sigma16's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[-Risk Beats-]

Not bad actually, the dubstep parts are well orchestrated.

Although panning is extremely iffy in the non "chorus" sections, it constantly felt like the song didn't have any body due to nothing being panned centre. You don't need to split pan everything, in fact you should avoid doing so.

You get away with it in the chorus sections because you have the main drums in there to fill the void, if you did it to make room for them I would recommend you avoid using this method in the future. EQ and side chaining are much better options.

Keep it up, glad to hear you listened to my feedback about your drums! Still needs some work though ;)

Composition wise your tracks are brilliant, but they are not as well polished as they could be.

[-Massive-]

This one isnt bad at all, I have a couple of issues though.

The first one being your choice of snare, I dont really like it that much because it sounds a bit too airy. Id replace one that sounds a lot more full, i.e. one with a lot more bass and body.

The other issue is that the drums are still being drowned out by everything else in the mix. Side chain your kick and eq the bass out of everything that isn't a bass (I even EQ The the kick peak frequency out of my basses) so it has room. Right now the drums just feel layered behind everything.

Melodies aren't that much of an issue here either. Keep working on that mixing dude and your stuff will sound that much better :)

[-Bright Moves-]

This one is very nice, although there are places it can be better this time.

The main one being that your main section melodies sound very confused and out of place (1:22 in the track and dotted among the rest of it). Not completely, but it sounds like someone improvising badly whilst listening to the background. It just feels a bit "off".

Melodies aside I don't really feel the mixing is too up to scratch here either. Levels aren't really managed correctly and I hear the drums struggling a lot behind the rest of the elements in the track. EQ and Side chain are your friends, cut out clashing frequencies on parts that don't need them (Low cutting your bass isn't bad because it gives your kick more room to breathe, just don't go OTT or it wont be a bass any more) Also the synth at 1:22 has too much treble, way too much. It cuts through you similar to nails on a chalk board, that needs some of its higher frequencies filtering out.

I've seen inside a couple of your project files and I know for a fact that mixing is your main weakness right now. Id recommend finding some proper tutorials for mixing online.

Its not bad, but two key things you need to work on a bit are your melodies, and mostly your mixing.

Just a bit of constructive criticism, really hoping you take it to heart

[-Badlands-]

You will always hear your own music worse than everyone else, its natural. Still I think you did an awesome job here. I love the ominousness at the beginning and the drop keeps things simple without too much going on, its quite nice.

What I'm wondering though is where you spent most of your time on this one considering how much you spent on the whole project. (suspecting it might be working on the mix, this is a huge step up from prior work)

Preds responds:

Thanks man I appreciate it!

Yep, spent ages on the mix, lately im trying to make my own “atmospheres”, panning and tweaking the effects from the presets. Sometimes I work on my own presets!

And ofc, learning from my mistakes (what am i doing wrong in my old proyects), and doing all the suggestions the people tell me to do. Im making sure to improve my quality in every new song from now on. 2018 came with all the musical tactics for me :3

But, thanks again!

[Catalyze]

oh wow! two songs almost within the space of a week? Are you feeling okay dude? xD (silently wishes I was that productive...)

Either way, this one is quite nice! Keep it up :)

DevinChin responds:

LOL thanks man. Truth is I was working on these two in parallel and I finished them around the same time, but I didn't want to release them simultaneously.

[Electro in C Minor]

You certainly have your own distinct style, and its one that Ive missed quite a bit :) I love the mix between genres going on here, good job!

Glad to have you back, even if it ends up being just for this one track.

DevinChin responds:

Thanks man! It's nice to be back :)

[-Superclubby- (Superfunky Club Remix)]

Very well done my man! I can definitely tell you have been working on some of your weaker areas. I cant really point out any faults with this one, very solid remix :)

I just wish I had as much time as you do to spend working on my own weaknesses, but you know... university stuff :P

Preds responds:

WOW, Mr. Arrez telling this is kind of a perfect track? (it isn't tho), I really appreciate this man!!!!

[-Hidden Path-]

I feel like it starts out a little bit slow but once it kicks in its quite nice. The rhythms are so well orchestrated, I can never quite get my head around how you do it so well. As repetitive as the bass is it never seems to get old, something only you can seem to pull off.

I'm glad you went off on a tangent from your original plans here, it certainly paid off :)

Waterflame responds:

Thanks! Glad to hear it. I actually often have up to 30 different "variations" of the same bassline, it might be why. There's slight "real" dynamics to almost all of the instruments. Keeps it more.. alive! I guess.

[-Hopper V2- (WIP)]

You should add a pad, at least in the intro section. Also segment it a bit more with some drum sequences and automation. Nice foundation otherwise though, nice to hear a track re-visit. Even if you did make the original fairly recently.

Good luck finishing the full thing :)

Preds responds:

I will, thanks!

Im super hyped about how this re-visit is going to result!

To add, I've revisited a lot of tracks recently, for a new album, including Toxic Zone and Run or Die hehe.

[-Celestiark Theme-]

This is really nice, I like it a lot! My only complaint I can think of is that the beginning sounds very dry
and the arp is too flat, play around with fade automation, panning and reverb a bit more.
If you did that here I reckon the intro would have sounded a lot more organic rather than forced, keep at it ;)

Preds responds:

Thanks for the review!

I'll work on my "intro atmospheres" thanks a lot