JoshuaHughes's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[RustedWasteland+MetalSoldier]

Before even looking at the title, the first word that came to my head when I heard the first track was "wasteland." I've heard the desolate theme brought to electronic tracks before, but not to the effect where the mood of the track is more prominent than the dubstep-style of sound this one is alluding to. I can easily imagine this playing over a game like Fallout or some similar setting where struggling for survival is the only thing on anyone's mind.

The growls really bring out the ominous tone of living in a such a hazardous and hostile environment. It's like they periodically make themselves known in the track to remind you that you're in a cruel world that won't think twice about your needs, much less your life. The riser is also a great transition into the second track that warns of the more aggressive attitude that is to come.

Perhaps my most favorite moment in these two pieces is the bitcrusher that slowly dominates the piece before releasing the drop. Degradation like that has never been more appropriate in an atmospheric double-track like this. The drop itself reminded me of something akin to Bassnectectar's electronica beats. They may not resemble each other much, but the feeling is the same.

I can't really tell you how much I love this. It's such a juicy pair of tracks that I had to listen to them again to really appreciate them and make sure I didn't miss anything the first time. I'll be sure to favorite this and follow you in case you throw out any more material as good as these two.

Stapless responds:

Cheers, Such a nice read :) now i feel the pressure of doing something to top this one. haha

[Impulse]

Wow, everything sounds clear! If anything, your level of improvement is astonishing to say the least. No crazy peaks and clean EQing. Have you looked into stereo/panning yet? PM me the link to your Soundcloud when you're done with this. I'm curious as to what the drums will sound like.

Lethal-Input responds:

Thanks man! I haven't tried anything with panning yet because I've literally only been using one earphone... (Yes I know I need to get new earphones asap lol). The drums will make or break this song, and as far as putting music together, drums are what I feel like I struggle the most with. I'll be sure to send you the link when I post it to Soundcloud

[Obstructed Dreamscape]

I've always imagined that if a dream were to have a soundtrack behind it, it would be eerily quiet and simple like this. I also imagine slow 2step drum solos, too. I don't know. It's not easy to review something like this. I could say you should make it longer than a minute and a half and throw in some more experimental shit in, like old-time samples, distorted rumbling, or exotic percussion (stuff I would have done if this were mine), but this is just a filler track, right? For a day's work, it's solid.

SoulSecure responds:

Funny enough, I was going to make this longer than it is, but I thought it would loop nicely if I ended it there, which it does, but when I export the song from my DAW it doesn't loop as well as it did. That's why I made it short, so it could be looped.

Coincidently, I was also going to add some Chinese cymbals and tabla in there, lol.

[Territorial Pissings]

This song always reminds me of how much Cobain loved The Pixies. And there's something to be said where you can put some power behind the vocals without hiding behind distortion and still make it sound good. I love it. Save up for a Shure or something, dude!

Stereocrisis responds:

Thank you Josh. These are the kind of reviews that remind me why I like playing in the first place. I'm an entertainer. I like people to have a good time listening to music. Some times people just think it's angry, dark, depressing, gloomy music. That's not my whole deal at all. I like people to get up and dance and be glad they're are alive, and have fun. I'm happy to have made at this a small part of your day enjoyable. Please, don't flatter me. I didn't write this song, nor am I getting into making music for the wrong reasons. Some people just want to get their name out there. I could careless about attaining some kind of status. Just how I feel. Thank you for listening.

[pitbulljones- Sunday Morning]

A very atmospheric track indeed. It made me think of intros to old 80's and 90's movies, like Escape from L.A. The song starts off good enough, with a cool filter effect at the lead. Or maybe it's the pitch? Anyways, there's one big thing and one little thing I think you could have changed to make the piece better.

The big thing is the dryness of the drums. It kind of works, but mostly doesn't. The most beneficial effect that I believe could have been added was a filter to enhance the chillness of the track. The small thing is just how the piece ends by just dropping every instrument. Not everybody like this, but I think for this piece, fading out some of the instruments and then dropping what's left would transition better.

