anthonyragus's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Voice of Versatility]

Heck yeah, great hollywood harmony and proof of concept. I've had vague thoughts of doing something like this. Now I might have to try to get on your level haha. I think with a very careful dip around 5Khz and perhaps a slight bump in volume and reverb send, you'll get a choir that both blends and shines more. I know it can be tricky to sculpt a hall sound with a close-ish mic, not to meantion getting dynamic range in the low range of the voice. Great work with a great challenge.

VociferousMusic responds:

Hey, thank you so much for your advices! I have tried to realize them by now. I have to agree that working with close-range recordings is quite hard and the atmosphere would have been even better with another type of microphone. But I tried to bump the reverb and volume by a little bit. I also recreated the high tenor notes and I have resung them with more "twang" being used. So that's the best I could do for now. I hope at least there is a little improvement noticeable. Especially the staccatos at 03:47 and 5:50 should sound better now. :)

[A Moment between Time]

Hoooo, bring the funk. Interesting choice of duel wielding sampled bassline and sustained synth bass. My head is circular bobbing and my face is stank. I think the piano would be more effective unquantized; I like the tight pocket in the drums, and the bass guitar is almost sitting on the back side of the beat (sequenced that way or sidechained?). So I was expecting some super laid-back piano, Maybe that's just me. Tasty stuff \m/

RedCocoa responds:

Thank you very much for your review :D
This has been the first time I tried anything Soul or Funk related so I'm happy to see I apparently didn't screw up :D

[Pumpkin Pie in the Sky]

Now THAT'S amore. Charming and dainty, would definitely pumpkin again.

BusanBlack responds:

Pumpkin spice of life.

[A Bedtime Story]

"...and that's when the parallel minor attacked!" Another lovely, immersive piece. It's always a pleasure listening to your music. It's almost certainly just me, but that fa-sol resolution at the end (I think it's tenor sax) really sticks out, hehe. I know we're past the era of the Common Practice, and I know it was to match the ensemble and make way for the suspension in the piano, but there are other ways of approaching and even incorporating the suspension that would avoid this ABHORRENT CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY....
....Fantastic work.

Edit: Within the tonic scale, fa (Concert A note) resolves up a whole step to sol (Concert B note).

Everratic responds:

Thank you for the review! I’m glad you enjoy it :)

The last cadence is iv>I so I’m confused about what you mean. Can you elaborate?

[Turtle Shell]

Aw yee, SMW stomp/kick/shell sound, super interesting harmony, nonstop unreal cute/fun energy. This is incredible. Where does the "Laser!" and other voice come from? I don't think it's Metal Slug; I feel like I should know this.

Candle responds:

lmao ty ty! it's from sonic colors!

[Triskelion]

This is such a great implementation of a cool concept. I dig the dark atmosphere and transitions between sections. Low rumble and bassline coexist quite nicely. I would love to hear more interesting genre mashups like this. Fantastic work

EVLanche responds:

Thank you, glad you enjoyed it! I have got some more ideas in the back burner, but I'm not sure when they will make it out ^^;

[Soul of a Silver Dragon]

Raw raw, fight the powah (metal)! Absolutely shredding! I love the clear melody and your choices in changing the instruments that double the melody. I particularly enjoy 0:52 with that one guitar an octave up, holding out stepwise melody notes with vibrato, simple but powerful and effective. Super cool hybrid sound; your guitars, harpsichord (I think),and synths blend so well. There are times when the reverb seems pretty strong to my ears, but I like the overall level where it sits; perhaps a compressor to tame the peaks? WHATEVER, it's a fantastic track!

DanJohansen responds:

Glad you dig it man, appreciate taking the time to listen! Not gonna lie, I've thought about stepping up the reverb and delay effects a bit from time to time haha not the biggest fan of the modern dry sound. Rock on!

[God of Death]

Them drums extra crispy, hot damn. That 0:24 transition from chug to sustain almost sounds like a half-step modulation, extra brutal. Fun slip'n'slide solo weee! 2:44 augmented triads represent! A little sprinkle of 2 against 3 at 3:22 for the ladies. And top it all off with some tritone power chord badassery with a tremendous tremolo melody. Delicious track, good sir.

Metaljonus responds:

Thanks!

[Thistle]

Those tutti swells are so good. They sound aleatoric, and the harmony from swell to swell is super compelling.

Cresince responds:

Yo thanks for listening! my writing style is mostly improv based which gives off that aleatoric feel (I can often slip into non fuctional harmony), you're the first person to pick up on it though lol. Your winning piece was fantastic, really felt like the melody was exploring the forest,I envisioned a line weaving through the trees, you painted a really great picture.

[Back Together (W/Vortonox) - Radio Edit]

Aw yeah, this rooftop terrace party's happening. Super simple yet captivating opening with filters and flanger (I think), great call to action. Did you start the pitch slightly higher or are those filters/effects playing with my perception of pitch? Either way, it adds to my interest. Great earworm of a melody too, and great use of pitch bend.

The mix is so good I'm going to throw in some subjective, picky two cents: The kick works perfectly after the drops, but I think the click can be much softer during the buildups. That could be as simple as slightly automating a lowpass filter with gentle roll-off.

Also I demand phat bass harmonics! Perhaps an additional bass synth instance (just enough in volume to be heard, not too loud) with multiple voices, sligthly detuned with a nice stereo spread. You could throw a high pass / band pass filter on this, and even remove the fundamental from the oscillator wave itself. But I love the mix otherwise; I wouldn't change any volume levels of anything; super well balanced.

Great work gentlemen, this track is super serviceable.

Astedroid responds:

Haha thank you