EctiBot's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Zig's melody]

---Official AIM review---

First of all the mix is very clear and easy to listen to.
This piece has very chill and adventurous vibe which fits the artwork very well. .
I really love the melodies you got going on in this piece. IT was a bit plain until the 1 minute mark, but it really stepped up from there.

Though I do like the melodies, there's no real main theme in the song, and the end of the day it sounds like one long guitar improv. I don't think that's necessarily wrong, but it's difficult for listeners to know which melody to latch onto and it makes the song less memorable.
I also think it could benefit a lot from some more dynamics. It's pretty flat almost all the way through. The middle section where you break it down helps, but I still wish you had done something more with the drum beat or added another instrument to break up the monotonous feel a bit.

Overall a solid and well polished track, but it would need some more interesting elements for me to score it higher

[Japanese Theme Remake]

---Official AIM review---
You based your song on your own artwork and it just consists of an inaudible mess.

[Honeybot]

I had completely forgotten about this XD

[Echoes]

Goodnes gracious, this is awesome! The mixing is on point, the quality of the sounds is top notch, and I love that soft future bass drops. Those vocal chops are done really well! Only thing I can say is that I wish it was longer :).
Great work Infinity!

ThiefOfVoid responds:

I hope you are proud of me, I took your advice and found my unique style. Thank you so much for being an inspiration, I always looked up to you for ideas :)

Thank you for your feedback, it really helped me grow and prosper :)

~INFINITY

[How to Have a Perfect Day]

You're waaay too talented Miyo :D. This is the kind of things I hope I have the guts to make one day. You'll probably start dominatibg Chips if you continue like this XD

Miyolophone responds:

Thanks Ectisity! It's hard to imagine I can live up to this piece after all those 1sts but I'll do my best haha
Also fun fact you're the first person whose music I ever listened to on Newgrounds so this is a bit surreal

[High Shots]

Interesting piece this. really retro dance-esque.
First of all I need to tell you, chill with the bass. you really don't need to boost the low-end of you're bass this much, it just ends up overpowering all other instruments in the mix. To me the bass even sounded distorted at times because of this. Overall the mix isn't too bad, but the bass just makes it difficult for the other elements to shine through, and it makes the mix muddy.

To me the weakest part of this track is the arrangement. The entire track sounds samey because you use the same melodies and the same bassline throughout the entire track. you don't introudce any breaks or counters, but instead the entire track sounds like one single drop. you were really close to going into a proper break at 0:48, but since you quickly introduce the same melody from the drop yet again, it doesn't really work.
Music like this are traditionally very samey, so you need to make sure that you switch it up from time to time. Alter you're melodies, Include breaks, pull out the drums etc. You need to make sure that you keep the listener's interest up throughout the song.

The soundesign in this okay, but I really don't like the lead saw, it sounds kinda like a cheap trance lead. For music like this you could just use a very basic supersaw with a couple of layers, and it will sound great, you really don't need anything fancy as the focus is mainly on the beat.

That brings me into another point, the focal point of this kind of music lies in engaging funky drum patterns. It's not the drum-work is bad in this, but I really feel like you could have made it more interesting. Especially the hats keep playing the same thing throughout the track without really switching anything up. I advice you to study a bit up on drum styles, and how to make the listener "dance" with you're drums.

Overall this is interesting, but it falls short in a number of different areas.
Keep it up, and keep requesting feedback, and you'll se yourself improving in no time :).

{Review Request Club}

[Megalovania (Daviddv0601 Cover)]

Well, this is a cover, but not much work. Honestly it just sounds like you ripped the midi then just applied some different instruments. Be original, and show use some of you're own style even though it's just a cover. As of now, this really isn't interesting at it doesn't bring anything new to the original. Study how this song is built up, and try to incorporate the ideas into you're own, original piece. That's how you draw inspiration from others :).

Keep it up, and I really hope we'll see something purely original from you soon :).

{Review Request Club}

[Cupcake [OMFG style]]

This is really OMFG-esque, you really captured the style. The melody is catchy, though I feel like you could have changed it up at times to make it less repetitive.
The buildup works, but I felt like it was kida boring. Make sure to not only build up you're songs with effects, but try to actually compose a proper buildup. A buildup should be as interesting as every
other part of the track.

I really don't like the vox lead you introduce at 1:24. It completely overpowers the smooth and soothing elements in the mix, plus it sounds overly detuned, I think it would be much better to drop it.
Okay, at 1:40, I get what you were trying to do, it's classic OMFG to do a keyshift, but if you're going to do a keyshift you can't ONLY transpose a single lead while all the other instruments keep playing the old key, you need to transpose all the instruments, or it ends up sounding terrible. Listen to every part of you're composition, and if there are any parts that sound off key, either drop them entirely, or fix the problem.

