JensVide's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Rev Your Engines]

You know, pretty good composition but man those saxophones don't sound good. I'm not saying it's because they don't sound real but they just don't mesh. Thing is with SWAM they can sound super realistic if you use an Electric Wind Instrument to control them but now they kind of sound meh.
Since you're a skilled guitarist, perhaps you would find Midi Guitar 2 by JamOrigin interesting. It lets you use your guitar as a midi controller which could add a lot of expression to your midi brass.

SnekkMusic responds:

Thanks for the feedback! I do feel a similar way about the saxophones as well but I found that SWAM, while can sound OK, lack articulations and vibrancy even in spite of extensive programming! I haven't found a convincing way of emulating ghost-tonguing/dooden-tonguing yet or to get a good "honk" out of it as the Expression CC SWAM uses caps the airflow pretty low. I'll eventually look at what other companies like Vhorns has to offer in terms of sample-modeling or try an EWI next time!

[Star-run | Game Music | Royalty Free Instrumental + MIDI |]

Well I asked if you wanted honest feedback, so here you are. There are some promising things here. The part at 1:08 is an interesting hook. It feels mystical and whimsical. The sounds chosen have a nice vibe and are evokative of the title. However, compared to the hook, the rest of the song feels weak. For example, the first verse starting at 0:28 is weak. The melody feels like a place-holder A stronger melody might be needed. I feel that the song is too long for what it is. The parts feel similar to each other. You could try to alleviate this by making the song more dynamic by adding and removing elements throughout the song. You already do this a bit with the piano alone, but more things like that can improve the song. I like the reverse at the very end. I think that, and the hook I mentioned earlier feel inspired. I hope you are encouraged by this to improve on your strengths and shore up weaknesses.

BottleTopBillFanclub responds:

Thank you.

Yes, I agree with you, that is true.

I will focus on removing parts that subtract from the listening experience. Because it does make the song more difficult to listen to if there's a drastic change in atmosphere, that doesn't serve to further the narrative.

Thank you for your review.

[Bleep Bloop]

Awesome track. Sexy smooth. Maybe the intro starts a bit abruptly, though. Maybe a fade-in or smth would be cool? But whatever. It's awesome. Are you a Dylan Tallchief watcher, btw?

CaptainBoomcake responds:

I'm not but I'll check them out thanks! :) I normally don't get time to watch stuff cause of streaming

[Class-S Debris]

I like the core idea a lot! However, I feel like it could be even better if you had spent more time on it. For example, perhaps the drums and bass could have been a bit fatter to fill out the song more? I feel like the kick especially is pretty bright. Maybe a kick with a bit more low end could have fit the song better. I also feel like the lead melody could have been worked on more. Something that really hooks you, you know?

Mix wise, I feel like the hi-hat didn't need to be panned all the way out to the side. Maybe bring it home to center a bit to make it blend in with the rest of the track a bit better.

Maybe the lead synth is just a little bit loud too.

i really hope you keep working on this! You say you made it in a day, so I think you think you could improve it too, right? Anyways, great work!

ctr34 responds:

The bass was a problem. I didnt noticed it until the release for some reason. I will lower the synth for future projects, it was a little bit higher and i thought it was just my imagination XD. I wanted to make my song sound "wide" so i usually put the sounds in various sides. I dont know if is the correct idea but you already gave me a starting point. I will take note of all the feedback. Thank you so much!

[Dreamland Wanderer]

I like it a lot. It reminds me of something from an area in Mechonis in Xenoblade Chronicles. Only thing that bugs me a little bit is how the snare is panned out to the side. I think it just feels wrong to have the strong beat of the track not be in the center. Regardless, I think this was very good. Good work!

FateModified responds:

Thanks very much! The snare sample I used came that way. I actually tried panning it more to the right but then it just didn’t sound good to me. To my ears the initial transient of the snare hit is pretty much center but the reverb tail is panned left, but I could be wrong.

I’ll check out Xenoblade Chronicles, I’m not familiar with it. Thanks again for the comment.

[Underwater Bitz [Pixel Day 2021]]

Good composition! Some elements, like some synths and some drums are just too loud and overwhelming, I think. Other than that, the song takes me on a journey from start to finish, and it seems to describe many facets of this world. Good work!

Teckmo-X responds:

Thanks! Yeah I went back and noticed that it had a bit more kick and overpowering on the first quarter of the song. I'll go back and fix it as soon as possible.

[Twilight Jungle]

I like it a lot. It captures the setting perfectly. Only criticism from me is that the panning synth at 0:22 and panning piano at 0:55 gets just a bit too loud. Adding sound effects was a great decision. It really adds to the atmosphere.

OliRO responds:

Thank you for the review!
I noticed too that they sound too loud on my headphones, but somehow they sound more okay on my monitors. I'll have to work harder to make it sound good on everything.

Cheers!

[XLR Hangar - Tuner Groove]

I think the composition is great. You always have something at the front of the mix, and that makes it consistently interesting to listen to. I think the vibe of the track fits what you described very well.

There are some things I think could be improved. First off, that bass guitar is way too loud. It muddies out the rest of the track and sucks a lot of energy out, I feel.

Secondly, I feel the same way about the hi-hat. The hi-hat is pretty piercing, so it can be just a bit quieter. This allows the other high-end parts to shine through just a little bit more.

Finally, I feel that the rythm guitar could have more impact if it wasn't panned off to one side. It's a pretty important part of the groove, right? So therefore we might want it to sit in the center of the track. Even better(in my opinion), is another thing you could do to make it feel even fatter and more real. You can clone that guitar track, and pan the clone over to the other side. Then, move the cloned track forward on the timeline juuuust a little bit, so it always plays a bit after the first guitar track. This emulates the typical "double tracked guitar" sound that's so common in heavy metal, and makes it sound really fat.

So yeah, that's pretty much it for critique. Turn down the bass and hi-hat a bit, and put the guitar in center or double track it. Those are just suggestions though.

I liked the song, and it definitely made me imagine a hangar full of scrap metal and smelling of gasoline. Good work!

IVELI-ALPACA responds:

This is some great feedback! I'm actually tweaking this with what you said. The hi hat and bass I can probably tweak and fix; I have a hard time determining if I have too much or not enough bass. The guitar I have to get creative with, since it's using midi/piano roll playback. But in the midst of typing this reply I found a way.

And putting a bit of what baryiscool said about a bit more high end, I'll upload a "fixed" version soon. I greatly appreciate this in-depth feedback.

(old mix in song description)

[Abyss of Mackerel Scad]

Copying from the thread:
I had not read the challenge description for your specific challenge, but you managed to make me think of some ominous otherworld regardless. Good work on nailing the feel. I think the composition works fine as it is. Only thing that could be improved is that I feel like everything is a bit too loud in relation to the main arpeggio. The bass, lead melodies, and auxillary parts could have been adjusted a bit more to make space. The bass, drums and auxillary parts could for example have been quieter. That way the lead melodies wouldn't have needed to be so loud to be heard, and the song could have felt more balanced and pleasant to listen to. Overall I enjoyed listening to the song, and as I said you nailed the atmosphere. Good work! FYI if you do make changes to the song, you can replace the mp3 on your song page but still keep the views, ratings and comments.

DawMii responds:

Thanks a lot! Going to rework the parts you've pointed out!