aliaspharow's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Executing Scripts]

Very reminiscent of Blackhole's sound, the pads in the beginning really suck you in and the melodies are great all around. That being said there's quite a bit of clipping in the louder sections and the large amount of reverb and loud pads does muddy up your mix a bit after :50 and 1:45. I think some light side chaining for your kick could probably help a bit too.

All in all great melodies, instrumentation and drums! Keep it up.

feandesign responds:

Thank you! Well yeah, I tried to do the mastering all by myself without that crappy built-in limiter but it turned out to be worse than expected, lol! And I think the main reason for all of that bad stuff was me composing this track in a lower volume, on headphones... probably the worst way to make music - I could use my computer speakers but the thing is that I might be distracting others since I'm not living alone yet. Anyway, I'll consider fixing and updating this song here, once again thanks a lot for pointing out all those problems as well as the pros of this track. Much appreciated!

[ダマスカス "Damasukasu"]

Clean as always. You are opening me up to the silky smooth side of glitch hop. I love the guitar the most out of the bunch for sure. Didn't know you were back to your old magic! I'll be back for sure.

DreamEater responds:

Thank you very much bro, mainly writing Chillhop and lofi nowadays but really enjoying the process. It’s really good to be able to write again. You rock dude

[On Go]

Holly cow. 5/5 on your 3/4th magic. I honestly wasn't sure you were the same composer that I had talked to years ago but I see now that I was right to believe in you all those years ago (Has it really been that long????) This shows absolutely genius composition in more ways than I have time to express to you. That being said I do hope we can talk soon.

Absolutely beautiful composition +
mesh of unorthodox instruments ++
time signatures and time changes!? +++
I cant.

Onefin responds:

Hey man! Yeah I'm like super appreciative of your support way back when, I never would have predicted getting here haha

Thanks for the kind words! I've like spent many years refining my own insanity so now I make this kind of crud :)

[Calygon]

Very well done! If you know my music then you know im a reverb slut and you take complete advantage of it in all the right ways. When you bring in the main melody around 0:50 that sounds so amazing, thoes supplementary synths really add to the melody as well which i dont hear a lot of people getting right on here. You are the epidemi of potential on this site at the moment. in a some years time i garantee you that you will surpass even me. just remember not to let any style define you. follow your true musical ideas. it will never hurt, and even can greatly help at times, to be influence by other people's styles and ideas but one can only achieve musical nirvana by following their true dream of what music can be.

keep doing what you're doing because i love it.

Onefin responds:

Hey! aliaspharow

First off, thanks a ton for reviewing! It seems the R4R thread has been pretty dead recently, so I've had no luck over there :/

Yeah, the return of the main riff at 1:08 is my favorite part of the whole thing. Before that section existed, this was a couple month old dead project (what killed it? an inability to pick a good sound for the main melody at 0:50), but once I added it in, the revival process took shape. And now, I have a finished product, my first original track in months.

"not to let any style define you" Got it. I'll try my best! Thanks for your support! :D

[BVYS N GVRLZ]

Okaayy! Gonna try to keep this review as structured as possible. Straight out of the bat I will say this:

Here's another amazing song! Greatly produced with all the right attention in all the right places. It seems even with a short amount of time you are able to put a great amount of work into your tracks! Catchy melodies that will certainly stay in your head if you listen enough time accompanied by a very tasteful selection of instruments give this track all the right vibes in all the right places. That being said some abrupt transitions do seem to bring me out of the atmosphere at times.

