damifortune's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[AIM 2023- the interlude]

(disclaimer: AIM judge review here! these are just my opinions and thoughts, you can take from them whatever you like! music is subjective and all that. <3)

feels like there's a lot of parts pushing against a limiter or compressor causing the sound to duck in and out - even just the piano on its own in the intro seems to be doing this. i know there's an extent to which gating filters and volumes is a feature of future funk but i think it's hurting the overall sound and the individual parts could all stand to be turned down in volume collectively so everything has more room to breathe... that way, you'll have a fuller, bigger sound to start applying gating to.

your core loop is quite a jam, and easy to rock out to! but i wish that there were some more variation in the music, like maybe an additional section of related stuff using the same instruments that could eventually build back up towards what you had before. the song could have more of an arc or progression that way. this is another thing where i know that the genre does focus a lot on cool loops but i think there's a balance that could be struck : )

as for the artwork you chose, i'm definitely getting the colorful digital surfing vibe, though if you wanted to be more vaporwave about it, taking your track and slowing it down quite a bit would feel more in-line ; ) but regardless i see the aesthetic you were going for here and think the style was a reasonable, solid decision

[AIM 2023 | Siberg - Buddy Guyerson]

(disclaimer: AIM judge review here! these are just my opinions and thoughts, you can take from them whatever you like! music is subjective and all that. <3)

really smooth production! i like the additional elements that get added in as the song goes along, especially the guitar. the driving synth bass and drums cement the "nighttime city" vibe for me, and something about the hypnosis of it all pairs well with the feeling of watching endless streetlights go by, one after the other. i'm not too sure about the person and bird depicted as the artwork's focus being somewhere in here; it was named "Encounter" so i would've maybe expected a singular Event happening somewhere in the song, or some other way of bringing relevance/importance to this mysterious meeting. however with that aside i think this is a great depiction of the overall setting.

a lot of the time with loop-focused music i wind up wanting more development and variation but i feel like this one has just the right amount of stuff going on to keep me satisfied! you've got a good handle on where and how to bring parts in and out.

[AIM Dance Of Seduction]

(disclaimer: AIM judge review here! these are just my opinions and thoughts, you can take from them whatever you like! music is subjective and all that. <3)

this is super pretty and atmospheric...! i like how slowly it's paced and how the sections build and ebb and flow. the samples you chose are doing a lot of heavy lifting in this piece for sure, but everything feels well-placed and fitting with this "exotic mermaid dance in the water" theme. you've got a good sense for mood! nice work.

i think ordinarily i would declare the vocal here to have "too much reverb", it really is quite a lot, but it actually doesn't cause too much mud in this piece either because there's so much space for the few moving parts you have. it's really nice in the first, more ambient section; at the end is maybe where i'd dial it back some since it's the climax and more things are happening. incidentally, regarding the few moving parts, it's cool how everything here has its own clear purpose and then nothing more. wise choices were made regarding what to use!

DigitalProdigy responds:

Thank you so much for the review I really appreciate it. The reverb in the vocal was a bit difficult to work with once I started adding the other instruments. It was to late to cut back on the reverb once I finished the vocals, so I had no choice but to try my best and make sure the song did not sound muddy or distorted. I will definitely cut back on some of the reverb on my vocal tracks in the future.

[Chocnoon - Prototype ~AIM~ (CCLXXXIV)]

(disclaimer: AIM judge review here! these are just my opinions and thoughts, you can take from them whatever you like! music is subjective and all that. <3)

above all, my main suggestion is that individually all your parts should be turned way down in volume because they are pushing up against your limiter/compressor and sometimes also clipping (distorting). you can tell by how immediately quiet the opening guitar riff gets when the drums start hitting that there is simply not enough room for all the sounds to coexist. turning down all their volumes will give everything room to breathe.

