midimachine's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Technocosm - Poison Gauntlet (Snare Remix)]

this is definitely a gauntlet! love a lot of the sound design in this, and really dig the moment-to-moment craziness that puts this track almost in IDM territory. while i get that the mastering is supposed to be aggressive, the ending really suffers under the weight of limiter settings that only work for songs with a lot of aggressive back and forth in the dynamics. since the last section is always pounding, the end result is unpleasant levels of saturation on *everything* and near constant compression artifacts. you can automate the limiter threshold to drop back here, but honestly it wouldn't be a bad idea to shoot for a lower loudness level overall, since it does get pretty fatiguing to listen to this. cool track in spite of the crippling mastering issues.

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

SnaresWorks responds:

thanks! i totally agree on the master, after i mixed it i sort of felt unhappy with how it came out overall, felt like the whole track was sorta shitty, then i rushed to master it thinking it would fix it xD

i think it suffers the most in the first drop, the glitch one, it was a lot more dynamic before

oh well, live and learn, thanks for the review ^^

[Kavez - Left in the Dust]

dope little rnb pop beat that gets nice and heavy down the line. really like the piano pattern and the nice little offbeat epiano stabs. the mix is mostly solid, but i think the cymbals and piano are too loud in relation to the kick and bass, especially at times like 0:24 where it transitions to a more delicate bass sound. the transition to dnb feels very weird with the instruments you're using. also would be nice to get some more panning across the stereo image, feels very narrow right now. also the reverse cymbal at 1:56 needs some volume shaped into it cause it just feels like filtered whitenoise - if you're compressing it, don't, cause you need those dynamics for the reverse cymbal to do it's job as a transitional element. but overall this is a pretty solid little beat, wish it was a bit longer or had vocals or something. protip: to remove the glitchy sounds you have to right click -> initialize with this position on things you've automated, like the piano volume on this track. FL will do this automatically when you make a clip but it uses the value that it's set to when you make the clip, so if you make the clip when it's at full volume and then create a fade in you need to stop playback, pull the fader back to zero and then reinitialize so that it starts on 0 when you hit play.

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

SlyFrost responds:

Yeah, I agree with everything you've mentioned. The dnb section definitely was pretty experimental and the track was rougher around the middle. Also, the glitchy sounds aren't actually associated with FL - it's a problem with the screen recorder I have to use because I make everything in the demo version lol

Thank you for the review, very much appreciated!

[SICK]

this is so nice and pretty! lots of detail in the instrumentation and production, great melodic and harmonic sense, really nice stereo image and great mixing (mostly!). i think there were some transitional parts that felt a bit like afterthoughts, especially the drawn out bitcrushed arp coming into the final section. like you got bored making the song and just made some random noise - it's fine but just not as exciting as hearing a satisfying build and drop y'know? also the bass elements in this track are overly heavy and clashing a bit. i think you wanna duck the basslines under the amen kick and then maybe even turn them down some. the fuzz bass at the end is especially loud on the lower notes and then falls off on the high note, really you should gently highpass the bass so the high note volume is the volume of the low notes, and then use a clean bassline to fill the space out. otherwise, this track is wonderful!

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

samlrc responds:

thank you for the feedback ^^
i wanted to make the song better and those comments helped me a lot too, thank you so much for that

[Gone (Trap)]

this track is a rollercoaster ride from the vocal house piano chords to the metallic riddim basses, but it transitions smoothly and remains exciting and full of detail throughout. i think the intro is a bit too long and the bass is introduced too fully and too soon. kinda makes the drop feel too much like the intro despite the big tonal shift. in spite of all the headroom in the waveform the track feels very squashed and claustrophobic - partially due to compression but also the narrow stereo image and the low-mid heavy bass layer flattening the sub down. looks like you have plenty of real headroom to work with so don't even trip, just crank the kick and the main snareclap up, maybe take the bass down a little, and push that ceiling up some more. great track!

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

reddyxu responds:

Thank you so much for reviewing! I'll keep in mind what you said in the future tracks I submit to the site.

