EctiBot's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Dididduction 1]

As the 3 other Review Request Club members have already said, there are way to many wierd elements in this song. Though as I see that you already have received feedback on how jumbled this track sounds, I'll focus more on the technical stuff.

First of all, the sound design needs to be done better. A lot of the synths you use are clearly premade GB synths, and though I don't think that's a problem at all, you need to spend some time working on each synth and make them sound good. Usually, I point out what things you can do to make the synths sound better, but in this case the problem is that they haven't been worked on at all. Really recommend that you learn the basics of eq and compression it is probably some of the most important tools for us music producers, but they are way too often ignored by beginners.

I would really recommend that you watch some youtube tutorials and read some articles about music production, because your general problem is that you need to work more on the processing of your production (eq, mixing and effects). It's kinda difficult to review something like this because it's particularily designed for a GD level, and I don't know which parts of the song are like that because something happens in the level or not. If you ever make a normal track, feel free to request another review from us again, and I'll be able to make a more detailed review :).

2/5
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DididdProducions responds:

I wish I could say I can one up you. My grandpa is taking a collage course in these kinds of things, so if I have problems, I'll ask him. Thanks for the feed back! (ง ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)ง

[a castle in a magical forrest]

Quite the extraordinary composition this. Really like all the melodies and the way you have layered the instruments.
I'm not sure what kind of tools you have avbailable before you upgrade, but this track lacks some more work on the reverb and delay parts. When you make an easy listening track like this with relatively few instrument layers, reverb is incredibly important to help it reach it's true potential and make it sound bigger and more ambient. The instruments you should want to give more reverb are especially the main flute and the strings. What I would recommend is imagining the sound each instrument would make in a grand concert hall (if you haven't been in one, just listen to some live conert recording). Your goal is to imitate the sound the flute or the strings make in a concert hall by tweaking the reverb and delay settings.

Also, I really was missing an apparent bass layer. If you have any tuba or eupho samples available, I think it would make the track sound fuller if you added a distinctive and apparent bass layer. The part that starts around 0:34 would especially sound amazin if you added some bass.

Overall I really liked this piece. I like to focus on the negative aspects of a track when I'm reviewing because I think that's what really helps people to improve. Still this wasan amazing piece, and I can see some great potential here :).

4.5/5
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TheJawns responds:

Thanks for the advice! It's definitely useful, I'll keep it in mind :)

Yeah, I think I have some tuba samples to work with. I'm not sure they are great, but I guess part of the challenge is making the most of what you've got :)

Also, thanks a lot for the production tips. I'm definitely looking to improve that; I hope to take some classes next year, so I have a better understanding of exactly what's going on. I can't blame it all on the software ;-)

[Trine - Main Theme (Piano Cover)]

Went immediately to my piano to try to copy this, and I couldn't XD. Great playing! I love Trine myself, and this piece had those little details that made it different from the original, without negating the feeling you got from the original. Love the pianopieces you've uploaded as of late, keep it up :D!

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

Why hello there!
If you want to learn to play this, you can see the notes pretty easily in this video, made by Atin Piano:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9KR1_zV7GQ

There should be some sheet music in the descriptions too ;)

I don't remember how I learned to play this myself, it was so long ago. But today I revised my entire way of play the piece anyway :p
I'm glad to hear we have another fan of the game here! The music and visuals are so lovely :)

It's nice to hear that people have appreciated that I try to upload simple piano music, even when I don't have much time to make much else. Thanks!

[Get Up!]

Since the negative things already have been said, I'æll start with the positives.

First of all, the melody is very nice and makes you wanna dance. The arrangement is actually genius in this . It's the part most people have difficult with, but I think you pretty much nailed is.
As an EDM producer myself, I actually seem to have enjoyed this track more than most others. Mostly because of the melody and arrangement, but overall I thought this was pretty good actually.

A tip I can come with is to use more chords to spice up your leads. Instead of just layering chords with one single melody line, try to make the different notes in to entire triad chords. This will make the song sound a lot fuller.
Also, try finding some better drum samples, or try learning how to make good drums. The sample you are using in this track isn't actually that bad, but it takes experience to know how to utilize it in the best way, so I recommend trying to find samples that sounds good without too much work.
The mixing can use a lot of work.Try to simply go through tutorials on how to properly eq a track.
The part at 1:55 where you slow down the tempo of the lead doesn't sound too good. The idea is good, but you have to be punctual when doing this. I don't know if you are using fl studio or not, but in Fl studio, use the beat markers in the piano roll to know how much you can delay a part by, and still make it fit the beat.
Last, but not least, I'm going to repeat what people have said in a way. Actually, what you lack isn't music theory, and tthere's actually nothing in this track that implies that you need to study music theory (though I really, really would adivce it anyway). The problem you need to face, is that you need to use your ears to hear the difference between good and bad. Before you decide that you have finished a song, don't be engulfed of the hype of having made a good melody or arrangement and just stop there, but try to think, "is there any way I can make this song better?". If there is, do it. Never stop trying to improve your songs, that's how you learn.

