anthonyragus's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[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

[She Rained Down]

Beautiful song, I dig this "soft" mix style, different from the convention, very subdued and egalitarian. Captivating harmony and fantastic horn lines too. Is that a recorder I hear panned right? Great work

Glassedhouse responds:

It's an oboe! Very rippin' (thank you!!!)

[Crill]

Heck yeah, nice little form, great rhythm and breakdown, captivating harmony. Is that a clipper on the drum submix? I'm perceiving something crunchy, less of a "mmm tasty" way and more of a "did I just chip my tooth" feeling. Great work, would disturb again

KrinnValKhristi responds:

I am not sure what you mean by clipper, but none of my tracks are "clipping" so to speak as I use proper gain staging. Usually -12 db.

I am using a compression master track on this one where I have the send and return setup for infinite ratio for the drums.

But the original signal does have a volume envelope on it, and the bass guitar also has a sidechain setup assigned to the kick of the drums to give more presence to the kick.

This piece was definitely made to be more sinister and aggressive.

Thanks for checking it out!

[Sad Clay Doll]

Interesting harmonic journey. Is that bitonality I hear at 3:11? This is almost a tracker version of fast jungle, like breakcore. I'm interested in hearing what you'll write next.

colorsCrimsonTears responds:

Thx for the review, but I don't really make music anymore.
Not saying I never will again, but it got to a point where I stopped enjoying to post music here.

[New Guac]

This is such a blast; great form and instrumentation, compelling harmony and rhythm. The mix is good, but I would have loved to hear louder melody and much louder bass. Super fun to listen. I selfishly demand more music from you.

ChroPh0re responds:

Lol, those were the two things I realized needed fixing after completing the song with 3 minutes to spare for the contest xD demand away! I've got a huge amount of music coming down the pipeline slowly but surely, including a new album

[Moonlight | AlphaStorm]

This is so cool, super emotional but not overwhelming. The cyclical chord progression and tremolo melody give me strong post rock vibes. Nice intermittent doubling on the melody, too. I can't wait to hear what you write next.

AlphaStormMusic responds:

Yeah dude! The tremolo guitar part with the delay before the amp is ripped STRAIGHT from Post-rock! It's one of my favorite sounds, just because it's a nice ambient touch!

Thank you very much for the kind words!
Best and take care!
~Zach (AlphaStorm)

[Disintegrating]

This sounds and captivates exactly how you intended. That looping pad is indeed ethereal, complimented by simple yet interesting bassline and drum layers. I would usually suggest more variation or some stylistic something, but somehow not this time. There's something trance-inducing in the blatant repitition, and I like this exactly how it is. Fantastic work

AeriuIka responds:

Thank you for the compliments :)

[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!

[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 !