Oakwood's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Ambient Ambience]

Dude, this made burst out laughing, I love you

[Electrostatic]

Very well done for a starter track!

The square synths immediately annoucne the vibe of this track, and it's pretty darn good! The growling noises afterwards also sounded pretty crazy, good job on creating those! I love the chorus at 0:38, it's so energetic and happy, makes me wanna dance :)
Something this track really lacks is sub-bass. You throw in a lot of those growls (especially at 1:45 when you go absolutely apeshit with them) but none of them add sufficient bass to the mix. I ran this track through an equalizer and there's barely any frequency presence below 50 Hz, which is were you should have your subbass. Try working on this!
Also, your snare is really bland and dry. It could use a lot more punch and some damping reverb! It would surely add a lot to the song ;)
The rest of this song is just pure awesome. I can hear you've got an eye (ear?) for track building and knowing where and how to use your instruments. Props to you kid!

3,5 Stars

- LiquidOoze

Flaytic responds:

Thanks mang, glad you enjoyed it :D All these feedback makes me want to do a remaster of this track :P

Also thanks for including this in your Hidden Audio Gems playlist! Really honoured :D

[Running Through Summer]

I was absolutely certain I had written a review for this track yesterday, no idea where it went...

Anyway, brilliant track mate! I'm in love with the cheerful setting here ^^ The synths are very well chosen, the drums are perfect and I also really like the gated white noise in the background :)
If I were you I would've added some more reverb or release to the piano at 0:14. It sounds kind of dull right now, even though it's one of the instruments that leads to the main section! Also, I totally would've loved a big climax at the end with a much more present drum track, but I can understand it if that's not what you were aiming for ;)
Last but not least, the track ends kind of abruptly, since there's absolutely no telling the song is going to end at that point. Some kind of build-up to the end would be nice!

4 Stars

- LiquidOoze

LawnReality responds:

Thank you! :D I appreciate the review. This was kind of my first attempt at making happy synth music. Also, I knew the piano sounded a bit dry, but I couldn't figure out what it needed! Don't know how I didn't think of reverb. :P

[Cadaver]

Lovely kind of dubstep, man! This is really relaxing to listen to!

I don't hear this kind of dubstep very often...I wouldn't call it chillstep because it still is kind of hard but in a way you can definately relax to this one. Great job on creating such a vibe :)
I totally love the synths you're using. They all have got this same feeling to them, lots of reverb and delay, it's really cool. I also really admire the vocal slices at 0:41, great work!
In my opinion the snare could use a little bit more punch. I understand that with this mood you don't want a beat that's too loud, but your snare kinda falls behind, especially in comparison with your kick.
Apart from that I really don't have anything else to say! It's a wonderful and one-of-a-kind piece of dubstep :)

4,5 Stars

- LiquidOoze

[Vivid]

Nice trance track man! When I was making trance I was just starting music production, this stuff is so much better xD
The intro is really good! It's amazing what you can do with a simple square wave. The beat is also really solid and the bassline is really powerful and yet not overdriving. I'm not sure about the small clap you use every now and then (first noticable around 0:46), it doesn't really match with the rest of the beat in my opinion.
The breakdown at 1:02 starts of with a really sweet impact followed by a nice violin melody that reminds me of the Braveheart theme somehow, and the synths go along with it pretty well. The filtered kick at 1:30 should be turned down a bit, it's kind of overwhelming because of all those bass frequencies suddenly getting more space because of the missing higher frequencies. ;)
I do like how you brought in the bass during the build-up, and the drop afterwards was amazing as well! The piano could've been toned down a bit though, and it could also use some stereo separation I believe. I love how you brought back the violin here too!

In short, a true masterpiece with some minor flaws. Keep up the good work!

4 Stars

- LiquidOoze

DigohD responds:

Thanks man. Always fun to receive such a well formulated, and thought-out, review. Much appreciated :)

[Aircraft]

Woah, this song just blasts me out of my chair! Really energetic and driving, great job!

First things first: that piano is absolutely brilliant, so I can't believe you cut it out so abruptly. Honestly I have no idea how I would've made the transition either, but this really is way too sudden!
The build-up with the drums is incredible. There's seems to something slightly off-sync at 0:31, causing a slight silence between the sweep-up and the cymbal. A minor detail, but it's noticable. ;) Also the cymbal could use some more reverb in my opinion.
The part afterwards is extremely good! Lovely combination of a slightly distorded bass, choirs and a harpischord (if I'm not mistaken), it all sounds wonderful together. I'm kinda missing the slashing guitars here, I think those would fit prefectly but that's just my subjective view :p
The other half of the track is really great as well! The synth at 1:42 sould've been brought in a little more gradually though, but Iike how it matches with the rest of the instruments. I also totally love the bass patterns at 1:50, as well as the piano at 2:05.
At 2:25 you decide to go for a little more agressive theme, again combining synths with more classical instruments, and it again works really well!
My last complaint would be the fade-out, which ends way too soon. I would've added a massive reverb hit at the end that lasts for a very long time.

