stunkel's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Velcro]

NGADM review

That melody is so awesome dude. I was smiling the entire time for this track. It’s a really nice change of pace to hear something as happy as this in these reviews. And I’m really glad I was assigned to review this one! One thing that I find very difficult to do in music, as well as what I hear in other peoples music, is to make really complex and quickly played melody sound good like it does in your track. Not only sounding good, but memorable as well.
This whole track has an awesome personality. I do have to say that the synths used are fairly generic and I feel like I’ve heard them a lot before. And usually the instrumentation in a track can really be a huge prediction in the general atmosphere and personality of a track. However, your rhythmic and melodic elements really overshadow the generic synths and by this you have created a super unique personality for the track. It really reminds me of something from the later Megaman games.
Right from the start, that melody kicks in at 0:22 and I feel like I’m being pushed against the back of my seat from the G-force on a rollercoaster or something while this song plays. The first melody caught me off guard honestly and was a pleasant surprise. You have really nice structure throughout this track. You keep it all really diverse and the fact that most of this track is a solo is pretty badass as well. It’s a pretty cool feeling to look at the time of the track and realize that only 1 minute has gone by and SO much has happened, and then I have almost 3 more minutes of awesomeness! You nicely incorporate more instrumentation appropriately to make the track more enjoyable and immersive during certain points as well.
The mixing is pretty solid too. Everything sounds really clean. I think that the mastering could use some work though. It sounds really nice on all speakers, however I noticed that on certain sets of speakers and headphones it sounded way better than others. I won’t take off points for this, but it’s something I thought I should mention. It’s really that it’s way more enjoyable when I listen with my computer speakers as opposed to my mixing headphones. The drums… which some other people have commented on, I’m a little indecisive about. I actually don’t think it took away from the track that they were at this volume, but the sound of them was totally fine and fit the track. I think it was fine whether you left them at this volume or raised it.
Also, the triplet section that you went into at 1:29 is SO awesome. You had such a seamless transition into an entirely rhythmic section that still fit really well with the rest of the track. Also, what taintedlogic said about winding the piece down at the end was REALLY awesome too, which I overlooked. Each part is super unique from one another, and presents a new rhythmic and melodic element all of the time, and each part still flows with eachother so well. You really did a great job on the compositional structure for this.
So I keep coming back this track while I’m doing these reviews over a course of a few days. There isn’t a single point in the track where I get bored or feel like I want it to be over. The judge skype chat was loving this song so much man, including myself.
Thanks for this track, I had a ton of fun listening to it and reviewing it. This is definitely my favorite from round 1. Sorry you didn’t make it to the next round :/ I’m not familiar with your other work, but the judges all said that this is a huge step from your previous work, so congrats on that. Seriously, great work! And favorited.

9.2/10

-Ryan

LunacyEcho responds:

Hi stunkel! What a review! o.o

=> That melody =>

Aha, funny thing about the melody. When I first came up with it, it was really slow and somber, and I thought about doing some epic orchestral theme to go along with it. The thing at 0:31-0:41 was actually my original melody, and in my head, it was originally much slower and played on strings. I fiddled around with it in Logic until I remembered I don't know how to orchestral, then sped it up and made it electronic. Turns out, it was an awesome melody!

The "chorus" melodies at 1:06, 1:52, and 3:15 all come from me misremembering and misplaying the first melody, lol. Funnily enough, they turned out to be more interesting and memorable! Go figure. :D

=> fairly generic =>

I'm pretty bad at sound design. I guess I sort of get used to hearing certain instrumentations in my melodies, then I get so fond of them that I don't bother changing them post-composition! :D johnfn's right. I should do chiptune.

=> later Megaman games =>

Ooh, I need to check this out! :D

=> SO much has happened =>

I actually took a few tips from johnfn about maintaining listener interest. :P According to him, if you switch something up every eight bars, the listener won't get very bored, and I tried to do that here!

