Buoy's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[[a] Random Abyss]

hey

I'm sorry for not reviewing it sooner, but now that the full version is out, I'll review this one instead ;)

Starts out with a sine-ish pad that really gives a good promise- most songs with this intro turn out incredibly catchy and fucking awesome in the end. It doesn't really kick off when it's supposed to though, the intensity change at 0:27 is barely noticeable, at 0:40 it's not much either. Might want to make the kick MUCH more louder and offensive- have the transient louder (or make one, doesn't seem like there IS much of a transient :o) and generally take it higher in the mix. It sounds a lot like a tom in the background now D:

Synths generally sound pretty good, but I have a feeling a few of em are very weak- like that supersaw ditty- I'd love to hear it much louder too. The entire mix is getting muddy from the busiest part and to the end ('bout 2:30 and out), not really anything you can do much about and I'm not sure how it couldaf been done better. But it's not perfectly perfect, or something. ^_^

Song structure is a bit weird- it almost linearly evolves in intensity. Some repetition could do good (not in the parts themselves- actually, I felt the parts themselves were a bit too long. But having some kind of chorus and verse to build around, that would certainly make it more catchy- but you decide, I assume you're not gonna make a drastic change like that:) Melodies are all original and great sounding.

Good stuff. But a bit anonymous- it doesn't really stand out much. Pretty damn good song though, great work! And sorry for not reviewing sooner.

alertG responds:

Yeah. I purposely made the bass weak at first, but i agree that it should be brought sooner. I'll change that. Also, i am working on a main melody to it, I kinda agree that it would sound better with a main chorus.

thanks so much for your advice!

EDIT: Changed some stuff. See description

[.inside2.]

OHAI

I loved the first one- and since as you say this was made with Reason can I please has the project file :3? If you could like PM it to me or something I'd absolutely love you. I've wanted to remix it ever since I heard the original.

I'm not quite sure if I liked that sample&hold effect on the bass synth- kinda muds up the whole thing. Might just want it to have a nice cleaner sound as it had before. Drums sound great here, a bit overpowering maybe. Like the lead- or really, the Juicer II, I noticed you used quite a few presets. It's good anyway.

Vewy well!!

VegetarianMeat responds:

Yup, presets are fun to use :P (I'm a Reason noob anyways). Thanks for the review. I sent the project file :)

[DJ.KatMan - Rave Nation]

Yap

It feels a little awkward in the start- very high frequencies there. Might want to play around with a filter, be it lowpass or bandpass, but just to get rid of unnecessary high frequencies. Interesting "melody" there too- but it'd be better if you had a melody there that one could hum too, it would make the song much much more catchy.

That majestetic pad thing you got later in the song is cool- I just don't like the tone of it much. Doesn't fit the rest of the song too much, but with some certain effects it might turn out spot on.

Drums aren't much more than alright, but they'd be better off if they were harder, more offensive. Now they're kinda like hip-hop drums- hard trance drums would make the song pretty damn awesome :)

It's pretty good- but it needs some more work. Mostly just adding stuff onto it, to fill it up, more meat on the bone etc etc :)

[[TMM43]Never Fall In Love]

Well good

Bell start huh? Always a promising sign ;) Wasn't expecting that massive fill before the drums kicked in though. Sadly the fill is more intense than the part after it- so it's KIND OF a let down- of course nothing much as it's still in its very early parts.

Apart from a few fills it doesn't really change up much. I like the little break around the middle, but around that it's pretty much the same 4-bar loops all over, with quite a fancy little saw and that hard 4X4 beat. I'd REALLY like it to change more. I guess part of it is because of the original song, since it's a remix after all...

Great synths though. The saw is perfectly shaped up, the formant-ish chord going around sounds good, nothing more to say about it than that. And thank god it was a break from the chaotic hardstyle/hands up leads. Vox clips doesn't interest me much at all and frankly, I don't think it fits for a song this "calm".

Nothing too intense or groundbreaking or anything. But it is definitively a good song. Good job. <3

[Electrified Snake]

Here's a big review (I focused on helpfulness ^_^)

I want to start the review off by sayign this one might turn out very long. There's a lot of room for improvement here (which is not too bad- most aspects are pretty good.)

So first off- there seems to be a bit syncing issues- you do quantize everything right? That cheesy pluck synth does very much sound out of sync with the drum beat, at least in the start. I'm not sure if you just haven't quantized everything or it's something else, but it definatively is worth taking a look at.

Another issue is the mixing/mastering- small creaks here and there, the bass and kick are crapped out- both of these are signs of a small amount of clipping, or overcompression. I'm guessing you have compressed the master track or something of the like- you want to take down the input gain quite a lot- the track will not be as loud, but much more pleasant. If you have some visual aid that shows the levels in real time on the compressor (usually a linear meter) try finding the balance where it is as loud as possible without clipping or stuff like that. Just use your ear really, it's the most reliable tool you have. If you're still on. :P Apart from that it generally sounds good.

