Sanxion7's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Miles away from the sun]

Sure has the makings of a trance tune

First thoughts: Very bassy. That could sound pretty good on any normal system or possibly headphones, but it was a bit much for how I had my speakers. The song really is just like the title, very spacey sounding - not a bad thing, I rather like the fact that it is a pretty wide mix. Stuff used doesn't sound pre-canned, like you attempted to at least customize the synths if not create presets yourself - good news :) I've heard so much of the prefab FL stuff everywhere else :P

Nitpicks: As noted before, the bass is pretty intense. The levels of everything else are just fine, just that bass... whew. The saw synth is pretty basic, sort of raw - it could probably do without the phaser and maybe use a chorus or flanger instead. The square pluck sound is decent. Whenever the bass is playing, it chokes off the rest of the mix quite a bit. Some of your low synths are eating each other with conflicting notes, I'd recommend keeping lower stuff together - since you can get creative with chords using mid and high synths instead. The song sort of drags on for a while, like some parts are a bit lengthy. That's trance for ya, though.

Overall, it does sound pretty good. Decent arrangement and there's enough variation to keep me in the song, but not by a very large margin. It's difficult to listen to the long version of a trance tune in my book, though. Most of them are designed to play for long stretches so they can be mixed with other tunes. No biggie.

I guess I get to be the lowest reviewer here so far, eh? I'm a harsh nitpicky critic; that is what makes people improve. Hopefully some of the nitpicks and tips I've offered will allow you to maximize your skill and improve :)

[Didn't Catch The Hearts]

Impressive percussive work

My initial thoughts: The variation is superb. This song morphs. The chords all fit in together and the guitar sounds ethereal in a way. The percussion arrangement is top-notch.

Nitpicks: Production quality and compositional skill is what I'm always looking for in a song. The percussion sounded a bit low-fi to me. It's missing some frequencies, especially in the mid to high range. Guitar aside, the whole track sounded like that. Also, the guitar gets drowned out when the heavy stuff comes in. Get a compressor and you can bring some of those weaker dynamics up to the front without disturbing the rest of the mix with loud pluck noise.

Overall, an enjoyable piece that I was able to listen to a few times without losing interest. Thanks for your review :)

nubbinownz responds:

Thanks for the awesome review. Honestly the guitar drops out under the drums. after the 3rd measure.

But you're absolutely right about frequencies. Depending on the kind of response i get from this i'm going to try and add more guitar into my songs.

[Brain Thief]

I liked this very much.

I heard your Jekyll and Hyde song, and considered your other tunes as well. So far, I'm quite impressed. Listened to it about four times now. It reminds me of a RAP beat, with emphasis on the piano rather than the beat. But because the piano roll is so thick, this is ideal. Mastering and compression are excellent, though near the beginning of the song it does make itself slightly noticable. The tune plays the same few chords through the entire song, but it does so with a slightly different characterized playback each time at least, so I won't dock much for diversity. Also, in some of the percussion transitions, I hear clicks -- putting Clarity at 9. The end would be a bit more impacting if you held the piano longer. Other than that, I love it. Great chilling music, it's a shame it's so short...

curriemaster responds:

Thanks for the review! You have caught me out, this song started off as a drumbeat I made after trying to copy one that I heard in a salsa club the night before! Its nothing like the real thing, but its definitely different for me...well spotted ;). The clicks are my poor bass control, Im a pianist at heart really.

Thanks for the constructive comments Sanxion, I appreciate it.

[Jekyll and Hyde]

Excellent.

Normally I like to be blunt in my reviews. Fortunately for this tune, it sounds great enough to bypass all that. Very good EQ and mastering. The only minor gripe I have about this tune is that at times the vocals are difficult to understand/hear. I had to go back and listen again to get some of them. But it's very minor. Overall, the track is great. Keep it up!

curriemaster responds:

Hey thanks very much Sanxion :). This is still a work in progress, it doesnt have an ending and I hope to add one or two tempo changes to live it up a bit. Thanks for pointing out the vocal clarity, I dont think I would have heard that myself! Cheers again man; you shall be reviewed!