: get better guitar sounds. Still, glad you think version of Reploid Deployment is an improvement. :) Glad you liked this tune and thank you very much for the review! I really appreciate it.

[Reploid Deployment - Beta]

Another original, another review.

I can see where you got your inspiration, and I can make the connection to MMX easily (fake guitar and rock sound + synth, yay). I think you sort-of overkilled the sound, though.

That 'guitar' sounds too much in-between 'fake' and 'real', so I'm getting an 'uncanny valley' effect, here. If you're going to go fake, make sure it's really synth-y - that's what made MMX guitar so classy, back in the SNES days (Protricity made a great example of this on the OCR track 'Brainsick Metal' - check it out sometime). Either that, or you can try to make the guitar sound more realistic one way or another (better samples, more human execution, dynamic variation... a combination of these things). The guitar right now just sounds like it tried to go for both and missed the mark on both fronts.

The soundscape, while fitting for the SNES, seems like you could've filled it harmonically a little bit better than with the keyboard synth you used. Experiment using simple textures rather than block chords with more solid synths - you'd be surprised how much better the soundscape could be filled out.

Otherwise, the loop is quite effective - the point of repetition is rather seamless (even while a little obvious with the silence - that's not a bad thing, really). Go, Megaman, go!

DrMackFoxx responds:

Ah. Well, I am using a rather old software synthesizer at this point as I can't seem to figure out how to export .WAV files directly from my MIDI-sequencing program, otherwise I would use my more-versatile soft synths: Roland VSC and Yamaha XG. The soft synth in question? WinGroove (And this one lets you convert MIDIs into WAV files directly through the player, but only using it's sound set). This program was made back in 1995 and it even runs on Windows 3.1 (Good old 16-bit Windows, eh?) So I understand the tone data is kinda... odd here and there.

Perhaps you can please recommend some cheap or free software synthesizers?

I am working on an extended and improved version of this track. I'll be sure to let you know when it is complete. :)

Thank you very, very much for taking the time to leave such very thorough critique! I really appreciate it and I'm glad you liked this tune. :)

[Industrial Ruins]

I said I'd review your original...

...so here ya go.

Simple, smooth, atmospheric. If you set this up to sound sneaky (as in 'I'mma-spy-in-the-80's-tryin'-to-snea k-ur-national-secrets-lawlz') you hit it on the head.

The soundscape, while a bit lo-fi, fits the mood quite well, especially that bass. Some of the harmonic progressions sound a little foreign (and not in a good way), and the track ultimately is repetitive.

Still, not a bad venture into composition, there. Good luck with future endeavors.

DrMackFoxx responds:

Sneaky-sounding, eh? I guess that fits in well with this track sounding foreboding and dark. I would agree that this composition is kinda repetitive. Just a fairly simple tune, overall (I only used 5 MIDI channels for this).

Thank you very much for another helpful and thorough review. I really appreciate it, especially as I really have a lot to learn about MIDI composing. Glad you enjoyed this tune, as well. :)

[Plasma Gentleman]

Simple, but pretty catchy

Again, the upper mids need to be toned down. Even at the low volume levels, I can hear clipping in those ranges. The mechanical sequencing is stifling the arrangement, here, so work with the velocities & volume with the piano to produce a more realistic sound.

Probably not your fault, but the song itself sounds a little repetitive. I won't hold that against you too much, though. The sudden ending is a bit strange, though.

I like some of the sound effects that occur in the background, and the energy of the piano tremolos are fun to listen to. Have fun with your next remix track :)

MC-Jimmy responds:

Well I can't help much on the clipping of the sounds, due to the fact I lack high quality wires and devices for capturing stuff from my instruments.

[Castlevania IV (Buzzsaw Mix)]

Good track!

It's actually from Castlevania III, but IV remixes many older tracks in it, so I can understand the mixup. I won't hold that against you, though ;)

Nice track here. I like the simplistic nature of it, and the source is such a great, under appreciated tune. The production is pretty good.

As neat as the soundscape is, it's really hollow. The vanilla samples don't help, in this regard. You should fill the space better, even if it's with the simple instruments you've used here.

The bass is... not there. We could use more bass in this track, since as it stands it's nearly inaudible.

The mastering could use more attention on the lower EQ in general, as well as some more in the highs (not much, though). The track is very centered, overall - play with panning and stereo separation a bit - that would help tremendously in the 'filling the soundscape' department.

Neat track. Despite anything I said, I really enjoy it :)

Draith-Vicious responds:

"The vanilla samples don't help, in this regard. You should fill the space better, even if it's with the simple instruments you've used here"

What exactly do you mean when you say vanilla samples? and you said I should fill in the space better? You mean like add more background noise or what?

[=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:]

[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