=> most of this track is a solo =>

Solos are badass, aren't they? ;)

=> mixing/mastering =>

...aaand here's the moment when I admit I know very little about production. :D Interesting how it turned out to sound different on different speakers. I mean, I only used my computer speakers and headphones to mix this, so I didn't have that many points of reference! I'll try to do something about that for future music :P

=> drums =>

I feel like my drum mixing is notoriously bad, since in my headphones, I tend to hear drums louder than what most other speakers display. Maybe that's why I always mix them too quietly. Glad you liked them at this volume, though! Gives me hope that maybe I'm getting better. :D

=> judge skype chat =>

You guys keep mentioning this mysterious Skype chat! It's really piquing my curiosity. ;)

=> favorite from round 1 =>

:O Thank you for such high praise!

I guess I'll just sit here, hoping that someone from the group of 16 drops out. :P But even if they don't (which will probably happen lol), I'm still completely satisfied with what I've accomplished. I'm also slightly scared of this being a one-hit wonder and all my music going downhill from here!

=> huge step =>

haha step

But actually, I'd agree with them on this account. :P Personally, I'm pretty blown away at how far I've come in just a year. I was in the NGADM last year, but I completely bombed with a piece called 'Dawnglide'. I thought the judges were being harsh at the time, but when I listen to this and listen back to that, I can really see what the judges were saying and I'm just glad I could improve this much. :P

Thank you for the insanely positive and huge review! And thanks for all your work in the NGADM. Have fun in the rest of the rounds, and I hope to be a part of this again next year! :D:D

[Anticipate]

NGADM Review

I like the ideas in this track! It’s groovy and fun to listen to. The start of the song is pretty nice and the overall structure has nice and appropriate dynamics changes according to the melodic content. I feel that the structure of the song is very basic though. It’s not bad by any means, but it’s definitely nothing crazy. One thing I would have liked to hear is more diverse melodies. Diversity in your track is something that could be done all around. The melodies, the structure, the arrangement could all use a lot of changes. The track could be a lot more exciting and immersive if it had unique themes to listen to throughout it. The biggest tip I would give overall to make this better is to simply make it more diverse. I think you’ll hear a huge difference in your tracks!

6.5/10

-Ryan

[Pluto]

NGADM Review

So this definitely feels like Pluto… you meant Mickey Mouse’s pet right? Because I can totally see him walking in slow motion down the street while slowly putting on sunglasses to this song. So I felt the track is pretty immersive and fun to listen to. It definitely had an atmosphere to it. I felt that it could have been a bit more engaging though. There isn’t a whole lot of musical or melodic variety to it unfortunately and as a result makes the track sound bland. If the song changed up more in it’s dynamics, melodic content, and general arrangement, it could have a lot more going for it!
The drop itself is pretty cool too! The build up to the drop could have used some work because it felt like it came out of nowhere. This is where better composition comes into play. If it was lead more to that drop. Adding something like another synth to build up to the snare drum build up, or a bouncing synth could have been nice. You even could have used a melody to build that up. Also the snare drum build up was very out of sync to the rest of the music from a rhythmic standpoint.
So overall, the track was okay. I just felt it was lacking in most compositional sides of it. As a result of this it turned out to be pretty bland and didn’t give the track a lot of personality. Keep it up!

6/10

-Ryan

Pandasticality responds:

Pluto as in the planet not mickey mouses pet xD thank you or the review!
- Pandasticality

[~Echo~ Redemption (NGADM R1)]

NGADM Review

This is so pretty! I have a lot to say about this. The track from the start had me immersed fully and you transitioned so seamlessly from one part to the next. That’s all I can really say on the matter, it just generally sounded beautiful from the start and the atmosphere which you created really carried on nicely and hardly broke throughout the track.
Composition really pushes the track towards this for me. Your use of dynamic changes in combination with song structure worked wonderfully. Melodies are really nice as well. You seriously nailed this whole track on the side of composition, structure, and melodic themes to create a super immersive experience.
Unfortunately, your production, instrument choice and mixing could use work at some points. From the beginning up until about the 1:40 mark, I absolutely loved your instrument choices and everything was smoothed together so perfectly. What was a little disappointing was to hear the part at 1:45 be a little weaker. It sounded like you were trying to go for something a little bit bigger, and it seemed to fall short due to the instrument choice, mixing and production. For example, using a bigger snare would have been awesome, as well as changing the sound of the synthesizers used. Again, melodic themes and chord progressions sound really pretty, I just felt it could have used more work on the production side. I hear really really nice ideas in the composition, but I the production just takes a hit.
This is awesome though, keep at it! Favorited.

