Gravey's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Wake Up_]

Awesome!!!

This has a very different atmosphere to it in a way. Although it is still you just playing your acoustic, it has a different timbre to it. And that is a good thing.

I like the structural changes throughout the song. You did well to change things up from the verses to the choruses and etc.

I especially like the section around the 2:00 mark. Very nice section there. I really sat back in my chair for the first time today and reflected on some things during this song. Your music always seems to have that affect on me.

As always, I love what you come up with bud. :-)

And as always, keep me informed of your new songs. ;-)

5/5 and 10/10 overall.

-Gravey-

Boux responds:

Glad youre not out of thing to say :D awesome review again!

[(WF1) Tranquil Hearts (WIP)]

Interesting...

It sounds really nice. Very somber and gentle, which is a nice change of pace from the typical stuff I hear on Newgrounds.

I don't like that one pause during the song. I'm guessing you will be adding something there, or creating more of a buildup into it. That way it makes more sense. As it is now though, it seems really out of place.

I like the different instruments you are using. But the strings in the background get really annoying after a while.

Oh, and another blank spot. I didn't like it anymore than the first one. :-/

But back to the soft string chords in the background. They sound way to, mechanical, for this song. They really need to flow together a lot better. They seem to break every time they go to start a new chord. And they break on the downbeat of every measure, which is a bit too much for me.

Now, if there were more going on in the song I probably would not notice. But the song is pretty transparent and airy. So it is just so apparent.

I really like the piano. It fits in perfectly for this song.

Did I mention percussion? This could really use some. And none of that tasteless dance or trance junk either! ;-D (As if you would do that anyways!)

I really like this, but there is definitely a lot of work still to be done.

4/5 and 7/10 overall. Very nice start you guys have going here.

-Gravey-

P.S. - Add a french horn part!

wyldfyre1 responds:

haha, yeah i was thinking about getting a french horn in there. Yeah its still needs a bit of work =). I may extend the piano some in this as well. as always thanks for the review!

[Cthulhu Mythos]

Very Cool...

...as always. I like the chord progressions in this song a lot. They are pretty unique compared to most of your songs.

And as always, I love your picking style.

I'm out of things to say, soooooooooo...

5/5 and 10/10 overall.

-Gravey-

Boux responds:

you know im only sending you the tunes for your enjoyement but i know there the urge for reviews in your case each time you like what you ear( and great reviews), but like you said since your out of things to say just mark 'i like it' and 5/5 it when you like :D
Thanks again! and damn thats always fast! im on your RSS or what?

[Seeds of Svalbard_]

What Can I Say...

I love your work my friend. You really have a wonderful style.

I've left so many comments and reviews on your songs, I really have nothing new to say. Other than the fact that I absolutely love this song, there isn't much to really talk about.

So I'll just go ahead and say it...

I absolutely love this song! ;-)

5/5 and 10/10 overall.

This has been favorited!

-Gravey-

Boux responds:

Glad you liked, cant really say much else myself :D

[Walk Before Running]

Really Cool...

It has been a few days since I've been on Newgrounds, so my review juice is flowin' like a river my friend! So be prepared for an awesome review on this song. ;-)

First off, I'm not a trance/dance fan, but I'm not gonna hold that against you. That being said, let us move onto the actual song in this review.

I love the different synth sounds you created/used here. They have a very nice quality to them, and really mesh well as a group. And that is very important because trance and dance music is all about bitchin' beats and massive layers.

Which leads me to my biggest issue with this song. There does not seem to be very many layers in this song. You do use a number of different effects and synths, but they all just kind of take each other's place in the song. This means that the buildup is lacking. Adding layers will greatly help this problem.

Now, I think you have great melody lines going on, and even a few counter melodies at times. But you need something more along the lines of harmony. Some warm and soothing pads in the near distant background would be great. Some soft strings would also do the trick. But there just needs to be some sort of glue that holds everything together in my opinion.

