DivoFST's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Skyline]

Great song Wolftacular, i am really happy you ended up submitting :D
I love your voice..the song is pretty awesome indeed, the only complain i might have is because of the mix, seems to have a little too much lower frequencies and reverb making it it sound muddy at times and noise can be heard at the piano solo..other than that this song is really great.

Wolftacular responds:

Yeah lol, I really suck at mixing! But I really appreciate the honest feedback, man! I'm glad you think it's good!!

[Mechanical Anima]

Holy shit...i must fan you *.*
Iv been an avid fan of ZipZipper for a long time and i always thought he would get to the final 8 at least unless he had the misfortune of facing Kor-Rune....but Steam you are freaking awesome...this will be an amazing fight you guys will have..and your style in this song really reminds me of ZipZipper..aren't you guys secret siblings or something? you must be xD
Your mixing is off the charts and the there are so much going on in the song, not sure how you mixed with this kind of flair the Mechanical sounds with the peaceful orchestra..
Overall this is awesome...im really glad i found you SteamPianist!

steampianist responds:

Thank you for for the kind words and I appreciate the review. Im really excited for the results win or lose im glad to have discovered new artists

[The Ancient Ones]

Mmm...not sure why they wouldn't like the intro, i think it is pretty great, the biggest complain i have is with the mixing 00:45 to 00:56. things sound very muddy and it lacks a lot of definition because of that, otherwise the intro is pretty good and the percussion you used works great with the guitar.
I think the song from that point on has a very "epic" feeling, the choirs and the percussion are great in doing that.
I love the composition, the mixing however seems a bit too loud for me and when the drums hit hard things get a bit messy, maybe even clipping is heard.
Overall the song is great, you kept it somewhat simple with just over 3 minutes and that's fine, its certainly better than forcing the song for the sake of making it longer, i think something closer to 4 or 5 minutes would have been more appropriate being for the NGADM however. I love your samples and they all sound really awesome by themselves, i didnt particulatly enjoy the way they were mixed together and at times things sounded messy.
Awesome job Titan! 4.5/5 :D

TitanMusic responds:

Thanks for the review!
I decided, seeing as I have a lot of college work due, that I would have to keep it short and just work with what I can rather than try and create a large, multi layered song. I went short and epic and I think my opponent did too.
With regards to mixing, I have pretty much no idea what I am doing. I have watched tutorial videos and read a lot about it but I am still having trouble getting it down. This wasn't helped by the fact that the programs I usually use for the strings, Miroslav Philharmonik, just stopped working before I finished this song. So I had to use a program I am not as familiar with.
I tried my best to make sure clipping doesn't occur but perhaps I failed.
Thanks again!

[Come to Reality]

Love the first section, it absolutely sets a great mood, the synths used work great in this kind of song.
When the metal guitars enter the song the first thing that pops to mind is how they are awesomely mixed. The song precedes through with great playing and great mixing, i really cant get over how freaking awesome the metal guitars sound xD Double tracking with opposite panning?
Overall its really easy to see the work you put into this, the mixing is very clean and there are sometimes quite a lot of things happening at the same time, the playing is also really awesome and heavy.
I cant however ignore that this song is over 9 minutes and since people are criticized for submitting a 2 minute song i thing the opposite is also doable!
It is really hard for me to keep interest in a song without vocals that spans over 5 minutes and in my opinion 9 minutes is too long and seems a bit more focused into making your song more intimidating for your opponent and maybe give the judges a second thought because making 9 minutes of music is not easy at all instead of serving the purpose of enhancing the song itself, you did however a great job through the 9 minutes, still doesn't justify the length thought.
Awesome work Metallica!

Metallica1136 responds:

Woke up feeling pretty awful this morning, but this review put me in a better mood! I'm really glad you like the mixing! You got it man! Double tracked guitars, panned 100% to each channel! Big Monster for left, Slip Note Wide for right (Guitar Rig 5) Used to never double track. I realize now, double tracking is exactly what makes a tone heavy. THAT's the whole secret of getting a kick ass tone :)

But yeah man, I realize though, the biggest flaw in this song is it's length. I've got a habit of writing songs over 8 minutes. Yeah my goal was to make the song challenging to beat, though the length wasn't the reason (main reason at least) Hopefully the judges like this song as well.

But thanks for your review man! If I ever need some constructive criticism, I know who to message! :D

[Fisherman's Fantasy]

Great intro, i love the piano it is very sad and atmospheric...the sea sound however seems to be a bit repetitive and maybe a bit too loud (the loop is too short maybe?).
The change you implemented in the song is a very bold one and comes out of nowhere i think the song definitely needed an intermediate section where you could prepare the listener to the heavier section instead of stopping and restarting. Maybe giving a more detailed description to guide us through the song would have helped in this case also, you say this is about a game, i can see the 2 completely different parts fitting a game intro for example, however if you gave us some detail it would have helped a lot picturing it.
I like the lyrics, they have a strong sense of purpose and a good structure.
So...i think the biggest flaw is indeed the change out of nowhere, i really like the first part and despite having a kind of annoying sea sound i rate it 4.5/5 , i love the piano melody it is really great, the second part i really like the lyrics and the composition, the mixing choices seem a bit off here and there but overall it is still quite enjoyable 4/5.
Overall, you have here an interesting song to hear but on a closer look the transition cant be ignored 4/5.
Great Job SourJovis :D

SourJovis responds:

The sea sound isn't a loop. It's 2 and a halve minutes from a 4 minute recording. I suppose sea just sounds that repetitive. The turning point is indeed sudden. Can be unpleasant if you don't expect it. I think it would work well on an album with mostly metal, where you expect a dramatic change to metal. If I would change it, I would make the change more sudden with louder more powerful guitars, to give it even more impact.
The game is still in development, and I can't say too much about it since I'm not the main creator and I don't know how much I can spoil. As a matter of fact I'm a bit of a fifth wheel. I was asked to do additional music and animation, then I was dropped because the main composer and animator wanted to do everything by themselves. Later I was asked to do sound effects, and they liked what I've made so far. Now it's under debate whether I can write some songs after all, because they like this song/these songs. I think the piano piece might work well as intro or title screen music, and the metal part (probably without vocals) as boss theme or action driven cinematic. I think the first and second part will be separated, but they share the same melody and theme. But I have yet to see if and how it will be used. If I know more I will put it in the description to prepare the listener more. The turning point sounds more pleasant when you expect it I agree.

[Bim Berugmi]

Whoa...dude you are one of the most creative people i ever seen!
Really good..you are awesome Zipper!

ZipZipper responds:

Thanks Divo! Your fanship is much appreciated!

[ThePlea]

I think it could be put to use in a retro game, could be a bit longer this is really short.

khay8 responds:

ok thx ikr it was just a small creation as a low level musician. I'm slowly getting better

[Tech-Genetic]

Great mix and great song, sounds really heavy and clean.
Awesome job Ritz!

Ritz190 responds:

Appreciate it, man!
Glad you dig the song. tried my best to make it sound as awesome as possible.