Oakwood's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Acid Paradox - Monster]

Mindblowing!

This is one sick Dubstep track, man, it blew me off my chair. The vocals made me think of Rob Swire (Pendulum), and that's a good thing, because his vocals are always cool.
The intro is fucking amazing, but not perfect. In the intro you use a 4/4 beat, while at 0:14 you switch to a third-beat, which creates such a sudden change that it kinda kills the pace. I think the riff you used at the very beginning should be the same as the one you use at 0:14.
The monster synth is amazing, but a bit overused in this song. In the main part of the song (0:44), two of th three first bars only contain that monster saw. You should've used some other synths in there as well, I know you've done that in the third bar, but that's not enough. A bit more variation would be in it's place.
Also, I couldn't make out the 'MONSTER!!!' until I read the lyrics. That vocal should've been a little better as well. Not only because it's hard to understand, but also because the song is all about that vocal and it introduces the main part, know what I mean?

5/5, 9/10

- LiquidOoze

Acid-Paradox responds:

Yeah i know what you mean with the intro , I have been in debate with myself whether to do something different for the intro of the full version. I tried using the same riff for the verse part but it sounds "out of place" IMO but i will figure it out.
The reason i overused the monster synth it's because I personally don't like to use like 30 synths on the drop like most people do. I like to literally rape the synth until it's enough for the track, but i added some variation on the full version.
And about the monster vocal , I already fixed that. The reason was i added too much delay on the vocal which makes it difficult to understand it but yeah it's better now but remember that monsters don't speak english very good lol.

Awesome

[<MWA> Lucky You (Ngadm)]

That signature...

Signatures like 7/8 and 5/4, they always annoy the shit out of me. Must be because I mainly create House/Dance and only work with 4/4 beats. Still, this song is great to listen to. The piano lead was awesome and the violin fitted in perfectly. The electronic part was a bit awkward, but it didn't kill the entire song, luckily.
Speaking of that electronic part, I think it could use some more bass. And with bass I mean a real bass synth, like a sinus. Now it feels a bit empty, even though you have that sawtooth-thingy playing together with the kick.
Also, the synth coming in at 2:13 is amazing. It's clearly a synth that isn't related to classical music at all, and yet it sounds amazing in combination with the piano.

Nothing to say about this amazing song, other than that the electronic part could use some more bass.

5/5, 9/10

- LiquidOoze

mjattie responds:

hmm, I like it when a song is a bit random and has a strange time signature, but yea, that's really a matter of personal taste.

about the bass, I had a wobble going at some times, but it completely dissapeared in the mix, must have muted it accidentally or something... :P

btw it's not a violin but a cello ;)

thanks for the review! Good luck in the contest!

[[dB] Acknowledgements]

Relaxing

This song has a pretty relaxing feel to it which makes me wanna drive a car without a roof in the bright sun on the highway, while having this song banging through my speakers. Yeah, that's pretty cool huh?
Ahem, like midimachine said, the reverb should be toned down. Not totally, because that would take away the nice effect it has, but a little bit should do the trick. Also the white noise that comes in at 1:16, I dunno, it stands out a bit too much IMO. I know it's mainstream for House music, but could you just take it down a little bit?
Also, the firs two seconds of your song made me think I was gonna listen to something Japanese styled. I think you should either canhge that intro, or bringe it back multiple times, because now it sounds just like something random.

So, it's a good song, but it slight flaws that are easy to fix. Maybe extending it wouldn't be a bad idea, but do whatever you like. Also, I know you think you don't stand a chance to InvisibleObserver, but does that really mean you have to call the song Acknowledgements? xD

4/5. 8/10

- LiquidOoze

Decibel responds:

I'll be sure to fix the reverb then ;P

The Name was a random thought actually :P

EDIT - Fixed the stuff you told me about, thanks ^_^

[{Compulsive Nodding}]

Decent.

It's actually a pretty good song, you used pretty neat synths and there was enough variety. It felt a bit empty at the beginning though (0:00 - 0:41). I think that's because the beat didn't develop. Throughout the whokle song the beat stays the same: kick and clap. You could've added some hihats, or maybe even a ride cymbal playing together with a kick, because now I have the feeling that something is, well, missing.
Other thing I noticed: your kick loses its power throughout the song. When you listen to the first few seconds of the song, the kick is really present, and that's good, because it's a nice kick. Then, when you skiip to 2 minutes later, the kick has become much softer. I'm not sure how this has happened (probbably a mistake in EQing) but it sound a bit strange. The claps can still be heared well at the end, which makes it even more strange.
Also, the bassline. Good choice for a bassline synth, a basic sinus (I always use filtered sawtooths but a sinus is good as well), but it kinda overrides the lead synths. You can clearly hear this at 1:15. The part before that point had no bassline, and the lead synth felt present, but after that it became less, which is because the bass was overriding it. The weird thing is that the bassline doesn't even sound that loud, so this has probably to do with the bass synth having too much, eh, bass. Maybe you used a Bass Boost or increased the lower frequencies or something, but to get rid of the overriding bass, you need to keep those lower frequencies down a bit, even though this is a bassline.
Last but not least: what's with the volume drop at 1:07-1:08? That's really a weird thing to hear, when suddenly the volume gets taken down for a sec. I'd like an explanation for that. :P

