Gravey's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[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.

[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 :]

[Kw- The Winner (WiP)]

Very Cool...

The percussion is really good, as expected from you. That is always the first thing that comes to mind when listening to your song. Glad ot say this is up to par with what I've heard from you in the past.

I like that lead synth, but I'm not sure it could hold its own throughout a whole song. I would make sure not to lean on it too much. It has a sweet candy effect to my ears. What I mean by that is it was great the first 5 times I looped this little demo, then got really annoying. So I'm not it has a lot of staying power as a lead synth throughout a whole song. Just something to think about.

I like the choir sample you have. Its pretty nifty sounding, albeit not really groundbreaking either. Just fits nicely as it is, and nothing more is really needed than that. :-P

It lacks a little on the low end in terms of sound. Maybe a low pad would fit in here to give it some bass and body. But besides that I think the mix and mesh of synths/percs/instruments is really well done.

4/5 and 7/10 overall. (It is just a demo after all :-P) Can't wait to hear the final product. :-D

-Gravey-

nightsurfermusic responds:

Thanks man! I agree that there are a few things missing, but as you said it is just a demo. :D

Thanks for the review! I'll review your new one when i get the chance. :)

[Toronto Sunrise {durn}]

It's Ok...

...but that is about it. Now don't take that the wrong way, because every song can't be a hit. And this is a good song, just not a great one.

I like the groove of the entire song. The percussion really does a good job at creating a driving rhythm that has me bobbing my head. But despite how catchy it is, it is missing some element.

It is pretty simple in concept, which seems to be a good thing this time around. But it would be interesting to hear you introduce some new synths, or real instruments such as strings. I think you could fatten up this song and give it a lot more body just by adding some layers and new instruments/synths.

But all in all, I enjoyed this. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

4/5 and 8/10 overall.

-Gravey-

durn responds:

thanks for the honest and precise review, Gravey.

you're quite correct about lack of layering, I've been trying to approach my music lately as if I'm just a band, keeping things as minimal as possible (bass, lead, rhythm, piano, drums, that's it).

Seemed to work great for house but in trance it definitely seems lacking.

I -would- fatten it up and re-submit but I'm -so- done workin' on this baby. hehe.

I'll keep your comments in mind for the next time I do some trance. More Layers!!!! :D

Thanks Gravey.

[<PS> Serenity]

Ah...

Yet another nice emotional piece by you my friend. I like the piano a lot. It really creates a lovely mood and atmosphere. I do think that it is a bit airy though. It sounds as if this was recorded live, and if so you could move the mics a bit closer.

Depending on the piano, I would put a stereo pair of mics close. Where exactly depends on the overall timbre you are wanting to capture really. Then post a stereo pair of room mics to pick up ambiance. If this was created in a program though, just change the reverb a bit so it isn't so wide. That would help a lot.

This as a whole is very nice. But to be honest it is utterly simply. Some good things I hear include a wide dynamic range. Your loud moments are powerful, and the soft moments get very quiet. This is a good thing. You might want to work on your pedal action though. You are holding the pedal a bit too long in areas, and it creates a rather muddy sound overall. If this was created in a program though, just clip the samples a little bit so they don't bleed into each other quite so much.

Being a pianist myself I hear a lot of wonderful nuances in your playing. But they don't quite make up for the lack of technical work. I think you could really expand on this and make it something great, rather than just good as it is now. ;-)

4/5 and 7/10 overall.

-Gravey-

PenguinSam responds:

Ah, work with the pedal, just the sound I needed to hear! Er, words to read rather.
I can work with the pedal, that is for sure! I never noticed how muddy it made it. And I wish this was recorded live, but I can't play piano quite that well yet. Actually, maybe if I worked on this song...I bet I could!

I will work on on the pedal work, that is for sure!

Oh! I actually plan on reagranging this for a brass quintet, so you might see both of them posted here on newgrounds! ;)

Thanks for the AMAZING advice, it's stuff like that that I have been needing to hear to improve my music!

<PS>

[Cast From the Stars (Chill MX)]

Hmmm...

I don't know the original song, so I can't say much about how this represents it. But the song itself is pretty cool, and I like the different synths and effects you used.

The percussion is pretty good whenever it is used. Especially that kick man, its phenomenal! Yea, the kick is really making the percussion work. Because the rest of the percussion is really good, but the kick is that stabilizing force. And it just makes the entire ensemble sound thick and meaty.

The synths are cool choices. I like the overall mix you got with them. There is a lot of great ideas going on in this song with the synths. They mix well and just feed off each other.

Really as a whole I can't find anything to complain about. But it is a remix, so it is a given that the song will probably shine in ways that typical Newgrounds tunes don't.

5/5 and 9/10 overall. I just can't give a perfect score to a remix. :-P

-Gravey-

Bracksta responds:

lol, dude it is a remix of my own song. thanks for the great review bro i can't believe i acually got a 9/10 on this one, lol from you i mean. you are a really tough critic, but i love your input, it is so helpful. so the fact that you don't have much for me do do on this song, means it really is great, lol.