Animith's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[p4c-Maleficence [Short Mix] HQ]

Review Request Club

Initially, the synth at 0:11 doesn't seem very harmonically related to the plucked note, but by 0:24 when the second synth comes in, I easily see where it slots in, so it wasn't that big of a deal. I was kind of ambivalent about the first 40 seconds or so...but when the harpsichord comes in at 0:38, it signalled a really nice change, and the instrument choice made it one you really seldom see for this genre. To the point where I'd really suggest taking a second look at that introduction, because it does no justice to the second section. Maybe even going as far as cutting it out completely, and just starting with the harpsichord.

The next minute or so holds no real criticisms for me; all the synths are nicely chosen and EQd well, the distorted guitar (Or at least, what I'm guessing is a guitar :P) sound is a really nice addition, and the kind of...I don't know how to say it, apart from "organised chaos" at 1:24 where everything starts falling out chromatically, but in a meticulously organised way, was a really awesome transition to go back to the harpsichord with. If I wanted to be utterly pretentious, I could say it was signifying an unravelling of modern technology back to a kind of 'basic' of music in the baroquian instrument...but that probably just makes me sound like a git, ahahaha xD

The transition at around 2:00 where it just moves into silence was also well done, though perhaps a touch overdrawn insofar as lasting a little too long; you don't really want to throw the music up in the air so much that it starts to lose the pace, if that makes any sense. But the silence in general, was good. Just IN general, this was good. Really nice mix of genres, spot-on levels and EQing, I think the intro could use a second look but as a whole this piece was pretty nicely polished.

-Review Request Club

p4c responds:

yeah it seems to be fairly unanimous by now that that silence is too long. im glad i got the feedback now, itll make for an even more epic full mix :) thanks for takin a look!

[Stargenx - Magical Pipe]

Review Request Club

First off, really nice pipe sound. Given that it was the crux of the piece it was really crucial that you had the right sound there, and it sounded pretty natural and airy, which was a great contrast to the synths as and when they came in.

The little quiet echoed sounds just behind the pipe at the start, giving it that extra ambience and illusion of atmosphere, which did mean the track started getting this really nice film-ic feel to it, like the kind of thing you could probably see in a soundtrack. When the pad synth started to come in, it felt like ot was overpowering the pipe maybe a little too much, I would've preferred it if it had been just a little quieter so the pip melody still commanded most of your attention. Because what the pip WAS playing was just...brilliant, pretty much. There was great moments of melancholy and just generally a good mix of emotions which means this as a track could serve a selection of purposes, which is really what you want in music.
When the pipe stopped and the strings overtook the main focus, I was going to say you should have kept the pipe in, but when it re-entered back at 1:12 it was really nicely done, so I take that thought back :P

As a quick not about the drums, they were really spot-on. Pretty distant in the sound spectrum, but they worked well for it, again giving that feel of depth and atmosphere. And it wasn't too complicated a beat, but complex enough to just keep a light pace going throughout. And all the little incidental synths just gave that extra bit of colour. Some of the square synths were perhaps a little too sharp, especially at the start when there's fewer pads/string sounds to flesh it out, but apart from that this was just...really nicely done. Keep it up.

-Review Request Club

Stargenx responds:

Thanks for the awesome review!
It seems like most people want the pipe during the strings, so I might do something about that.

[SN | Obscene Amounts of Steam]

Review Request Club

Well compared to Supersteph's review, this will be pitiful-looking...but I mean well anyway? ;D

The opening synths are nicely done; they're got a lot of reverb on them but they're still sharp enough as sounds to cut through that and not have the start just sound like a mess of reverb'd synths, which is a nice change from some NG tracks!
The addition of the drums was really nice; I couldn't work out whether it was reverb or just the sound itself but it generally just had a nice atmospheric dimension to it, and as well as that you had a few unique sounds that meant it wasn't your average drum beat, which is probably greatly beneficial when the synth is pretty low-key. Even when a more conventional drum beat came in at around 1:00 it was still pretty toned down, so while the drum beat kind of took the forefront, you could still hear the synths nicely and all those extra sounds meant that it in no way felt like just one minute of drums; it was a minute of music.

