JoshuaHughes's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Former Motive]

Nice simple drop at :58. You're getting better, man. Look into layering and compression techniques. You'll get that fuller sound and will even out some volume levels that peak a little too high.

Lethal-Input responds:

I will definitely look into these things you're talking about. Thanks for the info/tips/feedback!

[Idea 12-27-2014]

Definitely feeling the prog in this. Like :33 instantly made me think of something Yes would have made. However, maybe it's just me but this sounds more like a collection of small ideas instead of one big piece. I know progressive music can go all over the place, but there is still usually something that grounds it and keeps it from becoming a technical mess. Perhaps it's the carnival sounds I'm hearing from the MIDI.

Still loving the melodies, though, Scouting you and all that.

N-Szewski responds:

Thanks for listening! Glad you enjoyed it. Yeah, it definitely is pretty directionless though, so maybe I'll try tying things together better if I want to put more work into this.

[Counting Clocks]

It sounds nice, dude. Ever thought of getting some voice work done over it to make it a full-fledged song? A vocal talent can really bring out the emotion of simple tunes.

staticnightlight responds:

Normally I do write songs with the intention of singing over them, but lately I've been trying my hand at things geared more toward soundtracks and collaboration and all of that good stuff.
That's actually one of the reasons I finally made a newgrounds account.

I may still turn it into a full-fledged song someday, but in a perfect world others will take it and put their personal finishing touch to it, whether it be by singing over it, using it in an animation, or any other number of wonderful wonders. A kid can dream anyway. haha

[Awakening]

I can just imagine an entire orchestra being built around this piece. I've never heard of Cave Story, but maybe I'll give the soundtrack a listen. It's cool that you panned the left and right hands of the keys. It really gives tracks a fuller sound.

PaperMikes responds:

You should! Perhaps the game a try as well? Thanks! I'm really pleased with the result. ^.^

[Almia]

Makes me think of the old Surrealist period when Salvador Dali was big. That's what's so great about the piano. It can pretty much fit with anything if you play it right.

maquecosa responds:

that's right!

[Space Monkeys]

Oooold dubstep. I like it. With one exception. You keep switching between this sort of 2-step beat and a typical 4-on-the-floor beat, which isn't bad in itself, but it just doesn't seem to jive with me. It doesn't kill the track, but it just makes me wish the 2-step beat was there throughout.

Nice job with the rate changes on the wobble. A lot of people don't want to bother with doing that and usually just cut up the same wobble over and over again.

Lyzrd responds:

thanks for the review :)

I'll keep in mind the beat changes. The reason I changed it throughout is because I was worried that the track wouldn't be progressive enough if I stuck with the same beat the whole time but I'll see what I can do about giving it a few twists

[Duke/Snake/Narrative Demo]

I was focusing on the voice and payed no attention to the words spoken until maybe the 2 minute mark, and I was like "What the fuck is this guy talking about?" It caught me off-guard so much that I cracked up laughing. It's like you're reading from the longest Mad Libs sheet ever.

So yeah, voice work is solid. I would focus more on the pace of your narration. They say 50% of a good speech relies on the way it is delivered. For instance:

"It all started when our hero, Solid Snake, woke up in a vineyard."

You're long pause after "Solid Snake" threw off the tempo of the narration a little bit. Try to make an even pause with both commas the commas before and after "Solid Snake." This is what a radio personality told me before when we were talking about his job.

OldManCricky responds:

My good man, you've given me one of the best tips to keep in mind! I'm highly grateful for your review, it added quite a good piece of knowledge to further boost my experience of voice acting.
Thanks a bunch! :D

[Cucumber Battering Ram]

Awesome drum intro! A little quick to jump into the slow acoustic guitar though, don't ya think? Everything else was very well done, especially that lead. Heavens! Some electric sustained notes over an acoustic is always nice, in my opinion. It's a solid track, man. Keep on rocking!

lyszczek responds:

Thank you very much for your opinion! By jump into slow acoustic part, you mean the first acoustic part after drum intro? Then, honestly, no. It felt right to me and it still does:) Anyway I am really glad you like the rest of the song. It feels really nice to hear from unknown person that he likes your music. Thanks again and have a nice day:)

[Red]

Nice stereo effect with the strummed guitar. And the eastern instruments really add some pizazz to the track. A word of advice, though. Layer your instruments. When reverb and stereo effects fail, layer the shit out of them. You'd be surprised at how hollow your instruments sounded before. Sounds like you kind of got the idea with the stereo strumming part, but it works on other instruments, too. ;)

Iviqrr responds:

Thanks for the feedback, I appreciate the advice and I'll try my best to implement some of it into my next song :)