Stargenx's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[FILTHY]

FILTHY

Firstly, I'd like to point out that everyone has their opinions. If your opinion is that FL studio is the gold standard for music production, that's only what you think. I happen to think that Logic Pro 9 is the gold standard, but I digress. Back to the review part.

One thing that needs a bit of changing is the snare in the beginning before the drop. It's a bit too loud. After the drop the song stayed with pretty much the same melody and beat for a couple minutes. The ending was nice, as it looped pretty well. In my opinion the kick drum was a bit soft. The bass was nice. The dubstep element was fine but the effect during 1:12 needed a little work. This song is good, you just need to re-tool some of it.

~Stargenx

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superuberinsaneausm responds:

im actually making a song using logic now,its good and i like it but i really dont see anything that makes it amazing,its pretty much just like grageband but with a mixer and better samples

[Swayhop]

Awesome.

Firstly, I'd like to say that this song was very chill. Two things that upset me a little were the short pauses at about 0:46 and 0:53. It sort of jarred my relaxation. I'm not usually one for jazz but this was pretty good. Sometimes it ambled aimlessly, though. Sometimes the notes didn't fit together in harmony, but I listened anyway. It's chill. At about 2:14 and 2:18 the pauses were back which jarred me again. I had to take 1 star for all the jarring pauses in the song. It smells like the swift java as it pours into the glass cup of cold liquid ice. Smooth yet chunky with coffee in the air. The ending wasn't as good as the rest of the song. It should have reverted to the lone trumpet again and then ended on some note. All together, great song.

~Stargenx

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ranter responds:

First of all thanks alot for telling me what you think about it i apreciate that!

And the thing with the pauses is that somehow they just feel good to me, Since the song stops for a quick while, so you get that feeling that you problably have that says "Ey wtf? where'd the beat go" But then it kicks in at the same time wich gives a little boost i guess. I wasn't sure about the second stop so i am prolly going to change that.

Again thanks alot!

[Gavin A - Closed In]

Interesting.

At about 0:9 the sound was a bit too loud. At around 0:48 the drums became a bit too loud. This song does need a good deal of mixing. Some of the instruments added during 1:05 were a harsh especially the bells. The song in general was harsh. There was one very soft note at the end that might have been a mistake. This song could really really shine if it had better mixing and maybe a touch lighter instruments.

~Stargenx

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[[dB] Empty Batteries]

Electrical banana....

Why would you question whether this is techno? Songs with synths are automatically techno unless in a sub-category. Anyway this song has some nice effects and layering going for it in the beginning but the drone bass starts to wear on the nice light piano after a while. This starts at about 0:37. This song does need some mixing.

If you mixed it right and changed that bass, I could probably really chill out to this song. Starting at 1:24 there is a nice change with the more dark elements coming back in. The dubstep drums were a nice touch and added an "edgy" feel to it, darkening the light piano. I feel that the transition at around 2:01 was a bit abrupt. Just dropping the piano until a while later seemed a bit harsh. Again, the drone bass seemed intrusive. I feel like the song needs a more flashy ending as well. All together, this provides a couple of atmosphere changes that were nice.

~Stargenx

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Decibel responds:

I dunno about genres that much, im not such an expert in that area xD.
I know it needs some mixing i just don't know what the hell i should do, once you get used to a song, you don't know what's wrong with it, you MUST know what i mean. :/
Yeah, tthe dark element is supposed to represent anger or something like that i dunno for sure.
I dunno what you're saying about the transition, there really isn't one since the same melody stays.

Thx a lot for dropping by,
>DJ<

[[dB] Sitting on the Pavement]

Randomness

The song started off with some piano which was nice. Then it had a random barking echoed dog. Then it had some random drums and effects all on the same piano. Then came a small interlude with a whole bunch of nature sounds. It didn't sound lonely at all. The drums were ...strangely random as well. They came in when they felt like and left when they felt like.

I'm not saying that this is a bad song - it's interesting - but it's not a song that I would keep listening to. It's a song that I might contemplate for a while - which I did - but after that it's a bit too random and strange even though the sounds are nice. Nice spacious effects on that piano. I would recommend more structure, though.

~Stargenx

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Decibel responds:

1. It wasn't a dog, it was an owl :P

2. The nature sounds represented that the character was the only human ::)

I'll get to work as soon as possible :)

>DJ<

[-+-Crash and Burn-+-]

Holtyjolty

At about 0:3 there was an unpleasant jolt of sound. The resulting swoosh effect seemed a too loud as well. Like in all your songs that I've reviewed the FL slayer is as cheesy as ever. The part at around 0:22 where it starts that staccato line is especially cheesy sounding.

