Gravey's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Cold Wet Rag]

Alright, where to begin...

This sounds like a beginner's type of track. Before I get into too much detail, don't get discouraged. We all start somewhere small, and progress from there.

What I mean by this sounds like a beginner's type of track is that it lacks direction. There is no form or structure here. You should try to lay out a path you want to take your tracks in. A good way to do this is to think of your song in chunks. One chunk is verse 1, then another chunk is a chorus, then verse 2, then chorus, etc.

Also, while thinking of the song in chunks horizontally, you need to think vertically. There is no true melody, nor harmony present. Find an idea, and expand on that idea. Let that idea be the base of your song, it's melody. Then build around it little subtexts and layers to support it, this is it's harmony. In pop music, electronic music, and many other forms of music, power chords are quite popular.

Lastly, think about what direction you want the song to go in. Does it start happy and stay that way? Or does it become darker towards the end? Thinking of things like this before you write makes it so much easier to compose coherent and thoughtful songs.

Right now there are a lot of sounds and tid bits going on. But they have no structure, direction, or cohesiveness. This is what you need to work on in your upcoming tracks. Try to limit yourself at first to only a couple instruments. This will make it easier for you to focus on the things I mentioned above.

Best of luck.

1.5/5 and 3/10 overall.

-Gravey-

cheezz responds:

Thanks for the advice, there's actually only three instruments in the song, one powerful synth, one synth with an arpeggio and one drumset. Plus one other synth that comes in twice. The composition is largely rhythmically based on Stravinsky's Piano Rag, this one is actually more of an experiment. I guess I should change the category. My other songs are more structured (listen to one and give me your feedback), I think of this as being free form. The bad review kind of bums me out because I like this song :(

[Look to the Sky (Update 2)]

I Like It...

Personally I would classify this as hip hop, because the rhythms are definitely hip hop based. And hip hop often incorporates synths to help push along a sort of background melody, which is what you are doing here.

This has a really nice tone to it. I would say at 0:41 where the break is you should drop out the gritty synth to allow for the vocalist to really shine right there. I know there is no vocalist at the moment, but you should find one. Because this should have vocals in it. So yea, if you find a vocalist drop the gritty synth at the 0:41 mark.

After that I would recommend bringing it back in as well as the other synth you already are dropping in said section. That would allow the vocalist to establish his/herself and then have the full ensemble come in to back them up afterward. This is very typical in hip hop and it works really well.

Do not be afraid to add in a flowing piano line and/or acoustic guitar part somewhere along the line. Both instruments could give this a new dimension that could let it shine.

But all that being said, it's still a WIP. Thus I shall wait until it is finished to pass my official judgment.

3/5 and 5/10 overall. I'll give a real rating once it's finished. And I look forward to hearing the final product. This is definitely the best thing I've heard from you to date my friend. Keep up the good work.

-Gravey-

jbarnett responds:

thanks a nutload for the review, i'll get on it.

and i think the reason it sounds good is that i have really figured out mixing finally, thank god lol

[FS: Nothing But Space]

This...

...has a very rich sound to it. I really like the electric piano's tone. It sounds like an old Yamaha electric piano setting I played with back in the day. Sounds great.

As for what is written, I think this is a vast improvement compared to your earlier works. This has a much more structured feel and is far more fluid than previous pieces you've composed. I'm impressed to see you improving yourself as a musician my friend.

5/5 and 9/10 overall. It's really good, but not quite great. Solid work all the same though my friend. :-)

-Gravey-

FairSquare responds:

Thank you!

[<PS> Rescue]

Wow...

By far your best piece to date. Honestly, there is no point in me breaking things down for critiquing. The time and effort put into this is obvious, and I just simply want to say I enjoyed and tremendously appreciated this piece.

Wonderful work my friend. Wonderful work indeed.

5/5 and 10/10 overall.

-Gravey-

PenguinSam responds:

Thank you Gravey!

<PS>

[only_for_you]

Alright...

For starters this track is quite simple. I would add more layers, such as pads and percussion rhythms. Right now you just have a base of synths and a simple drum rhythm for structure. Which is fine, but you need to add on top of this.

The mix also sounds rather dry. I would work on fattening up some of the synths and adding some reverb on a few for atmosphere. Or even better add some pads in the background to create more atmosphere.

The synth that comes in at 1:05 is just horrible. You need to get rid of that line. It doesn't even fit melodically. So please, that needs to be changed or just thrown out. Either way, do something with it.

For the most part this isn't so much a bad tune, as it is just an unfinished one. This is something that needs to be expanded and given room to grow. So go back and add layers and length to make is fuller and more robust.

3/5 and 5/10 overall.

-Gravey-

decoyultimatum responds:

thx i appreciate the honesty :) i knew it wasent really good but i liked the tune enough to think that somebody else would like it it might sound stupid but my music sounds better in my head then on the computer right now all this stuff is just geting used to the program geting better before i try something serious and to see what people think so thanks again if you would please listen to " more then what it seems " next and review it :) thx

[/M: Moon]

Unique...

Although this isn't my typical listening style, and can honestly say I enjoyed this little piece. I'm not going to pretend to know much about ambient music, so I will simply remark on what I liked and didn't like. You can decide what you want with my comments in terms of how useful they are.

I really like the finger snaps. At least I think they are finger snaps. They sure sound like someone snapping their fingers off in the distance. But whatever they may be, I really like them.

The rolling synth is what makes this work. The pads create the atmosphere, but the rolling synth is what is keeping my attention. Granted it is not really anything complex or intricate. But all the same it is what I seem to continue to focus on while listening to this. It also meshes quite well with the backing pads. So good choice with that.