This is the kind of track I could easily see in an NG game or flash movie, because it's low-key enough for it to work as a sort of background music, but the drums are complex enough for it to be interesting to listen to if you've got the game on pause or something. The buildup of the drums the the big finish at the near end was just really superb...when I listen again to it I realise that there's not much material in this, as such, but it's what you've done with it that makes you forget that all you're "really" listening to is one synth and a drum track. So massive kudos on that part. And what can I say; the levels were good, the transitions were seamless...can't really fault this at all, really nice work. This coming from someone who doesn't really listen to IDM at all ;D

-Review Request Club

SessileNomad responds:

there actually is a second pad underneath the main sound, it comes during the break while the drums are rising

glad you liked this though, good to see more ppl in the RRC

[Out of My Sight]

Review Request Club

I like the way the synth bounces between the left and right speakers, a lot of tracks on here don't really make use of the stereo at all, so it was nice to be met with that from the very start.
The vocals are a nice addition, and the way you kind of didn't flesh it out with lots of synths straight away is a nice touch, because it gives you more of a chance to focus on the vocals and the melody itself. By the time it gets to the prechorus I wish there was more of a synth just to give it more of a variety than a simple melodic change. You add this in at the chorus itself, but it could do with a little more prominence than it had.

The instrumental break is a nice touch, though just to change it up a bit more you could hgave probably changed the underlying chords a little bit. The transition back into the vocal section felt a little forced, but only just. In general, this is a pretty cool piece; the synths are nicely done, I think only at the start I had the thought that they were maybe too aggressive, but they sunk into the texture really well when the vocals came in. There's a little room for improvement, but the track on its own sounds really polished, so good job there.

-Review Request Club

MusicIsBliss responds:

Wow, thanks.

The synth in the chorus was stronger, but it caused problems with the strings when it did, so I had to tune them down a bit. And for the verses, I tried not to add too much to them so allow the voice to stand out.

I don't actually remember making the instrumental part/breakdown/bridge. It just kinda happened when I was procrastinating studying right before a midterm, so I have no idea what I did or why I did it.

[The Jungle Rituals]

Review Request Club

Love the melody of the main synth; it really creates this kind of ominous, otherworldly feeling, and doesn't overpower any of the other instruments. The synths in general just give this kind of magic feel because next to the natural sounds of the drums they DO sound very different, and when put in the setting of a jungle there is that idea that these synths do symbolise the more magical aspect of it

The drums themselves are pretty good, although the jungle feel is kind of lost in the translation. Jungle sounds as far as I perceive them tend to be more tom-heavy, and seldom if ever have such prominent cymbal line. When I think jungle, I kind of think people hitting sticks off trees and things like that, and so there's less of a place for the crisper sound of splash cymbals and hi-hats, if you know what I mean. The sense of a ritual as well also to me should feel less upbeat than it does here, but maybe that's just me being melancholy xD. That nitpickery aside, I like what you've done with the drums in themselves; they're nicely EQ'd and the beat's pretty varied.

I think the message of the jungle could maybe have been evoked a little more, but as a piece in itself I couldn't really fault this; keep it up.

-Review Request Club

Birdinator99 responds:

Nah you totally have a valid point, man -- some good ideas there. Thanks for the review!

[[dj-Jo] Battery Life]

Review Request Club

Really unique intro. I love the gaps in between the riffs for the first 20 seconds; they worked really well and there was enough reverb there for it to be really atmospheric. And then when the beat of the drum really starts to kick in you've got a really nice pace set up, which carries through even when the drum almost completely cuts out to let the new synth come into the foreground. The buildup of this in general is really excellent; all the levels work really well together and nothing's overpowering any of the other instruments. Which is always awesome to hear in an NG track.

You also manage to evade the feeling of repetition I'm sure I should have gotten because you change little things throughout so even if the synths been playing the same thing for a minute, it still feels fresh and upbeat; probably due to the pretty energetic pace as well as the little subtleties that are everywhere in this piece.

