VociferousMusic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Half Sure]

Hello, sorry for being late. I have been on vacation!

Vocals sound very clear and mixed very well. They harmonize very well with the general background track. Another praise to the lyrics, they're cool!
Well done intro. The transition into the part at 00:15 as well as into the refrain/chorus is worked in nicely.
I only would have wished more variation when it comes to the background drums. I'd see more potential there. Especially during the side part starting at 01:24 I missed some play around with the drums, further phrases etc.

I think you've used the the chorus FX a little bit too much. Voices are great, but the other sounds didn't need that much in my opinion.

That's how I came to a solid 7.2 score. :)

SkankyMojo responds:

Thanks for getting back to me, I appreciate it.

[The Concept of Time]

I feel really bad that you have given my track 5 stars and that I'm unable to give these back. :/
But at the end I'm being honest about my review!

I liked your previous composition way more than this one, especially in terms of orchestration and instrumentation.

Let me start off with the instruments. I'm unsure whether I really do hear the named windwoods here. I think I have heard the flutes here and there in the counterpart (the middle part), but I'm unable to hear any clarinet or contrabassoon - this was a bit disappointing. :(

Another thing would be that you have repeated the first busy movement. I definitely can hear more instruments being used in the second part, but here I would have wished if you extended the melody some more. Doing this in a longer soundtrack with let's say the double length (6 minutes), this would be totally fine to do though.

The counterpart starting at 01:12 was well done in general and serves well to have the soundtrack "calm down" from its dramatic feeling. The transition into the part also was a nice idea to do!
I also like the idea of using sounds being familiar to the sound the clock does. That was a great idea. :)

The mastering and mix is top-notch! And thank you for the suggestion about the -0.1db :)

Suggestions for the future:
- To make 16th notes sound more organic and realistic, try to play around with the dynamics of the several notes. Here is an example of what I mean: https://i.imgur.com/60CXnAE.png
- Here and there, use some stacs for the lower end instruments. It makes it more interesting.
- Use more windwoods for the quieter sections. They tend to get lost if they are played along brasses, especially if the brasses are played in forte/fortissimo.
- Use more variety within the melodics, or use more bars to complete a melody before you repeat it (for examples: 16 bars melody instead 8).

I wish you good luck into the finals, and whoever is going to be the winner, you always are free to contact me in case you need advice for future soundtracks, or have questions related to instrumentation! :)

And I hope my critism didn't hit you too harsh. Head up!

KevinMueller responds:

Thank you for your honest review. Washing a review down just to sound nice serves no purpose, so I'm glad you wrote your honest opinion.

About the instruments:
Yes, the contrabassoons are not really audible, but that is not why I used them. They are mainly there to fill out the bass frequencies which in return results in a clearer mix and a more "massive" sound. You're right about the clarinets though. I used them in the B section, to provide some additional harmony, but they are so quiet, that I could have probably just removed them all together.

The A2 part could have been a bit more creative, I agree. :P

Regarding the 16th notes, I already do that with all of my ostinatos, along with some other humanization tricks.
In terms of staccatos on the lower instruments, I think you're right. It might become a bit boring, playing only sustained notes.

I tried to go less "classical" with this composition, which is probably why you didn't like the orchestration / instrumentation that much. I focused more on the sound design and overall hugeness of the sound.

Thank you for your offer of advice. I'm happy to hear it, because I really want to improve on the more classical side of my soundtracks. And to my ears, you're an absolute master in that regard!
I'm happy to return the favour; if you ever need advice in terms of mixing or whatever, feel free to contact me. :)

Thank you very much for your honest words and the great tips.

Good luck in the finals!

[Flying Free]

You seem to be a quite good opponent in terms of cinematic music!
Fantastic piece even though it's a bit short, haha.

There are only a few minor things for criticism, which would be the following:

- The flutes and especially the piccolo deserve more power, it's hard to hear them. The piccolo could be played one octave higher, since it's what the instrument is made for - to play the highest notes in the orchestra. :P
- The drum set sounds a bit off-mix - basically too dry. The orchestra itself sounds like played in a concert hall, which is very good. The drum kit however sounds like it was played separately and added afterwards. It sounds a bit too central and needs a bit of the hall effect to sound like it was part of the entire mix.

Can't wait to see what you have composed for the finals. Good luck. :)

KevinMueller responds:

Haha, thanks for the kind words. :)
You're definitely right about the drums! I'll try to consider your tips for the next time I include them in my music.

I can't wait to hear your composition for the finals as well! May the best piece win. :)

[Does she love me?]

Very interesting piece!

I also had lots of fun using uncommon instruments in my composition of the last year's NGUAC finals.

The instrumentation is quite good here. Even though you were working with the same mode (D-minor) within the entire track, it stayed interesting until the end. It's rather hard to define the several instruments - I'm not so much into knowing every medieval instrument, haha.
But still, you have been using the instruments very well.

I also like the instruments positioning!

Some suggestions for improvement:

- There could be another drum - a big one (a taiko for example), to cover up the very low frequencies of the piece at times.
- The soundtrack sounds rather... mystical. I would have used more reverb here to gain that feeling.

