kayorent's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Iceland]

Fantastic.

I wasn't sure about the waves at first, but I came to like their thickness.

The stringed instrument sounds quite real, is it? My guess is a good synth, given what you have to work with.

You had a great sense of timing throughout this piece, I liked the pauses.

It could be considered a bit simple, in terms of the number of sounds used, but I found it well composed despite that. Also, the quality of each sound is well balanced with the others.

The shakers added well to the atmosphere, and the base provided a nice warm undertone.

The horse galloping at the end didn't sound out of place, so props on that.

The pad (pretty sure it's a pad) reminded me of the voices of the four masked giants from Majora's Mask.

All in all, I think this piece was well thought out and well composed. Good job!

Birdinator99 responds:

Thanks brosef,

I like what I got with the waves. I feel like they sit in the background nicely.

What you're hearing is called "Pad of the Orient", which is actually the guitar and the pad together as one instrument. I think the guitar part sounds very fake haha

I like songs with fewer instruments because it lets you focus in more on each one when listening. They carry more weight, and therefore need to be selected carefully. It's like a different kind of challenge when making the song.

Dude, we gotta play MM...

Cheers!

[Out Of Twilight]

It does sound very, very clean, and the drums were superb. The wubs around 1 minute in were great. However as you admitted the "triumphant" part of the song does feel disjointed from the first half. To be honest I loved the first half, and when the wubs came in I thought "this is going to be great!"

And then the song changed gears completely. For me the lead felt too repetitive, it really feels like one of those energy songs with great production but where the structure that has been built up just doesn't change to a great enough degree to continue being interesting. I mean, the instruments are constantly making little changes to the way they do their parts, but the parts themselves feel as though they've been caught in a rut. Well, different people prefer different levels of repetition, and I do prefer less of it when possible, so it might just be me.

I guess all in all the first half was good. Then the second half came in, and it was also good for the first bit, but it never did anything to confirm that it was part of the same song as the first half, and continued repeating itself for longer than I was comfortable with.

But I was quite impressed with this piece from a production point of view. I think this is the first time I've heard any wubs from you, so that was fun, and all of the instruments sounded very precise and real. When I listen to individual instruments I can hear that you've given each of them a great amount of care, which is really cool.

Well good luck in NGAUC and I hope to hear from you again soon!

Birdinator99 responds:

Note to self: more wubs.

Yeah, this is the kind of song that makes sense when you're writing it, and then once you're done it's like, "fuck me I did it again". I tried to bring in instruments from the first part into the second part, but most of them glitched out on me, and weren't cooperating, so I had to pick replacements. I'm glad I still got that pad in...oh well.

The second half was admittedly rushed, and while I'm happy with the sound I got out of it, it really doesn't connect with rest of the song enough to matter. Something I didn't mention in the author comments was that I had a lot of writer's block when making this, effectively halving the time I had to work on it. My music theory is weak, so I had pretty much no idea what keys I was using in the (haphazard) beginning, which made it hard to decide where to go at...well you pretty much know the part (the one that's different, haha). I was also just into a cold, and had some school to get through, so much of this piece was done in a five hour rush at the end. I hate making excuses, but I think that maybe the pressure of the deadline got to me a bit...

Glad you liked the mixing and the drums! I legitimately laughed out loud when you said "this is going to be great!" and then you slowly realized...

...oh no.

hahahaha

Anyway, yeah, nobody'll put this in their "Greatest Hits" collection, but I like getting the experience, and now that I know the wubwubs are a hit with the kids, I'll make millions! huehuehue

Thanks for stopping by!

[Slow Me]

Wow, this song just sounds so right.

Even being nearly six minutes long, it never doubles back on itself. What makes that really amazing is that it still feels self-consistent. Some of the long-held notes feel absolutely perfect and I just love how small the song gets around 3:15.

The only thing that bugged me isn't even real criticism. Somewhere after 3:30 on the first listen my brain wanted a particular instrument to pitch bend upwards as it faded away. On the second listen I was writing the review and then when I got to writing this section I couldn't find the instrument that had bugged me anymore. And this was the only thing that bugged me.

Everything else sounded great. I think that this is your best song yet.

Birdinator99 responds:

Damn bro, that's high praise. I like this piece, and if you do too then I better make morrrrrrre

This felt like a return to the type of music I experimented with when I first started writing (most of which is so bad it's not worth posting here). It feels good to do that, and to see that it pleases people makes me excited.

10/10 best song BEST SONG

--IGN

[Octane Charge]

Wow, I mean, this is really good.

