Onefin's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[[IV]Voyage]

Classical may not be my thing, but I'm leaving some comments anyway!

You've used a lot of strings in this composition, haven't you? While I'm not complaining about that, since the strings do a really good job at giving the track its full texture, I would have also loved to hear some brass or woodwind instruments in here. If you did put some of those in here, I'm not recognizing them. Without other instruments other than strings, your track gets a bit tiring to listen to.

But you make up for that with nice melodic content and a big, full sound pretty much the entire time. I like it! It creates a complex atmosphere worthy of the title "Voyage".

I can't tell you anything useful about your mixing since I'm an absolute noob at it but good job.

Overall, this is a solid piece fit to compete in the NGADM! Although I would have liked to hear some variation in the chord progression and in the instrumentation, you've accomplished a perfect atmosphere that makes one feel adventurous and ready to take on anything. Good job, and good luck!

IglicaV responds:

Thank you for your response! I've used some woodwinds here and there, but not as leading instrument. I will keep your comment in mind while composing a new track! It's great that you've liked the atmosphere. Thank you once again :)

[Pluto]

Although the beginning had a bit too much saw for me, and the snare hit at 01:58 felt a little anticlimactic, that was an AWESOME drop! Your melodies are great, although I wish they were a little louder. Also why is the end of the track 20 seconds of silence?

Pandasticality responds:

the 20 seconds of silence is something i will take out after the NGADM Judge as given his/her review, theres really no reason for it to be there.

thanks for the review !
- Pandasticality

[Running Free]

What less would I expect from JacobCadmus? Time to talk about how epic this is...

I have a really hard time expressing the epicness of cinematic tracks like this because I just don't have the words to do it. Especially the sounds.

Lemme start with the atmosphere. I have not seen any "cyberpunk anime", so I can't get those vibes, but the atmosphere you created in this track is absolutely excellent. It's consistent throughout the entire track as you build to the climax and break down to, well, the breakdown, and head back up again.

Instrumentation. The instruments you chose for each part are perfect. You have a good sense as to what instrument should go where. However, I felt the choir could have been voiced better, but that's pretty small in comparison to the rest of the orchestral and non-orchestral sounds.

Progression. Very well done. Although I kind of wished there was a bit more volume difference between the second build and the second climax, you've done a great job swelling things up and breaking things down.

Your composition is really good! The melody is solid and sounds great, and all the background crud (really? the best term I can come up with is "background crud"?) that support it do their jobs really well!

Small complaint, I wish your kick was a little bit louder. But at least I could hear it.

I have to say, you've pulled another amazing track! I wouldn't expect any less from you. Great job, and good luck! :D

Jakey-San responds:

Thank you! I took your review into account, as well as feedback from the vi-control forum, and I've made changes to the track since then. =)

[A New Future]

I usually skip over Metal/Rock tracks because I generally don't like tracks in this genre. But I'm glad I didn't look over this one, because this track offered something different than what I usually find in the Metal/Rock category.

Since I know nothing of this category of music I can't comment on the quality of the guitars, sorry! I'm just not experienced in that realm of music.

But you have some other sounds in here other than guitars, which are all really cool! I especially like your flute, which sounds amazing, grace notes and reverb and all! The tranquil but majestic melodies that flute plays are astonishing. Just as you described it, a man running away from his country, trying to live at peace. Perfect.

Oh, and nice job with the key change at 1:54.

Now for some things I didn't like so much. At 2:33, you have two flutes playing distinctly different melodies, with different rhythms. To me this part of the track sounds really messy, not just because it kinda feels like each flute is going off on their own, completely ignoring the guitars in the background, but also because the flutes are playing so loud you can distinctly hear the guitars ducking behind them. It's especially noticeable at 2:52. And I usually don't notice anything wrong with people's mixes.

In the breakdown part at around 1:30, I was expecting the chord to change. If I'm listening properly, your chord here is C#. I had expected the chord to change to, say, A major, at around, say, 1:43 or something. But you disappointed me slightly by not doing that. (I hope I used proper musical terminology when typing that) But that's not a major complaint, since you simply just didn't do what I had expected.

Also, in the end, you didn't let the sound fade out all the way. So when the song ends it just cuts. I'm not a fan of endings like this. Let the sound ring, man.

Overall, though, for a genre I don't like, you've certainly turned the tables on me! You've created a Metal/Rock track that I enjoy, so props for that! Despite minor complaints, this is really good. 5/5, 9/10, good luck in NGADM! :D

[Oak - Mobius (NGADM'15)]

WOW it loops perfectly!

I really like your melodies here! They're really cool and they don't sound like the same thing over and over again, as they do in a lot of other tracks. And your sounds are pretty cool, too! You did a good job for two weeks.

