loansindi's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[TTC 2010 (hypernet versio]

Seems a bit short.

I think some of your lead instruments could definitely come forward in the mix. They seem pretty well buried under that arppegiated synth, and it makes it pretty tough to really hear what's going on overall.

Aside from that it just seems so short that there's no time for a whole lot to be happening.

I'd like to hear a differently mixed render of this to see if the feel changes a little. I feel like I have to strain to make out what the melody is doing as it is.

Calamaistr responds:

all you need is to be familiar with the TTC CHGENERO theme and butterfly to understand whats happening, nothing is really buried either as far as i can hear.
The background synths are supposed to be quite distanced.

[Spanish_Guitar [Box-Killa]]

Pretty good.

Track was a bit boomy, how did you mic this? There's a definite overall lack of 'sparkle', or top end.

Reverb felt a little heavy to me, like it was kind of drowning the track.

Dynamics might be a bit deep, the heavy strums were quite loud and I lose the quieter passages on the top strings.

Otherwise it's a fine track, definitely catch the 'spanish' feel. Maybe a little aimless at times, perhaps some other instrumentation would help with that.

[Untitled Love Song]

well

I'm gonna write kind of a technical response here.

First and foremost, there's a huge amount of noise present in the recording. The everpresent hum is likely your computer cooling fan. If the microphone is sitting on a desk that's also holding up your computer, that'll transfer a pretty large amount of noise. Try moving the microphone to its own table. At 1:22 I think I hear someone in the background. That's definitely something you'll want to watch for.

Also be aware of which way the mic is pointed, it's likely a cardioid pattern, which means if you put sources of noise (ie the computer) directly behind the microphone, most of that noise will be 'blocked out.'

Sibilance is a bit much, you might try backing off of the mic (if you're recording in an environment that's not too terribly noisy you can always bring your levels up later with reasonable success). You can also experiment with placement. You don't need to be singing directly into the microphone, front and center, and you can get some good results with an off-axis placement.
It kind of sounds as though you're not really supporting yourself here. That may be intentional based on the content, but I'd like to hear what you can do when you really open up, vocally.

You'll want to experiment a little bit with EQing, to eliminate that slight 'cottony' feel. Play with a small boost or cut, covering an octave or so, and just sweep that up and down. You'll find spots that kind of make your voice feel a little more 'real', and really it all comes down to experimentation. I run live sound for musical theater on a fairly regular basis, and everyone's voice is a little different. It can even change based on what techniques you're using.

I'd definitely look into throwing down some kind of basic accompaniment for future vocal demos, just because it'll make the whole thing quite a bit more 'finished' feeling.

Overall I'd say you were off to a good start, and I look forward to hearing your work.

[[S] Metal Digga]

Needs quite a bit.

I think first and foremost you need to address your recording technique. You don't describe your setup so I can't be more specific, but it's got a lot of room for improvement.

Secondly, you need to find a way to fake up some drums, and bass if possible. The guitar work doesn't really stand on its own.

The guitars could have more interesting rhythms. Your initial guitar is panned way too far right. Solo is too far left.

The guitar tone overall, and especially the solo tone, is incredibly weak. Where's the gain man?

Your solo is BEGGING for some reverb or something so it doesn't feel so flat. Be very attentive to string muting, a lot of your phrases end with string noise. I know that I tend to do nine million takes before I'm satisfied with a track. The solo would benefit from some legato techniques, I think. Overall it feels very uncertain. You've gotta be comfortable with your solo forward and backwards before you commit to it.

Don't take this review in a negative light. There's just a long way to go before I would call this a complete song.

Screch responds:

This is probably the best review I've ever gotten. You give a lot of tips and I'm very thankful for that.

With recording I just plug my guitar directly in my comp and use software amp simulators.

I have done drums and bass with songs in the past. I just didn't view this as a song, more like an idea or something, so I didn't use those instruments. However, I recorded this so when I'm in the mood again I can build upon this work and hopefully have a completed work.