Other than that, you did an absolutely great job at this man!

4,5 Stars

- LiquidOoze

[Float On]

Wow, brilliant! This is so relaxing and easy to listen to, lovely to hear something like this from a new music artist :)
It's actually a really simple track, but because of the different synths you used it really gets a lot more variation. Don't get too repetitive though: after the break you maybe should've added a little more effects or maybe an extra synth to get some more variety in there.
Other than that I really have nothing to complain about. You're beat is really steady and rolls really nicely (something you also do in your other song, I like that), the pads set a really atmospheric tone and give the track a really 'breathing' feel. It's truly a good piece for somebody who just started making music.

I'm scouting you for the Audio Portal because more people should be hearing this! ;)

Keep it up! And send me a message when you've finished the EP, I'd like to hear the final result!

4,5 Stars

- LiquidOoze

thetastate responds:

Thanks! I really appreciate all of the feedback. Repetiveness is my worst problem and definitely need to work on it lol. I'm glad you liked it though!

[Plymouth Rock (cover)]

This is not bad man! I don't listen to a lot of punk but overall I like the genre, including this little song! Something you should pay a lot of attention to is mixing, though. The mix at this point sounds kinda messy, and after 0:21 the vocals become really hard to understand and are too soft IMO.
Composition-wise this is a really good track, but mix-wise you still need to improve! ;)

3,5 Stars

- LiquidOoze

[Shake it off!]

Considerably good for a first dance track! :)

I really liked the synth you used in the beginning! Nice progression, the ping-pong delay worked really well. The claps could use some more highs in my opinion, and maybe a slight reverb.
The bass synth coming in at 0:30 sounds good, but because it's syncopation is slightly different from the lead it doesn't really match with the rhythm. Also some notes seem to be slightly off-key. But the sound of it is really nice!
It's kinda weird how you take away the percussion at 0:45. I guess this was supposed to add to the buidl-up, but it's a bit to spontaneous and probably would sound better with a crash symbol or a white noise hit. The build-up itself is also kind of empty.
The drop, on the other hand, is pretty good considering the build-up isn't very present. The kick could stand out a little more though, but the beat is pretty solid. I like how you gated the synth at 1:30, good variation :)
The breakdown was simple, but it worked really well! Nothing to say about that.
The ending is really abrupt, which is too bad. A little fade-out would've been nice.

Overall this track is not bad, but it needs attention at some points, try to work on that! ;)
I listened to your other tracks and believe that you're talented enough to be scouted for the Audio Portal, congratulations!

3,5 Stars

- LiquidOoze

Lordmau5 responds:

Thanks for the feedback, dude! Didn't expect to get 5 stars at one of my first tracks anyway, but 3.5? I'm DAMN happy with that :)

Glad you enjoyed it, even though it's not perfect.
I will definitely keep the things you mentioned in mind for the next one I'm doing.
And yes, the ending isn't perfect either - I was thinking about some kindof fade-out, but couldn't do a proper one...

~ Lordmau5.

[Seventh chord fancy in Cm]

Wow, really nice job! The whole song is really groovy and the beat is steady as hell! I love the brass instruments and the organ you combined with it, and I really like how almost every instrument gets its own solo. :)
I really have no big complains. At 1:24 you have some sort of pause in your song, which was a wise thing to do, but I feel like the drums are a bit too random here, they kinda make you lose the rhythm to the song. Also, it would've been nice if at the end an instrument we hadn't heard yet came in, but the outro you've got right now is fine as well!

I'm totally in love with the outstanding sax (I think it is?) at 0:42 :p

8 S=stars for you, keep going like this!

- LiquidOoze

Vierarmig responds:

Thank you for analyzing! Regarding 1:24, this moment was made intentionally to remove the feeling of up beat. As the harmony denies the tonic, so the rythm denies up beat and makes an accent on down beat. I play drums for 14 years and do not have random parts. Perhaps, if you listen to the track more times, it will sound for you more usual. There are other seventh chord fancies in my audios. It would be very interesting to know your opinion on these ones as well.