[Table Scraps]

nice to see another one-person punk band in this bracket. pretty good bass and guitar playing, but the synth solo at the end is dynamite! the bass and cymbals are way too loud, creating this big midrange deficiency in the track which makes it sound kinda weak. generally you want the kick and snare to be the loudest drums and have the cymbals/overheads a bit further underneath - right now it gets tiring to listen to those loud cymbals for the whole time. vocals are ok but could seriously use some doubletracking, harmonies, extra parts. bit of compression + eq to shape the vocal tone, bit of reverb/delay to give them width, and if you're feeling adventurous maybe rewrite some of the lines that don't fit in the bar properly so your delivery isn't awkward in those sections - e.g. "and you expect us to be ok with this" can be "are we supposed to be ok with this?" and will fit without you having to go full rap god. anyway your recording, mixing, and songwriting will improve with practice, so keep making more!

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

realmaskband responds:

Thank you for the advice! I realized after the deadline that I could have mixed the drums a bit better. I was trying out a different set of sounds for my kit and forgot to mess around with the mix of it. The only thing I didn't really understand from your criticism was what you meant by midrange deficiency. Is that referring to like eq-ing something or is it related to panning?

[jafol]

cool to hear some chiptune-ish sounds again. sounds like a lot of disparate elements thrown together without a lot of thought though. quite a few clashing lines without any common melodic or harmonic thread. that long chainsaw bass sound has some nasty overtones which mess with the other instruments too, and holds on some questionable notes itself. everything at the end works really nicely though, so you should build a new track on those elements there. the drums are very uninteresting and don't have any variation either, which is a bummer. appreciate the effort though.

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

PeculiarAlfred responds:

il try to chill out the song a bit and make the drums variate. thanks for the review

[Dragon Warrior Modified]

loving the mix of almost chiptune sounds and the smokey synthwave drums. and those drums POP, i love that! the non-synthwavey builds have a lot of weight and energy too. i think there are too many cutaways throughtout though, and the pacing of the buildups is often really awkward, either way too drawn out or very stunted and sudden with reverse crashes that cut off too soon or leak into the drop. generally the structure seems a little messy - really you just want one, maybe two breakdowns and the occasional, short cutaway (like 2-4 beats). the ending is very abrupt and unsatisfying. normally i tell people to add more soft percussion but there's this cool synth doing the job of a shaker (first at 2:11) so i'll accept that. stereo image is quite narrow too. pretty cool overall, though!

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

OliRO responds:

Thank you so much for the review! This helps a ton for me to get better :D

[Grimey Grapple!]

cute little tune, for sure an effective theme for a character intro. i think the intro is too long and a little random with how the drum comes in and then drops out, only to come in again but still the same volume. not an effective buildup strategy. the floor tom banging away on the left side feels weird in headphones, if you can center it a little more (but not completely) that would be nice. the rising synth line is really nice but cuts out suddenly at 0:48 without resolving. you could play the top note and then hold it, fade it out, and then fade it back in for the the ending. THEN you can cut it suddenly when it drops to the one instrument at 0:59 and it will feel awesome and satisfying. would be cool to hear you make something longer with a little more variety!

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

Noudele responds:

thank you!!! I really appreciate the critical feedback! I'll look at your notes once my computer is up and running, and I'm able to compise again.

[Sword of Destiny]

really enjoy the atmosphere in this! the way you mixed synth elements with cinematic instruments is really clever, and while some of the sampled instruments are not the best quality the orchestration leans into the strength of each very nicely. the kinda distorted reedy synth that plays throughout (first at 0:24) is cool but is just a bit too harsh, i think it just needs a nice warm lowpass filter before the reverb. would be good to get a transitional chord and melodic variation into the key change at the end just to pump up that final climax. and then don't fade the climax out halfway before it's finished - unless you're a dominatrix. i would, however, fade out the delay on the tinkly instrument at the end so that the last note is clear and resolute, without the preceding passage echoing on after it. great work overall though!

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

NnolokK responds:

Thank you for the honest critique. I will keep what you said in mind if I choose to write in this style of music again in the future. =)

[Entrañas eternas]

i really like the way the synth textures swirl in this track. a lot of very simple and effective sound design here. i felt that the melodies weren't as effective as the sounds they were played on. the chords progression were cool but often played against the sidechained bass sound which was droning on a wrong or ineffective note, which created a less compelling harmonic structure. the 909 snare is an interesting choice; i think it's too strong and bright for the track, but that could be because you left it dry. it would be good to have more soft percussive elements in this - i like the whitenoise sweep and the occasional reverb-soaked clap though. not a bad song, but i think if you revise that bass part so that it's following the rest of your instruments properly it would be a lot more interesting.

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

MOTOTTREX responds:

Hey I explicitly asked for no review in the track!