8/10

-Ryan

[Oblivious]

NGADM review

So I actually really like the sound of this track. The drums when they first come in keep me bouncing as drum n bass inevitably does. Production of the drums sound REALLY solid, which is most of the production in drum n bass music and generally most music. So the downfall of this track to me is generally just compositional value and the melody. The melody is memorable but only because it feels sort of annoying, it really isn’t something that I can groove to. When I hear those awesome drums like you have in the beginning of your track, I expect a kickass melody to come in that will make me want to groove even more with the track.
Due to the melody not having any real depth or structure to guide the song in a proper manner, I feel the composition takes a hit from this, because I notice a lot of dynamic changes which sound really nice. The sound and dynamics of the drums changing is really nice, but is hurt by the melody not really guiding it in any direction. Basically, the composition and structure sound nice, but it’s overshadowed because the melody isn’t so great.
Mastering was solid! But I thought I’d mention some problems I noticed. The track was nice and loud which is great and a big part of mastering, but when I listened to this track across different speakers, some problems like having unwanted muddiness appeared. I’m not taking off any points for this, but I felt that it would be worth mentioning to help you on future tracks.

6.5/10

-Ryan

[Friction Point]

Hey man! So basically I want to start this off by saying the track is REALLY good. The production and mixing is outstanding. And your playing is undoubtedly incredible. In that regard, I really have nothing bad to say. So I'll just go through what I didn't like since I think that's what's important for self-improvement and such.

So my main problem with this track is just one thing really. And it's that it doesn't really grab my attention. It didn't really have me wanting to come back for more, and I didn't quite feel an emotional connection to the music being played. The production and mixing like I said certainly grabs my attention. But I just feel that a lot of the things in this track from a compositional standpoint generally doesn't work properly for this track. I really don't know if it's the melodies or the compositional structure of the song that isn't working for me or what. I can tell that you had some awesome ideas, the beginning had me bobbing my head getting ready for what was in store, but most of the track was not the case in this sense. I just felt that a lot of the track was random playing and improvisation, which isn't a problem at all, but a lot of it didn't feel super memorable to me. There's a lot of fast playing and quick melodies being played, which is certainly impressive, but it just didn't stick with me like for example lunacyechos track (you mentioned you heard it so I thought it'd be a solid example). Miles Davis said that the notes that he plays doesn't mean nearly as much as the space between notes. To be more specific, the timing from one note to the next is what matters more, letting the listener anticipate what is coming next.

I feel this review was sort of all of the place, and it's honestly because I'm not sure what the solution to what I am feeling is, which is why I just said a bunch of random stuff including quoting Miles Davis. It could be completely subjective from my end that I feel this way, but I figured I'd just share my thoughts on it. Looking forward to your next track! This was still definitely the best in your group from round 1. Good luck in NGADM!

p.s. if you'd like me to try to go more indepth on the track to be more specific since I didn't give a clear solution, send me a PM and I'll give the track a little more time.

Rated 5/5

-Ryan

PirateCrab responds:

No no no this was exactly what I wanted to hear. It wasn't all over the place at all. From what I can gather there was no real discernible melody that made you go "Oooo that. I wanna hear more of that!" which is totally fine. I've tried to do that in the chorus but what makes me go "THAT. PUT IT IN!" probably doesn't work for everyone!

Most of the tracks I post won't be full on shred mode either, so you'll hear some more notable melodies come out hopefully which will catch your ears.

Glad the production and everything else was spot on though, makes the writing for my following tracks 10x easier ;) Cheers pal!

[Stompstump Peak (Onefin Remix)]

So here's a review since you asked!

I love pokemon, but I haven't actually played the mystery dungeon games. The music is probably my most listened to of any game series ever. Mystery dungeon music has escaped me though.