the other thing i think might help you a bit is adding some variation to the velocities of the notes in your guitar lines for instance - like lowering the ones that aren't on the strong beats and generally not using the same values 100% of the time for a little bit of a humanistic touch.

i def get that you chose your instrumentation to try and fit with 'japan' but beyond that i'm not picking up a lot of relevance to your chosen art inspiration; in particular the artwork depicts a major natural disaster event so i maybe expected something emotional, heavy, dark, or... fractured, maybe. there's also a ton of details in the artwork you could hone in and focus on, if trying to tackle the whole thing is too overwhelming, like the busted cars or shattered buildings.

with all that said, there's good potential here for something that really goes hard. there could be a little more development and variation, especially with the drums, and i could definitely see some distorted rock/metal guitar chugging going on, but the basis of an idea is definitely here, so expand the prototype!

name responds:

I think I've switched the secondary inspiration with the main one. Also, I have troubles with mixing, since I always mess up with the instruments' volumes and I put them to 25, and I also forget to use the Limiter feature.

Unfortunately, I can only edit recent songs and I post frequently due to the fact that I made a settlement that if I don't post for more than two weeks, I have to do a devious act.

However, I can use mp3cut.net to turn down the mastering, but it will keep its flaws whatsoever and the only way to fix all its flaws is through doing it from scratch.

[rocks and rocks and rocks [AIM 2023]]

(disclaimer: AIM judge review here! these are just my opinions and thoughts, you can take from them whatever you like! music is subjective and all that. <3)

super cool! i dig the style, and respect the lyricism and willingness to write and rap through personal stuff. the emotional resonance comes through both in the words and in the periodic increases in intensity like near the end in "it's unbelievable..." and the last chorus. i think you matched the mood pretty well to the erupting volcano and, of course, the overarching theme of "rocks" lol. i liked the handful of little chops/stutters too, a personal favorite thing to hear in music

probably the only thing that stands out to me here is that there are a bunch of places where the accents in your flow and in the music are shifted from how they would be spoken. on one hand, i like the consistency of your rhythms, and in that respect i'm sure it's a deliberate decision on your part, but at the same time, some of those spots can feel a bit awkward and harder to parse as a listener. i wonder if there is a middle ground where you can both make 'unusual accents' part of your style while still having good diction. or maybe it's just not my preference! i dunno - just food for thought! either way i think this is great!

MasterHand4444 responds:

Thanks for the kind words and critiques!

I'm very glad you felt the emotions I felt while writing, and I'm also glad you liked my lyricism; there's some meaning in there that only I know and it's vindicating that it can be felt through the veil of song.

I also agree with you about how some words are spoken; I've talked with one of my buddies who also writes raps and he's said that's one of my weaknesses. Your suggestion of a middle ground is one I'll seriously consider!

Thanks again for the critiques; this was a very fun track to produce. :)

[AIM - Stellar Guardians]

(disclaimer: AIM judge review here! these are just my opinions and thoughts, you can take from them whatever you like! music is subjective and all that. <3)

a very serene, contemplative piece...! i feel a sense of divinity coming from the way you wrote this - choral pads, evolving sounds that swell and fade, and a very slow rhythm filled with open space. it's very thoughtful and fpairs wonderfully with the heavenly bodies depicted in the artwork you chose; a fitting sense of humbleness and reverence of the human in the presence of the almost inconceivably large and powerful.

i really like when the piano part quietly comes in over the top of the chords; it's just enough motion to develop the piece without feeling like too much. harmonically, i think this could develop its progressions a *little* more instead of repeating - introducing just a bit more contrast and some tensions (or dissonances) that lead into nice cathartic releases. but what you have already is quite lovely, that's just my thought for really taking it to the next level.

