JoshuaHughes's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Party Time]

Hey dude, Yoshiii343 pretty much outlined all the problems I have with this little piece, except maybe for the buzzy bass, which I can't really tell is too buzzy or not when every synth is clashing with one another. But if this is your thing, more power to ya. It's just that I don't think a lot of people are going to agree with your intentions because frankly it sounds pretty mangled. If you do want it to be tolerable to the listener, I'd suggest saving the loudness for after the export.

I don't really know anything about Audio Sauna, and I never read that thread in the forum, but I'm sure it has a db meter somewhere if it's a decent enough program. A great start to a better track from here would be to look into dynamic range, because I'm going to go out on a limb and assume this track doesn't have any. Best of luck, man!

freaksy101 responds:

Thanks for the constructive criticism. It may be a bit loud because I was making it while my volue was down low. Audio Sauna doesn't really have anything like compressors or eqs though.

[Recorders]

Wow, Lumina sounds great, yeah? Is this a precursor to some more renaissance music?

AshleyAlyse responds:

Yeah, Lumina has a bunch of great sounds! :) I really love the legato bassoon and the recorders.
I really want to create a bunch of renaissance music! :D I love, love, love renaissance music and other old fashioned music. Just trying to find a few more instruments. I'm looking for a great harpsichord, dulcimer (hammered and plucked) and also a nice tambourine. Some drums too, actually. Thanks for the review! :)

[Embrace Salvation (2014)(Demo)]

This is amazing! I must have more! Ending it so abruptly almost seems criminal.

johndan20 responds:

thank you it is still a working progress how ever i do promise i will get it finished for you!

[The Mystery Of Life (2014)]

You simply stole my heart with this one. <3

johndan20 responds:

Thank you! i started my career on a bad and low note so working really hard to radeem myself, i hope u enjoy and like this song!

[Space Loop]

It's all good, dude. I feel like loops are good quick bursts of ideas that just need to stand out by themselves. By the way, 3 days? You going to throw your hat into the AIM contest?

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

I'm glad you like it :D!

Yeah. These short loops are my lazy learning projects for the moment. Since my time is still slightly limited, but I still want to get some results, I just make quick loops every now and then to learn and have fun (I'm very new to all DAWs. I don't upload most of the loops though). I can agree with how you feel about loops too :D

Nah, I'm not entering the AIM contest XD
To begin with, I don't think I'd stand the ghost of a chance, although it would be fun to enter! Steampianist just uploaded a track that I just think might win one of the prizes too. Good luck to you though, I genuinely feel you have a chance! (But I've only listened to about 20 entries :p).

Also, I'm not sure I'll be done with the track I'm working on in 3 days; I just got done with the composition, and I'm both lazy and not that good at mixing :'D
It's just more DAW training for me anyway, it's not that well thought through :')
The 3 days are how many days are left of my work. After that, I already have a three month vacation! So I'll spend my days inside, making music the whole summer! Maybe... :3

Thanks for the review!!! :)

[Beast Within w Vocals]

Hey, you're still making awesome stuff! Loved this. Guy sounded amazing on the vocals. And the guitar is bangin as always.

Metaljonus responds:

Thanks dude! He's a beast! lol

[PWD]

Amazing work, man! Funny enough, I've been listening to King Crimson all day and now I hear some more good progressive music here. Not nearly enough of this kind of stuff floating around the portal. Killer organ. 3:43-5:00 was just nuts. Also, neat description of all these progressions. Kind of makes me wonder if more progressive musicians write their music in a storyline fashion.

Didn't really hear anything too crazy from the drums or guitar. Seems like it's more organ and synthesizer focused, which is alright with me!

Warhector responds:

Thank you good sir! No there are not much progressive out there. But I can mention Kor-Rune, who is a progressive rock/metallist which focus more on guitar. I'm glad you like the song and the description/story line! Hope you like the other stuff i write. Cheers!
- Warhector

[Blood Pact]

Man, what is with all these crazy awesome dark tracks that I keep hearing today? It's so sinister, it doesn't even need a melody, at least not until the latter half, I guess. Some of these sounds like that airy pad become a little tiring, but so mesmerizing at the same time, I don't even know what to think. The bassline has to be my favorite part in the track. You can just feel the meanness in it.

Drums are also pretty solid in the piece, except for maybe that sidestick sound at 1:20. Felt a little iffy to me. And that Starcraft 2 sample felt flat out cheesy to me. Maybe it's just me. Which one was that anyway, the Stalker? Or maybe this isn't a very serious track, even though it sounds wonderful despite the flubs I mentioned.

NoHost responds:

Wonderful. Yes, the sample is the stalker unit from Starcraft 2.
The other sample at the very end is the same unit.