I really wish you would have introduced a new melody at 2:30. That melody is only catchy for only so long, and if you keep re-using it over again, the listener gets quickly tired of hearing it. Because of it, I really felt like this song i was too long.

Also, I need to address the elephant in the room.
We all have artists that we admire and enjoy listening too, and it's always good to deconstruct their music and try to do the same things they do. However, it's also important to be original. Even though you're goal here was to create a song like OMFG, you should always try to show us some of your own style and your own musical personality. That's what will make you're music interesting to listen to.
etelik has covered most of the mixing issues, so I won't bother mentioning them.

Keep up the good work, and don't get discouraged by the low scores, we only want to help you improve :). Just keep requesting reviews from us, and we'll do our best ;).

{Review Request Club}

[Twitchy Finger]

Everyone has already mentioned the problems with the high frequencies, so I won't mention it too much. Just make sure that you don't boost the high frequencies too much. I don't know if you've edited the songs since the previous reviews, but the high frequencies as harsh to me as the other reviews seem to indicate. If you have edited it, you're going in the right direction at least. The part from 0:55 to 1:40 is the only one I find directly painful to listen to.

The arrangement in this really isn't too bad, but it gets really repetitive after a while. You're using the same melody throughout the entire track, and even though you do switch up the parts quite a lot and do introduce some new melodies at times you keep repeating the same melody over.
This would have worked if the melody was catchy and engaging, but the melody is really plain and uninteresting. Melody-work is one of the most crucial parts of usic-production, and you should never take it lightly. People will remember you're song by the melody, so make sure you make a melody that will stick and never let go :).

I am going to say though, that this is really original and interesting :). I kinda get why you would label this as Dance, because it does have some elements that gives me that dance feel, but this is much closer to synthwave, so I would really recommend that you check out and study synthwave music to further develop your style.
You have a lot of good compositional ideas in this, and with some more focus on music theory and mixing, you'll make awesome stuff in the future :). Just keep requesting feedback from us, and we'll keep doing our best to help you improve :D.

{Review Request Club}

[Alive (featuring Halo)]

Ok, as promised I'll drop a review.

First of all that vocal line at the beginning is really good. Immediately catches the interest of the listener
The progression is really nice, and I liked you're choice of sounds. The melodies are really catchy and interesting.
However, the drop is very weak. The main problem is that too much of the drop is introduced in the buildup if you get what I mean. Personally I wouldn't have sidechained the lead before the drop hits. I know that a sidechained lead sounds awesome, but you really want to spare it for the drop. This way the drop will feel a lot more powerful. Also I think you should either completely pull out the bass in the buildup, or substitute it with a higher pitched one. Right now it feels like the drop and buildup has an almost equal amount of bass, thus the transition becomes weaker.
Generally what I'm trying to say is that the power of a drop is dictated by the mellowness of the parts that lead up to it. That's why professionals use a different lead or introduce a different melody during the drop, this is what makes them sound so powerful.

Also, the mix is pretty muddy. You boost the low-end too much throughout the track, making it sound way too subby. The only elements that need to reign in the low-end are the bass and the kick. If you want them to stick out, try cutting the low frequencies from all other frequencies. The most important part of eq-ing is that you have to cut ALL unwanted frequencies, even if you think they don't exist. For an example, your lead really doesn't need any low end at all, as the bass takes care of that, thus you should cut the lower frequencies from the lead. If you do this to each and every element in you're mix, you'll discover that everything will sound a lot more cleaner. In addition this will also allow the kick and bass to shine freely in the low-end.
This includes the vocals as well, right now the vocals really drown in the mix and are hardly audible. This is because the other instruments clashes with the vocals constantly. Find a frequency range were you wan't the vocals to shine, and make sure that you give it room to shine there.

Overall the arrangement is well done, and the interest is kept up throughout the track.
My main advice for you for now would be to work on you're mixing. I get the impression that you have big ambitions when it comes to music production, which I think is great, but even if the composition is great, it won't matter if the production quality is not up to standards.

Last, but not least I want to advice you to try experimenting a bit more. Don't try to make another run-off-the-mill dance track, but try to discover you're own sound and you're style. Find what differs Infinity from other producers. I know this can be difficult, but I believe it's very important.

Keep up the good work! You have a lot of time, don't try to rush yourselves in an attempt at becoming professional quickly. Take it slow and focus on improving you're music :).

- Ectisity