Zafrece's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Fickle Minds]

I found the whole song pretty good. The vocals were off pitch on several occasions. The lead/rythm guitar was out of tune on some strings.The bass and rythm guitar were off from the drums also every now and again. ( this all can be eliminated with more practice and time) I wasn't a fan of the slow random noted solo. Here are a list of things you should try to learn, ( they take a bit of time so as i tell my students, keep practising them and they will fall into place.)

String skips
Sweeps-arpegios
Altitudes- arpegio sweep with tap
double handed taps/ single handed
hammer ons/pull offs ( assuming you are already familiar with them)
Harmonics( assuming as well)
Alternate picking( also assuming)
The following modes and corresponding scales-ionian, dorian, phrygian lydian, mixolydian, aeolian, locrain.

Seeing as you are only 16 i can see your band becoming something quite spectacular in the future if you keep working at it.

Sawdust responds:

I find it kind of insulting that you're telling me to learn legato techniques, of all things, but I guess I'll take your word for it, haha.

As for the other stuff, well I've been meaning to learn new scales and such, so I guess it's about time I did.

Thanks for taking the time to review this!

[Minimal Techno Attempt]

I really had a hard time following the majority of this song. The key changes sounded like they were all over the place in the first half. I didn't hear much on the end of transitional phrases, they just kind of droped you off with a new segment. A simple remedy is to place something a measure before a shift happens to let the listener feel that something is about to happen. Be it reverse snare, drum roll, vacant kicks etc.I couldn't tell if the kick was peaking at times or if it was the sound of the kick with that 16 bit sound to it. ( leaving that out)I am uncertain if the linux program you are using is compatible with vst's. However if i recall i believe it is, I would suggest getting Native instruments massive to make your synths in. Some others you might want to look into would me sylenth1, Zebra , Dune, ReFx nexus, z3ta2.

I also noticed that the kick drum vanishes when other sounds come in, that problem is due to mixing. Make sure your chans arent peaking, give them at very least -3 db room to master with. You never want each channel to hit its db cap then add another sound in.

Over all however its pretty good for what it is. It reminded me allot of mother load music at times. I was having a nostalgia trip in some parts lol.

FightingSeraph responds:

Thank you for the well-written, insightful review. Now, an explanation for a few of the faults:
1. The kick was from Laserblade's sample pack:
http://www.youtube.com/user/lzrbld
2. It just so happens that LMMS is compatible with third-party VSTs including those that you just mentioned.
3. I added TAP scaling limiters to each channel, but you are right: I'm not very good at mixing and did notice some clipping with the pad.
4. I was originally going to submit this as a loop, but then I noticed that it didn't loop properly at the end.

[Pluto]

This almost sounds like you used old school famisynth.

Pitfall responds:

Haha, no, but I guess I can see that...

[Simple Loop (Space 2)]

Not bad but , mixing and hertz blending is an issue i hear on this one as well. I adressed hertz ranges in another review. So heres one for generic mixing tips.
- Your kick should generally always be the loudest part of a mix with in electronic music. A simple rule of thumb ( give or take) is the kick should not exceed -8db, and the bass is the 2nd loudest part of the mix. everything else should not exceed the db of the kicks. ( this is pre master of course) This way it leaves you some room to throw in something like maximus and give it a little master before shipping it out. Param eq 2 is your best friend, on each chan you have a sound set to, make sure to clip off all the useless harmonics of a sound before finishing with it. ( allot of it depends on what you find useless, or what sound you are going for.)

Since i'm fairly certain you are using fl at this point based on the sounds i;m hearing. I feel it's safe to assume and leave tips accordingly.

Although i may come across as blunt or rude, i assure you i write these not for the sake of trolling or being a hater, but hopefully to help in some way. ( disclaimer) =p

IBelisarius responds:

Woah! Thanks for all the great info! I don't regularly work on creating loops since I'm pretty busy other things but next time I work on a few I'll have to try to keep all of this in mind!

[Fluid Horizons [WIP]]

Over all i liked this piece. The drums are a tad low, kick should be at -8db and everything else should fall below it on mixing priority. I feel the choice of leads done didn't really fit with the song, it sounded more like something you would hear off mario paint than a lead for a d&b song. It's a wip so not much more i can say that would be helpful in this stage.

Porkbeef responds:

The leads never matter on what genre it is, but I agree that the drums are low.

Also, this song is supposed to sound kinda like Feint. A Liquid DnB artist.

[The Demon King Rises]

Over all good song, the only problem i have with it at the moment is the horrid midi instruments. Try looking into edirol orchestral or a copy of holly wood strings ( drool ). If you cant get ahold of either of those, try lowering the attack of those strings and adding some reverb. Some times that can salvage bad midi strings if done right.

Abombination responds:

Logic 9 has terrible orchestral instruments Im currently still adding to the song. (Ive sent you a few messages on skype)

[fly faster]

Good untill 13 seconds, Then you break key and hit some random notes that seemingly ruins what was done prior.The delay was way too high, it was drowning out most of the song. At 40 you lost all sight of any noticeable melody or chord progression. 56 also seems like random notes were simply placed on the piano roll. The song was over all short, and shifted from one transition to another with little to no warning. You can simply remedy this by making even transitional measures and making sure they are even. Such as 4 intro then 4 mid and so on. I don't recommend this as it makes songs rather bland, but it will at least give a sense of structure to an other wise random piece. Again don't place each sound in the same channel. This causes them to fight for volume controll of that channel, and results in certian sounds getting lower when others enter. ( along with a muddy sounding mix)

I again hate to be harsh, but i feel the ratings below do in now way reflect the quality of this song. They may be friends of yours that feel the need to tell you something is great. However when that happens you learn nothing from the experience and in turn they are hindering your growth. If they are indeed your friends i would expect them to show you some respect and give a helpful review.

flashmakeit responds:

okay!

[wind and horn]

The notes were all over the place. I had a hard time picking out what the tune was supposed to be. The dissonance up till 33 is a huge problem. So many notes were out of key through out the song. The re-verb on that pluck sound was way to high. You also seem to have every sound in the same channel, this is causing other parts of the song to duck out in order to make room for the new sound being introduced. Try separating the sounds into separate channels next time and a little mixing should solve that problem.

I hate to be harsh but this needs allot of work and over all changing.

flashmakeit responds:

I am going to redo this audio and I hope your advice makes this song sound better.