Buoy's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Is There Anybody Out There ?]

Uh,

So... is that a real guitar or one of those sampled instruments you usually get with most audio programs? It sure sounds like it's sequenced- mostly because it's clear as hell compared to an average recording, and it hits the 16th notes perfectly, so either you completely quantisized the note sequence of a sampled instrument, or you played a guitar in perfect rhythm with the exact same velocity on every note, with no fret noises or ghost notes at all, which would be very unrealistic- this is not important, forgive my brambling, I'm just curious after seeing your previous response.

This take is mostly sweet- great clarity on the guitar, as well as the bell-y synth and strings, but watch that master volume slider, I'm pretty sure I hear a bunch of clipping spread through the song (Which is a real downer considering how great it'd sound without the clipping- it's easy to fix though, and I recommend you do asap;)

Not much more to say than that. Maybe a little more reverb on the guitar would make it a lot awesomer? Otherwise it's great, and mostly sounds like a completed track. Good work!

SupraDarky responds:

I'll be honest, I cheated a bit with the help of FL Studio. :) I originally played this on my real guitar before editing and cleaning it up. I did it this way because I knew how to play it and was too lazy to try transposing the notes directly in FL Studio's piano roll. I also wanted to easily add the strings and synth and make them blend right in. My response to SkatingIsGenetic still stands though! I think it's a pretty easy song to play after some practice even if it obviously wouldn't sound as clean as this edited version. :)

Oh and thanks for that review, I'll fix that clipping issue tomorrow!

[SysRq-Resolute]

awe

That piano + sound effect is promising- combined with the lenght and mood of the beginning, it looks like it's either going to grow into something massive or float away as the calm, drawnout ambient piece it started as. Very wonderful and clear piano, sweet chilled out wind effects as well.

I don't like the drums at all- I think it'd sound a lot much better without the distortion. It's kinda, you know, distorting the whole piece and just doesn't fit the mood of the song. In my opinion of course. Keep the filter effect, since that one's just a cool effect that spices it up.

Meh to the pwm/saw ish thing, it's a bit too basic to me. Filter a bit or play with whichever awesometastic effects you have. Or you could roll like me and reverb it to the skies :P

Awesome, congas. You might as well want to let those shine at some place in the song too, it would be very very awesome. Same with the tiny little bell and other instruments, they do a lot to the song and should be emphasised when they play.

Main problem is the drums, just get rid of the distortion and it will be a great piece to relax to.

Great work! I lov'd!

SysRq00 responds:

Wow, thanks! I'm glad you liked it. As for the drums, I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree. I like how they contrast with the general mood of the song. Thanks for the review!

Cheers,
~SysRq

[_The Escape_]

Hellooooooooooo

They say good things come to those who wait, so I hope you'll enjoy my amazingly late review.

The beginning is promising. The pad is a bit raw, I'd suggest you to slap a wee little low pass filter on it for a smoother, more pleasant sound. Reverb should do great too. The small details and sfx add a great lot of depth, don't be afraid to pump the tune full of them.

It's weird how it changed so abruptly from the mellow beginning to a typical cheesy tune - seriously, detuned saws with a basic four on the floor for a beat - I mean, it works, but so many songs are built around those two elements. It's misleading though, it changes FAST into something more enjoyable. And that's good (watch out for the off-tempo drums at the 1:00-1:02 transition, a very minor flaw).

Cool, some new part now- a weird kick drum and a plunky little synth bass introducing a piano. Perfectly balanced reverb, I'd say- not too much, but enough to make the original sound a lot richer. Nice. What's up with 1:42-1:44 though? O.o

Then it wanders around a bit, alternating between the different part while still keeping the decent flow.

It's a pretty good song, it's just a lot of minor things that could need improvements:
- Work on the transitions - especially in the beginning- at some parts there's a noticeable silent area between parts that disturb the flow of the track
- Mixing - It isn't exactly clipping, but there sure is some peaking around. Did you put a compressor on the master track or something? Drag some of the master volume sliders down, and it will sound much better.
- The detuned saw synth - it just sounds incredibly generic. :) Try adding just a bit more filtering, chorus or reverb, preferably all of them.

Note that I am overly picky when reviewing and mainly focus on where to improve. It surely was an overall enjoyable tune with a lot of potential. Good work!

Assios responds:

Thank you very much! It was definitely worth the wait :D You've covered everything, and your review is just awesome. Thanks!

[|| Tripp'nMasta ||]

heyyo

That's some loud drums :o

Everything's sounds pretty and nice cool here. I've noticed your latest songs sound happy and playful, almost childish in a way. :D

But I think the countermelodies could have done good if they were jumbled around a little- pretty much all synths in the piece are based on the same melody (except some rhythm changes like with the square synth). Synth sounds are trippy- they're very recognizable- it's easy to hear it's one of your pieces, especially from that slightly-out-of-tune pad in the background.

vewy nice

seeya

[(::Changing World::) GWC]

lolk

Ok so it's a relaxing song, but it's not like I would just fall to sleep immediately after listening to the song. Unless I would be like ridiculously tired on beforehand. Or something like that. Drunk maybe. Then I imagine I could possibly fall asleep to this song ;D

Well you could probably move those noises round 5:16 round a bit earlier in the track, so that the 5 minutes before it won't be the all the same pads with slight differences in note progressions. I mean it could work great as bg music, but it's frankly not like I enjoy to listen to those pads with notes longer than a black guy's cock (or whatever you want to measure length with, in case you don't like cock jokes).

