NicholasCabraja's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Jumbo Jungle]

Sick Groove man. I was debating trying for this contest, but I got so busy. Anyway. You used some interesting elements. Your main melody is sweet. Awesome job! I should walk into a bar with this playing. haha

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

Ahaha, so everyone is reviewing this track now? Cool :p
Yeah, it has some neat ideas, but unfortunately I never realy went anywhere with them. Actually, the theme for the second track is to make pub music with only a Fluid GM bank soundfont :D

[Wanderer]

Being this is for a video I won't review the arrangement because its for picture. - Tho it is very nice and I loved it.

Mix wise, nothing was too loud, it was very well balanced and spread nicely. Maybe the violins could have been a db or 2 louder.

When the choir came in I was hoping to here some low end slowly crescendo. Like a low cello with bass and then when it rises at :50 really make it full and loud and the end tail of the strings can really descend after its nice impact.
Again nothing major! Good Job and keep going!

LawnReality responds:

Thanks for the feedback! Glad you enjoyed it. :)

[Floating]

Interesting sound design I must say. You got a true understanding at blending your synths together.
Then you transition into a piano riff and THEN a dark atmosphere with that awful heartbeat. Man what a trip.
The FX and how they pan are just amazing. It's like after every transition, a scene is playing in my head, yet its not connected. but that doesn't matter.

At 5:41 when it gets full again sounded awesome (as you tagged it)

I have nothing to complain about from what I heard in my phones. But given what others are saying in their monitors, maybe there is something to take note on - car speakers if possible? - I find that a car always tells you EVERYTHING thats wrong with a mix.

All in all, it was pretty sick! You really know how to accomplish your stereo spread.
Great work!

Onefin responds:

Thanks for the review!

The intention was for the song to tell a connected story of a generally archetypal journey, with the whole call to adventure, rising action, challenges and temptations, ordeal, climax, etc kind of thing. But the actual content of the scene was left ambiguous, for the listener to decide on. Glad you liked it!

5:41 is truly my favorite part of the song, despite possible poor mixing.

Car speakers? How do I even play this song in a car I have no idea :/ Seems like a good idea, but I would have to ask permission to use my parents' car. Overall, I'm pretty sure my mixing is terrible, as it usually is. I mix through headphones on my computer. And they aren't good headphones...

Stereo spread? I can barely hear most stereo on my headphones unless it's panned over 75 percent to one side. I do remember panning things, though, so I'm glad it turned out well!

Once again, thanks for the review! Feedback is appreciated. :)

[Gentle Touch]

You should make more stuff like this! You have a real good sense of jazzy chill grooves. I could totally see a sax player soloing over top of this.

SekiraRenatus responds:

Hey man, thanks a lot! I'm pretty new to this, but I've been a long fan of Weather Report and Chet Baker; I will definitely be doing more! :3

[Walk In Paris]

The feel you are going for was definitely achieved. The composition allows me to picture your description.

What I thought could be improved was the track get wider. Especially when we enter the 1st shroud and that cello sustain note before we go into our next scene.

Speaking of our next scene. The nice string section was quite good. Well layered and spaced.
If only you could make those transitions flow into each other. At times i thought rhe song was done. But nope! Haha

Last thing would be your 1st chorus. There are some skips when the violas are rising with the accordion.

Overall I liked where you were going with this. Maybe you should listen to the Sherlock Holmes soundtrack for a good reference. No title comes to mind but I'm sure it would be a good place to start to get an idea.
Hope this helps! And good job, seriously, even though the mix has some flaws, you capture the setting and image well. So kudos to you on that!

Earel responds:

Hey !
I answer almost two years later because before, I didn't understand english very well.

So, yeah, the cello sustain note sounds weird, I should have cut it.

About the strings, I wasn't using my usual VSTs, and my PC was so bad. So the strings quality is very bad, and I don't know why, the notes cut before the end of what I played.

Thanks for your advises, I appreciate

[Lunar [Video Game]]

Like the drum and bass feel that eventually transitions into more a pop feel. Your melody variations and synths all sync well and add nice "flavour" as I like to call it. At 3:20 the riff - which appears more than once I believe, reminds me of the Sims series loading screen! Haha

The synth panned to the hard left. I feel should be edged off a little from there. As I found it a tad distracting in the beginning. But your change is rhythm is what mainly grabs me. So, with that said, good work and definitely worth the money for a nice MP4 or Wav. File ;)

DJStriden responds:

Glad you liek it

[Thunder Squad]

I really love your intro, your percussion with the harp is very intriguing, and once the violins at :17 come in and out.. sold me to put it on my fav list. ;)
The melody and how the percussion builds up with the choir really work well and bring in that intense feeling.

