Gravey's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Muss: Changing Reality]

Nifty...

I really feel like this has a sort of old school video game feel to it. The melodies just really remind me of old SNES game melodies for some reason. And that midi trumpet you are using just adds to the feel. I'm pretty sure its a trumpet anyways.

Overall this is pretty nifty. It is light and airy, yet has a fullness to it. The song doesn't have any obnoxious moments where I want to just shut it off. But at the same time it doesn't have any of those truly shining moments where I'm in awe of what I'm hearing.

This song to be honest is just a perfectly solid submission to the audio portal. Nothing to fancy, yet not simple enough to be boring. You've created some nice harmony lines that help balance this song out nicely. Well done mate.

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

-Gravey-

FairSquare responds:

Thanks so much for the review!
I don't really know what to say, but i'm happy you liked it. Although it's nothing too fancy like you said :p
Again, thank you and if you ever want me to take a look at something just let me know ;)

[Bass Yo Couch!]

Really Cool...

This is really cool bud. There isn't a lot to say from a technical standpoint. It is pretty simple in nature and is pretty obvious what you were going for in terms of an overall sound for this song.

I think the melody lines are very standard, yet they work. I feel like this would be a good song for someone rap over. It has a hip hop sort of quality to it, and even though I'm not a hip hop fan I do find myself enjoying this.

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

-Gravey-

Theledge93 responds:

Thanks man, i just had an itch, and this scratched it.

[Guitar Partitia #1 - Romance]

Very Nice...

I greatly enjoyed this. There isn't a whole lot to say really in terms of the composition. You created different movements based on tempo, and you did well in creating a very enjoyable piece by going through those movements.

I'm actually impressed with this quite a bit. It's different from what you hear on Newgrounds typically. It has a certain je ne sais quoi feel to it. Very nice, very nice indeed.

5/5 and 10/10 overall. Really enjoyed this my friend.

-Gravey-

Darkmaster603 responds:

Thanks, I'm glad you liked it, and that means alot coming from you. I really enjoy your work a lot and I almost contacted you for help on what to call this piece lol. I was hoping it wasn't boring or getting dull throughout the composition.

Again, thanks for the review and the kind words!

[Buzz Lightyear Dnb]

This...

...geeks me out. I love it, but I have one complaint. You didn't get the "Use your karate chop action" quote in it. But other than that, this makes me giggle.

5/5 and 10/10 overall. And yea, my opinion is definitely biased. :-P

-Gravey-

superuberinsaneausm responds:

i count find the sound file
SAWRRY!!!

[You Will Never Be Alive]

The Strings...

...make me swoon. Really love the strings you have going on. They really give me an 80's vibe, and I love it. They sound so cheesy, yet so unmistakeably delicious. The strings make this song for me, despite the fact they aren't the main focus.

As for the rest of the song, the intro is exquisite. I love the intro entirely, and the transition is very unique and catching. The transition into the main song really grabs you by the ears and screams at the listener, "You will listen to this, and you will like it!"

The chimes/glass breaking theme is really cool. I've used some glass breaking samples in music before, and it works so well. As do chimes. It sounds like you used both throughout this song, and it really adds a unique texture to this song. Very cool idea.

I love the mashing of vocals throughout this song. The background "clutter", as I would define it, sounds great and really adds to the unique sound of this song. Also, when you use more "clean" vocals it fits perfectly and really slices through the mix to give a sort of calm feeling in the midst of all the chaos.

Because this song is quite chaotic despite it's warm and inviting tone. The instruments/synths used are all very warm and soft in their own way. And it creates this sort of atmosphere that makes the listener feel relaxed and gives a nonthreatening vibe. The actual writing though is very chaotic and sort of angry in an off beat way.

A lot of the effects used are very unique as well. I hear a lot of effects people use, but just done differently. Its not the same filter wooshes and stutters often heard in all of the house/trance/dance music here on Newgrounds. So I really like the use of effects, because you used them in ways to create unique sounds that one simply doesn't hear on a lot of music today.

All that being said, I think the one weak spot is the ending. It isn't bad really, but it isn't all that great either. This song needs a little more closure than what it is given at this time. So tune up the ending a bit and this would be a great song without a doubt.

