midimachine's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[I Only Shine When Standing In Your Reflection]

hell yea. rly glad u got thru in ngadm! love this new cutesy IDM/breakcore kick you've been on the last few tracks. super snappy mix with lots of impact and - tho i think the snare transients are too aggressive, maybe bring the comp ratio down or something. so excited for more quarl tbh

Quarl responds:

I asked all my dnb friends how to go about debricking a mix and they are like "make your drums bigger." Bad influence those bass music kids are. Thanks for the good feels midimachine :)

[bad party]

really dig the retro microhouse/chillwave feel! the pitched-down snare is a bop, the swirly pad is beautiful and lush. love the movement in the cute little synth bass too. the way this comes together is so sweet and charming imo. i think the kick could push through a little harder and the second half of the track could use some variation or fills or something because it does get very samey by the end. think the overall stereo image leans a little too far to the right, might be good to pan the fast hats left a bit to offset the snare hits and offbeat hat. cute little track overall. make more!

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

[Wings II]

love this lush house sound. the sound design is mostly really simple but it's layered together so nicely. mixing is really solid, good separation between instruments and good levelling. the percussion is far too basic, though. it really needs a shaker or highpassed drum loop to fill out the space in the top and push the rhythm forward more. couple clap fills or snare rolls would be nice to accentuate transitions and break up long sections. it's also about 3 minutes too long for what it is, definitely needs a shift in melody/harmony or some other kind of textural build to justify the runtime. i really appreciate the dj-friendly intro and outro, though. make more!

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

Ziondiac responds:

Thanks for the feedback and vote.

[MADNESS (VIP/REMAKE)]

great aggressive sound! the sub bass layer being far too loud sucks a lot of energy and space out of the mix, i think if you fixed that it'd be a fantastic mix. the riffs are nice and thick, the jump to compound time at 1:29 is cool as shit, and the halftime section is sick too - the fast bassline parts don't need the sub layer to follow them note-for-note though. the second half of the track sounds a little messy and isn't as interesting as the slower part of the song, but the speedcore ending is a pretty funny way to cap things off. there isn't really a lot going on in the track overall other than the drums and the one bass layer. would be good to have a more diverse instrumentation and soundscape, but it nails the sound it aims for.

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

[WhoAmI - Fresh Opportunity]

more synthwave goodness. very thick sound - maybe too thick, could tighten the kick tail or duck the sub out of the bitcrushed bass under the kick to fix that. everything is kinda the same volume throughout so the tension gets sucked out of the slow burn buildup you've tried to create. the simpler melodies are fine but the long solo-ey lead feels very meandering and unfocused, like sometimes like you just placed random notes from the scale together. would be good to get a breakdown without drums or bass for a bit of a breather and to keep the track feeling interesting and fresh. every day is a second chance and i hope you keep trying and improving.

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

[super]

loving the fast samba feel and smooth instrumentation. the mix feels a little too chunky overall but i guess that's partly a limitation of the software instruments you're using. still think the bass can come down in volume once it kicks into gear properly. with the two accordions in unison, you should pan them a little differently and move the note triggers on one of them very slightly to avoid that weird phasing sound when they play open 5ths together. it definitely feels a little unfinished and underdeveloped as a composition, but i do like the progression and build it has currently. would be nice to hear a more complete version of this through some higher quality, multi-sampled instruments. make more!

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

[Ice Cap Zone (Keyfob Remix)]

always down for a remix of my favourite song from the sonic franchise. wasn't expecting hard house donks but it's an interesting way to go with it! the orchestral intro is cool but i think you leave out bass in the cutaway to the main theme and fade it back in for maximum buildup potential. mixing is mostly solid but i think the kick needs a bit more punch and a little less sub to make room for the plentiful bass synths. apart from the snareclap and the fast trance bass, the stereo image is very narrow and makes the track feel cluttered towards the end. it kind of dragged on a bit so i'd look at either tightening that ending up and/or shortening the intro to tighten up the structure. nice work overall though.

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

[ALWS feat. ANANASIK - BLEAH]

look, it's a good beat. a little too short for sure, but the mixing and production is fantastic, and you've got a great underlying atmosphere with the sitar & shakuhachi combo. but the vocal sample in this is the one of the most annoying things i've ever heard. even if it was the best vocal sample anyone has ever used in the history of music production, if you slathered it all over a beat like you did here it would very quickly overtake the beat and kind of ruin it. with vocal samples, pick your moments more carefully. if you use that same annoying sample once, maybe twice, in key moments where it's not running over the top of something like a pond5 watermark, then i wouldn't be going in so hard on it because it wouldn't be ruining the beat.

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