Cyberdevil's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[MAD - GlitchMax]

Unexpectedly good. Spacey. With keys that roll and flow easily, and a seamless fleet of these that take you to otherworldly streets or seas... it feels like a voyage.

The sound design's so clean, the beat's subtle but functional, there's something akin to a bass there too in a chiptune way...

Definitely isn't the common kind of chiptune tone though! Or structure. Sometimes I wish it was a little louder, and I think you'd do good to have at least a tiiiny moment of silent at the start of the song - as seems to be common advice with music-making in general - feels like it starts a bit too suddenly otherwise.

Apart from that little thing... thoroughly enjoyable. Dope work.

So chill, so soft and swift, so chiptune.

-cd-

nosoymaxi responds:

Thank you for your comment and I really appreciate you taking the time to give me your opinion.
I'm so glad you liked my song. :)

[Ling Kano's Fighting Show Final Season]

Woo those shifts, at 1:18... and 2:20...

It's epic for sure. Sounds like a story of not just battle but more so victory, and honor, and all of the good things that the battlefields of old entailed. Of valor and courage and skill and discipline and all those traits that make the greats great, that we've somehow managed to dehumanize and lose and no longer value the same way...

Anyway, as far as this song goes: awesome. Unconventional guitar. Pompous brass and strings; a subtle orchestra in back. A little tinge of Funk too with that background bass - though it seems unexpectedly far off considering it's the main genre.

I love the nuances in this; the build; the overall... epicness, really.

It's catchy. And immersive. Mighty. Great work.

-cd-

SourJovis responds:

Thank you for the feedback! Glad you like the song!

It's meant to sound like an opening/main theme to a Japanese show from the 70's. That's why it's uplifting. Not really a theme for during action scenes probably. I like your description!

I'm not good with genres. I don't know if this is really funk or what precisely makes a song funk anyway. I wrote this song first the way I wanted it to sound. Then when NG asked me to fill in the genre I was like; "I haven't uploaded any funk songs yet. This could be a funk song."

[Sky Gardening]

The story goes deep with this one...

I love the music. The instruments - is that a pan flute too? Though unfortunately the song - though tonally just perfect - is a little hard to understand, and seems to be heavily processed too, not sure if it's autotone or something else to intentionally give it this airy effect. It contributes to the atmosphere, though I find it also sounds a little artificial, and either due to effects or accent (or a combination thereof) it's not so easy to catch the lyrics... which by the way are beautiful!

I love the atmosphere, and the story behind it. With that in mind I couldn't possibly suggest someone else sing this, but I do feel the vocals are unfortunately the weak point. Read that you removed the vocoder but I still find it hard to make out the words, the delivery's a little mechanic sometimes; the accent's there; there's a lot of reverb and layers of wonderful sound the flow over the song...

So good but a little hard to hear; a little restrained vocally...

-cd-

SourJovis responds:

Yes that's a pan flute solo during the prechorus. In the second prechorus it's backed by a mellotron flute. That's a sample pack called "Impact Soundworks - Ventus Winds - Pan Flutes - Nai". A very good one. Of course I created the melody myself and didn't use the complete "phrases".

Too bad you couldn't understand the vocals well enough. I'm not entirely sure what the exact reason is they sound a bit metalic. Could be many things. I don't have "Antares Auto-Tune". I don't really like the sound of Auto-Tune. I did however use the pitch correction and quantisation options build in my DAW manually and sparingly whenever I thought it was necessary. That could be it. Other reasons could be I used a bit of an outdated audio interface to record the vocals. I got a new one a year ago with a warmer more natural sound, but I didn't have it back then. I also used effects like chorus to make it fuller, I doubled the vocals with a more breahty version recorded with a dynamic mic and mixed thinner, with a phaser and more reverb, to give the lead vocals an airy shimmer on top. I know I'm not the best singer, but I don't mind. I don't like singers who are too good. I prefer singers who are technically bad. I think that sounds rawer and more honest somehow. Maybe that's weird, but it's just my taste. A friend of mine who also sings the Botsing songs offered to re-record the vocals. We tried, but it didn't work. He couldn't sing what I wrote and it didn't sound like what I had in mind and neither of us liked it. Anyway, you're not the first to complain about the vocals, but I think they're good enough.

I'm glad you liked the rest of the song though. Thank you for taking the time to write such a detailed feedback.

[Enceladus]

Life does indeed... I wonder if the ever-changing soundscape here's a reflection on how life does; how it evolves; how it adapts to external circumstances beyond it's control as to take hold and root itself again... it's an interesting audial journey, shifting from one thing in the next, starting slow, and growing, defining itself, becoming something different completely, and then it fades away once more, yet in a hopeful way, with bright tones no matter how sparsely...