5/5 and 10/10 overall. Loved this song, and I know you are working on the ending so I'm not gonna hold your score back for something I know is being fixed at the time I write this review.

-Gravey-

InvisibleObserver responds:

I was kind of going for a euro-trance sound, it saddens me that you just misinterpreted it. Its too complex for you to have understood.

[Reflections >Dubstep<]

Typically...

...I don't review my competition. But I feel I should since a point was made below that is simply stupid. The bass, as much as I hate dubstep the bass in this song is perfect.

If it wasn't for the wobbly bass synth in this song, this wouldn't be dubstep. I felt I had to mention this because below it was said that the bass is corny. No, its not corny, its dubstep. Without this bass the song isn't dubstep.

I'm not a fan of this sort of music. I find the composition of dubstep to be obnoxious with the bass in your face all the time. But to sit and say the bass is corny is like saying "synths are overused in electro music." Without the synths an electro song would no longer be electro, thus is this style of bass within dubstep.

As far as dubstep goes, this is a really good song. In fact, I find it much less obnoxious than anything I've been shown by friends on Youtube by well known dubstep artists.

The one thing this lacks is the overall mix. It sounds like everything is competing within the song. Like the compression is so hard it is causing instruments to get sorta halfish side-chained and wobbly. The bass should be wobbly, not the overall mix. Also, I just didn't get the feel of a unified group of instruments in this. There is synths, that wicked bass, some sort of wooden block percussion, a piano, I mean a total hodgepodge of instruments. Which is fine, as long as they mesh well. Wasn't so sure they did here.

But other than the mix, I think this is solid.

5/5 and 9/10 overall. I don't hate dubstep quite as much as I did before.

-Gravey-

mr-jazzman responds:

Thank you so much Gravey! I can't tell you how much this means to me. Thank you for sitting down and taking time to write me a decent review, even though you don't like dubstep much. (Haha I used to be the same way... I just figured it was good to expand my understanding, ya know? Next thing you know, I'll end up with some EastWest in my hands and I'll be producing some classical stuff lol. ;) ). Yeah, I can see what you mean about the compression and what not; to be honest, I think this is one of the biggest problems right here. As for meshing...>sigh<...well, this is one of the problems I had with the whole tune in the first place. At first, there were too many empty spaces, and now there seem to be too little places for breath -- and this is something I just caught on to today. I think it may be the way that I approached this song in the first place. I started out with a formula for the song (believe it or not, I was gonna add vocals in there to fill out the sound, but that didn't happen when my freaking computer speakers went haywire on me >=( ), but then the thing just expanded into something else...hence, the instruments blended, and I went off in a direction that I wasn't entirely sure would work, but ended up nicely in my opinion because of its experimental nature. There are definitely things I want to improve upon from here on out, but I just spent way too much time on this track for the results not to come to fruition, if you know what I mean. Anyway, thanks for the review a whole lot man, and may the "better song" win! =)

P.S. I'm glad I could sway you a little bit with the lessened obnoxiousness. This was my plan; as you can see, I don't like fitting the formula, going with what the wave of the crowd does. I can sense the same thing in you. This is why, though we're not professionals yet, we have the potential to get there soon. You seem like you've got some studio time under your belt; I'm hoping I get the same sort of experience when the band Nothing More starts to record their second major studio album, and maybe something good will come of that. We'll see.

But anyway, thanks again man! And don't be afraid to review your competitor's work man; I've reviewed my friendly competition throughout the entire deathmatch, gave em some advice, etc., because I figure they could use it to their benefit and simultaneously know that the competition is actually interested in their song.

[I Hate Jologs People]

Haha!

I wouldn't call it fail at all really, in fact its not a bad sound at all. Now that being said, its nothing near to being a classical song. But oh well, you wrote a nifty little ambient sort of groove here. Nothing too bad.

I enjoyed this in its simplicity. The fact its 5 am where I live and I can't sleep probably leads me to being able to appreciate long warm tones like this song is living off of. It just feels so right at the moment.