I'll try and work on tone, I'm not really sure how to improve that. Adding reverb onto the solo sounds like an easy fix, so thanks for that tip. And actually I improvise my solo's so I can't really know them backwards and forwards lol =D.

Again, thank you for this review. I really appreciate it man!

[i'll get there]

It's a start.

There is a long way to go.

Your strings are flat, and somewhat lifeless. Look to add at least a touch of reverb, that alone will take them out of that 'flat studio' feel and put them into a hall of some kind. it will do huge things to improve the realism and feeling of the track.

That said, bring in some other instruments. It's odd to have a full section of strings and... nothing else. A mournful clarinet playing melody over this would be beautiful.

Don't be afraid to introduce more motion in your melody. It's a slow piece, but you don't have to to sit around with the same rhythm and pacing for the entirety of the piece.

Your last chord gets very 'organy', I would suggest you try not to span too many octaves within a single instrument/section, because when you get a lot of instruments with similar tonality playing the same pitches across octaves, it starts to make a statement that I'm not sure fits well with the rest of the piece.

It's a good place to be starting, and once you flesh it out it will be a great piece.

nattoman responds:

thank you very much for your review. thought i am very aware of what the song needs it is great to see someone who thinks alike (damn zero-bombers)
the song is at its very beginning i only mad it last night and it took me 2 hours (this is just the intro) there will be more instruments and melodies coming soon... if i actually finish it also that organy thing you call it is called vibrato

[SR - Loans is a Computer]

Goddammit I hate it when i turn into a computer

For such a quick work this is definitely a fun listen. Se-se-seven

[There is Static in My Blood]

Good atmosphere.

I love the textures you establish here.

I wouldn't mind a little more variation in the percussion and bass though.

Overall, while I did enjoy a lot of what you did, it felt longer than it needed to be.

Definitely some good stuff going on though.

PizzaBox responds:

I know what you mean. I think the biggest problem for me was in the second verse... not a whole lot changed, and what did change just made it sound more repetitive. If I ever go back to this song, I'm either going to take out verse 2 completely, or do something drastically different with it.

[-{IBG}-[Sawdusty]]

Pretty nice

Intro was engaging. I really enjoyed the stuttered segue into the rest of the song.

Around 0:50 you lose all of the energy in the song for what felt like a really long time to me.

Nice repetition of the stutter effect. The modulation on the lead is a bit too deep for my tastes, like it's falling all the way into the background.

A lot of the song feels like it's seriously lacking low end, everything's living up pretty high in the spectrum.

Overall a pretty good track.

[Circling Around Clouds [loop]]

chillax

It's pretty quiet, off the bat. It could easily come up in volume quite a bit, I haven't had to turn my amp up this high for a long time.

Instrumentation is nice, I love the spacey pads. The plucked string sounding synth was nice. Really loved the high-register synth.

I wouldn't mind hearing a little more of the percussion. It's got a classic laid back kind of grit that definitely compliments the mood of the piece.

Loops beautifully, great ambiance. Maybe a little heavy in the low end. There's some nice dissonance going on in a few spots that I think lends just the right complexity to the piece. Very nice.

Mich responds:

For some reason, I felt like leaving it a bit quiet. I'll just amplify it a bit and upload it again.

Glad you like the instruments, they're mostly based on sine waves here. I thought the plucked synth fitted nicely too. Some general info: most of that high register stuff is a 3xOsc playing mostly noise, and played around with some filtering and envelopes on that.

When I raised the volume of the percussion, I thought it came through a bit too much. But you're right, I could as well add one or two more elements to it.

Wrap remainder did its job well ;) about the low end: the funny thing is that I actually band-passed the synth with the most lows. Guess I should EQ them a bit more.

Glad you liked it, thanks for the in-depth, helpful review.

Edit: uploaded amplified version.

[Nana's Song-Metaljonus]

Very nice.

It's been a shitty night, so I don't have a lot to say.

But this is some serious satriani shit, and I love it.

Metaljonus responds:

Thanks guy...