Animith's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Coop83 V.S Mans0n]

Review Request Club

I like the little breaks of silence you have in a few places; it's an interesting form of transitions, but it works really well. If anything, you could probably get away with having a few more.

The drums are also quite unique; you've got the basic sounds there, but they're all slightly manipulated to give them that rough feeling around the edges; the cymbals are a little glitched up, the toms almost seem pitched...and that lasts up to the second silence transition at 0:57, where they kind of 'straighten out' again, for want of a better phrase. And oddly enough, that slight change in drum sound is enough to keep both sections sounding different, even though the melody of both sides is quite similar.

The main melody stays essentially the same throughout, but you've got a lot of automation on it to give it that variety, as well as slightly changing up the beat below it which keeps it sounding fresh. it'd be interesting to see what this would sound like with the intended vocals on it (Just bug Coop lots :P), whether this would act purely as an accompaniment or whether the synth melody would play more of a part in it. Even without the vocals, this pretty much stands up by itself, which is a very good sign, and obviously shows all Coop needs to do is...record something xD And this as a completed track would be fine. Really nicely done, over all.

-Review Request Club

Mans0n responds:

Thanks for the feedback :) your reviews are always awesome.

[[DX] A Cold Night]

Review Request Club

I may be about to repeat what those below me have said; good melody, but too much of it.

You've got an interesting melody with the piano and then the strings by 0:18, but I think it gets repetitive quite quickly, simply because there's nothing else to focus on, and given that it's only a handful of seconds long it loops very quickly, and so becomes repetitive that much faster. There are a lot of ways to counter that, though. One would be to make the melody longer, just to make the loops fewer and farther between; like I said, the melody is interesting, and could easily be developed.

An easier method would probably be using a second melody. That way, you could flick between this melody and another, creating a kind of verse/chorus idea and making two points of focus for a listener, and something else you can move on to. You do well with the changes of instruments, but that's not enough on its own to carry the short melody through the whole song. If you'd added in a few more instruments to carry the melody it might have worked, but because this is so sparse it feels repetitive quite easily. You've got some good beginnings, it just needs a bit more thought into how to keep the melody fresh and how to add more variety in as the track goes on.

-Review Request Club

[The End [Rezurrection]]

Review Request Club

Highly progressive for a house track, nicely done.
Cool introduction; quite muted and downplayed, but the buildup is enough that I found myself at 0:40 without thinking it was repetitive. Which is a feat in itself, given that it sounds like just one synth playing throughout. It also feels like as it gets louder, more facets of the synth are coming out, as if you're automating it the entire way through, or adding little undertones of other synths, not to take prominence over the main synth but simply to colour it a little more and keep it varied.
The drum has a really nice bass to it, and probably comes in right at the necessary time to. It's got a relatively simple beat, but works well and makes the break at 1:59 back to the synth sound unique, even though the same synth has been playing throughout. By 2:17 though, it feels like a different synth. THe emphasis is in a different place, or at least sounds like it, which is really cool. You've got a nice bassy sound as well as little flecks of the higher frequencies so this one mass of ambient synth sound works really well on its own, a it's supported by a lot of other undertones which work really well.

As it is, I think it's a pretty cool track. If you had time I'd say think about extending this even further; see how far you can progress this one idea, or maybe even change it into a new idea for another section. You've got a good buildup here, can you go even further?

-Review Request Club

ReziUze responds:

Thanks for the review! There's no automation with the synth except for cutoff, volume and sidechaining (if you count that), I guess it just felt like there was more to it, but it was just one synth :).

The only reason I didn't continue it further was because I didn't want it to be too repetitive, also I ran out of ideas like I always do :D

[Ocean...]

Review Request Club

Nice soft opening; the synth has got enough dynamic variety in itself to be able to stay on its own for as long as it does, because you've got those little subtle changes in volume and pitch. Undertones in general I think reign supreme in this, because everything is done in a very subtle way so that no transition overpowers what came before it, creating a very relaxed atmosphere. The second sound to come in is really subtle, but does really well to keep variety up as the four notes it has causes the one-note lead synth to sound like it's in different positions of a chord.

