midimachine's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Hope]

really good, felt a lot tighter than your other pieces in the ngadm so far imo. great playing, love the way you cut the delays off so they don't overlap with following sections. the rhythmic stuff you're doing in this just amazing, such good use of polyrhythmic and odd-meter kick patterns, with really clever resolutions to 4/4 - the meshuggah as fuck ending, seriously perfect man.

some of the samples had a bit of a machine-gun effect sometimes, the snare most noticeably when you had the extra soft hits before the backbeat. the hi toms felt super weak, actually i would've liked the tom set in general to be more represented in the rhythm section. maybe i'm just a deaf dickhead tho.

the other thing was, to me at least, that the composition in the second half generally felt kind of unfocused, jumping between new sections without much common ground between them. the ending was still perfect though, holy shit.

[redemption]

really fucking nice song.
drums are super brittle and barely present in the mix though. this isn't in itself a bad thing, but the samples themselves don't convey the tone that you wanted them to, y'know what i mean? would've been AMAZING to have a really big drum climax imo, especially since that last synth solo section into the second lot of vox is so intense, and that trancey crash sound is GIGANTIC compared to the rest of the drums.

anyway, i love what you've done with all the different polyrhythmic delays. the synth work is a lot more delicate this time around but at the same time i love how you've kind of orchestrated everything and transitioned so thoughtfully between sections. great work on the vox, too. piano is really nicely voiced, love the soft bass notes.

i feel like the reverb is kinda washy, especially in the children-playing part. that whole set of sound effects there is kinda... well i think "obnoxious" is too harsh, maybe just not subtle enough i guess? but i appreciate the storytelling aspect of it.

[There]

yeah this is good!
the glitchy intro/outro kind of feels like an afterthought, i really would've preferred something more DJ-friendly and deliberate feeling. i wish you didn't post the lyrics, they seem a little vacuous BUT i guess this isn't a poetry competition huh. kick is a bit different, very 2004 which was a great year for dance music imo. the snare is a little too dark for my tastes

pretty good dynamic variation and synth work. really love that hard sync lead and the little arps here and there, got that SNES supersaw down too. wish it was a bit richer, it feels kinda thin at the moment. the big taiko kinda drums in the background of the bridge are great, love little details like that.

the wubby section at the end seemed kinda tacked on and didn't really develop much, like you put the preview for a VIP mix on the end. but yeah, otherwise it's a really focused production with a few gaps in the sound. solid work!

garlagan responds:

You always find all the things I got lazy to work on, and more. And that's fantastic. Helps me see in a different perspective and give more on my next track.
You're right about the wubby section. I think 'Impulse' has got the same problem. That's for adding things without having much time. It's always fun though
Glad you liked the track midi!

[Voluto]

round 2 review yea

maybe it's just me, but this sounds way overcooked on the compression, either on the master or somewhere else. i think it's the way the low supersaw bass messes with the high hats.

i really enjoyed the middle bits a lot more, they seemed to have more light and shade and felt like they were mixed better too, somehow. OH you switched to a more hands up kinda kick halfway through the second section haha, it's a lot nicer than the other kick you used. actually i think the problem here is that the chorus melody is just boring. really like that little pitchbend on the choir at the end, nice touch! would've been nice to have more cool little details like that.

sorry i don't have a whole lot to say. apart from mixing issues it's a really decent little track but it's kinda middle of the road. solid effort though, good for a rushed attempt.
8.1

AeronMusic responds:

Indeed. Thanks! (:

[ghosts]

round 2 ngadm review ok lets go

got that demoscene vibe. those kinda 2-op FM guitar warbles are perfect!
i wanted to look at this as tracker music and forgive the rushed mix but yeah it's kinda wacky, like the rolling hats are just too much for example. generally it's all too sharp and not really balanced properly. the stereo imaging is generally quite nice, but that first little bell synth has this low-end attack under it which is awful to get thrown into one side of a pair of headphones.
your composition and drum sequencing here is simply sublime (think yer so clever with ya 5/4 m8, well you are), though some of the synths and sampled instruments are a little too basic even for module style stuff (dat bass guitar sound lol) and sometimes too harsh. lots of great sound design here though, i especially love the big rolling tremolo hits and the aforementioned FM work.

standout track of this round for me. great work!
9.1

johnfn responds:

whoa, glad you liked it so much midi! thanks for the review. paid a LITTLE more attn to mixing next time... but not a lot.. oops.