Love the change in synths/melody, as well. It leads into this whole new section which just has the feeling of builup throughout to the point where you're kind of anticipating the point at which everything will come back in; and such a point doesn't let you down at all. This is everything you'd want in a dance track, especially in a club scene; you've got the heavy beats for people to jump around to, as well as the softer bits where people can just sway and enjoy the music for what it is. Really, really nicely done.

-Review Request Club

dj-Jo responds:

:)
thanks for the praise dude

Glad you enjoyed listening!

[Digesting Earth]

Needs work.

By the 13th second of just bass drum I was getting a little worried. I think in general the buildup is perhaps a little slow...if it's going to still be building up by :40 I think you could have used throwing a few more synths in there or just a more complex drum beat to give it a little more variety. When everything cuts back down to the drum again for another semi-long period of time I really started wishing there was anything more melodic in there just to detract from the drumbeat. The synth from 1:30-2:00 is nice, but gets very repetitive very quickly, and it's not something that's remedied by the new synth at 2:00, because the ringing still cuts through everything.

The synths in themselves are cool and the drum's nicely EQd, but structurally this is wildly repetitive, and is in a semi-desperate need of more variety. It is essentially the same thing over and over for 4 minutes. Even if it was just a chord change, or a change in the feel of the drum beat, or even just not using that 1D ringtone sound as much as you did, I think it would have been a huge improvement just because it gives it that variety and makes the track more interesting to listen to. I think there's little enough in here that you could have probably accomplished the same thing in half the time and it wouldn't have been of any major detriment. Essentially, it's a catchy track. But it definitely needs more variety for the length it currently stands at.

-Review Request Club

[O.H.35 - Rocket]

Review Request Club

You have some really interesting sounds playing right from the start that gave a track a really unique feel, in lieu of just the normal effects you get in a techno track.

The transition to the piano was unexpected, but very effective; I especially like the the buildup to it where it sounded like you had some voices and a few more instruments coming in just to give it more of a surreal feel. Though I thought the switch back to the guitar/drums was too abrupt, I like the way that the piano was still there as a backing line, and again you have the kind of slightly-manipulated voice which gives an extra sense of uniqueness to the piece. The guitar itself isn't doing anything overtly remarkable, but it is providing a really nice solid base for all these more unusual sounds to rest on. And I said that before I hit the solo section, so ignore the bit where I said it wasn't doing anything overly remarkable; love the solo section. Definite high point and highlight of the track, love the slides and the vibrato you had.

When it goes back into the non-solo section, I start feeling the signs of repetitiveness set in, but not so much so that I'm bored in any way by it. You've got the same chord progression throughout and before the solo section came in I was going to say the guitar could have used doing something else other than power chords for a while. By 5:00 there's enough of a difference in the piano/synths/guitar to make me forget that I thought it was repetitive, but I wish the voices at 5:35ish were louder, because they're definitely an element of this that you could bring out and develop a bit more. The ending itself was a little unconventional, but given all the effective unconventional things that had preceded it, it fit in very well.

All in all, this is very nicely crafted. If this is the first thing you've put together as a group, please feel obliged to put more things together as a group? This was a very cool track.

-Review Request Club

OH35 responds:

Thanks for the review!!! We're glad you overall liked the song. Personally I like some repetitivity with minimalistic changes in it, like what happens in this piece, but we're working to make our future tracks sound less repetitive for the listener.

[Lighteyed]

Review Request Club

I always get worried before even pressing the play button about songs that exceed 4 minutes in length. Just because they have a wonderful tendency of getting very very repetitive, or accomplishing something that could have been done just as well in half the time. You don't have the problem of repetition, by any means, but there's still a few parts of this that I think could be improved.

