anthonyragus's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Scorial Allurement]

This track captures the spirit of Newgrounds so well. It takes me back to the mid 2000s: fast tempo, acid lines, catchy melody, phat bass, and that quintissential brickwall slamming limiter.

I think most of your mixing issues can be fixed with some high pass filters and other EQ to iron out the spots where instruments are fighting for space, and some dynamic EQ like TDR Nova if it's really spaghetti. Some of the space might clear up by letting off the limiter input, and the sweet spot would not sound any quiter, but that's a stylistic choice.

Your music is super captivating and immersive. Holy moly

YoriYakuza responds:

Thank you so very much! High pass and EQ could definitely be used more, I agree. I'm really glad you like it!

[The Latest Fantasy]

This is a cool piece. Great proto-stride feel, catchy melody, tension and release.

I would love to hear some realism and breath injected, to match the lovely notation. Pianists almost always pedal after notes begin for a legato sound and to avoid sudden drops in volume, apart from the times you intentionally want that. Slightly randomize note-on and velocity. Most importantly, go nuts with tempo automation; shape tempo and velocity with the phrasing like a concert pianist. Contrast is king.

Side note: There's some clipping in spots like the initial phrase and it's recap at 1:50, which could be a gainstage issue within the sampler itself. I used to have that problem in Keyscape, and I solved it by going into Settings, lowering Gain to -10dB, and then bumping up the volume in my daw before the signal hits the master limiter.

Great work dude. With some humanizing and gainstage adjustment, this could sound like a legit concert recording.

Strimlarn87 responds:

Alright thanks. Something to think about here. I'll start working on this again when I'm not tired and I might take some of your suggestions into account, because you do have a point. In my opinion this could also be a bit longer, so that you have something to immerse yourself into. But the things you said in the side note are true, I'm just too lazy to fix those kind of issues that actually are important to fix to make this sound authentic.

[VIRTUE]

Yooo, I just found your work, and it's cool to hear your take on trance. I hear the passion you put into your music, which is always refreshing. Keep it up dude.

vividlance responds:

Thank you so much!! I'm glad you enjoyed this track! It means a lot. <3

[Cubenssi]

Heck yeah, this slaps severely. I recently discovered you, so I don't have the history your other listeners have, but it will be cool to find out how your DnB style changes whenever you decide to return to it. Take that phat break, and maybe explore some different soundscapes. I can barely stick to a genre for two tracks in a row.

Edit: Cool, you do you. Genre hopping is a lot of fun; no need to stick to any one thing, especially if it's not fulfilling.

Cubenssi responds:

Thank you but I've actually decided to quit DnB completely. There is a video on my youtube channel where I explain it more.

[Voice of Versatility]

Heck yeah, great hollywood harmony and proof of concept. I've had vague thoughts of doing something like this. Now I might have to try to get on your level haha. I think with a very careful dip around 5Khz and perhaps a slight bump in volume and reverb send, you'll get a choir that both blends and shines more. I know it can be tricky to sculpt a hall sound with a close-ish mic, not to meantion getting dynamic range in the low range of the voice. Great work with a great challenge.

VociferousMusic responds:

Hey, thank you so much for your advices! I have tried to realize them by now. I have to agree that working with close-range recordings is quite hard and the atmosphere would have been even better with another type of microphone. But I tried to bump the reverb and volume by a little bit. I also recreated the high tenor notes and I have resung them with more "twang" being used. So that's the best I could do for now. I hope at least there is a little improvement noticeable. Especially the staccatos at 03:47 and 5:50 should sound better now. :)

[A Moment between Time]

Hoooo, bring the funk. Interesting choice of duel wielding sampled bassline and sustained synth bass. My head is circular bobbing and my face is stank. I think the piano would be more effective unquantized; I like the tight pocket in the drums, and the bass guitar is almost sitting on the back side of the beat (sequenced that way or sidechained?). So I was expecting some super laid-back piano, Maybe that's just me. Tasty stuff \m/

RedCocoa responds:

Thank you very much for your review :D
This has been the first time I tried anything Soul or Funk related so I'm happy to see I apparently didn't screw up :D

[Pumpkin Pie in the Sky]

Now THAT'S amore. Charming and dainty, would definitely pumpkin again.

BusanBlack responds:

Pumpkin spice of life.

[A Bedtime Story]

"...and that's when the parallel minor attacked!" Another lovely, immersive piece. It's always a pleasure listening to your music. It's almost certainly just me, but that fa-sol resolution at the end (I think it's tenor sax) really sticks out, hehe. I know we're past the era of the Common Practice, and I know it was to match the ensemble and make way for the suspension in the piano, but there are other ways of approaching and even incorporating the suspension that would avoid this ABHORRENT CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY....
....Fantastic work.

Edit: Within the tonic scale, fa (Concert A note) resolves up a whole step to sol (Concert B note).

Everratic responds:

Thank you for the review! I’m glad you enjoy it :)

The last cadence is iv>I so I’m confused about what you mean. Can you elaborate?

[Turtle Shell]

Aw yee, SMW stomp/kick/shell sound, super interesting harmony, nonstop unreal cute/fun energy. This is incredible. Where does the "Laser!" and other voice come from? I don't think it's Metal Slug; I feel like I should know this.

Candle responds:

lmao ty ty! it's from sonic colors!

[Triskelion]

This is such a great implementation of a cool concept. I dig the dark atmosphere and transitions between sections. Low rumble and bassline coexist quite nicely. I would love to hear more interesting genre mashups like this. Fantastic work

EVLanche responds:

Thank you, glad you enjoyed it! I have got some more ideas in the back burner, but I'm not sure when they will make it out ^^;