Shamukh's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[B0UNC3 - 5:19 random VG stuffz]

Nice but...

You mix good and all that. But these are just segments of unfinished songs-- anyone can write a loop or something like a one-minute piece. Arranging a -full- song is the hard part (at least in my opinion).

So I can't really give this much credit. I mean, they're all nice. But if you're just showing them off because they're all "failures," then I'm naturally just going to have to agree with you and say better luck next time. Btw, looking up theory will definitely help with arranging compositions. You should look into it. They do sound pretty nice though. :)

[Edit (Padlock Rmx, BL Edition)]

Awesome stuff.

Felt like I was listening to Frog Pocket at the end there. I can hear the control that you had while making this, and that makes it all the better.

Great tune. :D

poopr1221 responds:

Thanks for the input! I'm a really big fan of Come On Primates, so it's seriously awesome to be compared to Frog Pocket.

[[AL] Octagon Dance]

:D:D

Hi, sorry it took so long to review this.

the intro is incredible, very well-done. Has sort of an Autechre feel and I love Autechre. Not digging the bass sounds, mainly because of the reverb. In my experience its pretty hard to get away with reverby basses.

At 2:25 I just feel like that's like the "climax" and I feel muuuuch more should be going on (my opinion of course). Listen to Aphex, Squarepusher, and Flashbulb and listen to the effects they use (flangering is an incredible effect for the amen). Not just with the Amen either. I was expecting a grungy hoover-synth or something, and generally more high-end stuff. :x that's the part where you go ALL OUT and fuck theory and cookie-cutter bs, you know? just like, slice chop beatmatch timestretch automating shit you've never thought of record yourself screaming into a mic and compress the fuck out of it etc. I dunno, that's the fun part :D. Not trying to tell you how to build your song or anything, just throwing that out there really.

Lucid Bass II by The Flashbulb has some pretty neat phase/flanger effects right of the bat, listen to that song for some ideas to apply to your amen. :>

Overall this is actually really awesomely arranged. Definitely isn't expected and challenging, which is what IDM artists should strive toward. Great job Anwar! :D

ChampionAnwar responds:

Thanks, I'm glad you liked it. Honestly the bass sound had reverb already, I had a like ~3% reverb on the whole thing when mixing it down to give it the 'in the hall performing' sound. . so I guess I'll have to fix that- though I'd have to agree, I've heard very little songs that work with a reverb'd bass.

Honestly, that's the maddest I've ever gone when it comes to IDM drums at that speed (230BPM off the top of my head). I listened to that tune, and this reminds me why Benn Jourdan is so amazing. I mean though I frequent people like Venetian Snares / Squarepusher / Aphex Twin a lot more, his stuff is epiclu awesome indeed ^^. I suppose I'm just not that aggressive when it comes to sequencing drums, but I'm getting there :D! Oh and I actually remember that theory. gooood times gooooooood times hehehehehehehehe. Also- basic slicing is the pure winner in this situation, no need for envoloping (just thought I'd add that) :D!

Oh and also, I'll let you do that recording stuff first. . .I just don't want it to sound like ear rape *Cough* making orange things XD!

Thanks for the awesome advice as always Ron, it's always good to hear your opinions and pointers. It always helps greatly. I'll be tuning in a lot more :D! Oh DbX ^______^

[==(Shadow People)==]

Amazing.

10/8 on the measure at 4:20.

What Drum pack did you use? Some VST like Battery or something? I must know, they sound very nice. Great job man!

[Arctic Fire [Wip]]

Very good

Not gonna spend my time nitpicking because you clearly know what you're doing. All I can really note is that if feels like there's just a huge dent in the higher frequencies so it feels "lopsided". Punchy snare, but the kick doesn't seem to do it justice. Maybe if the higher frequencies stood out more though it'd be a different story. :)

Great track man.

SteakJohnson responds:

thanks! i suppose the kick needs to be crunchier then

[[Do a Barrel Roll-JaV]]

Haha.

I like your sense of humor. I'll give it a five. :)

[Chzoul - Walk on Water]

Reverb is sensitive.

Too much reverb on... everything, the supersaw is especially bothering me. Sounds a bit off-time when the drums come in. No real background for harmony to set in. No originality either. You say you spent two minutes on this song and not to be rude, but I definitely believe it. Other than that, with a little bit more thought this can be pretty neat.

Keep practicing and be careful with what effects you use, ESPECIALLY reverb. :)

P.S. Your profile says you're 13, and I just wanna say age isn't an excuse, but it's great to start young. 8D

Chzoul responds:

Thanks for commenting :D

[8bit - Heart]

This is awesome.

If you'd allow me to pigeonhole this, this is great autechre-esque IDM 8bit. Seriously though, this is awesome. Maybe could use some nice TrIaNgLe BaSs if you know what I mean.

IbeSm responds:

Definately man, thanks. Never heard of IDM, which is ironically something I've literally searched for... intelligent dance music.

I'll play around wih this concept :).

[[dannyNergy] It's Correct]

Hot

Perfect minimal house. It's pretty hard to pull this off but you know your shit man.

Aside from that I think you should try mastering it yourself and upload that, just for fun practice. ;)

dannyNergy responds:

Got way to much shit going on at the moment. I'll just let the label do it.

Anyways glad you dig it.

[xKore - Chrono Cross]

It's nice.

I'm a huge fan of plains of time and the chrono cross soundtrack in general. The arrangement of the melodies and harmonies were near perfect that they way you switched them around to me just didn't click; especially that modulated guitar sound. I don't think i was diggin' the 16th arp bass thingy you got going on there, I think it'd work better legato. I was also kind of disappointed that you only remixed a portion of the song. There was more to work with and I would have loved to hear it. Also, to be reallllly nitpicky, the melody's off by like 1 note lol.

As far as the mixing goes, the hugest thing I find wrong with it is that the power of the melody doesn't really match up to the power for the rest of it, so it seems a little off-balance imo. More energetic sounds would probably fit better (but don't use supersaws for the love of god).

Overall this is very nice 8D. Great job man.

xKore responds:

yeah i dont like it either lol.