Nav's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Euphorium (Remix)]

Euphorium...

...is not by DM Ashura. It's by our very own Eon.

http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/liste n/68270

Check it.

Ok about the song. The beginning is somewhat generic. It's low quality, so it's a bit hard. The strings are also somewhat bad quality. Needs more piano in the beginning, that's what defines epic.

Ok. Now, you need the 4-to-the-floor kick to be more pronounced. It's very weak in this song. It needs to have more volume to be danceable.

Generic piano melody at 3:00. What's with breakbeats? It needs to be 4-to-the floor trance kick beats. Danceable and tranceable.

You also need to work on building up tension. Epic trance needs to have A LOT of builds and breaks, tension and release, it's pretty much the point of the genre - build to a huge climax, then bring it all back down.

No synth leads like I was expecting. Those would help solidify the melody. Overall, the song isn't too bad. It's not the best either.

7/10, 5/5

WBolin responds:

Thank you for the constructive comments, I'll keep those in mind as I try to further grasp the genre =)

I feel almost insulted though that you think i got my info wrong,
I'm 100% sure i remixed the Euphorium by DM Ashura, just because theres someone on this site that used the same name for a song doesnt mean he has the only song by that name.

[{dj-N} The Benni Loop]

Benny Benassi style eh?

Yeah, you kinda got it.

First off, go to the "tekhouse" section of VEC and use one of those kicks. They are what Benny uses.

Then, make the bass. It should be an EQed Saw, LOTS of sub and low-mid. That and the kick should be the prominent features of the song.

No trance leads. No orchestras/strings. No big melodies. Sidechaining is needed.

What defines Benassi style is simply the bass, the kick, and maybe a BASIC synth lead at the same time. Also, the bassline should be repetitive and should be pitchbent. Oh, and vocoded vox.

You are getting influenced too much by Anthem Trance. Listen to some Benassi... all the way through. It's pretty much 6 minutes of the same thing. A few bars of bass/kick. Drop for vox. Repeat. The dancefloor loves it because it has SO MUCH FREAKING SUB. It pretty much vibrates the floor. That's what he does - make the dancefloor shake. Think about it next time before making strings and synth leads.

[Flare - Spitfire]

uhh k.

Reese needs more modulation.

And the song is way too repetitive. Otherwise it's fine.

StereoTactik responds:

This reece has 4 different tracks of automation and it also has a sidechain compressor. Any more modulation would be an epic suck.

Drum & bass is supposed to be repetitive.

>8(

[Japanese Menu Music Syntrus]

Cool...

Intro sounds just like you took it off of some generic Wii game... I'm liking it. I've actually been searching for the Wii soundtrack, with no avail.

At 0:30, the beat goes somewhere. I was hoping more for an on the beat pattern, to move it along... I get it around 0:50.

I like this. The synths need more reverb, and possibly delay. They cut a bit much to make good background music. It should flow together more, rather than cut, like it does now.

Overall, this loop has potential, definitely. I want to see how it turns out with a bit of refining.

Overall 8/10, 5/5

[MMBN2 - Virus Battle]

Review time - In da mood

OMG IT'S YOU. I remember you... it's been a while.

Listening.. beginning sounds like something's coming. It's big too. Square, and a light hat melody, this isn't good... uh oh snare roll... wait. Damn, it doesn't do what I wanted it to do. :'(

I was expecting a huge long snare roll, then a phat kick to come in, 4-to-da-floor y'all! But it didn't, it went back to this light thingy.

Hint - make the kick louder. As for the song, it doesn't really go anywhere. It kinda stays with the midi, no real innovation, no originality. I mean, it's interesting as a cover, but there's no real original content.

Kick needs more volume, more variation, especially in dynamics, is needed. Try making a HUGE build up to the snare roll, then having the kick come in PUNCH!! Through the muck, and make it feel really clean. This feels a bit muddy in places, and needs a bit more refinement.

Overall, it was good, needs some work, though. 7/10, 5/5.

It'd be cool if you could check out my most recent submission. Thanks :)

EliteFerrex responds:

Well, despite the fact that this review definitely wasn't what I was hoping to find on my birthday (December 12th), but I suppose a 7 is better than nothing. I was attempting a lower-key, less energetic feel for this song purposely, because it was a BGM in the game, and there more to fill the silence. If you want a louder, more prominent Megaman Battle Network song, go look at "Megaman Battle Network ElecCom" on my list.

[Time Travel]

Reviewing

Returning reviews is a good thing to do :P Ok, so reviewing.

I'm starting from 1:00, those weird synths with resonance are pretty cool, but the melody doesn't stabilize enough to capture my interest. At 1:36, its better. I like the melody you've got going there.

