JinZ's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Slvt Wannabe]

the first problem is the theme, the first part doesn't go well with the rest, I'm sure that the track would sound better without it. That leads to the second problem is that you have a happy melody over a dark-ass intense drop. I recommend using the harmonic minor scale.
But anyway, I like how you compressed the distorted Reese bass, it sounds very loud, but it doesn't crash with other instruments, and that is what I appreciate. Various dark percussion, I'd say this has some potential to be in a Madness Combat animation lmao. I like the transition to the drop as well, before there was a tempo change, there were glitches.
And as always, I like having a calm outro after a hard-ass drop, like you've beaten the final boss and now you can go home.

[Stemnish]

This track is very chill indeed, it's quite hard to find any music that is ambient and chiptune at the same time, I like how the first half is so chill and the rest is intense, it has that climax feeling. Very nice structure. I also like the drum variations and how every instrument works well together.
this has some potential to be in a BGM in a game, but if it is, I'd suggest having some connection between the intro and the outro

check your description lol it's experimenting

[Deep in Thought]

this is mind-blowing! I really like the dark, wild, and cinematic mood, and then we also have some relaxing and calm melodies, the instruments play well together, the mix is clean
Overall, this is an absolute poggers.
The intro sounds like an opening for an Indian movie lmao
But till the second half, I think it would be much better if you didn't have the fast-paced guitar

[.+ aethereum memory.]

very chill, calm atmosphere, the melodies are lively and relaxing as the volume goes up and down, unlike going straightly like a matching ;)
one thing to remember is to have some fades, at the start of the audio, I hear clicks, which means it had no fade in. Also, I hear clicks from the melody as well, maybe it was a lack of attacks.
when you have the instruments play, you should reduce the volume of the background, else it'd crash to each other

xi-eonling responds:

oh wow. this is all so useful to hear!
I tried the concept of "humanizing" a track, as in adding imperfections in timing and volume to make it seem more organic. I'm glad you liked it :D
I see what you mean about the clicks though. I did set up some volume automation and check the attack at the start, but I'll pay closer attention to it next time. (there's also that the preset on GB has some clicky noise added to the synth I did my best to tone down... some of it probably got left in.)
I'll also keep in mind to be more careful about noise volume vs. music volume.

thank you so much!

[Aster - Came Back]

although it is industrial, this track has made me questioned my existence, how tf can music like this be frontpaged
seriously mi amigo, you started off with a very bit-crushed synth/bass, but then out of a sudden, intense drums hit, many more instruments were introduced. The problem here is that there were no transitions (this implied to the track overall), no build-up, no SFXs
also, the outro was random.
this track was made by a good, yet, lazy producer

Aster responds:

It has been made very lazily. It's only intention is to be the first 2020 song to be posted on NG. I have better work.

[Being Evil Has A Price [Lucifer TV Theme]]

this mix to excellent! The drums patterns, the early dubstep vibes, the vocals, especially, I feel ascended listening to the guitar solo lmao
I really like how you guys made piano and guitar flow together so well.
Overall, the mood is absolutely intense, which is very fitting for the sexy satan >:)

Trackers responds:

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it! Guessing you're a fan of the show too 😈

[Kuiper Belt]

It is hard to find a negative criticism on this cuz ITS SOOOO GOOD
overall, very chill, the mix is great, various instruments, Sytrus' weird-ass SFXs, and creative melodies
a problem that I find is that the drop comes in too suddenly, there was no obvious build-up, like 03:05
good to see someone uses stock plugins/samples effectively :)

[Operation Fleshhunter]

I fucking love this, the dark and heavy atmosphere, and the heavy metal, combined with acid bass, spooky melody, it is very fitting to the art
another point for the screaming, the art looks like some sort of experiment, and a man was used as a rat for it, he was in REAL pain to scream like that lmao
just gotta mention the cyberpunk guitar at the 2nd break, the variety of heavy drums and percussions, the cinematic outro,... THIS TRACK!

LD-W responds:

Heya, thanks for checking out the track and for the high praise!

If you're interested in knowing how I've done certain parts:

- The Acid Bass was one I designed in LuSH-101 (SH-101 emulation), there's a few acid-like timbre's which go well with the 101-modeled behavior. If you do have the synth, feel free to DM me anytime and I can send you the patch

- The Guitar Processing chain is pretty long and not everything will be listed here, but the basics of it goes like: bx_console_n (Neve VXS emulation with TMT) --> Audio Assault Hellbeast (Randall Thrasher/Satan Amphead Emulation, with Brit Cone Edge Cab IR's) --> iZotope Trash 2 (very low wet %, about 5-10% tops) --> Millenia NSEQ2 (Vacuum Tube Rack EQ emulation with JFET Signal Path) --> SPL IRON (IRON Hardware compressor emulation with TMT) --> Noveltech Character (Algorithmic Auto-Improver set to Mode 3 and set to Target Value 60) --> Waves DeEsser (to trim off gently anything above 13Khz) --> Eventide UltraReverb (for usual reverb duties). The Chorus/Solo Guitar had Trash2 removed, the gain on Hellbeast reduced and Syntorus added before the reverb in the chain on a BBQ-Deep Swirl.

- Drums were mainly done off of a mixture of Ludwig, DW and Sabian kit pieces in Superior Drummer and some of the SDX's

- Alot of the other percussion such as the Frame Drums were from 8DIO New Epic Frame Drum Ensemble. The marching band snare was from SoundIron High School Drum Corps. The much more mechanical-sounding elements were another mix-match between different SFX libraries which I've purchased over the years, mostly the kind which are designed for movies and games in mind, but work situational well for music aswell (the licensing doesn't restrict me in what I use it in of course)

- The chopped screams were a mix-match of different sources. Some of them come from prosoundeffects (I grabbed them years ago when I had some sample credits to spend) and a mixture of groans, drones and other screams from 8DIO Eternal Darkness.

[/\ Fluorescent Tunnels /\]

a common issue for the new producer (at least I consider you as a new one) is that their tracks have no sidechain. Sidechain is very important, you need to learn to do it.
Also, the higher volume doesn't mean the louder results, you need to balance the instruments, else, they would crash to each other and sound distorted
Apart from that, the 2nd drop is head-banging worth lmao
I really like the relaxing outro, it is like after a hard day at work, you finally get a chance to sleep