Zechnition's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[moment of infinity]

2:47 is super pog, and the rest of the song is also very nice nice nice. 1:40 has a really cool feeling, and does a good job building tension. The texture of 3:24 is also very thick and mwa.

A lot of the middle areas get quite overcompressed though. I'd like to see you do some sidechaining / mixing tweaks to fix up some of the unintended distortion.

In addition, the lead in the section around 1:14 is a bit too loud, since it drowns out the rest of the instruments. Bringing the instruments up would make the texture pop a bit more & feel extra detailed!

Love it!

[A Bedtime Story]

Love all these ideas, they're all very evocative! It's a shame it's just a first draft, though I can tell you've gotten good at speed mixing because I can barely tell :) The transition in the middle is a quite abrupt and the rest could use some tweaking, but I wouldn't say any are bad.

Very awesome!

Everratic responds:

Thank you for the review! I feel like I've studied orchestral mixing long enough to know what to do in most situations, but every song comes with its unique challenges. In this case it was mixing the dry solo double bass and tenor saxophone with an orchestra recorded stereo in a hall. I spent more time mixing these two instruments than on composing.

[crypt]

there's a lot that's good about this piece, but I love 0:32

[Rite of the Woods - NGADM ROUND 3 (2021)]

I love all the beautiful sounds here! The intro, the moment at 2:01, 3:06, 3:54, aaaa

I also loved your percussion (though it's too hidden in the mix at times), 1:33 is a cool moment that showcases that.

It's a bit challenging to listen to this piece (i think mostly due to mixing), but putting in the effort was worth it in the end. Love it!

Santi-Montali responds:

Thanks, yeah this was pretty rushed so mixing is a problem indeed, I was completely aware of it but I ran out of time. The arrangement is pretty crap as well (at least imo). That's how I ended up losing in round 3 sadly haha

[sap]

I do like it

[SMALL THEFT AUTO]

1:39 :3

[DANGER VALLEY (#MAJ7 COVER RING)]

I'm ashamed how long it took me to find the lick, even though it's in the first few seconds

[BREATHING]

The reverb on the percussion at 0:08 makes the mix feel a bit muddy, but I love the intro! The progression of the track overall is a bit odd, as sections never tie back into older sections. The instrument at 1:33 is very fun sounding. The section at 2:42 just doesn't quite work. The hit sounds kind of over-compressed, but the other instruments sound super cool. I also like the percussion at 2:58, and wish it would've built towards something bigger! 3:25 percussion is also cool, but I think it would work better in short bursts, as it gets a bit tiring after a while.

Overall, there's a lot of cool ideas here, but they weren't tied together quite well enough. Still worth a few relistens though!

[My Bad]

wow, this is a really nice track! Some elements are quite loud & a bit painful, but I like your use of emphasis, and the composition as a whole. Sound design is a bit raw, but not necessarily bad. The main melody reminds me of nintendo/zelda music for some reason, but I like it nonetheless.

[AIM - Red Dawn]

Cool sounds & cool harmonic ideas! Connection to art is there, but somewhat weak.

You have a lot of interesting ideas, but they aren't executed very well. Mixing is okay, but there are a few places where sounds are too loud / quiet. Pacing is a bit repetitive, and many sections stop being engaging after a while. Your transitions are also relatively minimal, and so don't do a great job building/releasing tension. However, I'd love to see your take on this idea again in a few years!

As for how to improve, I suggest spending some time analyzing your favourite songs. I like to writing down what I do & don't like about them.

Good luck & solid entry!