Gravey's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[::Out Of Mind::]

YEA!!!

First off, how dare you not tell me you posted a new song! :-P

This my friend, is beautiful. I'm saddened greatly that this is your last song for Newgrounds. I would be very interested if you could tell me where I could find your music on other sites from now on. You know how much I simply love your music bud.

I don't even need to discuss this song really. It speaks for itself. Any analytical review by me could do no justice for this song. So I am going to leave this review short and sweet.

5/5 and 10/10 overall. Thanks so much for sharing your wonderful talents here on Newgrounds my friend. And best of luck with future projects. (You better keep me in the loop on them!)

Possibly, but hopefully I'm not saying this for the last time about your music...This song has been favorited.

-Gravey-

gOrc responds:

Don't you recieve an email? I am sorry for that I thought I sent the news to all in my fav list.

Thanks man, I worried a little about that I don't recieve any criticism ^^ anyway your review was great, thanks for the kind words!
I turned to a german site for musicians - it's only accesable if you do register, but I could send you the link to my myspace site, that I am building up right now. I will post my future projects there, too.

I am still listening to your songs. Sorry for not reviewing them, life is getting busy right now..

please don't stop sending me your news, too!

gOrc

[Fuzzy Pings and Think Feelings]

Hee Hee...

Glad to be of service bud.

5/5 and 10/10 overall. Once again, not exactly an objective review here. :-P

-Gravey-

Theledge93 responds:

Next time you review, you better give me some advice or i will cut your fuxing throat!

[Under a Sky of Dreams]

Awwww...

Well, I wouldn't say I came up with a good portion of the song. Its more like 90-10 in favor of you when it comes to what was written. I just enhanced it a bit. :-)

I didn't realize it was originally a theme song for an old movie. You learn something new everyday I guess.

5/5 and 10/10 overall. Yea, I know. This review is not exactly objective. :-P

-Gravey-

Theledge93 responds:

What I was expecting critiscm out of your ass!!! It's not like we just made the song together and we shared ideas and everything! God, after everything i've done for you.

[JK:.Solace]

I Like This...

...but there are some things to mention first that I don't like. First, your name being recorded into the song is really a stupid idea. I'm just throwing it out there because it is rather pointless in every way.

Besides that though, this song makes me smile. You created some nice rhythms in the percussion that have a nice feel to them. And the atmosphere you created with this is pretty interesting. It has a mysterious sort of quality to it. Or like a friend mentioned while we had a cup of tea together, it has a "space" effect to it. Makes me feel like I'm flying through the stars out in space or something, which is pretty cool.

Also, I love glitch effects. A friend of mine, (The one I mentioned having tea with while listening to your song), has really gotten me into them. So I like the use of them in the song. But the tape scratches or tape stops at 1:18 and on are a bit much. The first couple around 1:15 sounded great! But the last two were a bit much, and simply overdid a good thing. I've always found that the key to glitches is keeping them subtle and mixed neatly within the ensemble. But I'm sure you know just as much about glitch work as I do, considering I've only been doing glitch work for a few months myself.

I think you could have varied the percussion a bit. Instead of having the same snare and high hat you could have changed it up with some different snare/high hat synths. Or you could have simply automated some EQ effects or filters to give the different percussion instruments a varying feel throughout the song. I love the kick by the way. Probably my favorite part of you percussion ensemble.

Lastly, at the end I love the first tape stop. It was amazing. But as with the earlier glitches that happened around the 1:15-1:25 marks, you overdid them. I would have done the first tape stop for effect. It has great emphasis there in the song. But when you do it two or more times after that, it loses its edge. And it just becomes bland really. Not trying to hate, because it is a great effect you created. It just feels to me that you could have been better off using it once for that "WOW!" effect, and it would have been a better fit for the song.

All in all though I did enjoy this. I am not into hip hop that much, but as I mentioned before, after discussing this with a friend over tea I have grown quite fond of it. Just get rid of you name in the beginning and I would consider it a great song.

5/5 and 9/10 overall. Good submission bud, I will be looking into your work in the future.

-Gravey-

JoeyKeys responds:

First off, let me thank you for the very thorough review, to be blantly honest, I was completely lazy on this. I didn't eq, at first.
But I took a lot of your criticisms to use, and reposted.
Thanks man.

[Edgy in my sleep]

Subtle...

That is the word that comes to mind when I listen to this. It has a very mysterious atmosphere and has some very nice soft hitting synths. I really enjoyed the overall sound you got with this song.

1:34 is by far my favorite section of the song. It is a perfect example of "less is more." You just have created a lovely tune here out of utter simplicity. But that being said, there is room for improvement.

I think you could have varied the percussion a bit more. It was all pretty much the same throughout the entire song. I would think about maybe adding a layer or two of different percussion hits to add some flavor to the song.

Also, you might think of varying the synths a little bit. This is very nice chill music, but even at that it doesn't really go anywhere. I would vary the synths just a little, maybe intertwine a new one with what you already have in a section or two.

But all in all I do like this song a lot.

5/5 and 9/10 overall.

-Gravey-

dj5p00n responds:

feel free to ask me to remix it

[mbaqanga]

Hmmm...

There is something off about this song. It seems to be accentuated on the down beat far too much. Granted it is a march, but this doesn't sound like a march. Rather it sounds like a mix between a march and ambient instrumentation.

The styles don't mesh well at all really. I would pick one or the other, because there seems to be a bit of randomness going on in this. It just doesn't have a very good ensemble feel to it. Maybe switching some of the instruments would help, but I'm not sure about that either.

Yea, this one just isn't sitting with me that well for some reason. Something just seems really off.

There are things I do like though. I like the different instruments you used by themselves. Like you have some really cool sounds and effects going on in this. The problem is they just don't mix down together very well when written in this style.