GlaceonDash responds:

Keeping stuff non-repetitive is 100% an issue on my end, as it's a struggle to keep it the same mood

[AIM - (Club) Around Infect Madness]

(disclaimer: AIM judge review here! these are just my opinions and thoughts, you can take from them whatever you like! music is subjective and all that. <3)

this is some beefy production! a fat sausage indeed lol. really masterful filling of the open space in the drop sections with little chippy arpeggios and bright vocoder chords. musically i think this feels authentic to the style you were after; good work!

i have a bit of a hard time relating most of it to the artwork you chose, but one thing that stands out to me is the vocal chops being sort of nonsensical words; the world being depicted in the landscape art is an alien one not like our own, so i find this choice fitting like "maybe this is how language sounds here on this planet", and that's pretty cool. otherwise i'm not so sure about where this vast, many-mooned landscape fits in with your tune - there's no sign of nightlife or even life at all, but it's a mighty fine tune anyway!

[AIM 2023 - Psychedelic Landscape]

(disclaimer: AIM judge review here! these are just my opinions and thoughts, you can take from them whatever you like! music is subjective and all that. <3)

this is definitely a groovy loop you have constructed, and it's got some of that haze i would associate with psychedelia. in particular i felt like the intro before most of the parts come in was a fitting sound for a very abstract piece of art, and i would've liked to hear more of that. the rhythm of everything else is cool, and i even dig that the drumkit makes the song lean more towards psych-rock, but i could envision the "full section" w/ drums and piano being like, the climax of the piece, and more contemplative noodling taking up the rest. the artwork you chose is very freeform, and your music could reflect that in its structure. another way this piece could go beyond its core loop repetition would be to cut away after doing the big section for a while and start something new with a new progression and idea, slowly building back up and eventually bring back your original cool thing. what you have is really neat, now the beauty of the thing is to flesh it out and build around it!

Reddrad responds:

i made this a while back. back then, i probably wouldn't be able to understand this review, but now i feel like i do. maybe i'll make a VIP version in the future. this was my first music competition. hell, AIM 2024 is always a thing. probably

[THE YEAR 2000 - 2023 AIM Submission]

(disclaimer: AIM judge review here! these are just my opinions and thoughts, you can take from them whatever you like! music is subjective and all that. <3)

holy crap, i love this! i'm really picking up the urban youthful vibes of soundtracks like Jet Set Radio or The World Ends With You, and that's the exact sort of flashy style that comes across to me in the artwork you chose. this would make a killer theme for this character, i just know it. a match made in heaven. all the individual parts of your tune are solid, the mix is really clean, the sections develop and flow organically... i really don't have much to offer in the way of criticism here. you nailed the style. i'm especially a fan of the acid synth bass and the handful of little cutaway "pauses" for dramatic effect. brilliant work.

TeffyD responds:

Thank you for your review, I appreciate it!

[HOME OF HOPE (AIM CONTEST 2023) | RPG Music | Royalty Free Instrumental + MIDI |]

(disclaimer: AIM judge review here! these are just my opinions and thoughts, you can take from them whatever you like! music is subjective and all that. <3)

this could benefit greatly from more melodic direction first and foremost; the piano leads are mostly arpeggiated and feel like they wander around in random directions and odd rhythms. it's an interesting sound in a way if you were aiming for something unnatural but the piece would have a great deal more emotion and coherence if you focused on clearer shapes: more close stepwise motion (i.e. note-to-note in your key or scale), leaping further away at times to add excitement, clearer rhythms and reusing those rhythms so the listener catches that "oh, this is like the bar before, but the notes are different!" think about the overall trajectory of the phrase; have it go generally up for a while, then back down, then maybe back up, and listen for places where you could leave space. and i mean this in as "broad strokes" of a way as possible. having a clear, singular high point towards the end of the melodic phrase is another useful tip for pacing.

with all that said, i think you chose a good instrumentation to represent your chosen artwork. all the reverberant pluck sounds and the piano convey a wistful, somewhat ethereal mood that leans into the "fluorescent cave + sky" style. i think with more focus in the composition you could use those tools to make something more emotionally resonant, more expansive, and captivating!