stunkel's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[The Prodigal]

NGADM Review:

This is the best and most memorable song in the competition. And the scores you got really show it. I know that I gave the lowest score out of the judges and it brought your average down a little bit, but it's mainly because I rated soundchris's track first and liked this track that much more. I have VERY little to comment on with this track, and only nitpicks. This has a wonderful soundscape and you chose each instruments sounds perfectly. The kick drum has a really nice, low feel that fits the environment of the song. The same with the snare and the guitar.

Vocals are awesome man. First off, it's not very fair because I'm obsessed with guy/girl duets. I don't have anything to comment on except that it would have been nice to hear the vocals panned a little bit more. You and your wife and Josh and his wife expressed so much emotion in your singing, and it was all composed very well. Vocals can be difficult, but you nailed it man.

And obviously, the part at 2:08. Holy shit dude. Everytime I listen to it I get chills (only listened to this on loop about 20 times now, nbd). It's just so unexpected and fits so nicely. The changes in the guitar, the drums, the vocals. I love it man. I can only describe all of the elements of this track as tasteful. Everything feels to be placed naturally and like the song needs it to be complete, but I didn't know I wanted it until you put it in the track.

Mixing is really solid too man, this might just be a preference, and I feel it might not really work with the emotion and soundscape of the track, but I would have liked to hear the overall track to be a little brighter. This could be fixed in mastering I'm sure. But again, just a nitpick. I feel this track has a much greater quality than your previous work in this competition which is awesome to hear. I feel it might have to do with the samples you usually use. Whatever it is, you seemed to have nailed it here.

Great work man, looking forward to your next entry. Good luck in finals!

9.6/10

-Ryan

bassfiddlejones responds:

Stunkel, thank you for the kind review! We really loved making this song. I hear you about the mix, though I think generally it's a pretty minor thing. Thanks for your comment on the vocals, this is really my first time putting my voice out there in a recording, I'm glad it went ok!

[~SW~ Annar]

NGADM Review:

The crispness of your drums are always so awesome man ;_; Clarity being your #1 priority, I'd say you nailed it. Everything is crystal clear, bright and overall very pleasing sonically. Two things bothered me a little bit. I wasn't a huge fan of the lead synths, in particular, the one at 1:14 that plays just doesn't sit in with the rest of the instruments so well to me. The second thing is the melody felt directionless. The guitar part felt very directional and absolutely loved that. But I want to feel an emotional connection to the music. I can tell you put a lot of work into all of your music, but in this track, the melody seems to feel rushed and soulless. 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. Keep it up man!

8.6/10

-Ryan

SkyeWint responds:

I have had a few issues with directionless melodies at some points. Most of the sections in this were very deliberate, and intended to work through a lot of the rest of the piece.

I'm curious about why, specifically, you didn't like the synths. I'm fine with your not liking them, mind - I just want to know why so that I can avoid it in the future if it's an issue that could happen again!

[Vanquish the Night]

NGADM Review:

Dude, this is so cool. The number of times which you changed time in this song is absolutely ridiculous. The attention to detail in the layers and arrangement is freaking awesome. Like when you add (what sounds like) taikos right before the part with piano at 1:25. It's pretty far buried in the mix, but I think that's a really nice place for it honestly. The acoustic guitar solo is freaking awesome dude. The only thing I have to say about these solos is sometimes they go a bit into randomness and not really melodicness. As in, it's cool that you guys are playing pretty fast stuff, but I'm not really feeling anything from it, that's for the some of the part anyways. Other melodic theme played throughout the track are beautiful.

Excellent excellent excellent composition. My favorite part being 3:43, it's awesome how seamlessly you were able to change the pace of the song and make it sound good. The part following that is really awesome too. You're drums dude, they have so much emotion and feel to them. The final ending is beautiful as well, where those horns come in playing staccatto bits.

A few other complaints: I realized what it was last time that sounded "cheesy" to me, I think one of the judges cleared it up, but it's your samples that seem to bother me. The piano sounds very bright and although that can be appropriate at times, I feel it hasn't worked in this or the last track. Same with the brass, the brass work GREAT compositionally, but sonically I felt it could use some work.

Again, send me a message if you need any clarification.

9/10

-Ryan

bassfiddlejones responds:

Ryan thanks for the review man. We went back and forth with which piano sample to use and ultimately decided on several, but I hear you. When constrained to two weeks one of the biggest hurdles of a piece of this magnitude is spending time fine tuning each individual instrument to sound perfect - I agree the samples weren't really up to par with the rest of the piece. Gotta cut your losses at some point and forge ahead! We might revisit all this stuff later and adjust the minute details. Thanks for the review again, your feedback really does help!

[Modern Day Mafia]

NGADM Review:

So you clearly put a lot of work into this. I can tell by the always changing melodies and the drums being very complex is really awesome. So I think what this track did for me was that the rhythmic aspect of each instrument you have don't really compliment eachother very well. You have a bunch of moving parts which is fine, but they don't quite connect so well. This results in something that is not very fluid. I would say your composition is headed in the right direction, but solidifying your rhythmic side of the music will help make everything more orderly and create a better emotional experience. I'm also not a huge fan of the instrument combination, but I think that touching on the rhythmic stuff is most important to improve on. Nice work!