The first two synths are nicely done; the first gives you the kind of rhythmic and harmonic element while the arpeggiating one gives more of a melodic feel. The two kind of go slightly in-and-out of sync with eachother; they never really reach a total synergy, which I guess is both a good and bad thing. But just when I was about to say it was getting repetitive, the entire thing changes at :38 and you get some new sounds coming in.
The light phase on the cymbals is a nice touch, although slightly overpowering of the synth beneath it. TO be blunt, the scratch was unnecessary, it just kind of messed with the flow a lot. And just in general, the section from around 1-1:40 had some odd points at which synths came in and out for the briefest of moments; not entirely noticeable, but still a little odd.

THe third transition from 1:40-2:10 needs a second look, I think; the lead synth has a very bright sound to it and it cuts through everything else in a way that gets hard to listen to for 30 seconds. That being said, the section after it is very nicely done; I especially like how the bass has a more prominent role, and how it kind of mixes more and omre with the beat as you get past the 3rd minute. The synth that comes in at 3:20 feels unrelated harmonically with the bass to start with, and then as the next synth comes along late into 3:40ish again, the bass feels a little odd.

At 4:21, I thought the track had finished. And in a way, I think it could have finished there and the bit that followed been a new track, because there's no real correlation between that and what comes before, and a 4 minute/2 minute pair of tracks is a lot easier to listen to than a 6 minute one, especially if you're like me and don't listen to D&B all that much :P

As a whole, this piece has got a LOT of variety. Cannot fault you for this being repetitive, because it never is. I think your somewhat unique problem for an NG track is that there's too MUCH variety; apart from the break at 5:37 into the sounds that had appeared earlier in the track there's not much cohesion between the different sections and sometimes it is just downright abrupt. If you shortened this a little, made the sections relate a little more to eachother I think it would be a massive improvement to this track. Because you've got everything here to make a good track; variety, nice synths, good melodies, a good drum beat and the odd bit of automation, but the transitions are lacking, and it's probably the only thing that's holding you back in a major way. Find a way to link the sections more and this track'd be even better. Finally, sorry for the ramblesome comment :P

-Review Request Club

Sawdust responds:

The synth from 1:40-2:10 blows, I'm probably going to like, rewrite that part.nth at The arps are annoyingly grinding.

Also the synths at 3:20, I think I messed up phrasing it, it sounds kinda wrong because of that probably.

Also I don't listen to D&B much either, like, I've only heard a couple songs, thought they were awesome so I decided to emulate the awesomeness.

Anyway thanks for the review, I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'll indeed try and add cohesiveness to this track, I'll probably add transition effects or something of the sort. Thanks!

[Walking in the Desert]

Review Request Club

And so comes piece number three! I remember reviewing your water themed one; let's see how earth matches up.

The piano to start with is wonderful. The chord progression starts of pretty melancholy, but then gets a lot happier; as if the sun was rising over the desert, and just for the first 30 seconds you get this great uplifting feeling somehow. And then when the strings come in, just...gah. I love piano with strings, I think they're sounds that compliment eachother infinitely, and you do it so well, here. They're really subtle, as if just ghosting across as a backing accompaniment, but they're present enough to really give an extra boost to the texture.

Love the change in melody at 0:56; I was about to say that the melody could have done with changing a little bit, and with this next section the piano starts getting a lot more lyrical in its melodies. The change in pace is also really nice; again giving that uplifting feeling. That I think the left hand definitely could have done with a little more variety; by 1:45ish especially it starts sounding a little muddy. But it was only for a moment...to be honest I'm trying to find anything to criticise about this piece, because generally it's pretty faultless. The melody is great, the harmony evokes a variety of emotions and the strings-while perhaps almost too distant at times-add a great layer of texture to an already awesome piece. I think I said it last time, but if I didn't: Your friend is lucky to have you writing for him. xD

-Review Request Club

Jabicho responds:

Hi there my friend! It's amazing knowing you checked my three pieces, it works great for an overall perspective about them. Thanks for saying that I join strings well =)
Hehe yep, sometimes I just let the left hand do little work, but I'll work hard to improve the part that it can take into a piece.
Thanks again for saying those wonderful words, hehe I'm lucky too to have people like you to help me improve =)

Thanks for the wonderful support! take care =)