Overall, a great ambient track with some very atmospheric pads and FX to illustrate the feeling. And considering none of this is analogue, I can only wonder how great your future works will sound when you get some proper mics and instruments!

pitbulljones responds:

Thank you very the review. I always aim to create a good atmosphere in my tracks. Create imagery, that sort of stuff so thanks for the comparisions. I agree the main lead in synth could be tamed a tad, if I go back to do this I may drop the level slightly. I was comtemplating something more 'electronic' and lo fi for the my drums but settled on a nice verbed kit, different tastes there :)

I do post guitar tracks on here as well as stuff by my band called ilovelamp, though i rarely do any synth work with them. I should look into buying some gear, but having high qaulity software helps a lot.

Thanks for the review, it's really appreciated.

Pitbulljones

[Only The Beginning]

Okay, so I think the piano is wonderfully done. Those detuned keys really set a melancholic mood for the track. I can imagine a vocal talent easily splicing the first 45 seconds and making a solid hip hop piece.

Speaking of splicing, I would think the biggest issue that this track faces is that it sounds like 3 pieces crammed into one, and like it's been said, :45 really doesn't help its case. The lead and bass is just too big to just pop up like that, for me at least.

That being said, I think the bpm change was actually handled very well. I believe pulling one off correctly is a very difficult thing to do, especially when you're doing a lot of genre-hopping. And once again, it falls into a slow, melancholic mood with the bass providing a sort of foreboding tone before it kicks out. I would be very interested to hear any further development in this one! Just make sure the piece is grounded and sounds like a track and not a medley.

Back-From-Purgatory responds:

I admit, I'm not entirely happy with the section at 0:45... and should I continue working on this, that's probably the first thing I'll change, on top of extending the piece instead of letting it end abruptly as it does now.

Transitions I am awful at... Tempo changes, I like to believe I can do pretty well, so I'm glad you agree on that.

Thanks for the review.

[Be$pin - Floating Hotel]

So I think the only real thing that is working against you on this is the first 25 seconds with the instruments and sample filtering in and almost deceiving the listener into believing that it's something that it's not.

After the first 25 seconds, the drop feels somewhat disappointing on one hand. On the other, it's a very groovy drop. Usually, the explanation to this sort of conflict is simply the way it's produced. I know telling you to just try mixing it differently isn't very helpful feedback, but this one has really stumped me. Telling you to do one specific thing or another just wouldn't be sincere.

Actually, one thing that I can put my finger on is the hi hats. I think you could have tightened the tails just the slightest bit to keep the hits from sounding like they're on top of each other.

I don't mean to sound too critical of this track, because I do genuinely like it, but there's just something about that drop that tells me that it's not all the way there yet,

midimachine responds:

i feel like the problem with the drop is that the first buildup is just too empty
maybe the kick isn't loud enough too, still haven't had a listen on a proper system yet so can't really tell for myself
thanks for the review!

[Area 51]

This is very reminiscent of Dave Mustaine's work. It's almost uncanny. Glad to hear some more quality metal on the portal. You can never have too much. METAL UP YOUR ASS.

Schleif responds:

awesome! thanks for the kind words man, i'm glad you like it!

[Working Title]

Yeah, hearing the Daft Punk and Justice inspiration in this. Okay, here's the rundown. First 45 seconds were really great, but after that Gross Breat mix, the whole track seemed to take a really empty turn. I can imagine this working perfectly if it were just given a little more oomph. I would look into plate reverb, exciters, and stereo effects to really widen the track and give that big roomy grit that it desperately needs.

lazy-dave responds:

I'll definitely try those out and see what I can do. Thanks for the review! Much appreciated!

[War Sounds]

Some people will claim that this kind of stuff is garbage. Some will claim that they completely understand this kind of music. In my opinion, they are both wrong. Nowadays. noise bands will just blast shit and make everything as distorted and loud as possible. Nothing wrong with that, but that's not what noise music is entirely about.

When I listened to this, it reminded me of acts like Throbbing Gristle and Wolf Eyes, both incredibly good bands from different generations who actually influenced a lot of popular artists that aren't noise band-related. Go figure.

floppypawss responds:

Hey man, thanks for the review. I'm so glad that there are ppl on newgrounds that are into this kind of music. BTW i love Throbbing Gristle!