The song has a nice structure and pretty good chords. I think that with some vocals and a better guitar, mixing and effects this song would be a very decent song, almost worthy of an iTunes download. It reminds me of Linkin Park. It needs a very fast and epic guitar or keyboard solo. Maybe some rap over it. Something imaginative and inventive. You should also put in less cymbals. Bottom line, better guitar, better mixing and vocals.

~Stargenx

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Hikigane responds:

That unpleasant jolt is a result of the usage of the swoosh effect, which agreeably is fairly loud. The staccato line was hard to get to the way it was, but agreed, all the FL slayer stuff is fairly obvious. I'll be looking into new stuff as soon as possible. There was, at one point, a piano solo, but i removed it for this version. Originally it was actually a demo for a band i was going to be in at one point (all of the band members learned by ear O.o;). A lot of my songs are actually like that in general, thus any potential repetivity.

[Midnight Rush (Kuyrayami Mix)]

Hmmm

The beginning piano had nothing to back it up and sounded a little off-beat because of that. The opening drum loop sounded a bit naked in my opinion. Like that song you made "Candlelight" somethingerother this song would benefit from better guitar. I liked the twangy sound that you added but I think it should have faded out more slowly instead of so abruptly the first time.

The song sounds random in general. I've never heard the song you remixed so I wouldn't how consistent it is to the actual song. Overall this is a pretty solid song. The main problem is the FL slayer.

~Stargenx

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Hikigane responds:

haha thanks, the intro piano was supposed to be kinda that way, but i'm not sure why, and the opening drum loop was intentionally naked, but again, i don't remember why. The the most consistent between this and the original is the slayer that comes in at around 2:16 and the ending piano, so to varying degrees it can't really be considered a remix.

[Wishes (Candlelight Fight)]

Errr

Very repetitive. The FL slayer was INCREDIBLY obvious and while it had nostalgia in it, it's still not very good. If you got some real guitar or a better guitar sound this would get at least 2 more stars in my opinion. The melody sounds pretty good and the harmonies blend well. I couldn't really hear much bass throughout the song. The drums are maybe a bit too loud, I don't know if that was what you were going for.

This song could have lots of potential if you just had some better instruments. You should also add those vocals you talked about. I think it would be interesting. :) You could also add a wickedly fast guitar solo to "spice things up". It has a nice structure, however. Some of the parts sounded random, however. By improving the mix and removing unnecessary notes you could greatly improve the overall structure and listenability of the song.

~Stargenx

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Hikigane responds:

Well don't have much to say in response except that I agree with FL slayer stuff every time you mention it; i've just not been aware of any other programs and i only play acoustic at the moment, which i've been thinking about putting into my stuff eventually. When i put in acoustic though, i'll probably be adding vocals - but i'm not entirely sure i want to haha

As for the solo, I actually tried to put it in during the "verse" sections. Also, the repetitive is partly because it's a more vocal song than it is music.

[Get Ready To Dance {durn}]

Very nice.

This song seems more like a spaced-out chill song rather than a dance song. I liked how you changed it up pretty quickly after it started to drag at about 1:50. The new sounds you added were nice. I would add more bass to this as most of the sounds are "Thin" sounding.

The part starting at 3:20 was nice but I'd like to have seen a bigger ending than that. It's just not really a song that I could dance to. That said, I still like it. It's pretty relaxing. XD It also loops very well. I hope you can tolerate my sort of rambling review! Chill song.
~Stargenx

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durn responds:

Ya, well, maybe it's enough to make some video game characters dance then. ;) :D Thanks for the review, Stargenx.

[[-=Bugg=-] Rhythm]

Sameysamey

It sounds very, very repetitive and after a while the side-chaining is off-kilter and just too deep. It SCREAMS for more melody and more interesting drums. You could also make it faster and add a more rough bass to it. After a while you start taking away instruments. This is counter-intuitive as you should be adding instruments most of the way through and end with all of them or just take them all out at the end.

The start of that rougher part at about 3:24 was a bit too slow in my opinion and the bells were a bit piercing. I don't know if that's just my headphones/speakers or not. The bass that came in at about 4:00 was in my opinion far too short and a little too "swinging". Then you removed everything very quickly about 20 seconds after that.

At around 4:40 when everything came in at once the rough pad seemed a bit too rough for it. Like I said earlier, needs melody. You might also want to mix this a little differently as it seems to have very little bass.

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