midimachine's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Portfolio - Short Main Theme]

this is really nice. i think the way the brass enters at 1:00 is a little over the top and needlessly "epic" personally, i'd like there to be a more gradual shift into the full inception BWAAHs. otherwise, the orchestration is fantastic. strong main melody and good use of the entire ensemble, there's a real sense of journey and wonder in this. there's a brass note that gets cut off suddenly at 1:24, don't know if that's just a rendering error or if you misplaced something, but it would be worth fixing up if this is something you're using professionally. the reverb tail on the flute is cut off at the end of the render as well. phenomenal work, otherwise!

important notes on my NGUAC review process: https://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1476427/18#bbspost26965604_post_text

Santi-Montali responds:

You got it spot on! It was a bug that I got lazy about fixing haha, thanks for the review

[Taming A Thunderbird]

diggin the cinematic synthwave style. the chords are simple but effective for the most part, and while the main melodies aren't particularly memorable there's some nice counterpoint parts that help push them over the line. the mix seems very crowded in the low/low-midrange, with a lot of synth parts trying to sit in the same dynamic space as well. i'd go for a wider stereo image and probably turn the long pads and bass down a little to help the lead and drums push through. it's also quite a dark sounding mix - i would ease off the filtering on the snare/clap/cymbals and maybe open up the synth lead. nice work!

important notes on my NGUAC review process: https://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1476427/18#bbspost26965604_post_text

[Underworld Interference]

fun chiptuney synthwave stuff. love the changeup and filter sweep at 2:04 and the big resonant filter drop into the next section. wish it got to that part quicker! think it would be nice to get more of a break from the main aggressive growly synth. it's also too loud compared to the drums, which have a weird thick reverb slathered over them - definitely tighten up the reverb on the kick and snare. really like the 2nd half of this track a lot despite the mixing flaws. make more!

important notes on my NGUAC review process: https://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1476427/18#bbspost26965604_post_text

[FENGARI]

zany little electro track! makes me nostalgic for clubbing in 2010. appreciate the dj-friendly structure but it could use a radio edit for standalone listening purposes. also the way it's been so heavily compressed at the master has pulled a lot of the energy out of the drums, and smashed the bassline and saxophone together in the same dynamic space. mix seems pretty solid in spite of this. not a whole lot else to say really. make more!

important notes on my NGUAC review process: https://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1476427/18#bbspost26965604_post_text

[Loki]

the drop isn't just a little overcompressed, it's totally blown out and clipping to shit, and that's regardless of the tone you wanted. the INTRO is overcompressed. i like abrasive and aggressive sound design but you need to build that sound into the signal before you hit the master instead of thrashing your entire mix as a crutch. there's a bunch of elements under the distorted bass sound that are obviously being drowned out and intermodulated instead of playing back as intended. the drums have lost all their impact because of how you decided to "master" it. also, the song isn't finished.

important notes on my NGUAC review process: https://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1476427/18#bbspost26965604_post_text

[Dakota Rineer-Hyperdrive]

got the trancey dnb sound down pretty solidly here. i think the drums and the bass here are a little on the soft side though, you might want to bring the supersaw leads down a little and pump the rhythm a bit harder before hitting the master. the chipmunk vocal chop is really annoying imo, would be better down an octave. the structure drags a bit and the melodies are a little boring, but i like the descending arpeggio at 2:33 as a backing element. would be nice to sweep the panning on the tom tom fill sample. i think the track needs a longer breakdown instead of constantly switching between slight variations on a simple melody. decent sound design and mixing, though!

important notes on my NGUAC review process: https://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1476427/18#bbspost26965604_post_text

[masked]

first of all, really appreciate that you pulled out all the old simsynth sounds out, dunno what version of FL you're using that still has them built in but hearing START2.syn again has made me weep with nostalgia. dunno why everything is so loud and distorted though, it doesn't sound very good. a bunch of stuff is out of time and a lot of the sounds have clicks and pops at the end. didn't really enjoy this. sounds like you wanted to try out a bunch of random sounds hidden away in FL studio's most ancient packs, and i can respect the shit out of that.

important notes on my NGUAC review process: https://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1476427/18#bbspost26965604_post_text

[Fidelity]

very nice chord progression! really love the vibe of the intro even though it's a little long. love the energy coming into the drop too. i think overall the mix is a little on the bright side, i think the snareclap and some of those hihats sound a little brittle and probably need a little rolloff on the treble. although that arp sounds great, it bounces about a bit too much to provide the melodic backbone the track needs. the ending feels like you kinda gave up on it little bit, like it doesn't have the same attention to detail in its winding down that the intro has building up. great sound though, make more!

important notes on my NGUAC review process: https://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1476427/18#bbspost26965604_post_text

DJ-Cassell responds:

Thank you for pointing out all of these details that need working on. I always find it easier to write intros than outros so I should look into and focus on outros more. As for the EQ of my mix/master I've been thinking about buying an analyzer plugin such as Izotope Tonal Balance to help me EQ my track better since I can only mix on headphones at the moment. I do have a pair of KRK speakers but I'm having technical difficulties with them. It's an easy but kinda expensive fix though. Anyway, this review is amazing. Thank you!

[Fading Hope]

there are some really nice musical ideas in this, i actually quite like the psytrance kickbass + orchestral combo. all the string parts are too loud and are fighting to be in the same space in the mix. a lot of the melodies meander about aimlessly and have variation for variation's sake, and for me this makes the piece unmemorable and sometimes annoying. i think for game music you want to be more consistent in the melodies but also the structure, and at the moment parts seem to drop in and out randomly without warning a lot. you can implement little sweeps, drum fills, or aother transitional elements like at 0:46 without necessarily leading into a drop or even a new section. solid effort overall.

important notes on my NGUAC review process: https://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1476427/18#bbspost26965604_post_text

derp604 responds:

Thanks for the feedback, this was my second ever finished song so hopefully I improve from this

[Walts]

i love a good boom bap beat and i can get into simplistic, yet creative sampling. this definitely falls flat in that respect, since it's just the same sample retriggered for the entire time, with a kick on 1 & 3 and a snare on 2 & 4. no drum fills, filter sweeps, cutaways, and no extra layers of samples. the sample itself is just one chord and some cymbals so you need something else to make the beat interesting. sorry if you're proud of this, but this seems extremely low-effort to me even for an amateur producer.

important notes on my NGUAC review process: https://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1476427/18#bbspost26965604_post_text