The percussion is pretty cool. They all sound pretty decent, with maybe the exception of the kick. I'm not a fan of the kick at all really, but that could just be me. So take it or leave it as you will, it is only my opinion.

I like the piano moment. It really has that "real" quality that creates a wonderful break from the mind numbing thumping going on during the rest of the song. I'm not sure if I like it in the beginning though. It just does not seem to fit to me, but that is probably just something I should live with. :-P

I personally believe this song could really use some more bass. I really liked it in the beginning when the bass was really prevalent. I think the bass is possibly the most under and misused instrument of all time. So many people mix it right out of a song, and I really hate that. I really feel like that is what happened here. Because I do not seem to hear much bass action going on at all.

The ending is really weak if you ask me. I'm not much of a fan for fade-outs. I've always been of the opinion that people use fade-outs because they can not write appropriate endings to their songs. The only time I like fade-outs is when they fit some sort of storyline. Or if the song is rather ambient, and it just fades away. But for dance tunes, I'm not a fan of fade-outs at all.

Also, there is MASSIVE emptyiness at the end of the song. Just a bunch of blank space, and that should really be fixed.

Overall, this isn't bad. I'm hoping this review gave you some ideas to work on in the future. But overall, this is not a bad tune at all. Nothing I would typically listen to, but still not bad at all.

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

-Gravey-

Mushroomhead18nc responds:

appreciate the review..

The piano could be takin out in the beginning but I liked it so I left it.. the bass is correct it does get drowned out but its so low you wont hear it without a subwoofer anyway...

Im not big into making alot of layers.. because me personally I think songs sound way better with lesser instruments.. if theres 5melodies going on at one time.. which one do ya listen to???

I completely agree with the fade out comment and your right I put a fade on it because it was an easy ass way to end the song and I do while im in Cool Edit pro.. so its easier.. this song didnt have a lot of time put into it.. maybe 2 to 2.5hours in the tune.. which isnt bad considering some songs ive done Ive had about 9+ hours into and they dont sound that great.. also I wrote this song with no meaning at all.. so it doesnt have any emotion in it really..

Listen to my song Never Understand
or Hope is Never Lost and you'll get the emotion part with the piano..

I do appreciate the review here because it does help me out and it also helps me figure out what the majority of the people want to hear.. for ex you mentioned my kick drum.. I personally like it but dont love it.. and someone else mentioned the kick drum.. so my next song will be focused more on better sounding percussion but alot of that is due to 1.. I have no plugins for that and 2. Im not great at adding effects to a stock kick to make it beefy.. one guy below me said it was a rubbery kick which is true and I use the same kick drum in all of my techno/trance songs..

But I appreciate the long ass review haha..

[Do You Like it Extr3m (Demo)]

Interesting Concept...

I'm excited for the final version of this.

As demos go, this is pretty typical. It obviously isn't finished, so I don't want to be too harsh in my review.

I like the different sounds you are using. They all fit pretty well with the style and purpose of this song. But I really think you need to intertwine them more. You have a nice selection of synths, you just need to layer them now.

The kick is pretty impressive. It is so punchy and in your face, which is really good for this style. I like the kick a lot, so definitely keep it.

You could do more with the percussion, but I'm betting that you are planning that anyways. So just make sure to add and vary the percussion a bit.

Also, this needs a thick and rich bass line. Right now, you don't have one. So go make one. :-D

Overall though, I like what you have started here. I'm excited for the final version, so definitely let me know when you have posted it.

4/5 and 7/10 overall.

-Gravey-

[Cuwanin]

Oh Yea...

What can I say? I love it! I know the amount of time and work that went into this song, and it really shows. It is just to bad Newgrounds kiddies can't really appreciate a song like this.

First off, the fact that you used so many audio cuts is pretty amazing. I'm sure most of them were not very long, but that does not make it any less impressive. In my opinion it makes it that much more impressive, because you were working to such fine details. It really shows how much time and effort you put in this.

