ZmitteR's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Moments]

Woah this is really cool! The mixing is done really well and I really like the atmosphere and instrumentation!

KrissOk responds:

Thanks, nice to hear, mixing is not really my strong suit.

[Enhaze - Oscillate (Drop Preview)]

I swear i followed you so long ago but apparently i didnt

Some bits of advice:

Layer! The sub itself is fine, but you need more bass on top of that to fill out the low-mids and give the drop more power. The basses layered on top of the sub add way more to a drop than you would think. They don't need to overpower the chords, but they should still be there imo. Layer the chords too. Not all of the chord layers need to be powerful either, sometimes the layers can just be for adding harmonics/filling out space.

Secondly the kick needs to be louder/more forward in the mix. Try turning it up and adding compression and eq to bring it more towards the front. Compression can be annoying so my best tip for making punchy drums is to make the ratio somewhere about 7:1, making the attack about 50ms, and changing the threshold to about -20dB. You'll have to mess around with those settings to get the right sound for different drum samples (sometimes a lot) but thats pretty much how I do it every time. The long attack is the most important part bc it lets the drum be audibly louder for a split second before the compressor reduces the volume again bc thats is what gives it the punch. (this also works for synths btw, just in case you ever wanted punchy plucks or smth)

Also add more cymbals. Crashes/downlifters and hihats are great for keeping energy up and filling out the high frequencies

Sounds good so far btw!! sorry for the essay lol

Atlex44 responds:

I was actually going to tell you that you're good at mixing/mastering but I guess you already said this. Thanks so much for the in depth review and feedback!!!!! I appreciate this so much.

I'll try to work on making my tracks better on the next song because.. I used OTT on master on accident and I can't help but not work on that project anymore. Thanks again for the feedback

[Atlex & Zerukani - Photo]

I like it! I love the atmosphere in the verse sections and that vocal bass thing is really cool. The drops are good to, but they would be more impactful if 1 the bass played the root notes of the chords rather than copying the melody and 2 if the snare sidechained the synths like the kick does

Atlex44 responds:

Thanks, I was pretty lazy with this track by copying the melody all over the place..

Anyways I'm actually working on a future bounce song and I promise the mixing is a lot better. I am going to be using sidechaining and a different melody for a drop! :D

lol but if you wanna see some progress, feel free to send me a message on discord (Atlex#4536).

[Realization]

Really chill! Im a huge fan of the distortion things at 0:00 and 0:06 (and throughout the rest of the song), they really add to the vibe imo

SomebodysHero responds:

Thank you so much!!

[Galactic Tunnels]

the only problem i had with this was the snare, but honestly i think with some a little more punchyness and maybe some more reverb the snare would fit better with the rest of the track. I really love the bass and xylophone, theyre really high quality, what software are they from?

RealBlargMaster responds:

The bass are defaults from FL Studio but the vibraphone is from Touhou

[End of Time (LofiHiphop)]

Really chill and cool!! A lot of people are saying the hihat is too loud, which may be true, but i think you should try using a hihat that is shorter and more clicky instead of the partially open hihat that youre using now.

LordAndiso responds:

thank you! :D

[AIM - Snowasis]

Wow! this is really good! I think you really nailed all of the feelings you mentioned in the description. The song simultaneously feels warm and cold which is very interesting imo. I very rarely hear pitch bended piano, but it works so well! I also really like the distorted lead that you used, i think it perfectly conveys the mood you were going for. I did find the shaker to be a bit overpowering, but other than that, really nice job!

Codefreq responds:

Thank you!

If you are referring to the tambourine, I can understand how some parts it may be overpowering. The issue I faced was that the drums were a bit too quiet and sounded buried in the mix. Also, the drum fill in the middle was too big for its resolution, so I tried to raise the tambourine volume to make up for it. Maybe I did it too much. I’ll keep it in mind for future works.

Thanks again for the feedback! :)

[Ice Cavern - VGM]

Wow, I really like this track!! I love the feeling that it gives off!! The only bit of criticism I have is that the piano arp sounds too midi-y, which is a problem I struggle with in my own music sometimes lol

GundorSound responds:

I understand where you're coming from with that bit about the piano, messing with velocities would likely help a bit. I appreciate the review and kind words!

[Desert Night and a Beer]

I really liked this!! I found the transition from the atmospheric intro to the rest to be a bit unexpected, but I think thats just me lol, good job!!

RonnieJMusic responds:

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it! Much love dude

[Yeti]

The growls cut out too abruptly imo, but besides that this loop is really cool!!

Irishtoner responds:

Thanks, But At Least I'm Trying My Best :)