Now for my complaints. The line "Yeah my love is infinite!" feels really off-key. It doesn't fit, in my opinion. Also overall I think the vocals could have been louder. They seemed a little bit buried into the track, but I'm not blaming you much for that as my mixing skills aren't really any better.

Also you spelled "definitely" wrong in the description.

Overall solid loop! Although I vehemently dislike most lyrical songs, I can't really count this as a lyrical song. A little generic but overall good work, and good luck! :D

Oakwood responds:

Now that you mention it, it indeed sounds really off-key. Strange... I'll edit that later. Thanks for the heads-up!
The vocals were the hardest thing to process in this track, so yeah, they might be a bit soft. Can't help it. :s

Thanks for the review!

[Level 01]

You didn't use a dynamic link XD that's okay, I don't know how to do it either!

Man, that awesomeness at 0:20 hit hard! Although admittedly it could have been harder, it's definitely a lot better than what I could have pulled off, so I'm not complaining.

One thing I didn't like: that weird, high synth introduced at 01:17. I don't know what to call that. But I kinda feel like it doesn't fit the context of the rest of the track. Y'know? But your other sounds

Also at 02:33 you decide to raise the key signature a bit (raise the key signature? i dunno what to call it), and while it sounds really cool (a tried and true tactic), it was a bit sudden and unexpected.

But overall good work! I've never heard of you but I'll be sure to remember that username for the future... good luck! :D

1f1n1ty

JohnMontoya responds:

I appreciate the input! It's quite unfortunate I cannot use my full potential because I had to give up my $1,500 computer to my brother because his broke down. I'm doing my best trying to rework it and what-not but I keep having issues where FL crashes and it truly frustrates me. I'll admit it - I submitted this as is just in case I can't fix certain issues within the track. I'll do my best to focus on those aspects of the song so I'll have a fighting chance.

[[NGADM] Undertow [final]]

YES! The ending is so much better now!

Welp, you've heard my previous review, no need to hear it again. 5/5, 9/10, gl, all that crud! :D

[Caliginous Newcomer]

How did I miss this track? Gosh dang it, I need to follow these threads a bit more closely...

I can't tell if your track is in 6/8 or 4/4, gosh dang it. I'm thinking 4/4 because that's where the snares fall, but you could have just as easily compounded the time signature. Hey, at least your meter makes the track memorable.

In my opinion, this sounds like it could work really well for a demon level in Geometry Dash! Sadly I can't make demons due to my inability to beat them but if this track was used it would be awesome! But you've disabled downloads... I don't know if that changes the situation. Lemme try.

...Nope! Still downloadable in Geometry Dash! ;)

I say all this, and lordedri may have no idea what GD is... hm...

I didn't know what "caliginous" meant before this track. Well, you learn something every day.

Enough side-ranting! Onto the actual comment that pertains to the song. I feel like you did a really good job! It sounds epic, that's really all I can really say. I don't know, I'm just blown away by the quality of the content that's coming in through NGADM. And your track here isn't an exception. GREAT WORK! Good luck! :D

1f1n1ty

Adjeye responds:

I disabled the downloads because I wanted to bring out all the NGADM tracks under one download package for free, this will consist of 2 tracks, or more if I get any further in this competition :)

Of course I've heard about geometry dash, a friend of mine (Forever Bound) composed a track for that :)

About the time signature, its 6/8 but because the beat is halftime the snares fall at whole notes, so the snares are like they are in 4/4, but the rest of the drums mostly aren't.

Thank you for your review kind sir :), I really enjoy reading them!

~Adjeye

[Majestic They Are]

I'm not one to judge a cinematic piece, but this is so good that I can't not leave a comment.

It's great to come across an orchestral piece like this one since most of the high-tier tracks in Newgrounds' classical community (as far as I can see, anyway) consists of tracks which are either really really dark or really really light. I have a hard time finding things like this, which are kind of in-between.

And it's sad that so many people look down on classical music, because they're missing out on things like this.

But regardless this is amazing! I really really like the bit from 02:32 to 03:00, that sounds awesome! Keep up the good work, and good luck in NGADM!

1f1n1ty

papkee responds:

That part of the song was actually one of the original ideas I had for it and I'm glad it worked out so well. I was worried the horns and the choir would muddle each other but they really played rather nicely together.

Thanks for the nice complements!

[Acceptance & Commitment]

I saw the genre "hip hop" and thought I wasn't going to enjoy this track...

...but YOU HAD ME FOOLED I loved it! Especially the part at 03:16!

But why did I expect anything less from midimachine? 5/5, 9/10

midimachine responds:

trap is so far removed from hip hop now that it's closer to dubstep lol. apparently people on NG put trap and glitch hop in this section tho? wacky!