Drums are generally fine- except they sound way basic altogether. Kick is mostly a very weak thump- I suggest you choose another sample, a much more offensive one would fit the hard snare used better. Hats are good as is, might just want to make them a bit louder.

So for the synths- those are also very basic, and they all lose some of their tone with the lot of clipping and peaking (attempted to describe it two paragraphs up) but I can hear most of them are based on saw waves. Some are very harsh- try some low pass filter (with a cutoff around 3kHz) on the one that is introduced around 0:57 for a more pleasant tone.

For the song structure, I don't have much to add. It's all good, and should stay the way it is. One little idea though- how about a break with pads only shot into the middle of the track? It would emphasize the busiest part and make it seem more intense. See it you can work it out ;) As said already though, everything is really as it should be when it comes to song structure/composition.

Still needs a ton of polish (mostly when it comes to mastering/mixing- but trust me, you'll automatically get better at it all the time:) before it's truly great. You sure got a good first version though, good work!

Assios responds:

Thanks for a really good and informative review!

About the synth delay, I used the same pattern as the beat, and for some reason it got out of sync. I'll try to fix it (and improve on the other things you've mentioned too). As you mentioned, the kick is very weak. I looked for another one, but couldn't find one (I guess I'm just too impatient), so I just layered many different "drum beats", which makes it sound quite crappy. I am too impatient when making music in FL.

Thanks again for a really great and helpful review from a professional like you! ;D

[Blue Wine]

well good

It's not much, but damn it has a nice sound. Those delays were used well, though I think you could be a bit more creative with em. Marimba/woodblocks sound great too, really gives it an ethnic feel. I could see so much more to it though, now that you're on it. My imagination could go wild- shakers, congas, other percussion like that- then pan flutes and some more pads- etc. A bit of analog lead synths maybe- some dominant melody could really get it going.

You sure have got something- and as I've said already- I highly suggest you continue on it.

[Anger inside]

yayayayyy

Needs to be made longer, so it could fit my usual anger fits better- make it last a few days and it could come close to a soundtrack for my next burst of rage because I spilt a drop of coffee

:/

Vewy well. Does turn out a lot more powerful with that squirky and loud bass. I like it that way. Drums are good, but in the end you seem to overdo it a tad- all these snares are hurting my rotten brain of liquid methanol :(

Great work anyway

DarKsidE555 responds:

noo. :(

[~EnV~Jump (Preview)]

well good

Hard stuff again- always been wondering how you trancenuts make those powerful kicks. Well since those are mentioned I might cover the other drums too- snare's a bit silent, but has a great tone. Can't hear the hi percussion, but one can hear it's there so it's all good :D

Could have the clean lead a bit louder, right now it's more like just mumbling in the background- great melody on that by the way, you really can make it awesome later in the song with a bit work. I love that (insert name for it) detuned lead too, can't really expect anything else than that from like, YOU

As usual, you got something great going. I'm sure this'll be a hit when finished.

Envy responds:

Hard kicks come with compression and layering ^.^

I think my kick is... 5 kicks 2 snares and a ride layered.

When you say clean lead, do you mean the arp? yeah It was louder but it seemed to kind of interrupt everything when it was louder.

The reason the snare is so silent is because there is no snare o.O thats a clap, but meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh too loud gets hurting.

Haha again that arp type thing seems to interrupt everything else so i turned it down, i can always turn it up again. Detuned lead = saw ^.^

[Ultimate Guitar Solo By Satan3]

fuck yeah

It really is the best solo ever to be created. I've studied music for years and years, so I know this shit could only be made by a unnaturally talented musician. It truly is a shining diamond of a solo. The melody was of course very well though out, but the way you played it is what truly makes it great. And of course the vox that follows it.

Fantastic. I have no suggestions for improvement, as there is nothing to improve.

[-=LJC=- Grinsomnia]

Yeah

As already said by another reviewer, your drummer definitively needs lessons- no, wait, I need lessons from him, so he can tell me how to play drums backwards (0:10-0:12). I'd like to see a video of that drummer-

I'm getting carried away.

Piano's good. Period, no comments other than that. For improvements, I'd think some synth fx here and there could do good, but if it's strictly a piano/drums only piece, then fine. It does turn out pretty damn boring after a while though. Would be wonderful for like, background music

well good

LJCoffee responds:

Playing the drums backwards isn't really all that hard but you do need a decent flux capacitor in good working order and a temporal compressor/remapper with a relative adjusment knob in order to do it convincingly. I've seen a lot of kits where it's installed by the hats but some people like to position it over by the floor toms. It's really up to you I guess. They can be a bit pricey though and you'll need either an expensive electrical upgrage, a couple of micro-fusion cells or a lightning rod to power it.

:D

I have a WIP of it with more in it. I guess it would be called the extended redux but I'm not sure that it's better at this point. Adding additional synths and FX removes the minimalist quality and then the whole thing falls apart (more than it already does). Once it's done, I'd like to bounce it off of you for advice/opinion before I post a new version. I'll be in touch.

Thanks SBB!