Intro: Although I will be the first to admit that I use this technique far more often then I should, On the grand scale of things I think the little fade in is pretty abrupt and I would of enjoyed atleast a couple bars of build, but thats just me. Right off the bat you have some great melodies and some carefuly chosen chords that I really love! Idk if thoes voices are synth made but they actually sound really well transposed the way you have them and that funky guitar really kicks out the song with a dope vibe. You sure know you're sampling! One thing that does catch me is the end of the chord progression, a couple of the chords around 0:19-0:20 didn't seem to totally fit in, but that's just an opinion and I do myself often find it difficult to finish a chord progression in a way that makes it fluid to loop again. 0:24 that lead got me hook, great sound, great melody, definitely what this track needed to get the listeners attention. Been trying to do a lot of leads like this lately but you've pulled it out flawlessly

Breakdown: Really changed the vibe coming into this one! Wish you would of used some filters leading up to it as it was kind of out of the blue, but that's just how I do things. This part is well mastered and has a surprising amount of things going on if you actually take the time to notice it all. Not sure if I'm a huge fan of some of the transposed samples (feeling kind of hypocrite-y since i did something similar in mine lol) but the rest of the melody work in this section makes up for it in my opinion... a great deal of this section comes down to opinion honestly, when it comes down to it, I believe breakdowns are a section where artists can really try to deviate from the general flow and you've really got some signature stuff in here which i can definitively respect. Again with that small vibrato lead that refuses to repeat itself xD <3.

Buildup: By far my favorite part of the song. The ad-normal beat in parts is stellar, showing off your percussion work and the amazing synth work in this song! Very professional indeed! Not much to say in this section as I don't think you could improve in this part besides adding reverb! (I'm a reverb addict, can you tell?) Dope as hell and comes right back in to the chorus strong as hell.

Outro: See part one as allot of it is the same, and that is perfectly acceptable for the first few bars and you expanded the melodies and the lead(s?) in the part that i absolutely loved. The fade out was also very appropriate given the abrupt entrance... kind of Madeon-y? anyway, dug it.

Overall: Epic ass song with few things to complain about even after my 40-ishth listen. This is my top pic so far for this round of NGADM.

Possible improvements: (I actually had to re-read at this point because that's how forgettable the cons are to this track are.) More fluid transitions maybe? a truelly progressive intro? Longer plz? Build up before the breakdown(am I the only one who does dis)? Yeah that's about it Bravo!

my score: 9.5/10

My condolences for my previous mistake on the forum.
Reviewing the 10 previous submissions as promised.

midimachine responds:

thanks for the awesome review! you da man.

[[Tsets] - Piano Bliss]

Really dug the vibe in this song! That spacey room reverb in the beginning is actually something I've tried to replicate a few times but haven't found out how to do, usually out of lack of effort lol. The whole vibe in this song reminds me of some of my earlier work. I actually really enjoyed the build up until about 1:30 where it kind of plateaued in my opinion. If i were you i would of done away with the arp earlier or possibly layer it or layer the piano, I think that would of improved the mix a little bit. Another thing is that both the kick and bass didn't seem very bassy or powerful, something that I suggest you take a second look at.

I'm a huge fan of the slowed down part you have at around 2:20. I wish you would of kept the song going with that by adding a more down-tempo beat to it instead of using the same drums. I use the half time drum technique to make a lot of my sections seem slower, you should try looking into it!

Overall I think you have some excellent elements in your music and I do see a lot of potential, just try to work a bit more on your structure while Ideally keeping a good amount of variety in your songs to help progress it better. Keep it up man! :)

TsetsukenMusic responds:

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There's actually a few things happening in the beginning to make it have the spacey reverb, PM me if you want to hear more about that and I'll be glad to tell you how I was able to make that sound - or at least what I used for it, FL Studio as my DAW so depending on that. I understand what you saying with maybe rearranging or add a layer to that part. I think tbh the bass problem might actually be an effect I have over it and didn't catch it but I see what you mean, easy fix.

You have a very good point, I love listening to down-tempo and can see more potential to go that direction. That's actually a very good idea, what I might do is keep this one as is, and do a v2 in another upload for a change like that - at least the way I am envisioning. I'll look into that thank you!

