Cyberdevil's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[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 Other reasons could be I used a bit of an outdated audio interface to record the vocals.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.

[Pluto]

Pitfall... your name rings true in the audio too. Such a depth to this. It feels like you're running at the precipice of the abyss, the music just lining the sides of a deep ravine, radiant and airy, yet with that cliff so close by...

At least it starts that way. Moves on. Shifts into something very different, all the more bright and tasteful. The drop comes knocking occasionally but no longer surrounds you; it's like you moved from the ravine, run through grassy fields, but all the while in the background... the fall's still there, beckoning you back, a fascinating; compelling void without reason or end...

Maybe I took this to an undeservedly dark place huh. XD

I love the sound design. Tasteful. Melodic and rich. Catchy beat and plenty of nuances.

It's legit!

And a planet huh... replace the cliff with the planet in my interpretation of it: maybe it still applies.

Great work.

-cd-

[Time Travel (w/ Retrograde)]

Dank drops, intricate sound design, clear mix... it's a banger all the way! Beats and synth pass the baton in a nice way; you never get too much of either. It's ferocious but not without those moments of airiness and echo, flowing oceans and floating notions-like... and a feelgood vibe all the way through.

Great energy; solid work!

-cd-

[Button Masher]

It's got ice in it's veins and a beat with a brain... love how much space there is around the synth; how otherworldly and unpredictably this is. Sometimes it's incredibly atmospheric, almost cinematic, sometimes it's more contained but instead appreciably upbeat and punchy, with Daft Punk-like vocals that fade in and out; intersperse the barrages of sound...

Not sure the 2:15 part specifically was necessary, it felt unfinished in a way, a bridge between breaks, that doesn't really build or conclude any particular way, and towards the end it's all the more beat and all the less atmosphere and audial resilience

Would've been cool with more of that towards the end too, a bit less loudness and a bit more life, seems to forget its roots a bit along the way, but what a banger!

-cd-

[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!

[I Hate Everything]

When this really kicks in it sounds almost like a mad man playing a pipe organ. :) A villainous apparition sitting in his lonesome abode, a sheathed house on a hill behind pointy gating, thunder crackling outside, playing tunes that reverberate through the neighborhood, unnerving folks for miles around...

When I hear hate I don't quite picture it like this. it feels more like despair, and anger, and loneliness... a plethora of emotions but not that so much. Maybe the music just isn't aggressive enough that way. Maybe I correlate hate to metal and guitar specifically. For a moment it's even surprisingly melodic and upbeat. The middle section doesn't feel like anything bad at all.

I love the composition though... I hope you found catharsis in this. Have had in loop for a while now and I definitely do get something from it, would work so well with a game too... any despair-inducing scenes there. Boss battles. Loss battles. Moments of undesired commotion and change - a village being raided, say...

Really good tune.

-cd-

[Athletic Theme Yoshi's Island]

So good. Vibrant and jazzy, with almost clown-like rhythm's sometimes but... in a good way. It's entertaining. Sound is rich, instruments are on beat and the brass is awesome... great jam.

Solid work all over.

-cd-

[Dissonance & Deception]

I really have no idea if this claps my cheeks or merely flaps my sheets! XD I do know it clearly kills the beat and feels shrill yet leet, with a surprisingly synthy streak throughout the metal meat, with appreciative pauses and breaks to breath, before it once against kicks into a vicious streak of viscous heat!

Gets better and better too. Starts off a little plain - didn't hold amazing hopes for it - but ends up being a fascinatingly fresh take on metal overall. The structure could maybe be polished a little further, like for example the parts around 4:45 onward, and 5:15 onward are definitely a bit too repetitive IMO. There are a few parts like that, that just bombard you with the same thing over and over - sometimes with very limited tonality too, but then you get into the good bits and it's just all amazing again...

A little less grind sometimes and I think this'd be... seriously dope.

It still is. Awesome work here.

-cd-

[Razirback - House]

Gritty. :) Love the dirty bass in the background, and the almost violin-like synth that jumps and jolts you, it's a a catchy and surprisingly original tune considering the genre, takes me out of my expected House-based headspace hearing it. I appreciate the structure too. Though it's a steady beat it's not at all too repetitive

It is a little short though! But sounds great. Balanced mix too, albeit maybe a little low.

Nice work.

-cd-