xxxZigZagxxx's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[[CLAB] Scavenger Battle]

0:00 Very chill and sexy jass musack.
0:15 Your flow is pretty awesome. Your rhymes swerve everywhere.
0:40 Yeah, I can see the semblance to Deltron 3030. You should explore this vibe a lot more often.
1:00 There's the Fresh Prince of Bel Air line.
1:18 interesting little bass line on the side of my ear :)
1:35 This is true Prozac happy right here :)
1:50 My hands are flying. Well, in my head.
2:00 You flipped those drums pretty tight.
2:20 Wow this woman has got some pipes. Get her on one of your other songs!
2:35 WOW THIS IS TIGHT. best part of the song. do a "SBTRKT-Wildfire"-esque song for me, why don't you? It'd pwn everything.
3:33 This is just swag. Do scatting more often, and the background drums (the pen slapping) is awesome. The beatboxing is awesome. The El-Ghaddafi rhyme was hot. I wished you kept going.

Yeah, this is perfect for the comp. You did really well. I recommend you make like 4 tracks out of this, because each section was pretty pumping. I wanted to hear more, and then you'd switch the style. Cheers brother.

Wuuurrrrrrrrd.

Gasmasq responds:

Perhaps make a Scavenger Mix? //I like your moxie kid mmyeah// ^_^ It's being taken under advisement.

[What Do U Want]

Hmm, I know that you said you were going to be "yourself" at the end, but to be honest I preferred the rest of the song. Your bass wasn't mixed as well into the song as the rest of it. It didn't pack enough impact, but I don't know how to do it, it just felt like... the mids were gone or something? I haven't figured it out myself but it lacks that... punch (without making it too abrasive on the ears I guess).

But yeah. Your rapping is on point bro. And the girl's voice was pretty hard-out amazing too. Sounded like Nicki Minaj (don't think you'll like her but anyway)

But you know what I mean, right? Sometimes you gotta make that music that the girls like, to get the girls? I don't know, I only see girls about 1.5 times a week. But yeah.

Apart from the F*** Jesus part (I'm Christian), this was pretty pro. I'd go soft on the religious slang coz you don't know who you might offend in your fanbase. COZ U HAZ 1.

Cheer.

Poniiboi responds:

Thanks man. I do my best. I PMd u!

[Into the Ocean]

0:00 Oh it's very ambient. Tits and flute. Riiiiiiiiiiight.
0:25 flute coming in there. waiting for tits.
0:35 Strange high-end you got there. Flanging much?
0:50 the dramatic lower strings. They were SUPER EFFECTIVE.
1:10 yawnish.
1:15 the wind has stopped, and now we must sit on the plains overlooking the ruins, contemplating life's meanings. YESSSSSSS.
1:33 Well this feels like i'm in a cathedral listening to a string band.
1:44 And the flute answers in return. Very Irish-like.
2:02 Oh no it's about to end. But I don't want it to! I want a full-scale band takeover! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOo

Ok, so it ended before I wanted it to. You could make this into something more epic, if at about 2:20 you brought the entire orchestra in, drums, strings, flute, even brass, just an epic tune Zelda-esque. It'd be beauuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut.

Thanks.

thewendigo responds:

My goal in the end is to make this something epic with a full scale orchestra, i just don't really know where to go with it yet. Hopefully in the end i will be able to turn this into something wonderful.

[Forgotten Dreams]

0:00 Nice start.
0:15 The melody is interesting, it has a nice kind of sound to it.
0:25 But it kinda sounds like you just stacked sounds on top of each other. The snare is particularly out of place. Needs reverb or something, I think. It has a really "smacky" high end that assaults the ears. You should really check that out.
1:01 Melodies are pretty good tho, but you got some interesting detuned instruments there with very long release. They drown out a lot of the other instruments. They're also probably hogging the lo-mid range. But, eh, what do I know?
1:39 It is quite nice and euphoric here.
1:49 You got a nice little violin piece here.
2:15 This part is nice and different. It's got a nice little lower part, counter melody played by the viola, and then they stack over each other. Very epic violin solo :)
2:58 There's that gated synth again.

Well, I didn't get bored. It was a pretty standard piece, but that's the thing. You might need some mixing here and there, to separate the frequencies, make them more clear. But also, using a noise wave and automating a low-pass filter on it, can give the impression of swelling up to a particularly intense part. I reckon that some parts would gain energy from doing that, then have a cymbal at the end. On the other end, it may cheapen it too. Just do what you feel.

Overall, a nice song, with a few flaws. Touch this one up, and it could be a real hit.

Cheers.

hotsacoman responds:

Hi! Thanks for your response. I was hoping I'd get some feedback. This song hasn't been mixed yet so good call on the frequency issues. I too see the issue with the harsh snare, gonna work on that. Interesting idea with the noise wave and automated filter. I'll try out some things and see. Thanks for taking some time and offering some constructive criticism. Appreciate it!

[Sinsic & Mike - Slizzard]

FLIP YOUR FLOW AT 1:15 is absolute gold. Remind me of Big Boi's flow, straight up. Your friend is good too, bro and the beat is pretty chill bro. Even tho I don't drink alcohol :P But I can understand that you like it :)

Benny

patrickliberty responds:

thanks for the kind words homie, your track will be laid down soon as well :-D

[Delusionshy]

Very brony-y. This song uses kinda cheesy synths at the beginning, going in to full-on dubstep wobbles that make me bob my head so hard! Yes.

