KrrMaim's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[to far away places]

hometown) Where music is at currently it's always fun to listen to simple sound waves. On the intro part I would have preferred if the bassline was split between two synths to smooth out the sound. I don't like commenting on sound though since headphones are terrible for doing that.

journey) It seems like a lot of frequencies were overlapping with each other but it was a fun wall of sound to listen to. The whole note chord progression made me cringe right at 2:16 but we all have different preferences to sound so maybe you acquired that as an enjoyable step. Fun drum rolls and good panning on the percussion so I didn't get bored of the beat. Also good use of a rich bass to fill out the sound without piercing. Made it feel full bodied.

hometown) I would prefer that part with a different drum track or one at all. (In my opinion) if you have to add a drum track to a melody that means you are executing the idea all wrong since you can take any simple harmony/melody and add a drumloop to make it sound bigger and better since you are filling out more listening space. Reminded me of an old ps1 rpg though at a harbor town and you are purchasing supplies from a shop owner near a sandy beach.

johnfn responds:

wow this is a lot to think about thanks!

can you explain what you mean (PM?) about splitting the baseline between 2 synths? or send an example?

i think the main issue with the overlapping frequencies was the bell which i tossed in in the last minute. maybe i should have taken that out. your point about the chord progression is interesting. when i initially sketched the progression out on piano it sounded good, but i think something was lost in translation when i tossed in all the different instruments. what you're reminding me is that i need to be aware of the differences in how different instruments express the same melody. i'm glad you liked the beat though, i was working pretty hard on that.

imo it's kind of crazy to say that drums are unnecessary, but i could understand how some melodies wouldn't need one, especially the more chilled out/pretty melodies. my favorite part is the harbor town purchasing visual, because that's very close to what i was aiming for (MUCH better than shania twain lolol)

thank you for this awesome review!

[Empty]

I listened to this through headphones so I am not going to give any criticisms on any of the audio mastering since I don't have an accurate representation of the sound. I do think that the piano in the intro though was a bit too wide and overlapped with other sounds. Maybe if you made it a mono synth but put a couple delays on it panning in separate directions you could achieve the ethereal sound while still having it pierce through the mix.

It was a really grounded song. Nothing was overwhelming so the listen through was very comfortable. The triplets at the end got me though. Those are my weakness. I definitely love them when accompanied with a somber bassline since it really heightens whatever emotion you are trying to portray with the melody.

johnfn responds:

It's funny that you liked the triplets. I tossed them in towards the end because I was exhausted from all the melody-writing and wanted to do something easy ;-) Your suggestion about piano is intriguing and I shall test it out. I've also come to realize that you can EQ piano really narrowly and still have it sound fine, so hopefully I can clear up (huh huh pun) any EQ issues in the future.

Thanks for the review!

[on patrol]

That was fun to listen to. A lot of new sounds that I haven't heard you use in this.

johnfn responds:

Thanks bro. When I started this song I had this wild visualization of the song as this giant orchestral piece. However I was just getting into Ableton at the time and I had never written an orchestral piece before. So I kinda approximated the idea I had, which explains all the new stuff.

Thanks for listening as ever. Without vigilant people like you and ArcaneSoul it's really possible that I'd have stopped posting songs up here a long time ago.

[Lizard Dance (CC cover)]

Good use of panning for all the layers. I was a bit turned off by the presence of the percussion, compared to the original, on the first listen. It grew on me though.

johnfn responds:

funny i thought i responded to this one but i guess i didn't. anyway the original has a bit of percussion too! but i admit it does have a different feel. it's quite difficult for me to accurately replicate percussion, but next time i shall try harder!

[Waiting]

1:37 is a crazy crash

nice panning on the drums
where you using a beat repeater or a roll to get those glitchy effects?

Being a fan of eccentric transitions I enjoyed this.

johnfn responds:

thanks! i was using dblue glitch to get the effects. i was particularly intrigued by how the glitch worked with the piano and will be sure to revisit it in the future. thanks for the review!

[lazy summer day]

Felt more jovial and affable than lazy to me.
Some panning on the drums would have made them more interesting to hear.
The woodwind sound also sat too close to the same frequency as the piano so it seems a bit muddy.

For real though this song made me think of Shania Twain. XD

johnfn responds:

Funny how you say it's mixed poorly and another guy liked the mixing. You could be right, but to me it sounds like I just mixed the flute too loud. Mixing is hard though so idk who's right, but I think you're right that there's a mistake.

The rest of your suggestions are good. Except the part about Shania Twain. NO. IF THATS WHAT YOU THINK THEN I FAILED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

lol

[Breathing in the Cold]

As courtesy I always review the song that is uploaded directly before and after my upload.

Strange

Triplets into those really big chord stabs definitely feel like it's going to go into some sort of epic 80's song especially with that maracas sounding shakes. To be nitpicky the piano wasn't to my taste. Was it an upright? The melody was fun to hear it was just the really tight tone that wasn't doing it for me. Some good fun though listening through it.

To clarify on the piano I think it's just the resonance of the higher frequency notes that were piercing my ears.

johnfn responds:

its actually virtualized, i guess i need to get a better patch eh? any suggestions? :)

[Lost but not forgotten]

I really like the flow of this song. I also really enjoy the dissonance of those clashing notes you put in the middle of the melody.

johnfn responds:

Thank you!

[Found]

The hollow panning arpeggio delay was nice. It allowed a lot of room for the other synthesizers to pierce. I have to nit picky the mastering levels are just a bit off to my ear. Enjoyable tune to listen to.
Also all that panning especially on the percussion is fun. WHITE NOISE RUSHING OVER ME!

johnfn responds:

This is the first time that I messed with EQ actually, which is possibly why it sounds off. More work ahead of me. Panning drums is so fun, it makes the song sound a lot more dynamic somehow. And then I went and panned like every other instrument for good measure heheh. Thanks.