one day

[Two]

round 2 review m8

it sux

nah its ok

love love love how the percussion rolls along all footwork like, great intricate programming on those 808s. the constant development is awesome, top notch writing. kick gets kinda lost when everything comes together and the bass has a little too much low-mid in it for my taste, would've liked a bit more ducking on that airy pad just to emphasize the downbeats a little more. not super keen on that last reprise of the chorus either, makes the song drag on too much. you also cut the render off before everything faded out properly, not a big deal but it's one of those little details that bothers me sometimes.

good shit!

m9.0/10

[Supernova]

ngadm round 2 review m8

OK so when i'm producing or mixing anything, i always run it through what i call the "car test" because i don't have a proper monitoring system set up and mixing in headphones means i don't get a real sense of the physical energy behind a track.

basically what i'm saying is that this track failed the car test :v

i can hardly fault this track in any aspect. it's a bit generic in some ways (dat vocal haha), but at the same time it just really grabs me for some reason. everything is really well separated, the sound design is A+, basically it sounds like pendulum got back together and rob swire got his shit together. it's even got that sweet drumstep breakdown at the end. so why is everything under like 150Hz rolled off?! whyyyyyyyyyyyyy

that's basically it. it's kind of a big deal though!
also i guess it IS kinda generic. just a bit.
seriously tho where's da bass m8
for real

8.9

KabukiTunes responds:

Yeah, I've been mixing and fixing it for the past week, trust me when I say it sounds a helluva lot better. I wish i had spent more time on the mixdown, cuz now it definitely sounds bolder.

I also know what you mean with the bass. I tried to push the drums harder in this track (as you can probably tell), but I ended up drowning out the sub bass. I went back with parallel compression and all that fun jazz and boosted the low end, and now it sounds a hella lot warmer.

And jesus, that pendulum comment doh <3 totally flattered man, I really appreciate it!

Thank you for your review!

[Deflect]

round 2 review ngadm balls whatever m9

i really like it! so playful, actually very french sounding haha. like if justice did drumstep.
speaking of justice, it's really fuckin loud! probably too much for me. really need to pull that rolling bassline away from under the kick with a sidechained HP filter or something, i dunno. generally the mastering just feels too aggressive and doesn't match the tone imo, needs a longer release time on that limiter i guess?

mastering aside, this track is pretty close to flawless. i'm really into that synth brass sound. the melody isn't super memorable but it fits everything else. i love that this one doesn't overstay its welcome, doesn't stagnate or get boring. hardly any hats or cymbals though? i guess the mastering doesn't give you much room for them haha :P

one of my favourites from the comp so far, just wish it wasn't brickwalled hehe
8.8

garlagan responds:

Justice! Whoa thanks!
Thanks for the tips as usual!
Tried a lot of things in the mastering process. Longer releases made it too bouncy/ducking. It's all probably coming too loud before the mastering process or something. Got it to sound somewhat close to what I like though.
There are no cymbals in the heavier parts! Felt they were taking too much space in the higher frequencies, and those pads needed all the space in the world lol.
Thank you m98989

[Time to Fly - NGADM]

ngadm round 2 review

got that new wave vgm vibe down! almost sounds like something you'd hear on telefuture records. suffers from kinda messy mixing, that super round 4-floor kick doesn't cut through like it should, lots of lost energy there. generally there's just not enough separation of instruments, either through EQ or panning. especially during those big buildups like 2:10-2:20. cutting the reverb off of some (maybe all?) instruments at these points will really help tighten things up i think.

generally good instrument choice though, a bit on the cheesy side but fitting. would've liked less brightness in the main chords in exchange for a super twangy bass sound. the percussion is particularly nice, good mix of vintage sounds with some modern glitchy flair. would've liked a more solid melodic theme, but the solos are good enough to carry the track. loved that last breakdown, real nice breath of fresh air, but i'd prefer it to end there instead of running through the repeat of the middle build up.

overall it's a great improvement on your round 1 track and a really solid effort with minor flaws. good job!

8.2

Spadezer responds:

Thanks for the review. You've given me a lot of good feedback to look through and work with if I ever re-visit the track and remaster it. And I'm glad you think the percussion are the best (or at least pretty good from what it sounds like you're saying).

And I'm glad you've finally helped me decipher the genre I use! In all seriousness I've had no clue what genre my stuff fits in so that also gives me some thoughts.

Anyway, thanks for your two cents. It's worth more than it's weight in gold.
-Spadezer-