Moinontoi's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[GTB - Supersonic (Demo) [HandsUp!]]

Your production on this track is excellent. The sounds you use are all well-suited to this style, and your gradual layering of sounds is what makes trance so engaging as a genre. At 1:07, I don't feel that there was anywhere that this piece truly opened up, but you've said in your description that it's only a demo. This felt like the introductory part of a track where you've built everything up to 90% capacity, and I can imagine the track opening up into a heavier "100%-all-the-way" mode following the echoes of the drum that you have used to conclude this. I think that this is definitely an excellent beginning to a trance piece, and your melodies are interesting and exciting. You seem to have a great feel for this genre and an even better ear for production and mixing. As I've said, the only thing this track feels like it's missing is the rest of it; however, if you only planned this to function as an intro, this is absolutely flawless.

Dj-Gonzo responds:

Thanks for your review! As you said, this is the intro of the song, I tend to upload demos to see if people like what they hear and, if it's not the case, change these things before the track is almost finished. Glad to see I'm getting better at mixing and producing in general, I always appreciate the people that notice those issues. ^.^

>GTB

[The Skyline Is The Limit (Instrumental)]

I liked your sample of the weather warning at the beginning of this track. You've done a good job varying your melodies and modes to keep this from sounding too repetitive. The synth sound that comes in around 1:40 sounds good, and your drums sound good. However, some of the sounds you are using here are obviously-synthesized, and this took away from the experience for me. Then again, this may have been intentional-- being that it's a theme song for a Sonic series, these sounds are fairly consistent with the sonic palette found in several of the classic games' soundtracks. Adding vocals will definitely take this to the next level, as these melodies and patterns do feel exhausted by the end of three and a half minutes. Your mixing on this is excellent. In the end, my main complaints about this track are the campiness of some of the sounds (electric guitar and violin sounds, in particular) you use and the length of it without any major musical developments. Again, this final complaint will be fixed by adding vocals, while the first one may have been intentional on your part.

Zip-Zap-Official responds:

Thank you so much! <3

[Prism Break]

This is a piece that does a good job generating mood and atmosphere. I like your use of sounds that aren't necessarily typical of the chiptune genre, particularly with regards to your lower-end. Your use of reverb definitely goes a long way towards making this stand out. Your production and mixing on this is clear, and you develop melodies atop one another-- something that makes it feel more interesting. The lead melody that eventually comes in "wanders", and I mean that in a good way: with so many other elements that repeat themselves, having that flavor of variation is absolutely necessary. This gets into my complaint about the track: although your sonic palette and mixing quality are appropriate and effective, I did grow tired of hearing the repeated elements in the background. I noted that you have removed/brought back certain ones of those elements at a few points in the song, which definitely is a good move-- and kept me from scoring this lower. However, varying your chords or adding something in the way of a "bridge" or a second mode would make this track more engaging.

Random-storykeeper responds:

Thanks! I had intentionally wanted the repetition for that feeling of "patterns" rebounding. Maybe I could vary the chords in the second half but still keep their rhythm so it doesn't get super repetitive.

[|R|Armageddon (V2.0)]

Weak production. Every single sound is so staccato, so start-and-stop. It makes it all sound campy, it makes the production feel weak. I don't get any mood or any ambience from this track whatsoever, least of all an "end of all things" kind of feel. Your drum sounds were alright and I liked the subtleties you had going on with some of the lower frequencies, but your piano sounds and that flute-y sound combined with a generic 4/4 fast-high-hats-with-a-snare-on-the-downbeat rhythm gave this the same vibe as a hastily-made dance remix of Nintendo 64 Zelda ocarina tracks. You've got some good ideas and the actual mixed levels are alright, but work on giving your sounds more variation, everything you've got here is too samey to keep it interesting. You stuck it in the "Experimental" category, don't be afraid to EXPERIMENT!

Radiationator responds:

Thank you for the tips! I'll be sure to take your advise as much as I can.

["They talk about justice" inst]

Jesus Christ I can't tell what's samples and what's not samples and that's the best kind of samples. Top-notch production, truly.

SkyFromD-Squad responds:

i appreciate it man, thanks

[Wind Quintet No. 1 I. Adagio]

Stellar production. The timbres all sound genuine and authentic, and the piece itself offers a great deal of movement and flow. The different parts coming and going at both the top- and low-end give it a sort of "dream waltz" vibe, and the point where one stanza stops for the cycle to repeat is hard to pinpoint, which gives it a feel that's both cyclic and organic (these are good things). The harmonies pull at both ends of the emotional spectrum simultaneously, and I love that. Lovely work, truly.

ChioBam responds:

Hey, thank you. I've been working a lot with chorale style lately while still trying to keep it less blocky. I appreciate the review.

[Eclipse]

The vocals are mixed really low, but I can still tell they sound lovely. If they were louder I'd certainly be OK with it. That with some EQing on the drums to give them a bit more darkness and oomph would really push this track to the next level.

Panteras responds:

Thanks for the review!
This is just a demo for clubs to see for gigs, but I definitely agree with your suggestions!
I'll see if I can get the recordings and change the levels.

Thanks again!