1:53 comes on a bit suddenly, but I like where it is. The acidic synth really helps the feeling of a break, but the melody seems a bit random, also, there was no build up. Make like a snare roll or something, and it would feel a lot better.

Lots of weird melodies, I like the harmonization at 3:00, it sounds cool, and somewhat creepy. Weird drum rhythms being thrown around. Try to get them into a groove, or something that you can focus on. They seem a bit random.

Kick needs more volume. It should be on top of the synths, not below them. Think about the kick as the main instrument. Make it go right up to +0 dbs, then make everything around it, so you can hear them, and so the kick is still the main. Your song should not clip if you do that.

Well, this was a pretty ok song. It could use some work rhythm-wise, and the melodies really need to stabilize into a common element or hook to catch the interest of the listener. Also, the background pads never changed notes, making them seem droning, rather than atmospheric... It's a bit annoying.

7/10, 5/5

Twistedtechnology responds:

YYYYAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY FEEDBACK I CAN USE TO FURTHER BETTER MY MUSIC!!!!!!!! I have waited so long for someone to give reviews that were not only honest. but also helpful. 0 Dbs hm? sounds like a plan next time. As for the melodies, i can kinda see how they dont really stabalize. but i trying (maybe now in retrospect, a bit too hard) to avoid any repetative melodies. The backgroud pad thing was something i was never really good at to be honest lol. I suppose it does get rather annyoying after hearing the same note for 4 minutes XD

Again i was trying a bit too hard for diversity with the drums. so thats probably why the rythms seemed so jumpy. I guess i really didnt put as much effort into this as i possibly could lol.

Im getting a mixed opinion about the kick though. The last person felt it was too loud. and you are saying its not loud enough lol.

Anyways, i really appreciate the review XD

Thanks!!

[Cannibal Treat--_--]

Ok review

Not enough high texture on that snare... Also, it needs a shorter attack time, it feels looong now, and it should be tight and snappy, rather than a loong rock snare.

Layer with a tight hiphop snare, and EQ at 4 khz for more texture.

Reese needs more work. It feels pretty flat, where it should pulse more. That wobble bass is cute <3 Pitch LFOs are a lot of fun, yes?

Well, it wasn't too bad. Good to see you using FL again :)

8/10, 5/5

PERVOK responds:

I'm never going back to FL again. I realized how much I hate it after this track.

[The 3 Cores Collab]

Review...

Ok, that Voice sounds so corny. You could've at least vocoded it with a synth, or a saw to make it sound cool.

That first song wasn't really hardcore. Felt more like some kind of light trance... Not really hardcore... In fact, the second song is not really hardcore either. They need more kick and distortion on the kick.

The third song is sounding good. Nice distorted gabber kick... but the melodies do not work. They sound really dischord and not good at all. The best possible would be the second and the third combined.

You picked a really bad voice, I can't even understand it.

This first breakcore song isn't hardcore at all. The amen needs more punch. I shoulda given breakcore a go... I can do so much to an amen, it's amazing... Hardcore glitching at 3:35. Did you use dblue-glitch? If so, it sounds like that... Or you could've just glitched it yourself. The break needs more punch, but the glitch was nice.

Second breakcore... Sounds not hardcore and doesn't get hardcore in 20 seconds... Yeah, it isn't hardcore or breakcore... Just a bunch of breaks... Not breakcore at all...

Speedcore... first song sounds cool... Actually nice glitch, the noise is nice, but the voice sucks. Really. It's a bit too chaotic... The speed needs more definition, it should not just be a roll. At 6:30, that's what I'm talking about with speedcore, he puts the tempo to good use, like artists like that should. I don't know who it is, because I can't understand the voice. You should've narrated it yourself...

Last song isn't speedcore or breakcore... Its not hardcore enough to be either.

Overall, a lot of these songs weren't really hardcore at all. The two tracks that stood out to me were the third hardcore song and the second speedcore song. The rest barely fit the genres they were supposed to be.

I don't mean to be harsh, but this wasn't really all too good. It was lacking a lot of things, and many submissions were not very good. I really should have done something.

Overall 6/10, but 5/5 for nice try.

[Asdfghjkl D:<]

Ahhh....

Z3ta presets. Reminds me of my first while producing.

Nice kick... and melodies...

Overall, nice song. Really man. You should keep making music. You've improved a lot :) and so have I.

10/10 cuz ur kewl lol

[Rig - Our Secret]

Nice

I'll make this short and sweet.

Drum are awesome and the ambiance is awesome too. The melody is nice.

The reese is not so good. Try detuned saws + dist + phaser + reverb + sweeping notch, shelfs, peaking, bandpass filters.

Nice, 8/10 5/5

Rig responds:

Thanks for the feedback! :)