So the track itself. The ideas are really nice and you have some nice compositional ideas like the rewind at 0:43. I really like parts that change the dynamics like at 1:32. Your melodies are also really nice that lie underneath everything. In terms of the arrangement, the melodies all seem to compliment each other pretty well. I don't quite understand the part at 2:37 in terms of the arrangement, by that I mean I think a smoother/cleaner transition could have been accomplished. While the dynamic changes are really nice, I feel the structure seems to be a little bit hap-hazardous. Like I mentioned at 2:37, I feel a smoother transition could have been arranged at many points. The general parts and how their order comes really nicely, but the transition from one part to the next feels a little uneventful.

The mixing needs some work however... It's a combination of how the sounds of the instruments themselves sound on their own, as well as the instruments and how they compliment eachother. I mentioned earlier that the melodies compliment eachother really well, but this is negated by the fact that the mixing is a little bit shallow. To make those nice melodies work together better, some better mixing would really pull this track together! An example of the general sound of the instruments not working would be the low drum at 0:45. It feels really flabby and like it has a loose drum head. I realize you might not have access to great samples, but if you read up on compression and equalization and learn how to use them properly, that is all you will need to fix up your mix. You will be able to create something really full. So my recommendations would be to read indepth on equalization and compression. You will only be able to go so far with those mixing aspects, so better samples will need to be accessed. Having better samples will also make it much easier and less time consuming for your project.

Hope all of this helped!

3/5 stars
Rated 5/5

-Ryan

Onefin responds:

First off, thanks for spending the time to write me a review! I appreciate your criticism, since it's so hard to come by these days.

Mixing. Yeah, that's one thing I actually don't know how to do, like, at all. When I mix I usually just move faders and try to EQ things. Overall a pretty amateurish approach. Compression is something I have a general understanding of but not nearly enough to actually use it to make things sound good. EQ, for me, is just "oh, this sound has lots of presence here, let's raise that. and this sound plays with another sound that has presence here, let's lower that. cut lows, cut highs, done" I've tried finding good sources but a lot don't help much since they're generally tailored to a certain breed of music and/or are hard to follow. And samples, yeah, I have no money so I have to go for free samples. I've tried looking up really good kicks I can use, to no avail. :( If you could link me somewhere that would be great...

Melodies: Since this is a remix, a lot of the melodies aren't actually my original work. But the rewind and the dynamic change are both totally my idea, so thanks! As for the transition that needs work, well, that's all I could come up with :| I had nothing better. Generally when I make complextro like this there's a lot of disorienting hap-hazardness going on which isn't usually seen in my more sane tracks (hopefully, anyway). But I'll keep trying!

And finally, dude, you should seriously play some Mystery Dungeon games! They are the BEST Pokemon games EVER, no joke!

Thanks so much for the review, and I'll try and work on the things you pointed out!

[Becoming Independent]

I think it fits really well man. In regards to you thinking it sounds cheesy, I have in some things I have scored or done music for, and noticed that a lot of the cheesyness comes from the picture it is fit with. I bet you if you put this song in a Mario Galaxy Game you wouldn't think it's so cheesy anymore. There are some parts I would say can be cheesy without the picture, but that is all in the instrumentation in my opinion. Great work man! Especially for doing it in one night.

Step responds:

Ohey, thanks for dropping by m8.

I think it fits pretty well too, myself! Maybe the brass sections were a bit too uplifting for what happened in the video but I wanted to add a section like that in a score about independence haha. I can't really imagine this in a Mario Galaxy game though. This is the LAST piece of music of mine that I'd expect to be compared with something as amazing as Mario Galaxy music.

GLAD YOU LIKE IT THOUGH. Thanks again. c:

[Chompy]

u shud haf let me rap on dis dope trak. i can bust out sum killer rhymes 4 ya.

.5 because you aint let me spit some words on dis.

...but i actually rated it 5 c: very awesome especially on such short notice.

Step responds:

stinkle sunds! next tiem tlel me earlier 4 d rappin. we cud of maed some tight shizz yeh?