Cyberdevil's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Honour]

Yeaaah man this really is some good shit! :D Regarding that higher volume, might it be an idea to switch up the volume in the track itself, so that it may within for example a playlist be enjoyed at as adequate a volume as surrounding tracks too, if they happen to be optimized for loudness? Not so anything clips mind you, but it does seem the overall mix could be pushed up a bit...

Strings do sound powerful. It builds nicely. Feels like it doesn't truly reach the peak or crescendo it could reach, it just kinda ebbs out at the end; cuts itself a bit short but... still very cool.

Clean production too. Plenty of space in the mix. Nice work with this.

-cd-

crispybatteryacid responds:

uhh

that was a while ago bro I've moved on from this honestly, but thanks for the review lol

[Freedom comes at a cost]

I sure hope 2024 shaped up to be a better year than the one before it...

You're still crafting masterful music it seems, and regardless of how this compares it feels like a breath of fresh air. I imagine the unease clearing, the light shining through, the haze of clouds and blood-splattered ground of the battlefield now barren and discarded, losses ready to be washed and weathered away....

It doesn't sound all victorious, but freeing, for sure... hopeful start to a New Year.

Nicely done.

-cd-

Albe responds:

Hey thanks for checking in! 2024 was a bit better but not that different from 2023. I did achieve many cool things and got involved in cool projects which I'm still working on to this day, but emotionally I feel I've been getting slightly worse and worse as I grow older and the years go by. As a consequence, keeping the same daily routine has become harder due to the slow but steady decrease in motivation to do virtually anything. Unless I stop expecting things to solve by themselves and start making big changes or life-changing decisions or smth, I don't think I'll see any improvement whatsoever. What will that change be? Only god knows. I only know that I, as an adult, am the one responsible for my current state of things and gotta get my shit together.
As for music, I'll keep making music, only with a much less frequency. As I've been improving my craft, I've been putting a lot of care and detail into my work, resulting in less songs per year but of a much better quality than what I used to make years before this one.
Again, thank you CD for checking in, thanks for the feedback on this song and I hope you're doing well too!!

[Talon, The Blade's Shadow [Champion Theme]]

The production quality on this one's just insane, and the voice acting!! Powerful.

This really is cinematic quality... very impressed. Love the cry at 2:05 in particular, and how it moves on from there, to a more march-kind of mode. Feels like something epic's a brewing. Swords forged. Armies on the move. A soldier readying their soul for war...

The more I listen the better this gets!!! Bad-ass work.

-cd-

Benji-G responds:

Heya! Thanks for the kind words, glad you like it!

[GLOBALISATION]

You just wanted something that hit hard huh! My gawd you got it. I really didn't expect how hard-hitting this'd be going in...

It SOUNDS like globalization. Sounds heavy and all-permeating. Sounds dissonant, dark and bleating. The heart of the machine. Sounds like a power-hungry posse feasting, on our dreams...

I love how it builds too, in an almost non-noticeable way, how the sound gets sharper and sharper, like nails digging into your skin, the overall frequency so distorted and grim, yet melodic... too. The sounds getting shrill, and stressful, like sin... it seems simple yet it seems there's a lot of nuance to that sound, and build. And layers you barely notice that further amplify that weight, and sense of distress... the fact that the pace is as slow as it is just makes it even heavier.

What a banger! What a groove. Production's rich and solid too. Loud but not too loud.

Love this.

-cd-

Pepenyan responds:

Yoo thank you Cyberdevil!

[Abandoned Shrine (432hz, modified Zarlino)]

Melancholy and nostalgic sounds about right... though why nostalgic, I wonder? Is it the tempo? Is it a sense of melancholy in conjunction with a certain pace, that gives that impression, as it plays?

I shan't act like I know anything about cents and ratios on display in the description though, maybe they actually explain something in regard to the particular emotions this evokes... I understand dissonance correlates to unease, but that's about all the frequency theory I've picked up I think... and that F# is actually in our genes.

This was touching through. Vibrant and bright, the melancholy despite, and I really like when the piano speeds up; seems to start pulling at all the right heartstrings. The melody struck with life, and wonder, and delight...

This was very nice.

-cd-

anthonyragus responds:

Thanks so much for your thoughtful comments. All sorts of facets of music production, like the ones you mentioned, contribute to a piece's respective sound. Piano comes with its own specific parameters, like close mics, muted high resonances of strings, and the natural variations in velocity and tempo of performance. The densest, loudest section of the piece is both a memory of and a longing for when the shrine was popular among people. The melody is largely ascending and the voicings are spread. The "A" section is stagnant, a repeating F# surrounded by mostly descending harmony, as the shrine's spirits slowly fades to nothing.

[Jouxl Eterna - Realm of Neogravity]

Good god those glitch effects!!! Trying to hear what's actually being said in the vocal samples though, that may be a lost cause...

Despite the distortion there really is a continuous melody and beat to this to though. Tis an intricate piece of work, so much going on, so many layers. I wonder if it could be a bit more streamlined still, or if this overall is just a style that's... a bit too glitchy for my personal liking. Sensory overload. Bit much pausing and switching. Bit too choppy. But impressive work.

You actually can hear the vocals towards the end btw! :D Nice fade...

-cd-

TurbonicZ responds:

I don't like to limit my imagination when working on songs lol

[borracho]

This feels unlike any hip-hop beat I've heard really... feels familiar and yet so far away, like a bridge between times, a romantic scene or just overall romanticized life in classic black and white, some small utopia far away, samples from the new age filtering through the veil of another world...

Sample work: top tier. Vocals too. The overall mix is so rich. The beat's there a backing. This is banging man... really great tune. So atmospheric...

-cd-

foghorntape responds:

glad you dig it.

[Welcome To MEB]

Would've expecting a higher volume out of the gate considering the title, but maybe not a bad thing to leave that up to the listener hmm...

The production's rich, the instrumentation interesting, it almost feels mechanical in a way. A glimpse into a Cyberpunk world, some kind of fog horn occasionally blaring loudly through the mesh of metal and machinery...

Very cool. A little short but: good intro.

-cd-

VariableGR responds:

Daaaaamn! Thank you so much for your comment! It means a lot from someone from the old school (⁠⌐⁠■⁠-⁠■⁠)(⁠ಠ⁠_⁠ಠ⁠)⁠>⁠⌐⁠■⁠-⁠■

[3/4 through the game shop]

Man this is vibrant! Love that rewarding 'swisssh' kind of sound too, and the 'woo woo', and all those other little optimistic audial design elements that permeate this, the detail's rich...

Real nice composition. Production's on point too, albeit maybe a bit high on the loudness. Also: very abrupt end m8.

Good stuff.

-cd-

LGmusic responds:

thanks!

[good day]

Feels like I recognize the melody hmm. :) The base one at least... based; good vibes though, all the way!

Don't remember the last time I actually heard a tambourine in an electronic dance track like this... I like the instrumentation overall. That classic kick. A rich synth. Nostalgic; strong and vibrant instrumental choices... wonder what you call that saw-like synth in the background?

Happy; uplifting track LG. Instant day brightener.

Nice work.

-cd-

LGmusic responds:

Its been a while but I think the main lead was the unison saw from the korg m1