The more pad-like synth just reinforces that in a really nice, warm way, keeping up the atmosphere nicely. Deifinitely have an ocean-like serenity throughout the track, just because nothing cuts through anything else and everything just soothes without being boring. The build on this is very downplayed, but still prominent enough to make you forget that the same synth has been playing the exact same note for 90 seconds. The 'break' at 1:38 to the first and last synth to come in was nice, but yet didn't take away from the texture enough to seem abrupt, which is cool. At 2:03 I think you could have used another synth in there, even if it was just the same pad synth an octave lower, just to carry it through a little more.

Generally, you tick every box of the ambient genre. If you did want to improve, you could have maybe had a little more variety (as you did have one synth playing throughout; if you'd taken that out and left the pads you'd have had an even quieter atmosphere than you did here). Or even extending it further so you have more room to experiment with sounds. You've tackled a 2 minute ambient track. Now do a 4 minute one. :P But seriously, nice work. Your track made me forget my room is 4000 degrees right now, and that deserves major kudos!

-Review Request Club

EvilScorpio responds:

Thank you very much for so detailed review))) And sorry for late answer, I wer in a hospital for two months... =( I'm glad you like it, and I'll try to make my next ambient track even more better. =) Thanks again! ^__^

[CLUBeRz (WIP2)]

Review Request Club

The opening is cool, if a little abrupt; it sounds like you write it so it would be smoother to loop, but at the same time it doesn't loop like that...and in general, it might come out a little strong as it's near-silent by 0:08. That being said, 0:08 heads up a cool transition into the first main section, so there's a nice small sense of buildup, there.

THe drum beat's pretty solid, though could have done with being a little stronger. You've got a pretty catchy melody, but what makes it more so is the synth you bring in at 0:24 to reinforce it, and then how that synth and the lead synth kind of bounced the lead melody between eachother for the next thirty seconds or so. Which is definitely a good thing, as holding a melody on the same synth for that length of time would have dragged majorly, so flicking between the two worked well.

There's a lot of transitions to different synths, which is cool, but sometimes a little too abrupt, I think at 1:20ish, it starts feeling a little messy as well as abrupt, just because you have a fair bit going on and a lot coming in and out. There are a few things that you can't quite here but are still there, which just lead them to sound muddy. The synth that comes in at 1:56 and a few other places could have been turned up a little more, cause it's hard to tell what is, and could be good as a point of focus. Definitely need something more in that section generally. I see you're looking for a vocalist; I'd go scour the NG forums if I were you, just because at least that part of the track does feel like you wrote it for something else to be the main focus of the track, so as it is parts of this just sound like backing.

At 2:46 you hear the synth from 1:56 a lot better, I'd say if you always had it at that volume it wouldn't be a bad thing.
By 3:00 it feels kinda repetitive, you could have done with a change in beat or maybe a break to a different section in general. You start doing that at 3:20 melodically, but by that point the track does feel like it's dragging a little too much. Take a second look at the transitions and more ways to keep the variety up without overloading. Generally though, there's some nice production values on this track, especially given that it was a bit of a rushjob.

-Review Request Club

[epic 8-bit awesomeness]

Review Request Club

Epic 8-bit awesomeness, huh? This better be good, or you've set yourself for a right old fall :P

Beginning's nice, but then again, you can't really go wrong with the start of an 8bit unless you really try hard to; it's maintaining the interest and variety through an 8-bit that's the real challenge, because what you have to work with is quite few and far between. However, the opening works well.

Nice drums, they've got a simple but functional beat to them. Maybe could have done with being a touch louder, but that's not much of a problem. You had me worried that the high synth would be the melody until the real one came in at 0:16; pretty warm sound, the staccato at 0:22 works really well to keep it little more varied and so making it a little more interesting to loop, as you do. The synth at 0:32 comes in perhaps a little too quietly, it took me a second or two to register it was actually there. I like the idea of the harmony, though I think the harmony at 0:39-0:42 felt a little odd, harmonywise. however, that synth does keep up the variety enough for the track not to drag, so all's pretty much well there.

