midimachine's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Untitled 75 (PxTone)]

this has a really nice megadrive aesthetic, would be cool if the soundfont had more interesting pulsewave instruments but the sound design is still fairly solid - i like the use of low noise in some of the quieter sections, builds a really nice atmosphere without being obnoxious. would've been good to have more stereo range, even just a ping-pong effect on the lead echos would be magical.

i like the chord progressions and the way you develop the piece structurally, there's some really nice modulations here and there (especially at the end before it loops, so good). none of the melodies struck me as being particularly memorable so it felt a lot like a bunch of different solos rather than a cohesive theme. this isn't even necessarily a problem with the piece, i just generally don't gravitate towards long and elaborate melodies :v

anyway this is good, keep it up!

Random-storykeeper responds:

Oh wow, thanks for the review! PxTone doesn't really allow for advanced mixing, but I could probably mess around more with it post-export.

Hmm, I'm not really sure how to make memorable melodies without being overly repetitive about them. I guess I had progression in mind more over memorable parts. But thanks again for your thoughtful feedback! :D

[Hoverbikers]

o wow that bass is bassy. too bassy tbh, doesn't give the kick any room at all. i don't really like the way this beat plods along but i appreciate minimalism. might be cool to bring those hats down or filter them a bit, maybe introduce some syncopation to the kick/snare pattern - even a delay effect on the clap would go a long way towards generating interest in the rhythm, and really add to the classic dub kinda sound you have going here

the instrumentation is pretty unique and i like the dark deep-house kinda vibes. feels like everything's been run through this really harsh plate reverb - got that concrete bunker feel and it's kinda claustrophobic. i think you could add a smoother, longer reverb under some things and dial back the wet mix on the current reverb to open the mix a bit more and give the pad synths a bit more life.

it also doesn't really follow any structural conventions and the overall dynamics are a bit of a flatline, would be cool to cut some builds and drops in (they dont have to be obnoxious), have some time without the bass at all in the beginning and middle so that when it kicks back in it really *means something* y'know?

keep it up

Kalviter responds:

Thanks for the feedback! The bass was a problem on this, for whatever reason my normal mixing style just shoved the kick and the bass right together and I was scratching my head getting it to try and work. I'll avoid that synth and sample in the future. The plate reverb isn't entirely deliberate, each instrument has it's own delay/reverb effect on it if it has one at all. I do agree on changing them up on some instruments though. Things like the structure and robotic kick/snare combo are intentional, cos I'm going for minimalistic production style. It's my little attempt at being slightly "artsy" and pretentious.

Thanks again for reviewing!

[Popcorn]

definitely mess with automating the width/duty cycle of pulse instruments, it adds so much flavour to the sounds. the sound design in this is really boring even (or especially?) by chiptune standards, and pulsewidth/duty cycle modulation matches what the hardware is capable of anyway. but as long as you're using a DAW maybe ease up the bass frequencies on that *TRIANGLE* bass (god dammit skye!) and carve some dynamics into the piece to make that last "chorus" really punch through and stand out as the epic conclusion that it wants to be.

keep it up

Postchord responds:

Cheers. The plugin I used is pretty basic, no width/cycle options, just 4 instruments to choose from. Still, it let me have a shot at this without getting in too far over my head. Recently been using LSDJ which is great, so I'll play around with some different flavours in there. Thanks again dude.

[Fire]

so it's got all the pieces of a really great tune - each individual element sounds really good. but overall i think the instrument mix is a little bloated and a lot of the percs are tinny, like if you did the gain staging the way you wanted it to come across with mastering, but before you actually mastered it - if that makes sense? the kick is having a sad time all the way down there, too :( basically just bring the kick up and the vocals down before you hit that master comp (maybe duck some low/low-mid freqs of the vocal track under the kick and snare too?). the main snare and claps cuts through really nicely though - love that tonal element to the snare layer too.

i'd probably dial back the reverb a little on the vocal, or maybe just shorten the feedback to tighten it up a little - personally i like to use separate short and long reverbs to define the space of the track a bit more. can't fault the composition, really enjoyed the instrumentation and what you're doing with the rhodes especially. would've been good to mix up the transitions/drops/whatever when it kicks back in at 1:50 - cause repeating the first section isn't a bad thing, but you can trick most listeners into thinking it's more different if you change the buildup and drop in a few key areas.

anyway good track, enjoyed it a lot. keep em coming!