That was honestly the best review I've had of any of my songs, very helpful and a lot of detail, even providing a possible tool I might end up using in the future, thank you!
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[Innocence (Madeon Cover)]

KILLED IT

I was super impressed by this. You're a fantastic singer and everything just fits together so well. I can tell this is professionally mixed, although the lack of mids/highs for a great portion of the drop kinda bummed me out, an extra instrument during the drop would of been nice but that's just my opinion. Following you on facebook and youtube now ^^ wish you were in newyork cause i've been in need of a go to studio for vocal recording, but in the meanwhile I'd love to possibly hire you for some small stuff in the future? message me if you're interested.

aaronmusslewhite responds:

Hey thanks so much I'm glad you liked it, and thanks for the kind words!

I'm a recording engineer and producer as a day job so that probably helps, I'm glad you liked the mix, though this was never mastered, I probably could fix the upper highs in the drop there tbh.

I tried to stay true to the original but if this were an original I would definitely take your advice on adding something more to the drop.

I'd definitely be down to do some work, you could always just send me stems and stuff if you like, I'll pm you! :D

[Sierra Rising - Lora]

Ollay!
First off, love the intro! You know I'm a sucker for piano and fxs. Wish the chord progression had a bit more going on, and you have your chords starting at strange times but the production quality actually kind of makes up for it! If i were you i wouldn't just do piano chords, you should fill with some more notes, that's how pianos are meant to be played! these percussions are so weird but i dig it so much except the kick that seems rather dull in my opinion.

That drop is fantastic except for the fact that I wouldn't of kept the same piano melody or the same chord progression for the drop part. that being said i love the sound of that bass! It's epic. your transitions were also really good with interesting techniques but they were sometimes a bit harsh/abrupt.

I love that you included a breakdown but it seems a little empty besides the tasteful addition of ambient fxs. I would try adding in an arp or something, but that's just me. you should try revisiting that if you have a chance!

Anyway I really enjoyed this but I think you could really improve it if you just mess with the chords a little, add an instrument or two in some sections, take a hard look at your chord entrance timings, throw in some extra notes on that piano pattern! you can do an arp but dont stick to a regular arp pattern, try some innovative note patterns.

Hope i was helpful :) Keep it up man.
Also if you want to check out my latest track I would really appreciate it

SierraRising responds:

Melody repetition is a serious problem in all of my tracks, but I am hoping to overcome that obstacle in my next traxk. Filling in the gaps with notes is a great idea, Iĺl be sure to use that. I´ll also work on my kicks some more.
Glad you like the bass! The transitions were a pain, start to finish, but I´ll smooth them out next time.
An arp or pluck of some sort was considered early on, but ultimately cut from the project, sadly. I should have used more instruments and could have worked the whole thing through a bit more, that is true.
This review alone gives me enough reason to go back and remaster this, this was super helpful man, thanks a lot!
Checking out your track now!

[Eccentric (Idea)]

lol i was actually surprised by how good this one was despite the simple intro. love the snappiness and complexity of the melody! if i were you I would come up with a bridge after this section then send it to a breakdown and then back this section again and then outro. easy

Onefin responds:

WOOH! Thanks for following me, aliaspharow! I've been a fan of your work since F-777 released "Dilemma RMX" in, what, 2012?

So Intro -> Bridge -> Breakdown -> Re-Intro -> Outro COOL I'll try my best!

Simple intro. What defines a simple intro? I guess fading in with chords counts as simple lol

Anyway thanks for reviewing! I appreciate it! ;D

[Crime of Spring (WIP)]

Dig it.
Dug it.
Doing the Duggy.

Actually really like the structure of this! And that smooth drop is like hella nice :D loving the jazz chords and I freaking love some of the instruments you use. what vsts do you use? I'm mostly sylenth tbh lol. anyway this was thoroughly enjoying!

See you in the competition m8 ;)

KabukiTunes responds:

Woo!

Thank you! I use mostly sylenth, a wee bit of massive. The leads were serum, other things were just default ableton plugins.

Good luck!