midimachine's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[In The Trap]

sounds more like shoegazey synthpop than trap, but that's also something i really like. maybe you should just do that instead of trap?

but if you really want to keep making trap then simply run through the trap checklist® next time:
- 808 drums
- squelchy atonal synth lead
- "what" sample on every offbeat
- lex luger style triplet synth rise
- pitched-down line from an obie trice track
- gunshots

[substructure]

yeah definitely hearing some of that shpongle influence! less intricate, but more driving and jazzy.
was not expecting those techy breakbeat drums, nice. would fit really snugly in a kid kenobi set i think.

i think 7 minutes is warranted tbh, maybe even necessary. would love to be able to mix this but that sudden ending is a bit disappointing :< (i can see why people didn't like how i ended my round 1 thing now though)

johnfn responds:

Thanks for dropping by! I think the true talent of those Shpongle guys is that they can just have a single melody going for 8 minutes or something and yet the song will never feel boring or repetitive. I struggle with repeating the same melody more than once or twice! When I cut down from 7 I was actually cutting out a bunch of extraneous stuff. I think you're right though, in an ideal world I could get that core idea going for much longer.

Endings seem to be my downfall - I save them until the final day and then botch them, haha. I need to learn not to do that, but apparently round 3 was not the time.

[Coast Totems]

oh man, this is cool! the first half is probably 2 minutes too long imo, but it really picks up after the 4 1/2 minute mark and i quite enjoyed the ending. not your best vocal performance or lyrics either, but i love the production on them and i totally understand time limitations hehe. did you use an exciter or something before the phaser at the end? the little bits of fuzzyness filling out the space between vocal parts are a nice touch, whether or not they were intentional haha.

didn't quite nail the aesthetic, like you said the drums especially need more dirt.
maybe play your drum track back through a cheap speaker in a bathroom and use that as a "room" recording. or a really nasty plate reverb or something. i dunno, i'm not particularly great at lo-fi production either haha

ANYWAY YEAH it was gooooood!

Kor-Rune responds:

yeah I didn't realize how much of an art being nasty is. The noise and fuzziness was unintentional and part of the vocal takes lol. I intend to remove it but working on the next song is my priority, assuming this trash wins. Thanks for the review midi!

[Ablixa]

yes yes yes yes really diggin this really groovy house stuff. especially love that funky syncopated bassline and that big cut-reverse drop at 1:03.
massive basic waveform chord section reminds me heaps of trash80 too. good stuff!

[Through the Bamboo]

uhhhhhh
i think some of those .ds instruments are out of tune with each other
mainly the bass. i don't think you meant for it to be like that.
maybe you should explore eastern harmonies and temperaments though!
the transition into un tiss un tiss stuff was pretty nasty and not really thought through i think. really stock sounding drums too, the backbeat sound is nice though.
the growly reese synth was cool as well. the whole thing needs more work though

Solisio responds:

I really appreciate your comment. It seems like you know what you're talking about. Send me a message sometime :)

[Cthulhu Surfaces]

LOVED IT until the we will rock you claps at 1:15-ish, then they went away and i think i loved it again
i think that section is just generally out of place in this.

actually consistency is an issue, though i kinda like the constant development. i think maybe this piece is just in the wrong order, haha.
mix sounds great! that reverb has the perfect balance between bright and smooth. good work!

headphoamz responds:

Sweet! Thanks midi! I lol'ed at WE Will Rock You drums. Sometimes experiments can go either way with people. :)

[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.