The beat is fucking awesome. It is pretty consistent, yet continuously changes. I'm green with envy on every level bud. I can't make a cool beat to save my life, but this. Wow sir, just wow. It even has break beat moments in it where it goes out of control. But it pretty much completely comes back to form quickly, so the heads of the kiddies here on Newgrounds do not explode.

My favorite section is around the 3:12 mark. Very cool moment in the song there, and I simply love it.

The breakbeat at 4:48 is epic. I LOVE the break beat there. It really creates an atmosphere of instability, and I realy like that in songs from time to time.

And the ending is pretty much perfect. Nothing really to say other than that. Oh yea, how about the fact it loops PERFECTLY! :-)

5/5 and 10/10 overall.

This has been favorited!

-Gravey-

InvisibleObserver responds:

Surprisingly this hasn't been dinged with 0's from the kiddies of NG, so I'm in a state of shock.

The quick audiocuts are used primarily on vowel sounds towards the end to sustain a synth sound that has speech fondants. I even made it beat box a bit, which turned out pretty well, though it needs to be tuned up cause part of it is a bit annoying sounding (to me) because some parts stand out too much.

The beat is very varied with out head exploding action - we wouldn't want the wee ones heads to explode... now would we?

It wasn't intended to loop the way it does, which was a pleasant surprise.

Thanks once again for a lovely review.

[Internal Harmony]

:-)

Not at all like I had really envisioned. But well written all the same.

Like I said before, the guitar is not prevelant enough in the mix for my taste. And I'm not crazy about the distortion. But we've talked this over, and I won't hold lack of funds for gear against you. That being said, if I ever get the gear I showed you, I will be wanting to do naughty...and I mean NAUGHTY...things to it.

I do like the actual part that was written though. The riffs are pretty cool and tasteful. They really blend with the piano well.

And speaking of the piano, I like it a lot. Everything about it really. You wrote the piano part very well, and at risk of repeating myself, it fits well with the guitar. ;-)

The mix you got was pretty much spot on. Nothing to complain about there.

5/5 and 10/10 overall. Really nice work here bud.

-Gravey-

Theledge93 responds:

Thank you sir!

EYE HART JEW!

[SMW castle remix]

Definitely...

...your best song. I liked this one a lot actually.

The intro is pretty intense, and really grabs the listener's attention. That is such an important aspect in a song too. The synth you used really helped to create tension, because it really sounds perfect for the part.

I like it when it changes at 1:27. It's really groovy there man. like REAL groovy. Love it, simply love it. And the synths you used were pretty much perfect for the sound. Although, the percussion is weak.

I'm not sure I heard a kick drum in a single song of yours, and that is a bad thing. I hear what I think is a snare, and the cymbal crashes are always present. But I never hear a kick. You really need to raise it up in the mix.

I think some automated pannings to the left and right throughout this song would really anhance the atmosphere. Everything seems to be sitting still in one stop throughout the entire spot. Have things move from the left ear to the right to great some spacial effects. That would REALLY enhance this song a lot.

Nice song, but not really a great one.

4/5 and 8/10 overall.

-Gravey-

[SM64 dire docks meadow remix]

I Like It...

I have no idea what song this is, so I can't really say how well it represents the original. But, that being said, I enjoyed this.

It's simplicity is very refreshing. Sometimes it is nice just to sit back and have a relaxing song to chill to. This is one of those songs.

I like the instruments you used. And the bass is something I'm really fond of. It sounds GREAT when it comes in. Wonderful job with the bass man.

I really like the "guitar" sound you used. I'm not sure what it really is, but I think it has a guitar-ish quality to it.

And the choir is so fake sounding, which is why I love it. Normally I don't like the fake choir sound. But it really seems to fit this song well. So although in most situations I would say it sounds bad, I really like it in this song a lot.

Really man, I'm liking this a lot.

5/5 and 10/10 overall. :-)

-Gravey-