SoulSecure's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Gasto]

Awesome. I'm actually writing a video game sounding chillout/lounge song like this and this has inspired me to go back and take a look at working on it again.

The length of the song is perfect (literally AND objectively). Your mix is fantastic. Use of filters is satisfactory. Theme is constant. Plain and in your face with a few nuances.

I wouldn't change a thing. Great song.

ScottJacob responds:

Thank you very much :)

[Act and Consequence]

Pretty neat. You use sounds I use myself, so this was interesting to hear what other people do with the same kind of sounds you use. Come to think of it, this reminds me of a song I wrote over two years ago.

Your drums should be mixed differently. Your drums are panned oddly, they're quiet and they sound a bit lo def if you get my meaning. I'm having trouble trying to think of how to explain how to fix this to you because it would be such a long and boring explanation that wouldn't make sense to begin with, even though I could fix it in not much time myself. Ugh. Try to play with them.

The composition is cool, but there should probably be more definitive variation in the song.

I like the instrument choices. That (I guess it's a) guitar synth reminds me of 007 GoldenEye and Perfect Dark on the N64.

I like how you panned your assorted noises. They work out nicely for the ambiance and whatnot.

You've got some mixing to do, but it's a good song.

LexRodent responds:

Thanks for the feedback man.
I'll keep working to polish my mixing skills. The "lo def-esque" sound of drums as well as the synth guitar were (as you noticed) nostalgic choices.

[Aurora]

This is a great mashup of breakbeats and sweeping electronic music! Very pleasant to listen to.

For me the composition works and I feel that your length of song and choice of instruments are good. I would like to hear some bass, though man. WHERE'S THE BASS? This could be some sort of choice to exclude bass to focus on the beat, but I feel like it needs some bass.

Your beats are pretty much flawless. Loving it.

Your mix on the other hand... I get a bunch of clipping from the melodic instruments even when they aren't swelled. That's a big bug that needs squashing, mate. Whether that has to do with exported mp3 quality or is an internal issue I don't know, so get that straightened out.

In conclision, this is great song that could do with some bass and quality control.

R4R thread

Qvarcos responds:

Thanks for the review, I'll try to mix it better then reupload it. Also this is not 320kb/s, only 160, my other songs are 320kb/s this is an exception.

[Kabalist - Mara]

Dude, YES! Once you brought that synth with vibrato in with the beat you completely sold me on this WIP. It sounds like some of the music that plays in my head that I never write down because I forget it later.

Don't breath into your vocals, though. Like you are going, "hhhooou," when you should be going, "ooou." I understand that this could have been a stylistic choice (as I have done in the past, just to put more air into the sound) or this is an instance of a very common mistake made by singers just starting out, but either way it does not work for this song in my opinion. It's sharp and annoying.

[Mysteries]

I agree with your thoughts on the pad. Muddy, kicks out that neat bass you have goin' on. Do you have this all below 0dB? That part has some clipping in my headphones, but that could just be because of overly immense bass in the mix.

I think this is a pretty solid piece, great mix (other than issues already stated) and it keeps you interested throughout. Reminds me of some Kirby 64 music or the original .hack games music.

SyMTiK responds:

thanks!

it actually isnt clipping, which is another thing that surprised me. even after i threw on a basic gentle mastering channel strip with izotope ozone, it was still only maxing out at around -2db for me at the loudest point, yet i was hearing a sort of faint clipping noise at certain points. ill have to check if the pad is clipping within kontakt. ive noticed that with some synths it can clip within the synth itself, yet the channel wont appear clipping.

glad you liked it :)

[Miért Nincs Barátnőd?]

Oh man, I'm diggin' the kind of classic breakcore sound you have in your instruments. I can't say much, it's a pretty simple, short and to the point song.

You're mix is awesome, except the samples are too loud. I guess you could put some low key pads to the sides for ambiance or slight melodic enhancement, but it IS pretty friggan awesome the way it is.

I dislike the use of samples from porn. That comes down to taste in this world I guess.

Also, I gotta warn you, if you didn't make the vocals personally or they are not used from somewhere on NG you could get your song taken down. If I were you, I'd take the song out of public view, run it by a mod and move on from there.

Qvarcos responds:

Thanks for the review, the samples are rather funny than serious, that's the only reason I used them. Using anything other would be indeed tasteless... imo. I'm ok that most of you will not get the point of this cause it's not in English.

[Constellations]

Epic song, but work on your guitar. How you mixed it AND how you played it. I am specifically speaking of when you played chords.

ScottJacob responds:

Yeah i was unsure if that needed work or not, i should have done another take. Thanks for the advice!

[Final Directive]

Yeah, it does have a bit of darkwave feel to it. I'd say calling it industrial/darkwave is a good descriptor.

You should put vocals on this track, mate. Like at 0:36 I thought I was going to start hearing Dave Gahan singing.

If you aren't going to use vocals, I'd say to use more variation.

I think there could be little bit of a more diverse sounding instrument field. Your two lead synths sound generally the same. I love when you have that gated pad/trance synth or w/e you want to call it comes in. Really gives it a darkwave feel.

The mix is pretty nice, but the two leads are a little astray from the rest of the mix.

The ending... Leaves much to be desired. It would have been better if you had suddenly stopped the song at 2:50.

I think this is a great idea that you could easily expend on. It does sound great, but it's a bit repetitive and needs more synth variation.

Chemiqals responds:

Thanks for the constructive feedback!

[Vertigo [Q-Works]]

First thing I have to say is that I dislike your use of compression. It does exactly what it's supposed to do, I just don't enjoy that kind of obviously compressed feel on songs. Makes it sound like you didn't work so hard on the mix.

The beat that comes in at 3:15 is pretty wicked, it's a nice contrast to the rest of the song.

I feel like you underplayed your snare. Maybe mix it in a little brighter and turn the volume up on it slightly. I can definitely hear the compression making this even worse that it would be normally.

Your basic synths that come in at 0:59 sort of destroy the mix you had going on previously in the song. Too much bass and mid in them. Leave the phat for your bass synth and let you other ones go on a diet. Might want to turn them down as well (super loud) and add in some ethereal pad in the background.

The use of pads is good and the modulations on your instruments are great touches. Especially like the phaser on the piano/pad deal at the end.

Use of panning is good.

Your sampling sounds fantastic.

My favorite part of the song is probably the outro section.

To sum it up, it's a good song, but try to bring your beats out more and take a crack at those synths.