You had me smiling through two whole loops easily, and even though it doesn't loop perfectly I didn't notice the separation between the first two loops I listened to (was distracted checking the comments). I don't really notice the transition between loops unless I'm listening for it.

The song is already entrenched in my brain, so it all sounds good to me now, but there is one complaint I had on my first listen. The note transitions of the synth carrying the melody (is it called a pad?) felt a bit slow and clunky, same with the bass. Now that I've listened to it many times I know when to expect the note to change, so I don't notice the clunkiness that I felt on my first listen, but it did affect my first impression so it might be something to think about.

But really I can't think of anything else to criticize, you've done a fantastic job with this piece and I hope to hear more from you soon!

Birdinator99 responds:

Thanks broski,

Glad that the looping business didn't bug you.

The melody synth is called the lead. I don't believe that its timing is off, nor is the bass's. It may be that those two instruments have a strange "attack" setting that doesn't jive with the drums' setting (in a marginal way). Maybe the drums are a little too quick. This is a case where I know what you mean, but I don't quite know what you mean, haha. I can sort of hear it if I tune in to the bass, but nothing really sounds out of the ordinary. I'll pay attention next time I'm making something like this.

Thanks for the review!

[Decision -- Acceptance]

It's hard to make up my mind about this one, I had some misgivings about it right off the bat. The intro synth feels a little too mechanical (maybe manipulating the hit strength a bit would help), and the base synth feels a little late sometimes.

The more I listen though the more it grows on me. Unlike energy/flow the song felt like it was on the same page the whole time, which is good. It finishes strong, the ending is my favourite part and the rest of the song sets it up well. The song has an overall sense of discord, making me feel as though while the decision has been made and accepted, whoever made it is still having second thoughts, "was that really the best option?"

After that the ending sounds like an "Even if I didn't make the right choice, there's nothing else but to do my best in the future."

So overall, I like it and think you did a good job. Even though it probably won't grab people immediately, it'll grow on them.

Birdinator99 responds:

I'm glad you had that interpretation haha -- pretty close to what I got from it.

The velocities for the bass were manipulated, probably not enough in the right places though. Interesting that you would point that out; my mind was elsewhere for pretty much the entire project. Was thinking too much about those drums, ugh.

Glad you liked the ending too. I felt that the simple idea of changing the main "pad" instrument would be effective in retaining attention.

Thanks for stopping by!

[Short Jam (Refurbished)]

Hey, y'know how I sometimes say that the drums or some other part's positioning sounds robotic?

Not this time, it's all good now.

The beginning from 0:12 to 0:40 or so does sound a bit quiet, I didn't notice the snare being too loud though.

For me it suffers from something I've mentioned on previous songs, the level of "interestingness" (for lack of a better word) is about the same all the way through. That is, while everything you're doing is pretty interesting, nothing is interesting or different enough to make me go "Whoa that was cool!". As an example the part that I mentioned on the Game Center remix at around 0:50 sounded really cool to me when I first heard it.

Overall I'd say you're making great progress, hearing the Game Center remix and this one after the other, I thought to myself "Ah, he's getting quite good at this now!" Keep having fun!

Also, suing you would be too much work so I won't bother.

Birdinator99 responds:

Part of the reason I took another look at this one was because all the parts seemed pretty solid and organic (drums especially). It felt like a bit of a hidden gem, and I couldn't believe I'd forgotten about it.

I remember originally setting this up to slightly intensify the beginning half of the song at around the 0:50 mark to keep it interesting (a sort of natural progression). A lot of my high school jazz band knowledge helped me out here, and I feel like keeping that first bit quiet and then bringing it up would've been something my teacher might've suggested. If it sounds off to you, I'm sorry.

This piece was arranged a couple of years ago, so if I had totally redone it now, I probably would've changed a few things. That being said, I don't think that the 12 bar blues structure can really surprise anyone anymore. I figured that the 4-chord progression you hear at the beginning and at the end was enough to shake it up. I would be reluctant to throw in some radical synthesizer just to get that "wow" factor going, too -- I wanted to stick closer to traditional instrumentation.

Don't tell me to have fun Dright

you don't know me

*burp*

ok maybe

[Pokemon GSC -- Game Corner]

Wow, I've gotta say that this is certainly nothing to sneeze at. At least as solid overall as anything I've heard from you before.

I really liked the richness of the sound at 0:50 and 1:50 or so, the way it vibrates is more appealing to me than the smooth note in the original.

Everything I'd expect from a song is all there, and it captures the cool relaxed mood of the original, good job!

