midimachine's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Northwing Fury III]

the guitars have all this attitude and strength in their sounds but they aren't matched by the drums, the snare feels particularly. i think it's just a volume thing, because the individual drum hits sound pretty good. try bringing the guitars down and maybe taking out some midrange and a bit of treble (like, -2dB at the most) from the guitar so that the snare really snaps through everything

more definition for the bass would be nice, like i think it'd be better with a more picked sound to match the surf-rock rhythm of the drums (which i really like btw). going back to the drums, i think some use of the open hi-hat would be good... also thought it was weird how you panned the closed hat and pedal hat on opposite sides, but i guess there's nothing inherently wrong with that. generally rock/metal drums are panned left to right based on where the drums are positioned relative to the audience (or sometimes relative to the drummer).

so yeah, the disjointed feeling of the drums is mainly a product of the guitars being too loud, i think. except the drum solo in the middle felt pretty unnatural (i would never try to write a drum solo like that with single-hit drum samples tbh). that space-marimba sorta sound at the end was cool!

Blacklawn responds:

I see. I'll keep those things in mind, thanks!

[Point of Time]

dubwave :v
that pad is beautiful. last section is double amazing, love those thin raspy arps in the background
not really sure what you could polish about this... maybe it's a bit muddy in that last part? also length. hah.

SineRider responds:

haha thanks man!

I'm pretty content with the length and arrangement, I just feel the mixing could use some time. But I was exporting this at like 11:40 and had 20 minutes to get it uploaded in time!

[A Storm Over Lavender Lane]

coooooooooool
i like that it's "classical" on NG but not "cinematic"
yeah that glissando is a bit nonsense haha, everything else is well sequenced though. maybe a few timing and velocity "errors" in the fast runs would make it just a little bit more human sounding? nothing drastic though. i think the piano could do with a teeeny bit of EQ just to roll off some of the low end from the piano... sometimes the hammer-ey sound kinda punches me in the gut through the subwoofer haha

another thing is that i didn't really like the reverb you used, would've preferred something a little less cavernous... shorter decay time with a teeny tiny predelay would be really nice. the quiet middle section (~1:09) is really playful but i feel like the reverb sucks some of the life out of it. like, if it was played in a packed concert hall i just think the reverb would more subtle in the audience.

ANYWAY it was really really good and i loved how playful and lively the whole thing was. nice one!

headphoamz responds:

Hey thank ya! Yeah, I thought it was definitely more Classical than Cinematic. I know what you mean about the reverb, too - I just enjoy that long, drawn-out piano sound, I guess. :) Thanks for writing such a detailed review here, makes me happy. :P

[Claudius]

love the development in this. i think there should've been more of an introduction to that intro section - i feel like big, epic orchestrations like that lose their sense of scale when they're presented on their own. so in that sense the long build of the second half was more enjoyable for me

lots of nice textures threaded together here. really liked the way the harp kinda pulls away with that pause at ~ 1:02 and again at ~1:11, the way the oboe slides into the arrangement after that last pause is wonderful. that final cadence was pretty great! don't like that the render cuts off without letting the timpani finish ringing out, though :v

v solid work.

[Come Again]

really should carve some envelope into that sub bass, or at least duck it under the kick
i like all the filtered reflections that come through on the right after about 1:30

overall though the sound design needs way more effort. it sounds like someone who doesn't really listen to much dance music trying to make what they think dance music sounds like with 3xosc presets. but i guess the description kinda says it all haha

[Northwing Fury II]

hey now this is more up my alley
the amens sound great! the only real problem is that i can't tell where the downbeat is until the guitar comes in :v
though maybe you were going for that? it feels like some of the early squarepusher stuff where he just cut loose in the drum solos.
the bass sounds plenty bassy to me

Blacklawn responds:

Looks like I always gain half a star with every review of yours, haha... Well, it's good to know I'm improving.

I wanted the drum solo to be furious and chaotic, but I guess some people think I've overdone it. Maybe I should tone it down.

[I'm sorry, buuuutttt.....]

sounds like you played it hammered in the studio too haha
if this mix was a group of friends, the brass would be that really loud guy who always interrupts a good conversation with some obnoxious bullshit you don't care about.
i would be too embarrassed to listen to this ever again
punk as fuck but. it was ok!

FustigateM responds:

this mix is a group of friends ;)

the fun is all in the live shows anyways haha.

the trombone does seem to throw alot of people off though... I 'spose im going to have to call a band meeting to talk to him about it.

oh, and we were hammered in the studio, and we didn't plan on recording this track, but we had some extra time so we did.

thanks for the feedback man! i'll make sure to return the favor.

[Follow Me]

i don't like how the piano feels in this, like it just goes BANG and cuts out immediately. doesn't feel right to me in this song.
and for me that first riff is kinda annoying to listen to even once, so the repetition isn't really the issue haha
otherwise, i enjoyed the second half of the track and those distorted backing synths in particular are really nice.

[Absolute Wave]

if it makes you feel any better i thought most of the transitions were fine, but you could probably shape them more so that the abrupt parts come in more dramatically.

like, what i mean by shaping would be like having the guitar fade in very quietly like a bar before it's mean to start playing, but only fade up to a fraction of the full volume so that it still comes in really hard... aaaagh it's difficult to explain. but it gives the "drops" (pardon the term) a lot of extra energy and makes abrupt transitions feel a lot more purposeful (AND a lot more abrupt, sometimes)

you won't always need to do that, but i find it really helps make "abrupt" changes feel more natural even if the effect is reaaaally subtle

mix could be a lot tighter, too much reverb imo (try a higher cutoff frequency and shorter delay)
or even if it was less wet and more selective, not every instrument should have the same amount of reverb in most situations
also everything is trying to be the same volume and stepping over the other instruments places in the spectrum (mainly in the bass region). when this is happening you should be using EQ to cut holes in one instrument to make room for another. look up "subtractive mixing", i'm really bad at explaining it haha

anyway the composition was alright and i can hear where you've made some interesting and unique choices, especially in that one arpeggio.

[VL - Nothing Goes My Way]

not epic symphonic tiesto dream trance, this sux
worst review ever, i am sorry.

no okay here are some actual thoughts:
kick could do with some more oomph i think.
the pitch bends on that one ping-pong delay'd synth are wacky but they sound really cool
too much intro, or maybe it's just that it's all DJ-friendly and stuff. anyway i feel like the intro lingers too long, but if it was a really soft and sensual intro of the same length you could build it up so the big sections come in more dramatically. at the moment it feels like it just runs out of steam

also the main melody is very noodly and not very memorable
but the middle section is grrrrrrrreat. awkward transition back into the 4x4 beat though. make trancey breaks 4 lyf.

fuckin, opinions n shit :v

overall it was really nicely layered and stuff and mixed pretty damn well except for the kick, but i'm starting to have second thoughts about that actually. that clapsnare is really slick.