3/5 and 5/10 overall.

-Gravey-

Tokolos responds:

hehe, thanks for the review Gravey. having had the 1st part's bassline just looping over and over in my head the whole week I just had to upload it.

[Kw- The Rise (NG Full Mix)]

Very Cool...

Quick thing, it sounds like it is clipping in the intro. Just might want to take a look at that real quick.

As for the song as a whole, it sounds really good. You did a nice job using filters to make the different synths stay fresh throughout the song. It also created this airy and almost mystical atmosphere.

I do like the percussion, as simple as they are in this song. You did a good job just making straightforward rhythms sound great. And the random cymbal hits I liked as well, like at 3:39. Typically cymbal hits like that just are obnoxious, but yours actually fit the song well.

Also, I don't like the lead synth during this section, roughly from 3:00-5:00. I just don't feel like it fits the atmosphere of the song. It's a bit too hardcore trancey for this light tune. Also, I think it goes on too long. Like it might have sounded a little better if it didn't last so long. But that is only my opinion, so take it or leave it as you will.

I really enjoyed this bud. Very nice song you have here. And that is saying something, because I typically hate trance. ;-)

5/5 and 9/10 overall.

-Gravey-

nightsurfermusic responds:

Yeah i know you aren't a great trance lover, but coming from you this is pretty awesome! Thanks! :D

[(gaia) va4C 2nd muffin]

Nice Work...

Well, I feel horrible because you leave me such lengthy and awesome reviews. But there really isn't anything I could say that hasn't been said by those below me. So I'm just gonna make it short, sweet, and to the point.

The voices were well done, the sound effects and background music was perfect, and it made me smile. :-)

Also, the hokey pokey moment at the end was quite creepy. That isn't a bad thing either.

5/5 and 9/10 overall.

-Gravey-

rednikaiaG responds:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, Gravey------>
Thanks for your time, Man. I appreciate, one of my favorite musicians, taking the time to leave me such a nice review. It means a lot, really. I mean that. Thanks for the compliments about my voices and the mixing. Plus, the fact that the skit made you smile, is the best fact! Hehe Yeah, I can't imagine you taking the Hokey Pokey part seriously! That IS silly stuff. Thanks again, Gravey!

.............Take care, be good and keep on, keepin' on.period
:(Gaia:)

[Chaos mind]

Good Start...

This is a good start. But there is a lot of room for improvement as well.

First of all it sounds like there are a lot of FL presets being used. I would find some better samples/vsts to improve the quality sound of your songs. Either that or manipulate the hell out of the FL presets so they sound unique.

The melody you have playing is decent. It is slightly catchy, yet not too complicated. I think it would benefit from a different instrument carrying it throughout most of the song. I'm not a fan at all of that lead instrument.

The percussion is pretty weak. The rhythms your created are pretty straightforward and basic in every way possible. But that isn't exactly a bad thing. What makes the percussion really weak is the fact it is all FL presets. You should look online for some new soundfonts or vsts to improve the quality of your percussion sound.

Lastly the mix is actually not awful. Some of the percussion is a bit hard to hear. But other than that everything just kinda sits in its own little spot in the mix. But I'm listening to this rather quietly on my speaker system. So it could be my speakers are coloring the mix a little. Idk, but from what I hear at the moment the mix is decent.

3/5 and 6/10 overall. Good start here bud.

-Gravey-

C-life responds:

^^' you're quite right about the sounds being lots of presets used.
but im still "new" to fl and the only effect i can use right now (and not even good for that matter) is reeverb >.<
furtehrmore i havent got a clue how to add vsts neither do i know where to find em ( dont go "google em" on me plz >.<)

bout the lead instrument: i like plucked sounds =3

and bout the drum rythm. yea i started this project 6 months ago and wanted to preserve the newbe ness. i think >.<

anyways this was a comment i can really use to improve myself
i thank you greatly for this
=3

[Idylls of Atlantis]

Yay!!!

The alarm clock song you showed me a few days ago! :-D

Well what can I say, this is so much better sounding. The mix has improved exponentially from what I heard earlier. And that is no exaggeration. This sounds unbelievably better in just about every way really.

I'm gonna skip to the last half of the song. Because the first half is wonderful, but the second half is where this truly shines.

I want to bring extra attention to the choirs. Now I know what you are using, so I'm not surprised you got such a good sound from them. But that being said, you created a real unique part for them with the syllable enunciations. So well done there for sure bud.

The mandolin is pretty fantastic to say the least. It is what makes this entire song really work. There isn't anything negative I could really say about it.

Oh, and the percussion was amazing. But then again, what else is new?!

5/5 and 10/10 overall.

-Gravey-

Aeris responds:

DING DING DING DING (this was originally supposed to be some cutsey little song, lmao)

I'm glad you like the final product so much :D

The second half was intentionally better sounding, which felt weird as a composer, because i had to try to control myself so much for the first half, of course I had to learn the ins and outs of Edirol a bit more so it wasn't too hard until I realized the path the song was taking. (When the transition occurs, i tried to render an image of this giant city, and suddenly an explosion of water as it sinks/rises depending on which Atlantis legend you know)

Thanks for the compliments on the choir, I found it odd how a lot of composers don't use its unique syllable enunciation engine. It could be because it sounds funny alone.

Two things I like about the mandolin: If you're a violinist, you've learned the mandolin, cuz it's like a violinguitar. And second, the sound produced from it is so raunchy and wonderful, perfect for the clear, emphatic mark i was trying to make in the melody. Which later helped reflect the polar opposite timbre of the woodwinds.

Percussions are one of the most important lines in my opinion, it's kinda sad when some composers don't pay enough attention to the percs.

Thanks much :D

-Aeris