sleepFacingWest's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Chak (Synthwave + Metal) Videogame Music]

nice! Those vocal chops at the end slayed me. Really dig the vibe you have set up here.
I think the guitars (or guitary synths) could feel a touch wider. There are chug chord things that I almost want quadruple tracked. If you're using live guitar in parts, you can do 4 different takes, pan 2 far L and far R, then pan the other two like maybe 25% to either side? For synths doing that role, I'd try to eq them all somewhat differently, then pan them the same. Perhaps play them in live with a keyboard to get some minor discrepancies in performance. In any case, I'd put those 4 tracked chuggs on a master fader so you could pull them all down proportionally if you want.

Nice work otherwise. The drum programming is sick, and the piano breakdown before the final 3rd is really effective. Great work!

Napbak responds:

Wow very cool tips, I will keep them in mind. Thank you so much friend!!

[FILINGS]

I love the insight on your sound design process. Really cool. The groove you have going on here is nice and your drum programming is hyper detailed but never seems to be distracting. It just sets up an incredibly detailed bed for the other elements to lay on.

Check your mix in mono. I think there are some phasing issues for some of the percussion instruments because a lot of that gorgeous detail disappears. If you're making heavy use of stereo imaging plugins or you're delaying things between the left and right channel, that can be problematic when listening through things like a phone, laptop speaker, or anything else that either plays in mono or has speakers close enough that it might as well be. In this case, the percussion is SUCH a gorgeously nuanced part of your track that it's a shame to lose that in some contexts. Try to start a mix in mono so you separate elements by eq/level and rely less on stereo separation, then flip to stereo but check the mix along the way in mono to make sure nothing gets lost.
No other critiques. This is chill, bouncy, fun, and I could see this working really well in a game or something since it establishes a really nice groove, is really gorgeous when you're paying attention, but can also set in the background and set a vibe if you want it to. Beautiful.

JA4Y responds:

wow. thank you so much for such an in depth review, it truly means a lot. I've never actually considered what any of my tracks sound like in mono and to be completely honest im not even 100% sure how to check. you guessed very accurately with the stereo separation thing tho. I try to separate instruments through EQ when necessary but I very often will spread out their stereo image to avoid clustering but I never considered that that wouldn't work when played back in mono. ill try to work on that when going forward, usually im not too "technical" with my music. once again thank you very much for the in depth review <3 glad you enjoyed the song

[lies lies lies]

nice track! Good groove that gets stuck in your head, and you keep things moving forward nicely. The track clips quite a bit so if that's not intentional, I might dial back the peak of the master limiter to, at most, -0.1. I'd guess it's currently set to 0.0.
Very clean production otherwise. Great work!

Vyz3r responds:

thanks for the feedback!!

[Moosh & Twist - All Of A Sudden (yagru remix)]

This is great! Your rapping is awesome. The delivery is perfect for the vibe.
I almost never say this, but I think the sub-bass could use some attention. This musical style could benefit from a bit more thump, so I'd consider reinforcing the kick drum with a second more thumpy kick to round out the impact with some heft (maybe roll the highs off the second kick so it doesn't fight the one you already have going...basically notch the eqs so they complement each other). The bass guitar playing is really great, but I'd consider using a very compressed sin wave in an octave or two (or three) below just holding down bass drones. Add a touch of distortion to reinforce the upper partials of the sound so it can feel like there's bass even when a system is incapable of replicating bass frequencies, and then pull the fader for the sine WAY down in the mix. If done properly, you shouldn't really know that it's there unless you take it out. You can also bring this in and out if you want to make some sections a bit more exciting than others. You might need to use a gate to ease the bass in or set a somewhat slow attack on the ADSR so it doesn't pop on entry).
The effects on your singing is really cool. That part is a bit loud in comparison to the instrumentals in my opinion. I think it could be pulled back just a touch, but that's a personal thing.
You have really clear highs and the definition on all the sounds (vocals, synths, percussion) is very articulate. That's something that is more often an issue than lows, so really really really great job! Overall, this track sounds incredibly good. It's very obviously you know what the heck you're doing.

Great work!

yagru responds:

thanks for the thoughtful review! i really appreciate the time you spent on this and loved reading every word of it. totally with you on the low end, i used a synth bass/midi that is just a placeholder (i will eventually go back and record it with a real bass and this should bring back a lot of the frequencies we both know are missing).

based off your excellent feedback, it certainly sounds like you know what you're talking about and i will be checking out some of your tracks as well :D

wish i could say thats me rapping, but i'm white af lol. only vocals that are me are the "whoaaaa"s. i used some lyrics from the song "All Of A Sudden" for the rap:
https://youtu.be/TFSBrM_1uKk

[Connective Tissue]

really really really great sound design. I honestly have no idea how you'd do this stuff without using max/msp. If you did the granular stuff without patching or coding, my hat goes off to you. You're very patient.

chipsqueek responds:

Haha thank you for the kind words ! this a bit ironic but this song was made in only a few hours when I was futzing around with Fruity Granulizer and stretching random audio files to the point of getting all these cool artifacts, using different algorithms built into FL Studio which can give different results ! :D
I forgot to add this to the comments but all the drums were made from scratch as well !

[Star Point]

nice, reminds me of some of the more exploratory backpacker stuff from the mid 00's.
The track is clipping quite a bit. If that's not intentional, I'd watch the peaks. If using a limiter, try setting the peak at -0.1 (instead of 0.0), although I'd tend to cheat that down to -1 or -1.5 just to be safe these days.
I'd also consider giving the highs on a master EQ a bit of a bump. It could use a little bit of sparkle.

Amazing track, though. I like how you keep things moving forward and are constantly changing things up. The gapper in the last 3rd of the track is really effective for creating excitement.

[Jezzel - Geometrical Decade]

Super punchy mix. This is nice. There's a decent amount of clipping. I know that some people do that intentionally these days so if that's the case then ignore, but if not, I'd set the peak of your limiter to, at most, -0.1 (although I don't think it would hurt to go down to -1.0 or -1.5).

Catchy track though, and despite the clipping, the mix sounds good!

[slight disconnection (ALBUM VERSION)]

nice work! It's like some sort of distant dreamy vhs memory. I recall driving through Cali in a vintage convertible even though I've never done that.

The major 7th you go to in the bass on the I chord (the 2nd chord in the intro-type progression) feels *really* dissonant to me. I like the melody you have in the bass part, but I'd consider popping that up an octave or two and then using the actual bass to hold down either roots or at least more stable chord tones.

Love literally everything else. This is great!

realityreimagined responds:

yea i agree lol, tysm :))))