Gravey's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Inside the Crystal Dungeon v.1]

I Like It...

I could really see this in the ice world levels in Super Mario. Really man, it would fit those so well.

You created a nifty little atmosphere with the chimes, bells, marimba, and strings. They mesh so well together, and really the strings have the perfect timbre to them.

It sounds like you used a pan flute in a spot or two. But I could be wrong. If not, then maybe think about adding a little pan flute if you go back and work on this. Because I think a pan flute would sound wonderful in this piece.

I think the major shortcoming in this piece is how short it is. Because it is not even close to being an acceptable length for a song. As a loop though, this would be pretty decent.

Vertically I don't think there is much work to do. The overall mix of instruments is spot on and rich in color. I like everything you did here except for how short you made it.

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

-Gravey-

[Beast (Instrumental)]

Kick Ass...

That lead riff in the beginning is simply kick ass. Really groovy.

I'm not crazy on the section around the 0:45 mark. You should do something with that. But maybe if it had vocals it wouldn't sound to bad.

Maybe it is just me, but I think this could use some more instruments in it. Maybe a piano or something. There is just something it is missing that I can't quite put a finger on.

As for the structure of the song horizontally, I think it is pretty good. Every section seems to flow into the next one pretty well. Nothing seems all that out of place.

I like the solo a lot. It has a cool vibe to it, and really sounds good.

I think you should get the water effect or whatever it is off the one guitar. It seems to make the song seem a bit muddy. Think about adding something else instead maybe. It really just distracts me more than adds anything to the song. But that is only my opinion. Take it or leave it as you will.

4/5 and 7/10 overall. A good solid song, especially for your first attempt at metal.

Nice work here bud.

-Gravey-

SirDocALot responds:

You make a lot of good points. I think the main thing missing from this song is good quality tone. Cheap guitar, cheap built in effects on an 8 track recorder, and no metal know how = "BEAST" as we know it. I recorded this while listening through headphones as well. Sounded decent until I played the master through real speakers!! I think I'm gonna try micing all the guitar parts and having another go at it. I've got plenty of medium-high quality gear now, plus some skills to boot!! Not bad going from "BEAST" to "Angel's Eyes"!!!!! Thanks for the review!!!

[\Zombies/]

Interesting...

This has a pretty cool melody line in the beginning, but it is pretty simple. You should try adding some syncopation to the lead. That would make it more interesting.

You definitely should not drop out all the accompaniment throughout the song. Maybe change the instruments, but don't drop them out completely. It leaves those sections sounding very transparent.

Now the funny thing is, I hear a TON of classical music influence here. Almost everything in this song can be heard in a Mozart piece. Really man, this reminds me of Mozart so much. Obviously not the instruments, but the writing style.

*I've been playing piano since I was five. So trust me when i say this has a ton of Mozart in it. ;-)

I like the structure of the horizontally. It flows decently enough. But vertically you could do so much more to it.

Not a bad start though bud.

3/5 and 7/10 overall. Nice work here.

-Gravey-

Adamaja456 responds:

thanks for the good review man.

[the secret of the sea (short)]

Intriguing Intro...

I love the intro for this song. It is very intriguing. It grabs your attention by being so simple, yet daunting. When the song kicks in it keeps that daunting feel, but still has that DnB texture so many people have come to love.

I like the piano a lot. It really creates a mood and timbre in the song that would not be present without it. It isn't anything spectacular musically, but it just has that effect this song is looking for.

I'm not as crazy about the section starting around the 2:30 mark. But I REALLY loved the chord at the 2:59 mark. That dissonance was extraordinary sir. Very classy touch there. Very classy indeed.

4/5 and 7/10 overall. Not bad at all, but I have a hard time giving great scores to DnB and trance. Musically they just don't really offer much in the form of a true composition.

But good work here nonetheless. 4/5 and 7/10 is not a bad score by any means in my book. :-)

-Gravey-

oddfellowfloyd responds:

Thank you, good sir, for your constructive feedback and compliments, as always!! :)

Hehe, glad you liked my little dissonant fade-in swells! ;P

That small piano part is simply a C-E-Eb motif (or a Cmaj-min chord if you will). I figured the blurring of C major and C minor would add to the overall ambiguity of the atmosphere.

Yes, the middle section might leave something to be desired; I just knew I wanted some contrasting material, with a gnarly bass synth sound... always room for improvement...

Thank you again, and glad you liked the track for the most part! :)

Peace,
~Justin

[Classical Tears version 2]

Nice...

I like how you created the crescendo in the intro. That has a nice effect. And the chords are nice. I think you should roll some of them to break up the monotony though.

The melody is simple, yet pleasant. I hear some quality issues. It sounds like you have some clipping going on. Lower your master fader just a tad. That should help.

The strings are a nice touch in the background. But I don't like it when they are by themselves. They are not quality enough of a strings sample to run on their own. Add another instrument or two there to help them out.

I think the piano should be more of a focus towards the end. Or something. It is just to simple after the piano drops out. I love the ending when the piano comes back in though. Very classy touch bud.

3/5 and 7/10 overall.

-Gravey-

DJFilteredFantasy responds:

Thanks Gravey. I'll keep working on it. By no means is this the final. I was thinking about getting some better strings and just moving it over, hopefully that would make it better. Thanks for the review. :)
-DJFF

[Questions For the Self]

I Think...

...it is an irrelevant question because we all die in the end.

But as for the song, it is interesting. :-P

I like the idea behind this. The rolling chords are always a good idea. But they are so constant that it almost becomes obnoxious to an extent. You should really think about breaking them up differently throughout the song.