Good job! :)

Everratic responds:

Thank you for the review!
Yeah, your entries are always a pleasure to listen to!

Rather than D minor, I’d say this song uses several modes over an A drone. There is a secondary drone at times playing D, which makes the key a little more ambiguous.

I like the suggestions. A big drum can be useful at times, such as for transitions.

I would definitely use more reverb if I had a better plugin, but with Valhalla Room I don’t use a high wetness level because it tends to create a lot of mud regardless of the settings.

Good luck in nguac!

[Unbalance]

Pretty sick track overall!

What I like most about it are the different ideas inserted into one soundtrack. There definitely are many different elements in terms of the emotions that come up during the listen. During the first half minute I thought this is going to be some hardcore stuff (also because of the audio waves, haha). But then it became more melodic before it got harder again - there is lots of variety given! I also like the switch to fulltime-step at 3:35, and even the quick and sudden switch to quartertime-step at 4:54.
The acoustic percussions for the transitions are well done!

The only transition I think still sounds a bit raw is the one at 1:54. I don't know, I think you could have done better there. :)

Only thing I really do criticize is the mixing. I think your track does lack of low frequency. I wished the baseline, sub, kick etc. were more massive.

My favorite part probably is 1:11. Sounds very dope to me. :P

Spadezer responds:

Glad you enjoyed! Yeah I like to try to be melodic even though this has probably been my hardest and hardcore song so far. I see what you mean about 1:54, and I'm surprised you'd think it's lacking in low frequencies. Thanks for the feedback though. Much appreciated :)

[Fallen and Forgotten]

Funny to see that I own half of the named Kontakt libraries myself, haha. :)

I must say your style does remind me on my own, at least when it comes to the composition of the following chords - I could swear the violin's melody playing at 1:28-1:45 could be from me, too. :D
The piece is very emotional, a mixure of hope and dramatic, to me.

I also like your sound design, mixing and mastering. I like the amount of reverb you use. It neither sounds too wet, nor too dry.

Transitions could be done better overall in my opinion. A good example is the moment at 2:01. The new phrase comes a bit too suddenly. Here I would suggest to wait one or two bars, let all the sustained notes stretch and go become quieter, before the part at 2:01 starts.
At 2:50, I'm missing something. Be it a reversed cymbal crash, or an instrument like a string starting a half bar beforehand - something where your mind would think "Okey, something is coming now".
The ending just as well is too quick and abrupt. Never forget that a song's outro is just as important as its intro. :)

Within your next compositions, I also would like to see more variation in terms of melody and chords. By that I mean, you have been working with the A-minor key chord all the time. I would have wished some mood swing here, maybe for the side-parts of the soundtrack, while you keep the main concept for the main parts of the song.

Although, I'm still going to rate this with 5 stars as I enjoyed listening to it very much nonetheless. :)

P.S.: I could swear the legato cello at the beginning comes from the Tina Guo plugin. x)

Cheers and stay healthy!

AceMantra responds:

Hey! Thanks for the detailed review!
I use the Tina Guo cello quite a bit. In fact, it was my first kontakt instrument.

Yeah, you got me there. I really like writing in Dm and Am, and I thought I could get away with little variation in chord progressions. But you saw right through it! Clever. XD
As for the transitions and outro, yeah I'll have to agree. Call it a moment of laziness, or impatience. I really wanted to release it and not see it fall into the sea of unfinished works I have.
Keep an eye out for the next one, I'll be sure to use your suggestions next time. :)

[Lost Joy]

Awesome!
Just realized this is a bit familiar to your latest work in terms of melody - like this was an extended version of the other, with slight changes.
I really enjoyed the dynamic/change in between heavy and soft pressed keys, makes it sound organic and alive. :)

The overall atmosphere reminds me on some dramatic romance, or lovesickness.

Everratic responds:

Thank you for the review! I'm glad you like the dynamics. I was inspired by the anime Your Lie in April, which may be why it reminds you of a dramatic romance or lovesickness.

[Pandemic Nightmare]

It's definitely fitting the current situation, the choice of chords makes it very dramatic in terms of the emotion.

Only thing I didn't like was the sound design of the bell. Having it sound like a 8-bit-ish tone feels a bit much to me. But hey, I'm speaking from the perspective of someone who doesn't enjoy chip step too much. :P

Stay healthy!

[Uproar [Halloween Dubstep]]

Great song! I tend to listen to such music when I'm gaming and it makes for a great soundtrack when I need to tryhard, haha.
Mixing and mastering is excellent here. No clipping, clean high frequencies and much power at the lower end.

My critical point would be: What exactly has this track to do with Halloween? Most songs of the hard dubstep/psytrance genre do sound rather dark and mostly are played in minor. These are characteristics of the genres and don't make them Halloween-themed immediately, in my opinion.
I can't tell there is anything where I would say "Oh yeah, this is a Halloween track!"

Snakewine responds:

Thanks for the feedback!

I tried to make it feels like halloween track by putting some of crow/evil laugh/string atmospheres and etc but I'm agree at this sounds lack with halloween vibes.
Should put some organs, harpsichord or more spooky sounds next time :3