Suppose it may be ode to a life more so than the concept of life itself, beginning to end, the brief moments that compose our existence. It's a fascinating and intriguing trip as is, with a beginning and end that sound like space or water, like womb or world, and if that's the foundation for it all then all the more... cool.

Wholesome work. Clear and vibrant sound design too.

-cd-

RedDwarfMusic responds:

Thank you a very lot much :D

It's rare that I get such a detailed feedback, I'm happy you told me this! I indeed intended to make it a journey through the history of life, it's so nice to hear it from someone else's mouth!!

[arpy2]

Enjoyed this thoroughly, and I love the description. :) You truly commit yourself to your work hmm, to the point it encompasses you fully; holds your potential and all...

Production-wise maybe you could push the volume a little higher; widen the mix a bit? Instrumentally it sounds great. I was pleasantly surprised with the DnB section that kicks in around the 1:30 mark in particular. Great percussion. And some kind of animal sound behind it... is that a bird? A seal? Wait maybe that's just the very alive-sounding synth again...

The track really has a VG like vibe to it otherwise, feels like something you could have in a race or arcade game, smooth, upbeat, vibrant, with a consistent but very stagnating energy, there's life in the background too, a radiating stream of calm behind the madness.

Really good atmosphere; good intro; good end; good structure all the way.

The beat does get a little crazy occasionally; I'm not entirely entranced by those bits, like around 2:28, but overall I appreciate everything about this.

Solid; wholesome work. Creative too.

-cd-

Geekllermo responds:

I am grateful for the thorough review, and I feel bad that I don't have as much words to say.
ty!

[X3ll3n - Spatium Cursu [NGUAC 2022 Final Round]]

Was not expecting that dubstep bit in the middle of this! :D

I love the icy tone it starts with, the rhythm and cool bass... not sure about the part that comes after, feels like my expectations on rhythmic calm and cool; crystalline energy someone turned into a burst of rage and roughness... but the sound design's great. Again feels a little short too...

I love the beginning. The intro's so polished; so smooth; so in tune with my mood I suppose. Would've loved to hear a longer track like that.

Keep up the dope work! Awesome energy in all of these always it seems; intricate structure.

-cd-

X3LL3N responds:

Thanks, still hesitating whether or not I should send it to the Muse Dash music contest

[X3ll3n - So Long [Velocity Release]]

I do hear the vocal chop. XD Vocals by... the aforementioned artist? Rocket Start? Yourself?

Soulful voice. Very smooth too, it blends in nicely with the mix...

It's a vibrant soundscape. Reverberates; pulsates and tingles. Builds. Gets your head bobbing. Chops it up and drops and goes in with a little VG-like fanfare (2:18). Really cool mesh of styles and atmosphere overall.

Production's crisp, it sounds good, it feels good... have no complaints, though despite regular length it feels a little short... good track.

-cd-

X3LL3N responds:

Nope, I sliced a vocals from Oversampled's Future Bass sample pack :)
Likely my best song overall, I doubt I'll do anything this good ever again ngl, still sad that it wasn't frontpaged

[Coffee Enema Commercial]

They really are a real thing. XD And apparently pretty efficient...

If I wasn't aware I might be lmao'ing at this whole thing, but as it is the comedy bit becomes more so the disclaimer at the end. Hot coffee indeed not ideal!

Good voice; fun concept!

-cd-

Flamadour responds:

Thanks for the review. When I discovered that they were a real thing, it gave me the idea to write a comedy skit about them. It all started with the "banned from Starbucks" joke and then it escalated to "hot coffee" and finally this voice comedy.

[old webgame type beat]

Another simple but good little thing! Basic but functional beat; exotic sounding synth... not a huge fan of the one that kicks in around ~40s, it's a bit all over the place, doesn't feel like it adds to the melody, but props on experimenting with additional layers!

Loops pretty good too... basic but not bad at all.

-cd-

kaleido responds:

thank u, i saw ur other comment as well, i got admittedly weak flstudio experience but i like to think ive learned the ropes a fair bit compared to stuff from months ago :]

[~Rukkus~ [Dubstep]]

Devious dubstep design! That structural kind of chaos, sharp but not piercingly so, with plenty of breaks, and builds, and a soothing fade towards the end, makes me realize how much I missed the reverb initially...

Great drop; great progression. Production quality's maybe a little cloudy but it feels appreciative raw too, kick's a little repetitive in the second half but the dubstep keeps it fresh after all.

Pleasure listening to this. Great work.

-cd-

HJfod responds:

thank you!! :)