lantaren's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Red Velvet]

It's okay, especially for presumably a first track - nice job!

Notes:
The mix is not the best, the 'kick' drum sounds like it's just a tom, there's very little low end and it sounds very weak/thin. The main 'lead' pluck is okay, but it's pretty high-pitched. I wouldn't go so far as saying it's 'shrill', but it could probably be dropped an octave or doubled with another synth. The bass sound is decent, but it can probably be brought up in the mix quite a bit, or at least doubled with a sub. Very mid/high end heavy. There's also some pretty intense artifacting / distortion on the filter for some reason in the beginning/end of the track. The pad / chords could probably have a bit more mid-range added to them or another line following the bass. Around the 1min mark, a lower lead comes in (might just be the main lead?) and the mix sounds a lot more balanced, though still lacking in low-end oomph / energy. I like the interplay between the lead and the 'countermelody' / arp at the 0:48ish

In terms of arrangement, it's pretty repetitive but there are decent elements. I think it could use some more work, maybe a bit more elements for transitions between sections.Some extra polish and this could be decent, but as of right now, it's not fully there yet.

[Fairies]

Yo this is tight, glad I randomly went through latest posts for this genre tag lol

LexyFire responds:

thanks! :3💙

[-Grind District-]

Eh... I don't know what everyone else is listening to, but this isn't the best. I love industrial, gritty, grindy music. The more mechanical and warped, the better. I mean, I listen to way too much music of that sort, so perhaps that's the only reason this doesn't quite impress me. It has a very 90s vibe going to it, which could be good or bad (I like it), but yeah. Was otherwise a little bit.. uninspired on a sound design front, though I realize this is an attempt to push into other areas of music, which is always a commendable thing.

[Jackhammer]

Was this all played live and tracked? If so then that's pretty cool. Always give props if that's the case. The guitars sound really muddy, and the drums don't really fit into the mix, just sounds like midi thrown right on top of a really muddy song. It doesn't have that punch that it really needs to have, overall. The solo was kind of okay, but it really didn't fit in the key (and not in a jazzy sort of way). All things said, though, despite the repetitive nature of this track, it's still not that bad. The mixing and mastering really need work though, and without that, it's not the most pleasant thing to listen to.

TSRBand responds:

Thanks for your response! It's much appreciated, always looking to improve :) Guitars and bass are live but the drums are midi here.

[Manifest Destiny]

The second synth that comes in at 00:14 felt out of place, though I'm not sure what about it didn't fit. The kick drum pattern is.. annoying, if only because the kick sample itself is annoying, too hard for this style of music. Look for a more subby, booming sort of kick (though still short) that a noisy and dry kick. For the most part, the mixing is fairly decent. Transitions could be a little bit better (they are a bit abrupt and it doesn't feel like the piece can breathe). Aside from that, nothing was really wrong with it as far as from a compositional standpoint, and being made with only the demo is its own sort of triumph. I hope that you can keep getting better, and maybe get the full version of FL studio some day.

xxUltimaWeapon responds:

The samples I use are usually random and hastily chosen so I can see how they don't feel fluid together at times. Especially since it was a piano mixed with some random ambience haha. I felt confident with the transitions in this, so I appreciate you pointing that out. My perspective can only get me so far. And in regards to the kick. I used the default FL kick and added a bass kick with it. Just straight up laziness. Haha. I do appreciate your feedback, as it's helpful to keep me moving in a good direction. Thanks for taking a deeper look into this!

[Electrical Assassin]

Eh, it took a while to get anywhere. I have to commend you for making it quite a solid loop, though, and everything sounded nice together! So props for that. I realize the "techno" genre is usually extremely minimalistic in nature, so that's fine anyway. The drums feel a bit stale (not sure if it's the repetition or the samples themselves, I just don't feel that they fit the best), and the arp is just a bit overpowering at times.

overall, it's fairly simple and it works pretty well, aside from some things I would have done differently, and slight mixing/mastering problems (but maybe you like it that way, so I can't really judge). After listening to it 5-6 times, I do have to say that I hardly even notice that it looped until the vocal sample kicks back in, and the track itself is growing on me, so I feel a 4/5 is a solid score for this.

ADR3-N responds:

Thanks for the review! I do agree the percussion could have used a little extra work. I couldn't find a proper snare to fit in my library, which left me with some hats and the BIGROOMKIX synth I used for the chorded kick. Not too much mastering to speak of, as I only took a few hours on the piece. I really appreciate the in depth critique, very helpful. :)

[Lido]

Gahhh. It sounds really nice, but, there's only like 2 main chords. The chord progression got tiring after a while, thought that it would have more movement than it did. Easily could fit something like this chord progression in - http://s13.postimg.org/f5v3hpktz/chords.png

Not that I'm saying you have to or anything. the chords you chose worked fine, but I (personally) felt it gravitating towards what I had posted, and thought that perhaps you should consider it. (wasn't sure on your timings, so I just threw all the chords I felt should've been there in there).
So yes, overall it was a very well done track (sonically) but musically it was fairly boring (the other option you have is to add even more elements to the mix, but I feel you definitely hit the nail in regards to layers and such)

[Shores of Dysphoria]

The instruments go really well with each other. The mixing is very well done, and the guitar was a really nice touch as well. The voice that came in near the end fit really nicely into the mix. Not much else I can say about it, other than it was over kinda quickly for my liking (as in, you did a good job and I wanted to hear more, but was sad it was over so quickly).

Chemiqals responds:

Thank you! I hit a bit of a roadblock writing this. Couldn't come up with anything that wasn't redundant or repetitive to add to it. I might work on it some more in the future. Thanks for the feedback. I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[Wonder]

Eh, it sounds good, except that the instruments sound a little off and highly synthetic, the panning throws me off at times, the notes feel really really quantized and robotic, which is probably not the sound you were going for.. but as for the compositional side of it, it works really well and nothing sounds out of place note-wise and the instruments all go together, transitions work well.. and yeah. Not sure what else I can say.

DSykMusic responds:

Thanks for your critique! Could you pinpoint what it is about the panning that's throwing you off at times?