Siggator's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Cloudshift (Symphonic Metal)]

wow
just wow
this is some amazing stuff, and deserves way more attention. I love the main arp sections like 0:18 and 2:44.
the only (minor) criticism I could think of is it being a little repetitive, wishing for more variation to hear even more of the amazing composition thats going on here. But that doesn't stop this from being a really good track.
good job, you deserve alot more attention

95TurboSol responds:

Hey thanks so much for the detailed review, that is super helpful to me!! And I couldn't agree more, I felt the same with it being repetitive, this was a track that kind of fought me during the writing process, I hope to do better in the future!

[Galactic Groove]

The melodies and progressions in this are very good, suits the spooky/halloween vibe. Instrument choice is nice, the main problem being the mixing.

Feels like too much reverb on drums, and seems like there is some reverb on low end, causing it to feel distant and not hit as hard (and hard-hitting drums would fit the mood its in.)

Reverb works well for making things distant and filling space. However you don't want your whole track to feel distant (unless your going for an atmospheric track). You also don't want Reverb on the low-end, because it only requires one bass to fill up that frequency range, and adding reverb to it causes it to be muddy. For reverb on other instruments, it should be dealt with lightly and shouldn't be put on everything. (the chiptune drums and such for example, don't work that well with reverb)
I believe the reverb mixing is the main problem in the track, since the melodies, progressions, instrument/sound design is done very well compared to the mixing here. Overall a good track that would be made even better if that was improved upon, still good work!

Raiiju responds:

Wow! xD

I’m really glad to know my main problem is mixing, and that my actual musical structuring and melodic values are descent, because this means I don’t have to worry a ton on musical structuring, and I can now focus on mixing. Recently I’ve been really focusing on music theory, and trying to expand my knowledge, while producing consistent music that portrays a feeling or story well. Of course I still have LOTS to learn, but I think I’m at a good point to start taking mixing more seriously and take a break from learning music theory. I have a new approach I think I’m going to take with my mixing, after this trip when I get home, I’m going to start experimenting with some of my new songs, and even make a few with this idea I have. Your right my biggest problem is reverb, the DAW I use only allows me to control reverb for the WHOLE song, and not specific channels. I thought of a way to bypass that, and that’s what I want to experiment with. I’m also going to finish Galactic Groove, and mix it better. It’s funny how well this song did, and it’s not even the full version. I really hope it doesn’t seem as if I’m milking this song after I release the final version.

Anyway thank you for this review/score. I highly appreciate it, and it seriously helps me. I can’t thank you enough.

-Drazil <3

[Righteous Fire Remastered]

I really like the melodies and progressions in this track, great job on that!
First thing to improve would be the drums, because of the big amount of reverb the drums sound distant and not hard hitting, when hard hitting drums would help improve the impact of any drops/choruses in this track. Reverb on the drums would be fine for a beginning section, but having it continue through the whole track is too much. (also any reverb on low-end stuff you most likely want to remove, as it easily causes mixes to be muddy)
Instrumentation could be improved, since it sounds the same throughout the whole thing. It may be a good idea to make the instruments more alive and energetic during a chorus/drop, but tone those effects down a bit in lower-energy areas, giving more variation and again making choruses and different sections more impactful.
The structuring seems a bit messy, with there being a bunch of sections that don't build up together. For different sections, its a good idea to maybe change an instrument, remove or add one, instead of having the same instrumentation throughout the whole thing. It would help give the different sections a different personality and feeling, and would help give the song a stronger structure.
Overall a decent job, would really like to see this track expanded and improved, since I am a fan of the melodies in this one!

Raiiju responds:

Wow. This is extremely insightful. Thank you for this, a bunch. I’ve always had mixing problems with this track, Ive tried to remaster it, but I still didn’t do the best job. My biggest problem is the muddiness like you stated, I haven’t figure out how to fix it until now. It makes so much sense to cut off on low end reverb. That would seriously help this tracks. Also your right about removing/adding sounds as the song changes. I’ve built one of the melody off of the main melody, but kept the main melody to back it. I realize now it kind of clutters the track, and I should remove it. Also Dynamics: the drop isn’t very punchy because of the consistent tone, and the un crisp sounding drums, like you stated. I like this bit because it would help to improve all my future tracks. Actually all your insight will improve my future work. With all that said, I think I’m going to remaster it one more time, and extend it. I’ll be sure to let you know when I finish, or just look out for it. Thank you for this. I highly appreciate the criticism and kind words friend. xD

(Also sorry for late response lol)

-Drazil