Shurrikane's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Drums Of Mordor]

Easy sounding and yet a strong and powerful track. I like it.
Some transitions could be a bit better (1:10).
Great use and mix of electronic elements :)
Keep up the good work.

[Ghost (Instrumental)]

Hey there,

it was a very interesting experience to listen to this! I can feel and understand your buildup and the progression of the song.

Here a few (technical) points I noticed:
0.46 This heavily distorted sound, which sounds like an e-guitar, always seems to play with the same velocity/dynamics. You can try to add a few variations here or glide/slide to emphasize notes etc.
Automation of parameters is your friend. Just a little tip for the future.
0.50 The sound is cracking on the left channel.
1:40 The drums which are kicking in at around 1:40 are very quiet. You could compress them to raise their volume, and have a look on "sidechain" compression/limiting/gaining. This will help to achive a much cleaner mix and makes the drums more punchy.
2:40 This is my favourite part
3:00 Breakdowns like this are sweet!

Overall, the sounds keeps getting crackling when it becomes too loud. Quality goes over loudness! You may also play more with stereo imaging. A lot of sounds, which may be better in another place, are centered together and 'mash up'.

To sum up: play more with dynamics, stereo and mixing.
You're on a good way! Keep up the work!

MysteriousPresence responds:

Hey thank you so much for this detailed review ! <3
I'll try to respect your advices as much as I can for my next tracks !
Compressing the drums is interesting, I never thought about that !
In fact, I'm afraid I can't do so much with crackling, this is the result of the conversion of my m4a files to mp3 (I compose with GarageBand).
Thank you too for the dynamics advice, it's true that I don't often use it ! ^^
In fact, my last track (Hit This Shit) is, I think, really good talking about the mixing and stereoing, maybe you should try it ! :3
Thank you so much again ! =)

[Lost Time - Reminiscence]

Smooth, calm, relaxing and definitely not boring. Great track!

DanJohansen responds:

Thanks a ton! Sorry for the super late feedback :D

[A Hero Rises]

Very nice cinematic track! The control of emotion and dynamics of the brass and the soft strings really adds to it!
I'm missing a bigger and wider presence of the drum section here (could be my flavour).
I imagine this to be the hymn of a medieval nation or the background track of a game! Great work!

As to collabs, if you're free, you can connect me - I love to work together with talented people!

sleepFacingWest responds:

I had actually thought about beefing up the percussion! It's one of those things where the rabbit hole can always go deeper. I thought some more clangy stuff in the background maybe, or during the 3rd section when the loud/quiet part happens having some triangle during the loud part. I dunno. These things are so open and at a certain point, you can really do anything! I would eventually like to make this more than a loop. In that case, I could definitely beef up the percussion!

(thanks for listening)

[The Rory Gallagher Song]

This piece could really fit into a lot of video games! Well done!
I miss a bit the catchiness of good old 8-bit melodies.

lokimiah1 responds:

Thanks, man! I really like making these 8-bit songs, 'cause they let me share the riffs I make on guitar and bass.

I appreciate the review.

As a side note, I like the aesthetic of the OC there. Good job on that.

[Castles in the Rain]

All in all, a great ambiental track which can describe an action-packed story.
I imagine someone having to bear a mysterious task or fight.
This definitely has a lot of potential but you have to work on the sound of your songs. The mix doesn't sound completely right and finished and the piano could sounds a bit synthetic/generic - that's why I can't give the full 5 stars.
I'm curious about what is coming next! :)

IndustryStandard responds:

I understand about the piano, it is 100% synthetic, and quite generic indeed. I didn't realize at the time Reason had a sampled piano as well, which probably would have sounded better but that's just something I'll have to mess around with in the future.

In hindsight, I might have actauly forgotten to mix this before uploading it... Although it's equally possible that the mixing is just not very good, I made this track a while ago and I'm sure it could benefit from a little reworking.

[Tides of Time]

Very deep and emotional track!
The sound of foaming waves streaming on the beach and the legatos on the cello really add emotion to it!
'Tides of Time' - a great one-time-experience!

DSykMusic responds:

Thanks! Happy that you liked it :)