However, where this fell short of was after the main melody with choir. You did a nice set back for a few bars with your violin, but man... I was waiting for a nice big smack in the face when your main melody came back in and wanted it to become even more awesome!!!
I would have added some brass like trumpets and french horns right in the middle of the mix to really bring in FULL intensity! and big one shot hits on the 1 beat!!

At 1:10 and onward your violin could have been layered too, in fact possibly even the cellos, then with some reverb it should really bring it out.

This track overall I found to be very bright. (Not bad news!) Your violin is the main focus, but the rest of your strings (cello and Bass) felt a little quiet, they could have been a tad higher (.5 - 1 db) Since your awesome percussion takes up most of your headroom in that department, a little balancing would fix that no problem.

I wrote this review with your track on loop. I throughly enjoyed it. I can't help myself but smile every time I hear your drums.
Well done and keep making kickass music!

Shurrikane responds:

The brass.. I know there is something missing but I couldn't figure out what I should add to make it sound more intense...

Thank you a lot for this HUGE review! I really enjoyed reading it.

I'll try to keep your tips in my mind! Just thanks for listening and reviewing :)

[Bossfight - Okiba Crackdown]

I'm digging the intro groove, but MAN when IT DROPS!! The stereo spread is amazing! Great job man!

The glitch gestures are on point and you really keep me interested all the way through. I'm curious if the lead synth in your chorus is all one synth or layered with a bass underneath? (eg. 3:00)

Freaking so cool!

bossfight responds:

Thanks a bunch! :D

Do you mean the chippy one or the bass? The bassline consists the main sound and a sub track, and the chip-lead is just one synth.

[Facing the Foe]

I know a lot of input has gone into this track already so i'm going to make this quick and sweet. (Being also 2 weeks old)

The intro, goes with out saying, amazing. the fact that i later found out this is a loop is also freaking sick!

fav section was 1:18 - 1:55 love it.

Your mixing.. dude I don't know what your talking about, your selling it. I don't know how much dynamics your leaving, but if this got mastered, it'll definitely fit in any classy video game boss fight haha!

Your nice gestures with your percussion and low brass staccatos really set the pace. ALSO the MELODIES you shred are.. wow. They flow so smooooooothly!! AND so much is happening all the time! I was taught to make a variation in my arrangement every 4 bars, you seem to do it in every bar!

If anything I would have made this song a little brighter (just due to my headphone maybe..)

One thing that did stand out was that cymbal rise at :58 a little volume adjustment down would have made it sit nicely.

Nevertheless!! STUPENDOUS!!!

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

Thanks for the nice review!

Yeah. I've had mixed reviews about the loop, but most people seem to actually like it, which is nice :D

Great to hear that you like 1:18-1:55, as it's one of my favorite parts as well XD

It's interesting, as many people seem to think that the mixing is actually okay. I have definitely gotten better; that much is for certain. It was a tough track to mix in general, so I would have to be a pro to get it just right. I think that this track has both "boss battle" as well as "normal battle" elements to it.

I definitely wanted the track to have a solid base for the rhythm all the way through. But the melodies are definitely the real focus of the track. As well as the structure in general. Hahha, the very 4 bars is a good rule. I just really like variation though. I often aim to keep some kind of repetition in there though XD

Hmm, there are pretty few highs, I guess. But maybe you meant the mood? Idk. Parts are darker, parts are lighter. I think the heavy brass may bring it down a small notch. Then again, I guess it's a battle too, so it'd be wierd if it's too light :D

Yeah, maybe 0:58 was a bit loud. That is actually a gong, I think, but it's not a bang, but a drag instead :)

Thanks a lot for the nice review! I'll review your latest track at some point too. I have heard it XD

[A Noisy Sundae]

Awesome job remixing this man!, I can agree the mixing could slightly be improved (Percussion - kik mostly) but its still catchy as hell and well executed overall. Good luck on the NGDIC!

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

Thanks dude!
Yeah, johnfn gave me some great tips I could've used, including the kick.
I'm glad you liked it overall. I should totally review your latest track, but I don't have time right now. I hope I'll remember some other day!!!
I won't forget forever, that's for sure at least...