AED-4's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Reborn [Liquid DnB]]

Holy crap this is awesome, easy 5 outta 5. Top scorer title well deserved ;)

I have two suggestions on what could be improved; The ride and the ending. In my opinion the ride stood out a tad too much. I think it could be lowered a bit, which would also give more room for the melody. The cutoff ending also doesn't really do this track justice, and could be easily fixed with a quick fade out. But i'm pretty much nitpicking :P

Keep making awesome music ^^! I look forward to seeing you in the finals! (Assuming i can make it, of course...)

Zelgeon responds:

Thanks for the suggestions! We fixed the ending :)

Good luck!

[Neurobop]

Fantastic track ^^! The juxtaposition of heavy electronic bass and gentle sax is quite interesting combination. My only suggestion would be to give the track just a bit more time to develop.

Best of the luck to the deathmatch ;)

5TanLey responds:

k, thanks :)

[BrainDead]

I'm really enjoying the bouncy feeling the melody has, it really gives this an unique twist. Also those chords added nice amount of depth.

I have mainly two points that could use improvement; the mixing and the bass. For me it sound's like there are some clashing frequencies between some synths that could be eliminated with some more EQing. Also some volume levels could use maybe a bit of tweaking.

The bass sounds kinda... generic in my opinion, it has that distinct massive 'watermark' stamped on it :P (It's gonna be awkward if you didn't use massive for it...). I would spend some time to make tweak it a bit to fit the overall feeling of the track better. The modulation was on point though.

All that said i did really like this track a lot. I also don't actually think that this is overly repetitive :P

Hope that you found my ramblings useful ^^

Also, that ending ;) (Am i beating a dead horse yet?)

Spadezer responds:

I don't know how I missed this in my notifications but I recently found it

I think I hear what you mean about the mixing. It seems in general that most of the instruments are competing with each other.

About the generic bass I have two things. 1) I will abuse Massive presets (lack of sound design understanding may contribute to that) and 2) I actually intended to have generic leads/basses. It kind of was the point of the song. But, meh, generic massive bass is generic.

Thanks for the kind responses, and I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[Unknown]

Melodies are ok, maybe a bit basic for this style of music, but it doesn't reduce my listening experience. I dont really like the sound of that piano however. I'm sorry, I can't really describe why, but there just is some piano sounds that I dislike ><.

I would've preferred some more ambient noises, especially at around 1:00, to give it more vast and spacey feeling. Also a bit more variation in the chord progressions would've helped.

Mixing, as far as i can tell is quite good. Though I don't think that I have the most trained ear for that. But I think that you kinda overdid that bitcrushing at the end :P

In the end I'm really not that sure that what rating I should give to it. I wouldn't listen to this on it's own, but as BGM in a game it could work.

Anyways I hope that you found my ramblings even vaguely helpful :P

Zechnition responds:

Yes, I think something is wrong with the piano, I just don't really know what. Probably a bit too much reverb of something. Ambient noises, definitely what I'm working on now. Yeah, the bitcrusher at the end was a little bit too much. :P Thanks for your ramblings! =D

[Chrysalis]

Damn your stuff is intense!

I really don't have anything wrong with this. Everything is perfect, from the sinister vocals to the bass and the drums. From the little darkstep I have heard (I think Current Value's stuff is darkstep?), this easily takes the top spot along your Orbital Decay.

Now we only have to get you to 50 fans... Otherwise you should definitely release an album, I know I would buy it!

See ya in the finals ^^

DEM0NW0LF responds:

I'm glad you mentioned Current Value, because he's the one who got me into the whole electronic music thing. I will release an album eventually, but it's too soon to tell when. Anyway, thanks for your review.

[Omikron]

This is pretty great! I always like when the track has that certain 'liquid' feeling to it

Loving that beginning, so calm and mysterious. The transition at 0:30 was way too sudden though.

The drop is good, lots of different synths filling the whole frequency spectrum! Drums are tight and powerful, but for some reason the kick feels to drown a bit. Maybe use some more sidechaining?

Also there may be a bit too much of different stuff going around at different times, it feels quite chaotic at some points, which prevent me from fully immersing myself to this.

But overall very solid track! I Would've put this under house or dance, but that's me nitpicking :P

ggaero responds:

Thank you and good luck in the final round :D

[Colored Sky]

Congrats for the top score :D

I just love the swing in this track, and how clear and especially how spaced everything is!

That electric guitar O.O it is so bright and powerful. Is it... Is it inferno? No it cant be... Damn you must tell me what you used for it. Or if it is inferno, your mixing skills are awesome! Though your mixing skills are awesome no matter the fact ;)

The NES-like ending was also genius! I would've used a little less reverb though. (quite contradictory with my name... but still). Also the transition at 1:15 could maybe use a longer break, because now it sounds kinda abrupt and rushed.

Keep it up man ^^!

littlelamp100 responds:

thanks :) still can't believe i got the top score :o
also yes it is inferno. i usually use presets lol

EDIT: oh wait now that i look at it again, it's electric 5... i use that because i can't play guitar lol

[Kingdom of Ice]

As someone could guess, this isn't my preferred genre. Doesn't change the fact that this is badass! Reminds me of those JRPG boss battle themes around the 90's.

There's always something changing and leading the track forwards. Especially the choir, it's introduction was sudden but fitting. Really liking the melodies also.

As the guy below me already said, this really solid track, both from composing and mixing standpoints. Everything has it's own space and they stand out in balance. And as mentioned before, the composition is interesting and even immersive!

So what can I say? A piece nearing perfection! Keep up the good work ^^

DanJohansen responds:

Wow I am honored, waking up to reviews like this really makes my day man. And since you don't consider the genre a fav I am even happier to see such positivity, you rock! Thanks for the in depth feedback good sir. :)

[Echoes (NGAUC)]

Beautiful.

That's all I have to say.

Beautiful ;-;

5TanLey responds:

thanks :

[Aria - Never Change]

So this is your first completed track? It's pretty nice actually.

Okay, the drums are the ones that need most improvement. They are really quiet, and they have almost no power behind them. Especially starting from 3:26 the kick is almost inaudible. You need a louder, more compressed kick, and then maybe sidechain it with the melody.

And yeah, it was very repetitive. There was hardly anything really interesting to keep the listener hooked up for the whole four and half minutes. Afterall, It was basically the same melody over and over again. More different sections and instruments would've helped a lot.

My final advice? Make more music, obviously :) You are starting out pretty good, definitely better than most 'first songs' I have heard. I'll definitely be wanting to hear what you've got for the future ^^

(PS. to make those links, you just have to copy the url of the song and paste it)

DelitescentAria responds:

You know what, I'm going to use the comments you just made right now. I'm going to go into more variety, more melodies, more complex. I appreciate the feedback a lot because as it is, my work needs a lot of improvement. Thanks again!

Cheers ^-^