The highlight for me would probably be the break at 1:10. Was quite unexpected and perhaps a little too short, but it was really nicely done and added a nice extra tone right at the end. If anything, it could have come in earlier and been a more developed contrasting section, but here it functions as a pleasant surprise, which is also good.

What can I say, you lived up to your track's title. Given what you had to work with, you created something pretty cool, here.

-Review Request Club

[Penalty (FL-Core) {Dj-Abbic}]

Review Request Club

I don't know much about house and even less about FL presets, so this will mostly be personal opinion over how it links to either of those things, because...opinions require no intelligence ;D Anyway:

Nass drum beat. Got a lot of different sounds going on there and a few nice sounding automations to make the beat sound interesting and more than your usual bass/snare/clap ensemble. Really like the kind of sweeping-sound drum you had, it was very characteristic but didn't cut through the texture at all, so it just added a nice bit of colour.
The first synth was nice and prominent, but the end of it felt a little out of tune, in places? Like, it hit the note it was meant to, but then started sliding down into obscurity a little before looping again. Maybe that's just me, but it did seem a little odd.

The transition at 0:45 was a little abrupt, with just the lead synth changing and nothing else. Not that the change in lead wasn't a good idea, it's just that you just flicked one switch off and the other on, instead of building up more into the transition.

The subtle change in drum beat at 1:03 was nice, as was the re-entry of the first synth at 1:15. Could have used some cohesion between the two synths in the 30 seconds between the transition and then, but it's not that big of a deal.
By 90 second in it does, however, start to feel quite repetitive as you've just had those two synths throughout and they're quite small loops to be using. At the very end you start automating them a little more, and I think if you'd started that earlier on it probably would have saved you, because while the synths would be playing the same thing, they'd sound different due to the automation, giving that needed variety.

Generally, it's a pretty cool piece. Given you did this all with presets, it's pretty nicely done because everything pretty much fits together. Work on the first transition a little more and maybe add in a third synth for some more variety, and I think this would have been fine.

-Review Request Club

DjAbbic responds:

Heh, thanks for the review. When I hit the 0:45 seconds part, it was getting pretty late, and I got lazy, so I just made some excuse to finish the song :S. Not a good effort but I like the beat at the start.

[[SxHx] Prfkt.Tempo (REFIX)]

Review Request Club

I remember listening to the first version of this. If memory serves, it was pretty much all there, though in my head it dragged a little by the second minute and could have used a few tweaks here and there. Anyway, let's see how this one fares in comparison:

The pulse waves are very psychadelic; I see you've kind of gained mixed reactions below. I think it's one of those things where if you like it or know it goes with the style, then you're fine with it going through most of the track. But if you DON'T like it, then it can get overbearing and head-spinning almost instantly. I don't listen to this genre, but using your previous track as a template I'm guesing it's pretty fitting of hardstyle to have that heavy pulsing beat. Definitely sets up the mood instantly, to say the least.

I like how you've again used the stereo to bounce the vocals around a little while the main tune plays through. The drum break at 0:58 was really nicely done, and proved a really good transition into a sort of new section; not a lot had changed, but the melody changing is enough to keep it sounding fresh and interesting enough. You've got a nice distribution between the lead synth, the vocals, and the points at which they overlap slightly. THere's possibly two things I like about this the most; one is the subtle changes you bring after each major transition to the melody, which means it doesn't drag as it would have done if you'd kept that melody the same. The second is the transitions themselves; the one at 2:05ish is possibly even better than the one at 0:58 because you had that nice effect on the drum beat as well.
Also coming in close third would be the production values of this. While a lot of the synths have obviously had a lot of work done to them, the quality still remains very high.

I think the ending was a little empty, but I've heard peopke use the term "dj-friendly" for outros that just use the basic beat of the track, so I'll...assume that's what it is! I'll stop rambling now. Tl;dr, good production values, nice changes in melody, in all a pretty solid track. Keep 'em coming.

