Gravey's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[One Way Road]

Pretty Cool...

You have some really interesting guitar riffs going on in this song. Nothing overly complicated, but you keep a nice groove going the entire time. That being said, there is room for definite improvement.

For starters, the mix is so transparent. I think you could either add more instruments to this, or even go and record vocals for it. I would prefer the vocals, but there is definitely room for other instruments as well. A piano comes to mind first.

If you don't like that idea, you could simply add more guitar parts. I think this would benefit from a more intricate lead guitar. There really doesn't seem to be much of a lead going on in this song at any time. And I think that is it's one drawback. It just simply does not have a lead melody to hook the listener.

The percussion sounds really good. I really like the rhythms you wrote as well. But the percussion "solo" near the end is a bit much. I would change that myself. It just doesn't work in this situation, at least in my opinion.

Also, the ending is a bit weak. I would give it a more formal and structured finish so this song feel like it is truly complete.

4/5 and 7/10 overall. Nice little tune you got yourself here bud.

-Gravey-

Pivvot responds:

Thanks, I will take your tips into consideration.

[BlackChillOut]

Cool...

The intro is a bit hard to follow. but once this gets going it sounds pretty cool. I do like how you introduce new layers and build it up slowly over time. Despite that though, this repeats way too much. So I would work on the structure first and foremost by adding new sections that are different melodically from the one you have here.

As for the instruments themselves, you did well creating an ensemble that has a cool and unique sound. Every instrument really feeds off of the rest of the ensemble, which makes for a real cohesive sound. And the mix you created with them is pretty well done in my opinion. At least on my speakers nothing sticks out or gets buried in the mix.

I do like the main melody you wrote. It sounds pretty cool, but you need to expand it a bit. Variety is the main thing lacking in this song. You need to take this idea and expand it into new thoughts and paths for the music to follow. You could even introduce new instruments if you wanted. But at the least you need to create new melodies and harmonies to keep this interesting.

4/5 and 7/10 overall. Nice work here.

-Gravey-

[Thank You - BK]

Heh...

This sounds familiar. :-P

It sounds pretty good bud, like I said before. You have a decent amount of layers going on, and the rhythms in the percussion are pretty well written out. Leads to a nice full sound that changes up a bit throughout the entire tune.

I like the bouncy high pitched lead that seems to go all over the place in weird ways. It accentuates the overall demeanor of this song quite nicely.

I really like the mix of this as well. Everything fits in it's own little space quite nicely.

There are two things I'm not crazy about. One is the lack of variety in the instruments. Other than the piano, everything in this seems to be some sort of synth. It would be cool to hear some real instruments in it, but I'll fix that with our collab song when it gets rolling. :-)

The second thing I don't really like is the ending. I think you could have really done something more with the ending. Just seems to be lacking a lot when you compare it to the rest of the song.

4/5 and 8/10 overall. Nice work here bud.

-Gravey-

Bracksta responds:

You seem like a kung fu master of music to me, lol. I am your padwan learner, lol, jk. thanks for the great tips bro. We'll be in contact

[Morning Dew Fields]

First Off...

You did not tell me about this piece you wrote. *SLAP* You earned that! *HUG* Oh yea, how many other people have slapped and hugged you in the same review?! NONE I TELL YOU!

Yea, feeling quite bouncy at the moment if you could tell. But let's get to the music shall we?

The guitar is wonderful. It sounds 100% real in every way bud. I don't even want to ask how many layers it took to pull that off, but I'm going to right now. So how many layers did it take to pull off the real guitar sound?

The strings fit perfectly with it really. Although I'm listening through speakers and not my headphones, and it seems the left side is dominated by the strings. Maybe it is just me though, so I won't hold that against you.

The choir sounds pretty amazing really. You created quite a unique atmosphere, and really harnessed an amazing sound. The choir is a big reason for that to say the least.