Though I will give this track a 2.5 due to all the accumulated fault of this track, I did actually enjoy it, and I think there's something for you in Dance music :).

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attak1616 responds:

Thanks for the long reply, I really appreciate the time you took to write it. I was trying something a bit different with this track to be honest, I could have spend a bit more time on it truthfully but as you pointed out I was pretty hyped.
I'm going to try and learn music theory, the last time i touched upon it was about 5 years ago when I was learning piano but I only got to the beginning of grade 3.
Also someone else pointed out to layer drums on reddit, so I'm going to try doing that from now.

I really appreciate all feedback even if it's negative, it helps me improve alot and helps nudge me in the right direction in terms of where I'm going with music production. I've still got a long way to go and any support like reviews and criticism is very helpful.

[The Forest Of The Mind]

Knew this was going to be good from the first seconds XD. Just had that feeling. The synths are amazing, the arrangement is genius, and the chords and melodies are incredibly soothing. I don't really feel like there's anything to correct on this.
Overall a true masterpiece that I really could imagine being used in both movies and games. Great work :D.

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95TurboSol responds:

Wow I don't know what to say, I'm honored! Thanks :)

[Bird's Song After The Storm]

Great piece. Great use of instruments, and I like the arrangement. The melodies you use are great and really help to set a cheerfull and light-spirited mood :). This is pretty much perfect for a video game :).
Great work.

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nerevars responds:

Thanks!

Anyway, any advice for the mixing and mastering? I'm more a composer/musician rather than a sound engineer, so any point will helpful.

[Rebirth]

Une chanson tres belle et original :D. J'adore les synths tu as utilises et l'arrangement est magnifique. Bon travail :D.

Putting the french aside, this really is a great track. Very creative and with a lot of interesting aspects. I like how you haven't been afraid of being yourself in this track. There are some parts I know that certain people won't enjoy, but I really loved how you just decided to make this song as you want to.
I really could imagine hearing this track in a movie :).

5 stars. Great song :D.

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MysteriousPresence responds:

Hey thanks a lot, great French too ! X)
To be frank, I didn't expected someone to say this song is original, but that's a really good news for me as I try to give my songs a personality ! I want my listeners to know that's me they are listening to as soon as they start the music ! :D
I'm really glad you liked the music, and I'm happy too about the fact you imagine this track in a movie : I'm in fact composing tracks for my own movies (I'm a movie director before anything else after all) !
Thanks again ! =)

[Single Awareness Special]

The beat is cool and stuff and the mixing is pretty good. The one problem I do have though is that the song appears pretty boring without any dynamics or anything at all. If you listen to famous hip hop songs now a days, the artist always add in that one interesting part that everyone remembers it by whether it be a part where they sing some of the lines instead of rapping, parts where they change the pitch the voice or something like that. This is important especially in rap tracks, because fundamentally they are pretty samey. To make the track interesting you need to add some parts that the track can be remembered by.

Other than that I think it was pretty good. The length was a bit lacking, but it worked. As I said earlier, the mixing is good and the beat is pretty original actually.. great work :).

ADR3-N responds:

Thanks, your critiques are specific without being too nitpicky. Appreciate it!

[Erratic Movement]

Interesting track this as the two others already have mentioned, the title fits perfectly.
Really like the meldoies in this. They are really light hearted and makes me wants to dance in a strange way. I wish the kick would have been a little more intense and powerful. Maybe even add a little sidechaining effect to the claver whenever the kick hits to really give the track that dance feel.
You could also add a little snare work here and there in the song to vary up the beat percussion a bit. The main claver lead could use a bit of a boost in the higher frequencies to really make it stand out as well.

Overall a pretty good track. Really enjoyed listening to it, and I believe that with a bit of work it could be amazing :).
- Ectisity

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Psyhhoaparaat responds:

Late response on my half, but thanks!
I haven't really looked up how to use beats properly, but I guess it's high time I do :P

[Forest of Azarah]

Well made track this. Really like the melody and the synths.
One thing that I really dislike though is the snare. It's terrible. I don't know if that's the basic Fl studio snare as I haven't used it for ages, but it sounds really poor. Try to get your hands on some better percussion samples. The beat is what makes a track, and without proper samples a track can't reach its full potential.

As for the structure, I did enjoy it and I thought it sounded nice, but there is something missing. As I assume that you were going for a 8bit video game music feel, you lack an arpeggio in the background, just to make the track sound fuller. I would probably have used a triangle or sine wave and added a continuous arpeggio playing a little bit lower than the main lead.

Also, this track lacks dynamics. As Biggyzoom said, there really is no part of the song that gets me excited or anything. There are no buildups, and no drops at all. Try to spilt your tracks into different parts, and make sure that you have some sort of transition between each part. The quality of these transitions can make or break a track, so it's very important that you spend time to perfect them.

Overall a decent track, but I feel like you can do better. Keep it up :).
- Ectisity

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xxUltimaWeapon responds:

Thanks for the thought out review. I finally got my hands on a non-demo version of FL Studio and will be more apt to spending time working on these tracks more. Your input really helps me improve, so thanks again!