Stay cheesy my friend ;-)

[Point Of No Return]

An interesting turn from the DnB that I've been hearing from you. It's rife with spontaneity, from soft water drops with some piano to a grinding distortion beat. I really didn't know what to expect. But the only time I thought a progression was too rough was when the glitchy drums and pad came in on 0:29. I don't normally offer a specific sound to use in my reviews, but I thought a subtle reverse reverb would have been perfect for that part and eased in the beat enough to not slightly startle some of the more wussy listeners like me.

Nothing wrong with having a sound that's relatively easy to make. What some people may consider to be overused, others may see it as a sort of signature style! Like Kirk Hammett and his wah pedals.

So when the crazy noise comes in, I'm simply blown away by it. I've always been biased towards cacophonous noise, and this piece certainly delivers. Favorite little part would have to be the falling bass at 1:18. It's a great fill that keeps the beat alive. Good job on taming the high ends in the mix. I know how easy they can ruin tracks like this one when they have even a little more presence than necessary.

Still felt a little bit of emptiness in some areas, even with the panning, but all in all, I like it! Any other crazy stuff in the works?

MutualCore responds:

Thanks for the review! I'm trying to keep writing but I have no real drive. I produced for 8 years as Quarl but when my computer blew last August my motivation to write music kind of died with it. All my files are on an external HD but its Mac OS data so Windows can't read any of it. Computer I'm currently borrowing has no processing power and a lame sound card.

Hey. It's my birthday today. Throw tons of money on me so I can buy talent the way Dead Mouse does.

[Try for Platinum]

Wow, this is quite a lengthy house track you laid out here, so I hope you don't mind if I structure my review so that I'm writing it while it's playing.

So the drums are pretty solid from what I'm hearing right now. A little strange though that they sound so dry compared to the panning synth you have playing over it. It kinda makes it sound like you're listening to two recordings that clearly weren't recorded in the same room. Maybe some reverb similar to the synth would have helped. I do appreciate that one chromatic percussion playing in the rhythm (forgive me, but isn't it called a clav or something?)

That was really a neat way bringing in the sub like that. Super smooth, in my opinion. If it were me, though, I would have added a little attack on the first note to make the transition even smoother. Filtering in that main synth really helped, too. The hat you brought in wasn't that bad, but I'm referring back to the reverb thing when I say it could have been loads better.

The lack of kick in this part is interesting, because I'm not really sure where the track is going at this point. I'm noticing a slight lack in direction, especially since that synth has pretty much been carrying the track for almost two minutes now. The buildups seems pretty standard. Nothing much to say about that. Good use of rising pitch and all that.

Okay, drop time. I really like it! Feeling a different mood from it since it sounds like it's taking on a more industrial approach. Nice job on the bass. I know it's really easy to go overboard with the distortion. That gliding synth is really what's killin it, though. Sounds like that are what cause people to go crazy and break shit. Out of happiness, of course. The horn coming in was a great addition. A little cheesy, but at this point I'm starting to relate this to a lot of late 90s artists like VNV Nation and the like. Not saying that's a bad thing or anything.

Anyways, good on you for coming back to that melody at 4:40 to seal the deal. Felt like a great time to bring everything at full circle. The second buildup was kind of weird with that snare and all. I know how you kind of just lowered the pitch on it, but the timestretch effect that it gave off made it sound a little cheap.

Second drop wasn't my cup of tea, but I can't knock it because it does kind of work with the track. That square synth I hear it pretty cool. At around the 7 minute mark, I'm really starting to hear a lot of instruments conflicting with one another. It's not as bad as some of the stuff I hear, but some stricter EQing would have made it sound a lot better. 8 minute mark gave the track some room to breathe, and I'm liking the more minimal sound I'm hearing compared to before.

The piano was alright enough, but the word that came to mind when I heard it was "dusty" lol. Might be the EQ again or something, but the little melody was nice. I'm actually guilty of using variations of that melody too many times because it's such a good melody.

So this was a bit of a ride, but I really enjoyed it for the most part. Just felt like highlighting some critical points and offering my measly two cents. Take with it what you will. If this was playing at a club, I could totally get down to it. So keep it up, man!

Cacola responds:

Thank you for the very detailed review!
Good point about the drums, I'll keep that in mind!
Listening to the song again, adding attack on the bass would probably have sounded good, should of thought of that.
Glad you like the drop! I can't really tell if you're saying the glide synth is good or bad though.
I wasn't really intending on giving it a 90s vibe, I just really like that type of brass synth.
I was trying to avoid too many instruments going on in the 2nd drop, guess I failed, I'll try to EQ more often in the future.
The piano sounded dusty because I bit crunched it, I just really like that type of piano sound.
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for the review!