-Review Request Club

shesmackshard responds:

I appreciate the time put into it! the production was definitely the focus here, especially in this second mix.

excellent review, this is how reviews need to be (based on production). IMO anyways. thanks again

[_Dancing With Demons_]

Review Request Club

Really nice ambient introduction; it's quite simplistic, but at the same time has that touch of a heavy edge to it, as if it's illustrating the demons just walking into the club, so the beat hasn't quite hit home yet...but they're still demons, and so it's not exactly upbeat and airy-fairy. Heavy ambience; works well. Nice transition between the bassy ambience to the higher-pitched synth and the light drum at 0:35, great automation there to pitch shift it down; the entire transition section from 0:20-0:50 or so is really well done; everything comes in and out quite smoothly.

When the main "melody" came in at 0:50 though, it was a lot lighter than I think it could have been, especially for the title you have. It says in the AC that you turned down the bass, and I can kinda hear that...or rather, not. I'd almost suggest thinking about turning the bass up again, though maybe it's just my crappy headphones not being able to pick them up enough. Also, while the high-pitched synth works well, I don't think it's good enough to work as a lead melody, and so maybe think about adding one in; perhaps something bassy and kind of ominous, just to tie that darker feel back into the track.

There's some nice transitions and harmonic changes, but I think dynamically everything kinda stays generally the same throughout, and that could be something to look at; give it more of a sense of build and suspense, instead of having this buildup into the same section, but in a slightly different key...I think having a different melody would help here, as you could change it up between sections and create a kind of verse/chorus effect.

In general, it's an alright track, but could do with being a lot heavier than it was, given your source of inspiration and given how the introduction sets the track up. The ending, as well, while alright, I think was a tad overdrawn and perhaps needed a little more variety in it just to change it up from being just one long fadeout. You've got some good ideas here, they just need polishing up a bit more.

-Review Request Club

Birdinator99 responds:

Ah, yes, the bass; I hate it so much lol. It sounds so different on every speaker type it's really hard to get it right.

Great comments -- thanks for the good ideas!

[Modern Warfare]

Review Request Club

You've got a nice introduction, but I don't think it relates very well to the section after, to the point where I think you'd probably be better off without it, as the entrance of the snares is quite emphatic in itself, and doesn't need that introduction. You'd start off with more of a bang without it.

That being said, you've got a really nice first section, but everything feels quite distant? I think some of the instruments could have been brought out of the texture more to give more of an intensity to it, because you've set quite a ferocious pace, but everything is kind of lurking in the background, so it sort of feels like a scout has just started to see the enemy lines, as opposed to the armies lining up for battle, for example. Just bring something out a little more to sharpen that texture.

As a heroic theme, I think this does work, because you've got some nice warm strings and a lot of texture going on there, I really like the section between 1:00 and 2:00ish where the drums get a lot bassier again and it's just the low strings and wind instruments, there it feels quite serene, but emphatic at the same time; as if there is peace, but it's hard won at that. And the re-entrance of the strings at 2:18 does feel very emotional. Definitely works as a hero theme.

...as far as the 'action' part goes, apart from what I've already said, I think you need a few more rhythmic aspects in this to give it a more intense action-y edge. So this could be...more drums, or have your snare drum be more prominent than it is, or string parts which aren't just long sustained notes...one NG example I can think of is "Entering the Stronghold", which has a lot of rhythmic aspects and definitely has an action-like theme to it; lots of percussion and pretty rhythmic strings. On top of that, you could have more of a buildup; make the listener think that something big is about to happen, and then have some kind of louder section nearer the end to signify the action itself.

The outro I thought was a bit weird; again, sort of unrelated to the rest of the song, as the intro was, but ironically you did have the beginnings of a nice drum beat there; if that extended into perhaps a heavier section, I think this could definitely work as a piece, with this being the more heroic themes and the next section being more action oriented.

In general, you've got some nice sounds and a lot of atmosphere, definitely hit the heroic mark, missed a little on the action front...but what you have thus far has a great amount of feeling to it, so you're definitely in the right direction. Take a second look at the intro and outro and I think this would be more than fine as a track.

-Review Request Club

popraz responds:

Thank you very much ! I'm actually trying to integrate the heroic theme, with some variations, into a more complex suite of themes, so, it's nice to know it works. The action part, I must admit, is not my strong side, still trying to figure it out. I realise the biggest fault of this song is its lack of cohesion, so the next one will be a bit more homogenous. Again, thank you for reviewing, I really appreciate it.