mutty99's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[ALESDA! - Burn]

Solid piece of work =)

[A Stroll Down St Pancras]

Layton, Persona 5 and Ace Attorney in a single piece; that final impact as well... Great job!

Troisnyx responds:

Ah thank you~ Don't forget Ar tonelico — Signpost of Memories and A Strange Play from the third game's OST were influences.

[Wertw - Universe Travellers]

-Official NGUAC 2020 Final Round Review-

Incredible sound design, this is amazing! The balance is top notch, and the chord progression, even if in some parts it could have been a bit less forced (i'm referring to the sections at 0:57-1:23 and 1:51-2:18), it's well composed, with a good usage of sidechain, and heccka solid. The build-ups are my favourite parts of the track, made me say "Superbe!", that kind of sentence; like also how you variated a bit the melody at 2:47, putting some sfx to surprise the listener. 3:14 is just :D
You have all the credentials to become a famous artist, hope that NGUAC will help you boost your status and get recognized for your works. Great job, and good luck for the finals!

Originality: 1.7/2
Composition: 2/2
Structure: 2/2
Tecnicity: 2/2
Impact: 2/2
Total: 9.7/10

[Calamity Gate]

-Official NGUAC 2020 Final Round Review-

Nice attempt at a Xi-styled piece of music, unfortunately (like you said) quite rushed. The piano in the drops is a little too much panned to the right, and could have had more reverb as well; on the other hand, you did a great job with the drums, giving them a stable balance and variating the rolls in the various sections. It's a shame the song is that short, because if it was longer i could have seen it in OSU next to Freedom Dive, Halcyon etc, you know what i mean. Maybe the beginning could have had a filtered pad till 0:11 to give a more gradual introduction; either way, pretty good job!

Originality: 1.7/2
Composition: 2/2
Structure: 1.3/2
Tecnicity: 1.3/2
Impact: 1.6/2
Total: 7.9/10

CrispyCroc responds:

Thank you very much, everything you said is something I absolutely and entirely agree with, and I want to make a much better version of this song soon. <3

[Sentimentality]

-Official NGUAC 2020 Final Round Review-

I like the instrumentation, it reminds me of Emyprean by Etzer. The chimes and the lead are quite nice, but too compressed as well: you could have balanced better them by lowering the low band on the chimes, and raising a tiny bit the high band on the lead. The drums, even if they're a bit too dry, are really nice and flow properly; the section at 2:39, after the "Go!" drop shout, doesn't contain much of them, and it's a tad bit too empty and less impactful than i expected it to be. Luckily, at 2:51 a richer roll comes in to finish the piece. Not a bad submission, with a little bit of tweaking it could've become even better. Glad you choose to experiment new styles out of your "comfort zone", it helps a lot to become a better artist :)

Originality: 2/2
Composition: 1.9/2
Structure: 1.4/2
Tecnicity: 1.4/2
Impact: 1.5/2
Total: 8.2/10

[Incise ~ Starburst]

-Official NGUAC 2020 Final Round Review-

I like that you wrote in detail the chord progression for the sake of not being repetitive, and the tempo + key details. The mix is overall pretty nice to listen to, even if a bit too cluttered (especially at 1:00-2:00); the trance saws cover too much the rest of the instruments, making the drums downpowered as a result. Some compression reducing the medium band and a little more sidechain on the saws could have helped. Now, i need to give you huge props for taking a huge risk almost nobody did in this competition: Key Modulation (3:33). Even if the transition could have been better executed, the transposition is correct; if modulation is misused, it can give a negative influence to the track, so it could also become a sort of double edged weapon. This is not the case: great job for trying to surpass your limits, this is the right spirit! Just spend more time on tweaking the mix, and you can achieve even better results!

Originality: 2/2
Composition: 1.8/2
Structure: 1.6/2
Tecnicity: 1.45/2
Impact: 1.65/2
Total: 8.5/10

[Last drink]

Which is the name of the sound/electronic instrument you used in the first 3 seconds?

GrizzlyCogs responds:

Hey ! It is just a square wave synth with a lot of reverb and delay on it :)

[Remembering the Fallen]

-Official NGUAC 2020 Final Round Review-

This submission stands out from all the others in this year's edition: it was the only one who made me sincerely moved while and after listening. The concept is carried on with a stable and focused flow, with a various and properly harmonized orchestration and structure; the balance is spot on as well, with a clear context and lore behind the piece itself. Briefly, the emotional impact of this track is beyond description, and you had a really original idea: if you keep composing stuff like this (maybe with a higher volume overall when mastering the track), you're going to get REALLY far in this community. Well done.

Originality: 2/2
Composition: 2/2
Structure: 2/2
Tecnicity: 1.7/2
Impact: 2/2
Total: 9.7/10

potato-stick responds:

Thank you so much for the kind words and feedback on my piece! I wanted to raise the overall volume, but unfortunately it began to introduce clipping issues so I had to settle with it being lower than ideal. Mastering and mixing are some of the things that I need to more fully understand, so that might be the next step for me to take my music to a higher level.

[MUSIC IS HARD]

-Official NGUAC 2020 Final Round Review-

This submission makes me quite concerned: the concept is original, but the execution leaves to be desired. The transitions at 1:11 and 3:04 are really out of place, making the track seems more like a mash-up of two totally different songs rather than one whole piece of work. The drums department is well composed, but could have been stronger and more impactful (for example at the 0:21 section); some variations could have helped the piece breath a little more as well, instead of hearing the same chord progression being repeated over and over. On the other hand, i enjoyed both the way you balanced the piano and the jazz section at 2:40. Try sticking with clearer ideas in your projects, and you'll get far with music in the future!

Originality: 1.4/2
Composition: 1.5/2
Structure: 1.2/2
Tecnicity: 1.3/2
Impact: 1.6/2
Total: 7/10

scrambIe responds:

HAHA YAY I LOVE CONCERNED

[NaNo - Happy pluck]

(This review will be translated in Spanish, the contestant's language)

-Revisión oficial de la ronda final de NGUAC 2020-

El concepto y la orquestación no están mal, pero hay múltiples aspectos que podrías haber manejado de manera más efectiva. Para empezar, el volumen total es un poco demasiado alto: un limitador podría haberlo reducido unos pocos decibeles. Acerca de las gotas, parecen un poco secas; hay algo de reverberación en el solista, pero muy menos en la batería. Evite poner toda la reverberación en un instrumento: poner una pequeña cantidad de reverberación en casi todos los instrumentos beneficia mucho a tu música. A pesar de las críticas, el uso de sidechain fue apropiado, y fue una pista Happy Hardcore bastante buena (en lugar de Synthwave). ¡Buen trabajo!

Originalidad: 1.53/2
Composiciòn: 1.67/2
Estructura: 1.7/2
Tecnicidad: 1.4/2
Efecto: 1.5/2
Total: 7.8/10