Birdinator99 responds:

Yeah, it's a cool sound -- I was just browsing some "basic" presets in Mixcraft that I usually don't give much thought to using. Thought it might sound a little dry, though.

I'm surprised you'd describe the mood as relaxed. It's peppy! Play some slots! Win some coins!

Weeeeeeeeeee!

[Tic Tic Tic, It Wears Off]

It's me again, first off what I like:

It's keeps the lazy chaotic feel of the original, while becoming a little cleaner. I like the cleanliness of the sound quite a bit. You also got all of the sounds in there (as far as I can tell from a couple listens), I didn't feel like anything was missing.

Now for what I don't:

One could be considered minor, it's in the opening. In the original it's the "tic tic tic" whispered in your ears. He has the sound way to the sides, which made me go "whoa!" when I heard it. The bad part is that I listened to yours first, and when hearing his I thought to myself, "Wait... where was that in Birdy's?" Basically the drum hits in yours weren't weird enough to catch my attention like his whispering, I personally think that it would have been better to give the drums a similar auditory placement to his whisper.

The second thing is that strange sound in the right. In your cover it sounded like soft radio static, it was noticeable but not overly so. In his however, it sounded similar to the sounds that play when you grab the metal mario hat in mario 64. Despite being a sound on the side its oddness grabbed my attention thoroughly. Maybe I'm a little biased though, because I absolutely love that sound. It didn't strike me as important until I heard it in the original.

That's it for likes and dislikes. To summarize, it's an enjoyable and clean cover that suffers from a lack of punch in a couple of areas. You're still improving greatly from song to song.

Thank you for the enjoyable listen,

- dright

Birdinator99 responds:

Glad I picked up on all the instruments. It's hard to identify everything by ear, so a short piece like this was more favourable to make a cover from. Also, when the album is almost 41 years old, it's not hard to make it come out cleaner, haha.

Very legit point there about the Tic Tic Tic. I wasn't sure what I was going to do about that part. I knew I wanted a drum fill, but I didn't want to crowd the space, either. I've heard the original so many times that the impact of the whisper doesn't really get me anymore, so maybe in the back of my mind I was just content to leave it as a drum fill only. Could've gone either way, but yeah, that added to the charm of the original.

I can't make the connection to the metal cap song, even after going back and listening to it. Do you love the sound I used, or the sound in the original (or whatever you're hearing in the metal cap song)? I'm confusing by the way you've worded it.

Glad it's good overall. I'm satisfied that I got what I did for such a small amount of time working on it.

Thanks for reviewing!

[Overdrive Drift]

And he named it overdrive drift eh?

Even though I knew it was a loop, I only noticed that it had looped after looking back to the progress bar and seeing that it had already been back at the beginning for a little while. It certainly doesn't feel as though it's an ending or a beginning at all. Strangely enough, the middle is that part that feels most as though it might be ending!

I really enjoy the way the main synth desynchronizes from the drum beats without feeling out of place. You did quite the good job with it I think.

I hope to hear more!

Birdinator99 responds:

I was messing around with a new synthesizer, and I decided to try out some new automation, including some with the arpeggiator. I love it when "runs" start slow and then speed up (like in the middle of the loop).

Glad it loops well -- thanks for the review.

[Robo-Jazz]

I think it's a great thing that you had fun with this one, because it certainly comes out in the feeling of the song.

The fills made me smile, so I don't see anything wrong with them. It's not what you expect from a drum fill, which makes it fun and silly. It's hard for songs to succeed in being silly.

Were those high bloops completely planned? Or were they random, or semi-random? Since they certainly sound random, if they were planned then you did a fantastic job planning them.

I didn't notice the "click" noises even after trying to notice them, so they aren't anything too disruptive.

This is my favourite song from you so far, hands down.

Birdinator99 responds:

Yes, silly, that's the word! I find the fills fun, because they're close to what everybody wants to do when they first get on a drum set:

shuggaduggaduggadugga pow!

The "bloops" are a triangle synth on an arpeggiator (which is on a "random" setting), so the individual notes weren't actively chosen by me -- that is, they weren't "planned". However, I did tell the arpeggiator which chords to choose its random notes from, which I did by setting up and triggering my "chord assign" buttons on my keyboard. The arpeggiator was also done through my keyboard, but the synth itself was on the computer already -- the keyboard was just acting as a MIDI controller.

But I guess you didn't ask all that haha

Glad the click didn't bother you, and I'll chalk the high praise up to my improving mixing ability!

Thanks for stopping

shuggaduggaduggadugga

by!