Your mixing/production is pretty top/notch. The wobbly synth at 0:20 is intense and fits in well.
There are other parts where things seem too harsh and not well-put together, for instance at 1:05. The wobbly synth actually just sounds too jarring and distorted for me to enjoy, or get into, even though I was getting into it at 0:20. So, mostly good.

So, I would cut the space between 1:05 and 1:45, because the part after that is nice. I think it's the combination of the harsh synths and the distorted drums that make it hard to listen to. I realise that it's supposed to represent the "argument" mentioned in your vocal samples, but it's simply not that great to listen to, imo.

5 stars from 0:00-1:15, -1 star for 1:05-1:45, and -1/2 star for 2:15 onwards. But that bass at the beginning alone, was awesome. 3.5*

silverblazebrony responds:

Thanks! Being the first time ever making a harder dubstep style song, I knew there were going to be some faults in it, and after listening to it allot myself, I can hear allot of problems that I missed the first time.

QUOTE: "for instance at 1:05. the wobbly synth actually just sounds too jarring and distorted"
Yeah, I figured there was something going on in that section of the song. I just couldn't put my finger on it. The drums I knew were a problem, and I was planning on modifying them during my revisit of the song.

After listening to the song a few more times, I also realized that it is just too short. and needs to be maybe a minute or so longer. to give room between the vocals. cause at the moment it kinda feels rushed to me.

Thanks for the review! You've given me allot to work with when I revisit the song. :b

[Lament of a Rusty Heart]

Hey Shanath.

This piece is a cover of another piece, a melancholic piano entry, with ornamental details and arpeggios running up and down the piano. The feeling that it brings across is one of nostalgia, rememberance, and deep longing. I love the composition, and you covered it quite well. So the composition is all good.

Your production of the piano is nice to hear, and it doesn't feel like it's synthesised that much. Your VST must be a very good one (or your mixing is very good). If you want, you can tell me which VST you used, otherwise you can just keep an artist's secret ;) But it is very nice and feels like you are in a tiny hall, such as a school hall, and playing by yourself under a dramatic spotlight. I can imagine this being played in a concert of some sort. Very nice.

Even though it's a remake of a song, it's still beautiful, no matter what. So congrats on remaking this song, because it's beautiful to hear, and probably a good exercise in learning production etc. But most of all, it's for the personal benefit, isn't it? ;) Yeah, I remade "Peaches in Regalia" for that purpose. Turned out pretty crap though.

Sweet song.

Shanath responds:

Haha, yeah. I'm guessing you've heard the original before. It's quite a beautiful song and I wanted to capture those same feelings as in the original. Maybe, I could have done better by adding a little more length to it but I'm glad of the end result.

Thanks for the review!

[asdlfkjjjt]

0:00 Hmm interesting riff.
0:15 It's kinda rocky, if a little too distorted to hear the motif.
0:30 Yeah, you're right, the second gat is not well-mixed. I mean, it's OK, but not good.
1:00 OK.

Yeah, that was OK. I liked the original riff, but as you said, the second gat didn't mix well, and it ended in kind of a catastrophe. Oh well, you live and learn, right?

Kewwwwwwwl.

ForeverJustTonight responds:

Right now we are just using newgrounds to share pieces we come up with. The recording equipment is shit but only temporary, so everything we post is going to sound like shit haha. But thank you! -Reece

[Forgoten Truths]

0:00 Hmm, interesting riffs. That bass is pretty good.
0:15 This thing is unexpected. Psychedelic.
0:30 Something about this doesn't quite *hit*. I mean, it's good, but it doesn't take me places.
0:55 I can't help but admire your esotericism though. It's very different, esp. for a site such as this. Good quality recording too. Good stuff.

So, yeah. Good loop. It loops well, too. The chords go nice, and riff is interesting, but something about it seems off a bit. I mean, I listen to avante-garde stuff, but it doesn't seem to be connecting with me at the moment. Also, I would like to see some variation in the loop. But the recording quality and mixing are pretty splendid. We need more recorded music on NG, so this is great.

Thanks.

Scrotaculous responds:

This is part of an ongoing series. Thanks for the input and kind words.

[What's Up, Midnight?]

0:00 Oh my gosh that sample! So soulful! And the filters.
0:34 That drum loop is standard goodness. I was half expecting James-Blake-Unluck-style drums, which would have been perfection. But this is classic Jazz Hip-Hop.
1:10 Snare may be a little loud or something. But it don't matter much.
1:25 Nice little hi-hat touches.
1:30 Vibin' happily.
1:40 Just a *bit* stale, but nice flair. I'd like to see a change-up in the sample right about now. It might be laziness in switching it up, or maybe we're feeling the vibe a *bit* too long.
2:20 Yeah, this is going on quite a bit. You can switch up the sample here if you like.
2:40 Slightly repetitive.
*skips to 3:50* hmm... still the same thing
*skips to 4:50* still the same thing

Well, good track. At the beginning, I was wholly feeling the vibe. It was AMAZING. But repetition, repetition, repetition. This could have been at least 2 minutes shorter than it is. Or at least switch up the sample at least once. Overall, very good, but repetitive.

Smooth.

ThaKidd responds:

Taking your advice, I just put it song format for me, glad you liked it though!