Lunar-Luxury responds:

That was probably one of the best feedback comments I've ever received. Also, I agree 110% with what you're saying. After listening to it a million times I definitely could've put together a better mix down I guess I just wanted to have a tune done because I hadn't finished anything in a while. I will certainly work on my mix game and try to make the next songs progressions more interesting. Thank you for the awesome comment I couldn't have asked for a better response :)

[Tonight We Fall]

don't really have a lot to say about the mix, it's plenty loud already and nicely balanced (if a little bottom-heavy). i think the looooong highpass sweep at the start feels kind awkward until the rhythm changes and those kinda bubbly percs stand out more - maybe just sit with a soft hi-hat on the beat and morph the pad instead.
i don't listen to heaps of atmospheric or liquid, but i swear there's meant to be another motif of some sort swirling about over the pads and percussion - doesn't even need to be melodic, just some kind of sound movement, like some filter sweeps on the pads and/or reese, or a vocal line or something. there's nothing wrong with a minimal approach but there still needs to be some development within each section. i do like that you regularly deviate from the 2-step rhythm, that's a good start. at the moment this still kinda sounds like a long background loop.

SierraRising responds:

I´ll work on keeping the movement of the track less stale in the future, though I´m glad you found the balance good. I´m always very nervous about automating synths, but I will try and overcome this next time. Thank you very much for the review, it means a lot to me.

[FITE! (Original Mix)]

enjoying the kinda prog-house intro and filter sweep that leads into the standard buildup. the transition from the major key melody into the relative minor for the main section is really well executed. nice variety of synth sounds, although the transitions between them are sometimes jarring. the chromatic runs and other variations on the main riff are used well.

the mastering kinda lets this one down though - the kickbass needs to be the loudest thing in the mix before it hits the mastering process but at the moment all the synths are stomping all over the meat and bones of the track. that main rough lead is the worst offender, especially when it jumps up the octave. i mean, i think the levels themselves are probably fine for all the synths (maybe that main lead can come down a bit), you just need to pump up da bass yooooo \m/

Wick3dRabbit responds:

Haha thanks for your review man! Maybe because this is the first time i'm mastering a track myself so that i messed up a couple things ;)
Really appreciate your advices man,gonna take it into account next time!

[Slave and Master]

i'm really enjoying the blend of old-school industrial synth work and more modern percussion sounds. the section from 1:19 onward is awesome, that little FM synth riff drives the rhythm really nicely - love the energy here. overall there's a lot more dynamics in this mix than a lot of ebm, although there's this filtered noise thing panning about over the solo towards the end which i feel is kinda loud? the ending is great, lots of people don't like sudden endings but i think they're the absolute best :v

one thing with the vocals - i understand that the distortion is a very important aspect of this style. BUT i really feel like you should've either dialed back the saturation so that only the peaks were clipped and then compressed AFTER the distortion, or used a noise gate before the current distortion/compression settings. right now the "air" from the voice recordings is constant and overbearing, and makes the call and response in the verse kinda unintelligible. the "clean" sound that goes over the top in the chorus and appears on its own after the solo is really great though.

good work!

ConcreteBalloon responds:

Thank you very much! I do tend to go HAM on the distortion, and a lot of the time I like making parts unintelligible, but that's some of the skinny puppy influence in me haha.
Your feedback means a lot! Thank you again :)

[/Shadow in Darkness\ (Nary OST)]

is it mostly centered cause the game needs it to be? the whole thing could do with some stereo imaging - pan percussion and other instruments around so that they can stand out in the mix without necessarily needing to be loud. really you just want the kick and bass fully centered and everything else can go around that.

nailed the touhou kinda vibe with the instrumentation. melodies are good but kinda meandering? i guess not all of this kind of stuff is super memorable but none of the main leads really grabbed me. though i liked the modulations at around 1:12 onward - they transitioned really nicely into the key change in the last section.

AED4 responds:

Honestly i just didn't know better to use panning in my mixing. I actually learned about that only two days ago...

And yeah, I agree that especially the first melody is pretty dull. I've been kinda short on inspiration for melodies lately.