anthonyragus's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[jevil if he italian]

This reminds me that "italians-ammirite" is a suggested tag in the music submission process...and I used it........

[KOROSAN - Archangel]

weeeee, minor pentatonic! Great combination of stuttering / short-term repititon and long-term variation. I love the way color bass unitlizes LFOs. Great second buildup and contrast in tone. I think you kept the portamento notes in the non portamento-instruments, like the piano and mallet percussion. This is a stylistic choice, but, regarding after the second drop, I think you can continue with the melody longer and get way crazier with it. At least, that's what my ears told me you could be hinting. Super cool track

KOROSANMUSIC responds:

ayy tysm!! yup you're right, but i made this song in like January 2022 so yea its a bit old haha. thx for the kind words tho!

[I Cant]

But if can't then how did????!!!!11one

I super dig the dissonances in the harmony and the creepy crawly voice leading. Fantastic syncopated meldoy as well. And it's refreshing to hear a little variation after a second drop. Retro-esque percussion can be complex, what with their odd transients, or lack thereof, and I'm wondering if they can poke through a bit more. Bass is tricky too; fundamental sub and upper harmonics are both clear, but there's this low harmonic range that my ears want to hear to connect the two. Anyway, this was fun to listen; that post-drop melody is such an earworm in a great way.

[Mestrix - Elate]

I'm super intrigued by your take on future bass, quite light and fluffy. I like how you layer key / string instruments, and that soaring piano moment is so satisfying. Great work

[X3ll3n - Wonder (NGUAC 2022 Knockout Round)]

I must say, this is, indeed, happy. I don't know if this is stylistically appropriate, but I was waiting for a barage of 16th hats, phat wide bass harmonics, and shimmering pads to take me to spaz town. I love the main melody synth stack and selective portamento. Great work

X3LL3N responds:

Thanks !
I will rework it with an artist named Feel SY in order to improve it :)

I'm gonna stream my Final Round entry today, I'm going out of my comfort zone with it !

[Village Fest - NGADM Round 2]

My fellow tinnitus carrier, this is so magical and immersive. Beautiful melody and countermelodies, and everyone else really. Instruments fit so well and realistically; so much automation even with the reset CC lanes, the panning and non-quantization, the tonicizations (especially at the end), it's all wonderful. The strings play such beautiful support roles and introduce themselves so gracefully. Fun oboe is fun!

Glock definitely is tricky, especially close mic'd. In most situations, I think a lot of perc volume can be lowered while still being present. Or you could complicate things like me and slap a 1KHz high pass filter and high-ratio compressor on the glock. Bend those transients to your will!

I can't wait to listen to your next piece. Superb work

Santi-Montali responds:

Thank you very much for your kind review! Sadly the glocken library I used reacted very weirdly and had more transients in lower velocity and register. I also didn't notice how loud it was until I listened to the track once again after a couple minutes of uploading it. This usually happens to me haha I can't deal with deadlines. I'm happy you liked it and will surely be uploading more stuff soon :)

[Garance's Theme]

What a lovely tune with a catchy melody, great dynamic range, great flute / picc ornamentation. lots of CC / automation, so much perc!, and a great form. For under two days of time, this is especially fantastic. I like the moments you dip the tempo; I think you can never have too much tempo automation in classical mockups. I was suprised to see Tuba in the instrumentation, as that giant horn usually fills up the room (at least the low frequencies). I think the bass instruments in general could receive a bump up in volume, increasing their presence without infringing on the melody, which already has a healthy doubling. Anyway, I had a lot of fun listening to your piece, amazing work.

Everratic responds:

Thank you for the review! I'm glad you appreciate all the details :D

The tuba just plays quiet staccatissimo to enhance the bass line, so it's not very powerful. Also, I used many dynamic EQs so any resonances from the Tuba were suppressed.

Balancing the lows and mids is quite difficult. I listened to the mix with multiple headphones and speakers, and I feel that I got just the right balance so that the mix feels warm on bass-neutral outputs and not overpowering on bass-heavy outputs. But I'm not a professional mixer so maybe the bass can indeed be louder.

[Azure Lake Zone (Remix)]

Aw yee, S3&K is the bee's knees (not Charmy). I like how you used the B3 organ and the FL stock brass sound. Fun stuff

[The Mirror]

Nice, I hear how Muse's 2nd Law inspired you, especially the gradual progression, arpeggiation, and parallel major chords towards the end. I like the combination of slowly changing layers with persistent drones. Good stuff

[Never The Same ft. Breakfast Club]

Ahh, manufactured nostalgia: High bell tones, washy-sizzly gated reverb, that one phasey synth that reminds me of tinkering with FM synthesis, hard left and right panning — all combined with contemporary sensibilties, great samples, PHAT BASS, and tasty stereo bus compression and filtration. I think that one super fast arp resolves on F minor at the end with F Major in the supersaw. Was that a creative decision? This track is incredible, evocative in all the ways you inteneded.

ItsBurner responds:

I really liked reading your write up, it means a lot to me. Thank you !