7.8/10

-Ryan

frootza responds:

Thanks dude. Should have not submitted an arrangement for my live band. Maybe I will do some electronica next time or something,

[~SW~ Thurm ins_wa_]

NGADM:

Holy crap, when I read MetalRenard's review this totally reminds me of worms. Anyways, this is solid man! The production as usual is really pleasant to listen to and you really make the weird timing of the music comes out as seamless and enjoyable. The thing that really bugged me in this track was the melody. There doesn't seem to be a very well defined one and because of this I don't really feel a huge connection to it. There's no factor that really attracts me beyond the uniqueness of it, which for me isn't enough. We talked on skype and it sounds like you are working hard on the new song with a better melody, so I look forward to it :) Congrats on winning this round, and nice work man!

8.7/10

-Ryan

SkyeWint responds:

Thanks, Stunkel!

You bet I am! And dear god I have so much to do by tomorrow.

[Facing the Foe]

NGADM Review:

So I absolutely love the RPG style you guys went for. And the idea of going for it with the sound samples you used makes it even better. However, I do have to say, it feels a little messy at times as MetalRenard said. The composition is really lovely, but it's a little bit difficult to follow because there's always so much going on. Despite all of this though, the melodies and composition IS lovely. I do have to say despite, my love for the SNES like samples you used, it makes the track sonically not as pretty as it could be, and in a full orchestra arrangement, this could absolutely beautiful. Anyways, I really enjoyed this. Nice loop also :)

8.6/10

-Ryan

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

Phew. Thank you for leaving a slightly shorter review! I've been responding to these for a while now :)
I think you still managed to say everything you needed to say, so it's perfect.

I'm glad you like the RPG style. I was pretty sure you'd like it too, having heard several of your game music inspired tracks as well.

I agree with the messiness too. I think that it's okay that there is much going on though, as I'm sure that in a real game, after listening to this a few times, you'd know every part by heart.
Once again, I'm glad to hear that my melodies and the overall composition hit home, and same goes for the loop.

I definitely agree that a great vst library as well as great production skills could add so much more to the track :D!

Thank you for judging, as well as for the review :)

[What Lies Beyond]

NGADM review:

Hey man, so this track was really pretty to listen to. I really love orchestral stuff and this wasn't an exception. I think the main thing that bothered me in your track was the general sound of it. I think this has to do with the realism of the instruments and your samples used in the track. It sort of just felt flat in that regard. There are tons of guides to help you with making your orchestrations more realistic, I'd be happy to send you one through PM if you need one.

Another area where it fell sort of flat was in the dynamics and compostion. I didn't feel it building up or dropping down at all in volume or frequency content. Layers were added and subtracted quite often I noticed, but it all felt a little too balanced for my taste. I do like how this fits nicely in an RPG genre, but it just doesn't move me quite as much as I'd like emotionally if that makes sense. Anyways, nice track! And thanks for following btw c:

8.6/10

-Ryan

ChronoNomad responds:

Hey, Ryan! So many NGADM reviews at once, it's like Christmas...

Pretty to listen to is good. Glad that the orchestral stuff is to your liking, and I would certainly be interested in ways to make the orchestrations sound more realistic. Been doing my best in this regard, but can't say anyone's really offered me any guides or actual insights, so I would be a fool to turn down such aid. PM away, my friend! Please do, and thank you for the offer. I'm here to learn and improve, after all! :D

Ah, well...this is true, I suppose. All the rampant EDM tracks get away with being compressed to the gills, but I can put more effort into the rise and fall of the Roman Empi--er, I mean orchestral instruments. Yeah, those. I guess adding and subtracting layers on a regular basis does not equate to the same thing, so you got me there. Once again, I really love the RPG comparisons, but I definitely don't want the music to seem lacking in emotion. That is essentially the holy grail of the media world, after all.

Happy to follow, man! You're one talented dude. Been enjoying your tracks for a long time now, but sometimes I forget to click that tiny heart. :v

[Unsung Hero]

NGADM Review:

I felt a very RPG element to the track when I first started listening. Your composition is really a pleasure to listen to through this competition so far, I'm really excited to see what comes next. I'm very surprised at how well you are able to combine such diverse instrumentation together in a coherent piece of music and make it sound really nice as well. Your melodies and compositional ideas really flow nicely from one part to the next and honestly, I have nothing to say other than I love it. Where this song falls short for me is the production. The strings sound a little bit fake to me, and the piano sound is a little cheesy. I also felt that the general instrumentation, while you made it work really well with the overall composition of the track, could have been better selected. I'm not sure why, but most of it struck me as a little cheesy. Really really solid job on this though. You guys have been making some great tracks so far, and I'm really looking forward to the next one!

8.7/10

-Ryan

bassfiddlejones responds:

Glad you've been enjoying the tracks! Thanks for the review. I'd like to hear more about your thoughts that's it's a little cheesy, and what you would do to improve it/what selections you would make differently. Would you be up for PM'ing me a more detailed explanation? Thanks for the work you're putting into this!