As for the song from a technical angle, its really simple and straightforward. But that doesn't translate into bad by any means. Sometimes being smooth and simple is a good thing. Love the synths you used, sounds very Moog-ish if I recall that sound correctly.

And the mix you created is nice an warm in tone. I really like the mix you created a lot. Granted I'm listening on my speakers, and not my headphones. Everything sounds better on these babies, so maybe you just lucked out that I'm not wearing my phones at the moment. But that being said on my speakers the mix sounds very yummy.

5/5 and 10/10 overall. This hit the spot for me and fit my mood perfectly tonight.

-Gravey-

Sawdust responds:

Wow, thanks!

Also, it was classical. The gated synths used to be strings and the moogish main synth is an automated Rhodes, I thought that it wouldn't work well as a classical song, that's all, so I wrote some basslines and drum sequences and re-instrumented it, so now it's a hip-hop song.

Wow, just thanks, I'm sooooooooooo happy you enjoyed it. :)

[Orion mixed]

Interesting...

For a first submission this isn't half bad, not half bad at all. I'm actually kind of impressed for this being a first submission honestly.

For starters your mix is really nice. The percussion could be slightly louder, but that is just personal opinion. What you have at the moment is a nice ensemble. Everything really fits well in its own little place in the mix and that is important.

You did a nice job in creating interesting melody lines with that lead synth you are using. It has a certain wah wah effect kinda going on, almost guitar-ish in its tone as well. Makes it very enjoyable to listen to.

The song progresses well and really flows from section to section. There is no moment in the song where anything really sounds out of place, or poorly written. It's smooth my friend, smooth indeed.

One thing I would hit on is adding a little bit of variety maybe. It seems like the same percussion rhythm is being used throughout the entire song, and that kinda turns me off a bit. Also the lead synth is the same throughout the entire song. Maybe think of switching it out during a breakdown section or something to create a different feel for a little bit.

Overall I enjoyed this, even though it isn't my typical listening style.

4/5 and 8/10 overall. It's a nice little song, but not really anything extraordinary. Definitely a solid first submission though. :-)

-Gravey-

TJ4477 responds:

Thank you i'm gland you like it.

[Kw- Illusive Illusions]

Ha!

This is great man, albeit the piano is way to fast to be realistic, its still really cool.

The orchestral stuff sounds wonderful to be completely honest. You created a really good mix that has a rich full sound, and that is important. Everything really blends well and adds to the ensemble, so well done with the overall mix.

The piano itself is frantic, almost too fast to be quite honest. If you were going with realistic you totally missed that, but if you are going for jaw dropping you probably hit it because it sounds great. It's just way to fast to be realistic, mainly where you are hitting the same note in succession. There just is no piano in the world that has that fast of action in order to allow you to hit the same note over and over that quickly. But that being said, I really like it anyways. ;-)

My one issue is the compression/limiter put on the overall mix. It creates a funky mixing issue with the reverse cymbal. If you listen closely it throws off the mix slightly, basically you slightly overcompressed it and when the reverse cymbal rises it cause the rest of the ensemble to sort of recede in the mix. I would raise the ceiling on your limiter/compressor a little bit to help with that.

All in all though I really like this. Could be expanded easily if you ask me into a full length song. It definitely has a professional quality to it and I would like to hear more of this from you for sure.

5/5 and 10/10 overall. Really good work here my friend.

-Gravey-

nightsurfermusic responds:

Thank you very much! :D

[Striltch]

Care Bears...

That is what comes to mind when I hear this. I feel the emotion within this song, and it leads me to believe that you have found the all elusive soul of music. You see you have done it once again, you have not only created a unique piece of music, but you have also come up with an entire new way of hearing things.

And by that I mean with your heart. Yes, hear it with your heart. Not your ears, nor your toes, but your heart. And that's deep man.....reeeeeeal deeeeeeeep. And this song is like my soul, deep and full of emotions that can only be explained internally with the heart.

So I thank you my friend for yet again writing something that not only is fun and interesting to listen to, but also for writing music that touches the heart and soul of others. That is the greatest gift man can give to one another.

I love you.

5/5 and 10/10 overall.

-Gravey-

InvisibleObserver responds:

A tear is shed at the beauty of your words.