Phonometrologist's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Oceans Wide]

I think etherealwinds is on to something here. I downloaded your piece out of curiosity and analyzed the phase and just to mess around with the frequencies. The beginning does sound like it's in mono but it really just gives that illusion because the combination of too much mids and most everything is panned to the left. The instrument you have on the right isn't very present and so it's just out of balanced, and I would have the bass more centered. The piece sounds much better mix wise when I make the low frequencies more present via the EQ. What microphone are you using? The piece sounds much more full at 2:23 and beyond. But I do like the mallets.
That being said, the composition and your lyrics are gorgeous. When I get passed the mixing issues, I really don't get tired of this. Your singing is great, and I like the progression you have going. The different parts that you have the instruments play in the last quarter of this piece is great to listen to.
Besides the mixing sounding a bit narrow, you have a lot of good ideas. I like the drive this piece has—very uplifting in a sense. I have to admit that despite its flaws, this is quite alluring, and I can't quite put my finger on why. Perhaps it's the combination of your lyrics, singing, and progressions that really makes this piece. I hope this was constructive for you. Mixing will come in time, and I have to admit that after composing something we are left with little time to mix within the 2 week span. I hear a lot of mixing issues in my piece as well so don't get discouraged.

Troisnyx responds:

Eh, thank you! Constructive as it gets! ^_^

The mic I'm using is a Samson Go (which, as Step said once to me in a previous review of his dating back to last year, is a bit of a high-pass filter). It's good for vocal clarity; downside is that it cuts out the basses. Boosting lower frequencies on Audacity gave me no joy, and I'm scared of even touching low-pass filters for fear that the recordings sound..... just.... wrong.......

Strangely, if I record a bodhrán on said mic and boost the basses, I have no trouble with it at all. So I kinda don't know how to tame this mic just yet.

Trouble with a lot of my pieces, I'll readily admit, is my mixing. No matter how much time I have, either the instruments blast out of control through the speakers or headphones, or the bass sounds tinny, or the voices sound tinny, or something or other. But I really, really want to learn -- and I suppose these reviews are a start.

Thanks again -- you've helped me a lot.

[Smoking Guns]

Ooohh this is a fun piece. I like your experiment here, and I could’ve used more of it. The panning piano being used with the other different, percussive elements really makes this interesting to listen to. And then the piano standing alone at the end is great. Would have loved to hear you expand upon it. Nice work.

ChrisisD responds:

I thank you very much!! I've been progressing on this for a little bit. Especially expanding on the middle section of this song. Though I got kind of stuck in the end and didn't finish the expansion much further. Cheers!

[Gather The Clans]

This is such a fun piece. From the start, the strings, percussion, and harmonic progression are all top notch. Love it. The more I listen, the more I can appreciate the detail in this. I can’t dissect this piece as much as I would like as I’m at work, but I would like to suggest that if the opportunity comes, think about the overall structure of the piece to where it is going or what you’re trying to say in a piece. This is such a good, action-paced piece that I really don’t know where it’s going to lead to just like in a typical action scene from a movie. But that’s more from wondering what you can do in regards to with what you have already done here and making it into a "classical" style approach.

LunyAlex responds:

[Sorry for the late reply; I've been allover the place lately]

Thank you so much for your review! I totally get what you mean, and starting to write in a more listen-friendly structure, rather than in an imaginary-scene-driven context is definitely on my "Things to get better at" list.

Thanks again!

[Sjaan the Flying Doctor]

Just wanted to say that you really know how to write some catchy melodies, and they seem to have a more somber tone in them which I prefer personally. The kick is nice, but it’s not quite balanced with the rest of the percussion. That tone of that piano is really good once it’s being played alone. Of course I would have liked to hear more of that.
I like the structure and the mindset you have behind this piece. The only criticism I have is perhaps not enough harmonic detail and it could probably use a bit more tweaking on the mix with a few instruments such as using a bit more automation to give the strings more life.
Overall, I enjoyed this one.