I do like how it builds up to the ending though. That is a good idea, and has a very nice effect overall.

Maybe you should think about adding some other instruments to this song. Piano seems like it would fit well. As well as a nice harp sound. I really think the harp would fit perfectly in a piece like this. I think it would add some nice color to it. Especially if you added a piano as well.

Some reverb on the guitar wouldn't hurt as well. It would give it a distant quality to it. And I think that would have a very positive impact on the listener.

Overall though, not bad. 3/5 and 6/10 overall. Nice job here bud.

Best of luck on future projects.

-Gravey-

[Kw- Flying]

Not Bad...

There is a popping noise in the beginning. You should definitely get rid of that. Whether intentional or not, it sounds bad.

Other than that it starts off pretty well. It really has a nice ambient feel to it. I like the pad you used, even though it is pretty standard and straightforward.

the melody, if that is what you call it, is pretty nice. The piano kicks ass. Being a pianist myself though, I'm slightly biased to pianos in music. :-)

The mix is nice overall. But I would think of dropping the drums a few notches. They seems to be a little to in your face at the moment. Maybe add some slight reverb to the snare and cymbals. I like the kick how it is though. Just pull all the percussion down a few notches to help with the overall mix.

Normally I would say this song is out of balance, due to the lack of any low end in the entire piece. But it has a very good effect here, so kudos to you on that. I like the atmosphere you created.

4/5 and 8/10 overall. Nice work man.

Best of luck on future projects.

-Gravey-

P.S. - If you get bored you can hear my submission to the contest here...

http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/liste n/215108

nightsurfermusic responds:

Thanks. I followed some of your suggestions :)

[Kw- Afterthought (wip)]

Interesting...

the bass is WAY to prevalent in the beginning. It really overpowers the song completely, you should check on that.

When it all kicks in it the overall mix is pretty good. Except that it is lacking on the low end. You need something to add to the low end a tad. Just doesn't quite have the body I'm looking for in a song.

The instruments you chose really mesh well together. Everything has it's own place in the song, and really fits nicely in it's little niche. Although personally, I find trance music to be somewhat boring. Melodies are so generic and overdone. As well as beats and loops. But this isn't too bad.

I think you should really do something with the melody, or lack of one. I know that is typical trance style. But for me, I want to hear something melodic in my music. It is a big reason why I always say this is a programmer's dominated genre. You have to be more of a programmer than a musician to come up with trance music.

The harmonies are pretty decent in general. They add some color throughout the song. All in all this is well done for the type of sound you are going for.

4/5 and 7/10 overall. I personally can't give anything trance higher than an 8/10, no matter how good of a "song" it is. I require something a little more melodic and thought provoking for great scores. So it is nothing against your song here, but just the style in general of this type of music.

Best of luck in your future projects bud!

-Gravey-

nightsurfermusic responds:

Hey thanks. I do understand, a lot can be done. It is a wip, hopefully i can make something more of it. Thanks so much for the in depth review :)

[Zelda OoT LostWoods MiX]

Interesting...

First off, the VST guitars are simply terrible. Granted, it is hard to get a decent sound out of them period. But you could really do better than this I think.

As for the song, it seems to be pretty accurate. Although rather butchered by the instruments you used. Get rid of the VST guitars and find something more appropriate. Because it totally ruins it.

And were those chords being played in the bass? Really dude, not good at all. lol It makes the sound muddy and not nice. You should add a piano to play the chords, then just have a simple harmony line in the bass. Have it do it's own thing.

Your mix is kinda iffy as well. Way too much high end on this. The bass needs to be more continuous throughout the song to give it balance. As it is right now, the song is simply top heavy. Cut the volume on the cymbals to about half. That should help a ton.

Plus it seems like you didn't use any real plug-ins in this song. I don't hear any reverb on anything in this song. And this song really should have reverb on the melody lines. And possibly on other instruments if it is appropriate. Compression on the drums would be nice. Because you can't hear anything but cymbals. A kick and snare being present would really help a lot.

Other than the melody being right, this simply is bad. The instruments were bad choices, such as VST guitars. You used instruments improperly, like playing chords in the bass. That is really just dumb. And vertically there is no real mesh between the instruments. They don't meld together at all. They seem to be fighting for attention, rather than working together to create an overall sound.

1/5 and 1/10 overall, mainly because you got the melody right at least. But really, how hard is that to do? Not very hard at all.

Best of luck on future projects man.

-Gravey-

carl565 responds:

i really appreciate this message, it explains alot, and i will make a new mix of this

thanks for your help

[Make your escape now]

Interesting...

This is a good start, but you could definitely make it better.

First off, you should vary the melody a bit. It has no syncopation, which makes it become rather stale quickly. The notes are alright, but you really should vary it's flow and rhythmic structure a bit.

Also, the left hand should not play chords on the downbeat quite so much. I like chords, they are definitely a good idea. But you need to break them up, and add syncopation to them. Instead of just hitting them on the down beat, roll them. Or break them up in different patterns. Or at least have them hit on the offbeat every now and then.

The bass sounds pretty decent. It is hitting on the offbeat a bit throughout the song. Which helps a lot because it gives a little variation in the song. Just not quite enough. I do like the bass overall though. Nice ideas there.

The strings are also a nice touch. They add some color to this song that is needed. But they definitely need some reverb on them. I honestly don't hear any reverb on them, and that would really give them some color.

While you are at it, you should think about adding reverb to the piano. At least in the right hand. Will really soften it up a bit, and will add a new dimension to this song.

Overall though, this is a good start.

3/5 and 5/10 overall.

Best of luck on future projects bud!

-Gravey-