One thing I think would be neat to add would be some serious glitchy percussion. Possibly make an alternate version of this piece that would be more along the lines of an IDM tune. Because I can really hear some insane glitch drums being the focus of this track, while the pads and synths simply creating the atmosphere.

All in all though this is really nice. I wouldn't say it is the type of thing I would find myself listening to often. But as a change of pace to my normal listening routine, I found this to be quite enjoyable.

5/5 and 9/10 overall. Nice work bud.

-Gravey-

Mich responds:

I am glad you enjoyed it, for starters.

I think you may be the first to like the (yes they are) finger snaps, lol. I find them a sort of necessary touch to this piece.

Hm, I didn't actually specifically intend for the rolling synth to keep the focus, but now you mention it, I suppose it's one of those good elements to keep it from being a chaos of sounds. I wasn't aiming for anything complex as much as relaxing, so that's a success. :3

Glitchy percussion eh? Hm, that's actually a fun idea. I've never taken the time or effort to cook up some decent drum programming work, but this might as well be a good playing ground for a first try.

Again, I'm glad you enjoyed the little piece, and I'm grateful for the review. Thanks!

[FS: The Start Of Something New]

Nifty...

I really like the rhythm you have going on. It makes me bob my head and want to move.

The melodies are pretty nice. They seem a bit more finalized than other recent stuff you've submitted. It sounds like you growing a bit as a musician. There is definitely improvement here.

The piano is a nice touch with the chords. Maybe having a second piano rolling the chords over top of the song near the end would create a unique vibe, and simply add a new layer to the song.

5/5 and 9/10 overall. It's really good, but I'm not sure it's quite worth a perfect score. All the same nice work bud.

-Gravey-

FairSquare responds:

Wow, thanks! Didn't expect such a positive review :p
Anyway, yeah, i guess i'm developing :) And by your standards, no, it's not worth a perfect score. Getting a perfect score from you is quite a challenge and i haven't grown enough yet to achieve that, in my opinion.
Also, thanks for the advice about the piano too. And thanks for the review overall :)

[Before The Storm V3 - CaL]

Velocities...

Right now the big issue I have with this song is the lack of dynamics and the machine gun effect when you have instruments playing the same notes over and over. You need to vary the velocities of the instruments attacks to give it more life. Right now this sounds like it was programmed through a computer. And the goal is to not have that be so.

So varying the velocities of your instruments would be a great start. Also automating volume levels to give this some more dynamic integrity would help as well.

This piece is clipping all over the place, which is causing some really nasty distortions. One instrument I noticed in particular was the piano. You really need to fix the clipping issues. It just ruins the piece entirely.

What is written is not bad at all. But you have a long ways to go in terms of making this sound more realistic and polished.

3/5 and 5/10 overall. It's hard for me to give a higher score when there is so much clipping going on.

-Gravey-

ca1en responds:

Listening to this years later with good headphones, HOLY SHIT. I love the composition and wish I still had the original files, but this is some of the worst EQ I have heard in my entire life. This had so much potential. Jesus.

It's so unfortunate I couldn't recover this piece.

[Before the Storm V2 - CaL]

Not Bad...

...but all the same it's not great either. It has some nice ideas, but you need to fill out the piece quite a bit. Some things to think about when you compose your next piece.

Layering - You should layer instruments a bit more to get a fuller sound
Reverb - Pianos often sound better with some reverb
Velocities - You need to vary the velocities a whole lot more
Low End - There really isn't any in this piece
Percussion - This lacks some serious percussion power

I do like this as a start though. If I were composing this track this would be my original scratch track in which I build everything off of. The idea being that all the main ideas are down for you right now. And you simply need to fill in the gaps to make it sound fuller.

All in all though it's a good start. Not great by any means, but the foundation for something really nice has been laid. I would continue working on this and building it up until it just screams of awesome sauce. ;-)

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

-Gravey-

ca1en responds:

Constructive reviews like this so helpful. I never really had a background in music of any sort but always wanted to make my own music. WIthout any kind of theory I just had to work a lot out myself, and without making good enough songs I don't really get great feedback like this often so this is what helps me learn the most.

I'll definately try to work on everything you pointed out, I may just have to get my hands on a new set of Percussion VST's from somewhere.

Thanks a lot!

[FS: ReBirth]

Interesting...

This is certainly unique.

I will say that by the end of the song I wanted to shoot that snare. It's just too much throughout the entire song. There needs to be a break from it at some point in time.

I enjoyed the piano quite a bit. I personally think you should add some nice rolling melodic lines above the chords near the end to give it some flair. Nothing incredibly technical or fast. But rather just some soothing melodic lines to add a new dimension to the ending.

Outside of that there really isn't anything wrong with the song. It is quite simple and has a unique charm to it. Would be well suited in a video game to be quite honest. I'm specifically thinking of a cut scene where characters might be shown making a long journey to their new destination in a montage. That is what comes to mind for me when I listen to this anyways.

4/5 and 8/10 overall. It's a solid tune, but not exactly great. But nice work all the same.

-Gravey-

FairSquare responds:

Haha yeah, i admit that i probably used the snare a bit too much in this song.
And i'll try what you said about the melodic lines above the chords :)
Also, what you said about that cut scene where 2 characters make a journey to a new destination.. i kind of got that idea too when i finished the song and listened to it to make up a title. My idea was a bit different though, because i thought of someone trying to cross a river. That's a journey too, right? :p
Thank you very much for the feedback. I really appreciate it.