Anyway, that's my honest opinion.
Can you return the favor on my latest song, plox? :)

- LO

transcendstheworld responds:

Your honest opinion is greatly appreciated. Since I basically made this in 2 hours, I didn't really notice all those details that you pointed out-the kick, the bass, etc. I'll make sure to pay attention to all of the things that you noticed in the future. The volume drop was really supposed to be a transition, but it was last-second and I didn't even plpay the song through and see what it sounded like before rendering.
Thanks a lot for the review!

[/-Retribution-\(LOOP)]

Well...

The synths are nice, but the song is really badly mastered. Try adjusting the knobs so that everything is equalized next time. It's also WAY too short.

- LO

Darkfire96 responds:

I would master this if I wasnt using a bad computer. This is about as much as this computer can handle. Sorry that its short too, but I cant make it longer.

/-Ikarus-\

[Kickass Theme]

Needs a splash

It sounds good, but it's a bit too weak. I was expecting some sort of splash or impact near the end, where everything would go like boom!, sort of announcing the ending. But it didn't come, and that's too bad.
Also, don't go crazy with your beat. You use a lot of snaers and kicks in just one measure, and I don't think it fits that well. The song itself is relaxing, but the beat kinda takes that feeling away. If you'd replace the current beat with a softer one, I think the song would sound somewhat better as a whole.

- LiquidOoze

eatmeatleet responds:

thanks for a review. I believe that beat sounds kinda weird but I like it that way. I was changing it up but this one is one of the better ones I could apply. I originally wanted rock kit and this kind of beat. So IDK.. Maybe you want to hear more of instruments. I feel confident with my drum construction but composing for orchestra is not my strongest point so the result is this kinda track. And yeah, sorry for shitty ending, you are right

[{RD2011} Mecha Marauder]

Mindblowing.

Sorry to break your 'score-of-ten' combo, but I never give any 10's.
This is one of the best dubstep songs I've heard in quite a while. I liked the misleading beginning with the pizzicato violins, but I found it strange that they actually returned.
Also, I love your bass and kick, but your snare does have a strange sound to it I'm not really fond of. I think it's missing some treble, but I'm not sure. Either, apart from some small details, this is a great song! Cheers, mate!

- LO

alextheDJ responds:

Thanks! i appreciate the constructive criticism.

i was originally going to create a story to go along with the track that would've explained why the intro bit came back, but I never got around to actually creating it. I also just like the way it sounds with the drums. :P

You're right about the snare. I can never seem to get it to sound just right. Maybe one day...

[{Falling}]

Akwuuuuurd!

This song is...strange, really. The chord progression is good, but there's always one chord that totally doesn't fit. Same goes for the melody. I really need an answer to this question: WHAT IS THE KEY?! It sounds pretty random, but I'm pretty sure you must've used SOME structure in this song (although you say you want your songs to be less structured).
Also, for a song that's 6 minutes in length, it's very repetitive. Only the end offers a bit of variation, but that's mainly it. If you wanna make larger songs, make sure that they don't sound the same all the time.
Last thing, turn the pad's velocity down, it's a bit too loud IMO.

Hope I was helpful. :)

transcendstheworld responds:

I must have been insane when I made this song, I just put together notes and melodies that sounded good at the time, and to hell with the keys. It's definitely something I need to work on. Thanks for the review!
PS Oh, and what I meant by "less structured" was less repetitive, so there you go.

[..::Feel it::..]

Dikke banger! ;)

Fucking A - epic song, dude. Mastering could have been a little better, you can definately hear the kick overdriving the windups. But the rest is perfect!

Also, I recognize the violins (Ghosts 'n Stuff, right?)

Great job, homeboy!

DJ-Steeve responds:

Thanks, I'm gonna work on mastering...
And yes, I've Inspired the violins from Ghosts 'n Stuff

[TranceAction v2]

Too loud

This is really badly mastered. The kick is WAY too loud, which you can clearly hear at 1:05, it overrides the melody too much. Next time, try to adjust the knobs and sliders a bit more.
Btw, the hihats you used in the beginning were pretty nice.

DarkTyranno responds:

Know the definition of a pattern?
It means I don't control much volume options for now, but I paste the parts together. It can be that everything together doesn't sound like it should. It takes more patters, or I have to make a long 1, so I can change volumes over time in the track. Also I don't use any effects, just create melodies with instruments. Don't know when I take time to 'improve' the track... The HiHats do sound like the originals in FL, I've also expansions but the differences are minimal. ;)
Thnx for your respond!