SourJovis responds:

Thanks. Writing catchy melodies is my speciality I think. Mixing and creating good accompaniments not so much.

I like (my) more sombre work better as well, but I like to try out various things. This song is more hopeful, with a hint of sadness at the end. I plan to use it on my next album near the end as a sort of hopeful ending kind of feel.

I'm currently trying to improve the song,even though it doesn't count for the competition anymore. I'll add more automation to the strings, like you suggested, to make them less flat. I removed some treble and base from the kick and reduced the volume a little to make it stand out less, and better fit the mood of the song. I think I'll add a fretless base guitar to the second halve of the song (when the lead guitar comes in) to add more harmonic detail, and to compensate for the kick that I've now reduced. I think I'll also add some harp glissandos. Any more suggestions?

[i believe]

Nice beginning to set up the atmosphere of the piece. As I'm listening, I don't know what to expect except greatness. However it didn't build until the 3 minute mark and I found my focus drifting away from the piece up to then. But once we got there, it's quite remarkable how you're able to reach such a blissful climax such as this. Will it be enough?

Overall, I heard the lull in this piece as that is perhaps what you might have been talking about in how you been feeling as of late, but it has it's sparks of brilliance peaking around the corners.
That synth at 5:08 for a moment was quite nice--as if it was sighing.
Good work here. With the crazy group that you're in, it's going to be quite sad whoever wins as someone great is going to be left behind too soon in the contest.

johnfn responds:

Yeah it got a lot of flak for the slow buildup huh? I kind of like really long slow songs but I suppose their not everyone's cup of tea ;-) Thanks for the review.

[The Abyss]

I couldn’t help but smile when I started to listen to this. Very Stravinsky like and a few others. TOO Short! Could’ve listened to this for another ten minutes or more…don’t want to be too greedy. I really like the timbre and quality of these instruments. I’m getting jealous quite a bit listening to this.
Those chords are piercing, and listening to them a second time through, they’re still giving that same effect. This piece isn’t going to get old anytime soon.

DamienFleisch responds:

I had an ambitious idea at the outset to start with the melody at the beginning and slowly expand it to a tone row which would have made it much longer. Unfortunately, I'm going to be busy the next couple of days so I had to finish it, temporarily. I'm glad you heard the Stravinsky too, he's a huge influence on me :D

Thanks for the review, and I'm really looking forward to hearing what you've come up with!

[Jesterous]

I have to say that by this track, this puts you as the favorite in the group to move on. Very impressed with the production and energy of this. I can tell this is going to be tough no doubt, but I'm looking forward to it :)
Respect

PirateCrab responds:

Sir, are you mad? When I listened to your track, all I could feel was raw, powerful emotion. Something I can't really achieve with my style! This group alone will be tough, let alone the rest of the competition. Much respect pal and best of luck!

[Abyss of Recurrence]

;-)
I will definitely use this as inspiration next time I dabble in dark, ambient stuff. Loved the beginning. Only thing that I wasn’t sure about was that arppegiated synth in the distance as it was a little too familiar, but I did like the choice in using it in this context.

Chemiqals responds:

Glad you enjoyed it! ^_^

[denial]

Wo! that got intense on my headphones-- Great atmosphere you created.
Loved how the beginning set the mood.
The panning arpeggios and the distorted melody really hit home. Could have used more of that.
However, the ending was very serene with a touch of Pink Floyd.

The melodic instrument at around :55 has a good melodic contour that reminds me a bit of jazz, but I never was a fan of that timbre. But it wasn't overbearing and the distorted lead really made up for that.
Truly enjoyed this one!

johnfn responds:

Thanks for leaving some thoughts! Yea I have yet to find a synth that can match the timbre of Floyd's nice guitar tones... sigh. The FM stuff is probably a little too chippy and sharp for this piece I guess.

I'm glad you liked it though.