Pads sound decent, although nothing special at all (I think I've heard that organic FM pad before... is that recycled or what? Oo). Quite a disappointment considering the title really- when the title is "changing world", I'd usually expect it to... you know... change up at least a little :(

ok laters

FatKidWitAJetPak responds:

Ok so I need some more instruments got ya. :|

[Energy - [viz]]

very nice

What the hell is that? A crowd of like 4000000 people snapping their fingers? Or just 400 peoples clapping? 'twas fun, but it lacks attack- it's not used much at all so it's not a big issue at all. Fun stuff, decent drums (although I'd like em louder), completely useless vox sample :P, everything's generally good (and I'm in a rush lol), so I'll just hand out a 5 and 10

DJ-VIZ responds:

hahaha what "the hell is that"- yeah i guess you could say that...again with the hate for my vox :] lol thanks for the review

[Far Away - Preview - [viz]]

c00lio

lollllllll at all the dance music... I just don't get how you people make this kind of music. It's so... strange to me. :P. Well 'tis all good. I can't really find any cons- well as much as unrelated vocal phrases in dance songs make me want to bash my head against a wall, I guess that kindof comes with the style, seeing how those unrelated vocal phrases are used so much in, what do I call it, this kind of music.

Looks good so far, all I can suggest is of course some nice breakdown kind of things- they tend to be my favourite part of songs. Then after the breakdown strike back with some awesome intense shit. It'll be great <3

I'll give you my 8 due to the lack of mid and ending, I'll hand out a 5 anyway

DJ-VIZ responds:

haha yeah Its different, something you need to be into, I guess...but hey im not a big fan of ambient...some I really do enjoy (of course yours) lol... the vox cmon... every nger loves them :] and I am way ahead of you with the breakdown ! - thanks SBB

[~:{DW}:~ Dank Urbanity]

hey ho

Sounds pretty good- the percussion really adds to the creepy atmosphere of it. It's what does most of the track in my opinion. Good thing you're using a lot of different sounds, so it becomes more exciting. It's mixed almost perfectly with the deep, bassy pad, but I think that pad - all pads and keys in the track actually - should be louder, for atmosphere's sake.

That voice's nice, how'd ya get that one? Got anyone to sing it for you, or did you just grab a sample or what? I'd love to hear more of it, especially in that empty part with pretty much nothing but fx. And for that part- most of the middle, almost half of the song- I feel it's a bit minimalist. Could really need a bit more dark synths and whatnot- even just another subtle pad could help heaps.

watch out for the clipping (in places like 2:18)

Well good, it's def. a good song with fantastic atmosphere, just needs a little more meat on the bone here and there. Sry for being late ;P

Geigamg responds:

Oh dude please dont be srry bout bein late. Im just terrifically content that you responded. Its a great deal of inspiration im getting from your music so most thanks go to you. The voice i rendered in that tone with a synthesiser from a soundloop. The rest i did by hand. I also think i let the feel drop a bit too much. Anywho thanks alot I appreciate the help ^_^.

[+After the Fallout+]

WELL KEWL

I HAVE RETURNT TO RETURNT A REVIEW I GUESS

For being a post-apocalyptic tune, I felt most of the instrument lack a lot of reverb- just to make it more dark and otherworldly etc... IT IS AFTER AN APOCALYPSE AFTER ALL >:(

The piano has a perfect sound- maybe a bit light, maybe mudding it up on purpose could actually be an idea to create the right atmosphere. It sounds perfectly dreamy with that chord progression and delay though... that chord progression is very masterfully done.

Strings sound VERY soundfonty... don't you have any better samples? I mean, they're good, but they sound like... thin :( Maybe some chorus/multilayering etc could do the trick to make it sound fuller and more realistic? Mebby?

Sax is pretty good for being a soundfont. It's still noticable, mostly in how it keeps the same tone all the time. Ever considered asking that radioactiverhino do some sax for you? I bet it would make the tune rock your socks off ;) Of course you don't have to do it if you don't want to be bare-feet for the rest of your life.

I likey. You did capture a feeling 'ere, but it's still got some places to polish.

kbai

WritersBlock responds:

Thanks for the return review. ;D

Yeah, I guess I was fairly reserved on using effects, but I think some otherworldly atmosphere might set the story a bit better. Yeah, strings are soundfonts, how did you know? I like the tone they give out, but maybe a bit of reverb, or something will thicken it out. If I feel this is worth a second crack I probably will ask RR about it, in fact I've discussed a little jazz collab with him prior to your comments, but still, live sax = awesome.
Thanks, you do good job review. I luv you long time. =D