anthonyragus's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[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.

[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 !

[Flat Circle]

Heck yeah, I super dig the vibe and mixing, so tasteful. I especially love that ostinato in the keys that starts around the middle. It sounded like alto sax towards the beginning, but were those alternating alto and tenor samples towards the end? Great work

ItsBurner responds:

Yes the saxophonist I've paid proposed three different takes with an alto and tenor sax, I mixed them both because they sounded good to me !

[Massacre at the Carnival]

Whoa, this is so cool and evocative of visual imagery. I super dig the MIDI-esque sound, so nostalgic and emotional in its own way. You're quite cognisant of volume levels, always making sure the melody shines. This is prime video game territory. I think back to Runescape and games for which Grant Kirkhope composed. Great work.

Tangerine responds:

Hey, thank you for the kind comment! That's exactly what I was going for :)

[Distorted Reality (NGUAC 2022 knockout round)]

Heck yeah, FM synthesis with a great arp line, resonance and distortion with varied automation, effective buildups, delayed reverb swells (or is the reverb sidechain compressed?). Part of me expected more variation in the second drop, but that's just me; it's a solid production. Great work.

ThatDeliciousCookie5 responds:

The reeverb has delay yeah ahahh, that makes it sound more massive :)

[Dekiru - sakura (さくら)]

You've captured a lovely feeling, fit for a cherry blossom orchard by a stream. I appreciate the little dissonance at 1:23. The countermelody after the bass returns is lovely, but I think it would shine more with either a quicker attack or more of an overlap of notes by selecting the notes (especially the short ones) and dragging the note starts backward in time a bit. Anyway, great work.

dekiruGD responds:

Thanks for the review.

[Immediate Future]

Heyyy, this slaps, sounds like synthwave instrumentation meets trance form. Super effective acid ostinato line, very psy. Nice use of layering and doubling. That countermelody at the end is superb. I hear so much control and intent in your sound; great work, and best wishes for the round. I hope to see you in the finals.

Basiator responds:

Thanks a lot. ;)

[Dream, Daria]

This is incredibly emotional: nostalgia, melancholia, parental love, there's so much to feel here. The piece flowed effortlessly, slowly building with a compelling progression, all with seemless transitions. The meter is wonderfully obscure, representing the warped perception of time in sleep and memory. Great use of the different triple feels and smeary harmony and phrasing, evoking impressionism as it progressed. I wonder if atmos / stereo conversion had an affect at the end. Anyway, fantastic work as always.

Phonometrologist responds:

What an intelligent review. Your analysis is correct, and even the whole tone scale to mimic dreaming was one of the key points in impressionism. The rhythm in the third section is 5 against 2 which shifted the down beat at different times when a new chord progression is introduced. Thank you for the thoughtful review.

[Interference]

Heck yeah, classic electro house. The form feels like prog/anthem without the track length of prog. Great work.

rajbeatsofficial responds:

I appreciate the feedback 💚 its on all streaming outlets now if you'd like to listen again/elsewhere: https://bit.ly/INTERFERENCE_