And lastly the mix is wonderful. Everything fits in it's place just right. Nothing sticks out, and nothing gets lost. And the guitar is always the focal point, yet isn't overbearing. Wonderful job on the mix my friend.

5/5 and 10/10 overall.

-Gravey-

Aeris responds:

Haha, I guess I wanted to surprise you xD

How many layers? PFFFFFFT one or two, depends on what you define a layer as. One VST if that's what you mean, plus a few goodies.

About the choir and song in general - Since my boyfriend (soon, hopefully, to be fiance) was moving to Utah I wanted to create a song that harnesses the emotions I feel towoards him, for him, so in general - he is my Morning Dew Field. (cheesy eh?)

Thanks for the compliments on the mix - to be honest, this was a last minute "oh shit put together" thing.

-Aeris.

[We Aren't Marketable]

Yay!!!

<3

5/5 and 10/10 overall.

-Gravey-

InvisibleObserver responds:

Greatly juiced flamingos.

[Kirb Talk Too Much (Lovestory)]

Heh...

I can't stop laughing at the moment.

Despite that, this song is awful. But you get props for making me laugh.

3/5 and 6/10 overall.

-Gravey-

[NRS-Metaljonus]

Very Cool...

I really like just about everything in this song bud. First off, the overall mix is very nice. Everything is present, yet not overpowering in the mix. The guitars really shine in this to say the least.

I really like the lead melody line for sure. It sound superb, and is just technical enough to keep my ears interested. Even the rhythm guitars sound bad ass man. Great work on the guitars for sure.

I like the drums a lot. They sound pretty close to being live drums you recorded yourself. Although I kinda feel that they aren't really. Just something about them seems a little too electronic to be real. Not sure if it the timbre of them, or the actual written/played style.

This is a great tune bud. Really, nothing much else to say about it.

5/5 and 10/10 overall.

-Gravey-

[S:U - Whispering to Shadows]

Yea...

This definitely belongs in the ambient genre. I'm not a huge fan of ambient music personally, unless it is trippy and over the top. *See my friend InvisibleObserver's music to full understand what I mean by that.*

I think you need to change the bass a bit. What you have written is fine, but it has too much oomph to it. I would add some thicker reverb to it, and lower the attack so it comes in slower. More of a whooshy kind of sound is what I would be looking for from it. It would still carry that low frequency, but just wouldn't be so definite in the mix.

Other than that, this is a pretty simple and straightforward ambient piece. Not bad, but not spectacular at the same time.

4/5 and 7/10 overall.

-Gravey-

StaticStigma responds:

Alright, cool. lol, Well, that's good to hear. I'm not a bad musician, lol. I'm actually thinking of upping the sound, filling out the song more and more as I add length to it, so it may change genres in the near future. I'll actually keep this as the ambient version of the song, then add to it and make it more of a techno/glitch song, since that genre is what I seem to be good in. Thanks for the feedback, and I'll see what I can do about that bass.

[Stories of the Silk Road]

Well...

I already told you what I thought about this on AIM. But for what it is worth I wanted to show some love for this anyways. :-)

5/5 and 10/10 overall.

This has been favorited.

-Gravey-

Aeris responds:

lol thanks Gravey :]

[The Lingering]

Haha!

As you and just about everyone who knows me realizes, I love your music. But this, well, meh. Doesn't hit me as anything great in all honesty.

Now that being said, the quality is wonderful. The sound you have going is very nice, and this has a really unique timbre and a atmosphere. But composition wise I'm not sure it is that great really.

What I mean by that is it is pretty stagnant. There is no real build up or flow throughout this song. It needs some variety to really make it shine.

]Also, I'm not liking the strings at all to be quite frank. The seem pretty nonchalant compared to your normal work. I don't know, it just doesn't seem like you put forth the effort in this one that you normally do.

But all that being said, it is still better than 90% of the crap submitted here to NGs. X-D

3/5 and 7/10 overall.

-Gravey-

P.S. - I love the new cd label. :-)

Aeris responds:

i'ma gonna PM you my response :]